Transcripts For SFGTV SFCTA Full Authority Board 20240713

Vulnerability. We had a few cases at laguna honda. We brought in the c. D. C. And the state health department, and they really helped us how to figure out how to manage how to manage a longterm care facility as big and as complex as laguna honda, so we learned a big part how to do that. How to confine big parts of the hospital and to do mass testing of the hospital staff and residents. We learned a lot from that, and what we need to do is replicate that across a lot of longterm care facilities throughout San Francisco. Other longterm care facilities dont have the training, experience, and capacity that laguna honda has, and so our longterm care facilities need a tremendous amount of support not only in p. P. E. , in helping them develop a task of testing, components, screening, that component. We need to build out im just going to call it a strike team teams that can be deployed to help the longterm care if a similarities. And were learning at our hotels and our s. R. O. S. Its the same situation, especially as testing becomes more available, how were going to do surveillance in s. R. O. S, how were going to do targeted testing should any cases appear, and how were going to do targeted availability. So when have a room, and a person goes ahead, how were going to be able to place that person into both isolation and quarantine. The shelters were in the same situation in that were better learning how to manage that, as well. Youll be hearing some of this has been in the news, but youll be hearing more about how were learning how to shelter in place Homeless People who are covid positive, who are recovering or recovered, where they can be all in one location where we have the staff, the personal protective equipment, the training, we have everything in place so that can happen safely. And we have we still have more we have more capacity that we have to build up so that we can do that better, more efficiently, and so that we can do that quickly. President yee dr. Aragon, particularly in regards to this strike team that youre talking about that would be available if something happens, if this strike team is there, why wouldnt we send them to these Nursing Homes now and maybe have some prevention instead of waiting until something happens . Yeah. What im calling a strike team is more than responding to an outbreak, its focused on inspection. We want them to be inspecting the longterm care facilities before and when and if an outbreak occurs. So were calling them an outbreak prevention and response team. So we sort of realize the way Communicable Disease control capacity started is it started with a team of people who were trained to focus on a specific Communicable Diseases in the community, and now, we realize is that not only do we take that team, and now, they have to be specialized in longterm care facilities, s. R. O. S, homeless, and now jails. Each one of those requires a different strategy, so now, we have to replicate we have to build out more teams, and so within that, we have to build more capacity. So right now, we dont have that capacity, so were looking to were looking to hire more staff. Right now, were working with San Francisco state, u. S. F. , u. C. Berkeley. Were trying to bring in staff, working with c. B. O. S so that we can hire staff to do all of this work that can extend the expertise that we have at the health department. President yee thank you. Supervisor haney . Supervisor haney thank you. Thank you, president yee. Dr. Aragon, i wonder if you could speak to Testing Capacity. We spoke if we have enough tests in San Francisco. It seems like we have a lot of priority populations that we should be testing that we arent testing. Theres been some announcements from ucsf that theyre able to help with testing for a period of time. How much testing are we doing citywide, and what are the limitations for us to do more . Yeah. I dont have the statistics on me right now. If you go to the website, it tells us the Testing Capacity that were doing, and the Testing Capacity is finally beginning to open up and finally beginning to increase. The one thing that held up testing was the supply chain of things like swabs. Initially, it was reagents. All of that is beginning to improve, and p. P. E. , personal protective equipment. It was not really the labs, but all of that is improving, so were beginning to gear up so that we can do more we can take the Public Health capacity and focus on the most vulnerable populations. And then, the public sector, were going to hope that theyre going to take care of more of the general population so that collectively, we should be able to do more testing. So youre youre going to see youll see dramatic improvements in the testing. Its taken a while to get to this capacity, and also, in the technology of testing. So there are the development of rapid tests that can now, within an hour, tell you whether youre positive positive or not. As i mentioned before, theres a saliva test, and theres a home test that will be available soon if it hasnt already been approved. Supervisor haney when there was the cases at m. S. C. South, they tested that entire shelter, and it seemed like there was good reason to assume that there may be other shelters that have, you know, large outbreaks, as well. Right. Right. Supervisor haney but the policy of the Navigation Centers and the s. R. O. S and people on the street is the symptomatic get tested, but if youre none symptomatic, you dont nonsymptomatic, you dont get tested, even if youre in this highly dangerous environment. What is your stance on that . So i would say were moving towards developing a deal testing people who are asymptomatic. I think theres going to be a number of people that are asymptomatic, probably like 25 . Thats resulted in a real change and shift. Were trying to figure out what would be the appropriate interval, and what is the appropriate setting for it to be most effective, and thats one of the reasons why we went to universal face coverings is because we know that there are people who are asymptomatic, and so thats an important part of that strategy. And so were were learning how to do this together with the state. The state just recently, two days ago, published guidelines for testing, and we can make sure that youll have those guidelines for testing. It includes both symptomatic and asymptomatic testing. Supervisor haney yeah, because it seems there could be a need for asymptomatic testing in places where it seems like it would spread quickly. Just last thing, when you were in front of us, i think about five weeks ago, just a month ago, we asked a number of questions about Homeless Individuals in different environments, and five weeks later, for the most part, as far as i can tell, not much at all has changed for people who are currently on the streets. They are still largely out there in environments where theyre not receiving services or not in a safe place, and i know theres a lot thats been said about people who are in shelters and Navigation Centers, and the very slow pace in moving them into hotels. But for people on the streets, what is your view of what we should be doing right now to prevent the spread in light of the fact that its been over a month, and as far as i can tell, in my district at least, not much has changed at all in terms of what their reality is and the potential for spread of people that are currently on the streets . Yeah. Youre asking a really good question. I believe most people in general the c. D. C. Guidelines are pretty good about what they recommend in terms of guidelines around shelters, homeless, housing. Observing just how much work it takes to just do that logistically and i have the opportunity to do that because i get to interact with people around other parts of the state. I believe that San Francisco is doing more than other parts of the state, and of course, theres more that we can do. What i see as the biggest barrier is just having all the components in place. Just the Rapid Response and all the things that we need to make that successful, as well as having options options for sometimes either a a a person is unable to go to a hotel room for selfcare for personal reasons or otherwise they dont want to go there, so we need to have many options that will accommodate the needs of the option. I im needs of the population. Im sorry. Im getting a text here. Supervisor haney im sorry. Ill let other people ask questions here. I know were getting data regarding other populations, but if our goal is to get people into a place where they can isolate or shelter in place or not have contact with other people in that, its not happening. And the Small Movement of people weve seen in shelters and Navigation Centers, i havent seen any improvement in people who are homeless, so i just want to flag that as something that needs your attention. President yee supervisor ronen . Supervisor ronen thank you. I just wanted to follow up on a little bit of the same topics that supervisor haney brought up. In terms of testing right now, i have been trying to get the entire Division Circle Navigation Center, residents and staff, tests for about three weeks now, ever since the first person tested positive. And its just been one excuse after another, and they havent been tested. And this morning, i learned in another congregate well, in an s. R. O. Like housing unit in my district, that 25 people tested right, and those individuals have separate rooms, so they do share bathrooms, but not living space, unlike Division Circle. Why havent all of the residents in shelters and Navigation Centers been tested . I just havent received a satisfactory answer from anyone about that yet. Youre asking a really good question. I can tell you from from where i sit, i havent been involved in those specific decisions. What i can share with you is our approach continues to evolve, and casa quesada is a good example. Were learning that mass detection and targeted screening is a good approach, and youll see more of that as we move forward . I think what youre describing is a direction that were moving in, and as more testing becomes available, were trying to figure out what is the best way to do that. So i think stay tuned. Youll see changes as testing becomes more available and as our strategy becomes more liberal in terms of testing. Supervisor ronen okay. Its impossible to get i have so much respect for you, dr. Aragon, but i have yet to get a satisfactory answer. Everyone says oh, youll wait and see, we dont feel its necessary. Hopefully, itll move in that direction, but its been weeks now, and the staff and residents are terrified. And in other congregate living facilities, weve found that its very widespread, and i just cant get a clear answer from anyone. Im just wondering if youre willing to issue an order i think there should be testing of every congregate living facility completely. I do not its not a resource issue at this point. We have the materials so why wouldnt we do that . Im just really confused and just looking for a clear answer. Is it just that we dont want to find out that so many people are testing positive because then we dont have the resources to deal with it . I mean, what is the real reason that were not testing people in congregate settings . Yeah. Its a real good question. Ill just tell you the way that i see it. I just the way that i see it is one, we have the band width of all of the things that were trying to do, and as were prioritizing our activities, at this moment, we havent been able to do as much as we would like to do . What i can tell you is that as testing improves as testing improves and i think you will see changing because were really getting a better handle on how to deal with the congregate living situations and asymptomatic infections. And i i i understand understand your frustration and concern and perspective, which is very valid, and i will personally communicate. And i know you havent you havent you havent gotten the answers you desire, but ill try and find that out for you. Supervisor ronen i asked the question to the mayors assistant, and he said he would get back to me, and he hasnt got back to me. Im asking our chief health officer, the chief of staff for the city and county of San Francisco and i cannot get a clear answer. Meanwhile, the residents of the Division Circle Navigation Center live in fear. It sounds to me like what youre saying its an equipment and staff issue. I just have to get an answer. Its really the most frustrating thing. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I understand what youre saying, and i think youll see as our our practice of how were dealing with this epidemic is evolving, and what youre describing is something that everybody is moving towards. For example, in the jail, were screening everybody that comes into the jail, and they found two persons that were positive, so thats the direction that were moving into is this focus on asymptomatic screening. So youre absolutely right to ask that question, and i would say that in general, thats where everybody is moving towards. I think, as i said, as testing becomes more available, p. P. E. Becomes more available, we have more staff, youll see more testing. Supervisor ronen okay. So moving on, the second question is almost the same as supervisor haney asked about the people on the streets. The situation on the streets, its getting worse, not better. In encampments that weve had for years on the streets, we have more people. We sort of encourage those encampments by putting por porta potties by them. This is a population that weve tried for years to get them indoors, so you can imagine the frustration of individuals that dont feel safe going outside their front door and the situation of people on the streets . We hear that slowly but sure youre getting to people on the streets, but none of us have seen it. All over the east side of the city, there are massive tent encampments all over again. Theyre not small, like they used to be, theyre massive, and those were incredibly dangerous prior to covid19. Now, theyre just out of control, and and and and its its its just not that things are getting better, theyre getting worse. So can you talk a little bit more about timelines and strategies and moving people off the street or a different strategy for the street . You know, i think possibly the best thing is that im not working in that specific area. As you know, our Emergency Operation center is very large. Im not working specifically in that area, but what i can do is i can work with dr. Colfax and to bring maybe well use one of these briefings to answer those questions directly so they can get you the information directly. Thats probably the best way to get you the information you deserve. Supervisor ronen okay. Thank you. President yee supervisor walton . Supervisor walton thank you, dr. Aragon, for taking the time to answer questions this afternoon. Just a couple of, like my previous colleagues questions. People told us they would be pulling people off the streets and placing them into hotels . Yeah. I do not have this information. Just to let you know, i learned about this meeting yesterday, and it all got arranged today, but what i can do, i will follow up with these specific questions and work with dr. Colfax to make sure that we have the information that youre requesting. Supervisor walton well, i know that youve been mentioning some of the conversation that has been happening at the state level, and the scientific response to whats happening. I know youve seen the latest numbers in terms of whos been contracting the virus kbi zby code. Half of the cases are in my district, and the other half are in areas where we have the most vulnerable populations. Do you believe that mass testing in these zip codes should be taking place immediately . I think whats going to happen is is that you will see, were were right now, were adopting the guidelines from the state on testing, and there is a component what i will do this evening is i will send you the guidelines, and theres definitely a component around asymptomatic testing. I think were going to have to do more in the areas that are impacted. I think the challenge is you know about some of these challenges. In some ways, its easier to focus on the congregate living situations. We know, for example, in the bayview, the mission, we have a lot of families that live in really crowded conditions, so we have to figure out how we work with that those people that are exposed to crowded living conditions, as well as the people who are exposed to crowding and in congregate conditions. Were it tending to focus on those that are in congregate because we know that more people can get exposed, so i think the longer term strategy that youll see evolving is we want to have low barrier testing. We want to improve our surveillance system, and then, were going to be extending were going to be starting by testing asymptomatic persons who are close contacts because thats where the biggest risk is. So that whole strategy is really developing around that testing and containment. Supervisor walton well, as San Francisco chief medical officer, i want to ask you is it your opinion that we should begin mass testing in areas where we see a disproportionate amount of covid19 cases . Thats a very interesting question. I spent a lot of time thinking about this issue. I think we need to come back with the state guidelines and our impact in those areas and how it impacts the testing. Supervisor walton i wouldnt belabor the point, but i will get with you offline regarding that because we are suffering in disproportionate areas, and we need to step up in areas that we can and prevent the spread of the virus. I know that asymptomatic testing is one way we can do that so we can address some of these disproportionalities. Also, by chance, do you have an update on the number of covid deaths by district . Do you have the zip codes . No, i dont have those. I dont have those with me, no. But i i i was listening in early on, and i know thats of interest. Supervisor walton and so my last question, just and i sent an email to dr. Colfax, leadership of some of our key city departments, h. S. A. , h. S. H. , to know the key things that are happening since we know that a large number of contracted covid cases exists in our Homeless Population areas, i will be following up with you to figure out what you think we need to do to combat these disparities. You know how much weve been struggling in getting people out of these places and get people safe. I cant understand how we havent done a better job of getting that done, and i just want to make sure that you understand that this comes from a place of trying to actually save lives and to stop the spread versus trying to perpetrate a bigger problem in our vulnerable communities. I thank you for your time, and i hope you can bring back some of your colleagues so we can get some concrete responses. Yeah. I want to thank everybody for your time. We theres always ways that we can improve. Were commit were commit were committed to improving, and part of that commitment is going to be is going to be sailing up so we can deliver on our shared goals of saving lives. President yee supervisor safai . Supervisor safai thank you, mr. President. Thank you, dr. Aragon, for your time today. My question revolves around is your presentation over . Because i do have a question, but youre kind of focused on phase one. Were you going to get into phase two and talk about whats some of the things that youre going to do in terms of in your next health order and what guidance you might have because i have a specific question about phase one, but i also wanted to know if you were going to talk about phase two and some of the next steps. Yeah. Whats happening at the regional level is weve been reviewing some of the publicly available documents and reviewing frameworks for how to think about these different phrases. In the bay area, we havent started talking about the specifics of phase two. There are some people nationally who began to restratify the different risks of opening up the economy. This is from johns hopkins, so you can begin to have access to the same information that we have. Basically, i think its going to be really important for the state to really step up and provide some leadership and guidance. We want to take advantage of the best science, the best available information as opposed to each count sort of doing it on their own without really taking advantage of all the expertise thats available in the state. So yeah, i dont have anything specific around phase two, but we can share with you the documents around what were doing that revolves around what we should be doing in phase two. Supervisor safai okay. My questions have to do with phase one. This has to do with s. N. F. Facilities. I have a s. N. F. Facility in district one. Theyve doing that as a way to continue to, as you talked about in terms of our treatment phase, ensuring that we have i. C. U. S, acute care, hospital space, in case that there was a surge, so i understand the thinking behind that. The only thing is that it doesnt necessarily if that is an area that youre concerned about additional outbreaks, and then, youre moving covidpositive patients into that facility, can you talk about the thinking kind of behind that. And then, the other thing, on the point of asymptomatic testing, you know, why wait until there could potentially be an outbreak in this facility . Because right now, the guidelines are only test people who show symptoms, but youve only had one case in that facility, and it would be good to, you know, in many peoples opinion to defendatest even its just a snapshot, you might get an idea of someone and intervene in advance before there could potentially be an outbreak in that facility . So i know thats a lot of things, but were going to have a town hall in the Jewish Community thursday night. Theyre trying to do everything they can to be as safe as they could be, but i know theres a lot of discussion around how they can have testing onsite when theres covid positive cases. Yeah. In longterm care facilities, youre going to begin to see a lot more testing, especially of staff, because what happens is staff bring the infections into the facilities. Supervisor safai right, and i think thats what happened in the case of the person that tested positive. Yeah. Youre going to be like i said, the strategys really evolving for all of these different populations. Longterm care facilities is tend to be a closed ecosystem with the exception of staff that come in and out. Supervisor safai yeah. So youre right, youre going to see more testing. What happens is when a facility or part of a facility commits to testing patients who are covid positive, what they do is they cohort those patients, they put them all together, and that way, theyre able to dedicate the service with the best p. P. E. The other thing thats beginning to happen is youll begin to see people, staff, who have recovered from covid or tested positive, theyll begin to take care of that unit. So youll begin to see the specialization, and youll begin to see facilities specialize in taking care or parttime taking care of patients. So relying on symptoms is not sufficient. If you relied on symptoms, you will miss most of the patients. Supervisor safai so when so when will we see i mean, youre saying youre going to see there is a case already, theyve tested that individual. So when are we going to see an increase in the testing, because this is the only licensed longterm care in the city. Theres a lot of family and patients of existing people that are concerned about this. As i said, were going to have this in two days. It would be wonderful if we can get increased testing in that facility as soon as possible. Yeah. Let me one thing we can do is, we do have a team that focused on longterm care facilities, and it would be good to have one of the people that focuses in these area explain how theyre focusing on longterm care facilities. So i can make sure that youre connected with our key person because i think it would be good basically, theyre spending all their time on this topic. Supervisor safai okay. Actually, im being called by the Health Commission right now because im supposed to be there to report to the Health Commission. Is that going to be okay . President yee well, if you have to i mean, if you have to do that, we cant hold you here, and this was, as you said, fairly last minute. Well try to moving forward, i mean, i think this is useful, and thank you, supervisor peskin, for making this happen. Ill try and figure out a way in which we can have something more regular so we can sort of anticipate, and ill speak to you in terms of whats a better time during meeting, after the meeting, that type of thing. Yeah. Let me know sort of ahead of time, so if theres if theres a subject matter expert, i can get the information that youre asking for, so that way, youll get more complete answers. President yee so if you have to leave, then, im sorry, supervisor preston and supervisor stefani, im going to skip you, but when we do this again, youll be first in line. Supervisor peskin, would you like to wrap it up . Supervisor peskin thank you, mr. President. I would like to wrap it up, and i would like to agendaize this as another briefing that the public can watch after next tuesdays Board Meeting or have this be an item on next tuesdays Board Meeting, whatever the council prefers. I think this has been incredibly productive. Im sorry. I had additional questions, as i know supervisor preston and stefani did, as well. This has been highly helpful, and i would like us to continue to have these discussions publicly, and would like to do so next tuesday with your indulgence, mr. President. President yee yes, well figure it out. Supervisor peskin okay. Thank you, sir. Okay. Thank you, everyone. Good luck. President yee okay. Thank you very much. Colleagues and anybody else thats listening, thanks for staying tuned, and as i mentioned, we will figure out a way to do this. So im going to go ahead and end this portion at this time, so i will if you want to get off now, that would be fine. Since this is not a meetingmeeting, im not going to hammer down, but say thank you for getting the work done. Clerk thank you, mr. President. Supervisor haney thank you, everyone. In over a month. Our clerk is angela tsao. If you could please call the roll. Clerk chair peskin, may i make an announcement how to Public Comment during this meeting. Chair peskin absolutely. Clerk Public Comment will be available for each item on this agenda via telephone by calling 888 2045987. And when prompted, entering access code 2858465. As seen on the screen. Then follow the system prompts. Youll be able to listen to the meeting as a participant. When you wish to speak on an item, dial 10 to be added to the queue to speak. Each caller will be allowed two minutes to speak. When your two minutes are up, we will move on to the next caller. Calls will be taken in the order of which they are received. Best practices are to speak slowly, clearly, and turn the down your television. Please allow for audio visual delays and 30second lag time during the course of the meeting. Item 1. Chair peskin go ahead and call the roll. Clerk commissioner. Supervisorfewer . Supervisor fewer present. Clerk commissioner haney . Hay supervisor haney present. Reporter commissioner mandelman . Man absent. Commissioner mar . Mar absent. Commissioner peskin. Chair peskin present. Reporter commissioner preston . Supervisor preston present. Reporter commissioner ronen . Supervisor ronen present. Reporter commissioner safai . Supervisor safai present. Clerk commissioner stefani . Supervisor stefani present. Clerk commissioner walton . Supervisor walton present. Clerk commissioner yee . Ie absent. We have quorum. Chair peskin because we are a subdivision of the state of california, the next item, which madam clerk will read, is noticed pursuant to state law and the governors executive order. Madam clerk, can you please read item number two. Clerk acknowledge and adopt meet notice and meeting conduct requirements pursuant to the governors executive order n2920. This is an action item. Chair peskin okay. Councillor, anything that you would like to add on this item . Thank you, chair peskin. Im tmy name is jill javy, council for the Transportation Authority. On march 18th, 2020, the government issued executive order n2920, authorizing policy bodies, such as the Transportation Authority, to meet by teleconference without having a physical Meeting Place for members of the public. Provided that the public may observe or listen and offer a Public Comment in the telephoneically or from other means. The orders requiring people to stay safe at home, the Transportation Authority requests that the commissioners acknowledge and adopt the remote meeting procedures, permitted by the governors executive order, to permit the Transportation Authority to adhere to these important Public Health safety measures. And not hold an inperson meeting or provide physical locations for members of the public to congregate during this Public Health emergency. Thank you. Chair peskin thank you, ms. Javy. Any Public Comment on any number 2 . Clerk there is no Public Comment at this time. Chair peskin okay. Well close Public Comment. Is there a motion to adopt, as described by our attorney, motion by supervisor safai supervisor safe. Chair peskin is there a second for that motion. Is that supervisor walton . Supervisor walton correct. Chair peskin seconded by the one and only on supervisor walton. Madam clerk, roll call, please. [roll call]. Commissionermar . Absent. Commissioner peskin . Chair peskin aye. Clerk commissioner safai . Supervisor safai aye. Clerk commissioner walton . Supervisor walton aye. Clerk commissioner yee . Yee absent. We have approval of item 2. Chair peskin thank you. Ill move on to the chairs report. Colleagues and members of the public, it is good to convene with you, albeit virtually, as the t. A. Again is back in session, as i mentioned earlier. Our last meeting was on march the 10th. And then we had to suspend. We are now meeting again and well continue to do so through this entire episode. And although we temporarily halted our meetings, staff and i have been responding to the daytoday business of the authority and continue to partner with our respective agencies. Were also monitoring Revenue Streams and coordinating closely with the city to assess short and medium term financial impacts. And obviously while we expect our sales tax and other funds to be significantly affected, going forward, im pleased to report that the t. A. s Strong Financial position ensures that we can continue to meet, sponsors cash flow needs for a multitude of needs across the city. The most immediate needs, due to the pandemic, have been no surprise for our transit systems and the riders who depend on them. I particularly want to thank the sfmta director of transportation jeff tomlin and transit director Julie Kirschbaum for the Rapid Response to the challenging conditions of the past month. And having the wherewithal to take tough decisions to restructure service to maintain as much access as possible for the public, while protecting operators and their health and safety. Transit operators, maintenance workers and other frontline staff here and across the region are working very, very hard to maintain access for essential workers. And others trying to get to workings get food, get to doctors and medical establishments across the city. And i really want to express our collective thanks to all of them here today. Id also like to thank and acknowledge Speaker Pelosi and our entire federal bay area delegation for their advocacy and leadership on behalf of transit procedures and their reminders. As we all know, on march 27th, the federal coronavirus aid relief and Economic Security act, commonly known as cares phase three, was approved, providing 25 billion for transit agencies to help respond to the impacts of the pandemic. The bay area will receive 1. 3 billion to be distributed by the m. T. C. , to the regions transit operators. And thank you to director chang and her staff for working with our transit partners and to m. T. C. Commissioner ronen to help shape the process, in a way that prioritizes the most transitdependent riders in the region. I know we will also continue to work with the city and the region to provide input on the next step of legislative initiatives to help further give relief to local governments and transportation agencies, including potential capital stomach lus funds at both the federal and state levels. In closing, i would really like to acknowledge that the needs here in the transportation sector, as with other sectors, far exceed the services. Ive asked staff to work with all of your offices and our Partner Agencies to see how we can find Additional Resources and creative ways to respond to the most pressing challenges. Staff will also be reviewing past funding and program actions, as i have asked them with sponsoring agencies to ensure and reevaluate that we are prioritizing things correctly at this time. Thank you, colleagues for your time today. And for your support going forward. And with that are there any members of the public who would like to comment on the chairs report . Clerk there are no public callers at this time. Safai is now exiting. Chair well, that must have been a great speech. Can we go to the executive directors report . Dr. Chang. Thank you, chair peskin. Can folks hear me . Okay, thank you so much, chair peskin, and to all Board Members for your leadership and caring for our city in these unprecedented times. I would like to thank you chair for being available throughout the period to advise me and guide us as we transition to the Virtual Operations of the agency over the last several weeks. Since midmarch, as chair mentioned, weve been operating as a virtual office, sheltering in place and complying with all of these all of the Public Health orders, suspending our outreach and really minimizing the Board Operations until today. So were happy to convene with you all. During this time we have continued to work to support Infrastructure Project delivery, funding as the chair mentioned, and longrange infrastructure plans. We do want to be prepared, for example, for potential Federal Capital funding bills and the like. And well continue to work with our partners to ensure that we are we are ready. We are hosting Transportation Authority Board Meetings at this time. And other essential public meetings. Our Citizens Advisory Committee meetings should resume in may and well consult with chair yee and haney to discuss reviewing our vision zero and Treasure Island meetings as well. In the meantime, we advise the public to please visit our cast at www. Sfmta. Org events to view our meetings and for the latest updates. Since chair mentioned the federal update, i just want to move to the regional update briefly. Since the fall of last year, as you know, theres been a regional effort to discuss the potential regional funding measure, commonly known as the Coalition Proposal led by spurberry, council and Silicon Valley leadership group. They were working with senator bells office on potentially preparing that for november 2020. And in this timeframe, they have suspended that effort. Senator bell may still be working on the bill to authorize a future ballot initiative. But no measure will be heading to the November Ballot at this time. Nonetheless, significant needs do remain for other regional measures. Housing advocates i believe are seeking regional potential regional measure for the november 2020 ballot and well continue to track that work. And finally there had been also authorization for caltrain to put a regional revenue measure and all of the partners to put that on the November Ballot as well. Earlier this month, the transboard of directors gave support for that, just to keep that possibility in place. But other agencies have deferred consideration of this item to at least may, pending further regional discussion. Moving to delivery, i just wanted to mention a couple of updates, some positive updates. Projects are continuing to be delivered. In fact, this is a good time to undertake some of the essential safety and Construction Maintenance projects around the city and the region. Caltran paved holloway to john n daly boulevard. The city implements the liability projects on 19th avenue, further up towards lincoln and even further up towards it park presidio. The state will repave those segments, again after the city completes the combined safety and other work in 2020 and 2022. Another update is caltrans of the bridge deck replacement project. We greatly the district 4 and director tony tavares for accelerating this project by over two months, to take advantage of the decreased traffic, amid our shelterinplace order. The project was slated to begin on july 5th, but will now come in on april 25th, with the goal of replacing the northbound and southbound excuse me, the goal of replacing the deck, the concrete bridge deck by early may. This entails diversion of both northbound and southbound traffic. Please stay tuned for updates on that. You may come to our website or caltran for details on the construction and detour plans. Finally, sfmta has completed replacement of its charlie bus fleet. An entire transit fleet in quarter three. We had been providing funding all the way through the last several years. This includes the electric trolley coaches, as well as the final electric motor coaches from new flyer. And, of course, today we have an item as well that is consent for the l. R. V. , the muni l. R. V. For the replacement fee. With that, i conclude my report. Thank you. Chair peskin thank you. Are there any questions for our executive director . I dont see any names on the roster. Is there any Public Comment on the executive directors report . Clerk there is no Public Comment. Chair peskin okay. Then Public Comment is closed. Thank you, madam executive director. Madam clerk, could you please read the consents agenda. Clerk item number 514 comprise the Consent Agenda. Item 614 were approved at the march 10th Board Meeting and are now being considered for final approval. The remaining items are considered routine. That does not plan to present on the items, but are prepared to present, if desired. If a member objects, any of the consent items may be removed and considered separately. And just a reminder, that Public Comment can be made by telephone by calling 888 2045987, entering access code 2858465. As seen on the screen, then follow the system prompts. If you wish to provide comment on a particular item, please dial 10 as soon as you hear the item called. When it is your turn to speak, you will hear an announcement that your line is unmuted and the operator will stay welcome caller, your two minutes begin now. Thats your cue to start talking. Chair peskin thank you, madam clerk. And before i ask for a motion, i would like to note that commissioner mandelman has been able to get on. Commissioner yee and commissioner mar, thus far, have not. So i would like to make a motion to excuse commissioners im sorry . Excuse me, chair. I think my name is on the roster for the Consent Agenda. Chair peskin im not at that yet. I see your name on the roster at 1026. Before we do the concept agenda, i would like to make a motion to excuse commissioners mar and yee from voting on the Consent Agenda, is there a second for that motion . Second. Commissioner preston. Chair can we have a roll call on that motion . Clerk yes. Commissioner fewer . Supervisor fewer aye. Clerk commissioner haney . Supervisor haney ay. Clerk commissioner mandelman . Supervisor mandelman aye. Clerk commissioner peskin . Chair peskin aye. Reporter commissioner preston . Supervisor preston aye. Clerk commissioner ronen . Supervisor ronen aye. Clerk commissioner safai . Satisfy aye. Clerk commissioner walton . Supervisor walton aye. Clerk commission we have approval. Chair peskin thank you, madam clerk. Before i call on commissioner fewer, any Public Comment on the minutes of march 10th, which is item number 5 on the Consent Agenda . Clerk there are no comments. Chair peskin Public Comment is closed. Commissioner fewer . Supervisor fewer i want to an item on the Consent Agenda. Chair peskin okay. Which item would you like to sever. Item no. 9. Chair peskin do we have a motion to balance 58 and 1014 . So moved. Supervisor walton. Chair peskin a second for the motion . Second, mandelman. Chair on that item, a roll call, please. Clerk i am seeing that we need to redo a Public Comment on item 9. This is jill javy. You may go ahead and make a roll call vote on the Consent Agenda, which is items 58 and 1014. Chair peskin on that item made and seconded, a roll call, please. Clerk commissioner fewer . Supervisor fewer aye. Clerk commissioner haney . Supervisor haney aye. Clerk commissioner mandelman . Supervisor mandelman ay. Reporter commissioner clerk commissioner walton . Supervisor walton aye. Clerk there is approval on the remainder of the consent calendar. Chair peskin can you please read item number 9. Clerk allocate 60,732,027 in prop k sales tax fund, with conditions for the laelj vehicle procurement. This is an action item. Chair peskin commissioner fewer, would you like a roll call on this item . Supervisor fewer yes, sir. Chair peskin okay. A motion, first of all, for item number 9. Supervisor mandelman will move it. Chair peskin made by mandelman, seconded by . Supervisor stefani self will second. Chair peskin seconded by commissioner stefani on that item. A roll call, please. Clerk chair, we need Public Comment on item 9. Chair peskin we do . Clerk thats what im hearing from the legal counsel, sir. Chair peskin counselor, please explain. Counselor, javy, the floor was yours. This was subject to Public Comment at the last meeting. But i will obviously we will defer to your guidance. I dont see why this needs Public Comment . Chair peskin, i recommend we go ahead and take Public Comment, because we severed it from the Consent Agenda. Chair peskin okay. Ill argue with you with this offline. With that any Public Comment on item number 9 . Clerk there is no Public Comment at this time. Chair peskin Public Comment is closed. And there is a motion. Roll call please. Clerk commissioner fewer . Supervisor fewer no. Clerk commissioner haney . Supervisor haney aye. Clerk commissioner mandelman . Supervisor mandelman aye. Clerk commissioner peskin . Chair peskin aye. Clerk commissioner preston . Supervisor preston aye. Clerk commissioner ronen . Supervisor ronen aye. Clerk commissioner safai . Supervisor safai aye. Clerk commissioner stefani . Supervisor stefani aye. Clerk commissioner walton . Supervisor walton aye. Clerk thats it. Item 9 is approved. Chair peskin finally passed. Thank you, madam clerk. Can you please reads items 15 and 16 together. Clerk yes, sir. Oh and another plug for the Public Comment. Just a reminder, that you can call in by you can make Public Comment by telephone, by calling 8882045987, entering access code 2858465, as seen on the screen. Then follow the system prompts. If you wish to provide comment on a particular item, please dial 10 as soon as you hear the item called. When it is your turn to speak, youll hear an announcement that your line is unmuted and the operator will say wisconsin welcome caller, your two minutes bin now. Thats your cue to start talking. Items 15 and 16, increase the amount of professional Services Contract with mns neuromusculars by 1,000,600 to a total amount not to exceed 4,600,000 and extend the contract through december 31st, 2020 for the Construction Management services for the Yerba Buena Island southgate road realignment project. That is an action item. Item 16, authorize executive director to exercise amendments to the memorandums of agreement with Treasure Island Development Authority for both the rightofway phase and construction phase related to southgate road realignment improvement project. That is also an action item. Chair peskin thank you, angela. We have eric cordova. Eric, if you would like to make a presentation on these two items. Eric, are you there . Okay. Chair peskin, my apologies. Can you hear me . Chair peskin yes, sir. Great. Here we go. Let me go ahead and get the presentation up live here. And let me start . Can you see my presentation . Hopefully you can. Chair peskin yes, we can. Thank you very much. First off, let me start by saying good morning. Thank you for approving item 13, which is the construction project for southgate. These two items are complementary to those. As we discussed previously, the item in question here is the i 80 southgate realignment. And the start of construction in that regard, what you see in front of there is basically a simulation of the finished product, which were about to start. Overall costs just under 64 million, funding by several partners, federal, state, tida and bata. Its about a twoyear construction. I want to say special thanks to all of our partners in terms of working together to get to this point. We have worked for a few years to get to a point of start of construction for this essential construction contract. Just a funding overview. Primarily federal funds with some significant match from bata, the state as well as tida. To the tune of 64. 5 million. Lets talk now specifics about the contracts in front of you. The mnf engineers contract, theyre a Construction Management and inspection team. Weve had them on since july 17 to go ahead and work with our designers to take a look at the constructability of the project. Lieu that effort, what we realized is that construction duration was going to be longer than the engineers had originally anticipated. So in that regard, we changed the contract documents to reflect basically roughly about a twoyear construction window. They are they are meeting and actually exceeding the goal. Theyre targeting 24 with subconsultants listed there. Whats important to note here is they in essence will be our eyes and ears on the construction project. Theyre making sure and ensuring compliance and enforcement of the covid19 requirements. So the action 15 is to increase their contract from 3 million to 4. 6 million and to extend it to the end of 2022 and to authorize the executive director to negotiate and modify the agreement and Payment Terms. Were going to move on to the tida amendments. As you know, weve been working in Close Partnership with tida and the there are two moas that are in play here. One of is the rightofway phase, which has been in place since the First Construction ramp for yva ramps. This is amendment number 2, where we are changing a specific clause to accept fee title directly from the coast guard. We think thats in the best interest of the Transportation Authority and of the project overall. And then, secondly, the construction phase were amending the total construction phase costs and funding to update the funding that has now been allocated for the project in its entirety. And in that regard, we want to authorize the executive director to execute amendments to both moas right away in construction and negotiate and modify the agreement terms, et cetera. So that concludes my presentation. Chair peskin thank you, eric. Are there any questions or comments on items 15 or 16 from commissioners . Why dont we open this up to Public Comment. Are there any members of the public who would like to comment on items 15 and or 16. Clerk there are no members of the public. Chair peskin we will close Public Comment. And is there a motion for items 15 and 16, commissioner haney . Clerk sir, we have to call them separately. Chair peskin oh, okay. So commissioner haney, is that a motion on item 15 . Supervisor haney yes. I move item 15. Chair peskin is there a second on that motion . Supervisor mandelman mandelman second. Chair peskin on that motion made and seconded for final approval on first appearance, a roll call, please. Clerk on item 15, commissioner fewer . Supervisor fewer aye. Clerk commissioner haney . Supervisor haney aye. Clerk commissioner mandelman . Supervisor mandelman aye. Clerk commissioner peskin . Chair peskin aye. Clerk commissioner preston . Supervisor preston aye. Clerk commissioner ronen . Supervisor ronen aye. Clerk commissioner safai . Safai aye. Clerk pardon me, sir, commissioner walton, would you mind repeating your vote. Supervisor walton aye. Clerk commissioner that is all. Item number 15 passes. Chair peskin all right. Is there a motion to hello . I move 15. Commissioner mar just joined, sir. Oh, yee. Im sorry. Should i retake the vote . Supervisor yee yeah. Chair peskin you can just add yee. Clerk okay. Commissioner mar . Supervisor mar aye. Clerk and commissioner yee . Supervisor yee aye. Clerk we have approval. Final approval on first appearance. Chair peskin okay. Is there a motion to approve item number 16, made by commissioner move item 16. Approved. Chair peskin a second for that . Supervisor mandelman mandelm an second. Chair peskin seconded by vice chair mandelman. On that item, a roll call please. Clerk on item 16, commissioner fewer . Supervisor fewer aye. Clerk commissioner haney . Supervisor haney aye. Clerk commissioner mandelman . Supervisor mandelman aye. Clerk commissioner mar . Supervisor mar aye. Clerk commissioner peskin . Chair peskin aye. Clerk commissioner preston . Supervisor preston aye. Clerk commissioner ronen . Supervisor ronen aye. Clerk commissioner safai . Supervisor safai aye. Clerk commissioner stefani . Supervisor stefani aye. Clerk commissioner walton . Supervisor walton aye. Clerk commissioner yee . Supervisor yee aye. Clerk we have final approval. Chair peskin thank you, madam clerk. Can you please read items 17 and 18 together. Clerk yes, sir. Items 17 is authorize the executive director to execute a memorandum of understanding, with the transbay joint powers authority, tjpa, the metropolitan Transportation Commission, the peninsula corridor joint powers board, the california highspeed rail authority, and the city and county of San Francisco for the establishment of a new organizational structure that will support the efforts of the tjpa in the development of the downtown rail extension to a readyforprocurement status. That is an action item. And item 18, allocate 11,906,558 with conditions for downtown rail extension, phasing and partial 15 design and appropriate 2,636,109 in prop k sales tax funds for rail Program Oversight and project development support. That is also an action item. Chair peskin thank you, madam clerk. Colleagues, i think we are all very, very familiar with these two items, that have been bounced around for getting on to a year. And that led in some part to the expert study and the recommendations that rolled out of that. But i think have now been embraced by all of the different transit agencies, that are named in item 17. With that, i would like to thank our staff, particularly tilley chang, who has been very, very dogged about getting this done. And i understand the tjpa has already approved entering into this mou. With that well turn it over to eric cordova for his presentation. Great. Thank you, chair peskin. Let me go ahead and get my power point here. Hopefully you can see that. And thank you, chair peskin, and commissioners. Yes, definitely been working a year plus on this item. Were very excited to move forward. Just a refresher here in terms of the background. This implements the Transportation Authority Expert Review Panel recommendations that were brought to the board in october of 2019. Also refresher on the terms of the recommendations, which were major recommendations to reposition the rail program, to regional, state and National Significance to truly evaluate as much as possible an initial operating phase option, develop a viable funding strategy and plan, evaluate governing entity and organization options. And evaluate a project delivery method. Thank you to all of the partners for working with us here in the details of this m. O. U. And in particular the transbay joint powers staff and mark and his team, as well as all of our partners. Much appreciated. What you have there is attachment 3a of the m. O. U. It is basically a depiction of in essence the Organization Chart that we are in essence working with the team on here. And it shows in essence executive Steering Committee and whats called also an integrated Program Management team. And then the different, what i call silos of work, that are continuing here as part of this overall effort. And you cant forget about our state and local partners. There have been interest by them to make sure we properly coordinate with them and get them involved when it comes to the Bigger Picture rail solution here in the bay area. Im going to go through really just a little bit more details on the structure. Each of the Partner Agencies is assigning in essence a Senior Executive responsible for delivering the activities of the program. Supported strongly by the innovative project management team, with representatives that have experience in the large projects like this one. The ipnt will be led by new project director, tjpa employee or consultant or a consultant by the partners. We established a summary of work program, thats part of the m. O. U. We envision this as a threeyear term or to ready what we call readyforprocurement status. This agreement may be extended by the partners. As you indicated, chair, the tjpa board unanimously approved the the m. O. U. At the april 9th meeting. Much appreciated. We received an executed copy from the executive director of the peninsula of the j. P. D. , caltrain and other Partner Agencies are looking at the respective approvals. Let me move on now to the next item, which is really related to the allocations, the tjpa and the appropriations of the t. A. Weve gone ahead and actually worked with tjpa staff, specifically in terms of how to proceed or recommending 11. 9 million allocation. Weve actually divided the work into two call it distinct parts. One as were what were indicating as notice to proceed, number one, which focuses on the opportunities for phasing of the project and like i mentioned before, development of initial operating phase. And in essence, bringing that back to the respective boards, including this board for acceptance of the project phasing and strategy, interim budget and schedule. And then being able to move on to ncp2 work, which really gets into much more Detailed Engineering for design of the tunnel and the street station, risk assessment, updated cost estimate and reexamination of the project delivery options. This in essence this allocation covers the first 18 months of the work program. I want to focus now on the appropriations of the Transportation Authority. This is in response to your interest in terms of enhanced oversight and project development support. There are certainly areas that we will lead, the Planning Efforts work, colead the project lead and analysis efforts. And playing a key role in terms of coordinating the decisionmaking on the overall project, working with the tjpa staff and their board and all of our partners. We believe this complements and enhances not only the ongoing oversight, but is something valuable in terms of being able to bring to the table the funding solution and working with our partners to get there. So the two actions in front of you, as indicated, are item 17, authorize the executive director to execute an mou with the partners. And then ten 18, to allocate 11. 906558 to the tjpa. And the 2 million plus, as indicated on your screen there, to the Transportation Authority for us to work together. That concludes my presentation. Im open for any preparations. Chair peskin thank you, mr. Cordova, any questions or comments from members . Commissioner walton . Im on the queue. Chair peskin i thought that was from item 11. My bad. Commissioner fewer. Supervisor fewer thank you very much, chair. Item 17 and 18 are setting up the next steps for one of the Largest Networks funded by San Francisco. I want to be assured that the project adheres to the contracting laws for San Francisco, that require participation of small and local businesses, promotion of local hire and compliance with 12 x and 12x2. My response. Chair peskin mr. Cordova, i believe that commissioner walton has the exact same issue that you just raised. I believe that there is language that has been prepared by ms. Chang and mr. Cordova to address that. Eric . Yes. I think i will defer to the executive director chang. Yes. Thank you, commissioner fewer and i believe commissioner walton was also going to make a similar request for us to ensure that the funds for item 18 are comprised the conditions on both funding items to the tjpa and ourselves to follow the citys policies on local and disadvantaged Business Enterprise procurement policies. Okay. And if i may, through the chair, 12x. Just a reminder to commissioners to please turn on the camera when youre speaking, thank you. Im wondering if executive director heard my question about 12 x and 12x2 . Chair peskin miss chang, can you hear . I cant hear you, im so sorry. Please unmute your mic, katie. Chair peskin tilley, unmute your mic. You got it. Chair peskin you did it. Refurbishment . Are you sure . Yes. Yes, commissioner, fewer, i heard. And we will convey that to both of our project teams and ensure thats captured in the condition as well. Supervisor fewer thank you very much, i appreciate it. Chair peskin thank you, commissioner fewer. Commissioner walton . Supervisor walton thank you, chair peskin. And thank you to executive director chang. As you already know, i share the same concerns as commissioner fewer. And i do understand that the tjpa operations typically follow the city and county of San Francisco policy around w. B. I do want to make sure that for item 18, that we add a special condition to both the tjpa and Transportation Authoritys request, to require consistency with the citys local and disadvantaged Business Enterprise policy and language to adhere to San Franciscos local hire policy. Chair peskin you have language that we can insert into item 18, is that correct . Thank you, chair, and commissioner walton. We captured commissioner waltons language right now and we can add a local hire as he and commissioner fewer have both raised. We should say these are item 18, as amended by the direction on local hire and lbe policies, following the city and county of San Francisco. Chair peskin is that acceptable, commissioners fewer and walton . Supervisor fewer yes. Supervisor walton yes. Chair peskin okay. Commissioner haney. Supervisor haney thank you. Chair peskin, i was going to raise the same issue. At the tjpa meeting last week, im glad that we have some amendments to address it. Also just wanted to thank you, chair peskin, for your leadership on this. And director chang and mr. Cordova. This is obviously a critical project for our entire region. And it involves stakeholders and agencies from across the bay area and beyond. And this sort of approach that is creative about how we organize phase and fund the project, is essential. And i think we do have, even though it took a little bit of time, the right approach here. Im looking forward to continuing to support this Regional Partnership both here and at the tjpa. Chair peskin thank you for those words, commissioner haney. And thank you for your service on the tjpa. Ms. Chang, do you want to Say Something . Yes. One thing i want to add that staff have reminded, on the dbelbe your camera. Okay. Can you see me . Chair peskin no. We can hear you. Okay. Chair peskin to the left of the microphone button. I know. Its almost like opposite day with my buttons here. Chair peskin there you go. Okay. Since you can hear me and now see me. I want to convey that the staff have reminded that according we will apply these policies as applicable, because the federal procurement of using federally funded sources for contracts reincludeds local precludes local preference. We intend to attach the condition as applicable, where theres nonfederal procurement involved, if thats all right . Chair peskin duly noted, madam executive director. Commissioner mar. Supervisor mar thank you, chair peskin. I actually had the same pretty much the same question and point of my colleagues that fewer and walton have raised. Obviously maximizing opportunities for our local workforce and also our local businesses through this critically important project. [ please stand by ] yes. I said that, too. Thanks. Dully noted. Seeing no other names on the roster, are there any members of the public who would like to comment on either one of these items 17 and or 18 . Yes, chair, there are some members of the public on the line. This is a reminder that if you would like to comment on this or any other item, you press 10 as soon as the item is called. When it is your turn to speak, you will hear an announcement that your line is unmuted and the operator will say welcome, caller. Please wait to hear this. Your two minutes begin once you hear that. Thank you. First speaker, please. Operator you have five questions remaining. Welcome, caller. Caller hi, there. Im a Small Business owner in San Francisco and i praoernlt the comments that we heard about enforcing our contracting rules so i wanted to make sure that this new structure is going to maintain our contracting laws and i walls want to make sure these laws are enforced on future projects, not just this one. You know, Small Businesses will be at a huge disadvantage based on who enters these contracts in the future, including this one. So i just want to reiterate that we should be following our rules, even as other agencis are involved. It should be our rules that were following. But i do appreciate the conditions that were made and thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you for that comment. Next speaker, please. Operator you have four questions remaining. Welcome, caller. Caller my name is markey. I work in San Francisco African American chamber of commerce. I want to thank the commissioners for including the l. B. E. Amendment. I do want to say that while we understand that any [inaudible] invested by the feds makes the project a federal partner and you have to use l. B. E. Since the city is going to be funding most of this project, i would ask that you consider the [inaudible] that you just [inaudible] to the standard and give up the local Small Businesses. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Operator you have three questions remaining. Welcome, caller. You have two minutes. Caller thank you, supervisors. Im a Community Advocate in bayview and i just wanted to say that appreciate, and we appreciate the additional language that you included for Small Business. In these times of uncertainty, every opportunity can meet survival for Small Businesses and community workers. So i want to tell you i appreciate the amendments that youre making and i want to make sure that there is strict compliance and adheres into all of the amendments and, again, thank you so much. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Operator you have two questions remaining. Welcome, caller. You have two minutes. Caller good morning, supervisors. Very briefly, [inaudible] said yesterday, im asking that you strive [inaudible] on page six of the m. O. U. Which has to do with [inaudible] ceqa, which is a friendly recommendation regarding [inaudible] to be consistent with and not require any material modification to the existing [inaudible] documentation. The reason is as follows the current committed funding is 1 billion. [inaudible] offer to deliver both the [inaudible] and p. X. Combined for less than 1 billion. With regards to ceqa, ceqa reform is on the table and will be accelerated. With regards to [inaudible], the High Speed Rail Authority has secured the assignment from the authority. This [inaudible] of 5 billion could be rerouted to other critical project successes and [inaudible]. On the transparent i si, id like you to recommend that the [inaudible] Steering Committee should be made open to the public and im also hoping that the c. A. C. Will have the opportunity to revise and to review both items [inaudible] for approval. With regards to item number 18, they are emerging technical issues, which are somewhat complicated [inaudible] before next weekend. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Operator you have one question remaining. Welcome, caller. You have two minutes. Caller good morning. Commissioner, executive chan. My name is bruce. Im the former chair of the tgpcac and member of the high speed Rail Community working groups and member of the friends of d. T. X. Advocacy group. Im speaking in support of the San Francisco peninsular rail program m. O. U. Ive been following and involved with the project since 2013. As with most large public projects, this project experienced issues around cost, quality and scheduling. [inaudible] along with other key agencies work diligently through the challenges and we now have a worldclass transit center. However, it is missing one key, critical component and that is rail. I applaud this commissions october 23rd, 2013 action to initiate a positive project and allow is sfcta and a host of other agencies to manage a review of the alternate oversight governments models for the management and delivery of the [inaudible] work program and a developing the m. O. U. Although at the service, the m. O. U. Proposes a very complex structure, the complexity of the project, the number of agencies involved and the ultimate cost of this program necessitates a very thorough, robust oversight in governments model. It will ensure transparency is, availability of extra resources and proactive, timely decisionmaking which will ultimately rebuild the publics confidence as well as the confidence of our elected leaders. Time is of the essence. When the work was stoped in 2018, i was anticipated to restart in the in a handful of months. Were now out approximately 18 months. With your approval of the m. O. U. , the initial [inaudible] of the approved work plan can restart. Please authorize the approval of the m. O. U. And the funding requested in item 18 and thank you for the opportunity to provide Public Comment. Thank you, sir. Are there any other members of the public who would like to testify on either or both of these items . Chair, there are no more members of the public. Public comment is closed. Is there a motion to move item 17 to authorize the executive director to enter into the m. O. U. With tj pa and other entities, motioned by commissioner . So moved. Commissioner haney. Seconded by commissioner walton. On that item, a roll call, please. On item 17 [roll call] we have approval. Ok. Do we have a motion to allocate the 11. 9 million for the downtown extension made by commissioner sir, we have to take a vote to amend the item. Oh, excuse me. And then the thank you very much. Thank you, sir. Right. So, is there a motion to amend item 18 with the special conditions that were described by director chang and requested by a number of commissioners, including commissioners fewer, wallton, marr, haney and others . Motioned by walton. Walton, seconded by fewer. Fewer. There we go. And can we take that without objection and then the item as amended . Is there a motion for that . I think we still have to take roll call. On the motion to amend. Really . Yeah. All right. On the motion made by commissioner walton and second by commissioner fewer, the roll call, please. On the motion to amend [roll call] we have approval to amend item 18. Thank you. And on the item as amended, would the same first and second like to do that again, commissioners walton and fewer on the items as amended . Yes. Yes. Ok. All right. Now you wont let me do same house, same call. We have to have another frigging roll call. Ok, roll call, please. Thank you, sir. [laughter] on item 18 as amended [roll call] we have approval of item 18 as amended. Thank you, madame clerk, and thank you for your indulgence, colleagues. Could you please read the next item . Item 19, award a twoyear professional Services Contract to w. M. H. Corporation in an amount not to exceed 3 million for engineering and Environmental Consulting services for the u. S. 101 i280 express lanes and bus project. This is an action item. Mr. Cordoba, a good day for you. Yes, once again. Thank you. Let me go ahead and get the powerpoint up and running here. Let me share screen. My apologies. And i think i can get that there. And hopefully you can see the screen there. Thank you. We can. Great. Happy to present the 101 280 express lanes and bus project. Weve gone through solicitation to get an engineering and Environmental Firm on board so i want to give you and start in essence with a little bit of background here. Weve been working here for the last two to three years on working with our partner to the south. Related to in essence an extension of the Regional Express lane network and so over the last yearplus, we just went ahead and completed what we call a project initiation document thats required by the state of california since it is on a highway facility, announced and approved back in october of 2019. We brought the item to the board at that point in time. I want to talk more about that since october, what weve been doing is honing in on potential early start project, what were calling phase one northbound, h. O. V. Lane, high occupancy vehicle lane from roughly the 23rd overstreet crossing touching down to 5th and king and proceeding all the way and tying into the red bus lane on third street. Phase two in essence is the look at the entire corridor in both directions for what were calling an h. O. V. Hot threeplus lane. This project timeline gives you an indication of what we completed and where were heading in particular, moving forward on a subject of this item with preelectromagnetic their engineering and environmental documentation and we heard loud and clear from the board its important for us to take a look at equity and that is one of the early studis that were going to complete as well. And we have to do a full traffic analysis here for the corridor and then ultimately get into traffic and revenue forecast and concepts of operation. This overall timeline indicates that from an environmental standpoint, about a twoyear process in that regard. But we envisioned coming back to strategically here over the next year to update you on Equity Analysis and the traffic analysis. Just specifically in terms of the contract, the primary tasks are pretty pro forma, engineering,. Managing, what we call technical reports and then on the environmental side, the equity study traffic ops. All of the different required environmental technical studies and also very important our Public Outreach in Communications Work that we will continue moving forward. The estimated cost is 3 million. If you recall correctly, this was these funds were approved propk via resolution 2016. We have structured the solicitation with an optional taofk complete, in essence, the entire environmental documentation phase because right now 3 million is not enough. In order to complete that effort. So the list on the screen shows the different paths that would be completed with an a additional 2. 4 million which were right now currently seeking. Lets talk about the procurement. The r. P. U. Was issued in early february of 2020, proposals were due in early march. The goal was 12. 8 for disadvantaged Business Enterprise efforts which also includes local business. We received two proposals. The committee had unanimously indicated that they felt the w. M. H. Was the recommended firm to move forward. They are commiting to close to a 25 b. D. E. , Small Business target which well make sure they make. So our recommendation here is to award a twoyear professional Services Program to w. M. H. For 3 million, not to exceed 3 million for engineering and Environmental Services and authorize executive director, negotiate contract Payment Terms as indicated in the packet. That concludes my presentation. Im open for any questions. Thank you. Thank you, eric. Are there any questions from members . I see you commissioner safai. The floor is yours. Thank you, chair. I just you know, theres so many things on the agenda today that are capital related and i think that theyre extremely important work that should continue during this time of covid and during a time of uncertainty economically. Im not sure that everything on the dading today, i certainly wasnt briefed on this today. But i dont believe this particular item in this particular work should proceed under these Economic Times of uncertainty. I think that the amount of traffic, the amount of economic recovery, the amount of work that we should be doing overall in terms of the amount of money that we spend should be spent on things that are going to be putting people to work in terms of capitalrelated work. I dont think that this is a priority project in these Uncertain Times and i would not with supporting this today. All right. Are there given those comments anybody else want to weigh in from the authority, from the commission . Other commissioners . Madame executive director, i see your name on the roster. Thank you, chair. And thank you, commissioner safai. Apologies that were unable to brief you for this item part of the meeting, but i appreciate your comments and your sentiments. I think we understand your concern that this were not yet at the construction stage. However, in order to prepare the project in order to be eligible for even near term grants that the state is planning to do some funding rounds in the near term. We wanted to be able to clear these projects environmentally so they would be ready. I should note that the near term opportunity is simply a northbound direction and it would be an h. O. V. Lane and using the strength shoulder of the existing 280 quality. Were not proposing in the northbound direction near term project to toll or to take any existing traffic lanes. So, those opportunities for the near term readiness of the northbound direction as well as the ability to clear this project operator unknown participant is now joining. Stimulus funds would argue that [inaudible] be in a better position than if we were able to advance the studies and environmental clearance of the project. Noting the equity considerations and the operational studies that the board has previously directed us to conduct. Mr. Chair, i would just say, to finish my thought, i dont think weve taken enough time in this time of crisis and time of Economic Uncertainty to really take a step back and see what pools of money that we have. [inaudible] someones typing really hard on their computer. So i dont think [typing] just a reminder for everyone else, please mute. Whoever yeah. Whoever is hit the mute button while youre typing away on your key board, please. Go ahead. Sorry. What i was going to say is i really think we need to take a step back. I got a call from our city librarian yesterday telling us that certain projects that they had in the queue were now Capital Projects that were going to be put on hold because of the budget shortfalls that weve had. I dont think weve had enough of a conversation in this body to have a determination on what projects need to proceed, which ones dont need to proceed and prioritize those, given the amount of tax revenue that were going to be facing in terms of loss over the next year and a half. I think that many of these items, maybe not the ones with the off ramp and i respect the vote that we took on those, those were years in the making. This is not years in the making. There has not been consensus on whether or not we should go forward with this. In times where we have a lot of economic we have a lot of Budget Surplus or moneys that we can tap into, it makes senses to proceed with some of these studies and professional service contracts. I have to say signing a 3 Million Contract when millions and millions of people are out of work and we have so much Economic Uncertainty, i think that it would be a terrible mistake on the part of this agency to not take a step back and have an overall conversation about the Economic Security of the Transportation Authority overall. Thank you for those comments. And before i call on the next folks on the roster, i do want all the members of the authority, as well as members of the public, to know about the early conversations that i, as your chair, have been having with our executive director and first staff. At a high level. One to really talk about through what lens on the capital side, on the operating side we evaluate each and every project and we evaluate projects that we had longterm commitments to. And at the same time, the financial landscape is still very uncertain. And we i expect our c. F. O. Is going to be able to come to us in june. There is no question that we are going to have to revise our initial budgetary projection and i want to do this if a uniform lens and go through this in a policyconsistent way and all of that is still being developed. But i take commissioner safais points to heart and after hearing from the other commissioners on the roster and taking Public Comment, one suggestion that i might make, as we are developing that lens is to continue this at least to the next meeting of the Transportation Authority commission. With that, commissioner walton. Thank you. Im just going to say or add what would be the ramification of continuing this until we get more detailed information on our economic picture . Yeah. And i think what you heard from our executive director is and you saw on mr. Cordobas timeline, is its a minimal delay, given if you go back to that slide, youll see that environmental clearance is still a ways away. So, i mean, our looking at this through a policy consistent priority lens, i dont think a few weeks is going to matter one way or another. Ms. Chang, would you like to weigh in on that . Hello . [inaudible]. [laughter] sorry. Youre still muted oh, god. Here we go. Yeah. I agree, we can take certainly the next couple of weeks to take a closer look at that. I will note that m. T. C. Is preparing its recommendations for the state fb1 Gas Tax Program called solutions for congested corridors and we were hoping to put forward the northbound h. O. V. Lanes which would be a 30 million Grant Application to those to that program, to be endorsed by m. T. C. And to be endorsed by cal trans for the fall. I believe m. T. C. Will take that action in may. Ok. So we have a couple of weeks. Mmhmm. Yes. All right. Commissioner fewer . Thank you, chair. I was just going to suggest to continue this item. So thank you for the suggestion. Excellent. Great minds. Are there any members of public who would like to make Public Comment on this item number 19 . Chair, there are no members of the public. Ok. Public comment is closed. And commissioner safai, would you like to make a motion to continue this to the next full sfta meeting . When is the next meeting . You mean next week . April 28th is our next scheduled Board Meeting. Ok. So that would be ok. Two weeks. Ok. Ill make a motion to continue this item to the next scheduled meeting. There a second second. Seconded by second. Second by fewer. Fewer second. And i guess you guys are going to make me take a roll call on this. Yes, sir. Thank you, chair. [laughter] all right. To continue item 19 to the next scheduled Board Meeting [roll call] commissioner ronan . Hillary . Commissioner ronan, are you still there . Commissioner ronan, absent . [continuing roll call] the item will be continued. Thank you. Next item, please. Item 20, approve programming priorities for up to 3,794,003 in San Franciscos estimated fiscal year 20202021, state transit assistance county block grant funds. This is an action item. Ms. Leforte. Good morning, commissioners. Nice to see you all. Nice to be with you all. Im the Deputy Director for policy and programming at the Transportation Authority. Going to bring up my presentation. Ok. So, this item before you is a Block Grant Program that comes to the counties through the metropolitan Transportation Commission, state transit assistance funds. The revenues are generated from a sales tax on diesel fuel and these have been bottle source of funding even before covid19 and we expect to receive the actual revenues that we have already programmed to projects and ill get to in just a moment for fiscal year 1920 before we get the revenues in the fall and we expect to receive updated projections for fiscal year 2021 in the fall as well and we expect that those will be lower than current estimates, which are based on for the upcoming fiscal year on the governors budget as it was originally introduced in january of 2020. The metropolitan Transportation Commission requires that counties by may 1 to be tier, submit the distribution policy for the funds that are for the upcoming fiscal year. As i mentioned, this is a Block Grant Program that started in 2018. So, the first two years of funding for fiscal years 1819 and 1920 are programmed as follows. There was a 7. 8 million that was projected to be received in the two years. The board previously directed 40 of those funds to the sfmta for its transmit program. And that was based on the amount previously these funds had been distributed by m. T. C. Through its regional Paratransit Program and regional lifeline program. So, the 40 was based on what m. T. A. Would have received under that former Regional Program at that point in time. And the board also directed 60 of the funds to a new regional lifeline Transportation Program that San Franciscos t. T. A. Administered and the program of projects were put into place to address needs of lowincome populations and m. T. A. And bart transit. These are for transit operating projects. The s. T. A. Funds can be used for capital and operating projects so we prioritize projects, operating projects that benefit communities of concern as you see on your screen before you. For the upcoming fiscal year, we are projected, as i mentioned,