Chair ronen good morning. The meeting will come to order. Welcome to the september 21, 2020 meeting of the rules committee. I am supervisor Hillary Ronen, chair of the committee. With me on the call is rules Committee Vice chair Catherine Stefani and supervisor gordon an m mar. I would like to thank sfgovtv for staffing this meeting. Mr. Clerk, do you have any announcements . Yes, d clerk yes. Due to the covid19 emergency, city hall and offices are closed. Members will participate in the meeting to the same extent as if they were physically present. Public comment will be available on each item on this agenda. Both channel 26 and other various cable channels and sfgov sfgovtv. Org are streaming the numbers across the stream. Public comment and opportunities to speak are available via phone by calling 4156550001. The meeting i. D. Is 1468449547. Again, thats 1468449547. Then press pound, and pound again. When connected, you will hear the meeting discussions, but you will be muted and in listening mode only. When your item of interest comes up, dial star, three to be added to the speaker line. Best practices are you speak slowly and clearly and turn down your television or radio. Alternatively, you may submit your comments via email to me at victor. Young sfg. Org. Comments submitted to me will be included as part of the file. That concludes Public Comments. Chair ronen thank you. Can you please call items 1 and 2 together. Clerk yes. [agenda item read]. Chair ronen thank you so much, and well start with mr. Harrington. Youre back. Good morning, supervisors. Thank you so much for taking this up today. Chair ronen of course. Im happy to start with comments or questions, whatever you prefer. Chair ronen well start with your statements. Okay. I have a long history with the city. I have a history and a love for the organization. Just briefly, so if youre looking at the different values i bring to this, and i want to talk about three Different Things to talk about three different parts of the organization. One is the concern for the environment, and so clearly, when we impact so many lands and water ways, like the p. U. C. Does, theres always a bit of attention between trying to make sure were taking care of those lands and taking care of these water ways and our obligation to our kpust custom and some of that tension is bubbling up right now. But one of the things that i always prided myself being able to do was working through things like that. I hope to bring that to the organization. Another is environmental justice. We have not always been the best neighbors when you look at the having a Treatment Plant in the bayviewHunters Point, before i left, whie started to put in digesters in that area in San Francisco. But we are still in their neighborhoods with a wastewater plant, so we need to figure out how to be better neighbors in terms of what we do. The third issue is kind of rate fairness on the power side. I think its pretty clear to most people, any way, that you can run a public power agency, you can have it cheaper, you can have a better green mix. They do it in l. A. And sacramento and silicon valley. The real problem is how do we get it there . How do we buyout pg e, and how do we do that without causing rate shock, which is something that i would be focused on. Again, im here today because i love the p. U. C. , the communities that we work with, the staff that are there, and im grateful if you would let me work with them again. Chair ronen fantastic. Its so good to see you again. I have two questions. One is to your last point, if you could tell us a little bit more. It sounds like youre very open to the city acquiring pg es structures to distribute energy, but of course we have to do so in a responsible way and address all those issues that you brought up. I just want to make sure confirm what i heard you say and make sure i heard correctly. Sure. When i was there [inaudible] until Something Else happened and delayed that for a while, and the only reason for doing that was on the way towards really running your own power operation. It is a better way to do for the people, it is a better way to do it for the environment, sure. Chair ronen fantastic. Couldnt agree more. And then, the second question that i had for you is, you know, because youve been the director of the p. U. C. , and now, assuming we confirm your your your appointment, we would have two former directors on the p. U. C. Board, and is that a little bit too many cooks in the kitchen . Thats my concern, is that wed have, you know, a general manager, and then two former general managers on the board. How would that affect you as a general manager, and do you think thats a little bit too much . Love to hear your thoughts on that. Its a very fair question, supervisor. When i was city manager, i argued with the mayor to appoint andy moranz. I guess theres a couple of things. One is ive always been somebody who has a job, and then, when you leave the job, you have faith in those that follow and theyre in charge, and youre not. Its great that i talk to Ben Rosenfield every once in a while, but i would never just butt into your world. Im really clear about that. Other thing is there are some departments in the city. The p. U. C. S Division Goes they go out 20 or 30 years. You just dont pick up the knowledge of the hydrology of the Public Utilities commission overnight, so i think theres a reason to not be as concerned in this case, but i totally understand why it could be a concern. Chair ronen do any of my colleagues have any questions . Supervisor stefani yes. Just to follow up on what youre saying to having led the p. U. C. , i thought it kind of an advisory council, you know, that people that leave are there to experience and guide. You are a former controller, manager of the p. U. C. I remember when i came here in 2007 and just remember hearing so many good things about Ed Harrington. Obviously, the concern for the environment, we cant say that enough, given the fact that the sky went dark, we cant go outside, we cant run. We need people like that in all sorts of places. Environmental justice. I think you were here when i worked for michaela, and remember we were so adamant we werent going to have those coal fired electric plants, and then, ive had constituents that have challenged that they werent my constituents, they were michaelas. So i think your ability to approxima serve on the p. U. C. , its undeniable. I have no questions, only the deepest admiration and support, and im thanking the mayor again for appointing you. Thank you, supervisor. Chair ronen supervisor mar, did you have anything to add . Supervisor mar yeah, thank you, supervisor ronen. Thank you, mr. Harrington for your years of service and highlevel service to our community, and thanks for your willingness to step back in to the Important Role at the p. U. C. I just had one question. As youre aware this year, weve been dealing with a number of crises in the city, unprecedented, but one of them has been around a crisis in in faith in our government, and, you know, as the the federal corruption investigation, you know, you know, has been playing out over the last seven months, and thats really lead to charges and directly impacting many of our key departments here in the city with documented evidence of corruption and and particularly around contracting, you know, the public works department, d. B. I. , and the Mayors Office of neighborhood services. And so even in july, you know, there was a federal subpoena that extended to the p. U. C. , and theres an Ongoing Investigation now, so i just wanted to see what your thoughts are around, you know, the federal investigation into corruption here, and thats now extended to the p. U. C. Sure, supervisors. So theres many different examples of fraud and corruption in several departments of the city. When i went to the p. U. C. , i added an audit function there because we were spending 3. 5 milli 3. 5 billion of rate payer money to upgrade the system, and we had had some scandals there. One of the things that i did was i set up a system of meetings and trainings for anybody in the Public Utilities commission to design anything time sheets, purchase orders, contracts, everything. And we went through and did training for about 300 staff in the p. U. C. To talk about the important of tone at the top for honesty, of how you do business with each other, that your signature means something, and if in fact you dont do right or you dont call out someone else thats doing wrong, thats your responsibility, and there will be consequences. Over the years, ive fired people, ive reprimanded people, and ive issued orders to stop doing people with the city. I think as we talk about these things, we have to be aware that we are actually, we have a lot of people that are honest, and we should keep their morale up by commending them and congratulating them. At the same time, if someone is working against us, then you take them out. Supervisor mar yeah, thank you for that. I appreciate that yeah, your past history on implementing controls and oversight practices but also your point about the need to support and and the you know, the vast majority of our and pretty much almost all of our Civil Servants that are doing their work at ethical and high standards, so thank you. Thank you. Chair ronen thank you so much. If theres no further questions, then we will move onto the second appointment, tim paulson. Good morning, tim. Thank you very much, supervisor ronen, my supervisor, as well as supervisor mar and stefani. So should i follow the same lead as chair ronen you got it . As the previous candidate and just say a few comments about what is happening today . So as you know, i have been appointed by the mayor, and it is now in front of rules, and i just am looking for your approval because as you, you know, approved me the first time, i ran around to come into this job because i went into a little bit kicking and screaming, i guess is what i tried to say because ive advocated in front of commissions but never sat on them. When people recruited me to come and sit on the Public Utilities commission, i accepted it, and i took it seriously. I have to tell you, i have learned more about water and power and sewer systems and public power and pg e and Environmental Issues than i ever thought i was going to learn, and ive taken it i just want you to know, ive taken it very seriously. Ive asked questions, ive engaged the staff and by the way, there are some incredibly talented professionals in the six different departments of the area. Every time i ask a question, theres a powerpoint its not like they made it up for me, theyre actually prepared for a commissioner to be fully briefed. As i continue to go into public service, im going to continue to take it seriously. All three of the different agencies and the six departments have been great. As you know, ive worked in the Labor Movement on behalf of working men and women for the past 25plus years. Thats been my job, and thats been my passion, and thats what drives me is the workers who make this city work, and the workers in both the public and private sector to move forward. So im going to continue to, you know, that is my advocacy in my day job, but in my life, id like to be able to bring that piece also to the to the commission as i continue. I do want to let you know something that i havent put in, and i think all of you know this in general, but, you know, i do come from the construction industry. You know, i have you know, ive been you know, ive run jobs back in the day, you know . I was a construction worker, you know, that ran as a foreman and whatever, you know, i ran many jobs. I know what a change order is. I know what a board foot is. In the trades, your college is your Apprenticeship Program where you spend four or five years of your life, and you dont have to pay money to go to a college, you actually get paid to learn your trade, and you can go to school at night or on the weekends or whatever else it is. I was an apprenticeship coordinator, also, for a few years. When i was also at the Labor Council and the Building Trades council, i worked on a lot of these project labor agreements. When we sit down with developers, public or private sector, its all about money, and thats where we fight to make sure we get the best bang for the buck. And as i think i said in the First Press Release when you guys first approved me, and the mayor nominated me, you know, the rate payers are the first priority. All the other issues are because this is an important and complex commission, and a major part of the structure of our city, that we have a lot of issues to deal with that. So, you know, i dont know if i should just stop right there. I really care about finance when it comes to things. During the downturn we had in 2007, when everything just fell to crap, and wall street kept putting money into work and housing and everything else, i actually had the silly idea of going with lennar and ed lee to china because they wouldnt invest in our city. It actually was a lot of union funds and trust funded that started putting money in the stuff. I was one of the teams that was invited to go, of all places, to main land china to fine some money. But i hope that these comments let you know that im honored to be on this commission, and i really want your support to be able to continue to do this work, and more than willing, gang, to take any questions that you might have, so thank you. Chair ronen thank you so much. I keep calling you tim. I should be calling you mr. Paulson or commissioner paulson, but ive known you so long, its hard. I just want to thank you for taking on this new role that is hard for you because youre so used to being on the other side of the podium. But i appreciate your willingness to serve in this capacity, and im excited that the mayor thats chosen to support you. Do you have any questions . Do any colleagues have any questions . Commission. Supervisor stefani i dont have any questions. Mr. Paulson, hes been a great member of the commission since last year. You will continue to do a great job in your first full fouryear term with this appointment. Youve done so much work for not only the p. U. C. But the labor community, and i have nothing but positive experiences and nothing but the greatest faith in your ability to really do the work necessary and advise the p. U. C. , based on your experience, and i just i cant sing your praises enough. So again, another great nomination that is so easy to support, thanks. Commissioner, im honored, thank you. And chair ronen, you just segued so fast. Thank you for this. Supervisor mar yeah, ill just add thank you, chair ronen. Ill just add to this, thank you, commissioner paulson or tim, for your decades of work supporting people in this city in the Labor Movement, and now for your service on the p. U. C. I just have the same question i would ask you the same question that i asked of mr. Harrington, whats your response to the investigation and now the prosecution thats been playing out in our city around misconduct, fraud, and corruption by city officials that has now expanded to at least the investigation looking into the p. U. C. Since july, and how does that relate to the important oversight role of the p. U. C. And for you as a p. U. C. Commissioner . Well, you know, ive been very briefly briefed by the City Attorney, that this was an expansion. I think what im going to say is former director harrington said, that all of us in the Labor Movement, whether were in government or any part of public life is going to be incredibly diligent to make sure that somebody, you know, that is cheating or taking public dollars or whatever else is going to be exposed, so, you know, as part of the oversight committee, we will you know, im going to take this very seriously. I dont know of anything, but somebody might or somebody might not. We know the most high profile pieces that have come out of this investigation, but im going to take the oversight very seriously, but to be honest, i havent seen anything. Its in the grand jurys hands right now, so, you know, but obviously, im curious as to if anything comes through. So i will be diligent. I dont know if thats the best way to put it, but just like all of you as supervisors. We hope that this department is as clean as ive seen it, but if theres something there, you know, well keep our i will keep my ears wide open. Supervisor mar thank you for that, tim, and yeah, i think right now that its really important for all of us, like the on the board of supervisors and members of important commissions like the p. U. C. To really focus on our oversight role and really to restore confidence and faith in our City Department and critical departments like the p. U. C. , so i appreciate that. Thank you. Thank you, supervisor. Chair ronen thank you so much. We will know open this item up for Public Comment. Any member of the public who wishes to speak on these two appointments, youll have two minutes to do so. Chair ronen vic tore, youre on mute. Clerk members of the public who wish to provide Public Comment should call 4156550001. The meeting i. D. Is 1468549547, then press pound, and pound again. If you havent already done so, press star, three to lineup to speak. Please wait until the system indicates you have been unmuted, and you may enter your Public Comment. Mr. Qao, do we have any speaker for Public Comment. Operator yes, we have one caller. Hello. My name is larry mazzola, director of Plumbers Union 32. Im here to support tim, to reappointment him on the p. U. C. He has a long history of representing workers in San Francisco and well thought of in the city. Hes well respected in our industry, done a great job on the commission since hes been on board, and its very important to have labor on