a day-to-day basis. >> being back in the neighborhood i grew up in, it's a wonderful experience. >> it's a long process to get through. well worth it when you get to the other side. i could not be happier. [♪♪♪] >> it is june 23, 2021. 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. >> thank you.

>> good morning, mayor breed, the mayor's office of early care and education, amy from supervisor hillary ronen's team, kevin ortiz representing speaker nancy pelosi. to the parents, to our board members, and a special salute

to the rmnnc, those who work here, who take care of the families, and the rest of the team at our various sites around the city, and again, a special shoutout to our friend santiago ruiz. it's good to welcome you all to the mission, which is the name of this site, a state of the art education site. it opened last week to families with funding of nearly $3 million from san francisco and families. the bold leadership you exhibited, mayor breed, from the first days of the pandemic and then through the economic

recovery is a goal of other leaders. your women and families first initiative and investment in m.n.c. and other women serving sites sends a strong message to other women and families. you've said women, particularly women with children, have experienced higher rates of unemployment throughout and even before covid-19. women were paid less than men doing similar work. we have an opportunity to make san francisco more equitable and supportive for women and their children. we're working to make sure that women have employment, employment opportunities that can get them on the path to a fulfilling career and that more family can access high quality affordable child care so parents can afford them and

they can return to work. covid-19 disproportionately affected families of color, and they're still confronting economic challenges and have lost far too many lives and yet remain the backbone of our economy. madam mayor, your leadership across san francisco allows us to recruit and retain high quality child care educators of which today there's a significant shortage. the funding provided for this m.n.c. site provides care for babies and toddlers. your agenda supports children and gets family back to work. madam mayor, we recognize your leadership during this oddest of years. your support for black lives matters, changing the nature of policing, your support of aapi

members, helping the black community and assistance and focus on economic recovery is also vital. we'll soon be inviting you to cut ribbons at m.n.c. sites in richmond and the bayview. it is my great honor to introduce our mayor, london breed. [applause] >> the hon. london breed: hello, everyone. it's so good to be here again at la phoenix, opening up this great facility, great housing for families. and this is really my dream for san francisco. when you think about families and when you think about making

sure of education opportunities for children, i can't think of a better place than where you live, and i know that sam is, like, this is my dream, too. every time i'm out, they try to pull me back. you know you're going to get pulled back, but richard is doing a fine job, and we're so grateful to have him and the folks at mission neighborhood centers who continue to help provide child care opportunities all over communities that we know need is the most. i kind of vaguely remember when i was in school, in preschool. my grandmother, who i talk about a lot, who raised me, she worked as a made in san francisco. she worked at hotels, she worked for individuals, and i remember mama fay, who used to

pick us up and walk us up the street from the child care we attended. my grandmother would not just leave us with anybody, so the fact that we had a place to go when she went to work was a big deal because as a preschooler, you can't always communicate exactly what's going on when you're not around your parents. we understand the need and the value for having quality preschool in san francisco. we understand the need to make significant investments in being able to hire teachers and educators and support here at locations like this, and we also understand the need for it to feel like a family because our children are our most precious, precious commodity. the fact is we have a lot of

work to do to get to a better place, and what's important is money should never be a barrier to good child care. and so i really want to thank, and he's no longer here, former president of the board of supervisors, norman yee and his advocacy in making sure that there are resources to support child care for all in san francisco. i want to thank ingrid, who is running our office of early childhood education. she has this very unique connection between communities and child care systems where we are able to bridge that gap when needed for the teachers and for the equipment and the cleaning and the number of other things that go into this. i remember when we were in the bayview-hunters point community, and you took a

tour -- this is west point, where hunters view has been completely remodelled and additional housing is being built in the neighborhood, and there's this child care that could accommodate where around 130 to 150 kids. there weren't even 50 kids at this location, and i asked why wasn't this place packed, because i knew we had a long waiting list in the city, and there was no reason why every spot shouldn't have been filled, and it was because of resources. when i see families that are just before that threshold for

child care, i get excited about the future of child care in san francisco. we wouldn't be able to do this with money alone. we need partnership with organizations like anything else neighborhood centers -- like mission neighborhood centers. we need their help to make these places feel like home. i'm loving these pictures on the wall and this young man that said i'm ready to play. this is what san francisco is all about, and i look forward to making sure that we are making more spaces like this available for children in san francisco so that we can finally get to a place where it is not even a question of if someone can afford to send their child to child care, but it's a matter of what is the child care that's closest to my neighborhood so that i can walk my kid to school every day. that's where we want to get to as a city, so i'm really

excited to be here today. i know these kids want us to get out of their way, so without further adieu, let's do this. [applause] [inaudible] >> the hon. london breed: good to see you, too. good to see you without a mask. >> i think there are a few people who are supposed to join us here for the ribbon cutting. >> the hon. london breed: okay. are we ready?

let's do a countdown. five, four, three, two, one. [applause]

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