tv Fire Commission SFGTV August 30, 2021 9:00am-11:31am PDT
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>> clerk: fire commission regular meeting august 25, 2021, and the time is 5:04. this meeting is being held by webex pursuant to the governor's order. meetings of the fire commission will convene remotely. you may watch live at www.sfgovtv.org, and to participate in public comment, please dial 415-655-0001 and use access code 146-382-3282.
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members 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, three and you will be queued. callers will hear silence when waiting for your turn to speak. when it is your turn to speak, you will hear the prompt your line is unmuted. please ensure you are in a quiet location, speak clearly, and turnoff any t.v.s or radios around you. roll call. [roll call]
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>> clerk: general public comment. members of the public may address the commission for up to three matters 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 a speaker. the lack of a response by the commissioners or department personnel does not necessarily constitute agreement with or support of statements made during public comment. and there is nobody on our public comment line. >> president feinstein: all right. public comment shall be closed. next item, please. >> clerk: item 3, approval of the minutes.
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discussion and possible action to approve the meeting minutes of the august 11, 2021 meeting. >> president feinstein: first of all, do we have any public comment? >> clerk: there is nobody on the public comment line. >> president feinstein: then public comment will be closed. any comment from our commissioners? i see commissioner cleaveland -- or commissioner covington, excuse me. i cannot hear you, commissioner covington. >> commissioner covington: can you hear me? >> president feinstein: yes. >> commissioner covington: okay. i have a question regarding the minutes. did i somehow miss the conversation regarding members of the department that were not
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vaccinated? i had some comments regarding that, you know, just trying to encourage everyone to try their best to keep your dream job by getting vaccinated, and then, our president has some very pointed comments. i may have missed it, but i don't see those comments on the part of either party included in the minutes. >> president feinstein: any comments from anybody in the command staff? >> commissioner covington: i don't think it's pertaining to the command staff. >> president feinstein: i just wanted to see if they had an opportunity to comment. your point is well taken because i think we had a significant discussion.
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i don't know, madam secretary, if you wanted to address that, or the chief. >> clerk: well, i just have, on page 3, that commissioner covington encouraged everyone to get vaccinated. >> president feinstein: that was so gentle of you. >> commissioner covington: i think we need a more robust comment out on that conversation. >> president feinstein: so let us give the secretary an opportunity to amend the minutes, and i think we should reconsider them along with the minutes from this meeting at our next meeting because you're correct. it was a robust discussion, and what was reported out from the chief of the department was rather concerning, so your point is quite well taken. can you do that for us, madam
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secretary? >> clerk: certainly. >> president feinstein: okay. are you fine with that, commissioner covington? >> commissioner covington: yes, i am. it's just that the minutes should not be abridged, though. that's my point. >> president feinstein: okay. something was not included, and the secretary has agreed to include it, and we will reconsider these minutes before they're adopted prior to our next meeting. >> commissioner covington: that's fine. thank you. >> president feinstein: anybody else have any other comments on the minutes? >> yes. good evening, president feinstein, vice president nakajo, commissioners covington and cleaveland. there is some of that language
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on page 3 in the bottom part of the large paragraph, but perhaps that is not the part that you are responding to. it says, [inaudible] disciplinary action, and that we'll move to separate people. so there are, you know, six or seven lines in there, but that may not be what you're looking for. i'm not sure what you're looking for, so just wanted to point that out. >> commissioner covington: thank you. >> president feinstein: yeah, i think it's true. i do think it did include my pointed comments about unvaccinated responders in my home, which i was very sharp about, and if i had to restate
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it, i would restate it more sharply, but that part was in there. perhaps we can just review and see if an amendment and additions are necessary. but hopefully we're going to have an excellent report momentarily, and these will just be reports gone past because they're already addressed. that's a possibility. >> commissioner covington: okay. >> president feinstein: okay. thank you. next -- oh, we need to vote. sorry. >> clerk: no, there's nothing to vote on. >> president feinstein: so we're not going to move to adopt the minutes. i'm sorry. my mistake. >> clerk: item 4, chief of
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department's report. report from chief of department, jeanine nicholson. report on current issues, activities, and events within the department since the fire commission meeting on august 11, 2021, including budget, academies, special events, communications, and outreach to other government agencies and the public, including report from administration, deputy chief jose velo. report on the administrative divisions, fleet, and facility status and updates, finance, support services, and training within the department. >> good evening, everyone, again. my name is chief jeanine nicholson, and here is my report. so let's get right down to brass tacks about the delta variant and covid. obviously, the delta variant is still causing concern for the
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entire nation. fortunately for san francisco, we have started to see the numbers plateau and come down a bit. so for us as a department at this time, we currently had 30 people off with either covid or they are quarantined, and that number keeps moving down. we were at 39 last week. so numbers are moving in the right direction, and we continue to communicate with our members the importance of mask wearing and p.p.e. and hygiene, etc. myself, cd-2 and cd-3 have been out visiting stations over the last couple of weeks to express to our members how important the vaccine is and what ramifications could be if they
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do not meet the timelines. so let me talk a little bit about the timelines for our members and the vaccination, and this is -- this is coming out of city department of human resources. and commissioners and maureen, i don't know if you get anything from the fdoc, so i forwarded you an e-mail that was sent out to our members this evening.
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[inaudible] so our members have -- have time to get that done. our members need to get their first shot no later than september 8 and their second shot no later than september 29. for the moderna vaccine, they need to get no later than september 1 because there's an extra week in between, and their second shot, again, no later than september 29. now who does that apply to? it applies to quite a few of our members: h-2, h-3, h-4,
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h-5, h-6 -- there's a whole lot of numbers in your e-mail or i can read them out if you'd like me to. whoever is not listed there is due; that they must have their vaccination completed by november 1. they have to be, quote, unquote, fully vaccinated, so two weeks before. so their last shot no later than october 18. so basically for -- to keep it sort of simple, for our frontline members, they have to finish their vaccine regiment by september 29, and for all our other members, civilian and some of the other uniformed
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members, they have to finish their regimen by october 18. our office has gotten approval to be a vaccination location and has a supply of some pfizer and some johnson & johnson. it is by appointment only. now in addition, our members must update their vaccination status, and there will be exemptions, medical exemptions and religious exemptions. those have to go through city
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director in the past year, and he's been a wonderful addition, and he is doing the basic 911 medical director oversight. now, we have added a position of community paramedicine director, and i offered it to a dr. joseph gretterol last week, and chief pang can give a little bit more information if you'd like during the question-and-answer. and finally, as we reach the 20 anniversary of 9-11, we will be having a remembrance ceremony with our mayor, others that -- and commissioners, i'm not sure if we have sent the invitations
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out. it will be held outside the public safety building where police station 4 is located at 6:45 a.m. on saturday, september 11. again, it is the 20 anniversary, and we wanted to have it at headquarters because we have our world trade centerpiece here, but due to covid restrictions and in the interest of everyone's health and safety, we are going to have it outside. the piece that is from the world trade center, downs in headquarters, we are not going to be able to bring it over to the public safety building for fare of damaging it, but we
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will nonetheless have a very respectful ceremony. and just one last thing, tomorrow is women's equality day, and i will be attending that with mayor breed and congress woman pelosi and many others over at city hall. and that concludes my report, and i'm happy to take any questions. >> president feinstein: very good. do we have any public comment? >> clerk: there is nobody on the public comment line. >> president feinstein: all right. and public comment shall be closed, and let me turn to my fellow commissioners. questions for the -- ah, commissioner cleaveland? >> commissioner cleaveland: thank you, madam president. couple of questions, chief. we got this memo from the -- i guess it's the san francisco e.m.s. medical agency director, and it's a lengthy memo, but if you could give us the cliff
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notes on this basic life safety memo, i think i would appreciate that. perhaps my fellow commissioners would, as well. >> chief tong, can you speak to that? >> yes. assistant deputy chief sandy tong. actually, i'm not sure which one you're referring to, commissioner cleaveland? >> commissioner cleaveland: it's the memo that was dated august 9, and it's to the -- to all the san francisco e.m.s. providers, from john brown -- >> so b.l.s. authorization -- >> commissioner cleaveland: the subject matter is temporary b.l.a. authorization from august 15 to august 31, so basic life safety authorization for a two-week period.
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i just kind of wanted you to give me a more layman's term explanation of what this memo was all about. >> sure. sorry about that. so this is a b.l.s. authorization memo that allows the b.l.s. providers to come into the 911 system sort of as a back up to address, you know, increased call volume, increased call volume due to covid. if staffing levels are challenged, the system is able to accept up to four b.l.s. ambulances in the system for transport to hospitals. that's the very short version. >> commissioner cleaveland: okay. and instead of having to have the, what, advanced life safety ambulances? >> correct. so there's only a limited number of a.l.s. ambulances in the system. if the system gets taxed, they're allowing b.l.s., which
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is typically not allowed on any basis. >> commissioner cleaveland: and is this something that they're going to extend because we don't have enough a.l.s. capacity? >> so i just got a memo today, and they're going to extend it to september 15, and then, they just look like what the staffing levels will look like, what they anticipate the volume to be, and whether or not they want to allow for at least that option to happen, so it's been extended for two more weeks after the 31. >> commissioner cleaveland: okay. thank you so much for that explanation. >> sure. >> commissioner cleaveland: my other question, chief, deals with the memo we got from barbara s.f., dealing with page street. what's the situation with slow streets page street? do we have a position yet? >> thank you, commissioner cleaveland.
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in terms of our position on slow streets, what we are doing is looking at all of the data in terms of our response times, not just for page street but for all -- throughout the city, and we are, you know, looking at response times not just for ambulances, not just for engines, not just for trucks, and we're seeing some variability over the city, and we have seen our response times go up over the past three years, and that, in my opinion, has to do -- you know, it likely has to do with taking a four-lane street and making it a two-lane street, the bulbouts
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and the speed bumps and the speed humps, i know that many of the slow streets are going away, i believe, at the end of this year, and -- i believe over half of them. our fire marshal might be able to correct me if that's wrong, but, you know, i'm not -- i'm not -- you know, i am concerned about our increase in response time, and, you know, i wouldn't be being honest with you if i didn't say i am, and so we are talking with the policy makers, we're working with m.t.a. and everyone else to figure out next steps and where we go from here. so i am concerned about the response times, i will tell you that. >> commissioner cleaveland: but sounds like since they won't make a decision until the end of the year as to which streets
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will be sunseted from being slow streets, we can't, as a department, you know, really weigh-in and make a final judgment until december 31 or whenever they make the final selection, correct? we have to hold off on our decision making on those until that time. >> well, we are weighing in. we weigh-in and have conversations all the time, as does my -- as does fire marshal kaufman, and ultimately, you know, i can make a recommendation and will make a recommendation once i have all of the -- there's so many different pieces to this puzzle, and so i -- i will make a recommendation. i've made recommendations on other -- you know, on other streets, and i will do that, as well. so we're in --
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>> commissioner cleaveland: i should think -- chief, i should think your opinion would be very significant in terms of whether or not a safe street or a slow street could stay a safe street, if you will, and so yeah, i think you'll be making those decisions -- probably your -- the fire department's decision will be critical to whether or not certain slow streets stay slow streets, correct? [please stand by]
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move them so they are working through their own agency to move them. there are some that will succeed lake street, shot well, sanchez, and one more and page is one. we haven't agreed to anything permanent. right now we are in re-evaluation. that is an extension to the end of the year. we will watch the response times. the captain and myself are in discussion. we do have an agreement with s.f.m.t.a. as needs have been extended that our response times significantly increase or becomes greater concern for the chief, she can meet with the director of s.f.m.t.a. and come to a conclusion these are not working out and they can be
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removed prior to that timeframe. now we are waiting for response time. we are wait and see but we do have an out if these are not succeeding or become cumbersome to our response times. >> thank you for that response. mr. fire marshal regarding tasks, who is on the task force, for want of better term, and how are decisions made there? >> i am sorry. >> i don't mean to interrupt, commissioner covington. i don't know what the task standing for.
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>> that is why i am asking him to explain. >> traffic advisory safety committee. this have representatives from different city agencies. they have projects and they post those on there. the different agencies speak up to either get approval or recommendations for or against a certain project. when they change the stop sign, change a color of curve, parking area permit by a block or speed bump or speed hump. if the task committee gets together to provide input if it does or does not affect their particular agency. i mentioned the captain representing the fire department and gathers information. he finds out they give out an agenda. this is a project we would like to do. he works with members in the
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field to get in put. they look at the project then we work with the command staff to come up with problems and give our recommendation or put it on hold and ask for modification. the task committee is a working group of city agencies based on upcoming or desired road projects in the city. >> who is at the table? >> which agencies? >> yes, please. >> besides fire, m.t.a. i don't have the list of agencies in front of me. if you give me a moment, i can find it. we are one of multiple city agencies that are asked to be part of that. >> and is there one agency that has veto authority? is it by consensus?
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how does it work? >> all agencies have a say in it. they try to work on a consensus. if not, they get put on hold for a longer period of time until something can be worked out so i don't know if it is all equal say on it. the fire department has a very big chair at the table. >> if there is an equality -- never mind. well, i think that is helpful information for everyone as to how these decisions are made mad by whom. the more information we have as commissioners and fellow citizens, the more information the better our questions. thank you. >> i would agree with commissioner covington.
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i have one question. mr. fire marshal, i don't know if i can answer this or not, but are these task meetings open to the public or are they just inner agency closed meetings? >> prior to covid they are open. right now there are no in-person meetings happening. i am checking the agenda to see what the meeting is. they do post it on s.f.m.t.a. website. the agenda, results are posted there. i am trying to find a sample the minutes. that will let me know a little bit of the information real quick. who do we have at the table s.f.m.t.a., public works, police department, planning department, fire department and golden gate
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transit are the agencies that may being up the task. you have multiple persons from those agencies. those are the agencies they go to. it depends on the a projects affects transit. it is not a major thoroughfare they use, they wouldn't have a issue with it. those are the groups there. no in-person meeting. >> follow-up question. who chairs the meeting? >> it looks like s.f.m.t.a. chairs it. public is not invited. it is inner agency only. >> s.f.m.t.a. chairs this. >> they bring in the other agencies, public works, police, planning, fire and golden gate transit. >> who sets agenda?
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>> s.f.m.t.a. sets it. they send out minutes and the agenda both. >> the matter is not open to the committee is not open to the public? >> the meetings are not open to the public, no. >> it is a number of governmental representatives going around without public input determining what is in the public's best interest. i don't mean to sound as argumentative as it is. i don't mean it to sound neutral either. am i correct, is that right? there isn't any public input? >> i believe these are typically they post the area with the projects and the public has the
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right to provide comment at that time based on that. they do go out and they post the area of the project. >> i am going to say this. forgive me, commissioner covington, if i am interrupting. i don't mean to. i am surrounded by these slow street speed bumps. i don't know what the word is for how you can drive through the middle of them. i can do it. i don't have a fire engine or fire truck, and i have got to imagine i have a narrower whatever the thing is i am trying to say. i have a narrower ability to get through the speed bumps, which i
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do. you know, i know them so i go right through them. it doesn't slow me or make me go faster, and what i am concerned about is what we talked about last meeting or the meeting before is what it does to a fire engine and something loaded with what i understand to be almost two tons of water, and i think chief dewitt addressed this. again, i can't remember the last meeting or meeting before, and it is damaging our equipment because i have to believe that distance and i should have looked up the word ahead of time. whatever it is from your front wheel to the next, that distance
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can't possibly be the same as my little car. engines must go over these bumps and they must go over these bumps with two tons of water in them. i will be asking, heads up, chief, i will be asking what kind of equipment damage or repair are we experiencing from them, number one. number two, i guess maybe it is because i get all of these beeps on my phone about different accidents and this and that. it doesn't seem to be working to reduce the number of motor vehicles, scooters, skateboard, bicycle accidents, and i just don't understand safety benefit of it. i feel to me to be very -- i
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just feel that it is very political to make people feel that they can roll their stroller down the street in the middle of the street. not that i have seen a lot of people do that, roll their stroller down the street or ride down the middle of the street, you know, san francisco is something other than a very dense urban environment which is what it is. if, in fact, it is slowing our response time. if, in fact, it is causing damage to our equipment, i would like to know and we can have a meeting and our commissioners can decide whether the commission should weigh in on this. i am not particularly interested in being politically correct about it. it is a matter of safety and it
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is a matter of receiving the emergency services that we all expect. i hope don't take for granted because i don't. i don't think most people do from the san francisco fire department when we need them, and if we are slow, getting slowed by something that is just politically correct, popular thing, that is not okay with me as a taxpayer. i am repeating the minutes. i will stop now. i apologize to everybody, but i do feel very passionately about this unless there is some benefit. nobody has been able to express to me what the benefit is. i just know the detriment.
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i don't know the benefits. >> if i can say something. >> of course. >> a bit of information. the agendas they do state who is bringing the suggested project forward. sometimes it is the neighborhood or nonprofit, sometimes it is a supervisor the particular district. the s.f.m.t.a. states it is the city policy on vision zero. no deaths by 2025. that is where this is coming from. i agree we do have issues. we are working with s.f.m.t.a. on this. we received the first round of a map of the speed humps and bumps that have been installed in the city. there are others that are proposed or approved.
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i am waiting for revised map on that. if you would like when we get that if the commission would like to see a copy of that i can send that out to you. if you would like to be included on the task agenda's minutes to see what is happening out there, i can gladly get that forwarded to you, also. >> i would. i think that is our responsibility. between suppression and ems. this is -- i can't think of anything else. sfpd when a violent crime takes place. i can't think of anything more of greater significance. i mean riding your bike down the middle of the street is important to people who cycle and family members of mine do and would probably disagree with
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me, but, you know, if dad is having a heart attack or something, i want to ambulance to be there as quickly as possible. vision zero is lovely. it is a great idea, but it is not going to happen in my life time or any of our lifetimes. that is just reality. i am willing to bet you on that one. i think that we should and i don't know if other commissioners object, i am happy to entertain their objections. i don't see any harm in us obtaining the minutes or whatever we can from this task -- it must be tasc as in charlie. it impacts this department severely.
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commissioners, does anybody not want this given? you don't have to read them, but you will. you all do. >> how old are they? >> i am just kidding. >> every two weeks. >> you will read them. i know you. >> commissioner nakajo. >> madam president, i want to make sure i have a chance to comment before we end chief nicholson's report. >> okay. any reason not to proceed with vice president nakajo? >> please. >> i am waiting for the chief's report. i am going to wait until that report is over and i will ask
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chief pane the question. sig-- chief nicholson i want to thank you for the vaccine for the members of the department and the timelines out there. more importantly, the compliance of dhr. i appreciate that. i will be waiting for the chief's report. thank you, madam president. >> thank you, mr. vice president. i apologize, chief nicholson. i have one other comment. we received as commission members a commission secretary forwarded to us two different memos and if there was a third today i didn't see it. i am not saying there wasn't about vaccines available in the
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physicians' office. there was a number yesterday and a number today, i believe. if i am incorrect about this, please correct me. my question is were those vaccines used? >> thank you, president feinstein. i do not know how many were used. we have had some folks come in and get vaccinated. >> chief is coming up. he has a preview. all right. any further questions for the chief of the department? we have no comments. chief velo, are you ready to go? >> yes, thank you.
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good evening. i have my report for july. i will share my presentation to highlight the issues we have been dealing with. since august started we have other things going on, too. the update the chief mentioned. 24 members firmly assigned to different fires in the state of california. six engines, 24 personnel to the dixie fire which is this morning 40% contained. we have a rainbow strike. it is multi agency. three engines from our agency and two engines from other agencies. task force assigned to that. two engines from agency and different types of engines
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comprise that. that is why it is a task force. 361 with the fire is 20% containt the monument fire. then we have a member of int for the state assisting in the mcfarland fire which is currently 71% contained. all personnel in good health. no issues. we have relocated from the dixie fire. this is the third group of members in that fire. this morning we rotated at the monument fire. we continue to support the operations for the state. it is tremendous and more fires are breaking out. two more fires broke out in the grass valley area this summer. a number of the engines are
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dirty and they are doing a great job and getting good compliments. training. the academy started in august 2. we invited 42 recruits to participate. one injured the weekend before starting. we have 41 doing well. they are in the third week of academy. this friday will be the first test they do. as you recall, the combination of putting the 49 and new recruits together from the beginning has received positive comments about how that is working out. it seems like they are getting more hands on from the beginning. it was a great idea from the training staff. it is positively implemented. we have the last training.
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we had last friday 18 members graduated in the field now assisting in the much needed station numbers. we continue to do drills for rescue, active training with chief brown making sure they are prepared. we are working together. today this morning we had a group of some members that went to a training for what you see on the pictures here. they did do multiple things. the folks from that can show members that work on the trucks and truck fires and rescue fires how to use the tremendous schools to lift heavy objects. very well received training this morning.
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last, end of july after my last meeting, the chief and myself went be to new york to their training academy and we learned a lot of things what they did at the academy, what buildings they have. we are taking that information back to start the process we will do in the new training facility. research goes a long way to learn what works and doesn't work so well. they have a subway station dedicated to subway rescues. we have muni and we can use some of that. some of the ideas were captured by us and making in our process, too. there are a lot of projects going on. one of them and i will show you the pictures of the e.m.t. interns that started two weeks
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ago. working with the program that is helping out the projects here. we are connecting for a few years now. meeting with the community groups. they continue to have racial equity committee meetings to advance our plan and project. we participate in the meet and greets with the chief of the department for enrollment for the e.m.t.s. the kickoff of the academy. we had the weekend before the academy started we had pre-academy. we taught recruits what is expected, let them touch the tools and ladders and so forth. that was review and it was received very well from recruits. we have seen the actual benefits during the academy. we are going to implement
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incrementally add more weeks based on the feedback from the training staff and we will see that in the next academy. when selected by the chief be prepared for that. another thing we did for the academy was the orientation for families. it was a good day to talk to the families about what is required for a recruit and what sacrifices not only the recruit makes and the family for the 20 weeks. that was very well received. it was in the plans weeks ago. this is the first academy to bring it back. we got good reviews from families and recruits. the families approached the structures saying thank you we understand what it means to become the dream. it continues to have meetings with employee groups for equipment for the office. the members can go this there
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and get information and the public can get information on how to enroll and get information about the fire department. this is what i was talking about the e.m.t. orientation. they receive a one week orientation of protocols how to work in the system and right away they went to the ambulance. three shifts away they do with the folks at 49. neighborhood response teams continue to train. they started training in the classroom after the pandemic. they continue not only in the classroom but in the neighborhoods. they met for review of the plans they are doing. they also help in many events we have such as national night out on august 3rd. they put the message out to enroll more folks. health safety and wellness is busy. with the covid surge that put us
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to task. we were able to secure rapid testing from the california department of health antigen tests. we went through training and going to stations that have positive cases to make sure our folks are tested. 15 minute test and positive requires follow-up test. we are happy to be involved. we are doing it for the training recruits there, too. also involved in the department in several studies cancer study and health study from new york. follow the long-term for health effects. it is very involved in many studies to see the issues of the health of the firefighters in the country. as to your question, president, we do have some members, i don't have the exact number. at least i know eight that have
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come for dose that were not willing to. we see some progress in that, too. as soon as we announce that we don't want to waste doses. we haven't wasted doses. both johnson & johnson pfizer has been approved. we are working on that. this graph is showing what you the chief was talking about. increase of cases positive by day. also today we have three members. you can see on the chart how we had people 10 days or so ago almost 45 members off. now we are seeing the trend coming down which is positive. it matches the community we serve. we are trying to do the best we can to isolate the cases and contact trace and so forth. also, we are working on and happy to say we have a start day
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of november 20th. a program for health for members not just on the job. 30 in and 30 out. combination of us, health services helping and kaiser bringing nurses to bring know your numbers. health check of basic numbers, blood pressure to identify issues members will receive personal information to go to their physician to take care of the issues. two weeks of that. we aral loaded 800 members -- allotted 800 members. we have this amount of nurses available for that. this is not significant cost to us and it is in the budget. it is good for us. she also put together a newsletter about the delta variant and trying to keep our members informed what is going on. information is power. that is what she is trying to do
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to our members. not only with the random alcohol check which is negative. sometimes the chiefs are doing the testing. all negative. also, assisted in background investigations. we are preparing for the next academy january 17, 2022. we are starting that process. the chief is involved in this working together. 44 request for service. we completed 88. some started. we are working on those requests. station two generator work is delayed because of issues with the roof. we are continuing with the work now putting out forbid station 18, 19, 37, 44 generators for
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early 2022. we have repairs to be done on the hvac on station 14. it is approved and funded. we are waiting for materials to start work. last few days we delivered fans to use for ventilation for dorms. they were spreadings covid in a way that by sleeping close together. the guidelines open windows, open as much as you can and ventilate in a way to move the air out we are doing the best we can to make sure our folks are safe. all are installed for stayings 35. we are waiting for the connections work. they are on the ground and now we are starting to do that to work on that. i won't tell you a date but soon.
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some of the work done is some of the fences. i want to put on the center of the screen the art that was designed by the design studio. it is right in front of the station for the public to see. it requires some work of art as part of the project. we might have a ceremony for the opening ceremonies. it is right there for the public to see. update. we are waiting for the delivery. warranty work is completed. one truck to arrive in the next week to be tested. we have seven ordered. we finalized the paperwork for the mini pump pers. we are waiting for the vendor to complete the paperwork prior to november. we are going to travel to
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minnesota to meet with the hosts and prebuilt conference. as you know we had three hosts in the last budget. we are working on those. it takes awhile for the bid process. we are going to start the building. that is good news. in the water it has to come out soon. it has to be cleaned and serviced. now it is back in the water again. some maintenance. we do the same for fire boats as well. you have seen this. we are nearing completion the pump station 2 and scheduling exercises in september like the one we did in pump station 1. we will do that for pump station 2. the final water pump station is completed. the protocols we are working
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p.u.c. to establish protocols who is going where and how to respond. cooperation is key. the chief is working on that. we are planning around the october our agencies and other agencies will participate in table bell top. the mayor's office asked us to work on wildfire response matrix. what is our plan? we started at different level of threshold to respond. in the past firefighters are involved. the p.u.c. is liaison between whatever agency is responding and us to make sure assets are protected. it has been there before.
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the chief has been there before. making sure that they understand what is going on. we have communications. that was a plan updated this year. we work around that, too. i will say this is the end of my presentation. i will be happy to answer any questions you may have. >> i will turn to fellow commissioners. questions for chief velo, please. commissioner covington, yes. >> thank you, ma'am. i have two quick questions. chief velo your report on the artwork for new station 35 reminded me when we went to the new station 49, the artwork was not up there. when will it be installed?
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>> good question. i will let chief dewitt answer that. it is delayed. >> good evening. chief of department maureen. support services. because the fence changed size early on there is major changes to be made. it went from 8 to 10-foot fence which changed the template which changed the patterns designed on the fence. we don't have an eta. we have an art meeting tomorrow afternoon to discuss timing of that fence. we are hoping by november-december that installation will begin on that fence. it is to be determined. i will know more tomorrow afternoon. >> when you say the more steel
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is required. more steel would be required that means more money going out. is this covered by the arts commission? >> correct, yes. >> great. the fence because there were some images that reminded some of us of images used in world war ii. was there any change in the design? >> definitely. i feel like we may have forwarded the final design to you. all designs were changed and softened. the bird that looked like an eagle. i can forward you the final design. i will write a note. it looked like a flag, some sort of flag from the medieval times.
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much of the images were changed to be more ems related. ambulances instead of castles and those kinds of things. the eagle looks like a phoenix. we changed the winnings. yes, it is much improved. it went through many iterations before we came to a final less controversial design. >> as long as those changes are included. i would love to see the finished product whenever it is ready would be nice to send out an invitation to commissioners so that we can all celebrate once again. >> i am happy to send you the final designs and i will try to get an update for you tomorrow. >> i have another question for you. through chief velo to you, chief
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dewitt, the official residence for the chief of the san francisco fire department. who takes care of the very, very large green space behind that residence? >> at this point we are not doing any yard maintenance back there. we have a company that comes out to do the front yard to keep it looking tidy. there are no funds for yard maintenance in the rear yard. >> i thought previously it was rec and park since it was considered one of the city parks even though it was behind the residence for the chief. perhaps that has changed or perhaps i misunderstood many years ago. that is an important residence. that is the only official residence where any official in the city and county of san
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francisco. i would appreciate knowing how it is being kept or how it can be, you know, not over taken by weeds and everything else. >> i can follow up on that. i will reach out to rec and park and look for history and reach out to rec and park. >> thank you. i think that is all i have for the moment. >> thank you, commissioner covington. to my fellow commissioners, commissioner cleaveland, yes, sir. >> thank you, madam president. a couple of easy questions for chief velo. thank you for your report. very comprehensive as usual. tough questions for don dewitt. i would ask to ask those.
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first question i read there is a firehouse recipe book put together with the favorite recipes from the various firehouses of san francisco. is this going to be published? if copies will be available to the public and if it could be used as a fund-raising for some charitable aspect of the fire department, much like you have seen many of the calendars from other fire departments that auction off -- that use the funds for charitable purposes. it is a great idea. i just would like to know more about the publication of this, when it is going to happen, how many copies will be available and whether it will be tied to a charity purpose? >> thank you, i hate to burst the bubble. it is electronic. it is a project that we will be
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working on to gather more healthier recipes. in spite of overall health of the project. now we don't have funds for publishing. it will be electronic. everyone on the internet system can establish them. >> no printed one, electronic? >> correct. >> more easily updated, i agree. okay. second question. the moose boat. what is that? >> another boat we have with different speeds. it is in our fleet of boats we have. it is always for a few years we have it. >> what do we use it for rescue? >> yes. >> okay. if i could chat with adc don dewitt i have a number of
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questions on the excellent report. as you know as commissioner i am keenly interested in the upkeep and maintenance of our firehouses and our other buildings that are managed and owned by the fire department. i think it is incumbent upon us to make the living conditions for our firefighters as good as possible. when there are repairs to be done that they can be done as expeditiously as possible. we have to work through public works. that has been a difficult relationship, but i understand it is being better. i hope it will continue to improve so that our firefighters and paramedics can get issues addressed as quickly as possible -- quickly as possible in all firehouses. to get to the specifics, i wanted to ask did station 19 get
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the new extractor? >> they did indeed. it was installed at the end of last week. that was installed. i don't know if it would go into more basic things. ask the other questions and i can give the summary. >> i am glad to hear that. that is positive. dealing with fire station 3 and the denrators. i -- generators, what are the price difference for replacing it or polishing the fuel with a new one. >> replacing entirely would be close to $1 million to be funded by a bond. polishing the fuel was way more reasonable. we repeated that yesterday. complete change out of fuel and major maintenance and the generator is up and running as
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we speak. generators we have been repairing a lot of generators lately. we are working on a generator maintenance contract. i will be working with our team to try to get more regular maintenance schedules in place so the fuel in the generators does not go bad. part of the issue the generators don't run very much each week based on air quality management. the tanks are large and we don't have a lot of fuel turnover. i spoke with golden gate petroleum who helped me preserve the fuel in the tanks and i would like to use the methods available to us to preserve that fuel, change out the fuel filters and do more ongoing routine maintenance with the generators. we are working on it. >> i think if anything more critical at the fire station
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than emergency generators operable. we have a power outage. still able to respond to fires or emergencies, get the doors open and other things. that is superimportant, at least in my mind. dealing with fire station 14. you are waiting for funds for the hvac system. when can that work begin? >> the funds are approved and transferred over. what happens is the parts that the d.p.w. needs to replace that system they have to go to bid. they don't have parts on hand. like any other purchase they have to have competitive bid for the hvac system. i am not sure about the sheet metal. it is currently out to bid. as soon as they have parts in hand we will begin work. we will work closely with them and making sure we are on site
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on a regular basis to survey the work and make sure that it is moving along at the pace it is posed to. >> who is your check contact at -- your regular contact at d.p.w.? >> it depends. bill is the superintendent. a lot of time i work with chris head of the steamfitters union. jerry is the leads at plumbing. i work with him. because our relationship has improved. there are a lot of telephone calls, one-on-one communication. i am kept up-to-date with status of projects where we are. i am asking for recommendations for maintenance what to do with plumbing back ups. we have had fewer backups because of enzyme treatments to
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get soap out of the lines. it is cheaper to clean up every quarter rather than backing up to the station. >> that is very good news. in your opinion is the public works assigning folks familiar with our fire department infrastructure problems so they can get the work and repairs done in the most expedited fashion, in your opinion? >> i think they try as best they can with constraints they have with the city obstacles. they are short staffed. i follike lately we have been getting one-on-one service, telephone calls between me and jerry and chris. i feel like the relationship has really improved and we are moving. i feel they have started to make us a larger priority. they do drop other jobs and give us timelines. we are able to discuss larger
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estimates and go over the work and i am able to negotiate and cut costs and ask if there is a way to turn down the fees. i have been able to review the bills. we have changed the billing structure. i am able to go over things a little bitter -- better. they are good if there is a question to work with us on the billing. >> that is real good news. i appreciate that. i always thought the fire departments infrastructure properties, firehouses should be priority projects in terms what the public works department addresses. they should address our problems and projects as priority. it is a public safety issue. regarding the safety of the city and we should have our facilities in working order at all times. i appreciate your update on that
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very much. looking over my notes here. i see this interesting one on landscaping. request by neighbor to trim tree at fire station 39. was that tree on our property or on the fire department's property or on the property of the neighbor? >> it was on our property, but it was growing so far over on to the neighbor's property that it did pose a hazard. the light was come from the neighbor's yard. to avoid liability on our part and to get it off our roof it was growing to our roof. we did a major trim of that tree to cut all of limbs off above our roofline and out of the neighbor's yard. >> did we do it or rec and park do it? >> no, bureau of urban for resindustry d.p.w. branch?
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>> they do it and bill us? >> correct. >> unbelievable. i think that is all the important questions i had. i read this report very closely as you can see because i am concerned about the infrastructure of our fire department. we are going to do a fire station replacement of fire station number 7. complete rebuild, i guess. i am wondering how old is that existing fire station 7? >> i don't have that in front of me. a lot of those stations were built in the 1950s and 1960s with that fit print. i imagine in the 50s and 60s. it is very busy. it is like a quadruple company. there is a division chief there. a lot of people coming and going
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at all times and it is heavily used. >> i needs to be torn down and rebuilt completely. ps bond 217. total funds allocated of $9.1 million for the last fiscal years. that was allocated for repair and upkeep of the fire stations in our city? >> that is for the life of the bond. that would be for all of the towery movals, the scope work associated with that. for the towers that were removed for the bond. >> not just one fiscal year? >> no. that was allocated. ads was part of that or any fire station projects. i think it was left pretty broad. most of that money has gone for removing the towers.
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>> okay. i think that is all the questions i have at this point. i do appreciate your forbearance on this. as i said, it is of great interest to me to make sure the fire stations are maintained in as good working order as possible. i hate to see firefighters and paramedics dealing with broken toilets or air-conditioners or stoves not working. it is important that we respond and respond quickly to those problems. >> i appreciate that. i feel the same way. >> thank you, chief velo. that is all my presidents. >> vice president nakajo, please. >> i will make a comment and
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respond to your comprehensive report, chief velo. as i go through reviews i will refrain for the sake of time. i want to be able to move toward the agenda items i am interested in as well. not that your report is not interesting. what stood out to me was i was anxious to hear was wildfire response and mutual aid. i appreciate how comprehensive you got. the question i had in mind was what was at the end of that particular site with some reference that all personnel are good. after awhile, and my heart goes out to the wildfires and the rest of the firefighters out there on a constant day in and
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day out fight that is going on. i concern myself with the rotation and what comes to mind is enough of our members trained for the rotation which then goes to the training facility and the training for those rotations. again, i want to re-enforce all personnel are good. i am curious as to the moral of our members as they respond to this wildfire and to the rotation now that i have seen three or four. i think we are going on four rotations. our folks are members. staff would you comment? >> moral is high. this is what they are trained to do and they are willing to go help our neighbor in the state of california. i am concerned about their health, too. breathing that smoke day in and out, it is not good for anybody. moral is high.
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they are resting as much as they can. 24 hours in and 24 hours off. we are proud of what they do. we are getting good reports to the chiefs assigned to the fires. it is an honor to assist the state. they keep signing up to continue to help. >> i appreciate the report. it touches on two different identifications one for wildfires they are dealing with and mutual aid as well. part of that is you can tell us with three rotations we have enough members that are trained, rested and will go back. this is going to be a long season if it hasn't been already. >> we have enough members trained. the issue now is short in staff. we do higher over time shifts daily. it is a combination. the more people off with covid, that reduces the pool of people
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that can go. they are resting. two weeks in. then they rest. some go back. some new one was come in after new weeks. some folks are very interested and keep signing up. they get two week rest. we have almost 200 members trained for wildfire mutual aid response. >> thank you very much, chief velo, for the members who have responded. my heart and prayers for all of the members and residents of northern california dealing with. thank you, madam president. >> any comments from -- commissioner cleaveland. >> dealing with the wildfire task force is the san francisco fire department responsible for
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. >> commissioner covington: thank you tell us a little bit about that? >> what we working on, we're seeing those vehicles out on the streets, and how is our emergency response to one of these incidents? how can we control the active vehicle because there might be a driver or the other driver or passenger might be unconscious, so knowing about the actual vehicle itself, it will be able to help. so we're working with them to
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develop a video with that. >> commissioner covington: thank you. i see they're offering free rides to some people while they're working out some of the kinks and there is an actual driver in the car, as well, so perhaps some of the chiefs can ride in the cars to get the -- >> today, they actually were at t.i. doing this training and this video, so today, i was there, and they were doing the training and the video. >> commissioner covington: okay. very good. can you please share that video with the commission? >> once we complete it, absolutely. absolutely. >> commissioner covington: all right. thank you. and let's see...target solutions. can you give us a little more information about target solutions for the computer? >> yeah. it's an on-line platform for
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training. basically, in lieu of going to the classroom and learning something every single month, we have two things: e.m.s. topics and we are able to complete our e.m.s. communications that we're able to complete every two years of training. we're able to submit this on-line and members can take the training on-line and complete the training requirements. we also have this on a platform that anyone can access from any device -- phones, laptops, ipads. it was started probably in 2013 or so and it basically has multiple uses for that. >> commissioner covington: okay. all right. very good. all right. thank you, chief velo. >> president feinstein: thank you. any further questions from our commission? i know i had -- i had just a few, and i will try not to drag
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this out any longer. number one, station 35, how are we doing on getting it plugged? >> so thank you, president. >> president feinstein: and thank you, chief velo. i did receive your print out, the memo, and also the picture that details work that was done. our biggest issue was getting it worked out, plugging the puppy in, as we say. >> the good thing as we say is we have the volts that needed to be on the ground, in the ground. now we're waiting on the work between pg&e and p.u.c., the two parties that have to work on it. progress has been made. we're still not there, but we'll be there soon, and we're
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making progress. >> president feinstein: okay. i will accept that as the answer. do we have any possible dates? >> i'm not going to give you a date because this is so fluid and so dependent on so many things, so i'm sorry. i cannot promise anything that i cannot deliver. >> president feinstein: i thank you for your honesty and i appreciate it. my final question is this. this concerned me after the first time that covid hit with regard to -- i don't know if you'd call them dormitories or sleeping areas or different things seemed to be configured differently, but is there -- i mean, of course, there is a concern, and i understand the protective measures that have been taken, and i'm not suggesting anything else that
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you can do, but are there adjustments that can or have been made to -- to basically social instance -- i'm not sure if i'm even using that in the correct context, but socially distanced firefighters who may or may not be vaccinated, and nobody knows? you don't know if the person sleeping 3 feet from you has been vaccinated or not? and if i'm incorrect in that conclusion, that i'm just reaching for observation, i'd appreciate your correcting me, but that was -- that would frighten me if -- if i were the other firefighter. >> so if i may, chief velo? >> yes. >> thank you, president feinstein. what we are doing right now is
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we are following every guidance, you know, that we get from d.h.r. and from department of public health, and we are putting the same message out to our folks on a regular basis. and we cannot, at this time, just go and basically ask someone if they're vaccinated and if they can go and sleep elsewhere. that's not possible to do right now, so what we need to do is wait for the process to keep unfolding, the process for the timelines to keep unfolding, and we'll see where we're at on october 13. >> president feinstein: are we getting any push back from people who are concerned if they happen to know that their bunk mate or whoever they're
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sharing the cubicle with, if they're unvaccinated? >> no, we are not. >> president feinstein: that's amazing. and my last -- two questions, i'm sorry. first to chief velo -- i mean, i'm watching these wild land fires, and, you know, the news, and they're horrific. and you have firefighters who are in smoke, i know, frequently, and they have protection for it. when they're up or down or wherever they are, fighting
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these fires, do they have some kind of protective breathing equipment? i don't know. an n-95 doesn't seem like it's going to do it, but i don't know enough about wild land fighters to form an attorney. but it's a vicious year, and there are fires that they abate and they spread, and they abate and they spread, and i imagine that we're going to be providing mutual aid for some time, so that concerns me. >> so members, when they go out there, they wear bandannas or they have some stilters on it sometimes. even then, it's not feasible to
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be -- filters on it sometimes. but it's not feasible -- sometimes, you park the apparatus, and you hike three or four miles to dig lines on the hills, so it's impossible that you can -- to have something that you can tie it to, either. >> president feinstein: so chief, is what you're saying is that there isn't anything out there to protect these folks? or is there something out there and we're not employing out? >> there's nothing out there right now. like i said, there's some contraption that i've seen,
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some filters on a bandanna that you can put out there, but even that doesn't last a long time because you start to sweat and all that. so there's nothing that has been adopted as a mitigating measure for our folks to go in the wildfires, so it is concerning to all of us. our folks are there for weeks at a time and breathing that smoke, so yeah, it's not good. >> president feinstein: is anybody working on this? >> no, not that i know of, madam president. >> president feinstein: something that may be a future goal for us. i mean, it's heartbreaking for everybody involved, and i really commend those who do deploy to the wild lands because they have a lot of courage to do that, and the risks that they take, so i commend them. >> madam president, if i may,
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in our department, we provide the best equipment for our folks, so if there's something out there, that's the first thing we'll buy. >> president feinstein: i appreciate that. i appreciate that. as well we should. that makes sense. okay. last question. good evening, chief dewitt. question, what about my concern about damage to engines, trucks, and ambulances, and maybe chief tong wants to participate about the fire trucks and speed bumps? maybe it's an on going problem, the damage. if you want to punt this to
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chief velo, that's fine, too. i'm just wondering about that. >> i'm happy to answer about that. we have reached out to central shocks about concern over broken leaf springs, but there's nothing to proof whether it's because of the shocks or broken leaf springs. >> president feinstein: has the number gone up of broken whatever kind of springs you're saying? >> we did have several recently, but, you know, they're not -- it's not one after the other after the other. it's a rare thing. broken leaf springs are not common, but not completely
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uncommon. i was back at station 12 in 1995 or whatever, and tilted the cabin, and there was a broken leaf spring, and that was well before we had any speed bumps, so it does happen. >> president feinstein: and do you have any [inaudible] but i mean impact like -- impact on -- on rigs of any kind going -- you know, needing to get serviced or into the shop or damaged or anything? >> i can ask again. i haven't had a report to that end, but i can definitely ask. we meet with central shops once a month, and i can make sure to ask. our meeting is coming up. >> president feinstein: okay. thank you. and chief tong, how about your
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ambulances? are there things we should know about? >> thank you, president feinstein. sandy tong. not that i should be aware of. i just looked at a whole bunch of accident reports today. there weren't any about being damaged riding over a speed bump. so there aren't any that have been brought to my attention. >> madam president, as far as the proposed ambulance type, we're going to a different type of chassis that's going to sustain a different kind of use, so instead of being a van chassis, it'll be a truck chassis, so we believe that's
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going to have a positive impact in how often the ambulance is being repaired, and what caused the damage? we don't know. >> president feinstein: i appreciate that. thank you. thank you. and i appreciate it, chief tong. and those are my questions. anybody else? >> clerk: and there's nobody on the public comment line. >> president feinstein: what would i do without you? madam clerk, i'd forget. okay. thank you. public comment is closed. >> clerk: and we'll go to the next item? >> president feinstein: yes. >> clerk: resolution 2021-01,
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ramaytush ohlone land acknowledgement. i'm going to share my screen. >> president feinstein: okay. thank you. i think we have that. >> clerk: and i will read the resolution. >> president feinstein: and before you do that, if i might, madam secretary, i have been working with the city attorney's office on this matter in terms of drafting the resolution and also drafting the statement, the land acknowledgement statement, and this is pursuant for those who may not have -- have given this
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attention previously to -- i think it was a resolution that was passed by the board of supervisors encouraging boards and commissions to adopt this, and, you know, it seems to make sense. so maybe if you could real estate's the resolution, and i don't know if people might have any comments on it or anybody else, but it feels to be to be well written and touches my heart on the history of our city, so thank you, madam secretary. please proceed. >> clerk: the ramaytush ohlone land acknowledgement. whereas the san francisco human rights commission published a
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report in 2007 entitled, discrimination by omission. issues of concern for native americans in san francisco detailing the ways in which native american communities experience systemic erasure and exclusion in san francisco and identifying numerous recommendations for improved outcomes, a process which was guided by members of native american communities, including the ramaytush ohlone people. and whereas san francisco fire commission joins with the san francisco board of supervisors and numerous other commissions and boards of the city and county of san francisco in acknowledging that the ramaytush ohlone are the original people of the san francisco peninsula, and whereas the fire commission acknowledges that the land of the city and county of san
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francisco was inhabited by the ramaytush ohlone peoples, and whereas the san francisco fire commission acknowledges that the ramaytush ohlone has survived genocide, racism, gender-based violence, theft, asimulation, and whereas the san francisco fire commission acknowledges that the ramaytush ohlone people are not a mythical population of the past but an integral and active community in the presence of the san francisco bay area region and beyond whose visibility denied the ncaa tiff american's inclusion and respect, and whereas the san francisco fire commission acknowledges that the city and county of san francisco was founded on unceded territory and that the existence of the
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city and county on this land continues to contribute to the erasure and exclusion of the ramaytush ohlone people, the native american people, and their history. and whereas the san francisco fire commission acknowledges that the association of ramaytush ohlone has actively worked to preserve ramaytush ohlone history and establish respect for the contributions of the ancestors of the inhabitants who cared for the land before us, and a land acknowledgement respects and acknowledges native american peoples of this lands, and whereas the san francisco board
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of supervisors, the h.r.c., and the office of racial equity have urged all boards and commissions in the city and county of san francisco to begin each meeting with a land acknowledgement which was written and approved by the association of ramaytush ohlone. and now therefore, be it resolved that the following land acknowledgement will be read aloud at the start of each san francisco fire commission meeting that is open for the public. san francisco fire commission acknowledges that we are on unceded ancestral homeland of the ray ma turbo loany who are the original inhabitants residents of the -- ramaytush ohlone who are the original inhabitants of this land as whereas for all peoples who reside in their traditional territories. as guests, we recognize that we
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benefit from living and working on their traditional homeland and wish to pay our respects in acknowledging the ancestors, members, and elders of the ramaytush ohlone and acknowledging their sovereign rights as first peoples. be it resolved that the san francisco fire commission recognizes that the land acknowledgement is just the first step needed in acknowledging and honoring the land, culture, and contributions by the ramaytush ohlone people throughout the san francisco bay area. >> president feinstein: thank you, madam secretary. first of all, do we have any public comment on this matter? >> clerk: i will check. i don't think there was anybody -- there is nobody on the public comment line. >> president feinstein: all right. public comment shall be closed. any comments from our commissioners? commissioner covington?
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>> commissioner covington: thank you. thank you, madam president. for the reasons enumerated in the resolution, i would like to move this item. i think the board of supervisors has been doing this for sometime and we are finally acknowledges -- acknowledging those who have taken care of the land for thousands of years. >> president feinstein: thank you. commissioner cleaveland? >> commissioner cleaveland: thank you, madam president. i have a couple of problems
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with this, and the reason why is because i don't think this is within our purview. our purview is fire personnel, and we have enough to respond to fire issues and we have enough equipment to do it with. that is the responsibilities of the fire commission. it's to look over the fire department and to deal with the issues at hand in the fire department. it is not our responsibility to make apologies for our country's history, and it's certainly not our responsibility to make those apologies every month or every meeting. i really have a problem with taking the time to read this resolution every meeting we will take more time than if we said the pledge of allegiance three times, which incidentally, we are not saying anymore since our meetings have
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gone viral. so i mean, this is just outside of our wheel house. i just don't think it's something we should get involved with. now i will say that this is something that the board of supervisors has every right to be involved with, as well as the human rights commission. that's their bailiwick. this is not our bailiwick, and it's not something we have to beat ourselves up about every meeting. i will say, as a compromise, that the language that has been put forth that we are supposed to reiterate at every meeting when our secretary already has to read a whole raft of information before every meeting, that we would adopt this information and put it into our annual statement of
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purpose that the fire department or fire commission has so that it can be reiterated once a year when we reiterate our fire commission's statement of purpose, statements of purpose. we can add it to that, and then, we it make that a part of that and not have to go over there and make this -- do this tenet apology every single meeting. i just think it's not appropriate and not part of what the fire commission should be doing. >> president feinstein: okay. thank you. commissioner nakajo, please? >> commissioner nakajo: thank you very much, madam president, commissioners, for your remarks. as a point of information before we proceed, i just wanted to get some information, and i think part of my questions were answered because
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one of my questions, i'm looking at my notes, i wanted to know who sponsored this resolution, 2021-01, and i think, madam president, you answered that. i'm not going to assume anything in san francisco in terms of the work we do, but it sounds like you, madam president, are going to be introducing it or sponsoring it. that's how we got this agenda item on this particular agenda? is that correct, madam president? >> president feinstein: that is it -- thank you, vice president nakajo. it follows with the passage of the legislation and recommendation of the board of supervisors. >> commissioner nakajo: okay. i see that, to my fellow commissioners, my internal, who
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sponsored it, and when i read the first paragraph, when i read the whereas, it's from the human rights commissioners, and it made references to the other bodies that are through the resolution that are paragraph two, board of supervisors, etc., city and county. before we proceed, i really wanted to thank the secretary of the commission because as i read this -- and that went to my third question as to who was the author of this? i think i got some of that answered, madam president, that perhaps you authored this in terms of verbiage and the human rights commission to put these -- i counted nine points or ten points together.
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is that accurate as to who wrote -- >> president feinstein: it would not be accurate as to the resolution as many departments have adopted pretty much the same resolution. in terms of the acknowledgement, it would be read aloud by whoever was head of the commission. i had stance in formulating basically a proposal that -- assistance in formulating basically a proposal that felt heartfelt to me and accurate and in line with the board of supervisors and the h.r.c.s resolution. >> commissioner nakajo: okay. >> clerk: and can i make one
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moment is actually, most of the city commissions, it was in their racial equity plan, in their template that they worked with, it was a requirement of all commissions to have a land acknowledgement resolution adopted. it's not in the fire department's category seven, but it was recommended, i believe, but the city attorney's office that the fire commission should probably pass a resolution. >> commissioner nakajo: thank you very much, madam secretary. madam president, you answered my question in terms of the main origin. the reason why i asked that
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question, i counted seven resolves for this. the information for the secretary, it's not basically following suit, but our board of supervisors and human rights commission in terms of what the secretary provided, in terms of the spirit of equity in the department, what i walked away with these paragraphs, these descriptions, these adjectives are appropriate, and as a man of color, it had strong impact as to myself that we san franciscans acknowledge the land that we live and work in as san francisco fire department. san francisco fire department is the san francisco fire department, but we happen to do
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the work within the people's city and county as it exists on this land. to me, it's about time for the acknowledgement, and so for me, in terms of all of the whereas', it's strong, but i think also for myself, it's welcome, but it acknowledges what i call stark realities. if we want to apologize for the sins of our forefathers, we'll never stop apologizing. what i feel is there needs to be some real recognition, so to me, i'd like to second the motion by commissioner covington, but i also appreciate the verbiage and the wording. to you, commissioner cleaveland, respectfully, i know when i became a commissioner some 25 years ago, back on jones street, when i went in, i particularly
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particularly don't even remember anyone saying the pledge of allegiance, quite frankly. i'm not going to take credit for something that happens on an annual basis. it was controversial with some verbiage in the pledge of allegiance. my point is if we're going to do the pledge of allegiance, and every time we do the pledge of allegiance, to me, it's an interpretation of historical injustice that ought to be recognized, and it's going forward now. i don't regard it as an apology, i regard it as something needed. i don't mind doing the pledge
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of allegiance and reading this. if it takes three to four minutes, then it takes three to four minutes, but i need to hear structure as to who does it, if it's the president of the commission each and every time, and that's all. thank you. >> clerk: it's the wherefore be it resolved that gets read, not the whole resolution every time. >> commissioner nakajo: that's what i figured. thank you. >> president feinstein: excuse me. having worked with the city attorney's office, i am of the understanding that it is the president that reads the paragraph after roll call is taken.
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so is there a motion? >> clerk: there is a motion. we have a first and a second, and i'll do a roll call. [roll call] >> clerk: the motion passes, 3-1. >> president feinstein: all right. thank you very much. >> clerk: item 6, commission report. report on commission activity since last meeting of august 11, 2021. >> president feinstein: vice president nakajo. >> commissioner nakajo: madam president, secretary of the commission, i have two commissioners out of the four, and i still need to do two, and one of the two is myself, so i
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hope to have a timely conclusion the next time that we meet, but i'm getting close. thank you, madam president and colleagues. >> president feinstein: thank you. thank you. and anybody else -- i have just one thing to report. i have been working with our city attorney evaluating the department's position because the form that d.h.r. doesn't apply in any way. it's not a meaningful evaluation, so i've spoken to them, different people in the city -- different people in the city attorney's office, and they are assisting me in
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developing an appropriate form and an appropriate procedure because none of us are doctors, and we're going to have to figure out how to do this in a fair and equitable way given that. i'm doing my best to get their attention and proceed with getting that done. anybody else on the commission? >> clerk: and i do have somebody on the public comment line with their hand up. >> president feinstein: okay. please. >> clerk: caller, if you'd like to make public comment on item 6. >> commissioners, i would like to make public comment on the previous agenda item. you didn't take public comment. >> clerk: i did call public comment, and there was none.
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>> you called for public comment on agenda item 5, right? >> clerk: no, i did call, and there was nobody on the public comment line. >> i put my hand up, and i was waiting for somebody to call me. could i make a comment on agenda number 5 or is it a big problem? >> president feinstein: yes, we're talking about 6 -- >> we're already on 6? >> no, no. what it shows on the screen is 6. [inaudible] >> okay. let's get to -- >> clerk: i'm going to start your timer. you have three minutes.
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>> thank you. commissioners, this land belongs to the muwekma ohlone, and the way you find that out is to go to the general management plan, and you'll see it mentioned that because -- and you'll find human remains, and you can find the fire department also in the way, but i don't want to go too deep into that. it's shown over there the respect shown to the muwekma ohlone who were federally recognized until 1927 and then illegally removed. now, why do i say that? i say that because if you go to the human rights commission, you will see documents recognizing the muwekma ohlone. now, i don't want to bring into
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conflict any other tribe saying this, that, and the other, but what you all should find out legally is who has the right of first refusal to san francisco, and you will find out in 1991, the muwekma ohlone exercised their right of first refusal not only to san francisco but to other places in the bay area. and so, we have to be cognizant of some protocol. we do not adhere to these things because we just know what the board of supervisors have done, but if you see what
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the sfpuc has done, they acknowledge the muwekma ohlone. we also have to have the right props and the history, and that's what i wanted to bring to the fire department or to the fire commission. i've been involved with the fire department for a long, long time, since my days in the presidio, and i know some of you -- like i know commissioner covington, i think, and i know a lot of the fire chiefs. but you have something that is historical, and you all have to know the facts. and my name is francisco dacosta, and [inaudible] jackson, who passed away, that some of you all may know --
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>> clerk: your time is up, sir. >> -- who represented the muwekma ohlone. thank you very much. >> president feinstein: thank you, sir. is there any commissioner that wishes to revisit the previous vote? all right. seeing no -- yes, commissioner covington? i can't hear you, i'm sorry. >> commissioner covington: yes. i think that perhaps we can do a little more research, if we count certainly -- we have already voted on this, and to see if there is some historical correct that needs to be done in terms of the names of the original inhabitants, because
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he's -- [inaudible] >> commissioner covington: -- east coast and southern tribes, and some of my people come from those tribes. >> president feinstein: i remember learning about this in the fourth grade, about the ohlone indians, different divisions, tribes -- that's not the right word. i'm not getting the right word, so i don't know more than you
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know. >> commissioner covington: i think what mr. dacosta was pointing out was that the ramaytush, there was no question in his mind or our minds about the ohlone, but there was one -- the name of one people that was not mentioned. so i can do some research on it. >> president feinstein: that was great. >> commissioner covington: okay. my vote for tonight still stands. >> president feinstein: thank you. and chief nicholson, maybe if there's assistant that you can provide. i don't know if other departments have done research we don't know about. i think that would be much appreciated.
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thank you. okay. so the vote stands. >> clerk: so there's no public comment, then, on item 6. >> president feinstein: okay. thank you, then. public comment is closed. >> clerk: then item 7, agenda for next and future fire commission meetings, and i believe we have potentially the findings of fact that mr. russi is preparing. i think he hoped to have them done for the first september meeting. >> president feinstein: i have not heard that, but if he does, then we will put it on the agenda. anything else that you have, madam secretary? >> clerk: no, just the commission secretary
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evaluation, but vice president nakajo just spoke on that. >> president feinstein: yes, he did, and so looks like -- >> commissioner covington: madam president? >> president feinstein: am? >> commissioner covington: i have a question regarding the other two performance reviews that have to be done, the chief of the department and the assistant chief? it's been sometime -- we've never done a review of the chief and the board in the current position, so it's something that we have to do. >> president feinstein: all right. thank you. anybody else? okay. is there a motion -- i'll let you call it, madam secretary. >> clerk: item 8, adjournment. >> commissioner covington: so
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preparedness, not only for san francisco, but for all of the bay area. [sirens] >> fire station 35 was built in 1915. so it is over 100 years old. and helped it, we're going to build fire boat station 35. >> so the finished capital planning committee, i think about three years ago, issued a guidance that all city facilities must exist on sea level rise. >> the station 35, construction cost is approximately $30 million. and the schedule was complicated because of what you call a float. it is being fabricated in china, and will be brought
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to treasure island, where the building site efficient will be constructed on top of it, and then brought to pier 22 and a half for installation. >> we're looking at late 2020 for final completion of the fire boat float. the historic firehouse will remain on the embarcadero, and we will still respond out of the historic firehouse with our fire engine, and respond to medical calls and other incidences in the district. >> this totally has to incorporate between three to six feet of sea level rise over the next 100 years. that's what the city's guidance is requiring. it is built on the float, that can move up and down as the water level rises, and sits on four fixed guide piles. so if the seas go up, it can move up and down with that. >> it does have a full
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range of travel, from low tide to high tide of about 16 feet. so that allows for current tidal movements and sea lisle rises in the coming decades. >> the fire boat station float will also incorporate a ramp for ambulance deployment and access. >> the access ramp is rigidly connected to the land side, with more of a pivot or hinge connection, and then it is sliding over the top of the float. in that way the ramp can flex up and down like a hinge, and also allow for a slight few inches of lateral motion of the float. both the access ramps, which there is two, and the utility's only flexible connection connecting from the float to the back of the building. so electrical power, water, sewage, it all has flexible connection to the boat. >> high boat station
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number 35 will provide mooring for three fire boats and one rescue boat. >> currently we're staffed with seven members per day, but the fire department would like to establish a new dedicated marine unit that would be able to respond to multiple incidences. looking into the future, we have not only at&t park, where we have a lot of kayakers, but we have a lot of developments in the southeast side, including the stadium, and we want to have the ability to respond to any marine or maritime incident along these new developments. >> there are very few designs for people sleeping on the water. we're looking at cruiseships, which are larger structures, several times the size of harbor station 35, but they're the only good reference
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point. we look to the cruiseship industry who has kind of an index for how much acceleration they were accommodate. >> it is very unique. i don't know that any other fire station built on the water is in the united states. >> the fire boat is a regional asset that can be used for water rescue, but we also do environmental cleanup. we have special rigging that we carry that will contain oil spills until an environmental unit can come out. this is a job for us, but it is also a way of life and a lifestyle. we're proud to serve our community. and we're willing to help people in any way we can.
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>> ♪♪ ♪♪ we are definitely pioneers in airport concession world a world of nationally if not entirely or internationally >> everybody is cop us right now. >> the people that were in charge of the retail this is where that began. >> i didn't think we would have a location at the airport. >> we've set the bar higher with the customer commerce. >> telling me about the operator and how you go about finding them and they get from being in the city to being in the airport.
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>> so first, we actually find a table and once we know what we want a sit-down we go to the neighborhoods in san francisco and other people seminary of the retail let us know about the rain water and are excited to have the local operators in the airport. >> we have to go going through the conceive selective process and they award a lease to the restaurant. >> they are planning on extending. >> we that you could out the china and the length evens and the travel serve and fourth your minds and it's all good. >> how long for a vendor to move through the process.
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>> i would say it could take 80 up to a year from the time we go out to bid until they actually open a restaurant. >> i don't know what we signed up for but the airport is happy to have us here. and, you know, even taking out the track simple things there's a learning curve >> with once we're here they are helpful. >> it's an award-winning program. >> we're prude of your awards we have won 11 awards the latest for the best overall food address beverage program and . >> like the oscars (laughter). >> the professional world. >> tell me about the future food. >> all the sb national leases are xooirz and we're hoping to bring newer concepts out in san
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francisco and what your passengers want. >> well, i look forward to the future (laughter) air are we look fo >> my background is in engineering. i am a civil engineer by training. my career has really been around government service. when the opportunity came up to serve the city of san francisco, that was just an opportunity i really needed to explore. [♪♪♪] [♪♪♪] i think it was in junior high and really started to do well in math but i faced some really interesting challenges. many young ladies were not in math and i was the only one in some of these classes.
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it was tough, it was difficult to succeed when a teacher didn't have confidence in you, but i was determined and i realized that engineering really is what i was interested in. as i moved into college and took engineering, preengineering classes, once again i hit some of those same stereotypes that women are not in this field. that just challenged me more. because i was enjoying it, i was determined to be successful. now i took that drive that i have and a couple it with public service. often we are the unsung heroes of technology in the city whether it is delivering network services internally, or for our broadband services to low income housing. >> free wi-fi for all of the residents here so that folks have access to do job searches,
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housing searches, or anything else that anyone else could do in our great city. >> we are putting the plant in the ground to make all of the city services available to our residents. it is difficult work, but it is also very exciting and rewarding our team is exceptional. they are very talented engineers and analysts who work to deliver the data and the services and the technology every day. >> i love working with linda because she is fun. you can tell her anything under the sun and she will listen and give you solutions or advice. she is very generous and thoughtful and remembers all the special days that you are celebrating. >> i have seen recent employee safety and cyber security. it is always a top priority. i am always feeling proud working with her. >> what is interesting about my
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work and my family is my experience is not unique, but it is different. i am a single parent. so having a career that is demanding and also having a child to raise has been a challenge. i think for parents that are working and trying to balance a career that takes a lot of time, we may have some interruptions. if there is an emergency or that sort of thing then you have to be able to still take care of your family and then also do your service to your job. that is probably my take away and a lot of lessons learned. a lot of parents have the concern of how to do the balance i like to think i did a good job for me, watching my son go through school and now enter the job market, and he is in the medical field and starting his career, he was always an intern. one of the things that we try to do here and one of my takeaways
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from raising him is how important internships are. and here in the department of technology, we pride ourselves on our interns. we have 20 to 25 each year. they do a terrific job contributing to our outside plant five or work or our network engineering or our finance team. this last time they took to programming our reception robot, pepper, and they added videos to it and all of these sort of things. it was fun to see their creativity and their innovation come out. >> amazing. >> intriguing. >> the way i unwind is with my photography and taking pictures around the city. when i drive around california, i enjoy taking a lot of
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landscapes. the weather here changes very often, so you get a beautiful sunset or you get a big bunch of clouds. especially along the waterfront. it is spectacular. i just took some photos of big server and had a wonderful time, not only with the water photos, but also the rocks and the bushes and the landscapes. they are phenomenal. [♪♪♪] my advice to young ladies and women who would like to move into stem fields is to really look at why you are there. if you are -- if you are a problem solver, if you like to analyse information, if you like to discover new things, if you like to come up with alternatives and invent new practice, it is such a fabulous opportunity. whether it is computer science or engineering or biology or medicine, oh, my goodness, there are so many opportunities. if you have that kind of mindset
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i have enjoyed working in san francisco so much because of the diversity. the diversity of the people, of this city, of the values, of the talent that is here in the city. it is stimulating and motivating and inspiring and i cannot imagine working anywhere else but in san what a pleasure. what a great thing for us to be together in person to celebrate the start of construction of affordable housing in san francisco. there is much -- there is much to learn. much to celebrate. much to understand about the meaning behind the housing here and to begin that
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