Transcripts For SFGTV BOS Rules Committee 20240711

Supervisor ronen good morning, everyone. The meeting will come to order. Good morning and welcome to the november 16, 2020, meeting of the rules committee. With me is vice chair Catherine Stefani and supervisor victor mar. Mr. Clerk, do you have any announcements . Clerk yes. [agenda item rea supervisor ronen thank you, mr. Clerk. Can you please read items number 1 and 2 together. Clerk yes. Item number 1 is a motion approving or rejecting the mayors nomination for the reappointment of mark dunlop to the Treasure Island Development Authority board of directors for a term ending february 26, 2024. Item 2 is a motion approving or rejecting the mayors nomination for the appointment of Julia Prochnik to the Treasure Island Development Authority board of directors, for a term ending february 26, 2021. Supervisor ronen thank you. And i just would like everyone to know that mr. Dunlop is not here because hes not feeling well. Normally, i would ask that the item be continued, but i think it would be okay to hear this today. I would call tyra funnell in case she wants to say a few words on behalf of mr. Dunlop. Yes. Can you hear me . Supervisor ronen yes, go ahead. Mark dunlop has been a positive asset to the commission for quite sometime sorry, since yeah, so were requesting that he be reappointed to an expiration term of 2024. I just want to go over some basic things about mr. Dunlop who unfortunately cannot attend the meeting because hes not feeling well. Mr. Dunlop has been active in organizations and charities throughout the day for 30 years and works to organize for core patients for aids and hiv, diseases that hes been living with for quite sometime. He was on the San Francisco hiv Planning Council in 97 and a chairman of the committee. So hes been very active in the community and his dedication to the city is very, very clear in his file. He was appointed by mayor agnos to the mayors Development Committee and was nominated to the San Francisco Development Commission where he served as president and Vice President , and then, by another mayor, mayor newsom, was appointed to the Human Rights Commission and lastly, in 2010, to tida. Hes been on tida for quite sometime, has been consistent, reliable, and he was reappointed in 2012 by mayor lee, and we hope that today, he will be reappointed by the board of supervisors, but, first and foremost, by the rules committee members, and thats pretty much the roundup of mr. Dunlop unless you guys have questions. Supervisor ronen thank you so much. Really appreciate you speaking on behalf of mr. Dunlop, and i dont see any questions from my colleagues, so thank you very much, miss funnell, and we are good to move on next to Julia Prochnik. Good. Thank you. Supervisor ronen thank you. Is miss prochnik here . Yes. I just, again, want to thank the mayor for nominating me and for the time today with the rules committee. Its great to see all of you, and im just thrilled to be here. As many of you know, ive lived in this city for over ten years. I have two small children in public school, and really am excited to be part of this process. I have my own company that ive started in covid, promoting world energy in the grid, working with building infrastructure, working with helping frontline communities helping transition from fossil fuel. Ive been working in states across the nation and am thrilling to be offering my expertise in my own backyard. Ive been active in my community because i believe in the people of San Francisco. I really believe in equity and transition, and currently am the chairman of the Lower Haight Merchants Association. I really appreciate my time on tida and appreciate all the support from commissioners and board members. Ive learned whats going on on Treasure Island with tolls, with education, with action, with inclusivity and action. I want to listen and do more and be part of the solution going forward. Im thrilled to be part of the team and its a true honor. Im thrilled to be here today, so thank you all very much. Supervisor ronen thank you so much for your willingness to serve in this capacity. I just had one question for you. How would you support the current and existing businesses especially during the cleanup process if you are appointed to this board . Definitely. In a variety of ways. One, with the rolling blockouts that continue to happen, there are a variety of solutions, and ive spoken with many residents and the tida staff to talk about various solutions. I think theres some more opportunities there, so i want to have some more conversations for financing and green solutions. There should be a lot more work done in the community. Its not just a holding pattern, waiting for the next thing. Ive driven around and walked through the community, and theres a lot of dust piles. Theres open areas where we can really make sure that the kids are allowed to play outside and really make sure that theres no Ongoing Health concerns, so theres a couple of concerns with energy and the ongoing construction. Ive been fortunate to hangout with various residents about the transportation and kind of undergrounding of wires, so theres a long list of solutions. I pride myself on being a bridge builder, and i think theres a lot of work we can do right now. Supervisor ronen thank you. I appreciate that. It looks like neither of my colleagues have any questions, so now, we can open up these two items for Public Comment. Each member of the public will have two minutes to speak on both items. Clerk yes. Members of the public who wish to comment should call 4156550001 and enter the meeting i. D. Press pound, and pound again. Press star, three to enter the queue for Public Comment. Do we have any callers on the line for Public Comment . Operator yes, i have one caller in the queue. Clerk hello. If the Public Commenter is on the line, you may begin at this time. Madam chair, that completes the queue. Supervisor ronen thank you. Hello, can you hear me . Supervisor ronen yes, we can hear you. Hello . Wonderful. Can you hear me . Ye supervisor ronen yes, we can hear you. Im sorry. That was entirely my fault. I was on mute, and i couldnt see. I am [inaudible] and im also the chairman of the lower haight founders and merchants association, and i have been honored to be working with julia over the last couple of years, and i want to voice my support even though it comes with a little bit of sadness because she will not be able to continue working with the Lower Haight Merchants Association going forward. I started working with julia in 2014, and since i met her, shes gone from a person who is extremely passionate and knowledgeable about the environment, having worked with a variety, and now starting her own climate business, to a political leader on the lower haight board and this years president , and shes done a phenomenal job in pivoting our merchants and Neighbors Association to one focused on activities where we all get to see each other to one that allows others to shine and supports them as they create such things as volunteer brigades to check on seniors and disabled and voluntary services for our seniors and restaurants so we can make sure that they can continue to be supported during this difficult time. I just called in to say that she would be a fabulous addition to the tida, Treasure Island Development Authority, and i would be delighted to support her in this role, as well. Supervisor ronen thank you very much for your comments, miss selby. Are there any other members of the public that would like to comment . Clerk madam chair, that completes the queue. Supervisor ronen thank you. Public comment is closed. Supervisor stefani . Supervisor stefani yes. I just wanted to say, ive known julia for years as a fellow emerge partner. I just want to emphasize her environment equity and Environmental Justice experience. I believe this is a perfect appointment for tida, and im very happy to see her in this role and im very excited. Thank you, julia, for your willingness in this role and to serve. Supervisor ronen thank you. Miss prochnik, i just have one quick question for you. I agree that both these appointments are miss furrell, i just have one quick question for you. I agree that both of these appointments are extremely qualified, but im wondering why the mayor didnt choose people who lived in the neighborhood. I think that mr. Dunlop has served that community for years, but we feel that miss prochnik years of serving the community and environment as well as her dovetail doing Community Work will serve tida. In terms of her in particular, we thought her environmental experience would be really useful. Supervisor ronen okay. I appreciate that. Its just a note that our residents of the haight, it just seems like this would be a board that would benefit from people that live or work on Treasure Island, but i hear you, and agree that these are very qualified appointments to these seats and san franciscans that are clearly willing to do Public Service in their in their areas of expertise, so im prepared to support them. I just hope that in the future, the majority of these appointments will come from Treasure Island. Thank you. And with that, im wondering, supervisor stefani, if you want to do the honors of making the motion . Supervisor stefani sure. Thank you, chair ronen. Yes, i would like to move to approve the appointment of both mark dunlop and Julia Prochnik to the Treasure Island Authority Board board of directors and strike the rejecting language and move that forward to the full board with a positive recommendation. Chair ronen thank you. Can we have a roll call vote on those motions . Clerk certainly. [roll call] clerk the motion passes without objection. Chair ronen thank you so much, and thank you, miss prochnik for your willingness to lend your expertise in this way. We thank you. Mr. Clerk, can you please read item number 3. Clerk item number 3 is a hearing to consider appointing three members for an indefinite term, to the Treasure Island Development Authority citizens advisory board. Chair ronen thank you, and i believe that Courtney Mcdonald from supervisor haneys office will be joining us as 10 30 at 10 30 in case we have any questions from her, but in the meantime, let me hear from the applicants. Is amalia leamon here . If miss leamon wants to speak, and tell us why youre interested in this position. Clerk i did hear from miss leamon, and she is unsure if she was still interested in applying for the seat, as she has moved off the island, but she was not sure if she was going to attend todays meeting. Chair ronen okay. Courtney mcdonald is here from supervisor haneys office, so lets hear from her first. Great. Thank you, chair ronen. Im Courtney Mcdonald from supervisor matt haneys office, and i want to say thank you and congratulations to mark and julia. We look forward to working with both of you. For the citizens advisory board, i appreciate your effort, chair ronen, to make sure that we are Hearing Community members voices. Its important that we appoint people there to the board that live on the island, and three of the applicants fit that need. The first is hope williams. Shes open to community hubs, establish testing, distributed p. P. E. She has really been the heart of organizing on Treasure Island, and what her application doesnt say that if you need something done on the island, you need hope, you need her right there with you. She has the trust of families and residents on the island from decades of organizing, from habitability to the cleanup, so her voice on the c. A. B. Is really important. The second is barklee unitas. He has gone out and sought partnerships to fix the issues on the island, and his voice, we believe, is really critical, to holding the tida board and our board of supervisors accountable. And lastly, jim hancock, or James Hancock, as hes listed on his application, has gone above and beyond to engage with the sailing community. Hes been a huge part of the Treasure Island Sailing Center. Hes very diligently attended the c. A. B. Meetings, the tida meetings, and partnered with people for cleanups at the Sailing Center, so these three applicants really embody what were looking for in representatives on our Community Advisory board, and i know the clerk mentioned that amalia might not be interested anymore, but we want to thank her for her interest in applying on these seats. I know theres a number of applications that have since expired, but i want to also thank them. Lastly, i believe the policy is they all have the same applications, and i believe the three applicants meet the policy needs. So thats all, and im happy to answer any questions if you have them. Chair ronen thank you, miss mcdonald. I dont see any questions, so we will now here from barklee unitasali sanders. Hi. Im barklee unitasali sanders. So like courtney was calling out, i have been very involved in trying to bring transparency to the Power Outages on Treasure Island. Ive reached out and provided information, and thats why i want to serve on the board to be able to provide information to citizens on the outages. Also because im a veteran, i feel like i can give focus to the veterans and help them navigate their way out of homelessness and to selfsufficiency. I also grew up in an underprivileged perspective, and ive made it out of there. I would like the community to transition out of that dependency. There is a large portion of the island that is transitioning out of homelessness, aged out youth for foster care to different job corps program. So im just interested in being an active part of the community. I have a career in i. T. Support, so i love to be of service to people and help them get questions answered, and if i dont personally know the answer myself, i love to research the answer and connect people to resources, and i believe thats a great way for people to get their questions answered, their voices heard, and feel not only like theyre a part of the community but a part of the government experience so they can get the things that theyre needed in their communities. Chair ronen wonderful. Thank you very much for being so willing to answer our questions. And ill just move onto hope williams, and i just want to say, miss williams, that your representation precedes you. Ive learned so much about you, particularly from commissioner collins on the school board. But everyone speaks so highly of you, and so its so nice to see your face and to finally hear from you directly. Just know that many people speak very highly of you in the community. Good morning. Good morning, and i hope i really want to say the same thing to you. Its been an honor on working on a number of the community hubs, and just to put it out there, i am as soon as the seat opens, i do wish to reappointment, so ill keep my name there. Im really coming to Treasure Island just to continue the work. I wrote something, and i got a little choked up just reading it. I am a humble servant doing this work. I am a San Francisco resident, formerly homeless. I have been odd row indicating for residents advocating for residents throughout the city for over 25 years, and just being a tool to the community. I serve on the Preterm Birth Initiative for ucsf, which is geared towards addressing Health Disparities for african american, pacific islander, and latinx populations. As you know, i and courtney kind of just put it out there about the covid. Im still on the groundworking. I am on every friday, i am out here, feeding the community, seeking out donations. In august, we just recently launched our Community Board to try to bring residents together so that they have a voice and a safe place. We are an under serve underserved community, but my goal as a board member is to bring attention to the needs that are here, but not just talking about them, but finding ways to work with agencies and organizations and continue building a relationship with tida board and Strategic Solutions to the organizations that exist, seeing how we can bring more organizations so that were not focusing on just the communities to come, but how do we support the residents that are here, okay . I have the honor of talking to julie. Im very close with my supervisor, the school board. As you know, im in every meeting. Im in email with, and residents have my cell phone number. I let them know i am here 100 to support you. So this would give me an opportunity to take this information and be a better tool so that i can be a mentor to the advocates who have been doing this for 30 years but may not have been successful, that im able to restore that hope back into them, that they can impact their community, and then just slowly transition, that once theyre strong enough, to be able to leave. So thats really my hope in this position, and just to continue to move up, to advocate, to continue bringing attention to why we need Affordable Housing here, coming up with solutions, and really working with the city in any way possible to be a resource. And not just Treasure Island, but really expanding out to all of district 6 and how we can work together, so that is my goal and what ill try to do. Chair ronen yea first, t. I. Is so lucky to have you, and were so thankful youre willing to take on another volunteer role. We cant thank you enough, and thank you for your service to the city. I dont see any other questions for you, so last, but certainly not least, is James Hancock here . I am here, and good morning, supervisors, and thank you, hillary, and thank you for that nice introduction. Well, my first involvement with Treasure Island in any material way came in 2016, when i got a position working as a coach at the Sailing Center there. It was with the adult program, and very quickly, i moved out to an opportunity to do mentorship to the young people in the program. And theyd say thank you. The life lessons that i taught them in this program went way beyond sailing, and i continue today do that. For some time, i had contemplated the idea of creating a Science Center that could be used to teach Stem Education really to the public but have it focused around sailing, and when i got to Treasure Island, i thought this could be an ideal place to do that. The Treasure Island Sailing Center, its the only community Sailing Center and only nonprofit Sailing Center in the community of San Francisco. Its quite different from most. You know, its mostly, the boats are small. Small boats. Most of the students are kids who come from San Francisco and the east bay. Its very gran orientifying to work with the Sailing Center, but the Treasure Island Sailing Center, we got that off the ground in 2018, when we incorporated it as a California Nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation and then got our tax exempt status. You know, in the past year, weve started, in july, our diversity, equity, and inclusiveness initiative, as courtney mentioned, and i think courtney, you must be paying attention to our newsletters. We did have a beach cleanup in september, and weve been involved with one museum on Treasure Island, the Treasure Island museum, and also, all the constituents on the island try to be as involved as possible. Since 2018, weve held an office at the Treasure Island administration building, and really, what were trying to do is bring in reinforcements and just good activities at Treasure Island, and i think that, you know, all of whats happening on Treasure Island is very exciting. The development, its sort of a onceinalifetime development, and it would be such an honor to be a part of that and help shape it. Chair ronen well, thank you so much, as well. I feel like the t. I. Is in good hands with these applicants, and so i appreciate your service. I dont believe there are any other questions from my colleagues, and so we will now open up this item for Public Comment. Clerk yes. Members of the public who wish to provide Public Comment on this item should call 4156550001. The meeting i. D. Is 1469805384, and press pound, and pound again. If you havent already done so, press star, three to lineup to speak. Please wait until the system indicates you are unmuted to begin your comment. Mr. Q. , do we have any Public Comment . Operator yes, i have two callers in the queue. Oh, good morning, supervisors. My name is [inaudible] im an organizer in the mission. Im calling in to extend my support and ask that you grand miss hope the seat for the citizens advisory board. Ive had the pleasure of organizing and working with her, and her heart is with the people, and its really important to have people from the Treasure Island neighborhood to speak on behalf of the community, and i think shes an exemplary figure for that. So i hope you hear this out, and im looking forward to celebrating her seat on the board. Thank you. Clerk thank you. Can we hear from the next caller, please . Supervisors, my name is francisco dacosta. Ive been involved with Treasure Island since 1999, when i worked for the presidio. The rules commit htee has to te this matter very seriously. If you dont read the various type of contamination thats on Treasure Island, much like its on Hunters Point naval shipyard, if you dont care about the people that have come down with cancer, and youre, like, laughingly encourage people to get into this work, which is like sending people in harms way, nothing much has changed about you all. When youre a supervisor, its very important that you protect and think about the welfare and quality of life issues. So i know these candidates, some of them may know a little bit, but some of them may think that just because theyre getting this position on the citizens advisory board, that they can do something. The contamination, that means the abatement and mitigation of Treasure Island, is not being done properly. There are some advocates, like carol harvey, steve goettler and others, who are they speak their minds, and they really care for the people, so supervisors, dont take this as a joke. I see some of you all smiling, oh, for taking this appointment. Dont lead people into harms way. Thank you very much. Clerk thank you. Mr. Q. , do we have any additional speakers . Operator madam chair, that completes the queue. Chair ronen okay. Then Public Comment is closed. Thanks for voicing your opinion, and since i see no requests to speak from my colleagues, im happy to make a motion to forward the appointments of Barklee Sanders to seat one, hope williams to seat two, and James Hancock to seat 8 with a positive recommendation. Can i please have a roll call on that motion. Clerk on that motion [roll call] clerk the motion passes without objection. Chair ronen thank you, and thank you, mr. Sanders, miss williams, and mr. Hancock, for your willingness to serve this community so well and for all the time that you put into this as community volunteers. We appreciate it. Thank you. Mr. Clerk, can you please read item number 4 oh, im sorry. Can you please read items number 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 together. Clerk yes. Item number 4 is a motion approving or rejecting the mayors nomination for reappointment of Ellen Schumer to the city hall preservation advisory commission, term ending january 13, 2022. Item 5 is a motion approving or rejecting the mayors nomination for reappointment of mae woo to the city hall preservation advisory commission, term ending january 13, 2020. Item number 6 is a motion approving or rejecting the mayor hes nomination for appointment of Robert Vergara to the city hall preservation advisory commission, term ending january 13, 2024. Item 7 is a motion aprofession or rejecting the mayors nomination for repayment of james haas to the. Supervisor stefani preservation advisory commission, term ending january 13, 2024. And item 8 is a motion approving or rejecting the mayors nomination for reappointment of Patrick Carney to the city hall preservation advisory commission, term ending january 13, 20 24r this. Chair ronen thank you. And since all of these are nominations to the city Hall Preservation Committee mayors nomination, i will let them all speak at once, starting with Ellen Schumer. Thank you. The commission has worked over the years to maintain the historical significance of the building. It has been a pleasure to work with all of the team members, and i hope we can continue to work as hard as we did before the building was closed, and we can breathe a sigh of relief and begin again. Thank you for the opportunity to serve the number of years that i have served on the commission, and hopefully, im looking forward to many more. Thank you. Chair ronen thank you so much, miss schumer. I must say that i miss seeing your beautiful face every morning walking into city hall, and your gorgeous outfits. Well, it matches the building. Chair ronen well, you represent the building in your beauty and style, and your style is just so gorgeous. I just appreciate how many years you have worked to make this treasure a living treasure and one that so many people come to visit, from kids to tourists. Your work is extraordinary. Thank you for everything and all the work that youve done for our beloved city hall. Well, thank you for the comments. Its wonderful to hear them. Chair ronen no problem. Thanks again. Next, we will hear from m mae woo. Mr. Clerk, is mae woo with us today . Clerk she is currently logged in. She just needs to she was she is present oh, there she is. [inaudible]. Chair ronen i think she has a bad connection. Miss woo, if you can hear us, we cant hear you very well, and theres a scratchiness on the line, so im going to go ahead and move on, and maybe you can come back in with a better connection. Thank you. Thank you so much. Now well hear from Robert Vergara. Yes. Good morning, supervisors. Chair ronen good morning. Thank you for inviting me to be here. This would be my first appointment to the city hall preservation advisory commission. Ive been teaching history at st. Ignatius high school for 39 years, and the last three years, ive been teaching a course on San Francisco history and politics, and that includes a field trip to city hall where were led by miss schumer. Mayor moscones son, chris, has visited my class, as well as former mayor art agnos. It was great to watch this 80yearold man interacting with the students. Rob rider has also walked me through brooks hall, the citys attic. I was born here, and ive been studying the history of San Francisco since i was a young boy, and my father would drive me around and point out historical places. When my students visit city hall, i tell them to try to put themselves in the position of the first people in there in 1906. So much has happened in that building. I feel my background as an educator could be helpful to the commission because i know that part of its work is educating the public about the building and its uses. I think i can be helpful in making progress toward the raising of money for the upkeep. I understand that one of the projects is the resurfacing of the dome, so any way that i can be helpful, id love to do so. Thanks for considering me. Chair ronen thank you so much for applying. You seem like a perfect addition to the body. Thanks again, and i dont see any questions from my colleagues, and so we will move onto mr. James haas, which is a reappointment. Yes, good morning, supervisors. Am i connected . Chair ronen yes. Well, im pleased to have the confidence of the mayor to reappointment me, and i hope ill have your confidence to confirm that appointment. I lived at 100 vanness, so i see city hall every day from my apartment. Ive been involved in work to improve the area over the last 30 years, and i even wrote a book about city hall for the university of nevada, published last year. Im on the board of the Community Benefits district, which has been around nine years. I think im being reappointed to the city hall preservation advisory commission. In the years that i have been on the commission, weve been involved with all sorts of issues leading to maintenance of the building, and weve appeared a couple of times before the Capital Improvements committee to advocate for additional funds for things. All the money that was spent on rehabilitating the building did not include moneys to fix the dome windows, which continue to remain an outstanding issue and, at some point, could blow in. In terms of what i what my goals are, it is to fulfill the original purpose of the of the legislation, which is to keep the building in excellent shape, in the same shape as it was when it opened in 1996, to make the building as welcoming to everybody as possible, and as supervisor stefani knows, we have a tremendous amount of weddings that go on in there, and we need to make sure that everybody feels comfortable in all aspects of the building. And thirdly, i have been trying to promote city hall and san Francis Francisco and civic center. It is the largest collection of monumental municipal buildings in the united states, and it often gets ignored by our local promotion and advertising people as well as nationally, so one reason i wrote the book related to that, and i do make as much effort as i can to do that. So i would like to continue my work, and i would appreciate your support. Thank you. Chair ronen thank you so much. Thanks for all your work. Make sure our city hall remains relevant and accessible to everybody. And our last person is mr. Carney. Clerk i believe that miss woo has called in. Chair ronen okay. Mr. Carney, if you could wait until miss woo. Hello . Chair ronen hello. How are you . How do i come on . I dont know because im having difficulty, it looks like. Chair ronen i dont know what was wrong, but it looks like youre able to