cleaveland: my monitor is not working. >> commissioner covington: commissioner cleaveland? >> commissioner cleaveland: thank you, madam president. thank you, chief wyrsch, and absolutely, we extend -- on behalf of the commission, we would extend our condolences to the worcester, mass, fire department for their loss. i wonder if you can give me an update on the k9 support program. >> the k9 support program, we would like to add two handlers. we have a total of three that have applied. we have to do an interview process. we have the actual handlers that will give us the dogs, we're going to put them on our interview board. >> i can tell you. steve nicholson. it's the national search dog disaster foundation, they'll make the final determination. acting captain thomas, captain miller, they do hurricanes, and they're available locally. they're looking for more dogs, so they've had informational meetings, told them how difficult it is to take care of a dog, ran through the program, and now we're at final stages for interviews. >> commissioner cleaveland: so you have the ability t

commissioner cleaveland? >> commissioner cleaveland: yes. i'd like to pick up on commissioner veronese's comments on the mentally ill. what percentage of your clients are mentally ill people versus addicted people and whatnot? >> i was looking at our internal data, and frankly, we don't have any internal data that measures what percentage of -- of the individuals that are homeless. i'd say it's very high. >> and what i would -- we don't have an exact number. i would sort of tell you that the -- the -- the rate among our highest users is very high, so people tend to have the combination of substance use disorders, mental illness, and medical challenges, and those three things together have caused people to require a lot of needs in the safety net. i do want to also just emphasize that that is not to say that the opposite is true, that people who do have behavioral health issues are automatically frequent users. so sometimes we get confused about that distinction. but to be clear again, many, many, the majority of clients that we're seeing on

commissioner cleaveland? >> commissioner cleaveland: i'd just like to commend this program and move that we support this five-year memorandum of understanding. >> commissioner covington: second. >> president nakajo: okay. there's a motion by commissioner cleaveland and second by commissioner covington, but there's a comment by commissioner alioto veronese. >> commissioner veronese: commissioner cleaveland beat me to it, but this is a great program, and i wholeheartedly support it. >> president nakajo: okay. thank you, commissioner alioto veronese. okay. there's a question on the table. all in favor? opposed? motion passes. okay. i have to say, class of '65, and i wish we were both 65. thank you very much. madam secretary. >> clerk: item number 5, update on e.m.s. 6 program. dr. clement ye and simon pang to provide an update on the e.m.s. 6 program. >> president nakajo: okay. welcome, dr. ye and dr. pang. >> thank you, commissioners, chief wyrsch. i'm clement ye, director for the department. i'm joined by simo

. >> again, deputy city attorney susan cleaveland again through the chair. if we were to approve the contract today, that would be permitted. it would be a question of whether you can use federal funds for a later procurement. >> but why would we spend money to pilot a bus or test a bus that we may not federally precluded from buying later? >> that's my question. >> i think because of the uncertainty that it's very possible that they will not proceed forward with the bus piece of that regulation as it's only in one half of the house -- of the government at this point. >> but that's what conference committees are for, to resolve discrepancies between the houses. given the president's current position, i think that might prevail. >> i do have a question related to that. i know we have a timeline by which we need to order these buses and have them tested out and if you could walk that out so we know what to expect? >> yes. thank you for that question. so it takes about 35 weeks to prepare for and build the bus. our current schedule would have the buses being de

commissioner hardeman -- >> commissioner cleaveland: wont writer position on. give us an update on what's happening with that position. perhaps share if it has to be in closed session to discuss the candidates for the position. i think this position is so critical to future funding for lot of things that our department needs. i like to have that on the agenda and get an update from the department on what's happening. >> president nakajo: we'll have the chief of the department comment on that. >> updated. i gave vice president covington some of the applicants who we are going to get their red resus and who we want to interview. i'll be happy to talk to you about it. >> president nakajo: thank you very much. madam secretary. >> item 8. public comment on item 9 on all matters pertaining to item 9b below including public comment on whether the item 9b in closed session. >> president nakajo: any member of the public that wishes to give public comment on this item. seeing none, public comment is closed. >> vote on whether to conduct items 9b in closed session. the co