pressure or it's eating up this rear yard and so, to me, i think it's a bit of as to up toss up. i might say in that instance, i prefer having side step backs. i think i might prefer to have the set back and have that going into the 25' a little bit or i don't know if that's enough to make up for the difference or to the point where we seek relief. this project could be so buried in their configuration that they seek relief and that's the outcome, but we keep that kind of fixed footprint. i understood that in sb9 that local jurisdictions can require access to the front street either through an easement or they can require certain lot

configurations. are we thinking that in the recent scenarios you've planned in the rear yard from the front home or what are we thinking? >> thank you, commissioner tanner. we did not feel the need to put this in as a standard because we feel every project will need to do that for all utilities so there's going to have to be some form of an easement no matter what but in some of those renderings, that's the easement, but there will always be that under lying utility easement. >> president: okay. i think to point out it's required. i think that makes sense to me, but maybe just putting that in there to make sure it needs to be required because i don't know that it's automatically

required and i'd rather somebody find out about it at the building stage and so we should just note it's needed to have access to that rear building to the front. did you want to respond to that? >> other than it's a fairly required standard to have ease of access. it's a function of d.b.i. i believe. >> president: and then i think those were all of my questions. or my comments on those topics. maybe just to begin the round of responding to other commissioners comments i talked about the setback. commissioner diamond, i wanted to understand more about the vegetation that you wanted

because i understand there are requirements for that inner building yard area. i would be concerned about trees being too close to the building. like what do you want to be in those? >> so i think the 25' setback or space provides some relief for the neighbors on the sides, but the neighbor behind is looking directly at the back of the building and it struck me that having some kind of vegetative screen that goes above the fence level is a good idea. i'm very concerned that it be something that experts have looked at and can survive because it could be a narrow space and it could be to the fence and i also want to make sure it's something that

doesn't do damage to the foundation of the building or to the fence and i would be totally fine if we put this on the list of issues that we have staff look at in the next few weeks to see whether or not this is a feasible proposal, but i'm assuming that most neighbors would rather look at vegetation than the side of the building or the back of the building. >> president: i'm totally on board with that and you definitely read my mind on the foundation issues. and maybe they'll come back and just language today because someone may have identified the vegetation that meets the criteria that we don't know about today or isn't thought of at the time. i'm okay with saying no roof decks in the rear building except my only question and concern is & maybe it's minute is if it is a lot scenario, is that a condition than what a

house is allowed to have elsewhere and so you don't get these things, but if you're a house facing the street, you don't get that. maybe have more strict requirements for these sb 9 homes than any other house. i don't know if central needs to address that. >> in our scenario, we were looking at using the existing rh1 usable open space requirement which we could provide given a typical lot split more or less down the middle of that 25' separation of buildings in the back knowing full well that putting

a roof deck would be lightning, but we could also offer the standards such that the open space requirement would be less than what's currently in the code. >> well, i'm. i guess i would say on that topic, i'm ignore nausic. if we want to ask project sponsors, that's also fine with me as long as we know that going in they need to have that relief. and i do support the idea of corner lots having some different configurations in terms of their set backs because it would make sense for them to not be setback. i want to call on my fellow commissioners. i see commissioner fung, commissioner moore, and commissioner koppel. so commissioner fung, do you want to go next? >> commissioner fung: sure. a couple comments. i would support the no roof

deck on the rear property. i also view that there's a lot of problems with specifying that they have to put vegetation in a 4' set back area. i don't think we want to get involved in that situation and i would be prepared to if nobody else wants to take a shot at a motion, i'll take a shot at a motion to adopt the massing standards with the addition of the landscaping and permbility requirement, but to leave out the architectural for staff to continue to review.

>> vice president: i second that with the caveat that the massing studies will be augmented by diagrams addressing the different depths we have 25' and 120 to mack it easier to use including delineating our interpretation of the setback for the rear building and then mentioning in the 25 feet and what that means when you split the lot, one side gets 13', the other side gets 12' depending on what unit sizes you're creating in front of of rear building. that would be my explanation. the one question we have not addressed and i want to perhaps ask commissioner fung also on these comments, commissioner diamond asked if we should entertain an additional 5' setback on the second floor of the rear building.

i would caution against that because of the loss of living space including i don't think it really achieves anything. >> commissioner fung: no i accepted mr. winslow's comment that the size of the rear unit then becomes less probable for a family sized unit. >> vice president: so you're supporting sb9, i do too. thank you. >> president: okay. and just to make sure i'm hearing you, commissioner fung, the existing standards plus the apartment building as proposed in the hand-out, correct? with no changes to the existing standards? the proposed standards? okay. commissioner koppel. >> commissioner: yeah. i will third commissioner fung's motion and i just wanted to add my support for not wanting the roof decks on the

second back unit. >> commissioners, there were a couple of other items that you discussed and i'm not sure it was included 1 way or the other. >> president: yes. i'm going to go back but i agree. need to clarify a little bit. commissioner diamond. >> commissioner diamond: so i was going to raise a couple of those. is there a 4' setback on all sides? >> commissioner fung: yes for me. >> commissioner diamond: okay. can we include that in the motion? and we said no roof deck which is great. i totally accept your comments about moving the vegetative discussion to further review by staff. it's appropriate. they can bring it back to us if they decide it's not appropriate. i'd just like to know that and i accept all of your comments about the 5' setback on the second story interfering too much with the space.

but what we haven't talked about is unit parody and where we all come to agreement. you know, maybe i'll just throw this out there to see if people agree starting with just the rear building. instead of doing percentage, do people believe, do other commissioners believe instead of doing a percentage, we should have some minimum size with two bedrooms? >> president: i would support that myself. a minimum size whether it's two bedrooms. i don't know that i feel one way or the other. we'll see where the other commissioners are. but i think that might be at least as helpful as sizing. that building's going to be constrained in a number of ways. i don't see any other commissioners hands up, but if anybody else, especially the maker and the seconder of the motion is interested or maybe you're content with the 50%

parody. >> commissioner fung: you know, if you're looking at almost a form based requirement here, you know. it's setting the volume of it. is it necessary to specify a unit size -- unit type? i'm not sure you need to do that, commissioner diamond. >> commissioner diamond: we're talking about affordable by design it is what it is and i think just using the 25' lot in the rear will create the maximum use that anybody can get out of it. so i would just let that speak for itself. the 25' shared courtyard already creates a certain kind of delineation of what needs to be where. so i think the unit size falls out in the 1100 to 1200 square feet anyway. >> commissioner: that's where

i was having trouble. i don't like the 50% standard. it seems arbitrary for me. >> commissioner: it applies to the larger front building and squeeze it in like 800 square foot on the bottom. unit parody on the front building has to be guaranteed. the rear building is what it is. >> commissioner diamond: staff is that a correct reading? >> that was the intention and we can clarify with a condition stating that the parody would only apply in the duplex situation. so where they're only building a second unit. >> president: can we be clear, we're getting very excited. i know we are. that to me is not what it says. am i misreading it? there's a couple scenarios you could have. you could have a vacant lot that somebody built two houses

on, two separate houses and they are allowed to have at least 800 square feet. do those have to have parodies? that's one scenario. second scenario. an existing house, you have an existing front house that's adding something into its existing building envelope. so the parody discussion to me almost seems like we need to think about it more and also if it's intent with only to find new construction that's a duplex, again, it's front or back nature to me is irrelevant in terms of why it shouldn't or should have parody. it's not making sense to me. >> commissioner, if i may. >> planning department staff. so essentially we established the whole parody standard to address the fact that sb9 does not include a minimum unit size for the second unit. so therefore under sb9, a single family home could be demolished and a very large single family home can be

constructed and very small even at the rear. and, you're right, there are totally different scenarios. right now the unit parody requirement is only in the duplex situation, so that could be adding a second unit to an existing unit. it could be adding a second unit somewhere else on the lot. so there are different scenarios about how we look at parody. basically, we're really trying to prevent kind of that absorption issue that you guys have seen previously at the commission that can appear with a large home and a very small home. as commissioner diamond suggested another way to address this is establishing a minimum unit size and then removing kind of the relation between the two units to qualify for the rear if it's a duplex. >> president: i'll make a comment and then call on commissioner fung. the challenge to me is you are allowing let's say 1,000 square feet. so in a lot split scenario

you're making somebody build a bigger unit than required and now they have to have a bigger building, but we've told them they have to have a 4' set back. i just want to address the parody. maybe it is a minimum size, but maybe it's 800 that aligns with this particular law and so no matter whether it's a duplex in the front, a duplex in the back, the units are at least 800 square feet, it does limit the variety, but, again, this is one law that will be used not probably very many times and so if it results in many units that are 800 square feet, i don't think it's a necessarily bad thing. >> commissioner fung: i was just going to comment on that. you know it seems like a more evenly process would be to

specify a unit size. you can get two bedrooms easily out of that. and so it could be a family unit. and instead of looking at percentages which usually creates all kinds of problems it seems like, yeah, the second unit in the duplex has to be at least 800 square feet. >> president: i would support that. commissioner diamond. >> commissioner diamond: yes. that's what i was trying to get at. i didn't care if it was 800 or a 1,000. i think 800 makes more sense for all the reasons that were just stated. what i wanted to avoid was a 300 foot studio in the back. i thought we needed some minimum size and if you can get two bedrooms -- you know, i personally think it should be a family unit. i think that's what we need that's why i was proposing two bedrooms. but if the rest of you think

that's two prescriptive i'm okay as long as we say it's 800 feet but i do think two bedrooms is a good idea. >> president: that's great. and i think people can use that program. commissioner imperial. >> commissioner imperial: thank you. just a clarification for the -- we're talking about minimum in terms, i think i would support it if we say minimum 800 square feet. okay. just a little bit of guidance. >> president: that's fine. we don't want to people think they're stuck at only that if they wanted to have something that's larger. >> commissioner fung: and so i would add that amendment to my motion that the second unit of the duplex would be a minimum of 800 square feet. >> vice president: i second that. >> president: so i don't see any other hands. >> i have one more clarifying question. you took the 4' around the entire, but did you make an

exception for a corner lot to allow that to be on the street? >> president: can corner lots have exceptions on the street side? >> at least on the street side? >> commissioner fung: yeah because it makes sense to allow that building to go all the way to the adjacent lot that is perpendicular to, not the one that it's parallel to, so the setback would occur at the property line that it's parallel to. i think what we talked about in previous discussions on the -- on that one case. >> yeah. on the street front side. >> if i can suggest the amendment would be on interior lot lines require 4' side set back. >> president: that would cover all. >> commissioner fung: and we would adjust again when we look at the architectural standards? i guess we could.

maybe better thinking on the corner lots, director. >> yeah. okay. the suggestion on the interior lot lejeunes it will solve for the corner lots and then we can refine that when we come back to you. >> commissioner fung: absolutely. >> president: so i'm going to read what i have in my notes. did you have a question? >> i'm happy to share if you want to see i've written correctly what you guys have been saying, but i can also dictate what you write. >> president: okay. essentially moving staff recommendation with these modifications, it's just the massing and landscaping permeability requirements. architectural view will be continued staff work with architects and others in the design community. set backs from the rear building, we're not going to have any set backs. no roof decks on the rear building. 4' set back on all interior lot lines. second unit to be a minimum of

800 square foot. that's what i have. >> yeah. i essentially if the 4' applied at the back as well. i wasn't sure if that was the rear back building. >> president: yes. >> all sides. did we have parody in there? 800. okay. >> president: great. i think then, commission secretary, we are ready to vote. >> secretary: sure. no problem. so there is a motion that has been seconded and hopefully my notes reflect everyone else's. we are adopting standards that include the proposed massing

standards with the permeability and landscaping requirements. we are pushing the architectural standards until further refined. we are not allowing or we are restricting roof decks on the rear unit and requiring a 4' set back on all sides of the rear unit for the interior lot lines. and then we are establishing an 800 square foot minimum for the second unit. >> vice president: commissioner secretary, is restricting the same as not allowing roof decks? i would prefer the word roof decks not allowing. restricting means somebody may want to come back and argue about that. >> secretary: okay. no roof decks on the second unit. how's that. >> vice president: that sounds good. >> secretary: okay. >> not to add complications to that, but are you prohibiting

roof decks on the first floor? you can have it set back on the first floor. i'm presuming you're saying no roof deck on the second floor. >> vice president: that's correct yeah. >> on the second floor. okay. >> secretary: okay. so not too further restrict or constrict, on that motion, [roll call] so moved commissioners. that motion passes unanimously 7-0. and i'm really happy we don't have a d.r. hearing after this. that concludes your hearing today, commissioners. enjoy the rest of your evening. >> thank you.

shop and dine in the 49 promotes local businesses and challenges residents to do their shopping and dining within the 49 square miles of san francisco. by supporting local services within our neighborhoods, we help san francisco remain unique, successful, and vibrant. so where will you shop and dine in the 49? >> my name is ray behr. i am the owner of chief plus. it's a destination specialty

foods store, and it's also a corner grocery store, as well. we call it cheese plus because there's a lot of additions in addition to cheese here. from fresh flowers, to wine, past a, chocolate, our dining area and espresso bar. you can have a casual meeting if you want to. it's a real community gathering place. what makes little polk unique, i think, first of all, it's a great pedestrian street. there's people out and about all day, meeting this neighbor and coming out and supporting the businesses. the businesses here are almost all exclusively independent owned small businesses. it harkens back to supporting local. polk street doesn't look like anywhere u.s.a. it has its own businesses and personality. we have clothing stores to

gallerys, to personal service stores, where you can get your hsus repaired, luggage repaired. there's a music studio across the street. it's raily a diverse and unique offering on this really great street. i think san franciscans should shop local as much as they can because they can discover things that they may not be familiar with. again, the marketplace is changing, and, you know, you look at a screen, and you click a mouse, and you order something, and it shows up, but to have a tangible experience, to be able to come in to taste things, to see things, to smell things, all those things, it's very important that you do so.

>> the city has undertaken a pilot program to hook up private privately -- owned hotels. >> the community members say this is helpful for them especially for the seniors and families with kids from seniors being able to connect with the family during the pandemic and too watch the news has been really helpful during this time where they are stuck inside and are not able to go outside. for families it is important to stay connected to go to school, to get connected so they can submit resumes to find jobs during the pandemic.

[speaking foreign language] >> challenges that might seem for the fiber in chinatown is pretty congested. the fiber team found ways around that. they would have to do things such as overnight work in the manholes to get across through busy intersections, and i think the last challenge is a lot of buildings we worked on were built in the early 1900s and they are not fitted with the typical infrastructure you would put in a new building. we overcame that with creative ideas, and we continue to connect more sites like this. >> high-speed internet has become a lifesaver in the modern era. i am delighted that we completed

three buildings or in the process of completing two more. i want to thank our department of technology that has done this by themselves. it is not contracted out. it is done by city employees. i am proud and i want to take a moment to celebrate what we are doing.

and the time is 5:02. this meeting is being held by webex pursuant to the governor's executive orders, mayoral proclamation declaring the existence of a local emergency. during the covid-19 emergency, the fire commissioners regular meeting room at city hall is closed, the meeting of the fire commission will convene remotely. you may watch live at www.sfgovtv.org. to participate during public comment, please dial 1 (415) 655-0001. and use access code 24873368858. 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. operator will unmute you. when prompted, callers will have the standard three minutes to provide comment. please ensure you are in a quiet location, speak clearly, and turn off any tvs or radios around you. item one, roll call. [roll call]

the president will now read the land acknowledgement. >> president: the san francisco fire commission acknowledges that we are on the unceded ancestral homeland of the ramaytush ohlone who are the original inhabitants of the san francisco peninsula. as the indigenous stewards of this land, and in accordance with their traditions, the ramaytush ohlone have never ceded, lost, nor forgotten their responsibilities as the caretakers of this place, as well as for all peoples who reside in their traditional territory. as guests, we recognize that we benefit from living and working on their traditional homeland. and we wish to pay our respects

by acknowledging the ancestors, elders, and relatives of the ramaytush ohlone community and by affirming their sovereign rights as first peoples. >> clerk: item two, resolution 2022-02. resolution making findings to allow tep conferenced meetings under california government code section 54953e. >> president: all right. and do we have any public comment, madam secretary? >> secretary: there is nobody on our public comment line. >> president: all right then. any questions or discussions from my fellow commissioners? yes, commissioner covington. >> commissioner: madam president, i'd like to move this item. >> president: all right. is there a second? >> commissioner: i'll second it. >> president: thank you,

commissioner cleveland. we have a motion and a second. >> secretary: and i will take a roll call vote. [roll call] the resolution passes unanimously. item three, general public comment. members of the public may now call area code (415) 655-0001. and you may members of the public may address the commission for up to three minutes on any matter within the commission's jurisdiction that does not appear on the agenda. speakers shall address their remarks to the commission as a whole and not to individual commissioners or department personnel. commissioners are not to enter

into debate or discussion with the speaker. the lack of a response by the commissioners or department personnel does not necessarily constitute agreement with or support a statement made during public comment and there is nobody on the public comment line. >> president: all right then. public comment shall be closed. thank you. >> secretary: item four, approval of the minutes. discussion and possible action to approve the january 12th, 2022, regular meeting. >> president: and do we have any public comment, madam secretary? >> secretary: there is nobody on the public comment line. >> president: all right. public comment on item four will be closed. any questions, comments, discussions from the commissioners? >> commissioner: i move to approve the minutes, madam president. >> president: thank you, commissioner cleaveland. is there a second?

>> commissioner: i second, commissioner morgan. >> president: thank you, commissioner morgan. >> secretary: i'll take a roll call vote. [roll call] the minutes are approved unanimously. item five, report from chief of department jeanine nicholson on activities and events within the department since the fire commission meeting on january 12th, 2022, including budget, academies, special events, communications and outreach to other government agencies and the public and report from administration deputy chief tom o'connor on the administrative divisions fleet and facility status updates, finance, including an update on the grants committee, support services, and training

within the department. >> president: all right. and do we have any public comment before we turn it over to chief o'connor? >> secretary: chief nicholson will go first. >> president: i'm sorry. thank you. forgive me. all right. chief nicholson. >> chief nicholson, chief of the department. commissioners covington, cleaveland, and morgan. command staff and assistant mar reen. this is my report for january 26th since our last commission meeting. so starting with good news that omicron has started to decline within the department and we still have members out with the omicron variant but considering

we were upwards 160, today we only have 36 folks that have caught omicron in the last ten days. so that's pretty good. and we are still doing our best to, you know, to cover for our members who are out sick with mandatory overtime, unfortunately, but that's how it is right now. you may have received a press release yesterday regarding supplemental that mayor breed introduced at the board of supervisors. the amount of i believe it's $14.6 million, $14.7 million so we can continue to provide essential city services and work to not just maintain, but increase our staffing levels to have our classes. i am hopeful that we will get the two thirds votes that we

need and i will be working with the mayor's office to facilitate that. we are experiencing -- we have experienced a significant increase in overtime pay due to staffing shortages and that is part of this supplemental that's part of what has caused this supplemental or all of what has caused it and the cost of overtime now is much greater than any salary savings from these unfilled positions. so it has caused the projected budget shortfall. and, you know, the staffing shortages are the result of, you know, high levels of retirement and limited hiring over the last few years as well as the increase use of sick and administrative leave due to

covid-19 exposure, illness, and quarantine. and the supplemental will go to first to the budget and finance committee at the board of sups and on to the board of supervisors and i will be meeting with the board of supervisors over the next few weeks to answer any questions and concerns they have and, again, working with the mayor's office on that. over the past week, our interview panels took place for our next h2 academy which we hope to start in may as long as this supplemental passes and so i'm going to meet with some of these candidates starting tomorrow actually. thursday, friday, monday. so looking forward to seeing what these youngsters have to offer. and i know that chief tom and

her staff have been participating in interviews for our next ems class which is going to be a paramedic class and as you know just last week, we graduated an e.m.t. class and they hit the streets right off the bat. so i want to thank chief tong and her team for the work. we're moving as fast as possible to train e.m.s. and suppression. we are deep in budget right now. you will be getting our report from marc corso tonight and i'm working on our priorities and what we can look for in this next budget realistically and get. and i want to welcome cd3 to

the show. first, i'm happy to take any questions if there are any. >> president: all right. commissioners, questions for the chief of the department. vice president nakajo, please. >> vice president: thank you for much chief. i wanted to make a comment in terms of your report. i wanted to make reference to the point that the mayor submitted a supplemental budget for us not only for the police department, but particularly for us i believe it was $14.6 million supplement and a member of the commission in terms of but also in terms of the need. i just very much want to appreciate to the mayor and understand the process it still has to go through with the

board of supervisors starting with the budget finance. but, indeed, the mayor supports us, but also understands the shortage that we have in terms of staff and there with covid and other related with mandatory overtime and now that we continue our services to the city and county. so i just wanted to make that acknowledgement as part of the commission in terms of support for our essential services that the fire department provide and all else. thank you. >> president: thank you, mr. vice president. any other commissioners have any questions or comments for the chief of the department? commissioner cleaveland, please. >> commissioner: thank you, madam president.

chief, if you need any assistance, conversations with the supervisors, i think any of us on the commission would be happy to lend our support as best we can. i'd like to echo vice president nakajo's comments that we as a commission sincerely appreciate the leadership that the mayor has taken here to sort of back fill some of the needs of our department which is growing in needs not getting less in needs, so i appreciate the fact that this has become a priority for her office and we need to give every support we can to the appropriations request to the board of supervisors. thank you, madam president. >> president: thank you, commissioner cleaveland. any further comments? i would just like to echo both

the comments of vice president nakajo and commissioner cleaveland in that, you know, just to remind the chief we are here to be advocates for the department and i'm not sure the best way that we can do that, but you should not hesitate to use us in any appropriate fashion because this is incredibly important given the staffing shortages that the department is now enduring and the mandatory overtime. so, you know, you have our support. i don't think that's in doubt and i encourage you if it will be helpful to use it. so i think both vice president nakajo and commissioner cleaveland for those comments and i would second or third them which ever is the

appropriate thing to do. but, you know, i think you have all of us as backup to the extent you need us. >> thank you very much, president, vice president, commissioners, for your support. that means a lot and i will certainly be in touch to let you know if there's anything you can do and if i may just state something i left out, president feinstein. >> president: please. >> i notice i'm wearing a funeral tag on my badge today and it was for one of our members larry dean who retired six months ago and died of cancer and that was -- i went to a little service for him yesterday.

so if we could possibly close the meeting in honor of larry dean and in honor of the three firefighters in baltimore who lost their lives this week, i would appreciate that very much. >> president: we certainly can. sorry. that's a lot. okay. and, chief, does that complete your report for this evening? >> that concludes my comments for right now, thank you. president feinstein. >> president: thank you. shall we turn it over to deputy chief o'connor. are you ready for this? >> i think i'm ready, president

feinstein. good evening. chief department nicholson and command staff. this will be my administration report for the month of december, 2021. let's see if we can do this and off we go. we begin with assistant deputy chief shane tireloa. shane's been one of the busiest people in the fire department as we look to training opportunities in the month of december. public information class. instructor class and engine boss class. a task personal aviation detector. disaster initiative. vehicle training, combined space spanish for first

responders in conjunction with our employee group. we can also see we participate in the yearly live burning training at the airport. deputy chief brown will speak more to that later if you have any questions. you can see here, we have the 128th class came to the rescue just in time for the holidays. they are participating in their physical training on the embarcadero and i believe that's the comm room on station four and there's the happy graduation day with all the smiles and we told them shortly thereafter we'd be working christmas day and new year's eve day. and here's a great photo. we can just see this screams pandemic, this photo with everybody with their masks on. it will be in the san francisco archives for years and years to come. we move on then to assistant deputy chief at the diversion and equity office.

so for the month of december, academy briefing in a finance meeting. he sat in on a creative development work group. did some outreach and recruitment and development. convening of the racial equity leaders. engage in community outreach. he gave us updates on the 9910 city e.m.t. program. and some training and development community center meetings. our neighbor emergency response team is still at low capacity. delivering food to the needy for the holidays since there are volunteers up there. our health, safety, and wellness also had a very busy month with the outbreak in the omicron variant. the health and safety round table. she participated in behavioral health activities. she participated in our grants

committee. she had a well being and work celebration. including our response team. we also had the health and resiliency and fire and e.m.s. webinar. we had another webinar consider matching risk. headquarters with the black firefighters association and united fire association of women. she also had a combined space awareness course and here's where she got really business, she was providing training. so we had the ability to test all of our members during the month and we really kind of tried to stop the spread of the omicron variant by testing our members when they're symptomatic. the she also prepared for this month which is firefighter cancer awareness month and we just recently lost another recently retired member to cancer and this has been our call to action to educate our members about the hazards that we face not just in fighting fires, but in the aftermath of the fires.

so week one, the cancer firefighter awareness month, we had a mortality and cancer incident report and this was for the cancer foundation participated in and this was the study of roughly 30,000 firefighters and san francisco, philadelphia, and chicago, and we tracked the death certificates of those 30,000 firefighters to see what they had perished from and this was the biggest pool of firefighters ever studied regarding cancer in the fire service and it became the gold standard showing that firefighters are at much higher risk of exposure in the day-to-day work force. that was the first week of our cancer awareness month. and as we rolled through, there was a number of classes being offered. and dr. roka and stephanie phelps who helped us with omicron and they were the two busiest people in the fire department. and an absolute spike from the

omicron variant which is three times more contagious than the delta variant. so as a result of this spike, the health officer of san francisco updated here order and we had to have a booster for all first responders or those who go to health care settings. but the booster vaccine is delivered by february 1st. today, that was just extended to march 1st because of the logistics of getting everyone in and getting them vaccinated. we set up a vaccine clinic thanks to the assistance of josh smith and assistant deputy chief and sheriff brown. set up two booster clinics. one at training and one at station 49 where we delivered the boosters to the employees ourselves and we had over 250 people boosted in the first two weeks of this. this is just incredible work with stephanie trying to process all these papers and getting quarantine dates set up. so we really owe them a debt of

gratitude for getting them through this wave. and our numbers are way down with 36 people still in active quarantine. so we do have eleven long haulers that are having a hard time coming back. so our concerns and thoughts are with them as we go through this. our investigative services bureau. he took a victory lap. this was his last month at headquarters. we sent him to his fire house. as victory you can see here. he tested two members in the prior were both members. results were negative. we had four accident reports. all negative. all within limits and live fire training for reemergence and he also assisted with background information for candidates in the up coming classes and trained our new investigative

services and gave them a shove under 25 service orders called ifs for minor plumbing issues. before the heavy rainfall. fire station 14. fire station nine and 48 have roof leaks that have been repaired. now, i know it seems like we were going sideways at the speed of light, but we are making progress on station 35. as you can see here, the restoration is coming along lightning for sculptures is in and it looks like we have a

march 1st opening date or possibly february 28th even. things are quite well. fire station 49 update. we had our enrichment part one with images put up on the wall. you can see the evolution of the ambulances there. looks like they used to drive the bread truck and kind of van ambulance there. now, support services of the fleet. our first aerials and mobile air and five new engines have been shipped in the fairfield factory in california. and we expect testing in late january. i know engine 25 was delivered and there was another engine delivered as well. our house tender is still in the and we had two one-ton

cargo vans and an r.c. buggy. no e.t.a. due to the park shortage which was having a hard time getting vehicles. in the purchasing process and two ford explorers for the e.m.s. vision are having light packages put on them. you can see here, now we get to the fun stuff. november 30th, we had our rescue swimmers. station 14, we're giving an award where they state someone on the rocks in the clip house i believe or land's end. we also help and partner with the toy program and delivered over 2,000 toys to disadvantaged children throughout the bay area. and that is my report for decembe 2021. thank you. >> president: thank you.

questions. commissioners. yes, i see commissioner cleaveland. i don't have a grid format to see yet so i can see -- there we go. so i saw commissioner cleaveland. he was one of the four in the top row. he gets to go first. >> thank you, madam president. thank you, chie o'connor for your comprehensive report. just a question on the d.n.i. portion, what is 99-10 program updates. what does that mean? >> that's part of our city e.m.t. program. chief peoples. >> hello president feinstein, vice president nakajo,

commissionermore gan and commissioner cleaveland and commissioner covington as well. my name is brice peoples. assistant deputy chief. the 99-10 program is a program that is a developmental pipeline that we manage as a department. we take graduates in from another program that deals with developing youths, local youths who might be at risk and they have this particular program called city e.m.t. as a process of helping to detoxify these youths, help them to learn some adulting. and then helps them to get one of the minimum qualifications that's important to our on boarding which is the national industry e.m.t. certificate. so once they graduate that city e.m.t. program in conjunction with oewd and also drain

keepers initiative which is out of h.r.c., those individuals have places in our department that allows them to continue their development as they are a rider on the ambulance. they do what's called ride-outs and those individuals accumulate 500 hours which is another minimum qualification that we have to be brought into our h3 level one position and that's something that's been started by chief nicholson and some others as a brain child and it's been a really good program. we have some successes already and we're looking to broaden that as well. so i'm here for your questions if you would like to ask more. >> it sounds like a great program and i'm 100% supportive of it. how many students do you have presently in the program and how many have bumped up to become actual e.m.t.s within

the department at this point? >> great question. our initial onboarding, we had five students. four have already finished the 500 hours. we have one more remaining. these individuals, it's funny that you mentioned this. i just saw one yesterday taking the h3 level one test out of the hrtesting facility on caesar chavez. really good kid to use lack of a better word or a candidate. there has been right now we're looking to on board hopefully two have taken the test. the h3 level one. there's another one that wants to take the h2 test for firefighters and others are looking at some of our other developmental partners as well. so more to follow on that as the chief says, but they have taken these minimum qualifications tests, interests exam for the h3 level one and see what they do and hopefully we'll have some good reports

for you later on in the spring. >> thank you. how many total would you say you have in the pipeline right now with the 99-10 program? >> there are five as we speak. one of those individuals we probably won't keep, they have greater aspirations to become a doctor. they're probably going to become a medical student, so they're going to pursue that, but the other ones are right on target. we're still maintaining contact with them to make sure that they still apply for our job as a permanent h3 level one. and we're looking to onboard many more of those individuals and we'll see as we start getting into the selection process. >> commissioner: how do you recruit for the program? >> the program is actually recruited by the city e.m.t.. we also make references as

well. our recruitment office here in the fire department. we connect with job centers and also some other partners out there. but city e.m.t. does that recruiting. we refer individuals that fit that criteria, the age group and some of the at-risk criteria they have. the but the city e.m.t. takes care of that process themselves. >> so it's not something you would take to the high schools or something like that. maybe community centers, i think that kind of think. you wouldn't be broadcasting the program more broadly, it sounds like. >> it would be appropriate to broadcast that program. if we find someone who fits that criteria, we can definitely make a reference or as we've done in the past in the application process. the fire department has other programs existing in the high schools that are similar to a degree. they helped them get our e.m.t.

certificate, the minimum qualifications, but we're looking to broaden all of these programs to make them more streamlined and work in harmony with each other. >> has there been any outreach to the juvenile detention. people in juvenile detention. >> great question. not that i'm aware of at the moment. it's something we can talk about and look at that. we just started an outreach and recruitment development office just in late november. their plate is very full, but that's one of the things we can possible look at. i'll offer that suggestion to them and we'll see how that fits in with that grand strategy. >> i'd like to see 50 people. >> president: if i may, commissioner cleaveland. so it's a nonprofit that runs city e.m.t. and we get money from the office of economic and workforce development and put

five of them on our ambulances to get their 500 hours. and this 501c 3 is also responsible for community outreach and they work with different community groups to get people signed up for this. so that is sort of their task at this time. >> they don't really have to do the recruitment through the department. >> no. it's a city e.m.t. that does that with the office of economic and work force development as an assistant, but, you know, we just -- the city contracts with this nonprofit to handle all of that and we then choose five of the 15 young people to be brought in to do those hours on the ambulance. >> i just think it's a great

program and i think the fire department so we can boost our numbers, i think it would be great. thank you. and thank you chief peoples. >> thank you, commissioner. >> president: thank you. further questions? anybody? commissioners? >> president: i'm sorry. vice president nakajo, please. >> vice president: thank you very much, madam president. thank you chief o'connor for a comprehensive report. i wanted to make a comment, but i wanted to touch on training and support services and i have a question of clarity on the physician's office out of your report. so what i wanted to do is just

make a comment and i really appreciate the slide in terms of a graduation class, but i also wanted to acknowledge chief for all of the training staff to produce that graduation class. i personally am sorry that i wasn't able to attend physically, but during that time, we all had our different justifications and reasons and it looks like a very large group that as you say came to the rescue in the nick of time but also as i understand it, they're all signed out and immediately hit the ground running. so i very much appreciate that and the training staff to do that. so i wanted to at least make that comment. if i can, i'd like to move to a question on the physician's report, chief o'connor.

above the graph, there's a description in terms of return to duty as dictated by the city and state department of health and cdc. currently, people who tested positive are given ten days off to isolate and may return after five days if they have those symptoms and the rapid -- and the negative rapid test. so, chief, just so i'm clear, they're given ten days off, but after during that ten days when it hits five days, if they test negative and they show no symptoms, they can return back to work. is that what i'm understanding? >> that's correct. they can come back to work after five. >> vice president: and who monitors that, chief? do they report to somebody and

say i'm clean or i'm negative and check out with some structure to say i'm going back to station xyz. >> they report to their doctor's office for a test and they can report to duty if they come back negative. >> vice president: so then given the heads up in terms of the member to that. thank you for that clarification. if i may, i'd like to pull the support services and i have some questions before the next. this is an eight-page report and deputy chief serano, because you're in the position and stepped up, i took a little bit more interest beyond what we usually do in reviews with all the commissioners.

there's a lot of material in here and that's always expensive and i know that other commissioners call out various things and i'm going to refer to something on page 40 and i hope my docket, your docket's the same. chief, on page 40 on your report, it says focus scope program. let me know when you're there. >> i am here. >> vice president: okay. so being a member of the commission for a period of time, it always amazed me through all the reports, again, with all the reading of exactly what a focus goal program means and finally through this scenario, i began to realize that this focus goal program refers to on your second line of nine scope categories comprising emergency generator replacement apparatus,

exterior, envelope improvements, windows, showers, mechanical sidewalks, labs, security, access, it's comprehensive. and, are again, it just goes through again that i pick that all up and now i'm clear again in terms of what that definition means with that focus scope program and i just wanted to point that out. so i want to refer to page 41. i'm on the second paragraph which says easter bond 2020 update through december 2021. the new fire training facility chief, are you there with me? >> yes. >> vice president: and so it seems like the design, i'm going to paraphrase segment is on hold and it looks like the general contractor process is on hold. is that accurate at this particular point that both

these are on hold. >> that is accurate at this time. they are still just received the environmental impact reports and discussing putting out the project manager position out, job description out for the actual division of training project and also the m.o.u. that goes along with that project. and also the other facets of the job, there's still some negotiation going back and forth between the two acres of port land that are in the transition in the process of being procured and also with the private property to speak to procure lodges so that is

all in process in purchasing the property. so the decision was made to slow down on the actual construction and design phase until we got these other matters taken care of. >> vice president: okay. chief. that's a comprehensive answer. i appreciate that direct answer back. i just wanted to be clear. and then i'm just going to continue on this report that was written a key milestone ceqa process on december 30th, 2021, from again, my limited experience and i know that commissioner cleaveland and also commissioner covington understands development and building, but from my trade in terms of the community, ceqa is a big process, it's a big deal and i just wanted to kind of

point that out because that eye balled me right away as a stand out and i wanted to give is that acknowledgement to you but also chief o'connor to the department itself on this phase, it's a major accomplishment. the only other question i have is as we talk about fire station seven, i know i can go to my trusty hand book and find out where the location of location seven is, but for point of entry, can you describe where station seven is located in terms of the replacement process. >> it's located at 19th and folsom. >> vice president: 19th and folsom. >> wow, chief. that's, you know, again the mind goes a little bit, but when you put it in that perspective it's wow. they've got some history over

there. i'm looking forward to it. all right. i basically have that and then chief o'connor. thank you. chief o'connor. i know the two subject matters that came up and i don't know categorically if it's under your workload, but i understand that return it to the field and i don't know if that's your area is administration or operation. can you clarify that for me, chief? >> we did a little switch. he does answer to me now, we are looking for his replacement to advertise that position and we will be doing interviews very soon. >> vice president: okay. does that fall under your jurisdiction as administrative chief? >> yes, sir. >> vice president: okay. and i just wanted to acknowledge lieutenant johnson for all the work he's done. it's great work he's done and dedication and hard work and i'm excited that he's still with us. my last point and i'm not sure

if it fits in here, chief o'connor, to the chief of the department, with all the news of the recent tsunami, you know, for us, tsunamis have great effects on our community homeland and so it became quite interesting to me that the newspaper has brought it out and the tvs have brought it out that our city, what do you call that emergency speaker system is not palpable and i think it's still in the planning stage. at some point or another, does that fall under your jurisdiction or perhaps the department of health maybe we can get an update on what that status is? >> i can speak to that right now, vice president nakajo through the president. so, yes. these emergency speakers/sirens

were taken off line because they're such old technology that it was very easy to hack into and so it was not secure at all. the department of the head of m.i.s. for the city has been working with mary ellen carol from d.e.m. and supervisors and others on what they're going to do in place of that. so it's still in the planning phases and i don't have a time frame for that. >> thank you very much for that answer, chief. again, it was just part of the curiosity as to how that fits with the fire department. again, thank you for the clarity. i knew it was d.e.m., but also the department of technology is apart of that jurisdiction and

responsibility and do we need the fire department. i assume you have a direct link on that as well. >> yes. we've been included in the discussion. >> thank you very much. madam president. >> president: thank you, mr. vice president. any commissioners have further -- commissioner covington. i like the pin. it always gets my attention on the grid. thank you. >> commissioner: thank you for calling me. and thank you chief o'connor for your very first presentation. congratulations on your new position and your presentation was very good. i wanted you to just spend a few minutes talking about the

assessments that are being done with the, what is it, 3,000 firefighters. 30,000 firefighters. and could you talk about the challenges, i mean, very briefly, the challenges that firefighters have in maintaining their good health and why those situations exist, you know, for instance building and also household furniture and that sort of thing just so that our new commissioner and the public has an idea of why this is so important and how we got to these tragic numbers. >> some time ago.

we knew we were having a problem in the fire service, so we didn't have any definitive numbers. so we sent out a survey and we found out that there was an essential problem with our survey. we got lots of surveys back from spouses or widows or husbands who died saying. that's when we realized we had bigger problems. so we were kind of thumbing around and while we were doing all this different research regarding kidney and bladder cancer, we were approached by nyage who wanted to know about the work we were doing. to see how firefighters were dying. was it long and hard issues, was it cancer, was it a variety of things. so we partnered with joann

hayes and as i said earlier, this became the definitive gold standard of research. this became a cohort study over a period of time. and it showed the increased linkage of various cancers to firefighters. and then that study was also picked up by the droga fund by congress which studied 9/11 firefighters. they picked it up in the con tin jensen of studies to figure out what we were exposed to and why they were collecting these cancers. and it all goes back to the primitive studies which was a study of chimney sweeps in the early 1900s. a chimney sweep in london was basically a hobo so to speak

and they were given a broom and an outfit and they would sleep in their outfit and then they'd go back to work and chimney sweeps were dropping off the earth from cancer. and then you had the fresh clothing and the rate of cancers were far below that of the chimney sweeps in london. so looking at that study, we realized perhaps one of the biggest problem we had were our turn-outs were like sponges for toxins and the chemicals. then we learned, we need to clean our turn-outs all the time. we realized we were still having all these cancers and we were saying why do we still have all these cancers and how are we ingesting these chemicals and we found out a lot of it is through our eyes and our mucus membranes and necks and armpits, and groins when we get hot, we're

absorbing the chemicals through our skin. so now we're looking to detoxing the firefighters right after the fires. but the studies are continuing. we're studying breast cancer in firefighters. kidney and bladder studies being done. we're taking heavy metal readings of our blood before and after fires. and we're tracking firefighters from wild land fires. cal fires and state firefighters and we're tracking those firefighters and getting their blood levels measured because as we're finding out now, they're not going off into the woods putting out campfires. you're having tens of thousands of homes burning and off gassing all of their toxins from the chemicals in those homes and these firefighters are ingestioning those chemicals over a longer period of time because that campaign can be a week to two weeks to three weeks. so the research of this little foundation that started twelve years ago has really been

leading the nation. ourselves in boston and analyzing firefighters and trying to figure out how we can better protect them. >> commissioner: thank you for that summary. i think it's very important that everyone know that the dangers that are faced by firefighters are not just fires. you know, and the ability to put fires out that there is a great danger in ingesting all of the off gassing and all of the other things that come with a property being on fire or a car being on fire and i really want to thank everyone in the department who over the years have participated in this research and participated in an

excellent documentary that i would encourage everyone to see. i think you can probably view it online and i also want to thank our physician's department because i know they have a great sensibility for these kinds of things. and making sure that the research includes san francisco firefighters. so these 30,000 firefighters and this study, when do you anticipate that it will conclude? >> that's already concluded. i believe it was in 2013 or 2015. >> commissioner: so we already have the figures for that one. >> now we're delving down deeper into the numbers and getting more information.

we're breaking down, we had a sub sample of x number of firefighters getting this cancer in chicago, and this cancer in san francisco. now we're trying to track their work records to see what actual fires they went to, was it industrial, residential. so we're looking deep down into that. that's the ongoing study that's happening currently. >> commissioner: oh, okay. very, very good because i think a lot of progress has been made in terms of getting the information out and changing the culture in the fire house so that people don't these days that it's a wonderful badge to have a really [ indiscernible ] and now the coats are not taken into the dorm part of the stations, so bit by bit, real

depth is being made in saving lives and this is so important for us to remember. i wanted to talk about the rapid testing. i think that's an excellent idea because it has been amazing that so many people have been lining up across the bay area to try to get a it test. so it's very helpful that our physician's department has that going with everyone who works for the department both on those people who are administrative staff. it's very important. i don't know for some reason, i thought that people were boosted, but you said that there were booster shots given to a large number? >> we boosted 250 people but a

lot of people were already boosted and some people weren't eligible to get the booster because they had just either contracted covid so they had to wait or they just got their booster shot in october. so just compiling all the data. by march 1st, i think we'll be in a good position with our members. >> commissioner: very good. i encourage everyone to get boosted, get that shot because as i used to tell my son when he was small, the job of a virus is to stay alive. it will mutate every which way to sunday to stay alive and if we are not agile and keeping one step ahead of it, then that's when we have problems. so thank you again for your report and congratulations again on your new position.

>> thank you. >> president: okay. further questions. i have a couple small questions. my colleagues have done a very good job in taking care of the bigger questions. so forgive what may seem like pettier questions. this is, chief, the first report that i have seen from -- i guess i'm in my third year now regarding the breathalyzer tests. and before every test has said, every report that i've read and i do read them have said that the results were negative. and this report says that there were 13 i don't know if they're

breathalyzers and toxilizers, but i'm familiar with the science equipment from my time in the district attorney's office, you report that all were within limits. you didn't report that they were negatives and i would like to know what the limit is. >> the limit is .004, the same as a commercial driver's license. so if there was nobody that had any alcohol in their system during the month. >> president: all right. and these tests are all taken while somebody's on duty and they don't know that it's coming. >> and also taken right after an accident and on duty. >> president: any accidents? >> after accidents, we have a drug testing policy to ensure that there's no drugs or alcohol involved and all those tests were negative as well.

>> president: and how many accidents did we have in the past 30 days let's say? you don't need -- i'm not trying to be, you know so specific, but i'm saying 30 days, but -- >> we had four accidents this month. >> president: okay. all right. thank you. and they were all below .04 or 00. >> they were 00. >> president: excellent. thank you. and then my second question again, a much smaller question then -- well, actually it's not it's an important question i think which is that from what i have read in different materials, there's concern about the lining of turn-out codes and that they may have

chemicals that are carcinogenic. >> that would be pfas. >> president: yes. >> same thing you would find in water proofing of jackets. there's some concerns of pfas, but it's also in canned goods, bottles of water. pfas is everywhere. but we're trying to find a vendor that will provide us with jackets and pants that don't have the pfas chemicals in them. >> president: and right now, [ indiscernible ] and are there studies that suggest what the impact is of wearing these turn-outs with pfas and are there turn-outs that are available that aren't

lined with material that contains this carcinogenic material. >> the whole industry is gearing up to get out of the pfas chemicals because it's on our radar. there's just evidence that pfas is a carcinogenic chemical. so we're just trying to minimize our exposure. >> president: i think that's excellent. i mean, i wouldn't know. i'm not a scientist. but at least it's been under suspicion. so i'm glad it's being studied because that shouldn't be an area of exposure although i understand the protection that it offers. i don't want to see our members falling because of their turn-outs. but if you're successful in

getting everybody to clean them as appropriate when they're back from a fire, i bet that will make a big difference. so thank you. >> thank you. >> president: and welcome again officially. those were my only two questions. >> secretary: and there's nobody on the public comment line. >> president: thank you, madam secretary. >> secretary: shall we move on. >> president: yes, we should. >> secretary: item six. fire department operating budget. fiscal years 2022, 2023, and 2023-2024. presentation from mark corso deputy director of finance and planning on the fire department's operating budget for the commission review and discussion. overview of the city's budget process, mayor's office budget instructions, and fire department budget updates and priorities. and i don't think we gave

director corso an opportunity to do a quick update on the grants committee. >> president: oh, you are correct and maybe he can incorporate that into his report. is that all right, madam secretary? >> secretary: i believe so. >> president: okay. and let me just first ask, is there any public comment? >> secretary: there is nobody on the public comment line. >> president: all right. then public comment will be closed and before you start mr. corso i really want to commend you on the materials that we received because as a person not -- well, that struggles sometimes with this finer points of budget, this is

really a fine presentation for we civilians. i really want to commend you for it. so thank you. that's even before you give it. so that's good. >> thank you very much. a couple typos in there, but i have corrected them. >> i saw the typos, but i decided to ignore them because the overall presentation was clear. >> thank you very much. have you them corrected here. maureen, if you wouldn't mind passing me the ball for sharing. good evening, madam president. mr. vice president. commissioners, mark corso finance and planning to present on the next item here in one moment. there we go. all right. there was one item last meeting

that unfortunately we ran out of time on and so i've combined that into this item here. i have some slides on the overall city budget process as well as some departmental specific information that i'll get into in a moment. so just an update from seems awhile ago from when we were closing out last budget. but mayor breed signed off on the fiscal year 21-22 budget back in july of last year and that kind of marked the return to standard budget process and timeline for the city after being interrupted by covid so that kind of replicates the standard schedule which i'll get into in a moment and returns to the normal budget process time lines. for the department, budgets were loaded into the budget system. there are however many uncertainties as everyone knows that have remained during the current fiscal year mainly

stemming from covid both operation alley for the departments as well as economically for the division. the fire department has budget supplementals making its way through the budget process. one was for the e.m.s. supplemental for additional ambulance personnel. that was approved at the board and in the process of being implemented and the second one was for the salary budget supplemental that the chief had mentioned at the top of the meeting. happy to answer any questions about those. and in addition as they do annually and update throughout the year, the city joint report was just released earlier beginning this month and that's generally a report from a combination of the mayor's office, controller's office and budget and legislative analyst. they take a look at the city finances and provide an update and that projection, those projections fuel budget instructions that are given to

departments. so on that note, there's actually good news for once. the city's actually projecting a budget surplus over the next two years. so at the time of budget instructions back in december, the city was looking at $108 million surplus over the next two years which are the two budget years we're going to be talking about here. we're currently in fiscal year 21-22. and 23-24 are the next two in the budget process. as you can see in this high level charge, i do not recall the last time we had a surplus. generally, we'll have a huge deficit that the city's trying to solve for. especially in the out years as well and as you can see here, years three and four, the relative projected deficit is much lower than in previous years when they've been looking at $400 million deficit in year

four and five. obviously, that's very good news here. these projections will be taken into account any budget savings for departments in the current years as well as any additional supplementals that may be drawing on this funding or other funding and the controller's office will release an updated report usually in april that will fuel the mayor's office as far as what their proposed budget for june 1st will look like. so here's kind of a snapshot, a comparison over the past few years of what we're looking at at the same time as the past two years with two budget cycles in between and the fiscal year 21-22 budget, we were looking in december of 2019, pre-covid, obviously. we were looking at significant $420 million deficit. obviously with covid that increased to over $1.5 billion

in that up updated and condensed fiscal project. we were looking at a $653 million project that the city was looking at in trying to solve. that's compared especially to previous years at the same time, that's a huge improvement. it's driven mainly by revenues. that has come in as part of relief funds as well as reduced pension costs which assumptions on those have improved and as personnel costs are a big driver, the savings on that side would be contributing to an improved overall fiscal outlook. if anyone's interested in any further detail, i'm happy to forward a report. it gives detail about what the city's looking at over the next few years. so, specifically, what does

this mean for departments and instructions, as a result of the budget surplus departments are requested to provide a reduction of the 10% of their general commitments and this year that is not the case. departments are being emphasized to not request additional funds, but to make use of existing budgets, find deficiencies, stay within your budget and in addition, any initiatives or any changes should be aligned with mayoral priorities which are outlined here, restored vibrancy in san francisco. mainly as a result of covid. reprioration of existing funding. if you feel there are additional deficiencies, please do that but stay within your existing funding and it's always improving overall

budget. just a few other minor notes. there is a new technical budget city the city is implementing this year. there hasn't been any hick ups yet. moving forward through the entire process on that and in addition, we're continuing, it was implemented last year and we're continuing this year budget process transparency legislation back in the end of 2020. if there's a number of public meeting requirements, documentation transparency. so specifically it pertains to two public meetings to discuss departmental budgets. we are hearing that with our fire schedule and just providing documentation that's provided at the commission level. there's a central repository

where members of the public can access all departmental budget materials from meetings, hearings, etc. and so we are obviously working with the commission secretary and the controller's office on making sure we're posting everything appropriately. i do not see any issues as we work through the process in meeting any of the requirements through the legislation. as i mentioned, the city's back on its kind of standard budget schedule. generally in december, budget instructions after the analysis from the joint report, budget instructions are given to departments. february 22nd is when the mayor's office, all budgets are due to the mayor's office from individual departments and then over the march, april, and may time frame, the department works closely with the mayor us office and puts together a comprehensive overall city budget that needs to be balanced and submitted to the board by june 1st and mid june, this is when we're over working

with the board of supervisors and i'm not sure if they're going to be virtual or in person this year, but that's when the budget and finance committee hearings will be where we'll have an opportunity to present on our budget. highlight changes, enhancements and work with the budget and legislative analysts on any of the proposed budgets and combatting those. generally in july, the budget goes after that approval of that process, the budget's considered at the board of supervisors and based on the timing, it's generally signed off and approved by the board and signed off by the mayor in the very end of july or very early to august. this is the kind of standard schedule that we're back to. obviously anything can change with covid, but hopefully we're back on a more standard schedule going forward. specifically for the department, today's meeting, we have discussion of budget instructions, priorities, and just in general overview and discussion of the budget. february 9th which would be the next meeting where we would be

submitting something for commission approval and discussion and possible action on that budget furthering that discussion and that serves as a second of two meetings required by the budget transparency legislation. in the past, maybe we've done it once or twice, but there is time for a special meeting if needed for a budget approval if there are outstanding issues that need to be answered, we can have a special meeting to deal with those issues, and then february 22nd as i mentioned, the department, all budgets are submitted to the controller's office and then submitted to the mayor us office and that's that deadline. so that's kind of the first part of the presentation, overall general processes, time lines etc., we'll get into our budget a little bit. so i just wanted to highlight a few things of what our base budget is and what the documents provide you and along with the presentation, you were provided there was a brief three page very high level

summary of what our base budget is and so our base budget is what we're working off essentially. that's essentially approved last year and then rolled over to the next two years and that's what we're working on as we propose initiatives or move funding around etc. it includes anything known and then as well some assumptions on labor wage increases, health and dental, other benefit increases, etc. it assumes any new initiatives that were either started or was to be continued over the years and hiring a number of people for the paramedicines in the current year. it assumes the positions are hired and that level of service continues over the next two years. things like that. there's a few m.o.u.s that are up for negotiation city wide. so there are when wage increases are known, they're incorporated into the budget

system. when those are not known and whether things for negotiation. any pension rates, health and benefit rates. those are all as much as they're known or assumed those are incorporated into the system as well. we're working on some structural updates of the budget. things like that are accounted for appropriately. it doesn't include anything that is approved during the current fiscal year. so we're working with the mayor's office on continuing that over the two years and there are no general assumptions in our department

during the budget process related to covid and things like that. but that's something that's in the back of everybody's mind as we move forward through the so we're looking at a $465 million budget. there's some funding from the airport. obviously, that's paid for by the airport, but in general, most of our operations fall under a general report and that makes up the sources on our side. but this is for expenditure. so we have our general operating funds. we have some annual projects which are uniform turn-outs. we have some continuing projects where we have capital projects. we have our reward program.

for the most part, this is for us providing services to the port as well as any other jurisdiction or other entity city department for which we get supplementally reimbursed for. and just looking at the type of expenditures. obviously, we're very much salary and personnel cost heavy. this has been consistent through the years for the department. these are the main categories. contracts, etc., materials and supplies, equipment. projects, work orders, where we're making use for other city departments and some technical transfers as well. so that equates to that $461 million. so if we're looking at revenues, you'll see here we rely on the general fund for the vast majority of our budget and that leads to some of the

issues we have with regards to competing for limited general fund dollars with other city departments. that's just one of the realities we have. we have some fee revenues, from fire prevention. we get some recoveries from the departments and a few other minor revenues. so that's obviously one of the constraints we have and we're looking at expanding programs and things like that. there is a limited capacity in the general fund. so we're working very closely with the mayor's office for any funding initiatives in the department. so looking at the key budget challenges and changes as we move forward. obviously, covid continues to impact the city and the fire department specifically and that's probably related to the second item too. the staffing issues. the chief had mentioned the supplemental for some additional funds to offset some

of these challenges. so staffing issues have definitely contributed to that budget deficit that we're looking at. as the pandemic hopefully winds down, but that's something we're actively looking at with the mayor's office over the next couple years is what is that lingering of covid via time off or staffing issues recovering and restaffing and bringing in additional people through hiring. those are issues we're continuing to work with the mayor's office on and we will continue through the june 1st budget. we're also working to incorporate approved academies that have been brought on to address the staffing short fall both on the e.m.s. side, but also on the fire suppression side whether it's equipment, whether it's those community paramedics, anything related to that. we're looking at impacts on revenues as the city recovers from the pandemic. so looking at how businesses

recover that involves licenses, permits, you know we saw a number of businesses closed. those revenue impacts and on the e.m.s. side, as we ramp up our staffing and we anticipate call volume where does that impact our revenues as well. increasing call volume as we see the city start to return to precovid call volume levels. pretty much on a monthly basis

chief coughlin had mentioned some of the shared spaces and other issues that fire prevention is dealing with. about fee deferrals and local businesses. so we're very much involved in that process. improving core services and we're very much aligned with those priorities from the mayor's office. internally as well. a number of our priorities just kind of a general highlight. but just supporting front line e.m.s. and fire you expression services and also the community

paramedics services that have been increasing on an annual basis and we're seeing the good work from those initiatives pay off, but just making sure we're sufficiently supporting the employees and those programs. supporting departmental employees through mental health initiatives, physical and other initiatives that just support the work force civilian and uniform. internal and external equity, you know, expanding diversity equity inclusion initiatives incorporating equity to all areas so expanding those equity efforts internally in the department. we talked about this this quite a bit at previous commission meetings which is supporting the infrastructure of the department which is facilities, equipment, basic systems that are needed and used on a day-to-day basis. infrastructure is not -- it's city wide and we have a very

much deferred maintenance for deferred equipment needs. so trying to address those as best we can and hopefully given the relatively positive outlook on the budget side, hopefully we can address some of those needs going forward with all parties to do so there. what are we doing internally currently? as the chief mentioned previously, we're meeting to develop and prioritize needs for the department. meeting with the division heads, members in the field. all various subject matter experts to get an idea of needs and we'll be discussing how to prioritize those and we'll be having discussion with the mayor's office. we'll be reconvening the budget shortly to give an overview of what we're looking at as far as the overall city situation as far as departmental priorities as well. working with the mayor and controller's office on current year initiatives and resource allocations from initiatives approved in the budget but also

related to any of the budget supplementals going through the process and incorporating current year changes into the budget via staffing and academies and things like that, are we want to make sure those are properly integrated and accounted for. projected revenue, that is a little tricky given some of the unknowns, but we do have based off of what we know, we are looking at revenues both on the prevention side and e.m.s. side and evaluating staffing models, taking a look at projected retirements, and projected new hires and kind of modelling those circumstances as we move forward out into the next two years. so that will be -- that's kind of where we're working now. we'll have obviously a more detailed update at the next meeting, but just to kind of give an overview of that. happy to answer any questions about that or if you like i can do that at the end of

questions. whatever your preference is. >> president: well, if you don't mind if you're prepared at this time, why don't you address the grants committee and commissioners can address all topics. >> absolutely. not a problem. so we've been discussing for awhile putting together a grants commit. obviously covid through a little wrench in that, but now that we're hopefully getting a little bit back to normal. we had a kickoff meeting in early december. the intent of the grants committee is to better prepare and identify potential grant applications. so there's a number of programatic grant programs that come up every year that we're aware of. we know the projects and priorities they account for, so we want to be able to give ourselves as much time to fully vet project proposals and so the grants committee is a way to do that. in addition, the other way if

we identify projects specifically, the grants committee will allow us to better seek out specific funding that may be tailored towards a specific project. and so far, working with our grants writer, we have one meeting where it's kind of an introductory meeting where we've brought together all the deputy chiefs and the command staff and kind of went over the overview of it. the intent we are now working to reach out with each different division to solicit feedback on their needs and

priorities and make them aware of existing funding opportunities to see if they have projects that are aligned with those goals and priorities. we obviously will flush out those applications but getting that discussion going and working with those division heads will be helpful. in addition, the other way that projects and proposals may be coming through the -- to the grants committee would be through other committees in the department. so there's a committee for a variety of other subject matter areas. they can develop potential grant opportunities and then kind of for them to the grants committee to be reviewed elm betted and then at end of the day in conjunction with cd1, 2, and 3, we'll be able to prioritize various proposals, and projects ready and be more prepared for any grant applications that may come up or will assist us as well as targeting specific funding sources. so i'm happy to answer any questions on any of those. >> president: thank you, mr. corso. appreciate that. as i said, it's a very well-done report and demystifying what sometimes can be rather complex for those of

us not in your line of work. so thank you. all right. commissioners questions? comments? commissioner cleaveland. hand up first, you go first, sir. i think you're muted. >> commissioner: thank you, madam president. and thank you, mr. corso for your excellent budget report as usual. you are the professional in the world and we are deeply indebted to you for keeping us on track in terms of budget. so thank you for that. you had mandatory staffing requirements. can you plain what that is and does it only apply to firefighters or does it also apply to paramedics and e.m.t.s and do we have any flexibility

within those minimum staffing requirements to add more paramedics and e.m.t.s. and not as many firefighters. >> so generally on the mandatory minimum staffing levels, i know for example, the police department has a mandatory staffing level and that's a total in the department the prop f passed almost 20 years ago. we have established minimum daily staffing position that we adhere to and that keeps all the engines and trucks open and that equates to a little over 300 positions per day that we need to staff and in the field, our side, all of our staffing goes to meeting those minimum daily standards and so we really don't have -- >> 100 minimum daily is only

for fire suppression. there's no minimum number of paramedics or e.m.t.s. >> correct. the prop f outlines the specific apparatus and location and the number of personnel on it. there is mention of ambulances in the legislation it is but it's very minor compared to the total focus of the legislation. but it does talk about mandatory daily staffing and it means that we don't have the flexibility if there's a project or something that we need to complete, we don't have the ability to move personnel off of the apparatus and complete that project because we need to meet those minimum daily staffing levels. >> that does point out to our need to get every one of our firefighters certified as a paramedic or e.m.t. does it not? >> i believe currently all. >> 300 firefighters on duty, on

any one day, it would certainly behoove us, it's our greatest need these days, it's ambulances and medical assistants that really seem to be imperative for us to migrate all of our firefighters into having both skills as a firefighter and a paramedic or e.m.t. at minimum. >> so i do want to clarify, that's numbers of engines and trucks. part of that number of 300 is a number of paramedics that serve on the engines as well so our medical response is incorporated into that number as well. but that e.m.t. baseline minimum is represented across the department completely. >> thank you. so at this points we don't have

the assistance at every fire house is that correct? >> that's correct. currently out of the 44 engines we run per day, we average around 32, 33 of those being with a paramedic on them. >> that seems like it would be something pretty important to pump up if you will. >> yeah. i will defer to the operational chiefs on that. we are looking at that. >> that seems to be our biggest need these days is dealing with the crisis on the streets. that's all my questions. thank you very much, mr. corso. excellent report. >> president: thank you, commissioner cleaveland. other questions, comments from the commissioners, please? i'm seeing -- commissioner covington. i think you just beat vice president nakajo by one slip of