requests, i said either you run the department of justice or the department runs you. right now it looks like the department of justice is running you. since your confirmation, in less than a year, the department has moved as far left as it can go. you politicize the department in ways it shouldn't be. case in point. your infamous school board --. you publicly issued this memo nearly five days after the national school board association wrote a letter to president biden. now incredibly they asked the department to use the anti-terrorist patriot act against parents speaking their minds to local school officials. the school board association has since apologized for that letter, but not before the department relied on their letter to mobilize federal law enforcement in state and local matters. meanwhile actual violent crime is on the rise in the country. your memo -- speaking freely to be worthy of the department's heady investigative and prosecutorial hand. you've created a task force. a task force that includes the department's criminal division and national security d

the president's first visit to a major cabinet department was to the state department. an intentional signal of the importance -- the importance he places on diplomacy. secretary blinken is equally committed to this objective. today at the foreign service institute later this morning, the secretary will publicly outline the department's modernization agenda which has five pillars. i believe he came to speak to you, mr. chairman, and senator risch, yesterday about some of these issues. first, building the department's capacity and expertise in areas critical to our national security, including cyber and emerging tech, climate, and global health. second, elevating new voices and fostering a climate of initiative and innovation within the department. third, we are determined to compete for talent and to build and retain a diverse dynamic and entrepreneurial workforce. the secretary has appointed the department's first-ever chief diversity and inclusion officer. we are addressing a number of issues that make it challenging for officers to serve, from family member employmen

across the department of justice. i commend those department of justice attorneys. many of whom were trump appointees, who had men who at that critical moment in history resisted president trump and his plot to attack our democracy. the events this committee described in a recent subverting justice report were among the most brazen examples of president trump and tempting to bend the department of justice to his will and his agenda. but they were the natural culmination of four years of attacks on the department of justice. there's a straight line from these events to the violent insurrection in the capital building on january 6th. when trump and his allies could not prevail in court and lost case after case after case, claiming voter fraud, they took their big lie to the justice department. and when they didn't prevail there, they dispatched an angry mob to storm the capitol to stop us from counting the electoral votes. i commend the many agents and prosecutors who were working day in and day out to bring these viole

with departments. another part of that is the consequence that people don't make that disclosure there should be consequences . i think providingclarity is ultimately part of the equation . >> that would be helpful and get clarity and understanding when that comes into play and at what level . all of that would be really helpful and also just defining who you have a financial relationship with. all those fuzzy terms that i think could be defined in a way that would help itbe much easier to create rules around . thank you for this endeavor. it looks like a lot of work and all the background that's going on i think is successful so thank you for coming and thank you on behalf of the board. >> president:commissioner bito please . >> can you hear me? thank you for thepresentation . as a new commissioner i have had questions over the past year about the itemsthat you brought up . which is a pretty thick government manual that was written by at the time jay herrera. and i just want to be clear. i think one o

the size of the state department. the state department and diplomacy are essentially the relationship building part of how we deal with other nations. military represents hopefully a deterrent, but if necessary a coercive force. you want that to be your last option. unfortunately, we have it always prioritized, or built up, the infrastructure for diplomacy that were allowed -- that would allow us to reduce tensions and build alliances around the world to make sure we are in the strongest position in terms of allies and support. it is interesting you mentioned the number of diplomats china has committed they are -- there is right now an imbalance between the u.s. military positions around the world. china only has one military base outside of mainline -- mainland china, that's in djibouti. they are trying to get to other continents around the world, but the u.s. is far ahead of china in that respect. still, they have done a lot of work under their belt and wrote initiative to expand their alliances around the world. wh

to the department. the conservatory flowers agreement has been on hold over status for the last nine years. many provisions are outdated. conflict of interest provisions are based on charter sections that have been repealed and no minimum annual guarantee even though the alliance was operating a concession like arrangement. we have policy options, more detailed in the report but overall they are to provide more financial information to include a requirement for how contractors are selected for in kind services and to make -- to strengthen the prevailing wage requirements in the mou between the department and the parks alliance. overall, i would just say that i think where this relationship becomes troubled and the lack of city code and requirements and regulations is that the parks alliance is a contractor, it has its licence to operate the conservatory of flowers and provides donations in the form of cash and selects contractors. it has a separate process to select venders that then perform services on

to the department. the conservatory flowers agreement has been on hold over status for the last nine years. many provisions are outdated. conflict of interest provisions are based on charter sections that have been repealed and no minimum annual guarantee even though the alliance was operating a concession like arrangement. we have policy options, more detailed in the report but overall they are to provide more financial information to include a requirement for how contractors are selected for in kind services and to make -- to strengthen the prevailing wage requirements in the mou between the department and the parks alliance. overall, i would just say that i think where this relationship becomes troubled and the lack of city code and requirements and regulations is that the parks alliance is a contractor, it has its licence to operate the conservatory of flowers and provides donations in the form of cash and selects contractors. it has a separate process to select venders that then perform services on

kvaal, my staff received editing a mile from the department that the department is willing to release an unredacted copy of the student loan valley report with us. can you confirm the receipt of that report, as well as other relevant documents within the next month? mr. kvaal: yes. >> it is a shame you have stonewalled this community, but more importantly taxpayers for more than six months. with your 11th hour response, i would like to discuss your role as it relates to congressional oversight. on april 12, 2021 ranking member burr asked if you would commit to providing his staff with "the the information that he or minority members of the committee request from you in the timeframe." to which he responded, i do. the committee has sent several letters to the department that pertain to issues under the article, including several with senator burr. while the department has provided responses to some of those, in that hearing with mr. cordray, the responses are hardly worth the time it took to send him. many of them provided zero information more responses to the questions asked. that is

what have we done within the district to help the department work within our state education department and local departments to have a good conversation about the best practices to get these investments out? second question, specific to the disability community, these are very difficult. how do you see us being able to facilitate these funds being spent with the disability and special needs community customer those two questions, i will leave it to you to give us guidance and spohn. >> -- respond. >> i will use a fairytale reference. you want to get this just right. not too hot, not too cold. it is a very important and serious topic. i made light of it because you made a literacy reference. as the plans are coming in, what their intended to address is the physical health and safety needs. and then they are designed for students that are negatively impacted by the pandemic. there are 8 million students with disabilities. there are very clear intentions. in the way we plummet at the department of education is we follow the good, strong intentions that were designed to meet the needs of k

it's not just the department of fenton defense, not even the department of justice's homeland security it's veterans affairs, it's health and human services there are some aspects may talk about how you go to undermine causes of extremism behavior and ideology and if you're going to go after those it takes a whole of government approach. not just the federal government. federal government working with state, local and tribal government also work with international partners. while we are talking about domestic terrorism and extremism that is originating homegrown here we are beginning to see trans- national affiliation but i think about the rising white right wing fashion in germany and austria to name just two countries in europe. it's the whole of government approach that is certainly been the focus of the divided administration it's also the focus of congress. >> thank you for mentioning that, the white house strategy is so important here it's a really good thing for us to end on print a question for both of you is, the white house strategy past the policy counsel led by ambassador s

there is no doubt that department personal perform heroically, but if the department had been better structured to get ahead of some of the issues, particularly processing afghan -- p1s in p2's, the heroism wouldn't have been necessary. much like in the early days of the covid pandemic when tens of thousands of american citizens were stranded around the world, the state department personal ultimately performed herculean tasks to launch a repatriation effort. it took weeks of heavy lifting and congressional pressure, and the -- institutional [inaudible] to deal with emergency contingencies, planning, and operations. i would also like to hear your plans for your long-standing priority of mind, for expanding diversity in the department including, recruitment and retention. study after study has shown that -- better decisions and outcomes for the institution. it is essential for the state department, as an institution that represents our country to the world, that we represent our values as the nation celebrates all americans. i'd also like to hear your thinking about how the united stat

with the department or city. the next part of the diagram shows payments made directly from public works accounts at the parks alliance, not reflected at all in the city system. during that review period, they made payments to support public works activities and as directed by public works. the payments went to venders for the purchase of goods and or services or to payments of individuals, primarily city employees for costs they had incurred. of the 720,000 they paid to venders, more than half went to just five venders and largely spent on staff appreciation and events that benefitted city employees. as alleged in the criminal complaint, that at least five had personal relationships. some may have been directed by public works to avoid city procurement rules and regulations. the other payments linked 260,000 went to 164 individuals, mostly city employees. they were usually documented as reimbursement for items such as food, beverages and fees for volunteer events, staff appreciation events and various meetings.

department. a third factor for reinvigorating diplomacy is upping the game on strategic communication. both abroad and within the united states. the atlantic council has issued an excellent report on upgrading u.s. public diplomacy. let me start with domestic messaging. u.s. diplomacy needs a much broader constituency both in congress and in the general public. the current diplomacy/foreign service caucuses need to be expanded. -- and yet you may not serve in certain key committees. the department needs to have more people focused on the relationship with the hill. within the general public, to build general support means of vastly expanding the work of such entities to engage with new audiences, not just those who already know and understand foreign affairs. overseas on messaging means truly having a strategic plan adaptable to regions and countries and integrating data. and on this element i want to note a critical aspect of the strategic plan is an enhanced effort to fight disinformation. i ha

by the department. >> director mcspadden for hsh, were there commitments obtained for funding this site from any source above and beyond add back in. >> no, although once we realized we would need more. we did reach out. i reached out to department of public works to see if we could use this as one of their pit stop sites. we thought that may help with bathroom situation. they already had their map and they had some close by this was not on their radar. they weren't able to shift. we had no other funds committed. >> as you say realize this was going to require funding in excess? >> once we started to dig deeper to the program design with staff here at hsh, we started to realize i don't know when that was. i can defer to director cohen and we can get that information for you. >> i would have to get that information. >> can you estimate the months? i am trying to understand when this shifting came or realization occurred? >> this was an evolution. we looked at it and realized the bathrooms aren't coming i

>> senator, the evacuation that the department of defense and the department of state led was historicn evacuating so many individuals -- >> of those that were evacuated, how many were vetted before they got on the plane? >> senator, it is our policy to -- >> it's a simple question. how many of them were vetted before they got on the plane? >> out of afghanistan? >> yeah. >> i cannot speak to that, but it is our policy -- >> so you can't tell us how many people were vetted before they got on the plane to come to america. >> i'm sorry, if you're speaking of the plane to come to america, if i may, senator, let me explain the process. we working with our allies -- >> okay, here's a question. very simple. those that got on the plane -- >> for america, it is our policy -- >> please listen to my question. >> i apologize. >> for those who got on c-17s and other planes, how many of them were vetted before they got on the plane by american officials? >> for the united states, it is our policy to vet and screen 100% of them. >> so 100% of them that got on the plane were vetted. that's your testi

let's hear from the planning department. >> thank you. scott sanchez, planning department. there is no permit for the pool. i'll turn it over to joe duffy and i think there's larger issues that d.b.i. can address during their presentation. thank you. >> president honda: i have a question. so if the property was never restored back to its original condition, what is the issue? >> well, there's several ways you can address the complaint. it's just the issue there's no permit for the work that is there now, at least none that i could find, and i think there's a long history with this and the adjacent property that d.b.i. can better address. >> president honda: no, the board of history never hears a long history of neighbors. >> clerk: it's time for the department of building inspection. >> i'm going to give you the usual overview of the permits, but then i am also available to answer any questions about the cancellations of permits and notice of violation. so neville, if you don't mind, i'll start. joe duffy, d.b.i. there is a permit for a rear deck in the yard to cover the ar

it's not just the department of defense. not even just the department of justice. it's homeland security, it's veterans affairs. quite frankly, it's health and human services. there are aspects when you talk about how do you go to underlying causes of extremism, behavior and ideology, and if you are going to go after those, it takes a whole of government approach, not just the federal government. the federal government working with state, local and tribal governments, working also with international partners. while we are talking about domestic terrorism and extremism, that's originating and homegrown here, we are seeing transnational affiliations. think about the rising right wing factions in germany and austria to name just two countries in europe. it's a whole of government approach. and that's certainly been the focus of the biden administration and it is also the focus of congress. >> thank you for mentioning that. the white house strategy is so important here, i think a really good thing for us to end on. question for both of you is, that white house strategy

justice department. >> absolutely. for people who want to see an impartial justice department, the antidote to what we saw in the previous administration is not for merrick garland to be joe biden's justice department. it is to follow the facts and the law. this investigation, if he follows the facts and the law, people could still walk away very dissatisfied. i reported much earlier this year a story that there was a controversy inside the u.s. attorney's office in washington, dc in which some career prosecutors really wanted to make a list, an association list, who was a member of the proud boys, who was a member of the oath keepers, and investigate them. now, we know in the united states of america being a member of a group like the oath keepers or the proud boys is not something that's illegal, you can't run an investigation like that. so there are other career fbi agents, career prosecutors, other officials at justice in dc who pushed back on that approach, saying that is not what we do in the united states. so un

the resources are important for department of defense. in a broader context we need to have either a reallocation of some sources or additional resources that goes to the department of education. it goes to hhs or mental health issues. it can come in the form of grants that go into the state for the nonprofit organizations that are out there that are trying to elevate this issue and root out the causes. we really need to be thinking about that as well. >> if i may add one other important area with our veterans. >> absolutely. i've seen numbers from 16% to 20%. they're all veterans. we need to resource the department of veterans affairs. the attraction of these extremist organizations to give veterans who have lift the military, the structure, the purpose. they see in extremist organizations that sort of like substitute community. we got to stay engaged with our veterans. keep them involved and i think that will go a long way as well to ensure those men and women get those in the military are not to be the target of recruitment by the extr

and police department. to understand that it is ecosystem that actually that have been broken for quite some time. it is not just under this one district attorney that is recently reelected. in san francisco has elected some of the most progressive district attorney's in the nation. in my definition kamala harris in that category as well. i am in support of the data. i want to say, data gathering is good. it will be mindful that there's limitation to data gathering. thank you. >> president walton: thank you. supervisor melgar? >> supervisor melgar: thank you so much president walton. i want to say thank you to all of you for engaging in this conversation and considering this legislation. thank you supervisor stefani for your steadfast support of victims and advocates and making sure that we get what we need. thank you supervisor ronen for your thoughtfulness and engagement in this issue. colleagues, i am a survivor of domestic violence and childhood. some of my earliest memories seeing my mother covered in

why isn't the department of justice moving fast enough? today the department of justice acted. the federal grand jury acted handing down this indictment and the attorney general sticking by his message. this was all about the rule of law and not politics. >> jessica, thanks so much. >>> i want to bring in paula reid, evan perez also with us and also caroline, a criminal defense attorney and phillip bump, national correspondent for "the washington post" and elie honig. before this happened, the news that we were going to talk about was the fact that former white house chief of staff mark meadows defied the committee today, refused to show up. i think that they are probably going to be a lot of trump associates who see steve bannon arrested, which will happen soon enough, and think, huh, maybe i should cooperate. >> absolutely. it's great news for the committee because we've seen so far they have had difficulty getting meaningful cooperation from the folks in trump's inner circle who they have subpoenaed. now i know talking to sources there are witnesses who have specifically bee

the fire department is a family. we live together, eat together, sleep in the same dorm together, go to crazy calls together, dangerous calls and we have to look out for one another. when i was burned in a fire years ago and i felt responsible, i felt awful. i didn't want to talk to any of my civilian friends. they couldn't understand what i was going through. the firefighters knew, they understood. they had been there. it is a different relationship. we have to rely on one another. in terms of me being the chief of the department, i am really trying to maintain an open relationship with all of our members in the field so myself and my deputy chiefs, one of the priorities i had was for each of us to go around to different fire stations to make sure we hit all within the first three or four months to start a conversation. that hasn't been there for a while. part of the reason that i am getting along well with the field now is because i was there. i worked there. people know me and because i know what we need. i know w

but many of the department specific ordinances will require cross department or department specific work and funding these is going to be imperative for the implementation. and the final point here is that policies are going to be the most effective if they include community-based organizations and community input and recognize that community led action that helps support the city's vision is going to create the strongest most robust policies to creating a more sustainable san francisco. other recommendations, centralize climate discussions and communicate a cohesive city vision. many of our departments wish there was a centralized facility. many of the policies are across departments and more efficient way to do the conversations would be to have one facilitating body. sfe could serve as the body but at the moment they don't have the capacity to increase facilitation. and then, departments wish they -- would like to have more clearly defined roles and responsibilities for how to implement climate action policies. and finally, an idea that came about through conversations is to explore a

the fire department is a family.eep in the same dorm together, go to crazy calls together, dangerous calls and we have to look out for one another. when i was burned in a fire years ago and i felt responsible, i felt awful. i didn't want to talk to any of my civilian friends. they couldn't understand what i was going through. the firefighters knew, they understood. they had been there. it is a different relationship. we have to rely on one another. in terms of me being the chief of the department, i am really trying to maintain an open relationship with all of our members in the field so myself and my deputy chiefs, one of the priorities i had was for each of us to go around to different fire stations to make sure we hit all within the first three or four months to start a conversation. that hasn't been there for a while. part of the reason that i am getting along well with the field now is because i was there. i worked there. people know me and because i know what we need. i know what they need to be successful. >>

to be seem to be, the democrats justice department, and joe biden's justice department.ecause the prior justice department had no qualms about been donald trump's justice department. >> absolutely, i think that for people who want to see an impartial justice department, the antidote to what we saw on the previous administration is not for merrick garland to be joe biden's department, it is to follow the facts and the law. now, this investigation, if you follow the facts and law, people can still walk away very dissatisfied. i reported much earlier this year, that there is a controversy inside the attorney's office in washington, d.c., in which some career prosecutors really wanted to, just, make an association list, who is a member of the proud boys and the oath keepers, and investigate them. now, we know that in the united states of america, being a member of a group like the oath keepers of the proud boys, is not something that is illegal. you can run investigation like that. so there were other career fbi agents, career prosecutors, and other officials in d.c. who pus

i am joined by members of from multiple city departments the p.u.c., tom o'connor at the fire department public works and brian strong from the office of capital planning. i am representing all agencies. if questions are better answered by colleagues i will pass to them. i will start for new listeners out there. what is the emergency water system. it is a high pressure water system built after the 1906 earthquake. primary source of water is the regional scatter system. secondary sources are two sea water pumps. one by the galileo high school and one in the basement of the fire department by the giants stadium. the transfer was in 2010 of the mayor's order. however, the fire department is the end user. all system im movements and expansion must be approved by the fire department apand public works. they have been working on this for decades. we use modeling to guide decision making. computer modeling to understand where we should move water, what new pipes, water sources. it is a very technical model to guide us here. today's agenda. supervisor mar talked about the study we submitted in j

department oversight review board. i retired may 2019 after 29 and a half years. 10 and a half years were in an admin position, positions. i was the deputy chief of operations to the second in command, general orders policies and procedures, memo randoms. i've reviewed most all of those before the chief's signature. i oversaw hundreds of disciplinary recommendations, made recommendations to the chief. also attended disciplinary hearings before the fire commission. represented the department in the m.l.u. negotiations. i attended monthly meetings. some of the responsibilities or my direct reports were the airport. the fire marshal, fire preventions, fire investigation. i worked on many projects with the d.m., department of emergency management. action plans and also workeded hand in hand with personnel office fire suppression scheduling. also, i took pride in creating programs and sustained objectives. i look forward if allowed the privilege to serve on this board and available for any questions. >> chairman: thank you,

so carla short, her department, the department of public works, they managed this project to get it done on time and under budget. almost. [laughter] you guys sure know how to spend some money, don't you? and i want to thank dr. colfax for being here as well from the department of public health and the work that you do to work with the folks here in order to ensure that there's health in this community and i want to say that it's been a very, very difficult time where the city had to shut down. and we have relied so heavily on our public health folks, our nurses and our folks and our clinicians and our people out there on the field, because of the challenges that existed. and so i know that many of the people who were working at maxine hall, at elio hutch community center, they were the folks who answered all of the questions about covid and dealing with a lot of the concern and the fear from the community. and i want to thank you for continuing to be on the front lines, even when we didn't understand the impacts of covid and what it would do. and then when we provided the vaccine, that

it does nothing but bolster our citizens' confidence in the department. and i wanted to really as we said, used to say give a shout out to those efforts. i had -- and we're going to pick a little bit on a pleasant way on chief tong and chief pang. and commissioner, nakajo, a list of sedated a lot of the comments that i had. and i really find that the highlights that you have to give and in the report and as to what you are doing are really show the depth and skill and ability and service that the department is providing. you all need to be all of those and work under under each of the respective commands. the numbers are impressive. the stories are impressive. and any way you look at it, it is really, and it is tough duty and i know every outcome isn't a happy one, but i really want to commend all the effort that's gone into developing community paramedicine as a division and operation of the department and is really, really well done. and i want to make that comment. the other comment and hear the station 39, your new home, impacted by the heavy rain tha

and police department. to understand that it is ecosystem that actually that have been broken for quite some time. it is not just under this one district attorney that is recently reelected. in san francisco has elected some of the most progressive district attorney's in the nation. in my definition kamala harris in that category as well. i am in support of the data. i want to say, data gathering is good. it will be mindful that there's limitation to data gathering. thank you. >> president walton: thank you. supervisor melgar? >> supervisor melgar: thank you so much president walton. i want to say thank you to all of you for engaging in this conversation and considering this legislation. thank you supervisor stefani for your steadfast support of victims and advocates and making sure that we get what we need. thank you supervisor ronen for your thoughtfulness and engagement in this issue. colleagues, i am a survivor of domestic violence and childhood. some of my earliest memories seeing my mother covered in

department. >> certainly. sophia kitler with the mayor's office. so i'm going to push back. we're not really creating a new department, we're creating a position in an existing department. the office of digital services, which is also the city administrator's office tends to work on a work order basis, so they get hired by individual contract to solve a specific problem. and what we find is while they do a tremendous job, it gets very siloed, and we get -- lose a lot of things in particularly the cross departmental sense? so for example, when we look at something like permitting, digital services is set up to look at something like d.b.i., how do they look at their infrastructure to bring the model on-line, but that model doesn't work as well when we're trying to have a comprehensive understanding of planning, d.b.i., fire, and what have you. so one of the things that we proposed with this grant is we have a single staff in the mayor's office whose job is to work across departments, and then, we have a grant t

of the planning department staff. i support positions making sure this is in every single, you know, area of the planning department. i don't know if you have seen this but a few years ago the department did a study of the demographics of the planning department staff. it found that the leadership of the department and planner 1, clerical, everything else at the the-- bottom of the work chart d not match. i feel very deeply you cannot plan for a city unless you understand that city, the communities. you understand its struggles, vision, dreams happy. having the community equity component is essential as we shift towards. you think that the affordability challenges, climate crisis, all of the changes we are going through. these divisions look very different than the rest of the defendant staff. i think it is great we are doing this. i look for war to this being part of everything else. thank you for bringing it up. >> i think we are all on the same page and want to make sure that work plan is implemented. i think we al

the san francisco police department. last month the local reported the lack of cooperation between sfpa and other organizations that sfpd is to cooperate with. we know for sure sfpd should not and cannot police itself. will the police commission take action regarding the anti-blackness in san francisco? thank you. >> good evening. you have two minutes. >> i am susan buckman in district 5 and volunteer with wealth and disparities in the black community. following is a quote from our founder. there is a urgency to address the injustices of black san franciscan. anti-black necessary to the use of force arrest and racial profiling. i have grown tired of talking to the commission and sfpd and board of supervisors. where is the urgency? if the tables were turned and this represented white folks there would be a urgency. michelle obama stated it happens to us. when are you going to take responsibility to address the bias and unjust statistics for all san franciscans, not just black san francisco tans. you took a oath to uphold