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tv   BOS Rules Committee  SFGTV  April 23, 2022 3:00pm-4:01pm PDT

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>> chair peskin: good morning and welcome to the san francisco rules committee of april 18, 2022, the anniversary
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of the great earthquake and fire. i am joined by supervisor connie chan. mr. young, could you make your announcements. >> clerk: yes. the board recognizes that equitable public access is essential and will be taking public comment as follows: the board will be taking public comment on each item on the agenda. first, we will take those in the chambers and then those listening on-line. for those watching on channel 26, 78, or 99, the number is streaming across the screen. call 415-655-0001, meeting i.d.
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2486-617-0491, then press pound and pound again. press star, three to enter the speaker line. please turn down your speakers or any volume is muted. alternatively, you may submit public comment to me, v-i-c-t-o-r y-o-u-n-g@sf.gov.
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you may also send your written public comment to city hall, room 204, 1 dr. carlton b. goodlett place, san francisco, california, 94102. items acted upon today will be heard at the board of supervisors on april 19, 2022. >> chair peskin: thank you. will you please call item 1? >> clerk: yes. item 1 is a hearing to consider appointing three members, terms ending april 30, 2024, to the commission of animal control and welfare. >> chair peskin: thank you. i want to note that we now have
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present supervisor mandelman. i am pleased that we had three members reapply for the position, and we have four applicants. our first is annemarie fortier. >> thank you, supervisors. i've been serving on the board since 2012. during that time, we've had a lot of perspectives, but i think my role at this point is sort of historical, the brain trust of what we used to do in helping, you know, issues that we've addressed in the past and ways that we can reach out to the supervisors and reach out to the community. it would be an honor to continue to serve in seat one, and i hope that you would
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consider my application. thank you. >> chair peskin: thank you. why don't we go to sheela ellis, who's currently the incumbent in seat two. >> thank you. so i'm sheila, and i'm looking to continue helping animals through this commission. i've seen around the world what it can be like if there are not humane animal concepts in place, and i would like to continue to contributing to this committee. >> chair peskin: thank you. and i misspoke. miss ozemoy is incumbent in
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seat two, and miss ellis is the applicant for seats one and two. with that, why don't we go to irina ozemoy. >> thank you. i have been so fortunate to have been appointed by the board of supervisors last year. in that time, i've helped cats who were injured on pg&e property. in january, i was electricitied to serve as the vice chair of the commission, and i'm incredible d -- i was elected to serve as the vice chair of the commission, and i'm
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incredibly honored to continue to serve. i hope that i can continue this important work as part of the commission. also, since i last was in front of you, i completed my certificate in wildlife rehabilitation, and i continue to volunteer at ingersoll urban wildlife rehabilitation here in san francisco because i believe it's not just companion animals that we need to look out for but all animals in this city. so thank you for allowing me to speak. >> chair peskin: thank you for your service. last, we'll go to seat seven, which brian van horn fills and has applied for. i don't know if he is present.
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>> clerk: i did not receive any information from mr. van horn and he is not on the seat. >> chair peskin: okay. i know he is the only applicant who fulfills those requirements. is there any public comment? >> clerk: yes. for those in the room wanting to provide public comment, you can lineup. for those listening in, you can dial 415-655-0001, meeting i.d. 2486-617-0491, then press pound and pound again. press star, three to enter the queue. there does not appear to be any
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speakers on the phone -- in the room for public comment, but there appears to be one person for public comment. >> thank you. >> chair peskin: kevin, i'm sorry to interrupt you, but we are on item 3, and i think we are on the commission of animal control and welfare, which is item 1, so if you can go back into the queue, we'll hear from you on item 3, unless you're
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trying to some to the commission on animal care and control. >> not at this time. i'll go back into the queue. >> chair peskin: thank you. are there any other speakers for item 1? >> clerk: yes, we are checking. do we have any additional speakers for item 1? >> operator: mr. clerk, that completes the queue. >> chair peskin: okay. the item is closed. and the item is in the hands of the rules committee. i want to thank all the applicants who are reapplying for appointment as well as miss ellis. i do want to say this, and i say this after having observed this in various commissions and seeing the ebb and flow, the animal welfare and control commission seems to be running well at the moment and i don't think needs fixing, which is by
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way of saying, miss ozemoy, who we only appointed a year, and miss fortier, who has steered the committee in a positive direction, i would be inclined to reappointment them. i mean that with no disregard to miss ellis, and dr. van horn, of course, is the only one eligible for seat number seven. so with that, colleagues, i would make a recommendation to forward to the full board miss fortier for seat one, miss ozemoy for seat 2, and mr. van horn for seat seven. with that -- oh, supervisor
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chan. >> commissioner chan: thank you. i, too, want to thank miss ellis for submitting your application and voicing your desire to serve, and i look forward to seeing you perhaps with other opportunities, but at this point, i do support chair peskin's decision on moving the existing applications forward. i actually joined their commission last year -- pandemic time. i can't remember -- but it's a really great commission that are trying to move a lot of animal protection issues forward, especially in san francisco, and i think part of it's about commissioner
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ozemoy's rehabilitation certificate, i think that's something we need for san francisco urban living and to allow that wildlife to coexist with the urban environment. thank you. >> chair peskin: thank you. so mr. clerk, on that motion, a roll call, please. >> clerk: yes. on that motion -- [roll call] >> clerk: the motion passes without objection. >> thank you, supervisors. >> chair peskin: thank you. >> thank you. >> chair peskin: next item, please. >> clerk: thank you. yes, next item on the agenda is item 2, hearing to consider appointing nine members, terms ending april 27, 2024, to the sunshine ordinance task force.
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we have nine seats and eight applicants. >> chair peskin: okay. we -- previously, this rules committee dealt with this a couple of -- i can't remember when, but we dealt with it, and we have some terms that are expiring. we can consider all of the seats in front of us, except for seat number 5, which requires the league of women voters to make a nomination. they have yet to do so. some of the other seats require nominations by local organizations. we have the league of local journalists for seat number one and seat number two, so with that, why don't we go to the individuals in the order that they appear on our agenda, starting with dean schmidt for seat number one, who is the
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current incumbent in that seat? >> clerk: i believe mr. schmidt, i did see him logged in. >> chair peskin: i did, do. >> clerk: oh, there he goes. >> chair peskin: yes. good morning. >> yes. i am dean schmidt. i have been involved for 1.5 years since previously being nominated and confirmed by the board. it's been a very interesting time. i believe that the task force is going through a period where we're seeing a lot of activity,
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let's say. i believe the biggest issue that we've come upo is, in my opinion, at least, there's too many cases, so it's a challenge to try to keep up with things, and we're backlogged, but on the other hand, the public is very interesting in getting cases to us, and i think we're getting better at handling cases. it's my priority that we take care of our backlog so that we can move onto other aspects of our jurisdiction, which go to making recommendations to the board, outreach, etc., etc., and getting better at that.
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i want to, in addition to request that i be reappointed, i want to just say on behalf of the other members i've served with, they are quite capable, and i would recommend any and all returning incumbents to be continued on if possible. that's all i needed to say. thank you. >> chair peskin: thank you, mr. schmidt. next, we'll go to lila lahood, also nominated by the society of professional journalists northern california. >> thank you, supervisors. i'm happy to be here today. i would be honored to continue serving on the sunshine ordinance task force. the interesting thing about serving multiple terms on the
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task force and being directly involved in compliance is being able to help the public respond effectively to the public records that they seek, so i would appreciate the privilege to continue my work on the task force, and echoing what member schmidt just said, i am excited to be a part of this current task force in the year ahead. i hope you will approve the other candidates you nominated. this is a great cohort. this is a very active group. all of the members are ready to be involved and eager to look for ways to streamline the process so that we can better serve the public and help support the effective administration of the
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ordinance. thank you. >> chair peskin: thank you. and next, we will go to laura stein for seat number six. >> okay. hello, supervisors peskin, mandelman, and chan.
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i've served as a fulbright fellow to see how citizens access public information in india, and i think i bring to the task force a very strong understanding of the purposes, processes, and kind of uses behind these kinds of laws. after one term as a task force member, i'm seeking reappointment because i think the task force assists meaningful participation in public meetings, and my goal as a task force member is making sure that the law is implemented according to its spirit. so if i'm reappointed, i would like to streamline the process of complaints, and i've already
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started doing that. i think improving the process would allow us to reduce our case backlog, and also devote more time to other activities, like compiling an annual report that's taking stock citywide, raising awareness of the sunshine ordinance and how to use it and making sure that technology is being used to comply with access requests and making sure that the letter of the law is aligned with the ordinance. i am honored to serve on the task force, and if reappointed, i can continue making the task force a powerful tool for open participation and access in the city. i want to echo my colleagues. i think it's a phenomenal
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group, and i think we've made a lot of headway into trying to diminish the backlog effectively and bringing transparency and accountability to the city. >> chair peskin: thank you, miss stein. why don't we go to matthew yankee, who has reapplied to seat seven. >> good morning, and thank you. my name is matthew yankee, and i have been serving since 2017. i'd be thrilled to continue my service on the task force and respectfully ask for your support for my appointment.
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i've been on the frontlines of ensuring continued access to public records and services during the pandemic. i'm particularly proud of the work that i did on the sunshine ordinance task force, serving on the complaint committee, rules committee, and the education outreach and training committee. in 2020 and again in 2021, i was honored to be selected as chair of the task force. i can say that i've attended
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every regularly scheduled task force meeting in my time in government. i again for your support in my reappointment, and as other members have noted, i'd also encourage your support for all members who have reapplied. they are great colleagues who deserve to continue the opportunity. >> chair peskin: thank you. why don't we go onto mr. hyland, the incumbent seeking seat 8. good morning. >> good morning. okay. good morning, supervisors. and i just want to start my thanking you very much for your vote for me two years ago. like the previous item -- the previous chair who had served since 2012, i've also been on
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this commission since 2012, and we were short some members and had a hiatus before we could actually meet. it seems like we've been catching up on that backlog from ten years ago, and with the pandemic and meetings on-line, we've set some other records. we had one meeting that started at 4:00 p.m. and went into the next day. i would strongly recommend you reappoint all of them. i would say with every team that i've worked with, this is the dream team. every individual is very talented, highly intelligent, and they're very careful with what they say, how they say it, and when they say it. in the absence of a best
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practices database, i think it's important to continue to cultivate the execution of the cap that we have, and as previous commissioner fortier said, brain trust. i'm usually giving other members and giving them reference and insight over the last ten years to move things along. in summary, i like the work that we've been doing. we really did a lot of work this last particular term, and i would be honored and excited to continue this particular well and would honor a vote for me as well as other incumbents. thank you very much. >> chair peskin: thank you, mr. hyland, for your service and your words. i believe that commissioner
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mandelman has a question for you. >> supervisor mandelman: thank you for your service. can i ask what kept you 24 hours? >> chair peskin: no, i think he said it was midnight. >> yes. >> supervisor mandelman: what time did you go home that night? >> well, i think we adjourned at 12:10 a.m., so eight hours and ten minutes. >> supervisor mandelman: oh, we've done that, too. >> chair peskin: thank you, mr. hyland, for a decade of service. the next is miss laurie neighbors seeking reappointment to seat nine. miss neighbors is out of cell phone service but has let it be very well known that she would
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like to be reappointed to seat nine, but let me check with mr. young and see if she is not available this morning. >> clerk: yes, that's correct. >> chair peskin: and next, we'll go to david pilpel for any seats, six through ten. >> can you hear me now? >> chair peskin: please proceed. >> thank you. i believe having served previously served on the task force. i have seen the letter in opposition, patrick monette shaw, who never supports my appointment, but i respect his opinion. i think my knowledge of the
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city would help. i have suggested ways to address meeting issues under a.b. 361, and the task force is discussing that and may be communicating with other bodies and other city department heads on that issue in part due to my advocacy. i have expressed concerns about meeting specifics over previous years and would continue that on the body if reappointed. i've also been involved in redistricting, including submitting a map, and i hope we can move forward through the redistricting situation to move forward on the current issues in the city. i'm concerned that the current redistricting could harm other areas, and i'd like us to work together across other different perspectives in the city. just to conclude, i think my
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deep commitment to the city is clear. i'm welcome to serve again and happy to answer any questions the members may have. thanks for listening. >> chair peskin: thanks. and last, we will go to thuan thao hill, and members, the note that said that the residency waiver is required, mr. young says that does not apply, and i can speak to that as mr. hill is a resident of my district and has been very productively involved in the working group that we put together around the 711 post shelter. so i actually meet with him every other wednesday with the h.s.h. and department of public
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works, so i've actually come to know him through all of that thorny work, but actually none of that has to do with the task force. please go ahead. >> thank you, supervisors. my name is thuan thao hill. i've had the fortunate opportunity to make a career out of helping public agencies modernize their records and comply with current laws by making transparency and accountability largely a by-product of good modern systems built to help them succeed in their work and collaborating internally and meeting with the public internally and meaningful, the same public regulations put in
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place to protect citizens. chapter 66 and the brown act are something that people complain act if something takes too long, and that's really the challenge. i've helped solve this directly through software and indirectly through public work, notably with the united states congress and united states senate. because public meetings, records retention, and even access are strict, usually,
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only a small number of folks in government maintain that knowledge. because of necessary bureaucracy, others in government will do what they can to go around those rules and policies, sometimes by declaring emergencies which shrinks the amount of time to get something done but can lessen community engagement. what i'll bring to the city as a member of the sunshine ordinance task force is experience and insight to help us address and create
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transparency. and also, i believe that we can innovate quickly to solve the city's problems while maintaining public trust. thank you for your service, and thank you for your consideration. >> chair peskin: thank you, mr. hill. are there any -- i think we've gotten all of the applicants. are there any members of the public who would like to testify on item number 2? >> clerk: yes, there does not appear to be any members of the public in the room at this time. for those watching or listening remotely, call 415-655-0001, enter the meeting i.d. of 2486-617-0491, then press pound and pound again. press star, three to enter the queue, wait until your line has been unmuted, and that is when
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you may begin your comments. we currently have one member of the public to speak on this matter. >> chair peskin: first speaker, please. >> good morning, supervisors. this is patrick monette shaw. i urge you to consider dean schmidt, lila lahood, lawyer other stein, and matthew yankee, chris hyland, laurie neighbors. they've served for years with wonderful service, and i urge you to appoint mr. hill as a
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gay asian applicant. as for david pilpel, i strongly urge you not recommend him for reappointment. he's been disruptive on the task force, the p.u.c.s, sfmta c.a.c., and the redistricting task force in the past. even clair zemanski has opposed reappointing mr. pilpel as far back as 2016. so do your work and reappoint
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the current continuing incumbents along with mr. hill and oppose mr. pilpel. thank you. >> chair peskin: are there any other members of the public for item number 2, and i will note that mr. hill does not require a residency waiver? mr. young? >> clerk: yes. operations, can you confirm if we have any additional callers for this matter? >> operator: mr. clerk, that completes the queue. >> chair peskin: all right. public comment is closed. any comments from colleagues? obviously, this is pretty straightforward. but we have two folks for one seat, seat ten. supervisor mandelman? >> supervisor mandelman: i only know mr. hill from having seen him perform several times, but
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he seems extraordinarily well qualified and seems like he would be well qualified for the task force. >> chair peskin: thank you, supervisor mandelman. supervisor chan? >> commissioner chan: thank you, chair peskin. i first want to thank all the members of the sunshine task force. it's a thankless job but really critical in holding our city government accountable and making sure we're transparent. i look forward to hearing more cases, hearing about the backlog, and looking at how we can insert real consequences, meaningful consequences, for
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those who violate the sunshine task force. and i, too, will not hold any issues against mr. hill for granicus, but i, too, am in support of mr. hill for appointment today. >> chair peskin: thank you. so i will make the motion to have the following individuals fill the following seats: dean schmidt for seat one, lila lahood for seat two, laura stein for seat six, matthew yankee for seat seven, chris hyland for seat eight, laurie
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neighbors for seat nine, and mr. hill for seat 10. >> clerk: thank you. on that motion -- [roll call] >> clerk: the item passes unanimously. >> chair peskin: thank you. item 3, please. >> clerk: yes. item 3 is an ordinance amending the administrative code to update protections for occupants of single room occupancy hotels by replacing hotel operators responsibility to clean common areas after a covid-19 outbreak with a new minimum cleaning standard and upon request, requiring s.r.o. hotel operators to provide contact tracing information related to any infectious or contagious disease, during the covid-19 pandemic, to require the department of public health
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to maintain a self-hotline to respond to questions from s.r.o. residents regarding isolation and kwaurnt teen, testing, and other covid-19 related matters, and to update covid-19 regulations by removing outdates provisions including those related to notice of and access to isolation and kwaurnt teen hotels, d.p.h. responsibilities to post in s.r.o. hotels information related to isolation and quarantine, and d.p.h. responsibilities to maintain public facing data relating to covid-19 cases in s.r.o. hotels. members of the public who wish
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to provide public comment should call 415-655-0001, meeting i.d. 2486-617-0491, then press pound and pound again. press star, three to enter the queue and wait until the system indicates your line has been unmuted before you begin to speak. >> chair peskin: thank you. as our clerk stated, this removes some outdated reference to health orders and directives and eliminates some d.p.h. responsibilities that no longer reflect the best standards but does maintain the requirements for d.p.h. relative to information sharing. we have one nonsubstantive
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amendment today, which is to, on page seven, reduce the two-time-a-day cleaning to once a day, as well as ensure that the hotel operator provide hand sanitizer dispensers in common areas, and that is set forth on page 7. if there are no questions from members, i would like to open item number 3 up for public comment. >> clerk: sorry. my apologies. >> chair peskin: no worries. >> clerk: i'd just like to note that we might have had a brief loss of audio. i'd just like to note that we are on item number 3 for administrative code cleaning standards and health information protocols for single room occupancy hotels. i do not see anybody in the room for public comment. members of the public who wish
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to speak on this item and are joining us remotely, you may call 415-655-0001 and enter the meeting i.d. of 2486-617-0491, then press pound and pound again, and press star, three to enter the speaker line. for those already on the line, press star, three to enter the queue and wait for the system to indicate your line has been unmuted before you begin your comment. we currently have two callers lined up to make public comment. >> chair peskin: first speaker, please. >> good morning, supervisors. my name is karen chen and i'm a senior community organizer at ccdc, so we have a senior member here, and i will be interpreting for her.
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let me do interpretation for her. my name is [indiscernible] my family lives in a less than 100 square foot s.r.o. unit in chinatown. the s.r.o. famiiar unit -- family units have ten families with shared bathrooms. we'd brush our teeth, bathe, and cook in the same areas as each other. i was very worried that my family members would be infected, too, especially my younger daughter. she has asthma, and her health is not in good condition. it makes me more worried because we still live with covid. i hope the continued deep
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cleaning can continue every day. i know it's not 100%, but at least could lower the risk of being infected. this pandemic makes me very stressful. i can't sleep because of anxiety, and i have to take pills. i support the ordinance that supervisor peskin brought forward because it will protect us. if we get sick, we have nowhere to go. it's just to protect each other. thank you, and please accept this ordinance. this is all for family. thank you. >> chair peskin: thank you. next speaker, please. >> thank you to the committee.
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my name is kevin thomason. i am the director of the lower polk tenant landlord clinic. we work with people who are in s.r.o. hotels as well as other people who are in shared living situations. i am also formerly homeless, and i lived in a common area for 1.5 years. anything that mandates keeping the common areas clean will help slow or stop the spread of disease. when i lived in the transitional living arrangement, if one person got sick, we all got sick because
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we were all touching the same things. i also did want to add maybe a slight suggestion. there's a surface that we all touch every day but we don't think about it, and that's toilet seat, so it might be helpful to add that to the examples on page 5 just so the operators know that that's a surface that needs to be sanitized. so any way, that's my comment, and i wish to thank the committee for hearing me. >> chair peskin: thank you, and mr. thomason, it is referred to at a high level as bathroom in the definitions. is there any other public comment? >> clerk: there is no other public comment.
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>> chair peskin: okay. colleagues, if there are no comments or discussion, i'd like to make a motion to adopt the adopt the amendments as stated, please. roll call vote, please. >> clerk: on that motion -- [roll call] >> clerk: the motion passes without objection. >> chair peskin: and i would like to reiterate my thanks to supervisor chan for her cosponsorship and make a motion for recommendation to the full board. roll call vote, please. >> clerk: yes, on that motion -- [roll call] >> clerk: the motion passes without objection. >> chair peskin: and we are adjourned.
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>> the bicycle coalition was giving away 33 bicycles so i applied. i was happy to receive one of them. >> the community bike build program is the san francisco coalition's way of spreading the joy of biking and freedom of biking to residents who may not have access to affordable transportation. the city has an ordinance that we worked with them on back in 2014 that requires city agency
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goes to give organizations like the san francisco bicycle organization a chance to take bicycles abandoned and put them to good use or find new homes for them. the partnerships with organizations generally with organizations that are working with low income individuals or families or people who are transportation dependent. we ask them to identify individuals who would greatly benefit from a bicycle. we make a list of people and their heights to match them to a bicycle that would suit their lifestyle and age and height. >> bicycle i received has impacted my life so greatly. it is not only a form of recreation. it is also a means of getting connected with the community through bike rides and it is also just a feeling of freedom. i really appreciate it.
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i am very thankful. >> we teach a class. they have to attend a one hour class. things like how to change lanes, how to make a left turn, right turn, how to ride around cars. after that class, then we would give everyone a test chance -- chance to test ride. >> we are giving them as a way to get around the city. >> just the joy of like seeing people test drive the bicycles in the small area, there is no real word. i guess enjoyable is a word i could use. that doesn't describe the kind of warm feelings you feel in your heart giving someone that sense of freedom and maybe they haven't ridden a bike in years.
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these folks are older than the normal crowd of people we give bicycles away to. take my picture on my bike. that was a great experience. there were smiles all around. the recipients, myself, supervisor, everyone was happy to be a part of this joyous occasion. at the end we normally do a group ride to see people ride off with these huge smiles on their faces is a great experience. >> if someone is interested in volunteering, we have a special section on the website sf bike.org/volunteer you can sign up for both events. we have given away 855 bicycles, 376 last year. we are growing each and every year. i hope to top that 376 this
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year. we frequently do events in bayview. the spaces are for people to come and work on their own bikes or learn skills and give them access to something that they may not have had access to. >> for me this is a fun way to get outside and be active. most of the time the kids will be in the house. this is a fun way to do something. >> you get fresh air and you don't just stay in the house all day. it is a good way to exercise. >> the bicycle coalition has a bicycle program for every community in san francisco. it is connecting the young, older community. it is a wonderful outlet for the community to come together to have some good clean fun. it has opened to many doors to the young people that will usually might not have a
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bicycle. i have seen them and they are thankful and i am thankful for this program.
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>> those presents and attending and health protocols and building rules must be adhered to and requires may result from removal from this room and we appreciate why cooperation with this health rules and everyone's