is it a conflict of interest for nate ballard to be an advisor to the mayor when he was just recently renaled as a lobbyist for the p.o.a.? >> my office does not provide advice to officials or other officials. we would provide to the mayor's office any concerns that that position would have. >> supervisor cohen: it's my understanding that he has taken a leave from his role in the p.o.a., so he hasn't officially left. i think it's a real conflict especially around negotiations for this contract, and that gives me pause, and i think it's important that we understand where and how through the city attorney's office we can find out exactly, you know, what is going on, who's at the table, who's making the decisions and how that all is coming together. and if you could provide us with the information as to whether or not an opinion could be provided, whether it's in closed session or not. >> all right. thank you, mr. givner. i want to go back to the bla, see if they're -- got some answers. so big picture. how much are we spending in the police department overall? >> so the police department

second, i am concerned that up until very recently, one of the mayor's current senior advisors, nate ballard, was also a consultant to the boa, third, beyond this perceived conflict, this mayor's recent endor endorsement of the tazer ballot initiative made him quite frankly the only elected official to take such position. now this position not only undermined our own sitting police chief, the police commission, and many other elected officials, let alone concerned citizens and community members, including myself. we are all vehemently opposed to proposition h, as it is shown that the mayor is opposed to show that he is on once again the wrong side of the issue. so ladies and gentlemen, this is going to be a fiery conversation. i hope you're in for a good time, and going to be with us for the long haul because this is an important conversation that we need to have publicly to ensure that there is transparency and sunshine on an issue that has an impact on people's every day life's particularly people of color that are adversely affected by law enforcement. thank you. but i have to remind you