>> i am president sophie maxwell. madam clerk, roll call, please. [roll call] >> clerk: and you have a quorum. >> thank you. due -- >> clerk: due to the covid-19 emergency and the governor's emergency order lifting the restrictions on teleconference, this meeting is being held via

teleconference and being streamed on sfgtv. on behalf of the commission, i would like to extend our thanks to sfgtv staff and sfgtv i.t. for their help in broadcasting this meeting. to enter public comment on an item, dial 415-655-0001, meeting i.d. 146-067-9420, pound, pound. then press star, three to enter the queue. >> before calling the first item, i'd like to announce that the san francisco public utilities commission acknowledges that it owns and

are stewards of the unceded lands of the muwekma ohlone tribe. the san francisco p.u.c. also recognizes that every citizen residing within the greater bay area have and continues to benefit from the use and occupation of the muwekma ohlone tribe's land since before and after the san francisco public utility commission's founding in 1932. it is important that we not only acknowledge the land so which we reside but that the muwekma ohlone are contributors to the p.u.c. and many thing

that's we enjoy today. madam clerk, item 3. >> clerk: item 3 is annual election officers. discussion and possible action to elect a president and vice president of the commission, each to serve a one-year term, as per the san francisco public utilities commission rules of order, rule number 6. >> thank you. as the outgoing san francisco public utilities commission president, i'd like to thank the people of san francisco and our knowledgeable stakeholders who has made our lives better. lastly, it's been an honor to serve with such dedicated, knowledgeable, and committed commissioners. i've never served on any other commission, but if the people are like you, san francisco has a lot to be thankful for, so

thank you very much for all that you are and do. next, i would like to go over this procedure. first, you will have public comment, and then nominations for commission president, and then, a motion and a second and a vote. and then, we will be followed by the vice president. so public comment at this time. >> clerk: members of the public who wish to make two minutes of public comment specifically on item 3, the election of the commission president, and this is for the president only at this time, dial 415-655-0001, meeting i.d. 146-067-9420, pound, pound. to raise your hand to speak, press star, three.

mr. moderator, do we have any callers? >> operator: madam secretary, there are four callers in the queue at this time. caller number one, i have unmuted your line. >> can you hear me now? >> operator: we can. >> great. david pillpel. good afternoon. so first, two things here. one, when you're already done with this item, since you seem like you already are doing this, i would ask that you take item 12 and if that fails to pass, any actions that you take i believe would be null and void. i believe it's pretty important to take item 12, and i'm surprised that it's down on the calendar and not an early item. as to officers, i think any of

you could and would do a fine job, and i want to appreciate not just the good work that all of you do on the commission but in particular as outgoing president maxwell indicated, she's been faced lots of times this year with difficult circumstances as have the other four of you, but i just wanted to appreciate president maxwell's work. i think we probably agree on greater than 90 or 95% of things, and where we may not, i think we respect each other very much, and so i appreciate her efforts and look forward to the new president and vice president. thanks again. >> operator: thank you for your comments. next caller, i've unmuted your

line. you may begin your comments. >> thank you. peter drekmeier, tuolomne river trust. i want to thank president maxwell for her service. you did a great job, you educated and we learned from each other, and we made a lot of progress. this is the strongest board that i've seen in my 14 years working for the tuolomne river trust, so thank you, president maxwell. if you follow the precedent of elevating anson moran to president, i think he'll do a

great job, and i'll weigh in a little later, too. thank you. >> operator: thank you for your comments. next caller, i've unmuted your line. you have two minutes. >> thank you, president maxwell and others. alita [indiscernible]. i'm going to talk about the election of officers. here's why. i don't know any of you. i've never met any of you. i hope to someday, but the people touched by the sfpuc is very diverse. it's not just about the city and county of san francisco. i was not born in the city of san francisco, i was born in new york. i fall into what one might call the lgbt sector, but yet in my

time in san francisco, i'm touched by the sfpuc with its essential services, so i ask whoever you choose to elect as your chair and vice chair will choose to be cognizant of those touched by the sfpuc, of which i am one, that equity will be practiced when people like me approach you to speak and correspond, that i will be respected in the way that i identify myself, and chair maxwell has done so very respectfully to me, as have all previous p.u.c. chairs. so i ask that you acknowledge the diversity of anyone who

reaches out to you as the board will be treated with respect. thank you. >> operator: thank you for your comments. next caller, i have unmuted your line. you have two minutes. >> yes, hello. is this for general comment? >> clerk: no, i'm sorry. this is for the election of the president. general public comment is item number 5. >> oh, i see. i should call back, then. thank you. >> clerk: thank you. >> operator: next caller, i have unmuted your line. you have two minutes. >> good afternoon, commissioners. nicolle [indiscernible], c.e.o. i just wanted to make a

comment, to express my sincere appreciation for the efforts of sophie maxwell, as she has, in her role of president for this past year. it has been a challenging year and a year full of ups and downs and lefts and rights, and her steady hand and her calm demeanor i think have really led this commission to a better place this here, and i thank you for that. and i do look forward to continuing my work with the commission and to your next president and vice president. thank you very much. >> clerk: thank you for your comments. >> operator: madam secretary, there are no other callers in the queue at this time. >> clerk: thank you. public comment on the election of president is closed. >> thank you. and may i have a nomination for

commission president? commissioner harrington? >> thank you, president maxwell, and i can add my thanks to all those who are also thanking you for your leadership, but you're not going anywhere, so we won't be strangers. i would like to nominate vice president moran for president. as mr. drekmeier said, we have a tradition of moving the vice president to president. as we're going with a new general manager, i think the depth of knowledge of not just san francisco p.u.c., but the issues and the players is vital, so i'm quite pleased to

nominate andy as the next president. >> thank you. may i have a second? commissioner ajami? >> i second. >> commissioner paulson? >> if i could make a couple of comments. over the past couple of years, since i've been on the commission, when the mayor first nominated commissioner maxwell and myself to be on this board, i came a little bit kicking and screaming, but i have just taken this job so seriously, and there's been so many different changes that have happened with some of the

leadership, you know, with people moving and new people coming on board, you know, the dynamic of this board is extremely important, and i value it, and i value the time that i'm spending on it, and i'm taking it very seriously. i also want to say, as many of you know, that my day job for the last 20, 30 years is incredibly political, counting public votes, but being on a commission with so many rules and what have you, i took that just as seriously also. but i do want to say that i've made it known that i was willing to volunteer my time, you know, to be a chair or vice

president, and this commission has presidents and vice presidents, or a commissioner, and i'm still willing to serve on this board in that capacity if needed. so that being said, i just want to say that i very much look forward to continuing with the rest of you, i hope, to stay on the commission as we go through these wild times that has to do with, you know, not just power, not just water, not just sewage, but really, the fabric of san francisco and northern california when it comes to resources and climate and all the things that we have to do. so i did want to make that personal statement as we move forward, and i think working with all of you has been wonderful, and commissioner moran has, probably before i

was born, some of the greatest expertise, as commissioner harrington talked about, in terms of federal, state, running this great organization back in the day. so that being said, i just wanted to make a couple of comments to that. thank you. and by the way, thank you for your leadership. we came in at the same time, and you dove in -- and for one year, you've had to navigate that stuff, so i want to thank you for your presidency. and this is the only commission in this city that has, so to speak, term limits, and i don't like that because folks have to be booted out whether they did something good or did not do something good, but i just want to thank you for your leadership this last year.

>> thank you. thank you, tim. all right. the nomination's been made, and he's accepted the nomination. roll call vote, please. [roll call] >> clerk: you have five ayes. >> thank you. then at this time, i will hand over the gavel to commission president anson moran. there you go. >> i was wondering what a virtual gavel looks like. >> now you know. >> thank you. i just wanted to add my things to the general sense of public information and thanks for your service, sophie. it has been a year, and your steady hand has helped keep the

ship, and i appreciate that. it is clear from what you do and what you say that you have a deep affection for the people you serve, and that makes itself known time and time again. you have worked us through a pretty tumultuous time that culminated in the approval of a general manager this last meeting, and you also hosted discussions for the irrigation districts, about possible early implementation actions on the tuolomne. time and time again, you've demonstrated that leadership is more than holding the gavel, and i think that demonstrates a

model, and it's a model that's going to be hard to fill, and i appreciate your guidance on that. i do have a lot of experience with the commission. i promise not to say that very often, but i added it up this morning, and it's something like 40 years. tim, i think you're just a touch older than 40 years, but i'm not sure, and i'm delighted to work with this commission. it's certainly one of the strongest commissions i've seen in a long time. we have a new general manager, and i look forward to working with all of you our various interest groups and our new general manager to make sure that that transition is smooth

and that we continue to make progress on all of the fronts that are so important to all of us, so thank you for that. >> thank you. >> and with that, i'll move onto the election of vice president, and we will use the same process that sophie outlined for the president's position. we'll have public comment, nomination, acceptance, and vote, and proceed in that manner. madam secretary, if you would open public comment for the election of the vice president. >> clerk: members of the public who wish to make two minutes of public comment specifically on item 3, the election of the commission president, vice president, dial 415-655-0001, meeting i.d. 146-067-9420,

pound, pound. to raise your hand to speak, press star, three. mr. moderator, do we have any callers? >> operator: madam secretary, there was a hand, but it went down. there are no callers at this point. >> clerk: okay. speakers, if you want to comment on the position of vice president at this point, please press star, three, and if we have no callers, then we will close public comment. >> operator: all clear. >> clerk: okay. public comment on the nomination of the vice president is closed. >> okay. and with that, nominations are open. commissioner maxwell? >> i'd like to nominate commissioner nisha ajami. i think she will make a great

vice president. >> thank you. and commissioner ajami, do you accept that nomination? >> yes, thank you so much. i just want to state that, chair maxwell, you have a great sense of collaboration and openness and created a -- sort of, like, a platform for dialogue, which i very much appreciate in this setting, so -- and i appreciate the nomination. >> commissioner harrington? >> just have a question of process. do we have one nomination at a time and then vote on that? is that how the process works? >> yeah. the process, as it was distributed to the commission all year, says it was only the

only one in the pond. so if that particular -- if that nomination fails, then we would reopen nominations and keep doing that until we reached a conclusion. >> thank you. >> and with that, madam clerk, if you would call the roll. [roll call] >> there hasn't been a second. >> oh, i'm sorry. we need a second. there's been a motion. do we have a motion and a second? >> i move that we [indiscernible] commissioner ajami. >> moved by commissioner maxwell. >> i'll second it. >> and seconded by commissioner harrington. thank you. then with that, madam secretary, would you call the roll. [roll call]

>> clerk: and you have five ayes. >> thank you, and we have a new vice president. congratulations. would you like to make a couple comments before we go on? >> sure. first of all, i just want to say a big thank you to all of you, as you have all been there for me, working alongside every one of you. it's one thing to come in with a set of knowledge. it's another thing to come in and be able to function in a collaborative body, and definitely, this has been one. i definitely look forward to working with every single one of you, and i do not have 40

years of experience working and dealing with this commission, but i have lived in this city for 20 years, and i really appreciate every opportunity to make a small mark, if i can, in this process. thank you. >> thank you. and madam secretary, would you call the next item? >> clerk: the next item is the approval of the minutes of the september 17, 2021 special meeting and the september 28, 2021 regular meeting. >> and commissioners, do you have any corrections to the minutes? >> i actually have a long comment. in the minute -- if you don't mind, in the meeting.

give me one minute. with the special meeting on the september 17, there is a -- on the city of san diego on how much water they used, there's an error in the -- city of san diego is using 120 gallons a day indoors and 48 outdoors,

and i think it should be switched, so i just want to make sure we note the city of san diego's use correctly. >> okay. thank you for that. madam secretary, would you open these items for public comment? >> clerk: members of the public who wish to make public comment on item 4 specifically, the minutes of september 17 and september 28, dial 415-655-0001, meeting i.d. 146-067-9420, pound, pound. to raise your hand, press star, three. mr. moderator, do we have any callers? >> operator: madam secretary, we have one caller in the queue. caller, i have unmuted your line. go ahead. you have two minutes to comment on the minutes. >> great. can you hear me okay?

>> operator: yes. >> great. david pillpel just to say thanks to commission secretary hood for her great work. i hope she feels better, and i've already provided some incredibly minor suggested edits to her for the meeting, and i hope they will be incorporated. thank you so much. >> operator: thank you for your comments. madam secretary, there are no other callers in the queue. >> clerk: thank you. that closes public comment for item 4. >> thank you. commissioners, any further comment on the minutes? okay. seeing none, can we have a motion and a second to approve the minutes, and can we do that in one motion or should it be done in two? >> clerk: let's do it in two motions, and the minutes for september 17 should be amended.

>> okay. can i have a motion and asecond for the minutes of september 17 amended? >> so moved. >> seconded. >> okay. thank you. it's been moved and seconded. madam secretary, would you take a roll call vote, please. [roll call] >> clerk: you have five ayes. >> okay. [indiscernible]. >> okay. the minutes are adopted, and for the minutes of september 28, a motion and a second, please. >> so moved. >> i'll move. >> okay. moved -- >> second. >> moved by commissioner

paulson, seconded by commissioner ajami, and roll call, please. [roll call] >> clerk: you have five ayes. >> thank you. and madam secretary, if you'll call the next item, please. >> clerk: the next item is item 5, general public comment. members of the public that wish to make public comment on matters that are within the commission's jurisdiction but not on today's agenda may do so by calling 415-655-0001, meeting i.d. 146-067-9420, pound, pound. to raise your hand to speak,

press star, three. mr. moderator, do we have any callers? >> operator: madam secretary, we have multiple callers in the queue. first caller, i have unmuted your line. you have two minutes. >> good afternoon, commissioners. first, thank you all for your service. i live direct across the street from your sfpuc crystal springs watershed on hallmark drives. sfpuc is the department that grants university of santa clara allowing them to hold a

marathon. on september 9, the college of san mateo trustees voted to increase the large meet defined as over 1,000 runners with no caps from once a year to five times a year, increasing the burden on our neighborhood community totally contrary to our request. i support responsible sensible use of the crystal springs running course for smaller event due to 500 runners in our smaller community. however, the current events were 600 to 900 events, causing traffic congestion and pollution from dozens of buses and cars, as well as pedestrians safety is a burden to many in our neighborhood and is also an environmental danger due to increased on us of this land. for college of san mateo to now

recommend a five fold increase of events with over 1,000 runners when we currently have one event of that size is a slap in our faces. i ask you to review the crystal springs permit and disallow any events with more than one event and 500 runners per day -- >> operator: your time has expired. hello, caller. i have unmuted your line, and you have two minutes. >> thank you. this is peter drekmeier from the tuolomne river trust. [indiscernible] and i will send you a link to that.

the editorial include had several points, including that l.a. can be a good partner in the environment. the other take away is that the state water board can effectively act in the public interest if it's given sufficient public measure to do its works. the ultimate to relinquish a great deal of water was only due to [indiscernible] governor newsom has reached agreemented without being first called by a daughter department or meeting

a court order, leading to talks that could go on forever. here we are. it's been decades, very little progress. the unimpeded flow in the tuolomne was 14% between february and june. we've made a lot of progress on dialogue but very little progress on environmental movement. >> operator: caller, your time has expired. next caller, your line is unmuted, and i have two

minutes. >> at the last p.u.c. meeting on september 28, the commission approved the change in contract for a duration of a total of five years. this is a small project with seven contract modifications. the original amount was $17,949,125. the current cost is $22,744,037. the original contract duration was 950 consecutive days. the current duration is 1800 consecutive days. in the supporting documentation on september 28, the description of scope of work section for modifications one through six refer to, quote, unquote, nuts and bolts replacement. i've never seen this in a p.u.c. contract description before. the g.m. repeated the nuts and

bolts replacement phrase. the project manager stated that there was a six month delay in a part procurement due to covid. if the part had been ordered when the issue was identified, the part would already not here. i would urge the p.u.c. to reevaluate this contractor for a possible disqualification of future bidding due to on going performance issues. thank you. >> operator: thank you for your comments. next caller, i have unmuted your line. >> thank you, commissioners. thank you, commissioners. i want to echo the concerns expressed by a prior caller about the impact of the

cross-country course on the crystal springs watershed. at this stage, there will be 25 scheduled event drawing over 9,000 runners, and when you count runners, spectators, and others, you have over 25,000 people accessing this land. plus, this all takes place during high fire season on a grassy hill top right behind a neighborhood of several hundred homes, and incredibly, sfpuc has never done any environmental studies on the impacts of this use. for the ridgeline, you allow

permits but you did a study, and for here, you allow 25,000 people with 25 scheduled events. i call for a full e.i.r. for a study on the land and the abutting neighborhood for this use. thank you. >> operator: thank you, caller. next caller, you have two minutes. i have unmuted your line. >> hello. thank you for letting me speak. i also live in the neighborhood adjacent to the watershed that is used as a running course, and i have to stay that it's very disheartening to be told by sfpuc staff that everything's going to just continue the way it is.

i contacted my local contact, and he echos that everything is just fine the way it is. it is not fine the way it is. you are not fulfilling your obligation to consider the environment. we have important habitat there. i've seen mission blue butterflies out there. there's never been any environmental review for the use -- for public use of this property. you also have utterly failed to consider the impact to our neighborhood by having thousands of people converge on the neighborhood in one day. it's uncontrolled growth, it's unsustainable, it's destroying the habitat, you know, it's destructive to the quality of life for many people who live here.

there are some people who don't care, but there are many people who do care, and i'm urging you not just to go along with your staff on this. this needs to be looked at and taken seriously. your staff wanted to approve the [indiscernible] hill cahill ridge trail, and you didn't want to do anything except push it through. your e.i.r. process works. use it, and it will protect the environment. the watershed is a huge gift to the bay area. >> operator: caller, your time has expired. madam secretary, we have two more calls. hello, caller. i have unmuted your line.

>> can you hear me now? >> operator: yes. >> i have heard several sfpuc members have announced their departures, retirements, etc. i think the silver tsunami that we've heard about for years is here. i think that p.u.c. both through management, human resources, the various enterprises, departments, etc., is planning for these transitions and knowledge transfers, and i guess i'm concerned what would happen if all city employees who have not been vaccinated or declared their vaccine status, what

impact that might have on 24-7 operations and key workers like electrical or plumbers, etc. i would encourage some discussion about that. i don't want us to be caught without key people in key positions and have to force overtime that people may or may not be willing to perform, etc., etc. so i'm just raising a point about that, mandatory transitions and the fact of implementing vaccine termination policies that are in place. thank you very much. >> operator: thank you for your comments. next caller, i have unmuted your line. you have two minutes for general public comment. >> thank you, chair anson

moran. alita dupree. for the record, she and her. i'm going to talk about the significant program of sfpuc, which is cleanpowersf. i think it's the program that can generate excitement about sfpuc because i don't think that sfpuc is boring, and it should never be considered as such. how do we continue the work of providing renewable and inexpensive electricity to san francisco with the goal of reaching toward 100% and to develop new ways of consuming electricity than swapping out devices such as gas stoves and ovens or vehicles that use

natural gas or petroleum, etc. because the future is electric, and i practice it. i'm here in my own electric home practicing what's called demand-based electric pricing, which is something you find in businesses and institutions all the time. i'm developing strategies in my home to minimize electric draw. i think it's important that we draw harder in our work of delivering renewables and storage, and we made a good farther with our contract last meeting about a battery storage project, but that should only be the start, so i want the cleanest and greatest and most affordable san francisco we can get for my beloved s.f. home --

>> operator: thank you, caller. your time has expired. madam secretary, there are no other callers in the queue. >> clerk: thank you. item 5, general public comment is closed. >> thank you for those comments, and madam secretary, would you call the next item. >> clerk: next item is item 6, communications. >> commissioners, do you have any questions or comments about the communications that you have received? seeing none, madam secretary, would you open for public comments? >> clerk: members of the public who wish to make two minutes on public comment specifically on item 6, communications, dial

415-655-0001, meeting i.d. 146-067-9420, pound, pound. to raise your hand to speak, press star, three. mr. moderator, do we have any callers? >> operator: madam secretary, we have two callers in the queue. first caller, i've unmuted your line. you have two minutes. >> peter drekmeier, tuolomne river trust. we have talked about a presentation in october once that [indiscernible] was available, and i haven't heard anything about that recently, so i was hoping for an update on when we expect the report to be available and when the

ensuing workshop would take place. thank you. >> operator: thank you for your comments. next caller, you have two minutes. >> hello. can you hear me? >> operator: yes, we can. >> this is [indiscernible]. i am the president of the sfpuc citizens advisory committee, and i wanted to speak to item 6-d, citizens advisory committee resolution for continued support and budget for sfpuc racial equity plan and community benefits. [indiscernible] towards pollution or health, increased infant mortality, just to name a few. the 17 members of the body, we

came together to create this resolution to make sure that promises made are promises kept. i live in the bayview. i've actually literally been part of these discussions because sometimes real estate developers, they sell their interests and community benefits evaporate, and they're forgotten. in this, we wanted to raise up the good work that you folks do and continue to do. you see that many of our bipoc and women are actually leaving mid level and field level positions. we need to be able to fill those respectfully, and the c.a.c., we support the sfpuc

racial equity plan, and we respectfully ask that the commission ask the g.m. to report back to you and the c.a.c. on equity goals related to the plan itself. and lastly, we want to ensure that the work by the p.u.c. and staff, that we're treated respectfully. >> operator: i'm sorry, caller. your time has expired. madam secretary, there are no more callers in the queue. >> clerk: thank you. public comment is item 6 is closed. >> commissioner maxwell? >> thank you so much. when i realized i didn't have any comments, it was for the citizen advisory committee. i was going to ask somebody, if they're there, from the citizens advisory committee, to

speak to that now. is it too late to do that now? >> no. after public comment, we have additional comments by the commission. >> clerk: mr. president, the chair of the c.a.c. is available to discuss this further. >> and i believe, also, we have one of the following items, i guess item 8, is a report from the c.a.c., as well. >> okay. then maybe that's it, and we can just do that one because i think it's the same person, so that's perfect. so i don't need to go any further. item 8. thank you. >> thank you. commissioners, any additional thoughts or comments? i do have -- steve, if you're around, the question was raised about the global warming

report. do you have any information about that? >> it's still in the hands of the foundation. we are in contact with them. we expected the report to be available this month. it sounds like they are actually, due to workload, going to release the actual, actual report until early in november. the full report is actually quite daunting in terms of its volume, voluminous, i would

expect it to be available by november. there's a lot of good information that i think we can present to the commission and others in this month ahead regarding that, but we do just have to get an okay from w.r.f. >> okay. commissioners, any other comments? commissioner maxwell? >> yes. concerned about some of the our neighbor -- some of our neighbors down at the peninsula. how are we going to deal with that or should we talk with the college how -- what? >> well, you know, you heard in general public comment about some of the things they've raised. i've asked our staff, hearing those, if we could provide a report back at the next commission meeting, and we will

do that, because as always, there's two sides or more to every discussion that goes on, so we will have an item to report back at the next commission meeting. >> thank you. >> and through the chair, thanks for that question and also that answer because we do need to be attentive to, you know, all of our [indiscernible] so not just san francisco public utilities commission. thank you. >> thank you for your comments. any other comments? seeing none, madam secretary, would you call the next item? >> clerk: item 7, commissioner bond disclosure responsibility training. this is a presentation advising the commission on its responsibilitying under federal securities laws with respect to the san francisco public utilities commission issuance

of public debt, including discussion of preliminary and official statements and related topics, of which mr. morales will introduce this. >> yes. so i'd like to introduce two people who will make the presentation. first, mark blake, our deputy city attorney, who works with us at the p.u.c. in terms of all bond disclosure responsibility items, and then, he will introduce our outside counsel. with that, i will turn it over to mark white.

-- mark blake. >> operator: mr. blake, are you available? >> yes. can you hear me? >> operator: yes. >> members of the commission, my name is mark blake, and i'm a deputy city attorney. i'm on the real estate and finance team, and as rich indicated, i work with the p.u.c. on all of the, you know, bond issuances, the finance of p.u.c. capital projects. so today, we're going to do a short in-service training regarding the application of the federal service laws, and we're conducting this training today because of the rules, the federal securities law as they apply to the issuance of bonds to create a significant exposure in terms of the p.u.c.

if we want to follow these rules, we would lose access to the capital markets. and then other, the secondary effect is if we undertake good practices here, that we can obtain generally the lowest cost of finance and capital assets. we've provided for your files, take-home, a memo, and then, we've also provided a slide deck that we -- that steve spitz will just outline, and then the ways that you can discharge your responsibilities under the federal service law. steve spitz is a partner in oreck. they are one of the leading firms in the public finance

space, and they determine what some of the interpretations are and guidance of the laws by the securities and exchange commission. so with that, i'll turn it over to steve so he can walk you through the slide deck. >> thank you. steve spitz, partner at [indiscernible] carrington, and sutcliffe. outside counsel for the p.u.c. as you know, sfpuc finances capital bonds by selling stocks and bonds in the public capital market. the debt is offered through an

official statement, which is something very similar to a declaration of bonds, it informs investors so they can make an informed decision as to whether they want to buy an investor's p.u.c. bonds. it's subject to the antifraud rules of the federal securities law, which means that the official statement must have no material misstatements or omissions. also, as mark noted, mr. blake noted, there's a positive benefit to the disclosure documents and having disclosure documents that are, you know, recognized by the market as quality productions. [please stand by]

>> difficults -- difficulties and challenges are disclosed and addressed. i commented that the process is that the p.u.c. has put in place and the guidance of the city attorney and the calls for transparency that the commission has fostered is very strong. in terms of substance, the first obligation of commissioners is to really understand the transaction. understand the terms of what is the p.u.c. issuing bonds for, what is the p.u.c. terms of the

bonds. what are the p.u.c.s obligations and commitment. it's hard to know that you have adequate disclosure if you don't know what the transaction is at your disclosure. second, commissioners need to be sure that senior staff is aware of what senior staff needs to be aware of. particularly items that are within the personal knowledge of commissioners. matters which you have particular information or information that the staff may not be aware of. the final important thing is that commissioners voice any concerns that you have with disclosure. any of the process or the substance or the draft documents that are included for your approval. to note that if there any

concerns about substantive issues, the city attorney's office is your counsel and that particularly sensitive issues can discuss with the attorney office. we will pause and stop and see if commissioners have any questions or observations? >> president maxwell: i have a question. when you say personal responsibility, what personal knowledge of. what does that mean exactly? >> first of all, in the exchange commission that governing board members and commissioners have obligations with respect to the

disclosure practice. like all other important matters that the sfpuc has responsibility. discussing matters which you have personal knowledge, the process for preparing an official statement it's prepared by -- under the direction of the finance department and its staff. we receive input from senior staff and relevant staff at the p.u.c. what i'm concerned -- what i mean by personal knowledge, personal information would be, there are some things that you know or may know as commissioners that are not within sort of the knowledge off

senior staff. if there are such matters, then it will be difficult for senior staff to ensure that the documents is complete. that would be a concern that you ask yourself, is there something i know that might not be reflected in the disclosure documents because people preparing the disclosure documents don't have the knowledge that i have. something particularly sensitive always advisable to talk to your counsel or city attorneys office. >> did that answer your question? >> president maxwell: i want like an example of something -- i think you answered it. >> commissioner paulson: i want to thank the staff for putting

work on to give us these disclosure comments and run through our responsibilities. i think it's very important. but at the same time, as somebody who sat on various boards trust funds and other entities that have investment, i do want to acknowledge that i don't wake up at 4:00 in the morning and wonder if the bond rate has changed. we as commissioners and with the staff hire professionals to do that stuff. even during the course of this, we're always diligent to say, well, why did do you this. those are the questions that you are reminding us that we still have to ask if we have those

types of questions as to what we're doing. we are not the finance managers or the investors and wall street types that do this for a living. we're the stewards. i appreciate it but at the same time, we also need to know that we do need to ask the questions and but the liability is framed by the responsibilities you just mentioned. i want to acknowledge those pieces. i know that commissioner maxwell said, give me an example something we can ask. i think that's a good question to ask. i know that -- [indiscernible]

just a comment i wanted to make. >> couple of notes, first of all, these training sessions and reminders of the process and the commissioner's role in this, --these are not scheduled becaue there was a concern. they are scheduled because it's matter of good practice to do these presentations on a periodic basis. in terms of -- >> commissioner paulson: i understand that. we supposed to be transparent and informed what our responsibilities are both legally and ethically. i get that. thank you. >> in terms of process, again, large part of responsibilities is making sure that the culture,

the staff, the -- assistance what you're getting is what's needed. in terms of an example of something that a commissioner might know, that you staff wouldn't would be something for example, something that will be discussed in closed session with city attorney. with the city attorney's office, that might be the thing you want to discuss with the city attorney's office. whether this is a matter of what need to be disclosed to market. >> commissioner harrington: i wanted to thank you for doing this. we have been doing some joint training in the last two months pro bono. it's nice to see you getting paid for your work. thank you.

>> i want to comment on couple of things. the types of -- what the s.e.c. charge board members with is gatekeepers. to the extend that you brief on water supply with respect to the p.u.c. what they would like you to do as a critical feature for the p.u.c. is to prove the official statement that you're proving is to make sure we got it right. to ask a question about that, that's a critical feature that if we're reckless in describing the amount of water that we had or amount of revenue or our

expenses, if we are just cavalier about it, they expect board members to quiz staff or at least to peruse the document on an area that is of top of mind, critical and that if you do that, you just discharge your responsibilities. second darely the thing that the s.e.c. is wants to see, if you are competent experts at the table preparing your disclosure documents, you can rely on that. i can assure that steve has over 30 years experience in the public finance. he's an expert in this area. i, myself, have 30 years in this space, worked for the city of san diego during its troubled metropolitan water district. staff is trained, we're bringing

lots of resources in terms of preparing p.u.c. official statements. it's that type of engagement with the process that the s.e.c. expects. that's why we're doing the training so at least from the defensive standpoint, defensive posture, we can say that we trained up. we talked about the issues. people were aware. that's all i wanted to add. >> commissioner ajami: thank you. i really appreciate these sessions. it was definitely something i was not aware of. i appreciate this discussion for sure. may be two questions here. you mentioned about having a

discussion and closed session and making sure staff knows. is that something the commissioners need to be aware of or follow-up on or is that generally in the meetings we have general managers present. is that something they would need to make sure it's communicated? >> generally, i think that you have as part of the process, the disclosure documents run through by senior staff. you spend good deal of their own time reviewing things. what i was really not saying -- suggesting that commissioners can't rely on staff to have proper disclosures of all the

things that staff is aware of. only concern would be if there's something you thought, i know something that the senior staff might not be aware of. >> commissioner ajami: how does this works when you're externally communicating things? can this be something that we have to be mindful of how we're communicating issues. not just official documents that comes out of sfpuc. how does that exactly translate into possible pitfalls? >> let's a very good point. there is a concern. speaking to the market that when commissioners or officials make statements that are likely to

receive -- to make their way out to the market. the s.e.c. considers that speaking to the one of the things the sfpuc made good practice of, when there are events and use a process to make voluntary disclosures to the market. to make the official vetted p.u.c. statement on matters. filing that on the msrb disclosure system just to get things out. you are right what needs to be careful and what one says.

consistency of messages is very important. >> commissioner ajami: one last question, just to make sure. i haven't seen these documents. i know we have an item obviously today on the agenda and discussing it. how does that -- how often do you get to review these documents? i'm sure you mentioned that and i missed it. i need to make sure. >> generally, as i said, a disclosure document in their final form will be approved as parts of your approval of issues. there will be a draft of that

document available in the board package in advance of that meeting to be able to do that. generally, documents are prepared in connection with each bond issue. you'll have occasion to consider two of them very shortly, that the disclosure documents will be part of that package. >> commissioner ajami: do we give regular reviewing options after the bond is issued? i'm assuming this is an ongoing process. you have to pay attention. >> there are two times that -- one is speaking to the market. one is buying or selling securities. in connection with a bond

offering. there's also -- commission has made an undertaking to provide annual financial operating data to the market. that's update of some materials made as part of your audit financial statements. i would say that the process of the annual financial statements, which consider approved, is a very important part of your financial disclosure. you definitely want to -- paying attention to the financial statements is also security matters. >> clerk: do you have a second part of the presentation? >> no, that's it.

there's other material. >> okay, thank you. any further commission discussion? are we going to get that presentation? >> that was not part of the material. >> i can forward that presentation. >> vice president moran: call for a public comment please. >> clerk: member of the public who wish to make public comment specifically on item 7 dial (415)655-0001. meeting i.d., 146 067 9420.

to raise your hand to speak press star. do we have any callers? >> we have one caller in the queue. >> caller: this is david pilpel. i too will be interested in more detailed presentation if 1 can find a way to get that to me, i like to see that and the presentation that was made today. i think it was a good solid presentation and discussion. i'm not sure it matters to anyone, for what its worth, i have great confidence in mark blake and rest of the city attorney team in terms of bond issues and disclosures and all of that. i think the last question that you were discussing related was

fairly asked