the meetings of the fire commission will now come to order. thank you for your patience on this rainy day. i think we'll start. >> okay. this statute fire commission regular meeting january 11, 2023. and the time is 9:10. this meeting is held in person authorized by california code section 54953e and mayor breed's supplement to her february 25, 2020 emergency proclamation. it is possible that some members of the fire commission may attend remote. those members will participate and vote by video. members of the public may attend

the meeting to observe and provide comment at the physical location or online at the link on the posted agenda. which you may access logging on the fire commission website. to watch live, please, go to www.. sfgov.org or participate during public comment calling 415-655-0001. access code: 2491 263 7532 ##. members will have opportunity to participate during public comment the public asked to wait for an item before making a comment on that item. comments will be addressed not guilty order received. when the moderator announces the commission is taking public comment. the public should raise their hand pressing star 3 and you will be queued.

callers will hear silence when waiting to speak. operator will unmute you. when prompted, callers will have the standard 3 minutes to provide comment. ensure you in a quiet location. speak clear and turn off t's or radios. >> president feinstein. >> present. >> vice president steven nakajo. >> present. >> morgan. >> present. >> commissioner fraser. >> present. >> commissioner paula collins. >> here and jeanine nicholson. present remotely. item 2. the ramaytush ohlone land acknowledgment by president feinstein. ramaytush ohlone land acknowledgement 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. 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. >> thank you. >> item 3. resolution 2023-01. adoption of resolution setting forth findings to allow teleconferenced meetings under

california code 54953e. is there any public comment. >> this are no hands raised and i don't see >> yes. >> ma'am. come forward. this it is public comment on the resolution. >> i'm sorry. okay. that's next. >> no public comment. all right. if there is no public comment, general public comment item 4. >> no vote on the resolution. >> i'm sorry. >> any of the commissioners have questions or comments they wish to make on item number 3 the resolution 202301? all right.

hearing none. public comment will be closed. comment from the commissioners will be closed and -- i think we are ready for a motion. >> madam president. a poison order and i'm clarification did we need to vote on that last item before general public comment. >> yes. shements a motion. >> okay. >> move this. >> thank you and a second. >> thank you. >> hospital feinstein. >> i vote close public comment. >> this is for the resolution. adopt the resolution. >> commissioner fraser. >> in favor of the resolution. >> and commissioner collins? >> [inaudible]. the motion is unanimous. now on to item 4. general public comment. members of the public may address the commission you will to 3 minutes on the matter in the commission's jurisdiction that it is not appear on the

agenda. speakers shall address remarks to the commission as a whole. commissioners are not to enter in debate or discussion the lack of a pregnancy by the commissioners or personnel does not constitute agreement with or support of statements made during public comment. >> and i believe we have one member of the public present to make public comment. hi. i'm stacy. i'm a 20 plus year resident of san francisco a mother of 2 teens and my mine mode of transportation is a bikeful i hopeum indulge me extra timei'm the only person here not affiliated with sfd and reaction to an emt and the lives told by your public information officer

jonathan backs tor. i have been threatened online overnight phone by people across the country for calling out a san francisco fire department driver on december 29th a cold and rainy day like today i was bike to a meet when i came across a san francisco ambulance number 50. parked in the bike lane on 7th street. this was the fifth vehicle blocking the bike lane in 5 minutes of riding. i was insensed at lack of currently i knew it was in the an emergency. it is nonresidential and there are empty offices and they were parked 50 feet away from any door way. i could not bike around them. i had the other o upon fendzers due to the dlin iators sfmta used for unused motorcycle park the materials and the way they have been installed sent people

to the hospital riding over them in dry weather. i hit them axle since they look like paint and nearly wrecked. no sane san francisco bike rider would tackle them in wet weather. have you to get off your bike. if this was an emergency i would have done so. this was not an emergency. by the way, do you get out of your car and push around obstacles they could have park in the the empty motorcycle parking and empty parking lot they could have parked on the opposite side of the street. as they did, after i dmant everdemand they move. they could have blocked anyone of the 3 main travel lanes they chose to block the bike lane forcing me off my bike and into traffic i film third degree i had enough of the san francisco fire department vetoing proper slow street barriers.

speed bumps. protected bike lanes and other traffic calming measures. it has been 9 years since the city committed to vision zero the fire department signed on. but the veto power shows deaths from traffic violence upon risen by a third since 2013. the death count is 4 times what it should be if we were on tra. the fire department used the boogie man your house burning down as a reason to block streets structure fires are down 56% over the past 20 years they used to be a fifth of emergency calls today they rest 6% of calls. >> your time is up. >> what portion is in response to car crashes how much believabilitied that go down if we had safer streets. your time is up. >> i'm sorry.

ma'am. i'm sorry we need to follow our rules or i will have to ask you to leave, please. please just follow the rules you can submit a complaint in writing if you wish. i have. i'm sure tell be investigated i am not -- i am not going to argue with you and if necessary i will ask that you leave the room. i have upon given you public comment in accordance with the laws of the state of california. okay.

[inaudible] [cannot hear speaker] any further public comment? there is nobody with their hands up on the web exand i don't see any public comments in the room. >> all right. public comment will be closed. >> i believe we are ready to move on to -- approval of the minutes. >> item 5 approval of the minutes discussion and possible action to approve the meeting minutes of december 14, 2022.

there is nobody on public comment line. i don't see anybody approaching for public comment in the room. >> public comment will be closed. before we approve the minutes any -- suggested modifications, questions, anything from any of the commissioners? >> i make a motion we approve the minutes. >> unless there were questions. >> all right t. has been moved and seconded. president feinstein. >> adopt. >> vice president nakajo. >> adopt. >> and commissioner collins. >> i move to adopt. >> item 6 chief of department's report. report from chief 've department jeanine nicholson on issues,

activities and events went department since the fire commission meeting on december 14. budget of special events, communication issue out reach to agency and it is public. report from operations deputy chief postel on field operations including alarm fires, bureau of fire prevention and investigation and training in the department and airport division and report from ems and community paira medicine sands ratong on ems and community pair medicine divisions. >> greetings all madam president. mr. vice president and commissioners. mawreen. command staff. this is my report. since our last meeting in december, we had a lot -- happen in the last month. but -- i will highlight some of the most important issues --

first of all i like to thank zack who was the city attorney for us. he has left the office of the city attorney but wonderful to work with and gratitude to him. and we will be introducing a new city attorney, i believe in february? but for now we are covered by some of the other ones. so, many thanks to zack, he was a joy to work with. we had multiple budget discussions and instructions from the mayor and i know you the hear from director corso today on that. i will not get into that. but its -- it is a challenging outlook as we know in terms of sort of the city's economic

recovery or lack thereof. and how this impacts us as a general fund department of the mark will director corso will speak to that. then swearing in's and -- other of board of supervisor's meetings. but i was at the swearing in on our -- tax assessor joaquin torres and frierz walton and supervisor mandelman and the board of supervisors meeting the other day had they were sworn in and when the new president was elected after 17 roundses of voting. interesting. so i look forward to working with president peskin as well as all the members of the board of supervisors. and -- what i know chief postel

may ghet a bit but what i would like to talk about before i take leave for the mayor's department head meeting is -- the fire department's response to the storms. i am so proud of our department and how we responded to all of the challenges over the past several weeks. with the rain and flooding and tree says and wires down and the unhoused folks on the street and the rain. and everything else. our folks have just -- stood up and got the job done and -- i had many -- thanks and compliments from a multitude of supervisors and other department heads in terms of how our department showed up and and what were made for this stuff. we do this every day.

respond to a kinds of crisis or another and this was a larger scale. we staffed the emergency operation center with -- operation's chiefs. we had derrick and shane and pat rabbit there to run the operation show for the city and much gratitude to them as limp i'm proud of the department and i will how we handled it. we had 800 calls. on one night the first storm over 800 calls. normally 350 to 400 calls a day. and -- i know 911 was overwhelmed. and we had another night with i believe over 600 calls. our folks are really getting the job done. when other departments are unable or not staffed in order

to help the public. we are there. many thanks to everyone on the ground. i also cannot recall if i introduced the chief lovedtrop to you all. he is the deputy chief over seeing [inaudible]. emergency earthquake safety and emergency response bond including the new training facility. i'm hoping he is the audience he is a wonderful addition and has just hit the grounds running. so, thanks to him. and that concludes my report and unfortunately i have to hop off in 2 minutes for the mayor's department head meeting. thank you and good morning. all right do we have public

comment? there is nobody on the public comment line. i don't see anybody approaching the podium. >> all right. public comment will be close and i had believe we are going to turn to chief postel. good morning commissioners and president and vice president. command staff. chief nicholson if you are still there. bob postel deputy chief of operation this is is my report for november and december of 22. 2022. i like to start this report with a sin oppositeis. we had 199 working fires. and working fire is there is we put out a definition what that is. a working fire is incident this upon arrival there is an active fire and escalating and requires

us putting at least 1 hose line in operation to mitigate the situation it is a fire not a towel in a dryer or food on the stove they are structure fires. 199. 199, 22 of those turned to greater alarms. the resources that came on the first alarm were not sufficient to contain the fire we brought more to the scene to deal with it. to me i look at this and see 2 huh fires. 10% require additional resources. that means that 90% of the incidents our crews go to the training they have been doing and skills they have they are able to apply that immediately with a good plan and coordinated plan and minimize the impact of the fire. when we do fire reports and they ask you for the amount of damage

contents loss and the structure ral loss. if you look the at the numbers 22 of the fires required additional resources, i think we should look at it from a perspective of dollars and properties save. did it extend to another unit or building. that is the real impact we have. our impact is not in dollars lost it is dollars saved and buildings saved and hozing saved for the city. i'm proud of the job done by our crews i wanted to highlight that in my report in the annual numbers. in november we had 14 working dpiers worn grirt alarm at 1846, 43rd avenue. this was a fire in a single family home a person trapped on the second floor. battalion 8 required a second alarm he understood that our first couple units would be

dedicated making that civilian and the pet. . they are not able to make hose lead and start to control the spread of the fire. the line notoriety beach and the resources from afar distance, getting the resources soon are rather than later helps to minimize the spread of fire through that build being and other buildings. once the rescues made and successful than i were able to contain it quickly. assistant chief was the commander. that was a fabulous job by our people. december we had 20 working fires can 4 greater alerms. december 302 in one night 4 hours apart. first at 663 blocksum and this was across the street if station 8. engine 8 was return figure a medical call had they spotted the flames from the roof of this building and this was a 2 story time 3 warehouse. tag 3 is masonry walls and wood

floors and ceilings can burn out the extear year walls would not burn. there was a large line the fire was venting through the roof. took multiple lines to contain it and one point a discussion whether they should pull our people out and transition to a defense ever operation. again, our chiefs on the scene were able to assess the situation provide good intelligence to the upon commander and continued the offensive attack and contain the fire and irrelevant contain it to the rear half of the second floor. outstanding job. about 4 hours later the second fire came this was 4 huh huh frank ownia. it was in the boonldz 3 story residential care facility in bernal heights. they had been to the company in thes neighborhood knew of this target hazzard they have been to a small fire there and were dill

gent about preplanning had they would do if they showed up to what happened. very tight streets and difficult access. limited water supply. and it was the training and the prefire planning that accompanies the chief and division 3 that when this happened. we were able to position our ladder pipes safely. and prevent the spread to other buildings the address was a loss it burned out completely from the interior. there were no injuries and minimal damage and a spectacular fire looked like a roman candle from the freeway. the job our people did was above and beyond and the preparation that lead to the success. >> the next day on december 40 there were alarm fires homeiff provement store this fire was in

the parking structure and upon arrival battalion 10 humphrey found a large volume of black smoke and a number of civilians were existing the parking structure. had reports there were fires that were started in the structure and in participation of a large incident and as well as the fire situation, the bat talityion chief requested a second aliving room to be prepared. they contain third degree fire quickly. there were no significant injuries to civil yens that is under investigation. there were 3 separate points for that fire, which does not happen on accident. great job there. december 21st at 1150 castro street. this was a 3 story type 5 vicktoryian old wood frame bodiesing.

wires on exterior they used a ladtory access the peeked roof. and nobody was home had the fire start today started on the grounds floor and burned up in the attic space and a balloon frame meaning the walls are built and they go from the floor to the sealing and that open channel has no fire stops the floors are not built flat form the fire traveled rapidly through the walls to the attic. labor intensive fire. the floor was burnt through on upper floors the stair case burnt through. rescue was able to get beyond the burnt stair case to get to the top and conduct a search to make sure nobody was home they did not know. there was minimal damage to exposure building chief baker recognizing there was an exposure problem in getting the second alarm and the companies in the building prevented damage

to that building. so, great job by everybody on all the fires. now to hat chief was speak of what we have been living through the last 10 days the weather situation. so, on december 30th the current weather pattern started to take shape in we get heavy rains we have building alarms we have call after call going out. immediately was recognized we were deleasting our resources going to alarm calls we scaled back to a single engine company for the calls. by new year's eve the heavy rains and winds created a significant impact. we had flooding. downed trees, downed wires and calls for service. resource were thin. we stretchd and upon responded to every incident that we could. the chief mentioned the call volume reached 800 calls more

than double a normal day. i have the chief matt cannon and asked him to come because he was at the dispatch center on new year's eve and there every time the significant -- situations occurred. he was making sense of the chaos of the calls coming in and triaging the call and making a determination where we can go and be effective and where there was nothing we could do. as he told me. it is a very strange foal being to say in the fire department, weep can't come. that being said, we went to every call that was significant. we are here for emergency. dpw does not have 24 hour emergency response. when no matter what the incident is our people step up and responded and deal with the problems and sometimes very creative ways. i like to thank matt for the role he played and when i'm finished you may want to get a

briefing. i think he can shed more light when they were dealing with. his calm demeanor and the organization he brought was invaluable. while that was going on the 2 division chiefs pat rabbit and mike thompson allocating the resources to different incidents. they were using the battalion chiefs to help triage the calls and determine where we can have a positive impact and where we can first deal with life safety issues and be prepared to respond to a fire or medical or type of emergency that will happen in the approximate city. i talked about -- the ways people were dealing with the situations this came up. one incident a mud slide on pecan avenue, 4 residents were impacted. battalion chief humphrey was on the scene for over 6 hours.

there was a ton of mud and water flowing through homes. one thing we do was we do salvage. salvage we protect the upon property during a fire or after a fire. water, mud. different things. they were looking for ways to divert water that from the backed up storm drain. the chief had the creative idea to get a hold of the equipment and have 8 inch hard suction lines we use for drafting water oust bay to bring those and was able to put those in place to a vert water through these extra hard suction hoses lines we had. around the building. we needed sands bags. dpw had no one to deliver them. truck 9 drove to the dpw yard to get the sand bags and the equipment from dpw and bring them to the scene to deal with it. i can't i can go on and on

but -- it gave me pride to see what our people did and told me that no matter what come an earthquake or other natural disaster or man-made incident we are prepared. had the organization and training and it was spectacular what was done. >> gaevenl thank you to matt and pat. great job by everybody. the rest my report the bureau of fire prevention in november and december made sure inspections for the year were complead. we met that genome all high rise inspections are on target by the end of the fiscal year. fire marshall and i are working with mta in a way to minimize the impacts on sponse times of the various changes happening around the city. we have lots of things that are

happening and all of this has combineed increase in response times of 20%. since the changes have started. we are working to find solutions. that work to keep the streets safe at the same time that allows us to get to incidents and access buildings in the proper time of that's an on going project we are working on. bureau of fire investigation investigated 29 structure fires during this period. and including our grirt alarms investigated 16 vehicle fires. the airport division responded 449 incident in november. 518 in december. none were major. look at the report from the airport division i talked about preparation and how we succeeded fires and the storm response a part what they do at the airports preparation. it is not about how many calls a

day but about their ability to respond had a significant incident occurred. president feinstein, you will be happy ton our elevator rescues down by half. of [laughter]. we are down to i think we had 16 in november and 13 in excuse me from 31 in october. safe to take an elevator there now. finally, division of training. the 130th class graduated. and the chief low sxen staff are preparing for the class which starts next tuesday. in service training provides needed train to field units. the same time, they are rebodiesing and creating new training props for use by recruits and our in service companies. and i believe maureen reached out to all of you. captain benz the service training captain and assistant department chief developed a

drill demonstration for the fire commission. and we hope to deliver this to you in january or february and bring you out and let you participate to the level you choose. but a real visual understanding of the tasks that have to happen in a fire temperature is easier in the situation when this is gog and we sit and describe to you the things happening without having to make decisions regarding an incident. hopeful low as many of you will attends and a benefit for you. >> finally back to the storm response i like to thank kyle lowa. he facilitated with the state the advance hiring of the type 6 aid strike team we send to the wild land fires. the state was prepositioning resources. in advance of the storms to deal with whatever may occur.

and -- we staffed the rigs with a strike team leader in 5 type sick rigs and hen in service and responding to wires and trees down and flooding all the storm related calls to take the burden off our normal u firsts and leave them available for fires and medical calls. and shane med hapossible i want to thank him. so. with that, i will conclude my long wind report i'm proud of the job everybody does. >> thank you. thank you chief postel. madam secretary. >> there is nobody on the public comment line with their hand and up i don't see anybody coming. >> public comment will be closed. i know i have a couple of questions for chief postel but i defer to my colleague fist there are others that have questions

or comments. commissionering morgan. >> thank you for your report chief postel and thanks to all of the battalions companies doing the great work and thanks for saving lowes. >> vehicle in the parking structure. >> yes, ma'am i stop at that one. got plumbing stuff. and the great work i was reading you guys went to one fire i can't recall which, the poor chief put out one fire and went to another fire. >> that was chief bake are back-to-back, 4 hours apart and looking for the lowes fire the next day >> hat's off to you. keep up the great work.

thank you. >> i'm sorry of commissioner fraser please. thank you for your report t. is impressive to say the least. just a couple questions for you. you said something about response time increasing. and -- that's because of various obstructions and could you say i bit more about that. so, since about 2018 we noticed increase in response times. we are up over sick minutes now we measure the time to get to first unit on scene and medical calls. that is the metric. we are held to a standard from 4 and a half minutes. and so now we are over 6 minutes. we were 4. . 50 a bit above it in 2018.

a rapid on set of street scape changes in the city. and there is -- a study done with the mta and [inaudible] and analyzing each of the different street scape changes made and a relationship with a change and the response times analyzing response route its is data arrest. they found some -- relationships but did not with the exception of speed bumps it and slow our response. data before street changes made

and will analyze similar streets sponse times on valencia and then on gerero. where valencia has a lot of changes and gerero has none and from that try to draw conclusions as to what may be impacting our increase in sponse times. there are changes. the rated lanes up third street. and geary street. the vaness bus route. they are assisting us and making it easier. there are solutions that will work for both of us and some things happening that are making very difficult for us to get where we need to get. so we are look to find solutions that accomplish vision zero and keep people safe and allowing us to get where we need to save the

people in need of haemergency care. we are as we know seconds do count. for saving lives. i have a new speed bump on my block moved twice. now hopefully permanent. i want to offer my respect and congratulations for the response during the weather crisis that you talked about. it is clear someone sent a video the incident with the water coming through the house. the equipment our department brought and i'm surprised that i'm not sure how to say at this time fire department is the only department on duty 24 hours during that makes me sad. that was imppressive i saw the

video and it was impressive the residents of the home were up against was scary. really scary. the aim of water powering through their home several feet inside. that was devastating. so -- any way we can support all of you and how the obstructions and devils come forward. we are there. whatever we can supportful but again, congratulations and all respect to hayou did during the storm and tell happen again this week. >> i think today will be significant again. . i --ip think it took everybody off guard the city -- and -- obviously -- this is what we do

we are emergency response. when recognized what was going on and needed the other eoc was activated and the city departments up staffing and there has been a relationship and working. group and chief brown home land security chief has been up there day in and out. and the relationships built in our response with different agencies and the understanding that when we are out on the street and recognizing problem and prioritizing them that dpw and pg and e recognize these other priorities and shift their resources to support when we are seeing on the ground. that will pay dividendses when an earthquake hits. this is a practice run for a major sdaft and there are lessons learned.

the chief mentioned the operations chief local at eoc operations for the over all event in the city was staffed boy a fire chief. we had pat rabbit up there and shane and darius. we deal with response to emergencies daily. we are able to make those decisions and i think that everybody in the city learned a lot and the eoc is functioning in a higher level.

>> a way we can track that and quantify it and -- share it. >> chief, assistant chief baker looking into that and working with member to find a way we can measure that. i think it it is a bit

subjective and challenging but we can narrow the window and get some good numbers i think irrelevant will open eyes to what we really do. >> i agree and applaud your efforts in leading the way in cooperation with other departments. >> thank you. >> and yes. thank you very much. colleagues. and i know you have questions and comments. ip want to may be wrap this together in terms of everything commented in your report. thank you for that report and all of the units involved with this. it started i will chime off of commissioner collins that -- when you gave your summary in terms of -- all of the work we do as a department. clearly impacted to me and us in

terms of the storm. and all of the calls 800 volume and 600 volume and the response of -- good planning and -- fire analysis. denotes to me command level as well as the members out there in the field who are doing the actualities. and with the storms it come down to all your description. we were talking about. what we do as a department you know we will not only put out dpiers is being on the commission is the 800 callers wrap in the my mind is dms component of that as well.

i think beg your pardon it and you 3 in economic impacts. which i know makes a lot of sense and here we are going in the budget session and it it is -- how best can we put our position so we have the proper funds to dot work that we do. which is enormous all the way from the budget presentations from the homeless to susxregz all these things. these are in my minds. i'm going to have to share with you and heard for mow to say this as well. it is what happens.

is that in our japanese community an incident of a 15 year olds that shot a security guard. and dealing with that ramification it come down to the police and the response. and general low part of it the police department are down in personnel. numbers become 4 or 500 depending on the scenario. 4-700 that's a lot of personnel down. so one question this is come to me in this discussion is -- how is our recruitment. and is the interest there still for members of our public to come in the fire department. on the level of suppression and as well as medical and how does this look and as you give your analysis and input and go through all of this. the things that run through my mind as we move forward. and frank low, commissioners all the -- with the storms and what we are dealing with now and all

of the other emergencies out there and crisis health. we are in a tough wagz in san francisco. exit appreciate like everybody else. the professional public service and giving of members to go out and go in the field. i will stop there and wanted to comment and -- on general scenario. >> thank you. >> i appreciate that. did you wish to add anything chief postel. from a recruit am perspective we have sean, he stepped out. he is stepped in the role and playing an important role in community out reach to the youth in the city the young are people. exposing people to this as a career that somebody grows up in the city can have.

there is still a big poof people that want to come here and work. the fire service, this is the pents cal of where you can work. the challenge is to upon find people who want to work here and afternoon association with the city and some relationship. so we have people when stay and remain engaged in the city and in the communities. but i think we are doing a goodion and there are a lot of people out there -- that -- will fill the roles. ems is struggling a bit more with -- getting people to do thattion that is correct is a very difficult job to do. and but they are doing a good job with the 9910 program. trying to grow that applicant pool locally as well. >> thank you. >> i have a couple quick

unrelated comments. to make. first of all, i want to indicate how much i appreciate training notes that we are getting. getting them online. i know and now getting hard copies of them. they are very helpful and very instructive. so, we should have thought of this sooner. but they are really -- they -- just give you a real i'm not getting in an elevator at the airport. as much as i appreciate now i'm suspicious this when the traffic is the heaviest, which i assume it was over the holidays, the elevator rescue get cut in half when it is quieter they double.

and i find that suspicious. >> zeal to have pat look into that. >> yea. high priority. -- and then i have -- sort an odd question but a serious question. um i watched yesterday as the tower was twice hit by lightning. and -- i realized i did not -- know -- what the tower now does. i remember the controversy when it was built chief can give us details when repeaters and different infrastructure things

we have up there. but yea, it is ints gravel on what we. >> thank you. >> good morning >> good morning. >> so -- surow tower. just as primarily tv and are. and other diameters communications. there is no city and county of san francisco communicates on that tower itself. we have smaller antennas to the side and this is the city's equipment. >> that is helpful to know. all right. >> thank you. that was my question. >> all right. and -- we are good to move on. chief tong is up now. you need the laptop?

>> yes, >> sfgovtv if we can go to the laptop. >> good morning president feinstein. vice president nakajo, commissioner morgan, fraser, collins. deputy chief postel. command staff. good morning. deputy chief sandy tong this is my report for november and december. >> so report if the ems division put together by assistant deputy chief. we continue to have an average of 350ems calls a day not gone up significant cannotly over the year. dips a bit below and stabilized at 350 on average. however, we are increasing the next of calls per day on some days. gone over 400 calls per day over 3 days in december.

which you know made you know more illnesses. the weather. a variety of things. one thing that ems and community and specifically did not experience as much as the fire side did during the storms is increase in call volume there has not been a significant increase that we have seen on the suppression side on the ems side. i'm not sure what that is attributed to that people are inside and not outside. and you know upon accidents and things happening the result of the weather not increasing the calls. we have a good sense how that has in the impacted us but it hasn't and so this means we have ambulances available to respond it calls. we had an ems academy when we consider a bump up of emtt paramedics. and then one things hahas

impacted the way our calls are distributed in december, the san francisco ems agency instituted a pilot program to include ambulances in the system. typically it is als capable ambulances that are responding to the 911 calls. they are doing a pilot project to increase a bls level of ambulance in the system and than i can do up to 4 over 24 hours. the issue with this is that one, we are trying to get clarity as it how the calls are dispatched haunits are dispatched to. when bls ambulance responds to a call. and one of the impacts we noticed is that with these increased numbers of ambulances, when that call becomes a higher aqueuity response and requires a paramedic to responded as well

hameans the engine paramedics are responding with the bls to transport to hospitals and at times with the hospitals impacted as they have been, this may require that ambulance the engine paramedic to remain on this call at the hospital waiting for the transfer of care to happen. that does -- take out an engine out of the system which then impacts the response to you know calls that engine responding to in their districts. there is something we'll explore further. and also had an impact on market share. one thing we talked about was that when we were you know looking for more personnel, that the market share and the number of calls that ambulance are able to respond to in 911 system was around 75%. with the addition of the appropriate number of staffing we had with 60's this we hired,

we got to 85%. which is where we want to be. with these ambulances in the system that market share reduced. this does impact on revenue it is something we are looking at. >> next month we will have more data what happened in 22 i will share that at that time. so additional highlights we had over the last couple months. we started cohort number 3 of the city emt's the 9910 internship program. the collaboration with emt that was the brain child of our retired deputy chief >> as well as with the cities office economic workforce development. this program is -- a program where folks from -- youth from the communities are able to

participate in city emt program they get their certification and registerd and then prepared to get in an internship. is this gives them the 500 hours to qualify for a job at the fire department. question asked this is the ways we can get additional youth in the community to qualify for the san francisco fire department and potentially on the h2 firefighter side. >> we started one of those cohorts 11 of them in november. and they are probably going to finish the hours later this month or in february. and we got 2 more ambulance delivered in the month of december and so we have now 5ment of the type one ambulance. more reliable and stable and more comfortable for members.

one thing that the chief has brought to the division and has continued to bring is that the issues around ems technology and research. we have he has really -- been spearheading additional technological advancement in systems to help not only what the fire department does but what we are able to do in managing. a variety of things. the 2 things he has been working with is with his organization, culture america. and than i are a national nonprofit hacreates software and solutions to a variety of challenges that get presented to them. so -- one thing that they are working on is with the -- bed capacity distribution app. this we would work with hospitals to be able to manage

how we transport exterior what their ability to -- handle a specific case load at a hospital. our ambulances would be able to -- look at the app. be able to see hat bed availability is. based on the patient's preference they can see if that hospital will be impacted if not they can then upon send information ahead of time to let the hospital know they will be transporting to this location. the chief can give you more if you have questions but we are now in the process of working with the other hospital its get their feed become on this app and we will be something we will use to help manage our transports to hospitals as well as the hospitals being able to not and manage their bed capacity based on ambulances coming to them. and the other -- application we are working on is code for america end and another company,

peek response to help us manage mci's a phone app we go at multicasualty incident and input patient data talking in the phone and all of this information can be sent to hospitals. we get data through that. and then in terms of ems research the device that head band that will detect large strokes. so we have been test thanksgiving device out and during the months of november and december we have already enrolled 47 people. more than any other jurisdictions combined. we are proud of paramedics and than i are excited about being able to participate in the type of research. they are wing on another research project, pilot carty. which looks at whether or not nar can is appropriate to be --

given during cardiac arrest. all are ways naare paramedics able to do additional work. upon participating in research, and take advantage of technology and we feel like we are on the cutting edge of this work. in november and december there are a lot of activities all of us in the fire department we are always working thanksgiving, holidays and people miss out but we try to make them special for members we provide them with treats and food. and in that one low corner you see -- chief -- choker and captain there frying turkeys for our members. they got the turkey in the fryer.

and then we had our annual santa breakfast that was the left minute thing we had not plan third degree year but it became an expectation from our members to have ape santa break firefighter we have santa and members bring children. they get to sit with santa and get gifts. have breakfast experienced by the san francisco credit union. and an enjoyable day we were surprised at the turn out that day was pouring rain. people came from san hose and he the east bay and came and the kids had fun. and finally our toy drive. station 49 has been volunteer to provide meals and volunteers for the san francisco fire toy drive. this was on the bike day. families put in application and get a bike and the families get to pick up bike and toys temperature is a large showing

by station 49. and communities paramedicine. one thing i will send a link to through maureen is a video that the captain put together around the toy drive. we will share that with you. now on to paramedicine through chief simon pang. he put together reflections of 2022. for awful our community paramedic units we encountered 19, 339 folks in this time. which is significant. i mean these are calls that are diverting from the police response and in large part ems does the high equalizations of

people in the streets. over all 19,000 cowl its is significant and we'll give you a percentage in the next month of how that compared to the volume over all. one thing we appreciated what community paramedic units do they are 4 times like low to divert an ambulance from going to that call. which it is a big deal. the thing that we wanted to do and that was really the start of community ems6 was to be able to divert ambulance calls away from people who have the chronic types of issues. and so 4 times is likely with the unit is a big deal. >> we were able to do 311, 5150 holds 8 by community captains. we anticipated that number to go up in terms of the numbers we'll

do coming going forward. and speak of ems6, when they encounter somebody you know they are compiling lists of the initial incident this is 9 one incidentses an individual is calling and when they identify those that the higher utilizers they are looking at the issues that the person is experiencing. how can we address the issues. so 55% of the time, they are able to get them in a social service and 44% to a psychiatric service. their success rate persistence resulted in positive out come. additional mile stones in paramedicine. we had the first class of h9's. and then our street crisis team hit the second year mark.

this was then -- we then switched to full staffing. i think and then i'm sorry. we got to full staffing in june of 22, we started with emd staffing met our dispatching meant that all the calls went through the 911 system and going through an emergency medical triaging process. prior to that, we were getsing calls through mreechls now all of the calls we respond to are coming through the emergency medical dispatch process. we started our wellness team in january. and we launched additional 14 in june. we were able to launch the second street over dose team in june and that's and then in july we trained our community paramedic captains for 5150's. aural of our street teams are now part of a dispatch system

for fire response. all of those call types that come through the emergency medical dispatch are going through our fire response system. and not to be left out of research our community paramedic team have really started to do a lot of data analysis. and we do have a designated or an assign now -- data analyst lieutenant oxford. i believe he will be presenting some of his findings possibly in the february report. . we have been doing a lot of data for community paramedicine because of the newness and well is interest and because of the various initiatives that we are working on. there is interest in how effective are these initiatives. what is it that we are resulting in. how are the we improving the way

we provide service? and so -- one thing that was proposed and accepted through the san francisco data of science program is they will look at ems6 program to see whether or not the way that we identify high utilizers is the best way and it is resulting in the right out come and there may be different ways to look at the clientele. may be looking at ways we are identifying the individuals we should focus on. the data science projects will be those ways we'll be helping us analyze that process. and then through lieutenant oxford, we have he was able to recruit data science interns from berkeley. to look at our community paramedicine and ems call volume and the insights was this 4 times likely we were able to divert an ambulance.

and the number of culls that unable to locate they decreased because of our response. next month we will have a bit more data for you and -- in the meantime we will continue to keep you updated. finally, if there are questions let me know. and at the back of your packet updated our glossary. for you. >> [laughter] >> for all of you. >> love that glossary. >> it is ever growing but, yes. >> keep it coming. >> thank you. >> let me ask madam secretary any public comment? there is nobody on the public comment line. and i don't see anybody approaching the podium >> public comment will be closed. commissioners?

anybody have questions for the chief. >> commissioner fraser. i always do. sorry. thank you, that was an interesting report. i mean what you are talking about silent most difficult multilay are problem. i appreciate everything you shared dollared including the learning volume of calls your people responded to which i have a granular question. what is the difference with emergency medicine dispatch and fire response system. i'm trying to visualize how someone going by a person in distress makes a call or reports that to our people? how does that work >> the calls that go through 911 go though our d. emergency communication and they are

answered by police dispatcher. . once it is is a medical call it goes throughout emergency dispatching process, which a series of questions asked of the caller to identify. that's how and as a result of that, there is a call type. you know showing the person's unconscious. and from there what the fire response -- >> but that is -- a list of every call time and the unit thalsd be responding to that. it would identify a medic and engine. a truck a rescue squad. that pattern is what associated with that call type and that is how we determine who goes. now we add community rigs. congratulations on getting the

next generation recruiting them. and the commune engagement you are doing. i have a friend who used to work for code america and i know the quality stuff they are doing. that is a wonderful partner for us. thank you. i look forward to hearing from your bhorn is doing the data ajs, too. >> yes. >> thank you. >> commissioner nakajo >> thank you. a couple comments i think and i wanted to follow up and i got the clarity when commissioner fraser asked the 911 call and how they are tracked. and now they are tracked within for electric of a better description in our system as well? the paramedicine is tracked as well meaning. >> uh-huh. jot information now is tracked?

>> yes. >> one thing we can do is go through the communication center as well. and do a site visit and watch how the dispatch goes out. it is a far different improvement sounds like to me. based on hawhat happens the personnel dispatch and communication goes to our folks now. sounds like everyone is listen to each other or aware half is going on? so. i wanted to reenforce it great idea. it is helpful. prior to that you know calls were medical or police and a lot of the crisis calls went through police first and then it was trying to determine what was going on with the medical component. to it if not it could go to police and/or the street crisis team this way when it goes throughout medical dispatching they are looking at psychiatric

or behavioral type emergencies or over dose calls going to the community paramedic teams. >> i think that again it is a lot of learning i had to do when i came on in the olds days. fire personnel on one side of the wall and police on the other side. and we went civilian. it it is pressure on the dispatchers to determine. and now there is listening the more they get from us the better. i will look forward to the presentation of the reports as well. thank you. >> thank you. >> and any further questions? all right. thank you. for your report chief tong. item 7. over view of the budget instructions and process for years 23, 24 and 2024/2025.

presentation from mark corso of finance and planning on the fire department operating budget for commission review. over view of the budget process, mayor's office budget instructions and fire department budget updates and priorities for the budget process. >> we have been waiting for you mr. corso. >> good morning madam president and commissioners and chief. mark corso finance and planning here to kickoff the city and departments for sure budget process for the upcoming fiscal 23-2 and 24-25. fiscal years. there was no documentation in your packets ahead of time this is an informational meeting. there will be the next few meetings get more in depth in the actual budget rather than instructions and over all fiscal

picture. you will have information in advance any time if there are questions, happy to respond. maureen, the slide show? a brief list of items i wanted to review. a brief update on some of the figs cal ajs the city is doing as far as the budgetary outlook the next few years and how it feed in thes budget process and our instructions from the mayor's office. ed to review time lines and a couple other notes and happy to answer questions. if there are questions or after the presentation happy to address sthoez in any way. >> as is the annual time line and practice. the mayor's office and the board budget analyst take a look at

all of the various fiscal metrics of the city and put city financial prosecute jections part of the joint upon report. which gives an over all update to the city's plan the next 5 years. and this report drives the budget press for this year and will kind of highlight issues that may be structured or down the line. last year you may recall in the budget press there was good nows. we had a surplus we will talk about this briefly. during and there were no reductions requested last year. this year unfortunately is a bit of a different story. >> so you see here -- compared, a look at projected deficits at the same time the start of the budget process. the affirmative column on the left that represents the first or last precovid budget process

and the learning bart second to the left represents that deficit that was in that redefined covid budget process the city was looking at 1 penalty 5 billion dollars deficit it had to solve for. that continued and following year and last year you see on the other side of the access there was a surplus of 108 mission. at that time this time last year the instructions of the diameters were there were no manualed story reductions. work nothing your budgets but no required reductions. this year the city is projecting 728 million dollars deficit. we will talk about that. and then what that means as far as the instructions to the departments. >> so that is changed from last year. we had good news and not much this year. there are obviously everybody is aware a number of fits exam

changes in the environment. and revenues there is a projected worsen out look for the city the next 5 years. there is a prolonged economic recovery from covid this includes a lag of return to office. which drives a lot of downtown business. and in general impacts tax and revenues et cetera. and another piece was what was fortunate and helped the city solve buet issues the loss of one time federal news one time and solved problems but not something the city is relying on year over year and in addition a number of wage and benefit costs increases projected the next few years with labor negotiations. under way and overnight next fiscal years we will see. and -- also the downturn on the stock market which at the time left year there was positive

news about returns on the pension system that chinked the last 12 months. i want to note, too. the projections don'ts include assumptions of i recession the instructions coming forth is to be prepared for a worsening economic outlook if a recession does occur. the projections from the joint report later this month. i mentioned the next 2 year the a 200 million dollars defy sit in the first fiscal year and 528 million dollars deficit in the second fiscal year. we do a rolling 2 year budget each year weave look at the next 2 out years. for purposes of upon planning the city projects out 5 years to identify potential issues. you see without changes the city is looking at 1 penalty 2

billion dollars deficit in 27-28 and that involves more than departmental reductions. with that what does it mean? how did this translate to the budget process. the mayor's budget instructions are different this year. last year with mow mandatory reductions thissier there are. and 8% in the second year >> that equals to 5% about 6.9 million dollars and 8% about 11 million dollars this it is significant for us especially as we talk later meetings we have limited flexibility with our

budget goes to staffing. front line operational staffing and have limited flexibility on other items that cover all the initiatives we have to support those frontline operations of course so that will be obviously every year a challengech and the other parking lot of the reduction request they are on going they will not carry over yearly. they are not look for they may take them they are not looking for one time reductions for equipment or something like that. they want these to be the budget so the change they are -- counted yearly. and this does in the include a recession toing planning for potential low a worse outcome of the economic outlook. >> and here is over view of the time line of the process thank you very much is consistent with how the city has done in the

past. exceptionful the covid budget cycle condensed and was floud gifrn the changes of the pandemic we are back to the regular cycle. in december budget instructions release friday the major's office to city department and department head in january the issuance of the city's joint report from the controller, mayor and boards legislative analyst. that goes to departmental budgets in february this year february 21st. after that time all departments are locked out from making changes and work closely with the mayor's budget office on anything that is proposed or other change this is may come and up looking at as far as changes making to the budget. and then by the charter june first the mayor required to submit to the board a balanced budget for the city and at that time, budget hearings and the work moved from the mayor's

office to the board of supervisors we have our hearings 2 at the budget and finance at the board. late june. and that is where all the budget and legislative analyst report and recommendations cuts are heard. discusses and negotiated and at some point at the end of this process a final budget is agreed upon once the sprierdzs put to a vote. and then rolls into the official system replacing the interim budget. as far as the commission is concerned, there will be budget items the next few meetings. today an over view of the time line and the process. the next meeting is high level over view of the department's budget, structure, priorities and discussion on the

challenges. and anything related the budget as we start that discussion. february 8 we continue that discussion. priorities and potential low approval of a budget submittal. february 9-21. 21 is the date of dept. dead line in the past i don't know if used but an opportunity for special meetings required for approval for information and anything related that last point before we end up submitting our budget and can't adjust it. and then during after that submittal through march and august we will do updates through the chief. and major things that pop up will be in the commission updated. general low the first meeting after in june there is a general over view of what was approved in the major's budget. not public until the june first day. highlighting the changes

approved and then if needed, at the end of july, over view of the final budget this gone through the board approval. a couple things i wanted to highlight as far as the next meeting for the over view of the budget i rescue noise we have new commissioners who minot publish familiar with the budget. i wanted to part of my presentation give a bit of a more in depth over view of the structure of the budget. where funds come from, how the budget ws and divisions we have to give context but if there is anything helpful i'm happy to include that in my presentation i'm happy to work off line as well to answer questions and go over anything i know it it is a lot of information to digest off the bat. anything i can do i'm happy to do so. the second piece is this february 8 date is still a few week in fronts of the submittal

of the budget. there will be changes over that time. so we will discuss what the commission about approval and timing buff general low there are may be not the major changes but adjustments done up until we are submitting the budgetful we want to make sure we are transparent and no major changes that the commission would not be aware of. a couple quick notes. consistent with previous years the mayor's office requesting all initiatives and changes be alined with the mayoral priorities that is 4 that are highlighted. recovery of the local economy. improving public safety in streets. reducing homelessness and accountability and equity. you can imagine as part of our daily operations we touched all of the wrir and priorities. so we are aline in the that regard. >> and the second piece is.

a couple years ago there were budget transparency legislation having public meetings and our budget information more readily available to the public. a site run by the controller's office that posts all departmental budget information we posted the website and with the commission schedule and hearings. we do comply. i wanted it make that noted. with that. happy to answer questions. >> thank you. mr. corso. madam secretary. public comment? >> nobody on the public ment line and nobody approaching the podium. >> okay. thank you, public comment will be closed. >> fellow commissioners? >> yes. commissioner collins. >> thank you for that presentation. >> thank you. >> i have i want to take you up

on your offer of information before the next session. and presumablely, a simple source and use. spreadsheet xl would be helpful if we get it beforehand and go through if and dicipher it i think it would be -- more productive. >> absolutely. >> i'm trying to understand why the city projections upon don't assume a recession and what we do -- in essense that is the best case. right? correct. not the case usually. do we run our own sort of scenario for the recession which many of us believe it it is not if but how severe. how do we deal with this >> it has been done in the past is when there is a significant event for example, covid. not outside of the budget process during the year requests

for mid year reductions that is likely if this there is in the a recession this occurs during the budget process but after the budget approved met likely the mayor's office will come to departments for potential reductions during the year and that's more difficult there is in the a lot of time to plan. as a department we are have to look at those things. it it is very difficult just as along the lines of the regular process we don't have a lot of flexibility we vice president anyone mumming staffing levels. provided to provide emergency service. there is in the a lot of low hanging fruit that is something available. this is a challenge we have during the year. meeting daily needs and the budget process, too. later had the requests for cuts come is the time this is dealt with?

>>iel. we look at that as far as being responsive to the reductions and do a comprehensive evaluation we would do anyway we are always think burglar it and the environment we are in. but we are limited in when we can do. >> thank you. >> commissioner fraser. >> thank you. thank you that , was helpful i second what commissioner collins said about information ahead of time if possible or some time with you ahead of the discussions so there is useful and we can be as useful as possible. other then and there that, that's all from me now. thank you. >> thank you. >> yes. i agree with mr. corso said in reduction of the budget of the that's only prudent. you know. i mean the boom can go on for so

long. i gauge how many tower cranes i see in the sky and they dwindle. you know what i mean? that is smart to tone down the budget a little gradually. like you went over. thank you for your report. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> vice president nakajo. >> thank you, mr. corso thank you for this clear presentation. very comprehensive. as being a commissioner, that has been on the commission i would like to take up your offer in termings of informational or briefing or ask questions or whatever. in the proper format. reenforcement did you say the projected goal for us as a dollar figure 6 million this fiscal? >> yes. 5% the first year equals sick opinion 9 million and 8% the

second year which is 11 million for us. >> okay. as you talked about and again from previous knowledge the bulk using that terminology. is personnel and salaries within the department? >> correct. i don't have the number but around 90% is salary and benefit for front line staff that supports staffing and ambulance tier all the different operational units >> appreciate that reenforcement. helps the commission to seat big are picture. thank you. >> thank you. mr. vice president. i have a quick question hopeful low or may be it is not quick. it it is feet me over the past year or 2 years that the fire department is getting pushed and pushed and pushed and pushed to do more and more and more. and reach to different heights,

accomplish different types of task and costs mone. staff, equipment and -- i mean i think it is fine. it does in the seem to be a choice putting together the budget plan other next 2 year cycle now. but what is the plan for purke back in i think every day that is a great question that come up a bit. i think we advocate all the time for our needs not only supporting daily operations of what you think the fire department doing bljss, fire engines, et cetera we have challenging supporting in the era mou with inflation with rising costs. supporting those functions the cost of fuel and supplies. equipment, et cetera . the issue woeful have you mentioning is -- there is programs that are

started and we have been funded for new initiatives. but in addition to that, is the additional maintenance. support this is needed support the programs we are work width mayor's budget office to identify the area fist there is new service requested we out line the costs of those service. to make sure we are fundd and identifying the additional need we have with the down the line or immediate. that might not answer your question but we are, wear of this issue. >> it seems to be a roller coaster here. >> where we are being compelled to grow and the demands are such we need to grow the budget in terms of in order to meet the services. and that and then -- yea. next come along you know the slap, sorry you just increased that you hired the people. you bought the equipment and we

are cutting your budget. its somewhat of a nonsensical process. i don't know what other worried to use. it is -- not a good use to just go up and down and up and down and up and down. we need some kinds of steadness here. >> absolutely and to the extent we can use. to your points, the fluctuation we are not tieed a metrics for staffing an example of that and us wing with the major's office and controller's office is using data to support additional personnel. last year we received allocations of 60 additional paramedics for ambulances that is when we want to be able to monitor and present as you know we see increase in calls and additional services provided. and have the data supported.

>> thank you. and thank you for the report. and i'm with vice president nakajo i would love to participate in any type of briefing that when the time come and you are prepared >>ir will coordinate. >> thank you. >> >> thank you very much. >> moving on. >> moving on. item 8. addendum to existing memorandum of understanding between city college of san francisco and the san francisco fire department. discussion and possible action it approve an adid you understandum to the existing 5 year memorandum of understanding with the fire department and city college of san francisco. >> mark corso here to present. back in december of 2019, the commission approved a 5 year mou

with city college related to just formalizing an agreement and relationship between fire department training and city college curriculum covering a new firefighter academy and as well as post graduation work experience training. how it work system we every new firefighter academy we enrolling these -- new recrews to city college there is a class there that is specific low for the fire department academy. enroll the new recruits in the city college. the fire department pays for registration and this stuff. there is in cost to the employee. but when they get a number of benefits they get credit access to counciling and the department as a revenue agreement to get a

portion of revenue for each hour of training in the city through city college. keep spar everpart in on them and worked out. a great asset and look to expand that's what this amendment does. expand its from the new recruit train and the work experience train to the company officer training. this is capacity be will is grit for city college and us. to both earn revenue and allow approve resource for our employees at no cost to them. so -- i'm happy to answer questions. chief is available to answer questions. there is a representative from city college for public comment if in the we have a statement from them.

>> thank you. public comment? yes , there is public comment. mr. jim coners. >> can you hear me yoochl good morning. can i make my statement now. >> yes. why thank you, good morning chief nicholson, postel and fire commissioner i'm jim coners a retired captain from the san francisco fire department i'm the department chairman of the registration of justice at city college of san francisco. my dean and john who is in charge of service agreements are unable to be here due to meetings with chancellor martin. they wanted to convey how appreciative we all are of our partnership and will work on deepning this partnership.

and mark mentioned we have the basic fire academy and fire work experience part of the current mo turks it is important in the deepning of this partnership. it is an important educational component by state fire training and city college of san francisco. we will work with assistant chief kyle and hiring the appropriate approximate faculty to teach course components of the company officer certificate. we also are planning on future discussionos how to expand partnership with the fire department. thank you. >> thank you. sir. future public comment y. nobody ulc else on the public comment line >> nobody in the room. >> approaching the podium. public comment will be closed.

>> commissioners, any comments or questions. >> i had a question. probably for chief. training question. i think probably [inaudible] now is this for the fire department recrews or for general public with the city college. >> good question. good morning. president fine stein and vice president nakajo and commissioners. i want to call you chief nicholson for a second. >> command staff. than i electric a lot of like. >> [laughter]. so this agreement is for the initial agreement is for our recrews in the academy. that is cfo mentioned when our folks in the academy they are

enroll in the city college and receive college credits upon graduation. this a dendzum would then trot folk negligents field. does not money it could happen to recruits graduated and in the fields. but this would be current, folks in the field withhold take the company officer series at the division of training whether at 19th street folsom or t it f. >> those folks take the 6 classes in the series and credits toward their degree. chief nicholson? does she consider a member of the public. >> >> no. sometimes, yes.

i wanted to briefly if i may, madam president. >> of course. >> just thank jim connors for his partnership and city college. some of you know jim was my first probationary boss at engine 5 back in the day. and so -- he got me started off on the right foot. obviously. but i appreciate his partnership and we have done good things with city college and look forward to for with them. thank you >> thank you. chief nicholson. further? commencements from anybody? vice president nakajo. thank you very much. i would like to acknowledge jamie coners in terms of his xrm city college and the fire science courses there. as well as the program. which we benefit quite a bit.

i think it is a great dwrod have an officer component attached to that. anything in terms of moving toward that and with the inclusion of the department. so colleagues and president like to move on this item if i may. >> >> i believe -- yes. we can accept a motion on this. thank you forgive me. i had a motion. from vice president nakajo is there a second? >> i second. >> thank you commissioner morgan. moved and seconded. >> president feinstein? >> aye. >> commissioner fraser. >> aye. >> commissioner collins. >> aye. >> the motion is unanimous. >> good.

thank you. thank you. item 9. fire commission annual statement of purpose 2023. discussion and possible action to adopt the 2023 annual statement purpose. nobody on the public comment line. upon nobody propping the podium. >> all right. any comments on the proposed annual statement of purpose for 2023? vice president nakajo. thank you, colleagues, i like to make a request if i may in terms of the statement of purpose it has statements not long over a page. if could be read in the public

record. because often in nile experience folks come up and say you are a fire commissioner and say what do you do? basically this statement of purpose spells it out in terms of when we dochlt i thought if we could for the general public or ourselves to reenforce it this might be read in the before we vote >> all right you would like it read aloud into the public record it is broadcast? is there opposition from commissioners? madam secretary. >> mission of the fight is to protect the lives and property of the people of san francisco and visitors from fires. natural disasters, accidents, hazzard materials, incidents and

causes requiring a rapid and skilled response by lander water. weres serve needs of residents through paramedicine and save lives and reduce suffering providing upon emergency medical services. prevent harm through prevention and education programs and provide a work environment that it is free from harassment and discrimination and values health. cultural diversity and equity. will support the registration to accomplish the migsz of the department. support the registration's efforts to enhance and support the work of department membership and public stake holders in the diversity of fire suppression, prevention and emergency medical services with the focus upon the common public good. and encourage and support the registration to develop and implement systems to improve fiscal responsible to enhandles

the budgeting process and maintaining and protecting essential public services including fire protection, fire prevention and emergency medical service. support to develop a physical fitness wellness program to support the welfare of the department and the public. encourage and support the strigz's plan to include career develop and prosecute motions. encourage special support education in the communities to prisoning qualified applicants to the department who reflect the stele's historic diversity. continue to work with the registration and city attorney's office to review and where necessary resunrise official department policy and procedures and criminality to the good bye conducting open meetings regular low and convening such additional meetings necessary to

inform and educate the general public of the work of the fire commission and the san francisco fire department. >> thank you. madam president. >> thank you. so move madam president if this is acceptable. >> i will second the adoption. >> thank you. commissioner morgan. >> aye >> commissioner fritz fraser. >> aye >> commissioner colin. >> yate. the motion is unanimous. item 10. fire commission election of officers. the discussion and possible action in action nomination and election of commission president. northbound on the public comment line. and i do not see anybody approaching the podium. >> public comment will be

closed. i'm going to seek leave of the chair to make a few comment and since i am the chair i'm granting my request for leave. i just want it say that it hen a true honor for me to serve as president of this commission for the past 2 years. it health care quite a ride. and i money that in all senses of the word. do members of other commissions ever get to drive 40 miles an 4 down the wrong side of delores? with a siren and a rumbler? i think not. i want to thank the mayor for her conflict in apointing mow to this commission. and to my colleagues for

electing mow first vice president and then president. this city is so fortunate to have these 4 individuals my colleagues. willing to give of their time to serve the people of san francisco with service on this commission. -- and i can't over look the fact that -- this past year has been tough for this commission. and -- i can't thank enough my colleagues for stepping up and fa fulfilling their duties with patience and dignity. and the number of hours that were required for us to take care of commission business. i think we are probably unparalleled. i want to express my gratitude to the chief of the department.

jeanine nicholson to cd2, 3 and 4. and chief postel, o connor and tong and to each and every avc. you have all been there to help me learn more, do more and become a better commissioner. hard to imagine that 3 years ago i did in the know what a cd was. other then and there one that you could play music on. that i knew. but i certainly did not know that the fire department had cd's. or what an ad c was. let, lone a buggy or a rig or a grease valve or release pumper or a bag valve mask. and i'm still wing on the

abriefiations, which i expect never to master i'm working on them and thank you for putting the effort into them. i want to thank everyone who works at headquarters. and keeps the department humming. and of course, express my heart felt thanks to -- everyone working in the field. wlm they are a fire, an accident, a rescue, a medical emergency or as of late a do you understand tree. but thank them for hospitality. their courtesy. their respect. they always shown to me. the work you all do is draw joping and inspiring. you all are the bravest,

fiercest, most fearless public servants we have. and let there be no doubt you make this city better and safer. i also want to acknowledge although our and thank our last 2 department city attorneys. brad russ and he zack. i know chief nicholson mentioned zack earlier. i may noted be an expert in fires or medical emergencies or any other types of calls but i know a bit about the law. which made me a pain in the roar for both of these gentlemen. they would always handled mow with grace and whenever they told me i thinked not do something i would ask, why? and than i would polittly sigh. and i anyhow they were thinking

here weave go. and finally but not left or least. madam secretary, i need to thank you. this is maureen. what would i have done without you. i don't know. i do know you regret the day you gave me your cell phone number. but you always have been there for me and night or day weekdays or weekends had a question needed answering you had it or got it. and -- i got the a. and i needed something from your files unlike mine. you got it for me. and you come as close and response time you may be. the emergency personnel in the san francisco fire department. so thank you. with that i thank everybody for

letting me serve as your president. and i'm going to quote the chief of the department here and say thank you for all you do. with that i will turn to that which is schedule. i have the honor and pleasure of nominating our vice president steve nakajo. who we like to call vp nakajo. that is sort of how he signs every message. and leaves each voice mail message i like to nominate to serve as president for the upcoming year. i realize he known to everybody. he has been on this commission long are then and there a lot of peep have been in the department. if i have my history correct, 2023 will mark the start of his

27th year as a fire commissioner and i think that the 7th time he will serve as president once elected. vp nakajo is not just an incrediblely dill gent commissioner full of energy and enthusiasm but he is also a kind, thoughtful and most willing teacher. a true teacher at heart. can't thank him enough for the time he's begin on me. regardless of what i asked or when i asked it. he helped educate me about the intkaess of the department which i trust mow he has mastered. and yes, professor, i'm still learning. served the communities the japanese community as cofounder and director of comopy a known

organization dedicated to serving seniors and others. and all aspects of daily living. and he is also been a tremendous leader in the community at large. nakajo is truly an individual who has dedicated his heart to san francisco. to social service and to public service. and i look forward to him again being elected to serve as president of this commission. and it is my privilege and honor to nominate him to serve in this position. need a second. >> okay. i will do a vote. vice president nakajo. >> aye. >> privilege and honor. >> commissioner fraser.

>> aye >> commissioner collins. >> aye. >> our new commission president is steven nakajo. with a unanimous vote. >> item b nomination and election of commission vice president. there is nobody on the public comment line. and nobody coming to the podium >> public comment will be close said. and i believe commissioner fraser i'm turning to you. >> yes. thank you. thank you for your words. president feinstein. a merthat. and for -- long enough to deeply appreciate your service and example that you set and work ethic, 7s humor and everything that you helped me it learn and it meant the world to me as i

joined and learnod this commission. thank you for what you just said. my job at this moment is to nominate commissioner morgan for vice president of the san francisco fire commission. it is my pleasure. very good. i will second that. nomination. >> okay. vice president nakajo. >> aye. >> commissioner morgan. >> aye. and commissioner collins. >> aye. >> unanimous. that morgan is the new vice president of the fire commission. >> thank you. definitely an honor and -- i want to if i can speak through

the chair thank you president feinstein for all your service and great service and -- guidance through all of the procedural matters with where you are expertise. and all -- especially with the disciplinary cases and nondisciplinary cases i appreciate you. >> thank you. >> and learned a lot from you. and -- we are going to -- you know miss your service as president. >> thank you. >> thank you again and thank you to everybody an honor to serve this department and i will do the best i can do and -- it is a pleasure, thank you. >> thank you. >> madam president. observe we proceed on i also like to acknowledge and thank you for your statement and your service. of it it is -- has been quite an

experience but an honorable experience in the sense of how much you have given to the department and the commission and the city. i wanted congratulate commissioner morgan as well. and commissioner fraser and collins being part of our collaboration and our team as commissioners. madam president, it has been an honor to serve with you and as commissioner morgan will dot best we can in terms endeavours. >> thank you very much. >> i know you will, thank you. >> and chief nicholson would like to say a word. >> greetings and thank you. president feinstein thank you for your service. you know really usherings through challenging times. with covid and all it brought.

and just your unwaivering care for the departmentful much appreciated. and vp now president nakajo as always, i appreciate working with you. and you know -- appreciate our collaboration and relationship. and vp morgan, i'm glad you are stretching up to the plate and we will be talking even more now. so, congratulations and i really think that this commission we have now the 5 commissioners we have now is so, so strong and so great. so, thank you all for your service. >> thank you, chief. i would like to congratulate commissioner vice president morgan and president nakajo. welcome and to your new role and also to commissioner feinstein

you have my number. you can use it any time and you are in the off the hook you are on this commission. >> so. thank you very much for your kind words. >> thank you. >> thank you for everything. >> item 11. may i -- sorry. commissioner feinstein i want -- i have not had long to serve as a colleague under your leadership as head of this commission i do want to thank you for the candor and clarity in one of the very first phone calls hi about the possibility of serving on this commission. and to let you know that it was in fact an important part of my saying well men i can be up to this task. so i want to thank you for this. >> thank you. >> and thank you for accepting the appointment to the commission. >> well, luck tow have you. >> it seems like the dream

team the seamless. >> [laughter]. >> we like top sends it. >> so, i feel lucky. thank you. >> thank you. >> okay. item 11. public comment on items 12. public comment on all matters pertaining to 12 below including comment on whether or not to hold 12d in closed session. this is a possible closed session regarding personnel matters. and well is nobody on the public comment line with their hand raise exclude nobody coming to the podium. >> public comment -- shall be closed. then. >> item 8 vote on whether to conduct 12b and c in closed session. commission may hear b and c in closed session pursuant to section 54957b and administrative code 67.10b.

i like to make a motion we deliberate in closed session. >> i will second it. >> president nakajo. >> aye. >> commissioner fraser. >> aye. >> commissioner collins. >> aye. >> motion is unanimous we will go in closed there is nothing to report we will go on to item 14, adjournment. we have a first and second. commissioner morgan. >> aye. >> commissioner fraser. >> aye. >> and this is to note that

commissioner collins left before closed session. this meeting is adjourned at 11:32. thank you, everybody. >> good night.

hi, sandy, how are you? >> hi, fine, thank you. how are you? >> good. i want to ask you what inspired you to be a paramedic? >> that's a good question. you know, i wanted to go into med school and after i found out how much time it took and all of that, i decided that that was going to be a little too much schooling, but i still wanted to figure out a way that i could provide medical care and doing that as an emt as well as a paramedic was a way to do that. >> can you give me a break down of a typical day for you? >> i come to work and sit at my desk and then i respond to e-mails and try to figure out what are some of the issues we need to address. can we hire more people. what kinds of policies we want to try to create that will help us do our job as ems. >> what does it take to be a female paramedic? >> you know, it takes quite a bit of schooling, but also required somebody who's

empathetic. it can be a very stressful job and so we want people to be able to hand that on a day-to-day basis. >> so what's your greatest satisfaction in your job? >> trying to make sure that the work that we provide and the services that we provide to the community is the best that we can in ems so that when we go out to see you if you call us for an emergency, that we'll be able to treat you in the best way possible and that you get the care as quickly and as effectively as possible. >> why is it important for young girls, women of color to see women in these roles? >> i think it really is important for us to be able to get into these roles because we are effective, we are able to reach out to the community. we are able to do the job in a very effective manner and to be able to relate to the community and be able to do that is one of the best things that we can do. and people of color and as women of color, you know, we are in a great position to be able to do that.

today we are going to talk about fire safety. we are here at the urban center on mission street in san francisco. it's a wonderful display. a little house in the urban center exhibition center that shows what it's like in a home in san francisco after an earthquake. one of the major issues that we are going to face after earthquakes are fire hazard. we are happy to have the fire marshall join us today. >> thank you. my pleasure.

>> we talk about the san francisco earthquake that was a fire that mostly devastated the city. how do we avoid that kind of problem. how can we reduce fire hazard? >> the construction was a lot different. we don't expect what we had then. we want to make sure with the gas heaters that the gas is shut off. >> if you shut it off you are going to have no hot water or heat. be careful not to shut it off unless you smell gas. >> absolutely because once you do shut it off you should have the utility company come in and turn it back on. here is a mock up of a gas hear the on a house. where would we find the gas meter? >> it should be in your garage.

everyone should be familiar with where the gas meter is. >> one of the tools is a wrench, a crescent wrench. >> yes. the crescent wrench is good and this is a perfect example of how to have it so you can loosen it up and use it when you need it. >> okay. let's go inside to talk about fire safety. many of the issues here relate to fire, for example, we have a little smoke detector and i see you brought one here, a carbon monoxide smoke detector. >> this is a combination of smoke and carbon monoxide detector. they are required in

single homes now and in apartment buildings. if gas appliance is not burning properly this will alert you before the fumes buildup and will affect you negatively. >> this is a battery powered? >> this is a battery powered and it has a 10 year battery life. a lot of times you may have one or the other. if you put in just a carbon monoxide detector, it's important to have one of these too. every house should have a fire extinguisher, yes. >> one thing people expect to do when the power goes out after an earthquake about using candles. what would you recommend? >> if you have a battery operated candle would be better

to use. this kind of a candle, you wouldn't want it in an area where it can cause a fire or aftershock that it doesn't rollover. you definitely want to have this in a non-combustible surface. >> now, here we have our stove. after a significant earthquake we expect that we may have gas disrupted and so without gas in your home, how are you going to cook? >> well, i wouldn't recommend cooking inside of the house. you have to go outside and use a portable stove or something else.

>> so it wouldn't be safe to use your fireplace to cook? >> not at first. you should check it by a professional first. >> outside should be a safe place to cook as long as you stay away from buildings and doors and windows. >> yes. that will be fine. >> here we have some alternative cooking areas. >> you can barbecue and if you have a regular propane bark could barbecue. >> thank you for joining us. and thanks for this terrific space that you have in this exhibition space and thanks for helping san francisco stay safe.

[music] so, can you tell us what it was like for you during your first encounter with the san francisco fire department? >> yep. it was super cool! i got to learn about the dry standing pipe correction. it is actually called, dry sand piper just stand pipe. tomato. you know. yea. >> so, what is coming up next for what is that for? >> oh , firefighter backsterinvited mow to a fire station to see the cool stuff firefighters use to put out fires. you have seen the had doors open like a space ship from out of nowhere. i close my eye its is like i'm there right now!

wow! whoa. watch out, man. what is that for? >> what is this? these are fire engines they might look alike they are both red. white top and red lights on top. this is a new 2021 fire engine and this is an older 2014 fire engine. if you can't tell, this one is shorter and narrower than our older fire engines. they have cool things like recessed lights. roll up doors. 360 degree cam ares and more that is important as the city is moving toward slower and safer streets adding parklets and bulb outs and bike lanes we need to decrease our footprint to keep us and the community safer on emergency scenes. >> what's back there?

>> when is not guilty fire engine. great question. i want to see, sure. >> let's go back and look at the equipment and the fire pump on the fire engine. >> this is a fire pump. it is cool all the colors and all that. this fire pump and this engine holds 500 gallons of water that is a lot. >> a lot of water. >> it is push out 1500 gallons a minute of water. we can lose our 500 gammons quickly. why we use hoses like this to connect to a fire hydrant and that gives us unlimited amount of water to help put a fire out temperature is important we have enough fire engine in san francisco to put fires out. so we can reduce the injuries and minimize loss of life and minimize property damage. [music]

>> mr. will. mr. will. will! >> oh. daydreaming. thanks, everybody for watching! bye! >> he is a real leader that listens and knows how to bring people together. brought this department together like never before. i am so excited to be swearing in the next chief of the san francisco fire department, ladies and gentlemen, let's welcome, jeanine nicholson. (applause).

>> i grew up total tomboy, athlete. i loved a good crisis, a good challenge. i grew up across the street from the fire station. my dad used to take me there to vote. i never saw any female firefighters because there weren't any in the 1970s. i didn't know i could be a fire fighter. when i moved to san francisco in 1990, some things opened up. i saw women doing things they hadn't been doing when i was growing up. one thing was firefighting. a woman recruited me at the gay-pride parade in 1991. it was a perfect fit. i liked using my brain, body, working as a team, figuring

things out, troubleshooting and coming up with different ways to solve a problem. in terms of coming in after another female chief, i don't think anybody says that about men. you are coming in after another man, chief, what is that like. i understand why it is asked. it is unusual to have a woman in this position. i think san francisco is a trailblazer in that way in terms of showing the world what can happen and what other people who may not look like what you think the fire chief should look like how they can be successful. be asked me about being the first lbgq i have an understands because there are little queer kids that see me. i worked my way up. i came in january of 1994.

i built relationships over the years, and i spent 24 years in the field, as we call it. working out of firehouses. the fire department is a family. we live together, eat together, sleep in the same dorm together, go to crazy calls together, dangerous calls and we have to look out for one another. when i was burned in a fire years ago and i felt responsible, i felt awful. i didn't want to talk to any of my civilian friends. they couldn't understand what i was going through. the firefighters knew, they understood. they had been there. it is a different relationship. we have to rely on one another. in terms of me being the chief of the department, i am really trying to maintain an open relationship with all of our members in the field so myself and my deputy chiefs, one of the

priorities i had was for each of us to go around to different fire stations to make sure we hit all within the first three or four months to start a conversation. that hasn't been there for a while. part of the reason that i am getting along well with the field now is because i was there. i worked there. people know me and because i know what we need. i know what they need to be successful. >> i have known jeanine nicholson since we worked together at station 15. i have always held her in the highest regard. since she is the chief she has infused the department with optimism. she is easy to approach and is concerned with the firefighters and paramedics. i appreciate that she is concerned with the issues relevant to the fire department

today. >> there is a retired captain who started the cancer prevention foundation 10 years ago because he had cancer and he noticed fellow firefighters were getting cancer. he started looking into it. in 2012 i was diagnosed with breast canner, and some of my fellow firefighters noticed there are a lot of women in the san francisco fire department, premenopausal in their 40s getting breast cancer. it was a higher rate than the general population. we were working with workers comp to make it flow more easily for our members so they didn't have to worry about the paper work when they go through chemo. the turnout gear was covered with suit. it was a badge to have that all

over your coat and face and helmet. the dirtier you were the harder you worked. that is a cancer causeser. it -- casser. it is not -- cancer causer. there islassic everywhere. we had to reduce our exposure. we washed our gear more often, we didn't take gear where we were eating or sleeping. we started decontaminating ourselves at the fire scene after the fire was out. going back to the fire station and then taking a shower. i have taught, worked on the decontamination policy to be sure that gets through. it is not if or when. it is who is the next person. it is like a cancer sniper out there. who is going to get it next. one of the things i love about

the fire department. it is always a team effort. you are my family. i love the city and department and i love being of service. i vow to work hard -- to work hard to carry out the vision of the san francisco fire department and to move us forward in a positive way. if i were to give a little advice to women and queer kids, find people to support you. keep putting one foot in front of the other and keep trying. you never know what door is going to open next. you really don't. [cheers and

>> good morning i'm so honored to be with champions of-in the fight for civil rights and getting the bill across the finish line. the respect marriage act is affirmation the united states will stand up and protect the freedom for all americans to marry the person they love. it is reflection of the fact that for overwhelming majority of americans across political parties back fp grounds and every corner of the country the debate for marriage equality is settled. it was at city hall nearly 19 years ago when our governor then mayper begin issue mayor license for same sex couples regardless of it consequence. the court battle lead to success sfl u