Announcer sfgov tv. San francisco government television. [gavel] chair peskin good morning and welcome to the San Francisco county Transportation Authority meeting for today, may 19th, 2020. Our clerk is ms. Angela tsao. If you could please call the roll. Clerk commissioner fewer . Commissioner fewer present. Clerk commissioner haney . Commissioner haney present. Clerk commissioner mandelman . Commissioner mandelman present. Clerk commissioner mar . Commissioner mar present. Clerk commissioner peskin . Commissioner peskin present. Hold on. Clerk commissioner preston . Commissioner preston present. Clerk commissioner ronen . Commissioner ronen present. Clerk commissioner safai . Safai absents. Commissioner walton . Walton absent. Commissioner yee . Commissioner yee present. Clerk we have quorum. Chair peskin thank you, madam clerk. Do you have any announcements . Clerk yes, i do. Thank you. Public comment will be available for each item on the agenda via telephone by calling 888 2045987, enter access code 2858465. As seen on the screen. Then follow the system prompts. Once you join, youll be able to listen to the meeting as a participant. When you wish to speak on an item, dial 1, 0 to be added to the queue to speak. Each caller will be allowed two minutes to speak. When two miles per hours are up, well move on to the next call caller. Best practices are to speak slowly, clearly, and turn down the volume on your television. Please allow for audio visual delays and a 30second lag time during the course of the meeting. Announcer your conference is now in questionandanswer mode. To summon a question, please one then zero. Chair peskin thank you, madam clerk. I will move on to the chairs report. Colleagues, im quite pleased to recognize some incredible work by caltrans, which earlier this month completed the u. S. 101 alemany deck replacement project smoothly, safely and remarkably quickly, ahead of its already expedited tenday schedule. We were briefed on this last year. And this was a critical safety project to rebuild about 800 feet of the elevated freeway deck over alemany circle, right at the juncture with interstate 280. I want to publicly thank and acknowledge caltrans district director tony tavares and his team for this outstanding achievement, as well as the contractor c. C. Meyers. We appreciate the decision to accelerate this project by over two months, take advantage of reduced traffic levels during shelterinplace. And for successfully managing noise and dust throughout this intense 24houraday, sevenday a week work period. The sfmta and california Highway Patrol also provided excellent support could teen crews safe and traffic flowing. So i want to thank them as well. And, finally, i want to thank commissioner ronen and walton and their offices for working to keep everybody informed and involved. And appreciate all nearby residents and businesses for their patience throughout this recordspeed project. And we now have a safe and sturdy new facility, which is maybe the only Silver Lining of this pandemic. In other positive news during this time has been the evolution of the sfmtas slow streets program, which supports resident wellness bi koasing neighborhood streets to through traffic to provide more space for walking, cycling and recreation. And after admittedly what was a bumpy start in april, without adequate consultation of the public and our offices, which i know i think virtually every Single Member of the board was displeased about, im pleased see a thoughtful rollout of 13 streets this past weekend, including in my district o. Lon bard and stockton, bringing the total number of corridors to 20. Actually this last weekend i joined former supervisors katie tang and jane kim and we went and walked the slow street and supervisor fewers district on lake street and we were very pleased with what we saw. These streets are providing muchneeded open space and access for essential trips. And i think were all hearing from our constituents how pleasant it is to replace the noise of traffic with the sound of chirping birds. In addition to these slow streets, weve had the closure of great highway and three cities within our great San Francisco park, j. F. K. Drive and golden gate drive and twin peaks boulevard eastern loop. Thank you to the sfmta and rec and park for working in consultation with our offices, as well as with u. T. H. , to provide more space for social distancing and active recreation during the covid19 pandemic. I look forward to supporting Small Businesses next during the recovery period, as we enter the next phase of reopening our economy and making room at the curb and in streets to support pickup and dropoff and needs for outside seating for neighborhood retail, business and cafes. I want to acknowledge the north Beach Business Association and the telegraph hill, who have been at the forefront of an experiment to close several blocks of upper grant avenue in north beach. And thank my staff lee heckner for working with the residents and merchants and the m. T. A. With their interest on that project. I want to work with the sfmta to see how the Transportation Authority can further support these citywide initiatives. Thank you, colleagues, and with that i conclude my remarks. Is there any Public Comment on the chairs report . Clerk chair, there is no Public Comment. Chair peskin okay. Public comment is closed. [gavel] well move on to the executive directors report. Ms. Chang. Thank you so much, chair peskin, commissioners good morning. I i begin my who were with an update from washington, d. C. Tuesday, earlier this week last week, excuse me. U. S. House released the 3 trillion covid19 relief package called the heroes act. Thank you to Speaker Pelosi and the house for doing so. The bill would provide more than 15 billion in additional transit funding to help back fill the lost transportation revenue, that continues to mount for agencies across the nation. M. T. A. Anticipates the region would receive 780 million additionally in formula funds, on top of the 1. 3 billion it did receive through the earlier cares act. The heroes act also includes 1. 4 million from the federal Highway Administration for the state of california for caltrans, which is also facing significant budget shortfalls. However, of course, we have heard that the senate and the administration and others are still having concerns about this plan and the potential funding sources. And the need for the package at this time, so we continue to track that work with our partners across the region. And we would want to ensure that we have the essential services, of course, and Public Safety measures and the ability to support our transportation workforce going forward. So well continue to advocate for all of those things. Turning to the state, Governor Newsom revised the fiscal 21 budget, sets forth the plan for dealing with 54 billion state deficit, budget deficit that has emerged. His approach would close the gap as we understand it by canceling the budget proposals made in january and reducing spending on a portion of those ending fiscal year and perhaps mark can update us on a later item today on those measures. While the governors proposal provides little detail and specific impact to Transportation Programs, it does indicate that caltrans will maintain current planning and engineering efforts and accelerate projects to look at soft savings and maintain the jobs in the transportation sector. Again as we saw with the alemany deck project, this is a great opportunity to step up projects, particularly those that benefit safety and access. So now coming to the region, m. T. C. In april, of course, approved the first portion of the 1. 3 billion federal funding from the cares act, for transit, as weve mentioned earlier. 780 million was made available for immediate relief. And as a condition of that action at m. T. C. , they directed staff to establish a Blue Ribbon Transit Recovery Task force to guide and inform the distribution of the second trench of that funding, as well as what types of services and Transit System should be refashioned to provide, in order to support essential trips and essential workers. Were pleased that a commissioner and the m. T. A. Director will be serving on that Blue Ribbon Task force and well continue to support all of the commissioners in that effort. Theres a 30member group of stakeholders that has been convened and they will meet three times over the next few months to do that work. M. T. C. Has also at its special joint executive and abag Administrative Committee meeting yesterday presented findings of a privately funded poll, regarding the potential housing measure that was considered for placement on the November Ballot. However, the committee after hearing the poll results, has decided not to recommend placement of that housing bond on the ballot in november. As youll recall, assembly 1487 gave them the sport to put the Regional Housing measure on the ballot. And the two agencies have been discussing a general Obligation Bond to raise up to 10 billion over ten years for Affordable Housing and production and preservation. However, again as the polling showed that 40 of the reasons that regions residents reported an impact on their household finances, due to covid19 and the polling also showed an increase of the taxation and only 60 or so residents said they would support a Regional Housing bond, when initially polled with those numbers falling steeply with negative messaging. So it looks like to many, anyway, have not recommended to place that ballot on the November Ballot. And so instead the staff will develop a proposal for alternate strategies to enhance the regions work. Finally, as far as regional measures, to date on the caltrain sales tax, this is sb797, the sales tax of the November Ballot for caltrain. The board of supervisors voted to support placement of that board measure, to enable us agencies to consider that same action. And, of course, our final decision is not required until august. The remaining agencies have so far pending further regional discussions. We understand that caltrain is consulting also with private parties, which may also conduct a poll in the timeframe, june july timeframe, which helps inform pending actions. This would be at the sfmta and m. T. A. And board of supervisors here in San Francisco. Lets see. My next item to update would be about the outreach work that we continue to try to do. Its, of course, a different arrangement now and our staff have been participating in a citywide Public Engagement network. And particularly trying to ensure that we adopt best practices and reach out creatively to ensure similar studies and connect s. F. And condition pricing, any number of other projects are able to continue to benefit from and being informed by consultations with the public. We are trying to reach out to communitybased organizations in multiple ways, ensuring equitybased approach via phone and mail as well as placement of ads in multiple languages, multiple media formats, including tv and radio. So we welcome your ideas and suggestions there as well and look forward to participating this saturday with commissioner mar at his virtual town hall, just want to mention. There will be a virtual town hall this saturday, may 23rd at 10 00 a. M. For the study that commissioner mar requested last year. Staff have been looking to look at Sustainable Transportation options for the district. And we will be presenting the goals of the project, as well as initial data about travel patterns this weekend, as well as part of our effort to Seek Community input on needs and desires for improving the walking, transit and cycling modes in particular, that folks are enjoying and weve been enjoying in the pandemic in new ways. Please see the directors report for more information. Thank you. Chair peskin thank you, madam executive director. Are there any questions or comments on the executive directors report . Seeing none, is there any Public Comment on the executive directors report . Clerk yes, chair, there is Public Comment. Chair peskin first speaker, please. Operator you have two questioning remaining. Clerk welcome, caller, your two minutes begins now. Caller and ive been listening to the directors report. And what i find missing is that no orientation you know, like guidance is given on the pandemic itself. Its very difficult during the pandemic to address issues like how to come to city hall and talk to you facetoface. So what i see missing, and i say this every time, is we do not have a seasoned professional incident management commander. And because we dont have this, all the departments, including the San Francisco county Transportation Authority, all over the place, because weve got to have a sense of purpose. Youve got to have a sense of doing a needs assessment. And then you talk in generalities that theyre not able to address the real issues that face the people in the pandemic. Theyre not able to do that. Youre all over the place making general statements, but not feeling the pain of the people of San Francisco. So the meetings, or whatever they are. You all need an orientation on what a pandemic is. So in another two months, were going to get a greater wave. Its going to impact a lot of people. Ill stop there. Thank you very much. Clerk thank you, caller. Chair peskin next speaker. Operator you have one question remaining. Clerk good morning, callinger, your two minutes begins now. Caller thank you. Good morning, supervisor. I would like to address you on the caltrain 18, that was suppose to bring in 100 million a year. And im going to ask that you defer your support for this for two reasons. The first one is that there is absolutely no way that this measure will be put on the ballot in november, for the same reason that the housing measure was not put on the ballot. The second is that further to caltrans quite frankly dysfunctional response to covid so far, i would like you to revisit the governments issue and reach out to the mayor in san jose and make it a condition that you want a change in your management before you approve this ballot measure. Thank you very much. Chair peskin thank you, mr. Lebrun. Are there any other members of the public for the chairs Public Comment on the chairs report . Clerk that is it. Chair peskin okay. Public comment is closed. Madam clerk, could you please read the consent agenda. Clerk consent agenda. Items 4 to 7 comprise the consent agenda. The items 5 to 7 were approved at the may 12th Board Meeting and now considered for final approval. The remaining items are considered routine. Staff is not planning to present on these items, but are prepared to present if desired. If a member objects any of the consent items may be removed and considered separately. Chair peskin thank you, madam clerk. I understand that commissioner walton is having trouble getting into the meeting. I dont see commissioner walton in the meeting. Commissioner walton, can you call in . I know that you are watching as a nonparticipant. Can you hear me . Chair peskin i can hear you. With that, is there any Public Comment on item number 4, the minutes of the may 12th meeting . Clerk theres no Public Comment. Chair peskin Public Comment is closed. On the consent agenda, is there a motion to move the consent agenda, made by . Moved. Chair peskin a second not motion . Commissioner mandelman mandelman. Chair peskin the motion made and seconded. A roll call, please. Clerk commissioner fewer . Commissioner fewer aye. [roll call] clerk we have approval. Chair peskin okay. So those items were finally approved. And madam executive director, i will make arrangements to come and sign all of those hopefully later today, if they are prepared. If not, tomorrow. Madam clerk, could you please read the next item. Clerk item 8, seeking final approval on the first appearance, allocate 250,000 in prop k funds, with conditions, to San Francisco department of the environments Emergency Ride Home Program. This is an action item. Chair peskin and, colleagues, this is familiar to all of us insofar as we discussed this at our last meeting with regard to the 197,000 that we previously allocated. If we approve this, this will be approved on the first appearance and will not require two readings. Miss laforte, the floor is yours. Good morning, commissioners. Anna laforte, Deputy Director for policy and programming at the Transportation Authority. Im going to pull up my brief presentation. Okay. Okay. So the Transportation Authority has long supported the Emergency Ride Home Program. And at the april 14th meeting, of the board of the Transportation Authority, commissioner haney had requested that staff explore ways to help essential workers who are facing challenges getting home from their jobs, especially at night, during the recent transit reduction due to covid19. So between the first and second april Board Meetings, we worked with the department