. okay. >> okay. all right. this is the regular fire commission meeting february 26th, 2025 come to order the time is now. >> 5:01 p.m. all right, we'll start with the pledge of

allegiance. pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands one nation under god, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. >> this meeting will be held in person at city hall room 400 members of the public attending the meeting in person will have an opportunity to provide public comment. members of the public participating remotely may access the meeting and participate remotely by following the instructions below. >> members of the public may address the commission for up to three three minutes per item public comment call in 1415 6550 001 meeting id two (662) 457-9673 ensure you are

in a quiet location speak clearly and turn off background sounds television phones, radios wait for the item you would like to address to be called when prompted press star three to be added to the queue the system will notify you when you are in line. callers will hear silence when waiting for your turn to speak. operator will unmute you may also watch live at w w w dot s.f. gov tv.org. item number one roll call president marci frazier vice president paula collins commissioner steven nicastro. commissioner ami morgan is excused and commissioner alan low chief of department dean present president frazier will now read the material alone

land acknowledgment the san francisco fire commission acknowledges that we are on the unceded ancestral homeland of the roma to show lonnie who are the original inhabitants of the san francisco peninsula. as the indigenous stewards of this land and in accordance with their traditions the roma to colony have never ceded lost nor forgotten their responses cities 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 roma to show lonely community and by affirming their sovereign rights as first peoples. >> item number two. general public comment. members of the public may address the commission for up to three minutes on any matter within the commission's jurisdiction and that does not appear on the agenda.

speakers shall address their remarks to the commission as a whole and not to individual commissioners or department personnel. commissioners are not to enter into debate or discussion with a speaker. the lack of a response by the commissioners or department personnel does not necessarily constitute agreement with or support of statements made during public comment. >> hello. hello. okay. you would like to make public comment sir? you have three minutes starting now. >> okay good. >> i already said hi so i'm trying to keep it cool to one because we are dealing with fire so if i'm on fire on top of that it's going to be like a bit too much. >> just when we make the pledge of allegiance it's interesting when nation on the good i one nation are you sure there is

something no that's not appropriate anymore sorry for the what is it called diversion you know but it's still they are celebrating a racism in this guy he's on the black is three months. can you conceptualize the thing here what an insult it is for the black community to think that you deserve no, no. they don't deserve anything. >> they are adults. they do not need us well, because well we okay parenthesis the failures in their lives still on fact wildfires as you know they want to destroy everything so they are destroying themselves. >> we going to expose this. step by step they can get away with it. are you talking how many people died there you destroy i mean

thousands of houses or buildings and people are safe where did the where are they now evacuated where i mean okay . >> so they're going to be as far as i understand from the information that we see from this guys other major attacks including on us. yeah, very likely in the next six months. so you need to protect yourself ,get tweet of your cell phones it's time bombs zone that's five towers you know are extremely dangerous for frequencies and stuff you are smart meters at home extremely dangerous to start fires you know that's who okay i didn't mention to you last time which is not fair because i told everybody don't worry everybody is in process. it's called the book revolution which consists to reconnect the entire humanity with all fiddle creatures, all living species

and it's them it's a real we would have done no more because this crop everything okay? we're good. so step by step everybody's going to love it's simply not the fake governments actually empowers vegetable. well by the way of a good night anybody else for public comment? >> let me check the public comment line and if you would like to make public comment in person you may approach the podium. yeah, yeah. so hello you have three minutes. >> please speak into the microphone starting now. okay. i had appeared in the fall

about the issue of luckily needing to be of no parking street. we had the petition and the mta had sent us to the fire department to get a letter. unfortunately the bill was nine a went to the mayor's office and they wrote overrule the san francisco fire department. >> they supported the opposition who view the alley as the community space. we're concerned for each others need for parking is more important than city policies or individual owners rights. mta emphasizes rights laws and legal precedence. so they do not have garages so they deserve front door parking . that is what bos9 and the forum mayor gave them what happened to accountability to public safety?

>> mommy horace virgil cypress lilac osage and orange all the other alleys are no parking so we have the timing was during elections and the former chief had retired early and now it's a new year. new mayor and so i persevere and have brought the folders back if the information and wasn't recorded and this is something i see something say something. so it's very it's been difficult for me to speak up but i'm learning because public safety should be taken seriously and i would like these we've got new people.

>> was the information recorded last time so if you take the if you take the first one off, that's what happens. the fire truck cannot get through and we had an incident this last just this last year where it can't get in and it's if you have 30s left ma'am okay. >> if you go through all the information never say it's important and now hope to get some feedback and i also have a folder for the new mayor because it's accountability for public safety. >> thank you. thank you. thank there are some callers on the public comment line let me check if they wish to make public comment eileen okay

caller hello do you hear me and do you wish to make public comment? oh can you hear me now? i can hear you. do you wish to make public comment? >> yes, i do. okay. you have three minutes starting now. >> thank you. i mean broken coalition for san francisco neighborhoods speaking on my behalf, the department of public works has issued an emergency priority routes map which designates certain arterial to be used by emergency vehicles during major disasters the entire length of the great highway from balboa to skyline is on this map and it's also color coded as the highest priority besides emergency response, the planning department has stated that the great highway could be used for mass evacuations.

the roadway could also be used for mutual aid and yet the section of the great highway between skyline and is scheduled to be closed permanently to vehicular traffic. the skyline section is in front of the oceanside treatment facility the coast in front of the oceanside treatment facility is also an erosion hotspot to deal with this erosion, the city the city's ocean beach master plan proposed letting erosion continue with the concept called managed retreat since the erosion would take the natural its natural course the roadway would eventually be would deteriorate and be unusable. that was the justification for permanently closing the roadway . however, the city now has abandoned the concept of managed retreat in favor of a seawall. the coastal commission has approved the seawall with the

seawall there is no longer any justification for permanently closing the great highway between skyline and but the city still intends to close it, demolish it and put in bike and pedestrian infrastructure. this begs the question is recreation a higher priority than public safety? >> thank you. thank you. caller we have one more caller on the public comment line. >> hello? caller can you hear me? >> yes. would you like to make public comment? >> i would. okay. you have three minutes starting now. >> these are direct quotes from keene versus city of san francisco which include the firefighter from ninth circuit

court of appeals. here appellants possess a genuine religious belief which conflicted with taking the covid 19 vaccine, requested religious exemptions and were construed at least by air for their noncompliance. basically, despite alternative accommodation being available to take the asset places that could have allowed in-person work with ppe and regular covid 19 testing instead the record does not reflect that the ccf seriously considered any religious accommodation. appellants coheres to suggest between their faith and their livelihood imposed emotional damage which cannot now be fully undone and the analogous first amendment context the supreme court has recognized that the loss of protected religious freedom for even minimal periods of time

unquestionably constitutes irreparable injury. that's a crisis of conscious evidence here as appellant basically described being distraught and depressed due to the resulting stigma of having their careers pulled out from underneath them. this is unsurprising given that they had dedicated decades of their careers to cps and found concealment in their chosen professions of serving disadvantaged members of society. but the finding that appellant's religious beliefs were sufficient to warrant any accommodation can only be described as a dignitary affront. the circumstances surrounding appellant's termination constitute irreparable harm. appellants have satisfied their burden to show repairable harm under both federal and state law. furthermore, as busy as that back being requirement is no longer in place. there is no burden on cps staff

for appellant's noncompliance. >> meanwhile, appellants remain constructive only terminated forced to choose between their religious beliefs and their careers. given that the equitable purpose of a preliminary injunction is to preserve the status quo and finally the relief is warranted here. accordingly we reverse the district court have 30s left in their hand junction and remand with directions to the district court to grant the preliminary injunctive relief consistent with this memorandum disposition. >> reversed and remanded. >> thank you. >> i do not see anyone else approaching the podium and there is no one else on the public comment line that concludes general public comment tonight. >> item number three approval of the minutes discussion and

possible action. discussion and possible action to approve meeting minutes minutes from regular meeting on february 12th, 2025. >> is there any public comment? i do not see anyone approaching the podium for public comment. let me check the public comment line. >> there is no one on the public comment line any of my fellow commissioners on the minutes. all right. motion i'll move approval second. >> all right. i'm president frazier. how do you vote, everybody? commissioner nicastro, how do you vote? motion passes. item number four. chief of departments report discussion report from chief of

department dean christman. report on current issues, activities and events within the department since the fire commission meeting february 12th, 2025 including budget academy's special events communicate tions and outreach to other government agencies and the public. president frazier, vice president collins, commissioner lowe, commissioner kodjoe madam secretary, members of the command staff welcome guests speakers dean christman fire chief san francisco this is my report for february 26th, 2025. i would like to open my remarks in gratitude of a retired member adc julie mao who recently retired as the assistant deputy chief of training. she was a tireless advocate for training and specifically in training our female firefighters of which we are

proud to have 300. so i'd like to have a round of applause for our chief maui. >> i will start off with many of the events that we attended myself individually and ourselves as a command staff. february 12th the mayor declared a fentanyl state of emergency and actually signed legislation that was passed 10 to 1 at the board of supervisors. that legislation allows the mayor some latitude in acquiring funding to stand up some facilities for transport and some facilities to take care of individuals suffering from substance abuse disorder. and it's very helpful for us because it allows us when these facilities get stood up to have alternative destinations to hospitals which are overcrowded in the current environment. so we support that. we're very excited about that ordinance going forward. february 13th we attended as a command staff the mayor's press

conference on the lunar new year parade and all-star game which were two concurrent events that happened that following weekend. big ask and pull from us in our department to handle both of these events. the lunar new year parade we have a multitude of units on scene mostly and gaiters providing fire protection, fire prevention, fire suppression. and big thanks to chief brown for organizing that and staffing us up for that weekend and making sure that the citizens of the city were safe. so thank you to chief brown wherever you may be are okay. thank you. but it was really a illustration of the collaboration that we're seeing amongst our public safety team. so ourselves the sheriff, the police department, dpd, w d and other agencies all collaborated to make sure that the city was safe over that weekend it was a lot of a big ask staff wise and commitment long hours for

people. and i think we got through it and we're really proud of the way that the weekend went. but press at that conference was essentially to notify the public of our preparations and make sure that the public understood that we were prepared for. we met with supervisor gaudio. he's a supervisor out in the sunset district and he discussed with us the new installation of the water supply system our potable water supply system. we talked a little bit about that. and as i mentioned in the last meeting we are lobbying to have our piping relocated out there so that we can use sunset boulevard as a firebreak and have a water supply system have hydrants there so that if we do have a conflagration out there we have 400 foot firebreak instead of 75 which we would have on a regular street. so our goal is to have that changed. and we're working towards that. we have a lot of agreement amongst the puc february 14th

we wrote along with supervisor supervisor mahmud wrote along with this the fire stations in his district stations five 3621 we talked a lot about shared goals and issues. he was very impressed with the knowledge and experience of the members and their explanation of our operations was good for him as a new supervisor to see exactly what we do on a day to day basis. and one of the focus was on the displacement of folks since we've focused our operations on sixth street. and there's been a lot of displacement into his district, specifically jefferson park. so he had some concerns and he shared those with the firefighters because they're seeing increased volume in his district due to folks migrating over to his area from the current triage center area on sixth street on the 15th of february.

we actually did attend the lunar new year parade. it was a fantastic event, very well attended basically run by our afi who is are doing an amazing job in recruitment and retention and supporting our department. clarence tom is their president. he's doing an amazing job. he has buy in from all their members. it was great to see everybody. the chief of staff simms had a great idea for us all to wear red ties which i thought was i was against it first. but she was right. it was a big hit. so that was really nice for the lunar new year parade. we got a lot of compliments on that and we were joined by commissioner nikki joe and commissioner morgan and then we attended a dinner afterwards which was really, really well attended and very spiritual for all of us to show our unity with our affinity groups. on the 16th of february myself chief brannon, chief robert we attended the all-star game and we received a tour from

management there about all the security systems that were in place and where our units were positioned. we went to our command post, spoke with our fire prevention folks about what the plan was was great and the really heartwarming thing there was that the members of our department who responded to los angeles were honored on the court during the national anthem. i think that was a real shot in the arm for them as well as firefighters from alameda and oakland that responded to los angeles as well. so some of our folks got to meet charles barkley and some of the other nba players out with that was fun. >> on the 18th we had a meet and greet with meet and greet with supervisors chan and management. we discussed our budget priorities you know as we stated last meeting with regards to fleet and facilities and obviously to retain our our staffing. so that was very fruitful. we had a good conversation with those two supervisors. i had a speaking event that

evening at the coalition for s.f. neighborhoods who the speaker who just commented on our comment line. eileen bogan is a member of that. again, a very good dialog. a lot of concern from those members about the closure of the great highway and the issues. exactly that she's speaking about as well as the installation of the puf system out in the sunset richmond and east side of the city. so it was a good dialog i think we shared some ideas and i was able to show them that we support their concerns and are in the process of installing high pressure water out in those areas. >> on the 19th of february we had a meeting with the fire prevention folks and the fire investigation folks so we had over 100 folks attend and we spoke and shared ideas and it was really an idea. it was really the idea behind it was for us to show our support to a division that we feel is in many ways underappreciated. they're doing a great job under fire marshal child law but

although they're only downstairs from us i feel like we need to show appreciation to them for the work that they do. command staff comes from firefighting field. we're very proud of that. but those folks work extra hard and you know, the important thing about them is not only they keep the public safe but they keep our firefighters safe by enforcing codes that are critical to make sure that we can respond safely. so we want to show them our appreciation. we had a nice meeting with them . >> myself and chief of staff sims attended jose ortega climate club, a group of very rambunctious fourth graders that day. they're climate change advocates and it was fascinating to see how well-educated they were on climate change. and we also discussed with them how it's affected our firefighting, specifically the fire in los angeles. so we talked a little bit about how that fire it was a wildland fire that happened in the wintertime, you know, and that's clearly a result of changing climate.

so they understood that and they also discussed internally how they can affect climate change positively with themselves and their family and the decisions it makes a very good conversation, very fun. some great photos we had that day. we had a department head meeting so it was kind of our first department had a meeting amongst the city department heads discussing commonalities. it was set up by mayor and it was very helpful because we all were able to share our biggest accomplishments and our biggest fears and as we went around the table i think we had some very similar fears amongst departments. so there was a lot of alignment there and i think we felt really good about our ability to work together going forward to try to address some of those fears and i think that was very, very productive on the 20th of february myself and chief of staff simms attempt attempted a like work like pay workshop. so for those of you that aren't familiar like work like pay is when you work in a different rank on a on a day that you're

normally supposed to work in another specific rank or you move up for a day. so what our union did with the help of training chief casper and it was an amazing experience as they brought in some of our professional experienced firefighters or captains, lieutenants and chiefs and instructed these folks who are aspiring lieutenants on the nuts and bolts of that position because it is really a big change to go from firefighter where you're worried about yourself and your partner specifically to officer, where you're worried about your entire crew and other crews and maybe responding. it's a big responsibility and the chief kasper saw that there was a need to inform these firefighters, prepare them for that big transition and it was really great. we sat in on it for quite a while and there was some really great dialog and good information being shared so we feel really comfortable moving forward those type of programs to make sure that our our firefighters lieutenants, captain chief are prepared for the next rank. >> so we're in full support of that and local 798 provided their union hall which was really fantastic as well could

provide a nice large space with microphones and all the tech in order to put on the class the 20th of february the evening you may remember commissioner lowe we had a meet and greet with you and the command staff very valuable, very high level dialog about some of the issues we're facing in our department. we obviously tried to demonstrate to you some of the great successes we feel we have in this department and i think it came through how proud we are to be members and citizens here and and how hard we're willing to work to move things in the right direction and we really look forward to working with you. thank you for your very impressive with your knowledge and the questions that you had. it was a it was very helpful for us. >> thank you. >> the 20 first front 21st of february myself and chief of staff sims attended the acp gala. it was very heartwarming event with a lot of great music and prayer and very spiritual. it was a very impressive event

and what struck me was you know, our bfa has very strong leadership and they are really committed to helping citizens in the city and what was additionally heartwarming was the fact that the young folks that have joined the black firefighter association are definitely the next generation that are going to take over and move that organization in the right direction. they're they're doing a really good job of passing that on . >> commissioners have a good evening.

thank you. you too. hmm. okay. yeah. nice to meet you. all right. we will reconvene in an open session. the time is 7:03 p.m.. >> item number eight vote to elect whether to disclose any or all discussion on item seven held in closed session. san francisco administrative code section 67.1 to a action move not to do so. >> we will have to take public comment first. sorry commissioner. all right. is there any public comment on this item? >> well, there's no one approaching the podium. >> let me check the public comment line. >> i see someone on the public comment line. caller can you hear me? >> can you hear me?

yes. >> would you like to make public comment related to item agenda item number eight? well yeah actually i was going to make the comment on agenda item seven but you never called that item. >> i had and i had called that before we went into closed session asking for a public comment on that item. but if you'd like to make public comment i can run your time which is three minutes. >> would you like to do so sir ? >> yes, please. your time starts now. >> okay. yeah. item six and and you made a vote to go into closed session under six, six, six, seven, ten. >> be so then i'm pretty sure you never called seven at least you said you were in closed session for that, but that was never going to i was going to say. six 7:10 p.m. the central government requested a vote. attorney client privilege in

open session before we go to discussion also the senate inquiry the the agenda is pretty vague. um can't really tell what's going on in that agenda and it's 7.78 the vendors have to have enough information at that point of average intelligence and education to figure out what's going and anyways i had some questions i was hoping you could shed some light on what the case was and or at least some some more details so get figure up on on and also since you didn't take public comment before or on seven anyway then i'm not sure if that impacts your your closed session decisions but anyhow the point got thank you thank you you really was okay now we can take

away i'm sorry do we go to item eight now? >> yes i moved not to disclose . okay. president frazier how do you vote? i vote i am mr. nicastro. >> how do you vote? motion passes item number nine. adjournment. we are adjourned. thank you. meeting adjourned at 7:07 p.m.. >> thank you

[music] right here. then put it and pull it. [music] it is an important part of the work that mission cultural center for well tino arts does. steb in the 1977. as part of the graphic's

department. >> mission graphica created block print. cut, screen printing, t-shirts to support social causes. and also the studio inhabited emerging and established artists from all over the world. [music] so the name of this exhibit this is installed at the hall is public voice. and the exhibition is in partnership with mission cultural center and archives. [music] this installation is 5 decades of the work that they have been doing since the upon upon 70s. it is a chronicle of san francisco's history. >> mission graphica part of latino image makers, educators. activists and memory keepers

through the art this body is important it preserves the people's history. >> these are our new historical arsigh files >> every artist donated a piece of art work and so that collection is over 8,000 piece of latino created art work. >> it was exciting to see their incredible archives and what has been great to see for us is how they work in community. in the ways this community has been in partnership with other communities throughout the last 6-7 dkdzs and longer in the bay area and the nation. political, we grapple with today has been part of our history and part of the print making history of mission graphica. this was the place everybody would come and get their prints

med for free or at low cost. >> it will be successful for the area:may be work >> mission graphica is still the most accessible, low cost studios for emerging and established artists. people can come here to clean screens, expose them, learn the art form at a low cost. we offer studio rental space as well as classes, low cost classes and free workshops and collectives. >> this is like history and contemporary coming together for us. and thinking about how the things that have changed and the things we still need to work on and support. >> i hope the people will recognize the transformtive power of art. and the impact that posters have

in a community. posters are accessible they other people's art. anyone can do it. it is a strong tool of communication and social change. the posters have not only mobilized community they have also raised money for communities. and they have raised social consciousness. which is something this goes well beyond any art exhibit. [latino music] ♪♪♪♪

>> [indiscernible] it was something i remembered learning in middle school, but it was a far away concept. >> i go to the beach a lot. a lot of plastic on the shoreline and it made be sad to see what is going on and wanted to make a change. >> i have many [indiscernible] and i would say it is hard to change the mind. especially of those who do not believe in climate change. >> i feel learning about the environment through my a p science courses and i think that made me to not only have the [indiscernible] also help the community. >> hello everybody. >> many interested in the climate action fellowship, i care for the environment and want to make a difference. >> when i had the opportunity joining the climate action fellowship, what made the program special is i

could collaborate work with a small group of high schoolers and on sfusd and they are all passionate about certain topics. >> i decided to join the climate fellowship. i wanted to build my project on my own and contribute to the environment. >> a project is called reducing food waste and school cafeterias, accept not only focusing on food waste, we are focus on the package the food come in and what makes it appealing to students and what doesn't and why kids are throwing it out. so, we are trying to figure out a way to number one, reduce food waste, and figure out ways to reduce plastic coming in, so it doesn't end up in landfills and the ocean which again is very harmful to the environment.

>> my project focuses on water conversation. in the design i'll introduce about water resources in san francisco bay area. also suggest ways to protect our water resources, not only at home, but outside the house and with our community. >> our project called the bridging cultural generational divides and this refers to sort of the knowledge gap between the asian american community and the environmentalism movement. >> what made we want to work on the project is our personal experiences >> we come from a chinese household and found it deaf cult to talk about--i felt relatable what we are trying to do with this project. >> i would like to see reasonable materials, like a set of plastic forks, forks you can bring back and they wash it and you can use it again,

and food that hopefully isn't moldy and soggy. something fresh and vegetables for sure, because a lot of food is very unhealthy, which is bad for the students. >> i would say we should [indiscernible] education and raise public awareness. >> i want people to know maybe your actions can have a impact on those not interested and help get interested in the topic. >> i think we should use a more hands on approach when we want to draw in youth. >> if we bring it to their attention and show the entire picture, maybe they'll start to figure out what they are doing is wrong and one less person is already a change, so maybe everyone will follow them, which is what we hope would happen. >> we have certificates for

everyone. >> my favorite part about the program is making a change in the world. i am saying to others and doing something about it. >> i think i was surprised the connection after the program. i have to realize that i actually can have a impact. >> we really do bring perspectives to this group. >> my parents they would like--i feel happy because they are adopting sustainable lifestyle with me. yes!

[cheers] >> bring up person that [laughter]. for me it was we had neighbors growing up that were fold my dad he is raising me wrong for having me pursue the things that are not traditionally female roles. and i think the biggest barrier to anyone in general is when you have cultural norms that make you feel like you can't do something that make you doubt yourself and make you feel you should not be there i don't belong. those other big efbarriers i think that is the thing to focus on the most is belong everyone should belong here. [music]

>> wishing we trained women grow in production. and recording arts and so we have everything from girls night classes for middle and high school girls. we have certification academy program. that would be women and gender [inaudible] adid you tell us. progress in the internship frm program where they are working in the studios. they are helping to mentor the youth in the youth programs and the job place am component. most of the time we hire interns instructors in our programs and engineer in our studios here. we have conferences we do all overnight country and we have concerts that we feature bay

area women and gender artists. [music] [music] >> an education forward organization. and so advocacy organization. dedicated to closing the gender gap and the audio and production industries. >> started out of the lead answer, why is there a critical gender gap in this industry that started at city college. why are there so few in this

class i was ashamed i did not have the answer being a feminist. why have i never thought of this i have been in the industry for decades and why have i accept today of all people. it was out of that and unraffling it. actually started the infernship last fall and just fell in love with all the things about women's oshg mission because we are diverse and so many aspects of audio i did not know and i feel like eyes opened up and i gained a lot of confidence in myself and other fells and queer people in the industry i felt there was more connection and community. ironically my time in the industry is all pretty good. i think what happened is i was raised by a father who is an engineer. i was comfortable being strounlded by men all the time in his lab i was used to technology. when i got in industry my mentors were men and i saw i had a unique importance that got mow in the place i could be fluent and navigate something difficult and it was the norm for me. what if it was not woman was createed provide it for everybody. have this environment you are surrounded by technology and people that are going to support you and get you in this industry in a good way. i have been interested in audio i was never trained in music took piano when i was a kid. i never pursued it because not a lot of women doing that. and my family is not musically inclined. when i want to davis the first time i took a music class there were few females in the class. like a rodey for my dayed was load you will the mixers and

monitors and the giant speakers and gigs and help run out the cables and take things down and set up mics i did all of that growing up and never occurred to mow that that was a field they could at all. and then one i could pursue i didn't nobody else was doing temperature my dad and then i go with him to studios and see -- the men in the studio. dj for 5 years now and comments you get like wow you are a girl dj that is crazy. that is wild. and i have great moments where it does not happen. and they treat me like easy. telling mow what to do they correct mow in ways that make me feel less i sprjs the opposite and i notice hand's on like you don't know what you are doing

rather than asking me. not consistent times it happens. it is like when i talk to other females they are like say the same things it is like funny i know that nice men don't experience tht main thing triggers me when i experience different treatment and that happens a lot in the audio world. industry is changing slowly. there is still that issue making the places that are places belonging for everybody. i don't think so. having a studio where it is not all run by white men like most studios. the studios are only in the word built and run by women. it has been super normalize thered are opportunity for girls and nonbinary people.

you go in school and middle and high schoolers know that this is a field. this is a thing there are many jobs you can have in this field. some producing pod casts to setting up live shows. there are so many things you can do >> wee go in and teach the audio skills and give them equipment. i pads and then teach them how to make music and they get to come in here and will getting the tools to people who don't have t. that is really important to me. that's why i was like wow. i want to be there for other fell and queer people who don't have the opportunity and also to be a mentor for them to really push them to experiment and not going to break it. does not matter if it sounds bad that is the point to try it. i think it is the goal to see confidence what they are doing and passionate and asking for

hymn and excite body learning and excited about making music and it changed my life to realize i'm callented in the field i can make music without being trained to it it is amazing to be able to be part of that process and -- ushering women to the field. we can entirely transform how -- the technology part of what you hear every day. we can put xhg something in women's points of view in this every time. it affects the store and he messaging. think our best example is how we transformed an entire city. place that major artists on tour one of the men looks likeip don't get it there are woman every where i go and the person was like you are in san francisco.

you like oh , you are right it is here. most venues have graduates we are grateful to the city for that reason because than i supported us at the beginning. following your curiosity and interest and don't let anybody get in the way what is presented to you, go for t. no matter what! we are here for a reason. find what it is. don't let somebody else tell you what it is. you are the oldsmobile one that have been can know when you are supposed to do. go do it. >> come shop dine and play. taraval street is open for business. >> my name is mark recollect the owner of lou's cafe on

taraval street. since 2010, my brother and tj and vince and mom [indiscernible] we used to sandwiches all the time. we said why not us. geary boulevard in 2010. i figured i might to start in another location and when i opened the location in 2015. we treat each customer as family and we make our food with love and make sure everyone is happy. i recommend everyone come out to the sunset. >> take time for teraival bingo, supporting small business, anyone can participate. it is easy, collect stickers on a bingo style game board and enter for a chance to win awesome prizes. for

suppose you i have yet to meet i am kenny colter chief of protocol for the city and county of san francisco. it is my great pleasure to spend time with most of you this afternoon. this week on behalf of mayor darren flurry and the team at city hall, we are honored to have you here to celebrate ireland. i feel i am welcoming not just colleagues and friends after this meeting today more than ever is a moment to remember

the importance of personal connections and bridges. it has been the high point of my week to strengthen the bridges between ireland and san francisco bridges built in the time of the gold rush bridges further strengthened in the tech rush of today it has been a particular pleasure to welcome the delegation from our sister city cork led by lord mayor boyle as well as the san francisco city sister committee . >> we so value our four decades long relationship to council general smith your dedication towards expanding the relations beeen our countries is vital and deeply appreciated and we thank hilda chassagne, president of the united irish societies of san francisco for her leadership and support of

today's ceremony. to mark this occasion we offer you a celtic knot pen just finding it. you'll find it on your way out as a celebration of our interconnection. please know the city of san francisco is always open to you. i now welcome our master of ceremonies san francisco's former and longest serving big city fire chief and our beloved joanna hayes white to kick off the program. >> thank you. >> good morning, everyone and welcome to city hall. it's a great pleasure to be back. thank you, penny for the kind introduction. i'm here today to kick things off for the flag raising. as you know, all of you that

are gathered the irish have played an integral role in shaping san francisco across a wide variety of fields including the arts building engineering, science, medicine, education, art and my favorite public safety. so here's to the public safety folks. and congratulations to our new chief dean crisp and dean todd a great career and will guide the city very capably. my father, thomas hayes emigrated from county limerick ,ireland in 1949. and like so many immigrants found opportunity and a warm welcome here in san francisco. he also found the love of his life. our mother patricia brosnan, a native san franciscan whose parents hailed from county cork in county kerry. my siblings and i were raised with great pride in bo our san francisco and irish

heritage. and i'm very pleased today to have my brother dan and his granddaughter avery and my sister patty here today celebrating. and i should note my sister patty in 1980 to represented san francisco at the rose of tralee festival. so now it gives me great pleasure to introduce someone that has restored so much hope to our city. huge challenges but he is up to the task and so is his team. mayor leary you're off to a great start. and i speak for many when i say thank you for stepping up and thank you for stepping in. mayor daniel lurie. oh no, that's okay. joanne. thank you. before i get started i want to represent our soup. my colleagues on the board of supervisors supervisor souder, supervisor chen, supervisor dorsey have i missed any supervisors?

our assessor recorder joaquin torres. thank you for being here and wearing such a great tie. someone said to me as i was walking in. thank you for coming. and i was like i work right there. so thank you all for coming. we've done a few flag raisings to date under in the first eight weeks but this is by far the biggest crowd that we had to move it out here. so it is an honor to welcome you to city hall and to raise the irish flag. i don't have to tell most of you here that san francisco's irish heritage runs deep. listen to these numbers in 1856 over 6000 irish immigrants had made san francisco their home by 1870, just 14 years later that number had grown to over

30,000. and by jim just share this with me also and by 1880 nearly a third of the city's population was of irish descent. the irish were foundational foundational to san francisco filling the ranks of the police and fire departments, holding leadership roles in public service business and religious institutions. today many of san francisco's greatest leaders from tech innovators descendants or immigrants. over 60,000 people of irish descent call this city home today continuing to shape and define san francisco's future. on saturday, march 15th, we will celebrate the 174th anniversary of the saint patrick's day parade. it's a tradition that has brought our community together

for generations showcasing, showcasing the rich culture and history the irish have contributed to this great city. many of you here aren't just a part of the irish community in san francisco you are part of the broader immigrant community. so it is fitting that this year's theme of the saint patrick's day parade is the immigrant's story. this reflects our city's diversity and the many stories that make san francisco special. today i'm especially proud to welcome the lord mayor of cork, dan boyle and your delegation. it's an honor to have you with us and we've now seen each other multiple times this week. every time i see him he's having a great time and learning. and i look forward to visiting 1u all in cork. the relationship between san francisco and cork founded 41 years ago has continued to grow and we look forward to deepening those bonds further. i want to thank the committee

for their dedication and hard work including the chair of the san francisco sister city relationship san francisco cork sister city relationship dermot philpott where's dermot? >> dermot and by the way i've seen dermot multiple times this week as well. it's an honor to have you here. we also celebrate this year's parade grand marshal mark gorman and i want to honor the late honorary grand marshals gerald cassidy, margaret marie gaffney and sister either hurley whose legacies continue to inspire us all. i want to thank i want to thank our consul general from ireland, michael smith for his continued partnership and the services your consulate provides to many residents of

san francisco. and as we both said, this might not be irish weather that we have today but we had a great time out on that balcony raising that flag. so it's an honor to partner with you as we raise the irish flag today we not only celebrate the past but we also look forward to the future and ireland and san francisco that continue to thrive and grow. i am filled filled with hope for san francisco's future. thanks to the remarkable community and civic leaders gathered here today whose dedication and hard work are shaping a brighter tomorrow for our city. i want to thank you all for being here. let's make this irish heritage and friendship month month a reminder of the shared values that unite us all. at this time i'd like to invite up to the podium the lord mayor, the council general, the grand marshal and dermot. come on up here.

>> i'm pleased to present you all with a formal proclamation on the occasion of this national day that this month of march will be known as the irish american friendship and heritage month in san francisco. let's go . i like to say next up before he sits down i'd like to ask. i believe by the consul general michael smith is coming up to say a few words. few remarks. consul general smith, welcome.

thank you all. mayor leary, lord mayor boyd, chief of protocol penny colter ,fire chief. i think we just arranged on the way out here that we're going to see each other in humble very soon. and i heard i heard grand marshal mark gorman. reverend fathers, my council colleagues, my friends of georgia. the feel of poor drink plenty of it's a great pleasure to be here with you. and this most spectacular of buildings celebrating some patrick's day, some patrick's month st patrick's season. i love this day it's gathering together to celebrate the green patch within this rich diverse tapestry of a city. it's also a great day because i get to wear this green jacket as well. only one of two occasions and this is the first. the second is not a themed cruise. i can assure you of that but

but it is actually on the parade itself on the 15th. and i want to thank the united irish society's hilda james, chris. all of those liam everyone who's involved in threading together the st patrick's day a season here and in particularly putting together the parade on the 15th one of the oldest one of the biggest parades in the us and in the world. and again as the mayor said celebrating the immigrant story. this is a time of year that reminds us of the deep bonds that exist between ireland and san francisco, between ireland and california and indeed between ireland and the united states of america. bonds that span generations from the early immigrants who built the city to the first responders who keep kept and continue to keep the city safe to the innovators, to the entrepreneurs, to the builders, the nurses, the doctors, the teachers, the police, firefighters refuge collectors

that are shipping and ensuring the future of this great city our connections, our culture, their musical, their sporting, their economic and their political and they continue to grow stronger. there are many bay area companies that excel and the european market through ireland and many irish companies that are growing here in this city and in the bay area. irish owned enterprises employee about 115,000 people in the united states 25,000 of those are employed here in california and us goods exported to ireland create unemploy about 430,000 people across this country. we're very proud to have a very strong team ireland presence here in this city with the consulate, with enterprise ireland, with idea ireland with tourism ireland enabling that reciprocity in economic trade and in people links to ireland and the us were steadfast partners. and as we reflect on a year of

elections and political transitions, we remain committed to working together closely with new administrations across the country, building on already strong relationships and ensuring our values hold true. and talking about your administrations, me or larry? thank you. in just a few weeks we've seen the dedication, the focus, the positivity, the impact that you have brought to this city. my family i think claire and my daughter sophie are here today. my three boys aren't thank god they're in school. but we love this city. we love living here with the privilege to live here. and we talk about how wonderful this city is as many opportunities as we come. your engagement with this community is much, much, much appreciated. and as a community and as a concert i thank you mayor larry arthur. actually our prime minister is currently packing for the united states as we speak.

and he as a proud corkman he sends his best regards and best wishes to you. that will be communicated more officially just before some patrick's day. but just to say his regards to you and welcome to the lord mayor of cork and his delegation all our credit to the city to the county of cork. they're not shy about talking about great cork is as you'd all imagine. but their dedication to this sister city relationship along with the sister cities committee is hugely commendable and greatly admired by us and the consulate and the. the chief of protocol penny colter. penny. amazing woman whose attention to detail enables her kindness and her thoughtfulness to have even more impact for us all here in the international community. thank you penny, for all you've done for us since your arrival and all through the through the week with the cork delegation. >> thank you. and i'm finally as we start the

st patrick's day season and as we embrace that season of celebration, i want to extend my heartfelt gratitude to this extraordinary community for your ongoing efforts to strengthen and honor our heritage here in this fantastic dynamic city. we have a great gaelic games scene out in treasure island. the mayor and i meet each other regularly and the sight of of of feet as we hope that we see you on treasure island that the gaelic fields soon we have the united irish cultural center with huge ambitions for the future. the irish immigration and pastoral center are helping people day in day out. the irish network bay area and many, many other organizations you look out for each other you reach out a helping hand, a friendly warm hand to other communities. and i want to thank you for that. so i wish you all a very joyful st patrick's season. >> go to hug. thank you.

>> thank you, consul general smith. and now i'd like to introduce celtic voices for their performance. thank you for being here today . welcome to do it as well. okay. this is a special song from county leash where the grand marshal is from, is that correct?

>> all right. county leash

i know i

see. i, i i do. i know how to use can.

thank you celtic voices for the beautiful performance. and now i'd like to ask hilda cassin to come forward. >> hilda is president of the united irish societies of san francisco. >> thank you, joe. thank you, joanne. i just have a few remarks. i'll keep them very brief. that's what i was told to do. and if anything, i'll do what i'm told. i just want to say that i'm thankful for being here. i'm very honored to be the new president of the united irish societies.

liam has left me with big shoes to fill and a one to let you all know that our supervisor matt dorsey who is a parish member of st patrick's will be hosting our after ceremony event down in his office. so please make your way down there. i was in there earlier. i noticed that they have a very cool guinness face picture machine. so i think there probably will be a line for that. let me sneak in and grab a pint. just wanted to say thank you for everybody. this has been a big honor for me. i'm very grateful to mayor laurie, to our lord mayor boyle ,michael penny colter. there's so many people i can't thank you all. i mean it would be i would just individually thank everybody. dermot, our chairman of the cork sister cities very appreciative.

so that's my day for you. goodbye. >> thank you, hilda. and before moving on from united irish societies i would like to acknowledge also liam frost, former retired s.f. pd neighbor of mine and literally made a citizen's arrest yesterday and helped save our neighborhood. so thank you for your for all that you've done. and before asking our next speaker i would be remiss without also recognizing mr. dermot philpott. dermot, you and my father were friends and i know mayor leary alluded to 41 years ago the establishment of the cork sister city committee and the many trips that you took and you and then mayor feinstein initiated that committee. so thank you and i love big city small town stories. theresa, your daughter and i went to high school together mercy high school class of 1982. so welcome. >> it's always such a pleasure

to see you and representing the cork sister city committee is board member jim herlihy thank you joanne. mayor laurie lord mor general sf of protocol penny colter. and ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much for coming today to the annual flag raising. it's become a san francisco institution and it's our semiofficial kickoff of the saint patrick's week. celebration. so thank you for joining us. little little bit of history about the sister city. in 1984, then-mayor dianne feinstein called for the creation of a sister city between san francisco and cork. san francisco actually has 19 sister cities and the cork sister city was one of the earliest ones to be created in 1985. then mayor feinstein led a delegation of 200 san franciscans to cork.

you can imagine what a party that was. and in fact dermot was on that trip and i think kathleen was on the trip. so it was a terrific a terrific occasion. since that time the san francisco cork sister city committee has continued to broaden and deepen our relationship. we've had all kinds of exchanges over the years ranging from education, business investment, arts, culture, law enforcement, fire department, etc.. we're looking forward to having our new mayor. i was going to say lord mayor, our new i won't give you that promotion yet, daniel. we're looking forward to our mayor daniel lurie leading a delegation from san francisco following in the footsteps of former mayor dianne feinstein next year and again stay tuned where hopefully we'll do it

in the early part of the year. but i hope i didn't let the cat out of the bag. mr. mayor. in closing, i want to recognize that we have a we have the lord mayor dan boyle here with us today. he brought a delegation from cork. they have been visiting with the chamber of commerce, the bay area council down the peninsula, apple, netapp, etc. . that investment is a two way flow. we have a lot of bay area companies who've made their way to cork ireland and to ireland as a whole. but as consul general smith mentioned, we also have much irish investment into california from ireland. so let's keep that in mind also. and again, mayor boyle, we appreciate the continuing tradition of having the lord mayor of cork come every year and this has been going on for about 6 or 7 years now to raise the irish flag, the irish tricolor here at city hall and to remind all san franciscans

and of course on ted patrick's day everybody's irish. but to remind everyone in san francisco that san francisco has very deep and real roots in ireland. and again, we thank you for your your successful delegation, your successful visit and we look forward to seeing you in cork with mayor lori next year. thank you, lord mayor. thanks everyone for your attention. we're getting close to our irish dancers but we have one more speaker and that is our honored guest, the lord mayor of cork, lord mayor doyle. >> welcome. welcome. yeah. mayor lori. consul general tommy smith, chief of protocol penny colter, fire chief members of the board of supervisors, particularly members of the san francisco caucuses, our committee and

very particularly garrett philpott and grand marshal members of the cork delegation and friends. it's a huge privilege for me to be present here today on a day like today we can think of the generations of irish people who have come to san francisco and become part of san francisco story and who have raised families here who have worked careers here, who have made the city what it has become. and as visitors from ireland we are very conscious of that story and we're very proud of those generations that have followed the initial generations who have come to the san francisco. i have the privilege of being the first lord mayor of cork to have been born in the united states. i was born in chicago. i didn't have much say in that decision. it was a circumstance that was brought about by my parents but my family history is is not that unusual compared to many

people in this room and i suspect in this city. my mother came from cork. her family actually lived on the main street of cork st patrick street. my father was an islander from donegal and fate would never have decreed that they would have met in ireland but they did meet in the united states and myself and my sisters were a result of that meeting and that shared love. so part of me will always be american but most to me will be cork and irish and on on a day like today it's that that shared history we have that has been at the strength of the relationship in particular between san francisco and cork as already been mentioned. it's a formal agreement between sister cities that has existed now for 41 years and that first agreement was signed by then mayor dianne feinstein and then lord mayor dan wallace, both of

whom have gone to their attorney awards in recent times. dan wallace sadly have has passed away just a number of weeks ago and i would like to remember their particular individual contributions to the establishment of the relationship. but today is a time for some formal words. but it's a more time for enjoyment of who we are and what we share together. and the biggest privilege i have in leading a delegation from cork city and for those who are part of that delegation is an is experiences events like today but more particularly the welcome we've received over the course of the week and the potential we believe for the deep affection and relationship we already have to become stronger and better in the decades to follow. thank you for your courtesy. thank you for the kinship that we share between our cities and

may we have many more occasions like this as we honor each other and our shared bond. >> thank you. thank you, lord mayor doyle. appreciate it. and now to close the program. i think this is everyone's favorite part. i'd like to introduce the dancers from the murphy school of dance following the performance, i'd like to invite you to stay behind for our reception and there might be a little something down the hall with supervisor dorsey as well . thank you again. happy st patrick's day. i hope to see you out on the 15th at the parade

today

when i shoot chinatown, i shoot the architecture that people not just events, i shoot what's going on in daily life and everything changes. murals, graffiti, store opening. store closing. the bakery. i shoot anything and everything in chinatown. i shoot daily life. i'm a crazy animal. i'm shooting for fun.

that's what i love. >> i'm frank jane. i'm a community photographer for the last i think about 20 years. i joined the chinese historical society. it was a way i could practice my society and i can give the community memories. i've been practicing and get to know everybody and everybody knew me pretty much documenting the history i don't just shoot events. i'm telling a story in whatever photos that i post on facebook, it's just like being there from front to end, i do a good job and i take hundreds and

hundreds of photos. and i was specializing in chinese american history. i want to cover what's happening in chinatown. what's happening in my community. i shoot a lot of government officials. i probably have thousands of photos of mayor lee and all the dignitaries. but they treat me like one of the family members because they see me all the time. they appreciate me. even the local cops, the firemen, you know, i feel at home. i was born in chinese hospital 1954. we grew up dirt poor. our family was lucky to grew up. when i was in junior high, i had a degree in hotel management restaurant. i was working in the restaurant business for probably about 15

years. i started when i was 12 years old. when i got married, my wife had an import business. i figured, the restaurant business, i got tired of it. i said come work for the family business. i said, okay. it's going to be interesting and so interesting i lasted for 30 years. i'm married i have one daughter. she's a registered nurse. she lives in los angeles now. and two grandsons. we have fun. i got into photography when i was in junior high and high school. shooting cameras. the black and white days, i was able to process my own film. i wasn't really that good because you know color film and processing was expensive and i kind of left it alone for about 30 years.

i was doing product photography for advertising. and kind of got back into it. everybody said, oh, digital photography, the year 2000. it was a ghost town in chinatown. i figured it's time to shoot chinatown store front nobody. everybody on grand avenue. there was not a soul out walking around chinatown. a new asia restaurant, it used to be the biggest restaurant in chinatown. it can hold about a 1,000 people and i had been shooting events there for many years. it turned into a supermarket. and i got in.

i shot the supermarket. you know, and its transformation. even the owner of the restaurant the restaurant, it's 50 years old. i said, yeah. it looks awful. history. because i'm shooting history. and it's impressive because it's history because you can't repeat. it's gone it's gone. >> you stick with her, she'll teach you everything. >> cellphone photography, that's going to be the generation. i think cellphones in the next two, three years, the big cameras are obsolete already. mirrorless camera is going to take over market and the cellphone is going to be better. but nobody's going to archive

it. nobody's going to keep good history. everybody's going to take snapshots, but nobody's going to catalog. they don't care. >> i want to see you. >> it's not a keepsake. there's no memories behind it. everybody's sticking in the cloud. they lose it, who cares. but, you know, i care. >> last september of 2020, i had a minor stroke, and my daughter caught it on zoom. i was having a zoom call for my grand kids. and my daughter and my these little kids said, hey, you sound strange. yeah. i said i'm not able to speak

properly. they said what happened. my wife was taking a nap and my daughter, she called home and said he's having a stroke. get him to the hospital. five minutes later, you know, the ambulance came and took me away and i was at i.c.u. for four days. i have hundreds of messages wishing me get well soon. everybody wished that i'm okay and back to normal. you know, i was up and kicking two weeks after my hospital stay. it was a wake-up call. i needed to get my life in order and try to organize things especially organize my photos. >> probably took two million photos in the last 20 years.

i want to donate to an organization that's going to use it. i'm just doing it from the heart. i enjoy doing it to give back to the community. that's the most important. give back to the community. >> it's a lot for the community. >> i was a born hustler. i'm too busy to slow down. i love what i'm doing. i love to be busy. i go nuts when i'm not doing anything. i'm 67 this year. i figured 70 i'm ready to retire. i'm wishing to train a couple for photographers to take over my place. the younger generation, they have a passion, to document the history because it's going to be forgotten in ten years, 20

years, maybe i will be forgotten when i'm gone in a couple years but i want to be remembered for my work and, you know, photographs will be a remembrance. i'm frank jane. i'm a community photographer. this is my story. >> when you're not looking, frank's there. he'll snap that and then he'll send me an e-mail or two and they're always the best. >> these are all my p

>> you are watching san francisco rising with chris manner. today's special guest is carla short. >> hi, i'm chris manner and you are watching san francisco rising the show about restarting rebuilding and reimagining the city. our guest is carla short the intric director of public works and here to talk about the storms we had and much more. welcome to the show. >> thank you for having me. >> great to have you. let's start by talking about the storms that started beginning of the year. there fsh a lot of clean up recovery

and remediation. can you talk about what your team did? >> sure. the 17 inches of rain we got starting on new year's eve through the first 2 and a half weeks of january made it one of the wettest periods in recorded history for san francisco, so as you imagine we had a lot of work to do. we gave out more then 31 thousand sand bags, we were operating all most non stop from new year's eve to san francisco residents and businesses out of our operation yard and frequently working thin rain so it was a beautiful dance to watch. we had a corio graphed where people drive in the stop and load with san dags and get on it way so thats was the most visible thij weez had to do. responded to all most a thousand calls for localized flooding for the corner of the street with catch basin. our team trying to address

that. we clear and pick up anything to block and it hopefully get the flooding to go down. if we are able to respond we call in the san francisco pub utility system and are responsible for the sewer system under so they bring ing vack trucks that vacuum out debris inside the catch basin. we also dealt with lots and lots of calls about trees and tree limbs down. i think we actually faired better then some other places in terms of loss of full trees. we did have whole tree failures and that is not that uncumin with super satch waited soil conditions. we had over 950 calls about trees or tree limbs down. a lot of calls were about loss of a limb and we could save the tree. we are still assessing the data to figure how many were full tree failures versus limb failure. >> also had land movement too. the great highway comes to mind. what is your approach to

managing rock mud and land slides? >> that is a great question. we had 28 different slides over the course of that period. it is kind of a interesting process, so the first step is we have our geotechnical or structural engineers take a look to see is the hillside safe, do we need to stabilize it in some way or just need to do some cleanup? once they made their assessment they will recommend the next steps. often times to protect public safety we will place k rails the giant concrete rails at the base omthe slide area to make sure that any debris doesn't get on the edroway and bring ing the heavy equipment to scoop up on the ground and move off the roadway and try to open the roadway. some cases, we will actually inject some rocks or other stabilizing forces either into the slide area or sometimes below the roadway. right now there is

nothing that's unstable out there but be are keeping a close eye on the areas including the gray highway area. >> right, right. well, so talking about the storms in the city response, brings us to southeast community scepter when there is rain remediation projects going on. can you talk about the inconstruction project kblrks that is a favorite project. a beautiful new community facility. we were involved in pretty much every aspect of developing that project for the public utility commission. they were a client. we design project management and construction management and the landscape design for that project. and one thing that we included was storm water management throughout the entire project site. so, that project encapturealize the rain water that lands on the roof and flows into the

landscape where we have rain gardens so intent is slow the water down to and give areas to collect to percolate into the ground rather then the sewer system. when we have sewers that are overloaded, because our rain water mixes with the sewer treatment storm sewer system, we actually can end up dist charging into the bay which we dont want to do. anything we can do to just prevent those combined sewers from overpm loaded is a good thing and in this case allows the water to collect onsite and percolate to the ground which is the best way to manage the storm water and it is beautiful and provides habitat. i encourage everybody to see it. it is special place. >> that's great. there was recently news about how city (indiscernible) powered by steam, which is super unusual i think. i understand public works ablgtually does the maintenance

on the system. can you just talk about that a bit? >> sure. that is a unusual situation. that steam loop was actually built when the city was recovering from the 1906 earthquake. it only provides to steam about 4 buildings in civic center but that is how we keep buildings like city hall warm. the steam goes into the radiators and provides the heat. it is a old system and if you see steam billowing out of the man holes or other spaces, that is indication of a leak actually. we spend a lot of time trying to fix the leaks because it's a old system. it is managed by the real estate department and at one point they were looking trying to replace the whole thing but think that is a massive undertaking so now they focus on making as needed repair said. we did a big

repair on growth street where we spent a month and a half working on the known leaks s in the area. it is a very tight spot and have to use blow torches to seal up the leak so a intense operation and seeing more leaks on polk street so we will be out there once it warms up to fix the leaks. >> excellent. let's discuss what is the reunifiquation of public works. there fsh a proposal or plan to split off the division, called the street and sanitation. now that has been shelved and public works is going to just retain being a single entity. can you talk through the process? >> sure. yeah. the original proposal was a ballot measure voted on to split the department into 2. it basically create the department of sanitation and streets that was really going to incompass all our operation divisions so it was a street

cleaning department but encompass everything we refer to as operations. when we worked preparing for that split with the city administrator office, we found there were actually 91 what we call touch points between the operations work and our engineering and architecture side, so we really felt like it could be very difficult to split into two departments. we have so many areas of overlap. there was a new ballot measure last november to reunit the department. technically we split october one and did split in some ways. we did put on hold some of the behind the scenes things like rebranding all the vehicle jz giving everyone a new e-mail address in the sanitation and streets department, but on january 1 of 2023 we came back together so we are reunited i want sing the peaches and purb song

and think it is a good thing for the 91 areas of overlap. we making #2c3w50d use of the research. preparing for the split. looking at all the touch points and trying to strengthen the department so we are more streamlined and efficient. one of the most important component from the original ballot measure is commission oversight. we retained two commissions, the public works commission which oversee the over-all department and approve the budget and contracts. and sanitation and street commission and their mandate focus on policy and deliverable for street cleaning and basically the operation division. reporting to them regularly how we are doing, we think will help make sure we are as efficient and effective as we can be as a department. >> that sounds great. thank you so much for coming and talking to me today and appreciate the time you have given.

>> thank you so much for having me. it was a pleasure. >> that is it for this episode. you are watching san francisco rising. >> [music] >> this project is certainly the most significant of my career so far. the majority of my practice is portrait based. but thes is the first time i've represented someone so iconic. >> building a monument to maya

angela discovering the civic art collection. former san francisco mayor and u.s. senator diane feinstein and nursing florence nightinggale. >> this begun in 2017 and ordinance in 2018 that called for increased representation of women and public spaces. >> in october 2018, the board of supervisors approved the ordinance drafted by supervisor mark farrell and introduced by supervisor catherine stefani. >> item 26 is ordinance to direct the arts commission to erect work of art depicting maya angelou of depiction of women on city property and create a women public art funds. >> angelou attended washington high school and [indiscernible] at 16 years old the city first black female street car conductor.

the san francisco arts commission began a nation wide search to find the right artist to capture the essence of the icon. >> the process for choosing public artists is very simple. it is a transparent open process where you have panels that are determined which artist moves forward and panels of experts that know public art and understand it and know what to look for and how to judge quality. after that, their recommendations are taken to the visual arts committee and then approved and it goes forward to the full commission. >> this is the sample of the [indiscernible] >> from over 130 submissions, one artist, berkeley based artist [indiscernible] was chosen. >> the process began with research. reimursing in dr. angelou's work, her books, her poems, here performances, her interviews and then i

looked at her art collection. maya angelou was a champion of black artist and she had worked by elizabeth catlet. especially portrayals of black women. i was also inspired by [indiscernible] maya's life, which was commissioned by opera windfry. i looked at photographs of dr. angelou, i looked at public murals of dr. angelou and i looked how she was represented in sculptures and knew i didn't want to use a image of her already in the public consciousness. i was really drawn to her 1973 interview with bill moyers, so i used an image from that interview as the basis for the portrait. working in bronze was a

completely different experience. design for the monument is based on a drawing. transformed into a 32 dimensional object which was then used to make 3d print, which were there cast in the bronze, which were then welded together like a puzzle. it was actually the first time that the boundary created a portrait that is 8 feet tall and 6 feet wide. it was a innovative process which is fitting because maya angelou was a trail-blazer and innovator. >> called for the monument to be placed at the main library however there was discussion left for the art est to select sites they thought were the most appropriate sites for the arkwork. >> i chose the site

instinctively. it was really organic the way i made the decision. i walked back and forth in front of the library and since we read from left to right, i decided to situate the monument to the left of the opening. also, the portrait has eyes that follow you, and so i wanted her eyes to follow you as you approach the library steps, all the way until you enter the library. >> i can't think of a better place for this monument then here at our flag ship main library in the tenderloin neighborhood where maya angelou really gave so much of her time and energy trying to improve quality of life for the residents here. she was a long time member of the glide memorial church. she was part of the congregation.

[singing] >> it is my pleasure to well come you to this monumental community celebration and unveiling of dr. maya angelou monument, portrait of phenomenal woman. [cheers] >> let this serve as reminder of the importance of books and the acquisition of knowledge. my dear [indiscernible] has been in my life. always in my life. guiding and directing me towards my greatest expressions. as a woman, as a artist, as a teacher and a mother. >> from the sketches to final touches, the process has been a labor of

love. each stage of the monument creation has been infused with the spirit of dr. angelou powerful words and and unwavering commitment to justice and equality. >> i feel we center have the spirit of dr. maya angelou because they are both very committed to equality, women rights and to insuring that all voices are heard and people have the opportunity to articulate and express themselves in all their many forms. >> portrait of phenomenal woman the maya angelou monument. she is the first all woman of color that is being honored in that way with a monument. it is important moment for that and we are really excited. and we want to continue this. >> that ideal dr. angelou based her life on are as much as part of the monument as bronze and stone.

she's eternally optimistic and hopeful and i think that that is a message that we can all benefit from. i think that the monument will serve as an example for other cities to erect monuments to extraordinary women, because currently the majority of monuments in this country celebrate conquest, war and white men and that really needs to change. >> i rise from a past rooted in pain. i rise, a black ocean leaping and wide, welling and swelling i bear in the tide. leaving behind nights of tear and fear, i rise into a day break this wondrously clear. i rise bringing the gift my

ancestors gave. i am the dream and the hope of the slave. i rise, i rise, i rise. . my family comes from the southern gospel church tradition my parents from texas and that also inform the music and the kind of energy in the