Transcripts For SFGTV Government Access Programming 20240713

Like an earthquake. We worry about extending awss and cobenefit pipeline to the west side and putting in cisterns. We dont have this conversation around the park merceds. If we want to impose upon ourselves something that is more strings get than the state imposes upon us with the resulting impacts to surroundings Property Owners or future development, is there away we can model the risk and derm whether or not this is not worth our time and money and we should do what we continue to do which is cisterns and expansion of awss and new intake man folds on port property or something we will look back at when there is a huge fire that burns down half of district 11. We will say we were not concentrating on the wrong things or not enough things. I know you cant predict fire. Can you model fire out of the relatively small handfuls of the recand park. They have wasted the afternoon because you are not a problem. I am having a problem. University of california are great partners. Is there a way to figure this out with some risk benefit assignment . Each site has a different level of risk. Tothe guidelines are there over the experience. They are there for a reason. They do call out for different grades and spacing of trees. That is from learning from past fires. It is already there. We can use those requirements where it is spelled out and say, hey, does this fall under, you know, that hazard. If i had a flat space and my trees are relatively spaced, is that a lesser hazard than in glenn canyon . Absolutely. The slope of the hill, proximity of the trees, canopies, the ground, the fuel on the ground. Yes, we can on a case to case with experience with what is already out there derm what is a greater hazard than other areas. I dont know if that answers your question. This is not one size fits alsoution. Whe fits alsoution. When there is a sidewalk and houses. It is more than 30 feet. It seems to me everything is about a defensible perimeter. The question is the standard is 30 but do we want to impose a larger perimeter, which would cut to dennys property, right . Do we want to do a comprehensive assessment of all of our urban interfaces and derm these are places where 30 feet is right. These are places where we need a larger perimeter before the fire jumps. I assume glenn canyon the fire burns uphill. At the top it is crowned and moving. You are still going uphill. Can it jump the street . Doesnt have to jump the street . Why . There are houses on the park side, too. To answer your question it is resources. Fire department is willing to go out there and visit each and every site. We can do that. The other think we take into account is our resources. The number of appar rat tuesday we get there in a timely matter and in the Water Supplies we take into account if i it is a Reasonable Risk or not . Good afternoon. One of my roles is to coordinate mutual response from the Fire Department to the state. For the last seven years i was responding to fires up and down the state. We have special equipment in all of that where they are assigned. They train all of the time. You will see us every mayor beginning of june training within the park for the city. We prepare for that. Wwe prepare for that in the cit. If this and your department and other departments were interested. The question is if we want to to allocate Financial Resources for jurisdiction and planning and see what that yields . I agree with that statement you just made, yes. It is november getting to february when everybody submits the budget to the mayor. It is a conversation to have as the rest of the state is burni burning. I agree with that. I guess i was alluding to that. There is really a way to plan this and figure out what resources we need to make this happen, let us know. I would like to be Crystal Clear. We do respond to these areas with other departments. If we need to clear areas, we will clear them. I am responding to your call about a comprehensive plan. I want to be sure we are Crystal Clear on that. To the earlier question that happens to be where i live and i say this to everybody, not only around issues of fire but every issue in this town except for when you get a parking ticket is complain driven. I get an email that says people are camped out on his property. That is how i learn about it. He gets the call. Gets the call. Is this an instance where we need to be more proactive . I think so. Thank you very much. I will be quick. It sounds like there are two potential projects here. One requires Greater Partnership between the fire marshal and departments. One is making sure we do the things we think we are doing now. We think we are maintaining this 30foot area. It would be really great for people in glenn canyon living on a house next to glenn canyon to have the reassurance the fire marshal has checked out that 30foot area and given it his blessing that we are good. At least in so far as we are upholding the state standards, based upon what the state is telling us, nobody here should be worried. There may be a secondary project that may require more money. Does San Francisco want its own standards. We are dense on top of each other with the memory of the 1906 earthquake. There is kind of two things in there. I do think and what i present to you is a immediate task of doing the checking to make sure in areas with special concern like glenn canyon that, yes, at least as far as our current standards, San Francisco has got this right and we checked. You can be absured about that. I dont remember 1906, but i remember 1989. If there are no other presenters, lets open this up to public comment. Would you like to speak to item 3 . Thank you for spending your afternoon with us . Coalition for San Francisco neighborhoods. At the october General Assembly meeting the coalition passed a resolution regarding emergency firefighting capabilities. Besides the transit it includes water and sewer replacement, the water supply system. Doing this would be consistent with the city policy. It is a shovel ready project. Installing dedicated would provide direct firefighting coverage fo for the for police. It would contribute to the citys ability to prevent and manage wildfires as to the owned property. Thank you. Mr. Sig. Jake sig. I have been leading volunteers working for the city for 29 years now. The last three weeks we have been working on Mount Davidson. It is very much on my mind. We got the natural Management Plan passed a couple years ago. Nothing is done. The ivy crawling up the trees, they are full of dead leaves. They can easily start a fire from the ground up to the crown. I can see with the kind of weather we have been having with the cold, dry winds out of the north, they fortunately did not last very long. Sometimes like in the past they do. In october 1991 in oakland, that was exactly the kind of weather they had, and the combination of that and a spark, Mount Davidson could go. It is a frightening prospect even though it is not likely to happen, but what if it does . It appears it is mostly a matter of money. The risk of the city burning down for lack of money does not make any sense. I want to mention the Fire Department and cal fire came to a meeting about seven or eight years ago and explained the risk of a fire happening. It is identical conditions on Mount Davidson, just different landowners. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Thank you. I am paul. I want to speak on this issue. Regarding the wild land interface, the maps the state put out are based on relative humidity and the fact we normally have a higher humidity than most of the other wild land areas. There are times when the conditions are right we can have a catastrophic wildfire with loss to lives and property, and what the city doesnt have is unconventional firefighting methods. While they are really good at doing code enforcement, Defensible Space, which is really important, they have conventional firefighting methods. What gets the upper hand on the firestorms which glen park canyon, mic chairren park and Billy Goat Hill and others, we would need unconventional methods for the head of the fire which you cant fight with conventional methods, you need water drops. The city has helicopters. Is it possible through the Fire Department no longer. Okay. There is going to be a time when there arent any aerial support because they are occupied somewhere else and timing is on the essence. What the city needs is nonconventional firefighting with therel copter with aerial drops in the parklands, national parklands, stateowned properties and city properties. Thank you. Next speaker, please. I am betsy eddy president of Diamond Heights Community Foundation which has been meeting for 11 years to prepare the neighborhood for emergencies. I am encouraged by the hearing today and the questions by the supervisors, but we really do perceive a much more dangerous fire hazard than some of the people here today. It was just three years ago that Diamond Heights started to realize there is an urban wildfire hazard here in glenn canyon park and in the five parks that surround Diamond Heights. On a very windy day, there is the potential for a fire started in a park to reach home. I want to give an example. Our winds are so fierce they sometimes knock me over and some of the trees go at a slant because of the wind. There are windy areas of San Francisco but the wind in Diamond Heights, green park would carry a fire up the canyon described together. 30foot Defensible Space is not going to stop the fires from spreading. I could take a picture of every fire hazard in glenn canyon, the pictures of the dead trees and dead logs and dried grass that could spread a fire really quickly. I hope the fire marshal and Fire Department will take a look at that themselves with their environmental crews. Thank you very much. Any other members of the public to testify . Public comment is closed. President yee. Thank you to all departments and u. C. S. F. And procedo land trust. There seems to be two areas to work with rec and park to look at the issues brought up by the public and also supervisor mandelman. I think glenn canyon we need to look at more carefully. I would follow up with the current park to see what needs addressed in terms of the conditions in that area. Again, i want to move beyond the immediate actions that you could take and look at a long term comprehensive plan for San Francisco and see you how we can improve our situation. Lets dont wait until something happens, lets prepare for it. Thank you very much. Thank you to each and every department for coming and the members of the public, supervisor mad delmen. Do you want to continue or file this . We could file this and if we have a policy to put together. I will take that without objection. We are adjourned. Happy monday. Sustainability mission, even though the bikes are very Minimal Energy use. It Still Matters where the energy comes from and also part of the mission in sustainability is how we run everything, run our business. So having the lights come on with clean energy is important to us as well. We heard about cleanpowersf and learned they had commercial rates and signed up for that. It was super easy to sign up. Our bookkeeper signed up online, it was like 15 minutes. Nothing has changed, except now we have cleaner energy. Its an easy way to align your environmental proclivities and goals around Climate Change and its so easy that its hard to not want to do it, and it doesnt really add anything to the bill. Better. San Francisco Department of environment is a place where climate hits the street. We know that we dont have all the answers. We need to support our local champions, our local community to find Creative Solutions and innovations that help us get to zero waste. Zero waste is sending nothing to landfill or incineration, using reuse and recovery and prevention as ways to achieve zero waste. The Grant Program is a Grant Program specifically for nonprofits in San Francisco to divert material from landfill. Its important to find the San Francisco Produce Market because theres a lot of edible food that can be diverted and they need positions to capture that food and focus on food recovery. San francisco Produce Market is a resource that connects farmers and their produce with businesses in the bay area. I think its a basic human right to have access to healthy foods, and all of this food here is available. Its a matter of creating the infrastructure, creating jobs, and the system whereby none of this goes to waste. Since the beginning of our program in july 2016 to date, weve donated over 1 Million Pounds of produce to our community partners, and thats resulted in over 900,000 meals to people in our community, which were very proud of. Carolyn at the San Francisco Produce Market texts with old produce thats available. The produce is always excellent. We get things like broccoli, brussels sprouts, bell peppers. Everything that we use is nice and fresh, so when our clients get it, they really enjoy it, and its important to me to feel good about what i do, and working in programs such as this really provides that for me. Its helping people. Thats what its really about, and i really enjoy that. The work at the Produce Market for me representing the intersection between environment and community, and when we are working at that intersection, when we are using our resources and our passion and our energy to heal the planet and feed the people, nothing gets better than we can sweep by in front of a house in a matter of seconds. The only people who dont like it are the people who get the tickets. This is a street sweeping sign. Dont let it get you. Pay attention. [ ] in the morning, when we first go out, we start at six in the morning or seven in the morning. We call that our business run. We sweep all the main arteries of the city. After 8 00, we go into the residential areas and take care of all the other customers. The idea with the Street Sweeping Program is to get the leaves and the debris off the ground. We for not only appearance and cleanliness but safety as well. We will get anywhere from 2 7,000 pounds per truck depending on the season and the route. The street sweeper and the choice of the use right now is an error sweeper. They have a motor in the back and it blows winds down one side and carried by air into the hopper. What will mess this up is new large pieces of cardboard or sticks or coat hangers. Anything that is more than 12 inches. The tube on the tracks is only 12inch diameter. People asked what they can do to help to keep the city clean. There are people that letter. Leaves are one thing. Any of the garbage you see is from people being careless. [ ] one cars parked in the way, we cant sweep under the congress. To deal with this, we have parking control officers that are provided by m. T. A. And they go in front of our sweepers and pass out citations to people that are parking the wrong way. Once the sweepers sweep past in San Francisco, you may park behind the street sweeper. We all know parking is a big issue. North beach hasnt been swept since the eighties because of opposition. But we are getting a lot of requests to sweep. Basically our trucks are 10 feet wide. We stick the brooms out and they are may be 12 feet wide. There are a lot of blind spots when driving a large truck pedestrians and bicyclists and cars. And navigates this 22,000pound truck through the city. We involve the public here to adhere to traffic laws. These routes were developed back in the eighties around the capability of the sweeper. Things have changed since then so we have to adapt. Luckily, public works is embracing technology and working on a system to alter our maps. This is literally cut and paste cut and paste. We will have a Computer Program soon that will be able to alter the maps and be updated instantly. We will have tablets in the checks for all of the maps. We will send a broom wherever it needs to go and he has the information he needs to complete the safety. What is needed about these tablets as they will have a g. P. S. On it so we know where theyre at. You do get confused driving along, especially the inner sunset. Recall that to the be made a triangle. Thanks for writing along with us today. I enjoyed showing you what we do and i urge you to Pay Attention to the signs and move your car and dont litter. He is a real leader that listens and knows how to bring people together. Brought this department together like never before. I am so excited to be swearing in the next chief of the San Francisco Fire Department, ladies and gentlemen, lets welcome, Jeanine Nicholson. applause . I grew up total tomboy, athlete. I loved a good crisis, a good challenge. I grew up across the street from the fire station. My dad used to take me there to vote. I never saw any female firefighters because there werent any in the 1970s. I didnt know i could be a fire fighter. When i moved to S