>> i am president sophie maxwell. madam secretary, roll call, please. [roll call] >> clerk: you have a quorum, madam president. and due to the covid-19 health emergency, and given the public health recommendation issued by the san francisco department of public health and that governor newsom and mayor breed have

lifted the restriction on teleconferencing, this special meeting is being held by teleconference and being televised by sfgovtv. for those of you watching the live stream, please know that there is a delay between what is being heard on sfgtv. since this is a special meeting of the san francisco p.u.c., there will be no general public comment period. public comment will only be called for for the item noted on the special meeting agenda. >> madam secretary, will you read the item to be heard during closed session and call for public session. >> clerk: only item to be heard during closed session, pursuant to government code section 54957-b and san francisco administrative code 67.10-b, to

consider public employee appointment, hiring for the position of general manager of the san francisco public utilities commission and pursuant to government code sections 54954.5f and 54957.6 and san francisco administrative code sections 67.8-a-5 and section 67.10-e-1, conference of labor negotiator, unrepresented employee, city negotiator, commission president, sophie maxwell. anticipated issues under negotiation: wages, hours, benefits, working conditions, and others. members of the public who wish to call in, dial 415-655-0001,

meeting i.d. 146-799-8908, pound, pound. [inaudible] and that you refrain from the use of profanity. please address your remarks to the commission as a whole and not to individual commissioners or staff. mr. moderator, do we have callers? >> operator: madam secretary, there are no callers in the queue at this time. >> clerk: thank you. public comment on item 4 is closed. >> thank you. we will now go into closed >> madam secretary, will you read the next item, please.

>> clerk: madam president, the next item is motion regarding whether to disclose the discussions during closed session pursuant to san francisco administrative code section 67.12-a. >> move not to disclose. >> may i have a second? >> second. >> it has been moved and seconded. roll call, please. [roll call] >> clerk: you have five ayes. >> thank you, madam secretary. is there any further business before this commission? >> clerk: madam president, that concludes your business for today. >> then this meeting is adjourned. thank you, again, colleagues, for your -- thank you. >> thank you.

good morning phil. good morning san francisco. i am san francisco mayor london breed and i am so excited to be here with each and every one of

you because san francisco although we're dealing with some challenges with this delta virus, we're still coming alive again, we're still re-opening, we're still wearing our masks. and what's most important, what's most important we are enjoying our city and we are making these cable cars available to the public, to san franciscans, for the month of august at no charge. so what does that mean? well, you know what happens when someone gives you something free. that means you have to be patient because during the month of august, typically what will be happening is these operators that are with me today would normally be testing the equipment, making sure things are running smoothly, making sure that they are safe and making sure that the public is safe, so, please, listen to your operators, be patient, be

understanding. this is a process. there is not going to be a complete time schedule, right. yes. but there will be fun and it is worth the wait. you know, san francisco, i can't think of this city without cable cars. and i can't think of this city without all of the great things that we know, love, and treasure. when people come to visit our city, they come downtown here in union square. they go to pier 39 and the fary building. they visit the crooked road on lumbard street. no trip to san francisco is complete without a ride on our cable car. so today, we are officially and i see people are already lined up and waiting to go. we are officially making them available and, as i said to you all before, please be patient. please be understanding. we have just been through a

very challenging 16 months with this pandemic and what that means is things won't just go back to the way that they used to be automatically. it requires all of us to be patient, all of us to be understanding and all of us to do everything we can to just really appreciate the fact that there were lives lost during this pandemic and we are still here, we're still standing and we're still able to enjoy the beauty of san francisco. so, with that, i'll just say have a good time and know and before i introduce jeff actuallin, you have to wear your mask on the cable cars and on muni at this time and please make sure you get vaccinated. it's like this delta variant is like covid on steroids and it's

important that people get vaccinated and most of the people coming through our hospital doors are not vaccinated. we want to get back to normal life. we don't want to shut this country down any longer than we have to so thank you all for being here today and without further adieu, i want to introduce the director jeff tumlin. >> thank you mayor breed. my name is jeffery tumlin and i'm proud to say that on this day, 148 years ago, andrew holiday tested what was then called holiday's falling. adapting obscure gold rush mining technology in order to try to make a form of transportation that can bring san franciscans up and down our

crazy hills. no one thought it would work. and cable cars became one of the most popular forms of public transportation in the city and allow the city to develop beyond the tiny clusters of buildings. we're so pleased that not only did the symbol of san francisco's enginuity survived, but the symbol of our resilience has survived as well. we're many efforts to try to shut them down so i'm so happy to be bringing these services back and i have so many people i have to thank. i need to thank all of the cable car operates and administrators most of whom worked keeping the vaccination clinics running and doing a thousand other jobs as disaster

service workers throughout the pandemic. and, they are here. we are so grateful to them. there are so many people who during the pandemic work to maintain our fleets and rebuild historic ancient cars but i particularly want to thank all of the crews, arnie hanson who delayed his retirement to make sure all of these services made it through the pandemic stronger than they were before so we can continue sustaining this great symbol of san francisco's resiliency. so, without any further adieu, i want to make a couple reminders. first of all, things are going to be a little rough. all three things are operating. they'll be operating from around 7:00 a.m. to around 10:00 p.m. yes, you do need to wear your masks and without any further adieu, i want to invite all of you to join me and the mayor riding the cable cars half way

to the stars and beyond. thank you so much. [cheers and applause] a local

emergency. due to the covid emergency, the commission's regular meeting room is closed and meetings are being held remotely. you may watch remotely on sfgovtv.org. to participate in public comment, please dial 415-655-0001 and enter access code 146-300-9788. members of the public will have the opportunity to participate in public comment. the public is asked to wait until the item on the agenda is

called before making public comment. when the moderator is announcing that the commission is taking public comment, members of the public may press star, three to be queued. members of the public will hear silence and will be -- until it is time to speak. the moderator will unmute you. speak slowly and clearly and turn down any speakers around you. roll call. [roll call] >> clerk: item 2, general public comment. members of the public may address the commission for up

to three minutes on any matters within the commission's jurisdiction and 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 a speaker. the lack of a response by commissioners or department personnel does not necessarily constitute agreement with or support of statements made during public comment, and i will check to see -- and there is nobody on the public comment line. >> president feinstein: all right, then. public comment will be closed. >> clerk: item 3, approval of the minutes. discussion and possible objection to approve the regular meeting minutes from the july 28, 2021 meeting. >> president feinstein: commissioner covington? >> commissioner covington:

thank you, madam president. i only have one thing to add. on page 3, regarding complimenting everyone who worked on the a.w.s. demonstration. i complimented everyone, and unfortunately, i did not comment chief [inaudible] by name, so with that, i would like that added to the minutes, and i would make a motion to accept the item. >> president feinstein: commissioner cleaveland? >> commissioner cleaveland: second. >> president feinstein: okay. we have a motion and a second. please call the roll.

>> clerk: on the motion to approve the minutes -- todd roll. >> clerk: item 4, chief of department's report. report from chief of department, jeanine nicholson. report on current issues, activities, and events within the department since the fire addition meeting on july 28, 2021, including budget, academies, special events, communications, and outreach to other government agencies and the public. report from operations, deputy chief brian rubenstein. report on overall field operations, including greater alarm fires, emergency medical services, bureau of fire prevention and investigation, homeland security, and airport division. >> greetings and salutations, president feinstein, fire

commission, and command staff. i am fire chief jeanine nicholson, chief of the department. there are still a lot of announcements about the delta variant. and we are doing every single thing we can as an administration to get all our members vaccinated. right now, we are seeing another bump in terms of people off with covid or quarantining with a covid exposure. i could be wrong, but i believe we had up to 45 members off earlier this year. right now, we are up to 29, and that is concerning, but we are working closely with the department of human resources to institute the process that the city is putting in place to ensure our members get

vaccinated as soon as possible, and i'm happy to brief -- so we don't take up too much time, i'm happy to brief the commissioners on anything on along that line. yesterday, we did send out a general order that speaks to much of it. and in terms of those who have been vaccinated and those who have not, coming down with the virus, we're seeing both. we're certainly seeing both, so -- and we only had one -- in the last three or four months, one person hospitalized, and that person was unvaccinated, so more on that. a brief update on the wildfires. we still have -- we have members that just rotated out the other day, and i believe

they're rotating out again today. but right now, we have units at both the dixie fire and the monument fire. a total of six engines, two s.u.v.s or bunnies, as we call them, and 24 personnel. the dixie is past chico, and the monument is up towards shasta-trinity national forest. the dixie fire i believe is the second largest fire ever in the state of california, and folks are doing a lot of hard workup there, but really, the entire state is seeing a shortage of wild land firefighters, and

last year, i believe the state was able to staff about 500 engines, and i believe this year, it's about 350. i attended a meeting of department of emergency services statewide last week, and the meetings are helpful, and we are all having difficulties in general. we are all having similar issues and working together, all putting our head together to find some solutions. my team has had meet beings

in -- meetings in the last month with the department of emergency management which the local department is now under, and chief tong and others have been discussing the system challenges that we're facing, and really, the purpose of these meetings is for all e.m.s. providers, so we invite the public, as well, to problem solve and have an open dialogue. and moving forward, we're going to have these meetings take place at least once a month. and i also know that chief tong and her staff have been reaching out to the local emsa and have reached out to speak to them and have had them come over to speak with us, trying to build that relationship that was really impacted over the past couple of years. so i'm going to ask chief tong if she can speak to some of the

meetings and former ambulance work group, so chief tong, if you would say a few words right now. >> thank you, chief. good morning, president feinstein, vice president nakajo, commissioners, and command staff. about a month ago, we started meeting with first the d.e.m. leadership to discuss the transition of the local emsa to the e.m. we had some meetings over here with director smith and also director mary ellen carroll just to discuss some concerns that we've had over the last few years around the relationship with [inaudible]. we were able to come to some really -- we had some really nice dialogue around us being able to be transparent around

the challenges and concerns that we've had and what we would like to see in the future. we had some that we were initially meeting with independently with the private providers, and another one scheduled with the other two 911 providers. we all are pretty much on the same page around what it is that we're hoping for in the relationship. what we'd like to see moving forward in terms of how to better work together, so we are going to be looking at creating these opportunities and these meetings to meet with the providers as well as the emsa to discuss, you know, the issues that are challenging, the ways that we can better problem solve together, so, so far, so good, and just being able to move forward together and really be able to be more collaborative in our approach and how we address some of the concerns and problems in the

system right now. >> thank you very much, chief tong. that was very helpful. i also want to report out that our street opioid response team has been deployed, and that started within the past week. going well thus far, getting their feet wet and responding to numerous calls, and that is just another piece of the puzzle in terms of helping the city move forward with the opioid crisis and some other things. i also want to acknowledge with our -- you know, the staffing that i spoke about, we do have an h-3 level one e.m.t. class graduating friday, august 20, and i am not certain at this time what the covid restrictions are, but we will

keep you posted on that. there's a class of 18 that will be graduating, and they are much needed out in the field. and then, we began an h-2 class of 42 the beginning of august, and they are due, i think, to graduate later in december if i am correct. so that is that. and then, the budget. the mayor did sign the budget less than a week ago, and today is mayor breed's birthday, so happy birthday, mayor breed. i will have mark corso report on the budget. he can give where we are, and we did really well on this budget, considering we were

initially asked to cut 10%. and mark, i will have you report out, and i wish i could say i hope you enjoyed your vacation, but you know i was bugging you, so sorry, during your vacations. and i'm happy to take any questions, but i will have director corso speak first. >> thank you, chief. good morning, commissioners, good morning, command staff. the chief has asked me to give an update now that the budget has been signed and we're working on the next round. the last time we discussed, things were still at the committee level, going through the negotiations. all of that has been resolved. as the chief mentioned, mayor breed signed the budget on 29 july, and everyone is working on getting all of that loaded

into the system and we can work on the initiatives and get to work moving on the budget. for the department, we're looking at approximately $23 million in new initiatives over y'all, and approximately 15 f.t.e.s, which is a very good thing for the department. an expansion of existing programs, new programs, and some of that has been discussed in the chief's comments, but i'll run through that briefly. the first thing is an increase in paramedicine, about $8 million, establishment of the opioid response team and also some infrastructure for community paramedicine. so it's gone from being part of e.m.s. to kind of being its own division with the number of f.t.e.s that are associated with it. there are a number of new

positions allocated with this, so we will continue to work that up. ambulance staffing, with the board process, budget committee and the committee process, we were allocated an additional ten f.t.e.s, not including community paramedicine. this increases our staffing on the ambulances from 200 to 210, so that is a needed great investment for the department. there is $10 million set aside for the city's portion of the port training facility, but you'll be updated as more milestones are reached in that process. we were able to start the

newest five-year replacement budget. that funds additional apparatus equipment, some of the equipment needed for the expansion of the community paramedicine program. all of those initiatives are underway. we also had some investments in our diversity, equity, and inclusion program, and in addition, we have some funding allocated through the office of economic and workforce development through the city c.m.t. program that will take workers into an internship program, and then, the chief mentioned that academies are going on currently. so currently, we have the h-3 level one academy going on. we will also have a second

academy later on in the year. as you can imagine with covid, with the movement of personnel and these new initiatives, the logistics of these are quite challenging but we're working to bring everybody on as soon as possible to start initiatives as soon as possible. with that, happy to answer any questions on it. i think the chief did a great job advocating for the department, and i think we came out of the process really well. i want to thank the commission for their continued support, and that concludes the process. chief? >> thank you. i also want to promote pushing forward 798, the extra f.t.e.s. so with that, i am done, and i am happy to take questions. >> president feinstein: commissioners --

>> clerk: there's nobody on the public comment line. >> president feinstein: thank you very much. appreciate it. all right. public comment will be closed. any questions for the chief of the department? and i see none -- oh, commissioner -- vice president nakajo, please. >> commissioner nakajo: thank you very much, madam president. thank you very much, chief nicholson, for your report. i'll direct the question through you, chief, even though the information came from director corso. in director corso's report, he mentioned the training center and there'll be some information forthwith.

chief nicholson, can we have some information now or would you like to wait until it's on the agenda? >> thank you very much, vice president nakajo. jeanine nicholson, chief of the department. as far as the training center, we are getting it taken care of at the state level, and we are working on getting together our subject matter experts for fire training centers. things are moving forward, albeit not at the pace that i like things moving forward, but definitely moving forward with it, but it is going to take some time. >> commissioner nakajo: thank you very much, chief. thank you very much, madam

president. >> president feinstein: thank you very much, vice president nakajo. any other questions or comments? ah, commissioner cleaveland? >> commissioner cleaveland: can you, madam president. i'd just also like, again, to offer my congratulations to mr. corso and to chief and to local 798 for getting the budget pushed through and these additions to the budget in these trying times, it's heartening to see the increases that we're getting, particularly in the e.m.s. field, which is so critical and so important in our city right now. and having these street crisis response teams of various types, they're only going to be more important to us in the future as we assume more responsibilities for protecting our citizens in the city, so i congratulate the chief, and i congratulate local 798, but most importantly, i congratulate our c.f.o. for a

magnificent job on the budget. thank you. >> president feinstein: commissioner covington, yep, i see that hand waving. >> commissioner covington: that's my flag. >> president feinstein: there you go. >> commissioner covington: thank you, madam president, for calling on me. i want to echo the compliments of my fellow commissioners and everyone who worked tirelessly on the budget. this will give us all such a sigh of relief from 10% reduction to now being able to, you know, have so many different needs met for this next fiscal year. it's an amazing turnaround, and i appreciate the mayor for seeing that our needs were

credible needs and that certain parts of the department are growing in responsibility. you know, we have a number of different kinds of street teams that need to support and need personnel. you can't give people on the street support without people committed to giving them support for transition to something more stable. i do have a question for -- let's see -- chief tong. i wanted to ask you about [inaudible] and about some of the things that are under discussion because you said you have now a new appreciation or a new expectation said that there will be more

collaboration under this, so can you talk a little bit about that, please? >> yes. thank you, commissioner covington. assistant deputy chief sandy tong. so one of the things that we're going to be looking at is the process of how we address different changes that need to occur, whether it's, you know, the change to department or the policies. there's an advisory committee that discusses and improves the policy and protocol changes that might be under discussion, so we want to be able to be part of the problem solving, the addressing the solution of some of these policies that do come out so we're all on the

same page and have a discussion about how best to address them, so that's one of the processes that we're trying to be more collaborative with. and i could get into specifics, but there are specific protocols that we've had in the past with our airway that we're trying to just get better discussions to discuss them. it gets really detailed, and so i think that's probably not necessarily within the purview of this particular meeting, but there are a lot of different things that we have been tasked to, you know, do, to respond to. we just want to be a little bit more on the frontlines of when there is an issue to be addressed, that we are part of that discussion when it comes to a directive or some other new policy, to be a part of them. that's the gist of it. and then, there are just different policies that they are coming out with now on how

to better address the system. we wanted to address that now on how to better tackle these real-time problems and to do it in a way that would better provide input. >> commissioner covington: i think input is critical and i'm glad to hear that is happening. can you tell everyone who is at the table during these meetings? i don't mean actual persons necessarily. >> so, you know, this has just started, the transition from the emsa to the d.e.m. had just started in july. so right now, we're meeting with the two providers, e.m.a. and king american and then fire. and then, the next meeting we

have will be, i believe, including the folks from the agency, as well. >> commissioner covington: and how is the spirit at the new facility? i imagine with the new facility and the new moneys that are going to be coming in as a result of a more robust budget is that people are feeling more appreciated than they have in a long time? >> i hope so. that is what we're trying to, you know, just being able to communicate more about the new things that are happening, how the things are happening, so the new building is a plus for them. we just want to continue to support them and provide them with the resources that they need, so the increases in the

budget are welcome, certainly, from all of the 49ers. >> commissioner covington: very good. excuse me. excuse me. i want you to note that you have the full support of the commissioners, so i believe we have the support of everyone. to the chief of the department, i know that you might want to talk to commissioners individually regarding the numbers of unvaccinated members of the department, but i think that this is a good forum to let the public know what is going on and how things are going to be approached, so if you could give us more detail, that would be great. >> thank you, commissioner covington. i can. so as i said, we currently have 29 members off either with covid or covid exposure, so

that is a big challenge. citywide, d.h.r. has come up with a plan with a few caveats. obviously, folks working in health care and at laguna honda are first in line to get vaccinated, so they are ahead in line of everybody else. for us, what the city is doing for us and everything else, what the city is doing is gathering vaccination status, so our members have to report by thursday whether or not they have been vaccinated, and if they do not do that, there may be some disciplinary action taken against them. so there's that.

and then, all of our members certainly do work out in the field in some form or another have to be vaccinated by october 13, which means, by september 30, they have to have finished their vaccine regiment so they are fully vaccinated by october 13. right now, 40% of our members have reported their vaccination status. i believe it's 91 or 92%. and i don't know our vaccination status. we were above 70% is the last i heard, but right now, we are

simply collecting the status, and we will know more the end of this week, beginning of next week. and then, in terms of vaccination, if our members decide not to get vaccinated, they need to have either a religious exemption or a medical one, and if they refuse to get vaccinated, the city will move to separate them. that is standard across the city from d.h.r., and it is all in the general order from the attachment in the general order that we sent out yesterday.

does that make it clear for you? i believe you are muted. >> commissioner covington: that was because i was coughing earlier. i really encourage everyone to be vaccinated. i know for 99% of the people who work for the department, especially as paramedics and firefighters, that this is their dream job. they have wanted to be a firefighter paramedic for most of their status.

so -- and we are encouraging our members every day to do so. >> commissioner covington: okay. thank you. >> president feinstein: thank you, commissioner covington. i have a couple of statements, and i have a couple of questions of chief tong's

presentation that are includes in chief rubenstein's presentation. i don't know if i should hold them for that time. maybe that's more appropriate. you all tell me. i can hold them for chief rubenstein's report and then go back to chief tong. there are just some things i had questions about because i didn't understand. that's a complicated report section, so i -- i will hold those. i also have a question for, just out of turn, chief velo. chief velo, do you have any estimation of how many applications you have received for the next academy class? >> good morning, president, vice president, commissioners, chief of department. so applications -- we don't receive applications. what we receive from d.h.r. is an eligible list.

we're looking at the list right now, and we have over 2,000 applicants on that list. what the chief will determine is what is this core that's going to start the process of these individuals, so we set up a store, and then, we move forward from that. we always have over 3,000 from the list from where we started collecting. if you recall previous processes, we will then have a panel from the department review these individuals, and then, they will recommend the individual be interviewed by the department and the chief. [inaudible] and we just pulled the list for the next class. it takes about four months for this process to go through. >> president feinstein: how many people do you interview -- does this panel interview?

>> the members' panels, last time, we interviewed 650 applicants. >> president feinstein: and i am asking you this because i hope it -- i'm following up a bit on commissioner covington seas comments they're -- i mean, if i'm understanding you correctly, there are 3,000 to 4,000 people that have applied for what maybe will be a class of 44 people coming into the academy? there's great demand for this job, and this job requires that people protect -- they protect and serve and probably more broadly than the police department. and i'm just going to express again and probably not as politely as commissioner

covington did that, you know, if you're coming into my house, and i need you in a medical emergency, i don't want you in my house if you haven't been vaccinated. i just don't, and i don't know what the means are to have the public informed that you're not vaccinated. but maybe in a fire, it doesn't matter because i don't know what that would look like. but in a paramedic or an emergency for ambulance personnel to enter a home unvaccinated when they don't know what the health status is or the condition or what -- what they're walking into, and could be exposing them to covid -- and i don't mean to pick on the chief because i understand what her limitations

are in terms of if she had her way, everybody would be vaccinated. if we all had our way, everybody would be vaccinated. but to have the number of employees we have, and to have them not vaccinated i think is shameful. it's my understanding that the department and the city will not hire people going forward -- i may be incorrect -- if they are not vaccinated, and that, you know, if you want into that academy class and you're not vaccinated, you're not getting into that academy and class. and i know it's a small start, but i think it's really important. and i don't know what the department can do to ensure safety in the community, you know, so that we don't have

unvaccinated people entering the private dwellings of those who may be very ill and could be harmed rather than helped, so i just really want to thank those of you that i know you're working hard to try to get people vaccinated, i really, really do. but, you know, i hope that any members listening -- and i know they do. i didn't at first, but now, i know they do in the fire houses, listen, and i know that there is great concern, and i'm not going to speak for my fellow members, but there is great concern about unvaccinated members. we pay their salary, and i know that sounds a little bit

aggressive and, isn't that correcty -- and snarky, but those people that are unvaccinated, i don't know if they can not rea -- that can be reassigned to places where they're not going to have public contact. i find it just incredibly distressing that i could be exposed to this or any one of you living to san francisco could be exposed to this. so forgive my passion, but i feel very strongly about this. >> may i comment, president feinstein. >> president feinstein: of course. >> so in terms of what we can do, we are following the city process. besides going out and encouraging our members to get

vaccinated, we must follow the city process, and the city process is, by august 13, they need to enter their vaccination status. if they do not, they will face some kind of discipline or appropriate action. if they are protectionary firefight -- probationary firefighters or probationary e.m.t.s and they do not enter their status, they will be terminated. if it's someone that's a county chief in the last six months and they do not enter their vaccination status, they will be bumped back down to their regular civil service ranking. the other folks that do not enter their vaccination status are going to be given a firefighter bill of rights letter and basically told that

they're getting ten days off, and of course, they have the ability to go through the [inaudible] process with that. so that is the process that we are following, and the other process we are following is, by october 13, if our members are not fully vaccinated, the city will move to separate them. now, again, there are medical and religious exceptions, but those will be looked at very carefully and, you know, those exceptions may or may not be able to work in the current positions they are in if they are not vaccinated. that has sort of yet to be put in writing for us, but that has yet to be talked about that. what we've been doing is going out to stations, passing out

reminders, and every single commission through chief tong, through our fire marshal. we have been passing it on down this is what we need to do that it is in writing. we need to follow the process, and the process is not joking around. and it came out of the same process for d.h.r., same process for city workers. >> president feinstein: i appreciate that, and i think that's what all you can do at this point. i think you can encourage them

to participate in the process so that they don't have to go through the disciplinary process. i think there was a look back at how they got the job, and they're lucky to have this job. there is outrage on my part to understanding how they got here. i'm just sorry that you're having to spend so much time to

do this because it should be obvious to these folks. thank you. that's all i have. anybody else? okay. >> clerk: moving on with chief rubenstein's report. >> president feinstein: all right. >> chief rubenstein has the ball. i am deputy chief rubenstein, and i'm here to give my report. i want to thank the commissioners for their kind words and encouragement to our members. this is, i assure you, the greatest job in the greatest job in the bay city, and i want

everyone out there to have confident that they will be safe long before we respond with personal protective equipment donning and doffing. chief has gone to extraordinary lengths to community what will and won't be tolerated by the department. i assure you, the process is well founded and is moving forward. to go on with my reports, i regret that i had technical difficulties this time, so virtually all of the materials

that i prepared for you were lost, but i still have something for you, so let me see if i can get that to work. are you able to see my presentation? >> yes. >> president feinstein: yes. >> thank you very much. this will be my presentation. so july was not an average month by any standard. we had the one greater alarm as you heard in the presentation that looked it could have been two different buildings, and we didn't end up using the resources from the second alarm. there were other significant fires, but once again, our members managed to prevail with

one station resources. month of july, more legal fireworks than we've ever had, but we benefited from the colder, moister weather, and kept the fires from spreading more readily, and we continued to respond on the bay and on the cliffs. we had some events, a large part of them were demonstrations, and as the chief said, we had members deployed to incidents in northern california for what will be our third rotation now. a lot of really good work.

we had a really great operate [inaudible] for media events.

see the typo there now, but kudos to the united -- united service of fire women for getting out there and telling people about the job this month. we were able to promote five more e.m.t.s to the level of

paramedics. we made some paramedics lieutenants or captains, or we made them level two paramedics. 2,000 hours of inspections at san francisco international airport, some of the apparatus at stations. chief nicholson was able to publish a new policy that was prepared by chief brown that's really gone a long way explaining what the challenges and opportunities are at the airport. they'll be putting on a class this month, so we'll get some new folks actually out to the

airport. and a lot of these items will still be moving forward, and that will be a new record for the quickest report i've given. >> president feinstein: thank you. thank you, chief rubenstein. >> clerk: and there's nobody on the public comment line. >> president feinstein: thank you, madam secretary, and public comment should be closed. i cannot see my fellow

commissioners -- okay. there we go. okay. all right. vice president nakajo, did you have a question, comment you'd like to make? >> commissioner nakajo: yes i would, madam president. thank you very much. good morning and thank you very much, chief rubenstein, for your comprehensive report. i'm just going to refer off to the pages, not much. this morning, i'll have some comments or questions to chief tong, fire marshal coffey, chief brown. but i just wanted to start off with page two, jonathan baxter's report. i appreciate all the reports,

but i just wanted to note that what stood out when i reviewed this packet with my fellow commissioners about what goes on detail wise, it reflects at 100 garfield a two-alarm fire, and now, i see that two-alarm has indication of a color code in red, and i just wanted you to know that i noted that, but i think the emphasis of that does work, so i just wanted to remark on that. i would now like to move to chief tong, and if you could, chief tong -- and if i could, chief tong, through the chief, i'm looking at page 13, chief, of my packet. let me know when you're there. >> yes.

good morning, vice president nakajo. i'm here. >> commissioner nakajo: i have two comments on that page. one, just what was written is the street crisis response team has added its sixth team on july 21, and that this team works specifically on the overnight shift 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m., and i wanted to note that since the implementation of this street crisis response team, that's quite an acknowledgement. my question specifically is above that, and i don't need the details at this particular point is the board of supervisors has allowed the station to implement a 5150,

and i just wanted to have a little briefing, if you will. it speaks for itself that it [inaudible] to field captains. can you also describe how it moves all the way down to d, members who are attached to these things as to how it would really occur, how these things are reached via the 5150? >> yes. so we're working with the d.p.h. and ersw to determine what those are going to be. right now, most of the 5150s that happen are with the police. so with street crisis response and paramedicine, we are now going to take on more of those 5150 authorizations. this will happen with the street crisis response teams

and paramedics, and all of the teams will be able to provide or put somebody on a 5150 hold. the paramedics, as a general body, that's not what they're going to be doing initially. we're going to phase these in with rescue captains in the field first to see how that works, what that looks like, what kind of changes we need to do. we want to make sure that we develop that program first and then we'll implement. >> commissioner nakajo: and i would think there needs to be a clarity of process in terms of procedure and how it rolls out. correct me if i am wrong, traditionally, our paramedics on the street, if there was a call they couldn't handle and they required assistance, the police department would come, and there's a period of time

for them to arrive. please correct me if i am wrong in the separate concepts, and then, the police department arrives on the 5150. so i assume this is going to be more comprehensive in terms of our members being able to respond to 5150. also, it's the care of the patient and client as well as the members. is that accurate, chief? [please stand by]

there is more control factors here. and there is more case management, if you will. so i just want to move on from there. thank you very much for that direct information. i know that you will inform this commission as we progress. i'm moving to page 15. and i know we have a whole glossary that tells us different things, but on this page, chief, it has these various categories, e.m.s. 6 and fire incidents, and then it has "no," "yes," and "total." can you explain the differentiation between the no and the yes? >> you're looking at the distribution for individuals experiencing homelessness report? >> yes.

>> the yes means -- so, we get this data from the date that that the p.c.r., the patient care reports, that the crews write up. when it says no, that means this person has been identified as not experiencing homelessness. and the yes is those that are. >> thank you for that differentiation. i thought that no meant -- >> hold on. wait. wait. yes, that is correct. >> again, when i read it, i thought no meant, by the numbers, that the patient refused the service, and yes, they did. and so that explanation makes a little bit more clarity in terms of that particular report. thank you for that, chief. i'm looking at page 19. and i don't know what it looks like on your page, but basically there are columns, and it says

b-s-o, and previous, and b-s-o current. can you explain to me the differentiation between the previous and the current? >> so that's from the previous month. so it is just the previous month's data and some changes. >> thank you for that clarification. i'm looking at page 21. at the bottom of the page it says "collaboration between e.m.s. 6," which i understand, "street crisis respond steam," which understand, and "street medicine." can you describe that a little bit. i got is a built balked about "street medicine." >> i'm looking forward to when the newly promoted assistant deputy chief will be the chief of community paramedicine.

he will be able to answer these more particularly. but street medicine is a d.p.h. group that works with us, and they provide the clinicians for us in the past to assist with dealing with the clientele that we see. the clinician will come and they'll be able to help make other -- whether it is determinations about what is the best resource for these folks, but street medicine is one of our collaborative partners on e.m.s. 6. >> street partners or medicine, that is a whole different derivative? >> yes. i believe it is under behavioral health, but don't quote me on that. but they work with us through d.p.h., to assist with our frequent fliers. >> okay, chief. two more. page 22, nothing beyond my comment that you wrote

"continuing staffing issues," and you talk about the staffing shortage. so i just want you to know that as a commissioner, and the commissioners, i acknowledge that as a commission, that that is still continuing to occurring. my last part of clarity is on page 25. at the bottom of the page it says, "please request reasons." that's why i asked about the "fifty shades of grey." the 5150. it is at 33.3% -- that is in terms of numbers of the police responding back to us. five and three doesn't seem like a large number. the 55 and 33sounds like a large number. dow want to comment on that, chief? >> sure. with the response team,

they are the ones addressing the 800b, behaviorally challenged folks, and now they're going to s.c.r.t. with the number of s.c.r.t., above that little box, which says police requested, nine did. and from the nine, that's where the police requested reason is. and the 55% is a percentage of those nine that were immediate danger to personnel or public. >> thank you very much. that clears up that up, and it doesn't alarm me as much. thank you very much, chief tong. >> you're welcome. >> i have two more questions to the fire marshal and then to the chief at the airport. fire marshal coffey, are you there? thank you for your report,

chief fire marshal. i'm on page 40. and page 40 of your report runs down this list of sfmta-- are those committees that you attend or is part of your privy of responsibility? >> thank you, president, and vice president, commissioner members and the . we have personal members. we have capital edwin o'donnell who took over for now chief law on the task committee, and those are the members that are part of the task group, or the committee, to discuss various closures of slow streets, quick bills, things like that happening in the city. >> okay. thank you for that

clarity, fire marshal. chief round, the last question. good morning. good morning. chief brown, i'm looking at your report on page 44. >> good morning. >> good morning. >> good morning, madam president, vice president, and honorable commissioners, chief of the department, command staff, assistant david brown at the airport. >> good morning, chief. you covered it all. let me get to 44, which is in front of you. if it is not in front of you, i think you can answer it. on that blue page, there is "alert 2," alert 3." i don't know what that means. (indiscernable) alert 2 is when they make

a request to the air controller. they need to stand by and await the landing of that aircraft thus cleared of the emergency. alert 3 is basically a confirmed emergency. it can be on an airplane that is about to arrive or aircraft that has already arrived. in this particular incident, it was a passenger airliner, and it had a fire in the number one engine, which is the right side of the aircraft. the pilot was able to extinguish the fire with its extinguishing systems on board the aircraft. so that's what distinguishes basically the alert 2 and the alert 3. >> thank you very much, chief. that really makes clarity. i'm assuming when it is alert 2or alert 3, the vehicles or apparatus roll

out to their position of operation? >> that is correct, vice president. on the alert 2, they have designated standby positions on the air field. alert 3, they go to the actual scene of the incident. >> okay. thank you very much, chief. i appreciate it very much. thank you very much. >> thank you. thank you vice president nakajo. any further comment? commissioner cleveland? >> thank you, chief rubenstein for your very lengthy and very good report. as my fellow commissioner nakajo does, i read these reports from page to page, and i'm always amazed at how much goes on every month in the department. i'm always very impressed by our e.m.s. division,

and the daily challenges that each of those members of that division face. and i appreciate chief tong's report in particular. and i wanted to point out a few things on page 15. i just wanted to be clear, and through chief rubenstein and chief tong, approximately 20% to 25% of our 911 medical calls are from people experiencing homelessness. is this correct? >> thank you, commissioner cleveland, yes, that is correct, at least based on this data. >> so a good core of our 911 medical calls are coming from people who are experiencing homelessness? >> yes. >> on page 18, where you talked about the target population of the e.m.s. 6 program, a very laudable program, and it is amazing how many desperate people

we have out on the streets, but from what i can see here, we have high frequency callers calling on the average of 30 times a day to our department. is that correct? >> ah, yeah. that works out about right, yes. >> and we've had, like, 30 calls a day, from frequent fliers, which is really the population that we need to address the most immediately to get those number of calls down, get these people housed, get these people treated. and it is frustrating that so many of these individuals need to be treated, and yet they refuse to be treated and walk away. or get off their meds again.

and its just frustrating to me, sitting here, to watch our department spend so many hours and so much blood, sweat, and tears, if you will, to try to get people well who refuse to become well, who don't make the effort themselves. it just baffles my find -- boggles my mind and bafffles me, that these special-needs individuals consume such a large percentage of our department's resources and our personnel's time. i just wanted to make that comment because i think it is important that the public knows how much of what we do as a fire department is really focused on a very tiny percentage of the population of our city. and i want to compliment the e.m.s., in particular the paramedics and the

paramedicine individuals, and the amount of energy and mental stamina it must take for them to do their jobs. and so i just wanted to compliment them and let them know that we -- at least i, as a commissioner, recognize the tough jobs that they perform every single day. >> thank you, commissioner. i will definitely convey that to them. just to say, though, that these are, you know, really the most challenged population that have, you know, multiple issues, whether it is mental health, substance abuse, and so it does require a lot of patience on the part of our community paramedics and our e.m.s. 6 to address these folks. but they're determined, and you can see, you know, on the next pages, that they do make an impact. >> it is hard to see in

the budgeting process -- we did get more money to put more paramedicine people on the streets. with that in mind, i wondered, do you have a number of additional community paramedics that our department could use today? >> well, just based on, you know, the next programs, we already have another 35 that we are going to need and hire and train. but beyond that, i think it will need toin crease need te even more. but i don't have specific numbers at this time. >> do we pull our paramedicine -- i should say paramedics and e.m.t.s from the same list that we pull our e-2 recruits, what was considered the eligible eligibility list that the chief mentioned earlier? is the same list we pull for people to become

paramedics and e.m.t.s? >> no. that's a separate process. we have a new h-3 exam that has been developed. and they will be administering an exam for that i think next week, and from there we'll be able to get an eligible list and be able to pull people for our next level 1 class. >> okay. so at this point, you're not sure how many people are out there who may be interested in becoming paramedics or e.m.t.s for the department? >> i believe a month ago, prior to, i think, the issuance of the description, there was over 130, but i'm sure there are more than that now. those were people who just put previous interest cards that were still eligible. >> i had a question -- i noticed on page 23, you talk about the show of support from the

conservator's office. the question is: are we physically going out and actually administering certain medicines? are we going to their houses or apartments, and whatnot, and physically administering their drugs, the psychiatric medications, i guess you want to call it? >> we are requested by the conservator's office, when they're going to a client who they are going to administer the medication, and then we are there to support them, to help manage that situation, to encourage that from the patient. so we are there to support but not to administer. >> okay. so we support them. we're there, but we're not actually doing the injection, or whatever it is? >> right. >> okay. and another question: realistically, when you

talk about the challenges, and it seems like we'll never have enough beds or treatment, but if you could venture a guess here, how many treatment beds could we use today to treat the existing population we're dealing with on the street, additional, that we don't have? >> i'm going to have you ask that same question next month, when chief pang is here. we need definitely more than usually the one that we kind of have reserved. but i couldn't tell you. especially now that we have more teams out and we'll actually be in direct contact with more individuals. that number will certainly be much higher than even what it might have looked like a years ago. year ago.>> i find it interestig on page 25, when you're talking about the disposition of all encounters, the street crisis response team experiences that when they get to the location, 35%

of the people are not there. so you respond in about a and about athird of the time the person or persons being called on are not there? >> yeah. that's not unusual. >> that will be frustrating, to run all the way over there with your ambulance, but then there is nobody there. >> it happens. >> that's crazy. but that's just part of the challenges that you and your division face every single day. so kudos to you and kudos to every firefighter, every paramedic, and every e.m.t. in the department. thank you, madam president. that's all of my questions. >> chairwoman: thank you, commissioner cleveland. i am not seeing any further questions. i have just a couple of questions, and i'm going to pair them down here.

let me just -- oh, chief wong, you're just on the hot seat today. what can i say? [laughter] >> question: have you taken a look at how the police academy trains officers to affectuate a 5150 and place a 5150? because i'm curious as to what training our paramedics, who would already, it would seem to me, have more medical training than a police officer. police officer that they would have to go through more training than a police

officer to 5150 somebody? does that make sense? >> i believe we have tried to get a little more information on that in terms of how long the police do their training, but i don't know what that number of hours arely. are.but we're working with the department of public health, the behavioral health unit, with dr. angelica mata, trying to plan out and create the training curriculum for that. it will be less than eight hours. it may be just a few hours, given the base of information that the community paramedics have already been trained in. for those that, for instance, are rescue capitals, who are not community paramedics, most of them, we will do more extensive training and provide more information for them. but i believe it won't be any more than four or five hours. >> okay. good. good. that's good to know. i also wanted to throw in my personal opinion that i

think that stories that get told, which are on my copy of the materials for today, on pages 19 through 21, what your folks have been able to accomplish is really quite miraculous. and, you know, for those of us who sometimes struggle with the statistics or the numbers are the charts, you know, this really tells the story, i think, of what you're about. and what the 49ers are about. and it is really quite moving. so i wanted to thank you for including that, and as well as a description, you know, of some of the successes. i can't not ask: how is rescue captain 7?

>> how is -- >> who gets punched. >> yeah, he's fine. thank you. >> that's a little bit above and beyond the call of duty there. >> some are at physical risk, as well as all of our members -- all the 49ers have, unfortunately -- unfortunately, many have been assaulted in one way or another. it is something that we're trying to address and follow up with when they do. >> chief tong, thank you, and thank them, too, on our behalf, please. i am going to -- i had a few things marked for fire marshal coflin, but i will

spare him any inquiry about cost referrals, since i don't know what they mean. he is lucky today. but you definitely have your hands full here. i commend that you're accomplishing all of these things with the folks that you have, i really do. i'm like, i think, my other fellow commissioners in terms of really reading everything that gets done, and the numbers are really quite impressive. so thank you. thank you for that. and i have a couple of questions. chief brown, the airport -- a couple real

easy questions, i think. when you describe an "aided case," what does that mean, "aided"? >> thank you, madam president. deputy chief david brown, airport division. "aided case" could be assisting a citizen, help a patient off the aircraft, or it can be elevator rescue, something that of nature. >> are they mainly medical or -- that's a fair number of people in a month. >> yeah. for the majority of the calls we get here, they are medical-related. >> okay. all right. >> it could be cases where they decline to be transported to the hospital. >> oh, i see. all right. okay. thank you. and i don't mean this to sound sarcastic, but 23

elevator rescues in a month? should i not take an elevator at the airport? >> i wouldn't take it on a weekend or on a friday after 5:00 p.m., because you might be stuck in there for a few hours. they don't have an on-site elevator mechanic. they have to call in a company from -- i think their closest technician is in san jose. >> so people just get stuck in the elevator? >> it happens. we intervene if it is a medical emergency. but otherwise, the airport just doesn't want us to damage the equipment. so we have to wait for a skilled elevator mechanic to respond. >> okay. that takes care of me in the elevator. thank you very much. >> madam president, generally the elevators are safe, though. >> oh, i'm not so sure. that's okay.

i'll stick with the the ask escalators where somebody can throw a ladder and get me off in case there is a problem. and, um, i think i will hold my other comments for another time. i really appreciate the report, chief rubenstein, and to all of those under your command. it's just very helpful. and every month is full of surprises, so it never gets boring. so thank you. >> thank you for the opportunity, ma'am. >> i'm sorry, excuse me. i wanted to just ask one other question, and i don't know who to direct it to, but i've been watching, getting the mom

memos about wild land rotations, and who is moving where and what equipment is going where. the one question i have is: how are -- you have people coming from all over the state, mutual aid for wild land fires, and who supervises them? under whose direction do they fall? >> thank you for the question, madam president. it is an interesting question. the state of california has a mutual aid agreement that was put in effect in the '50s by the governor of the state, who obligated all of us to work together towards these hazards. and since that time, systems have been built, and we have local fire departments, counties, regions, and then state. and when our members go to an incident, it is because the resources in that department couldn't handle it, that county couldn't

handle it, that region -- maybe the same region as us, or in these cases, other regions had to reach out into the system. and that we was collapse in on those emergencies. in the time that it takes to arrive at the dixie fire, you arrive at a fire department that has been built up. the system is managed at the incident command system. there will be an incident commander and operations chief. there will be every element of a fire department. and so on a daily basis, our members are working on strike teams and task forces. and one of the tenets of this is that you understand who you're working for. they will have a striking division within a brand underneath the i.c. and all of that, as far as the resource management of it goes is an orchestra

that is conducted by the o.e.s. system, of which we have those types of systems. you have seen the yellow engines that go out, and those are l.o.e.s. rigs with san francisco fire department staffing. they are the ones that are calling for those resources, and the incidents all vie for those resources. >> thank you. thank you. that's very helpful to me because i couldn't quite figure out how it was all coordinated. thank you. okay. i'll be quiet. commissioner cleveland, yes, sir? >> i just had one additional comment for chief rubenstein, and that was to, again, congratulate the fire department for the operation genesis program. i think that is a very, very laudable program.

it is a boot-strap, entry-level program that reaches communities that may not have been reached in the past. i just can't say how supportive i am, and i think all of us as commissioners are, for these kinds of programs to expose the fire department and the rigorous challenges that the members of the fire department face, both with potential new members of our department in the future. so i wanted to congratulate the united fire service women in particular for the operation genesis program. thank you. >> and thank you, mr. commissioner. and just to be clear, i put it in my report because it was so great. i didn't do that. that is the united fire service women. it is great and laudable, and it is kind of fun. >> i agree. >> i thank you, commissioner cleveland, because you choose to speak on behalf of the commission, and i know that -- i'll just say, shoot, it looks really

hard. [laughter] >> so to all those women, men out there doing that, but -- yeah, everybody looks young to me. but those younger participants, holy cow! i mean, it is -- it was really something worth seeing. and thank you for the effort -- well, to the united fire service women. so thank you. >> thank you. >> okay. i think, madam secretary -- >> we'll move on to item 5, commission report, report on commission activities. since the last meeting on july 28th, 2021. >> chairwoman: okay. any public comment, madam secretary? >> there is nobody on the

public comment line. >> chairwoman: all right. public comment will be closed. anybody have anything to report that they haven't already? commissioner nakajo? >> thank you very much, madam president. i just wanted to brief the commissioners and the command force that i am proceeding in terms of the valuation of the commission secretary. i wanted to acknowledge and thank commissioner cleveland in the conclusion of our interview as well, upcoming with the president, as well as commissioner covington, and myself, and i do appreciate commissioner cleveland in the sense that he sent me over his evaluation template with his remarks. so i appreciate that. as soon as i get all of the other commissioners, i will then go through the process of meeting with the commission secretary and go into our conclusion. i want to have one remark, if i may, madam president,

that i didn't say earlier, but i wanted to welcome chief peeples to this meeting. welcome. thank you, madam president. >> chairwoman: thank you. >> thank you, commissioners. and madam president as well. it is nice to see everyone. nice to be here. thank you. >> chairwoman: thank you. and thank you for your hard work on moving us forward. thank you. any further activities to be reported? okay. i'm not seeing any, so we will call the next item, please. >> item 6, agenda for next and future fire commission meetings. >> chairwoman: all right. anybody on the public comment line? >> no, there is not. >> chairwoman: all

right. then public comment shall be closed. i think i have items that have been previously suggested, that we're going to work our way through. any new items people would like to add to future commission meetings? all right. we'll stick with our list and keep getting through them. thank you. item 7. >> public comment on item 8. public comment on all matters pertaining to item 8 below, including public comment on whether to hold item 8 enclosed session. and there is nobody on the public comment line. >> chairwoman: all right. then public comment shall be closed. item 8, possible closed session regarding personnel matter. vote on whether to conduct item 8b enclosed session.

action item. the commission may hear item 8b enclosed session, pursuant to government code 54, and administrative code 67.10b. >> i move that this item be discussed enclosed session. >> chairwoman: is there a second? >> i second that. >> chairwoman: all right. moved by commissioner covington and seconded by commissioner cleveland. >> president, how do you vote? >> foreclosed session. >> and vice president nakajo? >> i vote for closed session. >> okay. this matter will g is there a motion?

>> madam president, i move to not to disclose. >> president: all right. motion by commissioner cleaveland. is there a second? >> commissioner: second. >> president: thank you. seconded by commissioner covington. >> clerk: and president feinstein, how do you vote? >> president: to not close. >> clerk: and vice president? >> commissioner: to not close. >> clerk: and item nine is adjournment. >> commissioner: so moved. >> commissioner: i second that. >> clerk: president feinstein? >> president: i vote to adjourn. >> clerk: and vice president? >> commissioner: i vote with the commissioners. >> clerk: and, this meeting is adjourned at 11:17. >> president: 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 hope we can learn more about the current state of covid-19 variant cases and others. let's get through the housekeeping and get started. recording. today's event is being recorded and being live streamed on facebook on facebook, sfgovtv, comcast 26, and cable 26. we respect all in this meeting, and want to create a safe space for