alita suggested, better for some students. i personally can't support this if we can't include other students for other reasons because we've excluded them from this pilot because it might not be preferable inform -- to them. >> can i ask a clarifying question, commissioner alexander? it says medically fragile in it. it says for students that are medically fragile or who will be put at risk by covid-19, so i don't understand the distinction. >> well, staff is saying that it's only for students that are impacted by covid. >> that's not what it says in there. it says medically fragile or

who would be put at risk by in-person instruction. that's the language under three. >> but i don't think that's how staff intends that language. maybe deputy superintendent could clarify because i think what i'm hearing from you -- you know what i'm saying, it has to be related to covid. >> with our primary consideration, when we were deciding which students would be able to participate in this program, likes commissioner san -- like commissioner sanchez said, there are students with medically approved circumstances. we're calling it a pilot because we do recognize how virtual learning might be better for some students, or a hybrid model, and we're open to considering that for the future, but for this fall learning program, we think it's best for the pilot to be serving a small percentage of

our students to make sure we have a quality program but also make sure we have the adequate staffing to actualize the program. i'm sorry. i thought you were asking about students that would benefit from distance learning. >> no, i'm sorry. my concern wasn't about extending the program, it was more around -- what i didn't want was for particular students to be excluded, even if it's a small program; that i wouldn't want a student -- again, the example that i used earlier was a student that has cancer and was on home hospital study. alita had mentioned in public comment a student with a disability who maybe this would be the most appropriate placement for them. i wouldn't want to write a policy that would exclude them. i'm not advocating for a larger capacity. if it's a defined capacity, that's what it is.

i don't know if that makes sense, what i'm saying. >> yes, and i just want to say both of the descriptions that you just said would fall into the medically fragile. >> oh, okay. if that is in the policy, then i don't need to propose the amendment. i'm not trying to make the program larger or expand capacity. it's all about who's eligible for it, so i support the possible [inaudible]. >> okay. commissioner bogus and commissioner alexander -- i mean, collins? >> thank you. i think my question is -- is really, i guess, about how long would want to offer kind of this independent study option? understanding that we are kind of committed to this pilot, but is there, like, a desire or

intention for us to continue to offer this over the next three years and have this as a part of our educational offering or is that kind of necessarily not how we are thinking about it, and how the pricing of the pilot reflects the pricing of, like, scaling it out to everything else, in that makes sense? >> so at least we think education and all the learnings that we've had during the pandemic, we are definitely open to the idea of providing different options and ways for us to engage in learning, including perhaps some virtual options. at this point, commissioner bogus, this proposal and what we're presenting is really just for the fall for those babies who cannot participate in person, but we also intentionally called it a pilot because we want to learn and see how we can actually scale this to be something that's available to more students when

our capacity and our resources allow us to do so, so it's a yes and but. yes, we definitely want to consider expanding and providing more options and expanding the options, but this program is just for the fall, what we mentioned earlier. >> just one question. is it possible -- it's possible, then, that after the upcoming school year that this would not be offered anymore in this district, is that correct? >> that is possible. >> thank you. >> thank you. i just wanted to say i'm personally interested in exploring this as a potential option for the future, even though i know that is not the intention of this proposal, and i would love to hear what folks

learn with the idea that i know that distance learning could potentially be more beneficial for students with social anxiety or specific, you know, challenges, and so i just would love to -- i'm assuming that, you know, we'll get a commitment from staff because you want to learn from this pilot, and i'd be interested in just getting a report back in the fall about how it might be something that we would want to expand or not. >> okay. just checking if there are any responses or other comments. okay. let's do a roll call vote. >> clerk: thank you. [roll call]

>> clerk: that's seven ayes. >> okay. section k, board members' reports. item 1, report from recent committee meetings. we only met through the committee of the whole, and vice president moliga, i know we reviewed and approved many of the items, so i don't know if you have anything additional you want to add? >> no, there's nothing additional outside of what we just went over tonight. i think one thing that i thought if the public was interested in, or even partners, that there's a new tableau on the website that you can track our budget, so i

encourage the public to play around with it and see if it answers your questions, but the items we discussed were the lcap, recommended budget, and all the items that we discussed. >> the tableau is an amazing tool. item 2, roord from board delegates to membership organizations. csba. >> there are no updates from csba. >> item three, all other reports from board members. we'll hear from commissioner bogus regarding the [inaudible] committee. >> yeah, just to share that the rise working group is meeting, and we're going to continue meeting over the summer to produce something by august to kind of share out, to kind of

give a direction of recommendations, and just to say a really positive strong group of people really committed to moving forward to breaking down the barriers between the city and the school district and committed to making sure our students come first. thank you. >> thank you for that. commissioner bogus. item 4, calendar of committee meetings. as we've shared, we won't be meeting in july, but our meetings will be coming back up in august, so check boarddocs for upcoming meetings. section l, memorial adjournment. commissioner collins? >> actually, before section l,

could i read something from lowell? it's about holly giles? >> on june 10, holly giles passed away from injuries sustained in her car accident on may 31. the lowell school system lost a highly respected educator and friend. she served san francisco unified for 28 years as a teach teach -- teacher and administrator. as an assistant principal for the past 18 years as lowell, her door was always open. she mentored many students, staff members, and teachers. she celebrated multiculturalism for all students. miss giles was well known for her love of music and cultural

events, was always in attendance at numerous student performances, and attending numerous games each week, always wearing her cardinal gear. her generosity of spirit and open hearted support of students will continue. in the past few years, holly conducted the senior awards ceremony, an important tradition of which she was very proud. a scholarship in her name will be established in her name. she was a gifted administrator whose legacy will live on in her colleagues and students. we will miss her laughter and steadfast commitment to students and others. she was a beautiful and caring colleague, gone too soon. >> thank you, superintendent matthews, for reading that. >> president?

>> go ahead. >> okay. i also am going to read in honor of dr. mary francis. i adjourn this meeting in memory of dr. mary francis, retired district administrator. dr. mary francis welch bird was the first born to samuel massey welsh and grace clayton welsh on january 12, 1930, in chicago, illinois. she was the last to leave on may 21, 2021, in salt lake city, utah. mary francis attended a.o. sex ton elementary school and went onto graduate from inglewood high school in 1948. she received her b.s. degree in

1952. mary francis received her master's degree in educational administration from xavier university in 1957, and her doctorate in education from university of california berkeley in 1962. her marriage took her from chicago to cincinnati, ohio, and subsequently to san francisco, california, in 1958, where she began teaching with the san francisco unified school district. her marriage to ted bird would end, but she would remain in the bay area and would go to onto serve as an educator and administrator with the district for 43.5 years. she heldmany positions with the district, including assistant

principle at samuel gonyars high school, and coordinator for human resources services. she retired as a program director for state and federal projects in 2001, and in 2010, she moved to salt lake city to be close to her daughter. she heldmany education memberships, among them, the national women in education honor society and the united administrators of san francisco emeritus. her heart and soul belonged to her beloved sorority, delta sigma theta. another love was football, and her san francisco 49ers. the board of education and superintendent of schools

offers their sincere condolences to her daughter, tony lynn, and to all of dr. bird's family members. and with that, this meeting is adjourned. >> i try to start every day not looking at my phone by doing something that is grounding.

that is usually meditation. i have a gym set up in my garage, and that is usually breathing and movement and putting my mind towards something else. surfing is my absolute favorite thing to do. it is the most cleansing thing that i'm able to do. i live near the beach, so whenever i can get out, i do. unfortunately, surfing isn't a daily practice for me, but i've been able to get out weekly, and it's something that i've been incredibly grateful for. [♪♪♪] >> i started working for the city in 2005. at the time, my kids were pretty young but i think had

started school. i was offered a temporarily position as an analyst to work on some of the programs that were funded through homeland security. i ultimately spent almost five years at the health department coordinating emergency programs. it was something that i really enjoyed and turned out i was pretty good at. thinking about glass ceiling, some of that is really related to being a mother and self-supposed in some ways that i did not feel that i could allow myself to pursue responsibility; that i accepted treading water in my career when my kids were young. and as they got older, i felt more comfortable, i suppose, moving forward. in my career, i have been asked to step forward. i wish that i had earlier stepped forward myself, and i feel really strongly, like i am

100% the right person for this job. i cannot imagine a harder time to be in this role. i'm humbled and privileged but also very confident. so here at moscone center, this is the covid command center, or the c.c.c. here is what we calledun -- call unified command. this is where we have physically been since march, and then, in july, we developed this unified structure. so it's the department of emergency management, the department of public health, and our human services hughesing partners, so primarily the department of homelessness and supportive housing and human services agency. so it's sort of a three-headed command in which we are coordinating and operating everything related to covid response. and now, of course, in this final phase, it's mass

vaccination. the first year was before the pandemic was extremely busy. the fires, obviously, that both we were able to provide mutual support but also the impact of air quality. we had, in 2018, the worst air quality ten or 11 days here in the city. i'm sure you all remember it, and then, finally, the day the sun didn't come out in san francisco, which was in october. the orange skies, it felt apocalyptic, super scary for people. you know, all of those things, people depend on government to say what's happening. are we safe? what do i do? and that's a lot of what department of emergency management's role is. public service is truly that. it is such an incredible and effective way that we can make

change for the most vulnerable. i spend a lot of my day in problem solving mode, so there's a lot of conversations with people making connections, identifying gaps in resources or whatever it might be, and trying to adjust that. the pace of the pandemic has been nonstop for 11 months. it is unrelenting, long days, more than what we're used to, most of us. honestly, i'm not sure how we're getting through it. this is beyond what any of us ever expected to experience in our lifetime. what we discover is how strong we are, and really, the depth of our resilience, and i say that for every single city employee that has been working around the clock for the last 11 months, and i also speak about myself. every day, i have to sort of

have that moment of, like, okay, i'm really tired, i'm weary, but we've got to keep going. it is, i would say, the biggest challenge that i have had personally and professionally to be the best mom that i can be but also the best public certify chant in whatever role i'm in. i just wish that i, as my younger self, could have had someone tell me you can give it and to give a little more nudge. so indirectly, people have helped me because they have seen something in me that i did not see in myself. there's clear data that women have lost their jobs and their income because they had to take care of their safety nets. all of those things that we depend on, schools and daycare and sharing, you know, being

together with other kids isn't available. i've often thought oh, if my kids were younger, i couldn't do this job, but that's unacceptable. a person that's younger than me that has three children, we want them in leadership positions, so it shouldn't be limiting. women need to assume that they're more capable than they think they are. men will go for a job whether they're qualified or not. we tend to want to be 110% qualified before we tend to step forward. i think we need to be a little more brave, a little more exploratory in stepping up for positions. the other thing is, when given an opportunity, really think twice before you put in front of you the reasons why you should not take that leadership position. we all need to step up so that

we can show the person behind us that it's doable and so that we have the power to make the changes for other women that is going to make the possibility for their paths easier than ours. other women see me in it, and i hope that they see me, and they understand, like, if i can do it, they can do it because the higher you get, the more leadership you have, and power. the more power and leadership

>> this is a huge catalyst for change. >> it will be over 530,000 gross square feet plus two levels of basement. >> now the departments are across so many locations it is hard for them to work together and collaborate and hard for the customers to figure out the different locations and hours of operation. >> one of the main drivers is a one stopper mitt center for -- permit center. >> special events. we are a one stop shop for those three things. >> this has many different uses throughout if years. >> in 1940s it was coca-cola and the flagship as part of the construction project we are

retaining the clock tower. the permit center is little working closely with the digital services team on how can we modernize and move away from the paper we use right now to move to a more digital world. >> the digital services team was created in 2017. it is 2.5 years. our job is to make it possible to get things done with the city online. >> one of the reasons permitting is so difficult in this city and county is really about the scale. we have 58 different department in the city and 18 of them involve permitting. >> we are expecting the residents to understand how the departments are structured to navigate through the permitting processes. it is difficult and we have heard that from many people we interviewed. our goal is you don't have to know the department. you are dealing with the city. >> now if you are trying to get

construction or special events permit you might go to 13 locations to get the permit. here we are taking 13 locations into one floor of one location which is a huge improvement for the customer and staff trying to work together to make it easy to comply with the rules. >> there are more than 300 permitting processes in the city. there is a huge to do list that we are possessing digital. the first project is allowing people to apply online for the a.d.u. it is an accessory dwelling unit, away for people to add extra living space to their home, to convert a garage or add something to the back of the house. it is a very complicated permit. you have to speak to different departments to get it approved. we are trying to consolidate to one easy to due process. some of the next ones are

windows and roofing. those are high volume permits. they are simple to issue. another one is restaurant permitting. while the overall volume is lower it is long and complicated business process. people struggle to open restaurants because the permitting process is hard to navigate. >> the city is going to roll out a digital curing system one that is being tested. >> when people arrive they canshay what they are here to. it helps them workout which cue they neat to be in. if they rant to run anker rapid she can do that. we say you are next in line make sure you are back ready for your appointment. >> we want it all-in-one location across the many departments involved. it is clear where customers go to play. >> on june 5, 2019 the ceremony

was held to celebrate the placement of the last beam on top of the structures. six months later construction is complete. >> we will be moving next summer. >> the flu building -- the new building will be building. it was designed with light in mind. employees will appreciate these amenities. >> solar panels on the roof, electric vehicle chargers in the basement levels, benefiting from gray watery use and secured bicycle parking for 300 bicycles. when you are on the higher floors of the building you might catch the tip of the golden gate bridge on a clear day and good view of soma. >> it is so exciting for the team. it is a fiscal manifestation what we are trying to do. it is allowing the different departments to come together to

issue permits to the residents. we hope people can digitally come to one website for permits. we are trying to make it digital so when they come into the center they have a high-quality interaction with experts to guide then rather than filling in forms. they will have good conversations with our staff.

>> it is june 23, 2021. taff. the time is 5:05. this meeting is being held via webex. during the covid-19 emergency, the fire commission's regular meeting room in city hall is closed and meetings will resume remotely. you can watch live at sfgov.org and to participate by public comment, please dial

415-655-0001: access code 146-453-9316. remembers of the public will have opportunities to participate during public comment. the public is asked to wait for the particular agenda item before making a comment on that item. comments will be addressed in the order they are received. when the moderator announces that the commission is taking public comment, members of the public can raise their hand by pressing star 3 and you will be queued. when prompted, callers can have three minutes to comment. speak clearly and turn off any tvs or radios around you. item one, roll call. president katherine feinstein. >> present.

>> commissioner stephen a. nakajo. >> present. >> commissioner francee covington. >> present. >> commissioner ken cleaveland. >> present. >> and chief of the department jeanine nicholson. >> present. >> and the president wanted to make an announcement. >> yes, i'm going to exercise my presidential prerogative. i tried to repair something and just couldn't do it today, or yesterday, or the day before. i just really want to acknowledge the contribution that commissioner rodriguez made to this commission and his passing was sudden.

it was incredibly sad and for those of us who worked with him, which i did, we're really going to miss him from this commission. he brought a perspective. he brought a work ethic. he was determined to figure things out. i had a several conversations with him. no violation of sunshine, no violation of the brown act, but if i can help you in any way, please let me know. don't hesitate to call. he never called. we had different conversations at different times and i really came to appreciate his

perspective. he was a fine human being and he was dedicated to doing his job to the best of his ability, which was absolutely in every way or in some ways more than others of us could do. i mean he brought a very special perspective. he has a lovely wife with whom i spoken and four daughters, two of whom i spoken to. i am going to thank the chief for the coordination that she has done with regards to friday's services and the length that the department has gone. i just really wanted to recognize that he wanted to do this job and he wanted to get it right.

he was willing to do anything that he needed to learn. you know, i apologize to my fellow commissioners for being somewhat obtuse along the way and that was at the request of the family and i wasn't going to violate that request. i will say i was maybe more surprised than many others that his passing came so quickly. i had no idea. so when this meeting adjourns, i plan to adjourn it or seek a motion to adjourn in honor of his memory. i just want everybody -- i think the command staff knows. maybe some do, some don't. anybody that is listening, i want them to know that we have lost a really fine colleague.

his shoes will be difficult to fill. he was a fine commissioner and fine human being and everything we should each aspire to be. so you know, when i looked at the agenda and his name was missing from the roll call i was just -- it's tough going. i know you have all been through it in worse circumstances, but it was a tough thing. it's a tough thing to see it written there in black and white. i just wanted to take that time to express our thanks to him, wherever he may be and condolences on behalf of the commission and i know even

without asking, i speak for everybody and the command staff, to his family and he'll always be part of all of us. i just wanted to share those thoughts. we can proceed at this point. >> very good. thank you for those comments. item two, general public comment. members of the public may address the commission for up to three minutes on any matter within the commission's jurisdiction that does not appear on the agenda. speakers shall address their remarks to the commission as a whole and not to individual commissioners or department personnel. commissioners are not to enter into debate or discussion with

the speaker. the lack of a response by the commissioners or department personnel does not necessarily constitute agreement with or support of the statements made during public comment. there is a speaker. did you want to make a public comment? >> i did. i just wanted to make sure i'm audible. >> yes, we can hear you. >> terrific. >> i'm going to set the clock now for three minutes. >> all righty. i'm appealing to you as a commission because i have a rather unusual position i'm in. one of your retired fire captains has done something unusual several times this year. he has called in to a county board of supervisors meeting and

he has chosen to disparage an imagine -- man who was a victim of the county sheriff's swat, that took place on good friday. the man that was the subject of the raid was mentally ill. he was mentally ill at a level that you know, essentially it was a handicap. he was disabled. it was a rather tortuous swat raid and it involved an enormous amount of bear spray, pepper spray, it was completely bizarre. i mean most of us who heard about it were really appalled, but your former employee has taken it upon himself prior to this man's -- this guy who was a victim of the swat raid is now

in the county jail, facing some absurd charge. your former fire captain has made a habit of disparaging this man and misstating the facts surrounding the events, both of the raid and leading up to the raid. this is creating a bit of a problem. it's basically tainting the jury pool. it really led me to wonder what sort of ethics training was available to that generation of sffd. i do not want to believe this gentleman is representative of your fire department as a whole and i'm preparing a letter to the chief regarding that. i wanted to bring it forward because it seems timely. it seems like something that you should really be checking right now. it really, it doesn't make sense

to attempt to taint jury pools in the county, in public meetings against a disabled individual. i didn't know this individual, but we all become very concerned, not only about what was done to him during the swat raid, but the fact that the sheriffs in the process of this swat raid, with all this pepper spray, and bean bag pellets ended up killing his dog. then they let the vessel that this guy was in, they let it catch on fire. the fire department wasn't able to put it out or didn't try. most of the evidence was burned -- >> your time is up caller. >> did you want to leave your name? >> i will in a letter to the chief. i will also provide newspaper articles regarding the incident. i do ask that you do check your

ethics training, thank you. >> thank you. there is no one else on the public comment line. >> all right. public comment will be closed at this time. again, i'm sorry. i'm just discombobulated a little bit today. i meant to say this before. i did want to welcome to the meetings, both chief brown at the airport and i'm looking at my -- i know chief brown -- ah ha, there you are. welcome chief brown and fire marshal? so i wanted to recognize both of them. welcome. it's our pleasure to have you

join us. you will find these meetings stimulating and we look forward to your participation. >> well thank you very much. >> welcome to the command staff. sorry. >> item three, approval of the minutes. discussion of possible action to approve the meeting minutes of the regular meeting on june 9, 2021. is there a motion? >> moved madam president. >> thank you, is there a second? >> i will second madam president. >> thank you commissioner nakajo and commissioner cleaveland. >> and there is no one on the public comment line. >> all right, public comment is

closed. >> president feinstein, how do you vote? >> to adopt the minutes. >> commissioner covington, how do you vote? >> vote to adopt. >> it's unanimous. >> thank you. >> approval of the special meeting minutes of june 16, 2021. >> move to approve madam president. >> thank you commissioner cleaveland. is there a second? >> move to adopt madam president, this is commissioner nakajo. >> thank you commissioner nakajo. >> and president feinstein, how do you vote? >> to adopt. >> and commissioner covington, how do you vote? >> yes. >> it's unanimous.

item four, chief of department's report. report from chief of department, jeanine nicholson. report on the current issues, activities, and events within the department since the fire commissioner meeting on june 9, 2021, including budget, academics, special events, communications, and outreach to other government agencies and the public. report from administration, deputy chief jose velo. >> this is jeanine nicholson. thank you for your comments about commissioner rodriguez president feinstein. yeah, it is really heartbreaking

and what a good man. i really enjoyed the conversations and the contact i had with him and hoped for more. you know, condolences from the entire department to his family and friends and to all commissioners as well. we will be attending his funeral this friday. unfortunately we can't put the truck display up in front because there is just not enough room on portland street, but we will have an engine there and presence there. i think it's very important to do so. i know he was very proud of being the fire commissioner and at the same time, a super humble man. >> yes. >> so, yes. there is that.

thank you commissioners who were present on june 15th when we honored our brother firefighter paramedic jason cortez at headquarters by unveiling his name on the line of duty death memorial wall. his wife and children were there. his station mates were there, as well as some other folks. i know that it was very meaningful to patty, his wife, and his boys, as well as to the members of station three. so, thank you for your participation in that and of course we had our mayor, mayor london breed there as well. hon friday, june 18th, we had the funeral of firefighter christopher who died after

fighting a fire at san francisco international airport. i had the opportunity to speak and give his son, his 13-year-old son his helmet and badge. you know, it's just -- it's been a lot. the fire department, we're always ready to stand up and handle things and this has been a lot, with commissioner rodriguez, with christopher, with steven brantley. it's been a lot for our members and we keep carrying on and doing the job we need to do and i am so appreciative of all the people in this department. today, june 23rd, commissioners thank you for being there at the station 49 ribbon cutting

ceremony. the chief rocked the house with her words, it was great. thank you. and thank you to the commissioners and our mayor and president of the board of supervisors walton for attending. since our last commission meeting, you know, a few things had been going on. we're in the process of hiring our next h2 class. i know the chief is working on the next class, as well as, whoops, sorry. there is a lot of work being done. in addition, my staff and i have been working on the budget. i would like to thank mark corso, olivia scandal -- scan

lin for getting us where we are at. we will be back tomorrow for a final hearing. i feel pretty confident that we will keep much of what the mayor's budget also included in the budget. i know that we're also working on additional medics for our ambulance division. we will continue those conversations. we're hopeful that it will result in additional f.t.e. for station 49. that is a work in progress. so with that, i would like to give a big thanks to assistant deputy chief mark johnson from s.f.o., whose last meeting this is.

our fire commissioner, dan who tried to skate out of this meeting and i think he has skated out of this meeting and is not here tonight. i just wanted to express my gratitude for stepping up and being part of the command staff and moving this department forward in such a positive way. as you stated earlier president feinstein, i'm really pleased to announce, to welcome our new fire marshal and dave as our new assistant deputy chief of the airport. if i may be so bold president feinstein to ask each of them to introduce themselves to you. >> that would be lovely. thank you. >> okay, ken, the fire marshal, can you introduce yourself please? >> yes, thank you chief

nicholson, president feinstein, commissioners nakajo, covington, and cleaveland. it's a great honor. i appreciate being able to serve as the fire marshal at san francisco. big shoes to fill and i hope to do what i can over the years to look out for the citizens of san francisco. thank you very much. appreciate it. >> thanks very much. dave brown, can you please introduce yourself? >> good evening everyone. good evening madam president, madam secretary, commissioner covington, nakajo and commissioner cleaveland and chief of department nicholson and command staff. i would like to reiterate what he said, big shoes to fill, mark johnson. i want to thank him for his

years of dedicated service, the last few years being spent at the airport. he has been a big addition to our staff down there. like i said, big shoes to fill. i hope i can step up and do half as good of a job he did. thank you and i look forward to working with all of you. thank you very much. >> thank you very much. that concludes my report and i'm happy to take any questions. >> all right, commissioners, any questions for the chief of the department? i'm seeing no hands. chief -- actually, i have one question for you. with regards to the incoming academy class, is it smaller than normal because of issues

that are related to covid or budget or what have you? >> thank you president feinstein. the class that is graduating, we have a graduating class on friday of 23 recruits. that class was smaller due to covid limitations. this next class will be larger. most of the covid restrictions have been lifted and we can put more folks through. in addition, we're seeing a lot of retirements. we need the staffing, let's just put it that way. we need the staffing, so it will be a larger class. most likely around 40. i don't like to do classes as large as 54. i don't think people get as much hands on, but with 40, it is

still manageable. our training folks do a wonderful job getting these folks out. so i believe the class will be approximately, give or take a few 40 beginning in august. also, president feinstein i know that commissioner nakajo had his hand up. >> and commissioner nakajo, i'm going to introduce you one second because i'll forget otherwise if you don't mind. chief, can you tell us how many paramedics are we short? what do we need? what are we asking for? >> so, that's sort of a complicated question to answer because there are so many different things that play into it. so we have our community para

medicine paramedics that we're getting staffing for in this budget from the mayor. we will be getting some additional paramedics, i believe from the board of supervisors, likely in the add back process. what happened for us president feinstein is two years ago we began looking at all the data and trying to really drill down on everything from response time, to sick leave, to all sorts of things in terms of the staffing that we need. so then covid happened, right? everything got shifted. e.m.s. has always stepped up and filled in where they were needed with all sorts of different programs, the alcohol management, just all over the place. we saw our call volume drop.

now the call volume is going back up and we are again looking at our response times and all sorts of other data points, whether it's time at the hospitals, and we really need to drill down on all of that before i can give an absolute number of what we need. do i believe we need more staffing? yes. so, what we're doing is starting in july, we will be recommissioning our ambulance work group that we had back in 2014 or 2016 i believe it was. so we can really drill down on exactly what it is that we need moving forward. so i'm sorry, i don't have an exact number to give you. i know we should be getting some in the add back process and we

absolutely welcome that. so that was a wrong way of not really answering how many people, but there are a lot of different things that play into it. >> no, i understand chief. i appreciate it. i was just trying to get a sense of where we were with it and you gave me a bit more. if there is anything else we can do as a commission, you just need to let us know. again, i apologize commissioner nakajo, but i would like to turn it now over to you. >> thank you very much madam president. again, no problem at all. i just wanted to take advantage of this particular time and period with the chief report, with the chief being present. in terms of just chiming in on congratulations and what an honor and great job that chief tong did. i also wanted to throw out chief

dewitt. i know there is much more behind chief tong's and chief dewitt's, and d.p.w.'s relationship with the city and county. i made phrases with that with carmen today. it's an honor to see the mayor and i thought that as a commissioner that saw the e.m.s. come over from public health and try all of the levels of history of being in a station and out of a station and on the street, at what i call now 049 and to see this magnificent structure with all of the staff. it was just really nice. i wanted to take advance taming -- advantage of that and acknowledge the support of the commissioners. i will have some comments when it comes to the reports, so i'll

refrain. thank you for the comments as well. i wanted to call out paramedic carla babeyan. i wanted to acknowledge that and welcome chief brown in terms of the airport assignment. it's a great honor. i look forward to it. the fire marshal, again, through the years, it's really nice to see the elevation, what i call internally among the department. i'm looking forward to working with you as well. thank you madam president. i will refrain. >> thank you commissioner nakajo. you couldn't have said it better for any of us. thank you. i think we echo all of your sentiments. thank you very much. any further comments or

questions for the chief of the department? none. i see none. i am looking -- oh, there she is. sorry. >> there's no one on the public comment line. >> thank you. all right, public comment will be closed. >> chief, did you want to go on with your report? >> thank you. madam president, commissioners, chief of the department, command staff. i'm jose velo. i will share my presentation. can you see this? >> yes, sir. >> thank you. i'll be brief. i have some things to share. we talked about training, the graduation of the academy,

again, it's at 9:30. some of the pictures of the recruits from the final days and everything is put together. one of the final things we do, they put all the skills -- they learned that in the 20 weeks they do and they fight fire. this is the final week. i brought my training chief here, he is in the middle picture on the bottom. he is a structure for fire control and he likes to get dirty and show the recruits what we do. we couldn't be in a better place than with him during training. some of the things we are doing, we are doing the drills, the use of the facility at t.i. they learn of all the things we do. the water supply system and operations of loading the hose and using them for large fires. so this is good to see them

again, getting hands on experience. they have a new academy that started a month and a half ago. it's good to see that reserve grow again. this past month, we also had some rescue training and coastal i.c.s. so our folks were in the water and practicing their skills. it's a requirement they do every year. if you want to maintain your precision at the house we have, you have a short rescue precision, you need to maintain this every year and refresh every year. we have folks coming in to the training. we have refreshment trainings. i mentioned that we were able to get some funding for training classes because we have a good relationship with them. we are able to host some of these classes. this happened last week. the rescue systems three, it is a technical rescue class. they put many skills together. this one we used cranes, we used

shoring. a lot of things for a structure collapse, we will be using. some of our members, a large number of members were able to attend this class. being hosted here made it easier for our members to attend. it's good to get through all the agencies. we're able to provide free trainings. it's good to see that it's sharper than that too. as you recall, we also were able to get hands on training exercises. this is one of the days. our folks went out there to train. it's a life saving drill they do to practice for what is expected to be a very busy fire season. we're ready for that. the chief from health safety and wellness. may was our mental health awareness month. especially after covid had gone off the room and for us, our members showed support by wearing a green ribbon.

we all had it on our uniform. we had a safety week where we focused on mental health training for our members. our officers, all stations paused their training and made sure they focused on mental health initiatives and support. all the members were able to get that. we're really focusing on that and we want to make sure that our members are not left behind. they go through a lot, both in the e.m.s. and suppression, and we want to support them as much as we can and we increase our wellness through critical incidence response team. we want to have those resources too. another thing the chief was working on, we had 10 current firefighters. the purpose is to study the health effects of the fire fighting with them and cancer position. so we monitor frequently.

for our current members, they also have a baseline of where they are. they can see the levels of what they have in their system. it's good to have that always, the cancer foundation has been progressive in studying the effects of firefighters, the combustion, the gear we use and how that's affecting our firefighters. we're willing to participate in this study and our members are willing to participate in the studies. so some of the reports of vaccinations, we're up to 75%. we stalled on that. since march 1st, we had three cases of covid in the department. that is a significant decrease. all the members non-vaccinated, through community spread. our folks in the station are doing a good job when they prevent the spread of covid. we are waiting. we were publishing new guidelines for our members based on the city of the h.r. guidelines coming up in the next few days on who can remove their

masks at the job site, stations, and offices, not on calls. we stimhave to wear that. we will have to wait for that and will publish that very soon. we'll also have hearing testing and cardiac risk tests, and firefighters will go through a station where a nurse will make measurements, blood pressure, weight and so forth and based on those, they will recommend that firefighter to seek further information from their primary care physician if their score should be higher than it should be. it's been busy, not just random tests on our members, helping the doctors offices, and helping the department and our human resources director on the onboarding of the level one academy and the h2 academy as well.

so station 35, the work that is being done there. we're happy to say that the points of connection are being identified, they are worked on and we now have an end time for when that's happening. we think it's going to be some time in october, early fall, but now we have good news that it's moving forward and we have an end date for that too. we also have some artwork installation to the right of the station. it will be a ship-like structure that will be there with some picture from the old station, the old boats. so that will be in the end of july. so i will make sure that i will have some pictures for you next time. the ribbon cutting ceremony today, beautiful event, beautiful station. i wanted to echo the statements that the chief's comments were very meaningful and powerful. thank you for attending the

event. it was beautiful and i am happy you god a nice tour of the station. really, when you see inside, it's proud for us to deliver this so they can have a deseventh -- decent working station to do the job they do everyday. some of the things you already saw in the tour. it's just beautiful to see how everything is working there. the fueling station for the fuel, the loading station for the ambulance, and the training room is a great room for them to have a comfortable space so they can refresh their training. it's really, really good news. fleet, not a lot on the fleet. the contract has been closed. now we can engage in the construction. we're happy to see it's a long process, it took a long time, but now we have that. for future additions in the budget, we can refer to this contract. so that's good. so some as you recall, we got a

federal grant for sffd, our own apparatus and we're looking at models and specs for that too. that will be coming up soon. our assistant deputy chief o'connor, quite busy. palm station 2 will be doing some work in july. looks like most of the work has been completed. he also completed some table top exercises with p.u.c. some major events like earthquakes and what that will be with our system and how we can support that. the main thing is the communication between both agencies in case of the event and how we're going to communicate out of the field with the folks and shut down some of the valves that we can prevent some of the water logs that happened in 1906. some of the things we're doing, we're going out, showing our supervisors some of the things we're bringing, the new

standards, how they're going to work. so we do a demonstration with them. we also show them a new -- we're going to have a new demonstration of the border pipe, which is going to sustain a higher than 8.0 earthquake. this is a model of that. it's a flexible pipe. it is used in japan. this is able to sustain heavy earthquakes and save the system being intact. so we're going to have demonstrations soon. make sure that you know about it if you want to attend. i invite you to come to that too. some of the works we do with the community, we continue to support the vaccination sites with the vaccination team. that continues to go on regardless of the escalation of things happening with covid. we continue to push those numbers up. our city is one of the highest in the country in terms of vaccination rates. we're happy to see that. we're happy to participate in

the juneteenth parade and event. it was a great event. we enjoyed it. we also used this event as a recruitment as a hands on c.p.r. event. we educated the public with skills they need to have if someone needs c.p.r. also, it's an opportunity for us to expose our department and hopefully recruit some folks. just having people there, being part of the recruiting event. thank you commissioner for participating in the somber, but important for us. it was very important and we had a good showing. the families appreciate it. thank you for your work president feinstein. we mentioned the event for jason, the wall. it is a tradition for us. it is a necessary right of passage for us, for those who fall in the line of duty. thank you for those. the family really appreciated

and you can tell the kids did too. also in my report, in memory of christopher, thank you for attending the services. also, a necessary right for us to be able to honor the families and our members. i will finish the report in memory of commissioner rodriguez. i also felt that he has good questions too and wanted to know more all the time. so it's going to be a huge loss for us and i'm hoping his family may find some solace in this. thank you. >> thank you. thank you chief velo. first, do we have any public comment? madam secretary. >> there is no one on the public comment line. >> public comment shall be closed. commissioners, comments or questions please for chief velo?

commissioner cleaveland. >> thank you madam president. no questions, it's an excellent report chief. appreciate it. i too would like to just express my personal regret at the loss of our commissioner, fellow commissioner. commissioner rodriguez. i didn't get to know him very well because he had only been on the commissioner about a year or so. we didn't have in-person meetings, but he seemed like a genuinely nice person. he was very interested in the fire department. he did ask very good questions and i felt that he was a very, very capable commissioner and somebody that we could respect and work with and i really regret his loss. so, i just wanted to say those words. i don't have any questions, thank you madam president. >> thank you commissioner cleaveland. i saw another hand and i asked

the person please if you would raise your hand again. i am now losing all my pictures. wait, wait, wait. they're back. commissioner nakajo? yes, sir. >> thank you very much madam president. thank you very much chief for your covid comprehensive report. i generally identify different areas, but i wanted to make the comment or question. again, you did a very, very complete job. what i like about both of you and chief's report is that it calls out all of the members within the report and all the different departments on paper before you talked, identify that your report for the public and for the community consists of ten different units. within the 10 different units, in terms of alphabetical,

investigation of service and captain and you called out the deputy chief and the county chief parks and always in terms of assistant deputy chief dewitt and then we go to chief and there is so much. there is marianne and then there is phil in reserves. it's a comprehensive report. i think it looks at the reflection of our time and expense most recently. it just makes me reflect and appreciate the total membership there all the areas of our department, as well as your seeking closure and embrace the fellow commissioners that i had the privilege to work with as well. i wanted to thank all the members of the department and everyone in the unit as well. when it comes specifically to

station 49, i kept saying as we walked through my tour, how it just made so much sense and i had to say after 25 years, i was lucky to see this as a conceptual image off paper. even a formal sayings, and to walk and see the supply center, and the repairs and chief, i never seen them disinfect the gurneys. those that repaired the gurneys in 49, there was a curtain that hung behind these guys. chief dewitt within that area, the command room, it's so custom fit for us and such a great feeling to be see the

collaboration of the city. i just wanted to remark how i felt personally about that as well. thank you very much. then, i didn't know when to deliver my words in terms of commissioner rodriguez. but since commissioner cleaveland offered up -- traditionally i offer to come see me and have some lunch. let me tell you unofficially, officially the parameters of the fire department and commission. commissioner rodriguez, again even for me after all these words, it's hard for me to call someone tony or mark or commissioner rodriguez. he reminded me the down to earth, blue collar, san franciscan, that was so open.

as far as my appreciation for all the commissioners. each one of us brings a different kind of expertise and concept and perspective. certainly, commissioner rodriguez brought that. i just wanted to appreciate that. i did get to know him a little bit. his earnest desire and being so proud to be a member of the commission for this department was unprecedented. he said i think i'm getting it. i said believe me commissioner, you're getting it. bless you all. thank you very much. i just wanted to comment and my condolences. my family and myself, i personally know the commissioner and my family. thank you very much. >> thank you. beautifully put commissioner nakajo as usual. any further questions or comments for chief velo?

i'm not seeing any hands go up. oh. commissioner covington, i can see your hand. i can't hear you. is it just me? can people hear commissioner covington? >> can you hear me now? >> yes, now we can. >> okay, i can't see you and i got a lot of reverb going on. i do want to thank very much the two outgoing chiefs for the airport and of course i can't believe they're both going at the same time. how can the fire chief -- excuse me, i'm discombobulated because of all these technical problems i'm having.

the chief is going as well and i wanted to thank both of them very much for everything they have done. they have kept the department, an excellent department and i would like to welcome their replacements. also, the event this morning was stellar. it was just so nice and we needed up lift with everything that has been going on. to see something so magnificent come to fruition after years of discussion and planning. it's just very, very rewarding. regarding our late commissioner, at the beginning of this year when my term as president was

coming to an end, i called our current president feinstein to ask her if she would be willing to run for president. without hesitation, she said she would. she wanted to know if she could call upon me at any time and i said, definitely. then i called commissioner rodriguez and asked him if he thought that he would be ready to be vice president. he said, you know, i don't know if i'm ready, but i have found in the past that if you step up for a leadership position, you learn more.

you can do more. you can be more helpful. that was his attitude. how can i be of service? so i told my son, i said i can't believe it. i made a new friend. now he's gone. i will miss him tremendously. the sparkle in his eye when he was being anxious about asking a question. he was so open and willing to learn and to help. condolences to the family. >> thank you commissioner covington.

any other commissioners wish to ask chief velo or address any comments to chief velo? okay chief velo. >> hi, good evening. here comes my question chief velo. station 35, my pet peeve was in october of 2021, how late is that? let's talk about that here. >> i believe it's five months late. [please stand by]

pg and es to determine if that's a viable location. sometimes they were into the sidewalkto see if those locations or appropriate . they buy utility that works on mac so it's just a protracted process there are many more balls than anyonethought there needed to be . again, it's quite a fish story. >> they're making good progress. i did speak with the two superintendents. some of the orders are coming soon and they anticipated the work where they had begun digging so smoothly and they started opening the calls so although balls are being set quickly and they have pg and e test the lines and i think it's

moving faster than we'd like to admit. >> thank you. i wanted to take one second to say and i should have called before. great work to both you and chief velo on station 49. it was just a wonderful bright spot in the middle of a gloomy month, frankly for the fire department. i know the degree of effort you put in towards the station development and i'm not saying sanfrancisco is easy .i really wanted to congratulate you to because it just wouldn't have been more spectacular.

i am going to bring and i'm directing one last thing . to you chief, the training roo . i'm wondering if we have any budgetproblems , could werent that out ? and add money to the departmen budget ? is there anything that prevents usfrom doing that ? >> i think it would be quite busy in that room and we wouldn't have time to rent them out but before i finish i wanted to say something but this was a huge team effort. she has a great team. the moment she came into this job she was every single week going line by line making sure thisproject went online but it's painstaking also on the ems side , fantastic job making sure that all the needs they have communicated to us we can work with our team and make

sure it works so this was a huge team effort and i want to commend you for putting those pieces together the folks out there really are enjoying the facility . >> i would like to give specia recognition to craig gordon who came in kind of late in the projectover the last year . his skills are amazing . he kept track of so many things i did not have time to keep track of and made sure the transition from the old facility to thenews facility was seamless . he's been on top of all the installations of the cameras and has nailed down all the finer details of the project and has been on site the whole way through and it's been a great collaboration between him and chief strong andreally great faultsthat we've had as part of the team . he's amazing . >> that's kind of you and good to know. i know from the report what his work was and i think the other

commissioners did too. please extend our congratulations to him to on behalf ofthe commission . if you would, thank you. chief dewitt. okay. madam secretary, yes? no? things are flashing on andoff so forgive me .>> we will go to item 5, commission report. since last meeting june 9, 202 . and there is nobodyon a public comment line . >> public comment is closed. commissioners, what have we been up to? you guys have been busier than that. i know that. for myself, i can say ...

privilege is the wrong word. it's the first time i've ever done it. attended the unveiling of a name on the memorial wall at headquarters for firefighter aromatic cortez. i mean, you guys, and i mean that generically have a tough job. it's tough to look at two little boys and i'm sorry. their faces. i'll just say ithought it was beautifully done. i was honored to be there on behalf of the commission . let's just hope there are no more damned names goingon that

wall that's all i can say and forgive my language . it's tough. i have to say, i admire all of you every day because all of it is ... these things are tough. so that was my activity that i would report. we have more of course. everybody with station 49 today, i can report that for everybody and we have enough coming graduation and sadly on the same day and upcoming funeral for commissioner rodriguez . it's reallyheartbreaking and ironic . so that's what i have to say about that. not in an articulate way, i'm

sorry. any further ... okay. i see nohands . >> can you hear me?>> shall we go to item number six? >> i think that's great. >> agenda for next and future fire commission meetings. >> let's hear any public comment first of all. >> there is nobody on a public comment line. >> public comment is closedand i see the commissioner has his hands up . >> thank you verymuch madame president . i want to be sensitive to my suggestion if that's what it is on the discretion of the president . with information and input from thesecretary .

but at some point when it's appropriate, i would like to be respectful but ask for some movement on protocol or process or procedure of the commission to go into elections to fill the position of vice president in a timely manner.i say that because today and other days we have difficulty getting on a meeting. this was a ritual at this time but the course of events that may occur is the president may not be available and if we don't have the clarity in terms of the vice president or in terms of conducting the business athand for also the commission and department , that concerns me. so again i want to be sensitive and careful but i also want to be able to yield to the discretion of the president on the possibility of this item

being agenda eyes. >> i will respond, i understand commissioner nakajo. i don't think thiswas the time right now to do that . and i will, i'm sure be in communication with the mayor's office to find out what the intent is with a replacement. regardless of how long it may take or not,i don't know. i haven't spoken with anybody . but you know, it didn't feel right to do that right now. you're right, we need a vice president and weneed to do that . it just, let's make it through this week and we will then proceed because you're correct.

we do need a vicepresident. i'msorry , yes . >> i hesitate to even bring this up on the issue of....for me it's a point of the responsibility of making sure that this department is functional. we have a quorum of three at any given time. especially for me for whatever reason, if you're not available within the next couple of months, that's the only thing that worries me and i hope our colleagues on the commission and members of the public again, i'm just trying to be sensitive and respectful to commissioner rodriguez and his family . it's a question of order, that's all.

>> let me justrespond and say you are absolutely right and i appreciate it . i'm going to ask our secretary to please that on our list of items. however, unless station 49 comes to get me and i don't come back, i intend to be available . and with station 49 operating as fine as they are, i expect to be there every other wednesday on the second and fourth wednesday for the foreseeable future. one never knows but i do agree with you that we need to schedule the selection of a new vice president.even if we have a new commissioner, we need to give that person some

time to get up and running. but i will checkin with the mayor's office . so thankyou . i thought i saw one other hand. did i? among mycommissioner colleagues ? speak up if i'mmissing you . i don't see another hand. okay. all right. anything else? are we ready? >> item 7,adjournment . >> all right. is there a motion? commissioner covington. can't hear you. >> can you hear me now?

thank you. i thought we weregoing to go into closed session ? >> madam secretary?>> we have no closed session items on the agenda. >> i thought thepresident had said that we would go into closed session. that was in conversation however . >> i would move for adjournment and move to do so in honor of firefighter yana as well as our colleague commissioner rodriguez. as we say in my faith or whatever it may be, may their memories behind blessing .

i would move toadjourn in their memory and honor . >> second. >> commissioner nakajo. >> commissioner cleveland. >> yes. >> this meeting is adjourned at 6:15. >> thank you everybody.

>> he is a real leader that listens and knows how to bring people together. brought this department together like never before. i am so excited to be swearing in the next chief of the san francisco fire department, ladies and gentlemen, let's welcome, jeanine nicholson. (applause). >> i grew up total tomboy, athlete. i loved a good crisis, a good challenge. i grew up across the street from the fire station. my dad used to take me there to vote. i never saw any female firefighters because there weren't any in the 1970s.

i didn't know i could be a fire fighter. when i moved to san francisco in 1990, some things opened up. i saw women doing things they hadn't been doing when i was growing up. one thing was firefighting. a woman recruited me at the gay-pride parade in 1991. it was a perfect fit. i liked using my brain, body, working as a team, figuring things out, troubleshooting and coming up with different ways to solve a problem. in terms of coming in after another female chief, i don't think anybody says that about men. you are coming in after another man, chief, what is that like. i understand why it is asked. it is unusual to have a woman in this position. i think san francisco is a trailblazer in that way in terms of showing the world what can

happen and what other people who may not look like what you think the fire chief should look like how they can be successful. be asked me about being the first lbgq i have an understands because there are little queer kids that see me. i worked my way up. i came in january of 1994. i built relationships over the years, and i spent 24 years in the field, as we call it. working out of firehouses. the fire department is a family. we live together, eat together, sleep in the same dorm together, go to crazy calls together, dangerous calls and we have to look out for one another. when i was burned in a fire years ago and i felt responsible, i felt awful. i didn't want to talk to any of

my civilian friends. they couldn't understand what i was going through. the firefighters knew, they understood. they had been there. it is a different relationship. we have to rely on one another. in terms of me being the chief of the department, i am really trying to maintain an open relationship with all of our members in the field so myself and my deputy chiefs, one of the priorities i had was for each of us to go around to different fire stations to make sure we hit all within the first three or four months to start a conversation. that hasn't been there for a while. part of the reason that i am getting along well with the field now is because i was there. i worked there. people know me and because i know what we need. i know what they need to be successful. >> i have known jeanine

nicholson since we worked together at station 15. i have always held her in the highest regard. since she is the chief she has infused the department with optimism. she is easy to approach and is concerned with the firefighters and paramedics. i appreciate that she is concerned with the issues relevant to the fire department today. >> there is a retired captain who started the cancer prevention foundation 10 years ago because he had cancer and he noticed fellow firefighters were getting cancer. he started looking into it. in 2012 i was diagnosed with breast canner, and some of my fellow firefighters noticed there are a lot of women in the san francisco fire department,

premenopausal in their 40s getting breast cancer. it was a higher rate than the general population. we were working with workers comp to make it flow more easily for our members so they didn't have to worry about the paper work when they go through chemo. the turnout gear was covered with suit. it was a badge to have that all over your coat and face and helmet. the dirtier you were the harder you worked. that is a cancer causeser. it -- casser. it is not -- cancer causer. there islassic everywhere. we had to reduce our exposure. we washed our gear more often, we didn't take gear where we

were eating or sleeping. we started decontaminating ourselves at the fire scene after the fire was out. going back to the fire station and then taking a shower. i have taught, worked on the decontamination policy to be sure that gets through. it is not if or when. it is who is the next person. it is like a cancer sniper out there. who is going to get it next. one of the things i love about the fire department. it is always a team effort. you are my family. i love the city and department and i love being of service. i vow to work hard -- to work hard to carry out the vision of the san francisco fire department and to move us forward in a positive way. if i were to give a little

advice to women and queer kids, find people to support you. keep putting one foot in front of the other and keep trying. you never know what door is going to open next. you really don't. [cheers and >> we have private and public

gardens throughout the garden tour. all of the gardens are volunteers. the only requirement is you're willing to show your garden for a day. so we have gardens that vary from all stages of development and all gardens, family gardens, private gardens, some of them as small as postage stamps and others pretty expansive. it's a variety -- all of the world is represented in our gardens here in the portola. >> i have been coming to the portola garden tour for the past seven or eight years ever since i learned about it because it is the most important event of the neighborhood, and the reason it is so important is because it links this neighborhood back to its history. in the early 1800s the portola was farmland.

the region's flowers were grown in this neighborhood. if you wanted flowers anywhere future bay area, you would come to this area to get them. in the past decade, the area has tried to reclaim its roots as the garden district. one of the ways it has done that is through the portola garden tour, where neighbors open their gardens open their gardens to people of san francisco so they can share that history. >> when i started meeting with the neighbors and seeing their gardens, i came up with this idea that it would be a great idea to fundraise. we started doing this as a fund-raiser. since we established it, we awarded 23 scholarships and six work projects for the students.

>> the scholarship programs that we have developed in association with the portola is just a win-win-win situation all around. >> the scholarship program is important because it helps people to be able to tin in their situation and afford to take classes. >> i was not sure how i would stay in san francisco. it is so expensive here. i prayed so i would receive enough so i could stay in san francisco and finish my school, which is fantastic, because i don't know where else i would have gone to finish. >> the scholarships make the difference between students being able to stay here in the city and take classes and having to go somewhere else. [♪♪♪] [♪♪♪] >> you come into someone's home and it's they're private and personal space. it's all about them and really

their garden and in the city and urban environment, the garden is the extension of their indoor environment, their outdoor living room. >> why are you here at this garden core? it's amazing and i volunteer here every year. this is fantastic. it's a beautiful day. you walk around and look at gardens. you meet people that love gardens. it's fantastic. >> the portola garden tour is the last saturday in september every year. mark your calendars every year.

♪ >> it is unclenate's creativity time. welcome to uncle nate. we are are going to draw bubble letters. you need supplies. you need a pencil, markers, something to color with and a few pieces of paper. gather up supplies and meet me back right here. all right. let's go. got all supplies out. draw your name lightly in the center of your page. give yourself room. give each letter a little room. all right. now, i want you to draw around

each letter like you are driving a car around each letter. next, let's erase the center. take away the original outline and then we will be left just with the bubble letter. make sure you get the center part out of there. okay. we will touch it up. time for color. i chose yellow, orange, and red. yellow at the top, then the orange in the center, and i am making a stripe right through the center all the way across. last, my red, which makes a cool fade. time for the outline.

unclenate's creative time. figure it out. now we are going to do a drop shadow. a shadow underneath each letter and to the side. it is really going to give it a 3-d look. wow! great job. i bet you didn't think you could draw that. now you can draw bubble letters you can use it to draw things for your friends, cards. it is really useful. i hope you had a good time. i will see you next time on uncle nate's creativity time. ♪

>> my background is in engineering. i am a civil engineer by training. my career has really been around government service. when the opportunity came up to serve the city of san francisco, that was just an opportunity i really needed to explore. [♪♪♪] [♪♪♪] i think it was in junior high and really started to do well in math but i faced some really interesting challenges. many young ladies were not in math and i was the only one in some of these classes. it was tough, it was difficult

to succeed when a teacher didn't have confidence in you, but i was determined and i realized that engineering really is what i was interested in. as i moved into college and took engineering, preengineering classes, once again i hit some of those same stereotypes that women are not in this field. that just challenged me more. because i was enjoying it, i was determined to be successful. now i took that drive that i have and a couple it with public service. often we are the unsung heroes of technology in the city whether it is delivering network services internally, or for our broadband services to low income housing. >> free wi-fi for all of the residents here so that folks have access to do job searches, housing searches, or anything else that anyone else could do

in our great city. >> we are putting the plant in the ground to make all of the city services available to our residents. it is difficult work, but it is also very exciting and rewarding our team is exceptional. they are very talented engineers and analysts who work to deliver the data and the services and the technology every day. >> i love working with linda because she is fun. you can tell her anything under the sun and she will listen and give you solutions or advice. she is very generous and thoughtful and remembers all the special days that you are celebrating. >> i have seen recent employee safety and cyber security. it is always a top priority. i am always feeling proud working with her. >> what is interesting about my work and my family is my experience is not unique, but it

is different. i am a single parent. so having a career that is demanding and also having a child to raise has been a challenge. i think for parents that are working and trying to balance a career that takes a lot of time, we may have some interruptions. if there is an emergency or that sort of thing then you have to be able to still take care of your family and then also do your service to your job. that is probably my take away and a lot of lessons learned. a lot of parents have the concern of how to do the balance i like to think i did a good job for me, watching my son go through school and now enter the job market, and he is in the medical field and starting his career, he was always an intern. one of the things that we try to do here and one of my takeaways from raising him is how

important internships are. and here in the department of technology, we pride ourselves on our interns. we have 20 to 25 each year. they do a terrific job contributing to our outside plant five or work or our network engineering or our finance team. this last time they took to programming our reception robot, pepper, and they added videos to it and all of these sort of things. it was fun to see their creativity and their innovation come out. >> amazing. >> intriguing. >> the way i unwind is with my photography and taking pictures around the city. when i drive around california, i enjoy taking a lot of landscapes. the weather here changes very often, so you get a beautiful

sunset or you get a big bunch of clouds. especially along the waterfront. it is spectacular. i just took some photos of big server and had a wonderful time, not only with the water photos, but also the rocks and the bushes and the landscapes. they are phenomenal. [♪♪♪] my advice to young ladies and women who would like to move into stem fields is to really look at why you are there. if you are -- if you are a problem solver, if you like to analyse information, if you like to discover new things, if you like to come up with alternatives and invent new practice, it is such a fabulous opportunity. whether it is computer science or engineering or biology or medicine, oh, my goodness, there are so many opportunities. if you have that kind of mindset

i have enjoyed working in san francisco so much because of the diversity. the diversity of the people, of this city, of the values, of the talent that is here in the city. it is stimulating and motivating and inspiring and i cannot imagine working anywhere else but in sannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn >> there's a new holiday shopping tradition, and shop

and dine in the 49 is inviting everyone to join and buy black friday. now more than ever, ever dollar that you spend locally supports small businesses and helps entrepreneurs and the community to thrive. this holiday season and year-round, make your dollar matter and buy black. >> what we're trying to approach is bringing more diversity to our food. it's not just the old european style food. we are seeing a lot of influences, and all of this is because of our students. all we ask is make it flavorful. [♪♪♪] >> we are the first two-year

culinary hospitality school in the united states. the first year was 1936, and it was started by two graduates from cornell. i'm a graduate of this program, and very proud of that. so students can expect to learn under the three degrees. culinary arts management degree, food service management degree, and hotel management degree. we're not a cooking school. even though we're not teaching you how to cook, we're teaching you how to manage, how to supervise employees, how to manage a hotel, and plus you're getting an associate of science degree. >> my name is vince, and i'm a faculty member of the hospitality arts and culinary school here in san francisco. this is my 11th year.

the program is very, very rich in what this industry demands. cooking, health, safety, and sanitation issues are included in it. it's quite a complete program to prepare them for what's happening out in the real world. >> the first time i heard about this program, i was working in a restaurant, and the sous chef had graduated from this program. he was very young to be a sous chef, and i want to be like him, basically, in the future. this program, it's awesome. >> it's another world when you're here. it's another world. you get to be who you are, a person get to be who they are. you get to explore different things, and then, you get to

explore and they encourage you to bring your background to the kitchen, too. >> i've been in the program for about a year. two-year program, and i'm about halfway through. before, i was studying behavioral genetics and dance. i had few injuries, and i couldn't pursue the things that i needed to to dance, so i pursued my other passion, cooking. when i stopped dance, i was deprived of my creative outlet, and cooking has been that for me, specifically pastry. >> the good thing is we have students everywhere from places like the ritz to -- >> we have kids from every area. >> facebook and google. >> kids from everywhere. >> they are all over the bay area, and they're thriving.

>> my name is jeff, and i'm a coowner of nopa restaurant, nopalito restaurant in san francisco. i attended city college of san francisco, the culinary arts program, where it was called hotel and restaurant back then in the early 90's. nopalito on broderick street, it's based on no specific region in mexico. all our masa is hand made. we cook our own corn in house. everything is pretty much hand made on a daily basis, so day and night, we're making hand made tortillas, carnitas, salsas. a lot of love put into this. [♪♪♪]

>> used to be very easy to define casual dining, fine dining, quick service. now, it's shades of gray, and we're trying to define that experience through that spectrum of service. fine dining calls into white table cloths. the cafeteria is large production kitchen, understanding vast production kitchens, the googles and the facebooks of the world that have those types of kitchens. and the ideas that change every year, again, it's the notion and the venue. >> one of the things i love about vince is one of our outlets is a concept restaurant, and he changes the concept every year to show students how to do a startup restaurant. it's been a pizzeria, a taco bar.

it's been a mediterranean bar, it's been a noodle bar. people choose ccsf over other hospitality programs because the industry recognizes that we instill the work ethic. we, again, serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner. other culinary hospitality programs may open two days a week for breakfast service. we're open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner five days a week. >> the menu's always interesting. they change it every semester, maybe more. there's always a good variety of foods. the preparation is always beautiful. the students are really sincere, and they work so hard here, and they're so proud of their work. >> i've had people coming in to town, and i, like, bring them here for a special treat, so

it's more, like, not so much every day, but as often as i can for a special treat. >> when i have my interns in their final semester of the program go out in the industry, 80 to 90% of the students get hired in the industry, well above the industry average in the culinary program. >> we do have internals continually coming into our restaurants from city college of san francisco, and most of the time that people doing internships with us realize this is what they want to do for a living. we hired many interns into employees from our restaurants. my partner is also a graduate of city college. >> so my goal is actually to travel and try to do some

pastry in maybe italy or france, along those lines. i actually have developed a few connections through this program in italy, which i am excited to support. >> i'm thinking about going to go work on a cruise ship for about two, three year so i can save some money and then hopefully venture out on my own. >> yeah, i want to go back to china. i want to bring something that i learned here, the french cooking, the western system, back to china. >> so we want them to have a full toolkit. we're trying to make them ready for the world out there.

>> all right, mayor, we've got a program. so be patient with us. all right. it's been a long time coming. hi, everybody, my name is phil ginsburg and i'm the manager of your recreation and park department and it's about time. it's really happening. it's really happening. you look over my right shoulder and you can see all of the work that's already started on our pathway to environmental justice. and -- and joy and community and resiliency. but before we jump into our program, we want to do a couple of things. and the first is that we want to acknowledge that the land that we are currently standing on is the unceded ancestral home of the first nations people. as stewards of parkland, our department recognizes the duty to honor through thoughtfnd