around right. you went to the rally. why? why were youerell that right when we're walking in here? i've been after you for everyone. this meeting will come to order. welcome to the july 22nd, 24th regular meeting of the rules committee. i'm supervisor safaí, chair of the rules committee. i'm joined by vice chair, supervisor walton and our and supervisor, aaron peskin. t clerk is victor young. i'd also like to thank lr broadcasting this meeting. mr. clerk, do you have any announcements this morning, yes.

public comment will be taken on each item on this agenda. when your item of interest comes up and public com is called, please line up to speak. alternatively, you may submit public comment i in either of the following ways. email them to myself. the rules committee cl v-i-c-t-o-r-y o young at sfgorg you submit public comment via email, it will or the supervisors and included as part of the file. you may also send yourttment via us mail to our office in city hall. when doctor carleton place room 244, san francisco, california 94102. please make sure to silence all cell phones and electronic devices items acted upon today are expected to appear on the board of supervis unless otherwise stated. that completes my initial announcements. thank you, mr. clerk.ll im number one. item number one is a charter amendment. their draft to amend the charter of the city change the age factor percentage

for benefit calculations such that persons who have or will become mrs fire department on and after january 7th, 2012, r factor percentage at an earlier age, 55. the retirement age at which persons whoe orill become members of the fire department on and after january 7th, 2012, reached the highest age factor percentage and election to ben , there was a request that this matter be a committee report 100. i don't think there's any morning. i think a lot of was discussed in committee last week. i'm just going to open it up straight for public comment. mr. clerk. yes, members of the public who wish to speak on this item should line up to speak. at this time. each speaker will be allowed two minutes. there will be a soft chime when you have 30s left and a louder chime when your time has expired. what's the time? two minutes, two minutes. a lot

of time, folks. i want to talk to the public directly here, what happenede? first of all, i'm here this morning to fe supervisor ronen, who made the right decision. i like to pr me and interrupt you. i beg your pardon? any political activities are prohibited in this chamber. you may not advocate or speak against any candidate or ballot measure. we are speaking on this ballot measure, but you cannot speakst specific supervisor. during this meeting, i was supporting the supervisor on the on this ballot measure u can speak on the ballot measure and hardcore hardcore here. in your old age, the let me try it again. okay. i would love to see the cops and firefighters get all kinds of money, and but the problem is, i don't want to seem get it on the backs of the crippled, blind and crazy. and that's what they're dohe h a consultant came to them, and the

consultant said, hey, what hell do you want this year? we can get you anything because everybody's running forher office or to hold on to their own office. i'll get you, aaron. i'll g you the head of the board of supervisors to support thisoui' the most liberal asian to support this'rr something. and they can't afford to say no. but again,'m all for giving more money to safety the back of crippled, blind and crazy. then the cops said, we'll take the drop program back and said, why not make it five years instead of three? and the firefighters said, we want to retire three years early. he said, no problem at all. well, how about you refigure our pensions, so that we only have to get invested for, for, for the last year, we'll get. no problem at all. all. we'll move in three. you'll be the only one in the city. these items are ridiculous on their face. and

the fact that they're. thank you very much, victor. thank you. next supervisors. my name is floyd rollins. i'm president of the san francisco firefighters, local 798, i want to thank you l of the work that be on this, this is very important to our members and very important to what we number one killer of firefighters in this country. so, you know, we, thank you for all of theork and all of the conversation that's gone back and forth. you know, i can't express how important this is to all of our members, to the health and well-being ofvice ass greatly appreciated as the work does not go unnoticed. and i just have to rise to say thank you for all o the work that you continue to do to help make the city better and help make jobs, better for the health and

well-being of the workforce. thank you. thank you. any more individuals want to comment on this item? seeing none publicisd it over to president peskin, i just wanto we haven't updated report from the comptroller, given the current amendment that were made. and so in fiscal the first year, the impact of the first year of this charter amendment would be a 3.7 million. so this is something that started out over $10 million a year. want to thank the firefighters local 798 and supervisor stephanie'seir leade. getting this to a point where it come down significantly, almost $7 million a year. and one of the thingshaleft out of the conversation, i just want to underscore it, is the amount of moey city pays for claims that are put in for

cancer, and that's a cost to the city. so in swa there's definitely going to be some savings in the long run, and as i saidhing that i was not aware of even being on this body for the eight years. so the amount of canceree leading cause of death for firefighters is unacceptable. and we need to be doing everything we can to fight this. as they're putting themselves in harm's way. so i'm 100% supportive of this charter amendment. i think it's the right thing at this moment when we'rein and i can tell you as someone that's 51 years old,image carrying around 50 pounds of weight running into a burning fire for another seven years of my life. so i just wan 55 seems about the right age for individuals have the right to retire and retir dignity, and have their body and health and mind in order without having to experie president peskin, thank you. supervisorouy

much what i waso sa but i wanted to, actually thank the members of the rules committee, including, supervisor ronen, for doing precisely wt the rules committee should do, which is to take a piece of legislation, negotiate and compromise. and i think all otss committee made, did just that. and the product that is before makes fiscal sense. it makes policy senit health care sense. and ultimately, i bee , is actually going to save the city money. so with that, i am prepared to vote to for this measure to the full board of supervisors. and then finally, let me just say a about, my experience on the board of supervisors and former board presidentat

me the other day, it has been the decades long pattern and practice of the rules committ to forward ballot measures to the full board for the entire board of supervisorsth have comh come withtions of do not pass. recommendations to pass it. they have come withdati, but the sacd act of determinihe a charter amendment or a generalle ballot is really an obligation of tdhe ful of supervisors and shouldn't be bottled committee. the committee is here to take public comment, to this committee made, but ultimately to leave the final decision as to whether or not to put it on the ballot to the full board of supervisors. and that's been the case as long as i've been around, which is now pretty much

a quarter of a century. so, i'm, i'm glad that things are getting to the full board but i got to bite my tongue after your comment t b a charter amendment in the past that we can talk about later cae roll, mr. clarkd to and i want to make a motion to send this item to the full board with a positive recommendation as a committee report. yes. on a motion to recommend as a committee re to the full board of supervisors. vice chair walton walton i president. peskin i, peskin i chair safaí i safí motion passes without objection. please call number two. item number two is a motion ordering submittedo the voters at an election to be held on november 5th, 2024. an ordinance amending the administrative code to establish a first responders student loan forgiveness fund for the purpose

of paying outstanding student loans and job related education, educational and training expenses incurred while the cio are sworn members of the department, fire department, or sheriff's department. paramedics registered nurses or 911 dispatchers, supervisors or coordinators. thank you, mr. clark, this is mym. so i'm just going to say a few words real quick. first,t to thank supervisor walton, being my lead co-sponsor on this item, administrative code toce would establish a first responder student loan forgiveness and ongoing education the dire situ. we've talked abouta loat the board of supervisors. staffing shortages in critical positions, especially first responders. 911 dispatchers, paramedics and emts, police officers, firefighters, nurses s.and de and our public safety and health care ecosystem are severely strained.

because of this, we need creative catastrophic breaking point and ensure that we canrareta excelld candidates to serve our city's public safety ecosystem. so this fund would provide real financial relief by covering students outstanding student loan debt and job related educational expenses for city employees who are sworn members of tment, fire department, sheriff's departmen, paramedics, emts, registered nurses, and 911 dispatchers. both supervisors and the people we count on every single day, and we must prioritize er staffing levels, to qualify, an applicant would need to be hired into one of these categories. after january 1st, in 2025, and work for at least three years, the goal is to build up this fund to 25 million and to forgive up to $25,000, per employee. and so the bottom

line is we must respond, tdersat our first responders. and i think this is a positive step that we're taking to attract and retain that we need to get back to ensure that we have basic critical ecosystem. and, and i just want to say the reason we're putting this on the ballot today is we've p forward other administrative code cha a the ms ignored. and mak sure that we have the opportunity for our citizens of san francisco, our residents of san francisco, to weigh in directly and declare this a mandate very similar to what we did with prop i, very similar to what we did with other ballot measures that stated very directly, that the voters will would be that we would create this and we would have a mandate to follow through. and so whoever the next mayor will be, to make this a tp priority. since we've passed the budget season. now so with that, supervisor peskin, thank you.

fer this to theí, so i am to full board of supervisors to vote on, but i have, a long tt d only for things where the ballot is required, ere we don't have the ability to pass aaw. so charter amendments need to go to the ballot because only the voters can change the charter. to the ballot because onlyed to the voters can pass a general obligation b b initiative ordinances are what we do here every day, and i support this legislation. but we could pass tomorrow at the board of supervisors. it doesn't need to go to the ballot. this is an ordinance, and i think you have the support to pass it here at the board of supervisors. and it

doesn't need to be an appendage to the ballot where we could just be doing our jobs right here. thank you. supervisorlt. r safaí. and just want to say that thk that we saw the federalis. government step up for a l residents and communities across the country to make sure tweulf, which is something that really keeps a lot of our our working families from being able to get ahead and be successful. and so i appreciate us being able to do something at the local level, particularly for our first responders. and i look forward to supporting moving this ballot. thank you, mr. clark, can you open up this item for public comment, if there is any yes. members of the pubc who wish to speak on this item should line up to speak at this time. each speaker will be allowed two minutes. there'll be a soft chime when you have seconds luder chime when your time has expired. are

there any members of the public who would to provide public comment on this matter? i do not see any speakers at this time. great. i close public comment, miss supervisor, i would only add that had this come with a funding mechanism like proposition i, a new source of funds, or with a set aside which would require a charter amendment, it wouldo to the ballot. but this is a just creating a fund without agt fund. so again, i think this is that we could do any tuesday afternoon at the board of supervisors. thank you, supervisor peskin.'ll just add that we certainly didn't want to overload the ballot with any requests for additional funding, given the amount of charter omg ve to do with 911 call operators and nurses and our firefighters and others, we don't want there to be any confusion inrd a know that 100, this can be taken

care ofthe budget process, but we wanted a mandate from the voters, so i appreciate that. thank you, so i'd like to make a fu board with positiveem to the recommendation. yes. on that motion, vice chair waln walton i, president peskin. no peskin. no chair. safaí i thank you. safaí i the motion passes with president peskin dissenting in committee. plea next item. yes. item number three is a hearing to consider appointing one member term ending november 30th, 2024, t the ballot simplification committee. we have one seat, one applicant, pamela troy. seat one. is pamela here? oh, i don't one moment. let me do c. i

did not get a response to my request to extend. okay. i think we're in somewhat of a bind in terms of time. we n skip this item and call the next item. we'll come back to this one. do you know anything about this? i do not, but i would say that insofar as the way this process works with, with the ballot simplification, with the ballot simplification committee, and insofar as this has to be a nominee of the national academy of television arts and sciences, that we don't really have a choice, and we do have the ballot simplification committee coming up. so i don't think we should get in the way of it. no, no, i know 100. i just wanted to give her an opportunity if she was on her way to, to speak. so

we can come backdid you say? sos good. yeah. okay. if you can, pleasel. item four. yeah. okay. yeah. let's go. item number four. item number four is a hearingconser appointing five members. terms ending june 1st,6 to t reentry council. we have five seats and 18 applicants. thank you, mr. clerk. i think we give people the opportunity to come present themselves, and then we can take it one by one. so do you have the go by the list on the agenda if we can. if i can hart, i'd like to request iume that the chair is acceptable to trying to limit your comments to approximately two minutes. if possible. good morning. myeamesm

both a formerly incarcerated individual and a productive and contribung member of my community of napa county, california. the northernmost county in the san francisco bay area. i'm grateful to speak comttee today to highlight the reasons why i should be appointed tone l for the city and county of san francisco, california. i served ten consecutive years in the california department of corrections and rehabilitation from the age of 19 until the age of 29, for second degree attempted robbery. i was a first time offender at the time of my conviction, and have had no subsequent convictions since my release years ago. this september, i will tell you now that i'm a survivor in life avi of violent crime, and despite the ten years i spent incarcerated iour state's prison system at the time of my arrest, i was a product of mpo judgment. of course, but also that of intergenerational trauma and physical abuse, as well as substance abuse related issues

factors. most 19 year olds have no conception of. i know i certainly didn't at that time, since my release, i have earned a bachelor's degree in sociology with anha in ethics, justice and policy from the california state university, chico, where i'm currently completi master of business administration in health careme . additionally, since my release, i have worked exng inside local jails and prisons, providing trauma informed and evidence based reentry and rehabilitative services. in my local jail inen in napa county, as well as inside the cdcr at san quentinte, cmane creek state prison in ione,cad e prison, also in vacaville, california. i have developed and overseen multi-site service, enhanced homeless shelter operations across napa, solano, andunties. i have overseen diversion programing for at risk youth funded the napa county district attorney's office, and i currently sitnilee coordinating council. sb 823 subcommittee for napa county. my

current role is the director of operations for an 80 bedoralealt facility in napa, california. in the interest of time, i will by saying that i have successfully navigated reentering my community and havy incarcerated individuals to do the same. i believe that the decisions made on this council will not only affect ci county t also our entire state. i also believe that if lasting and meaningful change is going to ourommunity and our society in the reentry and justice reform space, this is where that begin. thank you. thank you. questions from. the project. thank you, next on the applts is jeremiah anthony davis. jeremiah davis, are you present in the room at this time? there is no response.

moving on. the next on the list rasheen thomas. rahsaan thomas. okay. next on the list is tabora morris morning. my name is tabora morris, and i'm going for seats two, three guy who just applied for seat one, , let's see here, one of the thingsi nted to bring up is i like to thank thank you guys, for being given the opportunity to possibly serve on the reentry council, if given this oornity, i will use myself as an example of what has worked, what has been working, and what also needs help. and

incarceration, during my incarceration, i've been from the first day working on my reentry back into society. and to me, basically, that's wn the first steps of reentry living in san francisco versus other cities is that i've had the privilege of, fortunately, to have fm others from other cities and areas and the resources they had available to them versus what we have available in san francisco. and was also able to give my input touals based on the information that i had, i can attest ten with all the resources that that we have to offererar obstacles in certain necessities that wasn't and currently are still not available through some of the reentry programs that i have elly,xperie let's see, for seat two, i haveg services for individuals exiting the criminal justice system b

my sharing of resources and information. personal knowledge and alsoduals that i previously that i actually know and others that have came across, for seat three, i was, i have bee rently released from custody in march of this year. so eligi. and, seat . )by, i've had multiple prison terms and that would bey qualifications for the fourth one in itself. let's see. currently, i'mold in the community health care worker program over at city college. and in that also, i'm working on journalism two, i like t help any way possible that i can with this reentry council. and if it's used for helping people,o d actually get an opportunity to do s. all right. thank you. olist of speakers is

tyler john charlton. i'm moving on to the next speaker anthony party. good morning, my name is anthony party.m a returning citizen, just getting done doing, 11 years in federal prison. so that qualifies me for, seat number four, i've been incarcerated quite a few times.e troubles that those who are in and out of prison actually have. and so i'veo, my incarceration, equipped myself with tools that would allow me to actually prosper in a manner in which i am now, i've been of,

and so, i am i still know what the bunk feels like, and i still know what the food tastes like. and sorefore, i have a the ability to relate to t sufred tr consequences that,co on themsele incorporated, which is a publishing company, and weou know, utilize social reform. and we work with inmates and those who are formerly incarcerated to give them tools and skills that will ultimately help them lead a that i specialize iny, one of is financial literacy, which is something that ieach. i have created a curriculum that i believe can be utilized on this committee to help individuals further pro have also worked with an or gazalled returning citizens, who

works very closely with the san francisco public library, i've done speaking engagements all over california, in my time being chico state. i've worked with job corps,pi the youth there to be able to elevate their themselves educationally. and so qualified with the information and tools that i have to bring y help those return to society. thank you. thank you. next on the list of speakers isly. hi. . excuse me. hi. good morning everyo my name is billy. i am currently applying for seats one, two and four. so for one it asks, if i identify as a survivor of violence or crime. and yes, i do. for c two it asks

for, providing services to individual individuals exiting the criminal justice system. so i've bn out for two years during my two years, of after incarceration, i he pursuing my higher education. i am currently attending san francisco state university, where i am a research assistant for a,n caaned project rebound, where i seek to understand the influence of higher education notcivism, bute formerly incarcerated reconnects back into society with loved ones and the impact they may have community. looking beyond the numbers and diving into the humans that the at repsent, for c four, i have mule incarceration times. i was when i first turned 18, and then my second term was in 2014,e i n prison, since i've been out, i have worked closely with people experiencing homelessness because i believe that the foundation to not recidivating

is having a place towas able toe department of homelessness ando, willie brown fellow, during that time, i learned so much, so much on how to help people not slip e bayview hunters point foundat ce i'm working very closely with people who experiencing families, who are experiencing homelessness, i have a strong passion for helping people who are reentering society. i believe th compassion ability equals accountability, you know, a lot of us were not taught the tools to become successful as positive members of socw that i have gained those tools, especially during my incarceration, w i of the delancey street program, i learned how to transition back into sty to help others transition back into society in a positive way. i have a very strong mind where i'm always trying to think of solutions, you know,olutn, solution solutions. no, there

are a lot of problems out here. and through the reentry council, that's what i'm trying to learn. problems out here so that il could use my skill set to help others whonsioning back into society so that we can help people who really want to live break the stigma that has with people you backncarcerated. thank you, up if we have any questions, please call the next person. yes.t the list is isaac lee creswell. isc lee creswell. i'm moving on to the next speaker is lorenzo juan castaneda next next. good morning. good morning. oh he's here. oh, good. i'm right here. oh, good. perfect, good morning y'all. how y'all doing? so, my name is lorenzo. first and foremost, i'm, a nive out

here. i'm from, ramaytush muwekma ohlone. this is, my family's been here generations, and, ever since i was, 8 or 9 years old. i've been incarcerated, off and on. iot 17 years behind the wall. and i was in my addiction and criminality for a little over 29 years. so i know what it's like toition and to reenter society, reenter back in the comm. i'm applying for seat one. seatl two, and seat four. and, i qualify. i qualified all the way around. i, right now, i work in a detox stabilization center, i'm woin nonprofit for reentry. and, i'm

also, i also been in recovery, going on three years, so i discharged, probation. parole. i've been many institutions up and down cal and instead of doing it consecutive, i've had to come home multiple times. multiple t violations. so i know exactlyfid information on how to really help the peoplen'w my i have a strong opinions or biasness against, rm reduction. i feel like it's not working right now. and what i would bring to the table is somethinth works. thank you. than, next speaker is lucas. his

lucas cruz. i'm originally from berkeley, california. i've been homeless on ttsf san francisco, addicted to crystal meth since the age of 16. ien td programs, some of which are highly reputable. yet were unsuccessful. and after a long ri, i'm now a graduate of young adult court. i've been sober for almost four years now, ofrt university, where i studyy fashion design, and i'm qual change, where by positive we practice peer advisory and push a really strong line of abstinence from drugs and alcohol across facilities that afr strongly rostered by the participating in working underneath the reentry umbrella. i've come to understand that when we provide resources for people and create systems, we

begin to organize the nal world. i've learned that the focus is not only the justice individuals, but also the surrounding context and community around them. that through a collaborative process, not in an attempt to do the next big thing or become the next big thing, but simply dng what makes sense to us. we can facilitate a form of recovery for ever and a sense of freedom for all. thank you nick. next speaker. next speaker is michelle maxwell. okay. hi. my name is michelle maxwell, and i am a formerly incarcerated student at uc berkeley. right now i'm applying for seats one and , believe, and, i began i began my incarceration when i was still a juvenile. that was how it began. and i ai

had a lot of trauma in my le and, some addiction issues, and, i have been was a victim of violent crime and witnessed crime in my family, until i left at the age of 15 and came here to san francisco, i did my first prison term when i was 23, and my final prison term started when i was 41, and that was eight. for eight years. i've been out for three years, and im close to getting my bachelor's degree at the university of california and i work now with, homeless individuals, in a shelter family shelter. i have, rega custody of my daughter. who i lost my parental rights to while i wasrated. sorry. and, i am here because i tnk haf

issues that they facen reentry. and i would like us to have a voice in this council. i am. also have a lot of experience with a successful reentry. and i have i have been out over three years now and, i'm still in and progress, and i just feel like i can contribute a lot to this council. and ie am selected. thank you. thank you. any questions from the committee? okay. please call the next person the next speaker is jonah pulido. m

pulido. i'm applying for seats one, three, and four of the reentry council. prior to incarceration, i held jobs in customer service in supervisory and managerial roles. i worked as an analyst in charge of public records for the state of california labor commissioner's office and cal osha, respectively.htunday scho0 years. things took a turn took s sexually assaulted by a familymy incarcerated at san francisco county and am a survivorf domestic violence and sexual assault for seat three. i was just recently released from san francisco county last year on january 31st, 2023. the reentry services through citywide at the main source of support for my seat four, i have servednity

multiple terms of incceration over the course of approximately five years, two countiesnrnia, a state prison termn florida. currently, i work as a peer counselor with rams at community justice service center. it is my firm belief the that reentry starts from behind thll incarceration. i hope that the reentry council can help to put programs in place that are accessible in the right places, at the right times, to help stop the revolving door of recidivism. i hope to be a role, a voice for those that haven't found theirse barrier of having been justice next, speakers is emilio bustamante.

good morning. members of the ilio bustamante, and i'm nam honored here to honored to re and express my interest and qualifications in becoming a member of the reentrync seats 2 or 4, as an incarcerated individual who's personally experienced the challenges of reintegrating into society, i believe i bring a unique perspective and understanding to the table. my professional experience in public service, speciflyy wi t system, has further deepened my commitment to advocating to fair and just policies. i'm excited about working towards collaborative, creative, and successful reentry programs in san francisco, because i know that this county has served as a model for reentry in california since the changes first broughte by, although i'm not a resident of san

francisco county, i rent in oakland. i work for the pn berkm a consultant for various legal firms or organizations in th region. and i also grew up in san josei ninyears in custody. i've been out of custody for eight years. my academic background includes a master's degree in public policy and aachelor's in economics. i believe that when coupled with my employment history, i'm well equipped with the knowledge and skills necessaryative issues anp effective solutions. and i believe tha leveraging my personal experiences, education and expertise, i can contribute meaningfully to the council's underlying missions. i'm also ready to work and collaborate policymakers and community members to develop policies that promote rehabilitation and recidivism. and that bell, i think, is the limrigh sr consideration. thank you. our

next speaker isnce logan jr. james logan, are you present at today's meeting? moving on to the next speaker. erin mcc unable to attend jamie harrison. sutter. goodr is morning. my name is jay sutter, andekinappointment to seat 2 or 4. i'm a formerly counity and a recovering addict, i spent five years addicted to crack cocne and sustained over 25 arrests, over a five year period. i entered treatment in june of 2021 and have since worked as a reentry employment specialist here in san francisco, and i've helped over 300 justice involved individuals find viablent he inn francisco. we're here today for several profound reason mrttly,o

create measurable outcomes for an effort to reduce and prevent recidivism. recidivism is not an issue that exists in a vacuum. recidivism creates me victims. it creates otherwise preventable additional casualties of addiction, violence. if we want to reduce recidivism in our, we have to find innovative and culturally responsive ways to empower thosopt likely to recidivate. that would be me and other members that are seeking set appointment today. my first priority as a smembeate to augment our current employment based fair chance policy in the city and county of san francisco. while the ordinance effectively bans the box and prevents employers from inquiring about a candidate's criminal history prioro offer, and furthermore mandates that employers notify of of the right to appeal upon adverse action. there is no mandate uploys to actually respond to the appeal. without this response. mandate. an appeal by a job candidate can

and often does go ignored. the response mandate undermines the entire ordinance as a candidate's rig to appeal is moot unless we can ensure that employer acknowled csidersn writing to any appeal made by a job candid in a reasonable time frame. examples of a response mandate exist in legislio policies adopted at other parts of california. in los angeles county, employers are required to respond within five days to a candidate's appeal against a adverse action. in a detailed written assessment, adarodes a a dialog between a job candidate and an employer, greatly chae or chance hiring, practice and reentry employment. i implore the city and county of san francisco to adopt an ordinance of similar integri we should be the beacon of reentry employment, given our reputation as the world's most and compassionate community. thank you. thank you, the next speaker is rodney rice. rodney

rice, next on the speaker list is, david moroff. hello, board members. thanks for having us here today, i'm speaking on behalf of seat six, which is not for me, but for our agency, the san francisco pretrial diversion project. we appreciate the board creating this opportunity to co, san francisco pretrial is a nonprofit, community bas people exiting the san francisco county jail. we serve approximately 5000 people a year, through our judicial service diversion, case management, and or teams. and we're really excited to be part of this council to bring that perspective to the organizations involved, in addition t the work we do on a we've been doing for 50 years, we've really tried to transition to meet the needs ofre exiting h

programs like out of county tm medicare, to get people support outside the environments and where they've been exposed to addiction and mental illness, stabilization housing so that when people do come out of jail, they have an opportunityrest their heads and, and get connected to our services. have a team of peer navigators we've built tok in ty to help people where they are and get them conne t management team that's now able to do full person care through mealng, 've added additional clinicians, and we're also about to open affic space, which we're calling the justice equity, equity and healing center, to provide more opportunities for our clients under one roof and bring in new partners space. so we really appreciate your consideration for our see councl be serving when i'm available is joanna hernandez, who's our director of strategic partnerships, joanna has loved

one in the san francisco county jail and has also been involved in the community for many years in working in this field. so thank you very much.. are there any applicants listed today who have? are there any additional speakers? who is the thibody wht spoken? i believe we have all of the listed applicants have spoken who are present. any members of the public want to speak on this item? members of the public who wish to speak on this item should line up to speak. at this time, each ke allowed two minutes. there does not appear r chair safaí and supervisor walton and particular thanks to all of the applicants om i say this every time

there's seats on the reentry un impressed and touched by, people lived experiences who want to serve in this capacity and make things better and se policy. and it's always a tough choice. and i always say, i want to point all of you, but having said that, wey appoint five of you, and i just wanted toith colleagues what my thoughts are, as to how to go about that. obviously, having, diversity of, race andis part og is that i prefern, to emphasize and appoint folks who live in san francisco county,att out to my colleagues. i know we have a bunch of tough choices, but that's kind of the way i

start thinking about this. make, but we'll defer to my friends o, thank you so much, chair safaí. and i too, just one, want to thank everyone who submitted an n toerve, we do truly appreciate everyone wanting to step up. this is an important council. and so just want to thank all of you for taking that step. as president, peskin stated, obviously, we have some tough choices to make here. you know, iinfrom all of u enceand know andt your understand, that you are qualified to, to be in these seats. and so i want you to know that if for some reason you're not chosen, obviously there are a lot of opportunities to serve here in san francisco. so just tie. to submitage you, of your names, to continue to stay involved, because one day something might open up that is

exactly for you, and the timing may be, may be appropriate. and i a an pleased to see so many applicants and excited about the fact that you want to serve here in s. but like supervisor peskin, most certainly, do show deference to folks who live in san francisco for several different reasons. but i just wanted to state, that we appreciate f you and we have a tough decision to make. thank y. yeah i can only imagine it's to come and share your personal experiences, but when you do do that, it makes the wholestrongey want to thank you all for your courage to coming aring your personal stories. and as everyone here said, if we one of you on on the body, but we do haveo defer to san francisco residents. and so that's part of our part of our

task here. so i think i think based on what we've heard, given the given the breadth of experience and by way, many of the people that came here today, their lived experience turning themselves around, t, hy extraordinary. and i just want to thank you all for that, so what i would to move to put bilg lee in seat number one, anthony party and seat number two, joe, joanna pulido and seat three. and lorenzo castaneda and seat reappoint mr. david moroff. and to seat number six. that sound good. and aga, anyone that was not included, please don't take this in any way as a slight to your experience. given the circumstances, it'st, wre

trying to choose san franciscong back and stay involved. and i justt those of you that talked about harm reduction versus abstinence based and the work with positive directions and some of the other organizations, i've had the good fortune of working with positive directions. i was one of the loudest voices, along with my colleague here, supervisor walton, to push forward some abersten living and recovery models as an alternative sentencing, so please keep advocating for that, we do need a whole spectrum. harm reduction is important for those thha move toward abstinence based, and having the opportunity to get access to methadone, in a more effective way, not having to wait. i know we're moving th assemblyman haney's moving a bill to have more access, which will speed up recovery and access to recovery. so we have to balance it out. and so i

appreciate the perspectives that were brought hto do keep doing t work advocating for these, this community. so if i ca have a motion, yes. just to confirm, the it will be recommended with, billy lee to seat one. anthony party to seat two. joanna pulido to seat three. lorenzo juan castaneda to seatr. david moroff to seat six. yes, on tha motion, vice chair walton a walton i president. peskin i, peskin i chair safaí i fa tha motion passes without objection. thank you, can we go back to item number three, see if. yes. item number three is the hearing to consider appointingrm ending november 30th, 2024 to the ballot simplification committee.ha one applicant, pamela troy. yes she

is. yay bye, everyone. thank you. thas for coming out today. thank you, thank you. we'll just wait one second. juse proceed. hi. my name is pamela troy. i'm retired. i applying for appointment to the ballot simplification committee. i will my i have a background in writing that covers both, some journalism, technical writing. i have worked both in the corprofit sphere as a, as a writer who, you know, with an emphasis on being succinct and clea consider lucidity, the first duty of a writer and, am very

keenly interested in the ballot simplification committee. i apol being present because i was at the committee meeting and was very interested in what was going on, and, w too have a background in volunteering for election related, doing election related volunteer work. this includes, as far back as 2004, traveling to new orleans to work as a poll watcher during that presidential election, and i feel very strongly about the need for a clear, transparent and above al, lucid elti. great. any questions from committee members? enjoy yourself. s a it is a lot of fun. and i just want to say i'm i'm always astounded with the history of san francisco and to learn about ute. yes

it's a wonderful institution. an w out of out of work gold miners. that's interesting. it's, you know, i hope it will continue.g strong and i do have i've retired, but i've maintained my ties. maybe they can make space for some out of work ssorswe would. we would welcome them. very definitely. all right. thk any c wish to comment on this item? seeing public comment is closed, i would like to make a motion to full board with a positive recommendation on the occasion of the mechanics institute. i support that there y go, chair safaí, just to clarify, this is a motion to appoint pamela troy to seat one for the ballot simplification committee. there is a request that this be sent out as committee report? ye as a committee report. seat number one recommended as a committee report. vice walton. i president. peskin i

peskin i chair safaí i safaí i the motion passes without objection. thank you. thank you for your service. you. sir, please call item number five. item number five is a motion approving rejecting the mayor'sfor e reappointment of jose lopez to the board of appeals for a four year term ending july 1st, 2028. there is a requesthathis matter be sent out as a committee report. great. so you have a couple minutes to sayso k you. good morning supervisors i'm jose lopez seeking reappointmento thboard of appeals. i first moved to san francisco in 2007, currently living in the outer richmond. before that, i lived for several years in the bewssion districtsr resident nine, as a child of mexican immigrants, i have a making thee

to folks from all backgrounds. and i think that, that appeals has been successful at that in the time that i've served, including during difficult pandemic, timese been able to, to, to really get a lot of public inputmatters fam in a timely manner.o that folks can move on with, with their lives and their business, i'm currently servs th president of the board of appeals, one of the initiatives that i've taken upon myself is to update our website to provide some more resources that are particular help to folks who appear before us without the assistance of counsel and so ite for equity, for openness and accessibility, it would be a pleasure and a privilege to continue to serve, i'm here for any questions. and thank you for your consideration. thank you so much. i don't see anyone on the

roster for questions, can we go to public comment on this item? i will just i'll just thank, commissioner lopez for his service. ich the board of appeals from time to time, and i think that the board is correcty and adequately as an impartial, quasi judicial body. and i'vebe, it was politically charged and apo theiinting authorities. buts is a board of appeals that doesn't b doesn't seem to be subject to political influence and is doing it the law. and so, mr. lopez, for your workvice. t. appreciate that. thanks for your , with not a lot ofs a lot of recognition and acclaim and, thanks. but this is important work for our city. so really appreciate your dedication.

thank you, members of the public who wish to speak on this item should line up to speak at this time, allowed two minutes.d rning, supervisors. thank you for your service. my name is rick swig. i rv with commissioner lopez on the board of appeals. i'm just here to you that, commissioner lopez should be renewed, he does his reading, which, in preparation for our hearings, he listens to, all of the testimony, both from the public. those in favor? those not so, he is he listens very clearly to the presentations made by city staff, evaluates fairly and, and attempts to make decisiba on the statutes which are, invoked by the city of san francisco. he also does a great job of herding the cats. that's us. who are the his

fellow commissioners as he taken on the presidency. we appreciate his leadership. we ec participation. and i hope that you affirm his reappointment. thank you very much. thank you. are there any additional speakers for this matter? there are no additional speakers at this time. public comments closed, i'd like to make a motion to send this item to the full board with maybe we amend this matter to delete rejecting throughout the legislation? yes. and to recommend it as amended, as a committee report? yes, yes, on that motio vair lton, a walton i president peskin i peskin i chair safai i safaí i that motion passes without objection. please call the next item next on the agenda is item numb six. motion to approving rejecting president aaron peskin. nomiti the reappointment of kevin williams

to the building icton f a two ym ending july first, 2026. hi. good morning, myame kevin williams. i'm here to briefly speak with you about my the building inspection commission. as way a background, i'm an attorney with a practice focusing on representation of tenants, consumers and s businesses and representing tenants and small businesse n francisco, i've seen the negative impact of defective illapited conditions and that impact that it can have on the residents of san franciscoi'ved a year on the building inspection commission and have approached my role service as one as one of civilian oversightnd forf san francisco. and i'vethat appg ons legislationn, considering or hearing an abatement appeal.

if reappointed. i hope to continue and expand that role, specifically, if reappointed, i will attempt to do what i can to nc work toe department's, increase the channels of departme information available to the commission. and,rger ava, and ensthents of san francisco have access to inspection services, i'm available for any questions. and otherwise, thank you for your consideration. if i may chair safaí, i just want to thank mr. williams. who is qualified not only because of his experien on the commission, but because of his work as a tenant side lawyer, and i was proud to renominate him to the commission and hope that we are able to

afford him to theboar with a positive recommendation. and again, thank him for his service. any other comments mem? seeing none, let's open up to public comment. yes. member of th public wish to speak on this item should line up to speak at this time. eachpeak will be allowed two minutes. are there any speakers who would like to comment on thimathere are no public commenters on this matter. a great well, thank you, mr. williams, for your commitment to serve. again, i think t year term, to july 1st, 2026. so thank you for being the eyes and ears. i know that you're paying special attention tilion issues as it relates to tenants, i visited an sro just recently in cunnarstanding that there were advocates there th tenant advocates there to work directly with the

commission, in the past, there's been attempts by the mayor to cut theatthose positions. i think it's important to have a voice, someone that co tenants, speak r language, understand their cultural needs, and then also that information then gets sent back to department of building inspection commission so that you all can make the rigerms oft and effectiveness. so i appreciate you having that voice onomssion and your commitment to serve. great. thank you. so i'd like to make a motion, approving thisintmt of o the building inspection commission, and removing the word rejecting throughout. and are we sending this as a committee report as well? no. okay on the motion to amend, to delete rejecting throughout the legislation and to ramded, on te chair walton a walton i president peskin a peskin i chair safaíaf

motion passes without objection. please call the next item. next on the agenda is seven. motion to approving rejecting the mayoral nomination for the appointment of sean the planning commission for a four year ter july 1st, 2028, please. good. sorry. good morning, supervisors of the rules committee. my i mcgarry, and i'm honored to be the mayor's nominee for san francisco planning commission. a little more information on me. i'm a 30 year resident of sciscn ireland, i immigrated to san francisco in 1995. i'm a proud husband, a father three. amazing. kids, two of which are sfusd students. i'm fortunate enough to own a home h all of tn possible. made possible by the faha 30 year, 34 year construction professional at the age of 16, i traveled to london

and became an apprentice carpenter. one month after my 17th birthday. five years later, i journeyed out as a journeyperson carpenter. i immigrated to san francisco in 1995 and joined the carpenters union in 1997. i've worked in the couc an apprentice carpenter, a journeyperson carpenter, a lead carpenter, a foreman carpenter and i actually worked on the mechanics bank back in 2002. in 2007, after an injury on the fo othe nor-cal carpenters union. in 2008, i became a field reenarnters local 22. in 2010, i became the public sector field representative for carpenters local 22, and in 2022 i of senid representative for carpentersl , my duty is to service all the membership of the carpente n working in san francisco, who work under the terms and

conditions of the carpenters master agreement. the drywall master agreement and various project labor agreements in the public sector. my duty is to ti various memorandum of understandings, including the city and countyn o unified school district, erforn, and the golden gate bridge highway and trust. i look forward to working with the planning department in order to serve san francisco asy seek your approval in this process. thank you foris morning and any questions, any questions from any committee members, i mean, i this an important appointment, so definitely come with all the skills. so appreciate you piwardjust want to talk a little bit about the citywide planning. rezoning effort as it pertains to density and height. i want to give you a little moment to talk about that as it pertains to the housingeno

achieve that. so we have to start somewhere, and we have a massive hill to climb using element already. it's been approved 11 to 1 by the boof supervisors. we do have a problem where 82,000 units, we've been talking about, lacking for over a year now. so that's only growing. we have to start by looking at transit corridors that already have the infrastructure to take extra dense density or upzoning. sovea closer look at market street, lombard street, van ness avenue, ge boulevard, judah and sowhere and we're actually starting to do that. but there's a lot to learn and everybody has specifically, there's been a conversation around thinking about the transit cdo said, andt height and density. what do rigr

those commercial corridors, and how would you approach that as a planniom so personally, i live in the i live in the richmond. so if you look at geary boulevard there, maybe arguello, a good example would be arguello and gearyst shy of that, which would be the institute of aging, ucsf that's like a 6 or 7 story building that is totally not out of plac, but geary boulevarese awful lot of small mismatch buildings. it's got a big infrastructure and athe ground floors are actually empty, so. but i, i do believe if we can create a series a positive ecosystem by having residential above commercial and existing existing businesses in the area, getting preferential treatment as to getting thosegru saying 6 to 8 storeys is the is the right height see it

as a problem. you know, i don't it doesn't kill the skyline. and then what about the 70,000 units in theiphere's a lot of conversation about, streamlining the process. i mean, it seems as though ts been taken out of the city's hands now with sb 423, something'se coliant now, for planning, it's going to be 90 da depending upon the size or 120 days depending on the size. so kind of taken out of the planning department. but what about the 70 plus thousand units in the pipeline. so it's a tough one. it's basically we have 423 are basically has local control out of it. but what we do have is basically we'll have prevailing wage health care, apprenticeship compliance, locad what i and also people formerly incarcerated, of which we spoke to, today, all of all of which would have all those people

would have a place in the build those units and hopefully drive down the price. they can actually afford to live in them. so so your response to the 70,000 units is in the pipeline is to talk about the opportunities for different people. there has to be opportunities, right? no0. but i but i'm speaking specifically about what what is the planningtmens role in helping to unstick those units? how are we going to get those out of the pipeline and start building them? besides rt agree with you, is 100% important. we have to build at all levels, local government does have a serious role to put to basically build the mayor's office of housing. t job. state could come in, federal could federal could come in, but i would have no control over that. but i would seriously be looking all

possibilities to ensure that everything that cat does get built, because we do have a problem. i've got th i'vt they're getting bigger. they're going to grow up, they're going to move out. it's my job as a parent to ensure that tnow 's ar house is a safe place to come back to. but they're going to meet their significant others and want to live somewhere themselves we've got a problem. and that that 82,000 is just going to grow. so we do have to start somewhere. okay. great. so my last question is a lot of commissioners have different approaches making themselvesle, the planning process when people have questcommity and they're engaging on specific projects and issues, what will your approach be when residents of the community or associations or others reach out about specifice and how accessible will you be

during the process a commissioner? i'm i'm a union representative at heart. i'm i'm totally accessible, i'm on the job se. if your problem is my sort that. sort out thatwn. i problem, i have to i have to find a solution. there's always ten reasons not to do something, but you have to findone. one reason to actually get past whatever hurdle it is to actually get the job's just an e inherent carpenter in me. so i willtallavailable from on site job walks to meeting the community to meeting developers, getting them all, lined together. if the community has, for instance, i see opportunities here tod. if the community has helmets to hardhats in it, if they havermly have local hiring it, all of those the communityts section of the community should have theht to actually work on the on the jobs that are

being built. no, that's good to hear. i know that when some commissioners get on the planning commission, they turn their cell phones off, they're no longer accessible. they're no longer someone that wants to engage on the issues and they oe packet. i'm not going to talk to anybody, but i think it's important, particularly when you're having impact on different neighborhoods to as a commissioner to make yourself available. so that's why i asked that question. so i' glad to hear you say that. that won't be a problem, the membership i worked with in fid, they call me on my personal phone. they don't call me on my work phone. there you go. okay. appreciate that, commissioner, any other questions frommmittee. thank you. we'll call you back up if ny other questions. thank you, any members of the public wish to comment on this item? please come frd yes. members of the public who wish to speak and line up at this time. each speaker will be allowed two minutes. good morning.

supervisors, committee members. my name is j. anthony menjivar. i'm a proud member of carpenters local 22, san francisco natn th. i met sean mcgarry when i was going through mynticeship. sean was always helpful. he would always give me a job, leads and contactonthing that ss sean always telling me to arn my craft and master it. sean leaseback sampled demonstrating andccountability.to honesty, his leadership and forward thinking approach ensuring tha every member's voice is heard and valued. we are incredibly fortunate to have sean as a field representative at local■+. hello. good morning. i'mng ifor, local three operating engineers. etn lester and an affiliate of the san francisco building . it is my pleasure to stand in strong support of sean

mccrery for the city planning commission. his nomination by mayor breedt to his years of advocacy, advocacy in service of working class san franciscans and has discernment in support of responsible developmenatits community businesses in san francisco. as sean has risen throug ranks of carpenters union, locale senior field representativerpenters ine has consistently advocated in improvement with living strd his members. his experiences bring a unique perspective to all that will

enrich discussions and decisions of the city planning commission. for these reasons, i amat m mccl be an outstanding addition t the san francisco planning commission. thank you. a letter for the clerk. i will, you can leave it at the podium. i will pick it up. thank you.g or aftee supervisors. joshua ahsha with the northern california labs wey 30,000 members from central valley to oregon and our san francisco local, local 261 bm letter of support as well to support the nomination of sean mcgarry to the planning commission and mr. mcgarry, we fi who's not only committed to the city's obligations and goals and aspirations to build the housing at all incomeely the housing el. but to do so with creating good

supporting labor standards, creating opportunities for local contractors, all of which hsuppc situation in our communities, bolstering the local economy, furthering our economic re served as the director of city build in the past, i can say that mr. mcgarry, personally and organizationally, with 22,ome oe earliest supporters of local hire, mr. mcgarry himself was responsible for bringing in tons of localrom ty build, academy and community partnerships into the union apprenticeship and their now successful journey level workers. on a personal level, i live in the mission district, got some kids of my own and the parks and baseball fields and athleticies.e's a really out there in the community, a family person raisins nd very connected. and we want that in. commissioner, thanks.ttee

members, good morning. thank you for allowing me the opportunity please proceed. committee members. morning. thank you for allowing me the opportunity oday in support of sean mcgarry. my name is pedro mendez. i am a field representative from carpenters local 22. for over four years, i've had thelege of working closely with sean in representing worke ae private a. as labor leaders, our aim is to provide agency to all construction wor barng their ins through a fair and equitable workplace work, understanding the built environment an broader needs of the community is fundamental to effectively advocating for the rightsp@ of

workers. i. this involves not just representation, but also actively in a wide range of perspectives. listening carefullyl f making informed decisions, fostering meaningfulon, d building long lasting relationships to a civicthis skt sean brings to tle. his extensive experience and commitment to the community make him exceptionally well-ste thiso recommend sean, who has truly been a great colleague and mentor. i respectfully ask you approve the nomination for appointment of sealaing commissk you. good morning, chair safaí vice chair walton and president peskin. my name is timothy rife. i'm a field representative withe this morning to speak in favor of the nomination ofea

mcgarry to the san francisco planning commission, i metyear n apprentice carpenter. sean has always takenin workers, you know, and that's something i noticed back t wenty apprenticeship and i saw him become a field rep, his interest in workers, the care of workersn know, outstanding, i've had the privil with him as a field rep now for nine plus years, and he's always there for the members when they come in. and he sits and listens to them. i think sean will be aric asset to the planning commission, and he will be fully engaged. and i think, it's a great appointment. thank you very much for your time. are there any additional speakers on this matter? there are no additional. final

comments or questions. colleagues seeing none. thank you, mr. mcgarry, for stepping forward. inow that this is this is one of the commissions in the city thatuires a significant amount of time. you done don't need to come back up. it's okay. you can if you want to, it requires significant amount of time. it is a it is a real time mm■o amount of information, the amount of magnitude, the amount of impact that the decisions that you're being pre i tntnk the level of experience you have in the construction industry is to understand what it means to actually see aroject get built from financing to construction to completion, and then bringing the perspective of working men and women, i think that's also really, really ha a voice that understands

why prevailing wage, why many of the things that labor has fought for in these positions is important, and that's important to have that voice represented. you'll hav juggle. i'm sure there's times you're going to and presents on an issue.nion and but we all do that on a daily basis in the city. attorneys will be there to ere's a particular job orts project, you know, you'll juggle that in the right way. and i'm sure that that's not a big deal. what's more important is that you're going to committee and being a voice for working men and women, and i sp. and as also a parent, in the city and understandinge, and tht the things that you talked about giving people opportunities that haven't had opportunities andtht comes to these jobs and the impact that these jobs have on community, is really, really important. so i'm happy to support you today. thank you.

and i like the fact that you said you're going to have your cell phone on, because i don't like when the commissioners get on there forse and all of a sudden disappear. they need to be accessible to the community. tneo be accessible, whether they like what they're going to hear or not, and then ultimately can hold their vote and say, i will make my decision based on the facts, but'm going to come and listen and hear you out. so the commissioners that i've worked over the years from the planning commission, the ones that have made themselves accessible, or the ones that i think appreciate that. okay, so i think wd this,e a motion, removing all the rejects from this, from this motion and send this item to the full board with tos recommendation. yes. on the motion to amend and recommend, as amended, vice chair walton, a walton i president peskin, a peskinhair safaí i thank you

i that motion passes without. pt itemitght a motion approving rejecting the mayoral nomination for the appointmofl to the planning commission for a four year term ending july 1st, 2028. good morning, chair safaí, vice chair. waltsupeskin. my nae minardi. i am not amy campbell. i am r , director of boards and commissions. and as i believe you, you are aware, unfortunatelyll, th■xe mayor's nominee, is unavailable to be unable to be here today as sh is on a pre-planned family vacation abroad. and so, per an arrangement with the prior, chair's office, miss campbell has prepar a written statement, for me to read on her behalf. before you read that, can i just ask a question? of course. ising she is on a three week vacation.

oh, okay. is on a three week vacation. go ahead and read her statement. i just, i don't know, whatever previous, commitments were made, i personally feel like. and we've talked with amy before from her previous position. i know she comes with, you know, with wonderfulionsvero the last line of questioning that i did the previous applicant. i think it's important to have those things on the record and have that dialog. so i personally feel like that'd, is she coming back anytime soon? because i know we have a meeting, nextut go ahead and read the read the, letter and then i, we ca talk amongst ourselves about how to how the best way to proceed is. sure. okay. chair safaí, i was going to read anbbreviated version in the interest of time, but you have the full version er good morning,

supervisor walton, supervisor faí. supervisor peskin, please not being able to attend this important hearing in person. i am currently overseas on a pre-planned family vacation. i regret that i cannot join you nomination to the planning commission is a great honor for me, and i very seriously. thank you for allowing me the opportunity to have theta behalf. by way of introduction. my name is amy campbell. i from the east coast, but have lived in california for the past 20 years, 18 of which have been as a resident of san francisco since 2011. i've ca neighborhood my home, and it's where my husband and i c raising our two children. i appreciate so much ourne learned that the neighborhoods of san francisco, like the castro, are what helped tois city so special. professionally, i'm a licensedn thstate of california and have been practicing for over 17 years. much of my career has been focused on the built environment

and placemaking and findingthate reinvented and made more relevant to meetod. i currently practice at gensler, a global design and architecture firm, where i also act as a studio director and practice areafor ilding transformation and adaptive reuse. since the pandemic, i'vet reimagining cities through the conversion of underutilized office buildings, and i've had a prominent voice in the media discussion around what's next for downtown san franciscol experience can bring a valuable my expertise cane work of the help ensure that new projects are visualctnal enhancements to the city, while also being reasonable and practical. in addition to community impacts, i can offer an understanding of the real timeengebeing faced by various stakeholders such as building owners, developers, and organizations. since november 2023,[z i had the honor of serving on the historic

preservation commission. my time on the commission has been deeply rewarding. i've learned the importance of coming to hearingsse, how to listen objectively to community concerns, and the an explanatory feedback to better foster dialog. whenmammem excited to take the knowledge and perspective i've gained on the hpc forward with me to the planning commission to help shape the 's growth while still safeguarding each neighborhood, its people, and the unique sense ofce. as i've learned on the hpc, i understand tma the laws, rules and regulations are changing rapidly these days, making this a particularlme fore planning commission. and while we cannot change the rules of ou very best to understand the implications and real world impacts and make the most informed recommendations that we can. i believe that san francisco needs to ntinue to grow and evolve. we also need more housing for all people. ci carries the responsibility of making our growth reality. and ioo forward to focusing on long term goals and outcomes in ensuring

.3ho directed towards creating meaningful and sustainable impacts at all scales, while also pr displacement and protecting the socioeconomic and cultural diversity of our city. if confirmed, i look forward to connecting with wide range of people and different neighborhood groups so i can gain broader perspectives and be understand their concerns, ambitions and growth outlook for thelo me to continue th is a transformational timeway for the city and i am c i c hele dialog at the planning commission. as an it, urbanist, resident, parent, and someone who genuinely, genuinel e people. i hope you agree. it would be an honor for me to serve the city of san and county of san francisco as a planning and enhance the quality of life for all residents. thank you for your time and consideration. thank you, committee members, any comments or questions? so as

i sayin before, i'm my inclination would be not to make a decision today. and continue until she's back, unfortunately, she's out of town for the next two weeks and we m, but what i will i appreciate the fact that we dida conversation with her. she was appointed actually just pretty recently last, like, what, 4 or 5 months, six months took of in november. yeah. november. sorry. time flies. when you're having fun. so it was it was pretty re, remember an extensive conversation with her and, and the t t i appreciate, the conversation that we had specifically. and then she's talked about this square and how transition from

large commercial retail spaces to smaller spaces and transforming that into more of a mixed use solution, i felt like it thoughtful approach, and with her experience and background would make a good, addition to the planning commission, so it's ununat w wea conversation with her. i know she would have enjoyed t opportunity, as would i, but i think i'm okay today with moving forward and putting her on the planning commission, i don't knowhaother committee members feel. i met with her extensively before she was. we confirmed her nomination to t preservation commission and was suitably impressed and have no issues. right. okay great. supervisor walton. okay okay. okay. so we will remove all, like, make a motion. ohwa.c

comment. any members of the oh, sorry. go ahead. are there any members of the public would like to make public cment on this matter? not trying to steal your thisatter. publicot see any comments closed, so i'd like to make a motion removing all the rejecting language fro the motion and sending this item to the full board with a positive recommendation. yes, and a motion to aman recommend, as amended, vice chair walton, a walton i president peskin i, peskin i chair safaí iotio passt objection. great. please call the next item. item nine is a motion to approving rejecting the mayor's nomination f the appointment of mike chen to the municipal transportation agency board of directors for a four year term ending march 1st, 2025. mr. chen, please come forward, quick introductions,

good morning. chair safaíce wald president. peskin. my name is mike chen. i've been nominat the mayor to the san francisco municipal transportation agency board of directors, replacing succeeding lydia. so i am here because i believe in transportation as the essential connecting force between people. ico franciscans to jobs, to childcare, health care, education, places of worship, and their family. and friends. i bee transportation in san francisco should be safe, reliablenvennt, affordable, climate friendly and equitable. a bit about me i am a ten year resident of san francisco and i currently rent with my one car, one bicycle household every week i take transit, bike, walk and ride in friends cars to get around the city. served on the sfmta citizen's advisory council for four years, anddy for two oe committee. i worked with my

fellow councillear about different parts of the agency, ask questions of staff, craft reen present those recommendations to the board of directors. ie my ived experiences can bring an important perspective to the mta board, which currently lacks lgbtq an asian pacific islander representation. as a long time advocate in both communities, i hope to give voice to both groups so that together weat transportation in san francisco works for everyone. thank you for your time. and i look forward to your questions. many members. i have a fewuestns i'll start and i'll let anyone else jump in. so the last time we appointed someone to the mta was janet. correct. and we had extensive conversation about the valencia streetdesi and bike lane. i want to give opportunity to talk about why it's so problematic and what

the mta did wrong and what needs to be improvedu fo that opportunity. you know, with valencia, i think the mtahadonea very tough job, i think trying toal of things. i think priorities are to make sure that people are safas arou, as part of the agency's chartert merchants have access to customers access to the loading ac, and access to, places for their employees to get around. i think that currently, as my understanding is that is that the agency is working very closello by block with merchants to, to nexf valencia street, which it seems that most of the valencia merchants and bicycle advocates and the agency are now all on board with, which is a side running bicycle lane. and i am very heartened by the efforts that the agency is taking to

single merchant toingle block look at every single possible possible curb space, to maximize opportunities for merchants, for parklets, it's thi the challenge is that the agency has is very it's very hard the agency t first iteration with to maximize as muchike lane was parking as possible for merchants, that said, i think that said, you know, staff, staff are are fallible. they can make mistakes. and i think we that to say, well, it's not just about maximizing parking, it's also about as. loading. it's about other that other things. and so what we're going. ie ia great solution. and i hope that it will be installed as meestnt afn in early02 mean, i had a littleerent take. i the ad

a process a bike lane around 14h and 15th andhen they stopped and then they presented this as a pilot. a pilot is not two years. i don't care what anyone says. it's not two years. and the impact that it's had on businesses, i mean, it's impact it's had on pedestrians, the impact it'sad oeven people that ride their bikes frequently. i mean, one is happy and i just the problem that the biggest problem i have with sfmta is they are extremely management heavy and they don't do a good job doing community outreach. they're constantly having to clean up their mess. so i guess that's what i'maski d talk about a little bit more. becauseesof course we want to have a protected bike lane. we w a better

flow of traffic in general. but the way it's been rolled out, it's been completely mismanaged to the point where it's been detrimental actually to the community. and i don't care what you can comew me a study, and you can try to make the argument that isnympact on , but it's had significant impact on tei that's my concern because that model then is taken to other parts of the city. and yes, we thanks president peskin. and the work thahe's done over the years removed, tried to remove some of the political influence from the process, and give more to this entity, butn makingy that then has played out with no regard or no attempt to really fully engage in community outreach. and i think, i think that's one of the biggest problems that needs to be done over for the agency. i mean, that's one. so it to give you an opportunity to talk about

that, because there's some other things about the a want to talk about, but i want i want you to respond to that on my time on the citizens advisory council. i've heard many complaints from the public and also members about outreach. and i've seen that happen at the full board, i agrit you that the agency could do a lot more on outreach. there is obviously something, a disconnect. i thin, between where the agency is staffing, for exampl chinese language outreach people and have for example and trying i rying to, trying to work as much as possible for outreabuhere is definitely a disconnect. and where people on the ground, for ishat is not enough. when if iwi would want to. one of my prioriill to figure out how we can really make this outreach work, because the process currently does not sm to be working. i'm glad you

brought up the language issue because just recently there's this conversation about doing bike lanes. northea, chinatown, and then all of a sudden they meeting no one in the community knows. and i think supervisor peskin's of out by happenstance for a bike lane inn there was a chinatown. i mean, how does that happen? that makes no sense. i mean, we have historic neighborhoods in the city, but i think chinatown would be right up there as probablyhistoric ner city. so for them to have a plan or one that's not knowledgeable of the community, can't speak the language, doesn't have someone doing the outreach. i mean, it's just it's just un it's indefensible. it makes no sense to me at all. and and that was one of the biggest things we said when we did bike toike, there's this agency that wants to talk

about doing all these things reaching out to communities of color and underrepresented communities, but that's not represented in the at all. you don't see any of that in the staff. you any of that representation in the staff. so your job as a commissnehold is e department is held accoune theyt of money for a lot of diento hif managers. and i don't see a lot ofty represented in that department. your feedback is well taken. i, predecessors, sharon ly and lydia. so spent a lot of time to try to bring more language access, to try to try to connec. i, the interest groups inown te is still a lot of work to do, i. supervisor chair or chair?afai talk about having more, local lins. not just project by project

engagement, but more, more local neighborhood based engagement. so that people have are able to build that relt' something that i would like to take back to the mta and see if, because because probably the s ve seen ishat many that, that that maybe projects, projects, you don't see thepeople same people, in your district for, for between the rail project or the street safety project or the bike project. absolutely. and here's the other thing. how many mta commission meetings have you attended over the years? mean, i know you're on the advisory committee, but h committee meetings? the committee? sorry, the community meetings commission, meetings air, i attended the i every month i gave the cac chairs report to the to the board meeting and i attended. i bring that up is because i think almost 100% of the time they have a unanimous vote? where ise

attempt to push back on the agency, not just approving everything that's brought in front of them, but standip and saying, we are going to change the culture of this department. i could keepgo, peskin's on the on the ticket supervisor safaí, i think, touched on some profoundly important issues. and he is correct. i have, i was the that took a strong mtain 2007. commission and turned it into a super strong mta commission.a nh supervisor safaí touched on, with t fundamental assumption that themiulreally discharge its duty in holding the agency accountable and e.sp and look, i have

no, fantasy about this being simple. every aspect o mta deals with is extremely complicated, andthe way, i was y proponent of the proposition at merged that created the mta. and, i saw the policy utility in bringing parking and traffic and public transit under one roof. and there's been a lot of successes. fundamentally, wh get in the work that we do ru and trust is built through relationships, and trust is built through communication, and trust is built through representation. and you referend, commissioners, ly and so and i say as theupervisor who's

represented chinatown for 17 of the last 24 years and, and al result, has, represented the chinese american community all over the city for many, in large part because a lot of the transit activism in the old days emanated from chinatown. a that's why we have chinatown trip and what have you. and, it's always been important to that community, a co relies on e mta and public transit, to have a voice. and i mean, you know, qu frankly, with the seven member commission, there should probably be moran seat to an asian american, but what is important to me is that there be real relationshipal trust, real communicationer, lie lydia so, or like sharon ly, who

were very, very present in the mmisned to the community, work collaboratively with the community, and gave the commission and behind the scenes. i mean, sometimes there were just just the incident that supervisor safaí wasout, which d rightfully or wrongfully by the chinatown community as an affront and an insult, and how it evolved that way. i honestly, i, i don't know, i mean, i certainly expressed on behalf of my constituents my displeasure, but i have not heard one word from the chinatown transit advocates that i rely on and havekewith for most of the last quarter of a cenry who, by the way, have welcomed and ushered in new, younger,

activists and professionals, and let me be very clear. i mean, i this mayor would have nominated somebody who came from that. and had those deep, abiding communitynsrom the community by the community, for the community, but that was not th mayor's choice, can you tell me a little bit about what your connections are to chinatown, to chinatown trip to the es transit community, which, by the way, and when you talk a the mta itself, many of the operators, come from the community. i mean, the former head of the transit workers al 2. is irwin lum, people like, there are so many phil camehin al up through the ranks of the mta as operators. and then devoted that

expertise and activism t holding muni accountable. can you tell us a little bit about. i have not oneord of usually when a high profile, i mean, this is on t most important commissions in the city. this is the only commission that has lislative powers, like the board of supervisors, albeit it is a non-elec.d and usually by now i have gotten a letter from chinatown trip in support of the nominee. i've, you know, en you know, a gordon chin or a norman fung chin radio silence. can you speak to that? yes. my, i recognize i havelarge shoes to fill, and that my advocacy in the chinese community was not is not necessarily through chow it wash other organizations, i have a

lot. i have a lot of work to do to build trust with people in chinatown. i hope that my i hopt i s who is a strong listener and someone who's willing to be an advocate. and as with sean mcgarry, a few items ago, that i'm willing to be someone who spends a lot of time to build those relationships. and what other organizations were you involved in that weren't chinatownor a very rich fabric of organizations with pretty incredible histories, which, by the way, are go beyond t bodaries of chinatown. i mean, they really are models for and have collaborated with interests all over the city. i mean, i, i hear as much from them about,l u knowand e 15, as i do in bus numbers. but,45. i'm

my advocacy was with some, some democratic clubs, including the ed lee asian pacific democratic club, the glbtq asian pacific alliance, working on issues of representation and issues facinc islander community. so more on the political side in the asian community, less on the policy si. yes. thank you. do you speak cantonese, i believe, the board president may speak better cantonese than i do. i, my, i grew up in a mixed korean, household, and i speak some of that and my, my cantonese is limited to ordering dimum. understood. so is mine. thank you. any other committee member

questions at this time? okay. we'll open itp fopublic comment. we'll call you back up. yes. members of the public wish to speak on this item. should i speak at this time? each speake. please approach. hi, supervisors. my name is bob esfandiari. i'm here just in my personal capacity today as a fr of mike's. i'm here to urge you to support his nomination to the mta board, mike has been a friend of mine for over seven years. actually, seven years in a month of the day, and innown him, in some of the organizations, he was talking d, and transit advocacy and something i have known him to be someone who is extraordinarily detail oriented, somebody who takes the time to agrees with them or not, on various substantive issues and sometimes just more relationship building issues and mike is somebody who,

in the time i've known him on the issues that we've agreed with, on the issues w disagreed with, he has been someone who is, fiercely passionate about the issues, about making transit a better, thing that serves our city and a better thing that allows you to around in the city, whether it's by, a bike or by a, orur light rail system or any of thes th other t around, mike is extraordinarily passionate about those things. he sees how they are connected to our broader issues around climate change he is someone who i think would be a on the ma board for continuing to push the envelope on getting to be better about those communication challenges you all tting them to think bolder and getting them to really move faster w to the things that need to happen to make sure that we can all safeln environmentally friendly way. i hope you support his thank you .

you have a good one. good morning supervisors. i'm dylan fabris, the community and policy managern ft ncisco transit riders, which is the rider supported nonprofit organization advoca transit riders here in the city. i'm here today to urge you to approve the mayor's nomination for the appointment of mike chen to therdf directors as a member and former c osfmt y council, mr. chen would bring years of experience working on transportation projects and representing the community to the sfmta boa, he understands the challenges facing the agency and is passionate about improving transportation options for aln franciscans. over the past several weeks, our chce to meet mr. chen and had better understand his prioeswe don't see exactly eye to eye on every

single issue, i believe that he ll take a measured, logical approach to the issues fthe sfmy consider the multimodal needs of all san franciscans, including the needs of the thousands of people who rely on muni every day. for those reasons, i urge yo urge you to approve mr. chen's nomination to the sfmta board. thank you. good morning, supervisors and board president. my name is omar rincon and i'm very proud to urge you today to vote for mike chen, for the supervisors to be, i mean, for the borough of sfmta. and needless to say that ke such a passionate advocate for transit. he understands the impact it has on co and what good policy looks like. he'silli to listen to community members and, and super excited for the possibility of having mike chen,

continue the public service that he's so passionate about. thank you. thank you. are there any matter? there are no additional public commenters, no more commenters. okay great. oh, no more members of thpublic. so public comment is closed. supervisor walton, thank you. chair safaí, just a couple of questions, one, how do you feel about policies that shut off access to the rest of the cit great highway or the segregated jfk? wit t nessarily talking about future projects, what iou is, is to say, is to

look at thegencies, look, look at the agency's charter to see, hey, is this, helping in the agency's charter to make surepeop can get around safely, can get around to the things and the and the and to recreation, for example, with parks, easily and quickly. i don't think that every single thing thing, but i will consider those things. andls within the lens of equity. and i understand the supervisor has had a lot of for people from dit ten to parts to golden gate park,opeor example, with golden gate park, that the mta is■y taking concrete steps o make to make access better, for example, by taking over the underground garage that's underneath the music concourse andsure that those rates are set in a equitable way so that there isacss from all parte

city. what are your thoughts abpo muni? i've seen the campaignor a free and fully funded muni, and i think that's thte from the transit riders, for example. in a in a in an ideal world, i would love i my ideal, world is a transit system that is affordable and accessibleeve, we have to the i understand agency is making very difficult choices, as much as possible, i would like to see that we make sure tse choices do not burden people with the least ability to pay, i'm, i'm aware, for example, that we could for example, increaesehe limit to be able to qualify for discountedpt and to make sure that that we our fares and fine policy and some of the other policies that the mta does, does burden,w

least the, the san franciscans with the least ability to pay thank you, supervisor peskin. yeah so thank you for those question responses to supervisor safaí. and chen, i would like to and i don't known trip or otr, aapid m t ■o ohe s heafrmwe

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