Transcripts For SFGTV 20101027 : vimarsana.com

importers, page five, line 17. with page 893 and packaging separated from disposal, clarifying an existing, i would motion that we take those amendments. i very much appreciate the comments from the supervisors that want to strike cautioned with regards to was proceeding. when we brought forward the documents that provided the deliberations in other states in the pharmaceutical industry asking for those states to not go forward, those arguments are incredibly similar to the arguments we have heard here. those of us waiting for state government to come forward with legislation that uniformly tries to to morton made municipalities throughout california, that would be like waiting for the gedout. it s not going happen. there may be some glimmer of hope, as i had opened in my remarks in the beginning of this deliberation, we were heartened to see the obama administration moving forward and advancing this level of interest. but that level of interest has not been assigned to state and local governments get. this is where the doors open to other levels of government to take up the initiative spirited through the obama administration. there is nothing that says that any of those laws, federally speaking, the state to local governments are precluded from moving forward. san francisco is no stranger from initiating a law that is then followed by state and federal government. this is not something that we are stranger to. if we are able to investigate what i think would be seen as a pilot program for other municipalities, so be it. if the challenge is to align the municipalities, i see that as a welcome problem. but the absence of any law whatsoever in the state of california should be considered unacceptable. in the discussions with the city attorney during the orchestration of this particular law, there is no unintended consequence with regards to the concerns articulated by the representatives of the manufacturers. lip balm and toothpaste would not be included in this particular law. there would be a more defined segregation to make sure that that would not be an unintended capture. with regards to take back programs, we hear very differently on mandatory take back programs in canada, as well as europe, completely. the 1998 study that was mentioned about germany, germany is actually one of the leaders in europe right now on the question of recapturing pharmaceuticals from getting into the waste stream. it has been well updated by the parliament of germany that focuses on manufacturer responsibility. the difference is that a lot of the same manufacturers that might come to the united states to debate at the level of the state or even local levels in preventing us from enacting such laws are being reined in in europe and other places for compliance and enforcement. i think that this is the slow trend that will hopefully come to a head. we are a state government now sees the writing on the wall, having a law that is meaningful and shows efficacy for producer responsibility will alleviate local governments from having to go this direction. let s hope that they do. but it is not on the radar any time soon. i ask that we move forward in san francisco. supervisor chiu: from my perspective, i have been thinking about this for a bit. first, i would like to thank supervisor mirkarimi for accepting the riding of the amendments that he did that were proposed by the industry to make this legislation more effective. i do think that this is an issue that we have all known. the industry, the public has been aware that the lack of places to dispose of medicine has engendered health and safety issues around the country, including here in san francisco. my understanding is that the city attorney does not opine that that is the case. localities have a constitutional right to address health and safety concerns within our borders. that is what i believe this legislation is doing. i do think, i do believe that the good faith efforts and comments made by the industry and business community that they wish to address this on a voluntary basis. that being said, that has not happened yet. if there are other, smarter ways to do this, now is the time to propose it. i think a number of us are open to hearing that, but it has not happened yet. i appreciate the fact that the obama administration has addressed this general area and i have received a copy of this from industry representatives earlier today. interestingly, specifically they provide encourage the attorney general to promulgate regulations in this area that specifically states that such regulations may not require any entity to establish or operate a delivery program, which at the end of the day is why it is appropriate for us in san francisco to consider moving forward and proposing a program that hopefully will be efficient and respectful of the needs and issues within the pharmaceutical industry that accomplish the goals that we want to accomplish. i will be supporting this legislation today. that being said, i know that there are still questions and concerns. my office is absolutely willing to meet and hear from various representatives of various stakeholders that need something address. but of the many amendments that have been adopted today, this goes a long way towards addressing those concerns. if there are any additional discussions? let s call the roll. can we adopted this? let s call a role. on the motion to refer this item to the full board? supervisor elsbernd? no. supervisor mirkarimi? aye. supervisor chiu? aye. two ayes, one no. supervisor chiu: with that, madam clerk, is there any more business in front of this board? no, supervisor chiu: mr. chairmanchiu thank you no, mr. chairman. supervisor chiu: thank you, at this time this meeting is adjourned. thanks, everyone, for being here. i will be introducing todd, joanne, and randolph in a moment. i want to thank everyone for convening, particularly after fleet week, where we had another successful celebration, weekend of reflection on the remarkable sacrifice, heroism, and leadership that is shown every day by men and women in uniform. it is something that i look forward to every year, not just as the mayor of the city, but someone who has grown up in the bay area. and of course, millions around the globe are able to experience what is arguably the most fantastic demonstration of american pride. we thought it would be appropriate to piggyback this celebration with those who have returned from service, a recognition of those veterans that have done so much, provided us so much, that we need to do much more to serve ourselves. that reciprocal relationship needs to extend past at a time in uniform. one of the thing that i think we have fallen short on in this country is the filling our promise to be returning veterans. you see that manifested in the most acute ways in terms of those that come back that have suffered the consequences of war, literally and figuratively. those that have come back with physical challenges, mental health challenges, those that just come back to the challenge of coming back to an economy that is not as strong as when they left. as well, getting a job, education, competing completing the narrative of their life. one of the things we are trying to do in san francisco is connect the dots. one of the most important thing we can do, particularly in a declining resource base, is make sure that we are leveraging existing resources, connecting doctor, and make sure that the program we are providing are working together, scaling their efforts, and building partnerships. we talk about public-private partnerships here, but we also talk about public-public partnerships. something that we are celebrating today is the creation of a new portal, our 311 call center. that will be available 24 hours a day in 24 languages to help our returning veterans connect the dots. we will be working collaboratively with the va. i am always amazed when i go to the conference of mayors, how difficult it is to work with the va, the va saying how it was difficult to work with the city. i have never understood that conversation because we are so proud of them and we are not pointing a finger at them, but rather recognizing their important contribution. as well, programs like swords for passage. the va is a big part of our veterans connect network, a big part of our outreach and celebration, in terms of engaging the veterans community and recognizing the contributions of our veterans and celebrating and supporting those contributions. really this is a partnership between the va, the city and county of san francisco, and a remarkable organization that has been getting a lot of attention. iraq veterans of america. todd is the deputy director and he will be talking about what they are doing across the country to conduct similar dots across the country. nancy and her team have created a new portal, 311.org. if you call 311, everyone there has been trained to connect veterans to grant services, jobs services, grants representing schools, a wide variety of things to serve our veterans, but all in one place. all you need to know is three simple numbers. finally, we are also connecting to our community college. one thing we all need to think about is a lifelong learning, regardless of state of mind. a lot of our returning veterans want to complete their education. they have the opportunity to connect with funding and community colleges the backbone of our education system. you all know that. we are very proud of the san francisco community college and we will be talking about how they are a big purchase and in this effort as well. with that spirit, i am proud to ask todd hours to come up. he will talk about their great work. i hope he tells you where this idea came from, because it came from him, his partners. how long ago did you come in here? about five months ago. they said we want to work with the city and create a model that we can export to other cities. they challenged us, and we hope that we have met their challenge. we thank you for your leadership and for the inspiration. i have a few notes. contrary to popular belief, marines can read. mayor newsom, sincerely, thank you. you are someone who put your money where your mouth was. you saw the issues at hand, and within a few months, you really stepped up and led the charge. iava is the first and largest organization built for the returning veterans of iraq and afghanistan. our mission is very simple, one that mayor newsom understand, to improve the lives of iraq and afghanistan veterans and their families. when my unit return from war, i was overwhelmed. there were so many resources out there, different outlets, departments trying to do things for us, it became overwhelming. it was sort of like drinking from a fire hose. one of the things we realized was there has to be a way that cities on a local level can provide these resources from all different agencies into a single place. that is where this idea came from. we know in the city of san francisco, returning veterans will no longer be drowning from that fire hose. through this program, veterans of all walks of life, regardless of their deployment, will be able to call in and find these resources at a touch of a button. that is what we need, sparred, innovative thinking to combat these issues that veterans are facing right now. one of the main things that iraq and of canada and veterans are dealing with when they come afghanistan veterans are dealing with when they come home our mental health issues, difficulties in integrating into society. things can be overwhelming, so where do they turn to first? other local community. this initiative will make a difference. one of the innovative ways the iraq and afghanistan veterans of america have engaged this new generation of membership is understanding that technology will be the key to outreach to a lot of these folks. we have developed something called community of veterans which is sort of like a social networking site for veterans of iraq and afghanistan. within their we are able to provide tons of resources, and we are ecstatic to be able to provide this resource in there. one thing that we also do is reconnecting veterans. when we deploy, we find ourselves on these little fobs with people. that is the goal. reconnecting people once they come home. the reliance we have on the national guard and reserve can be overwhelming. these folks are not on military bases, not in a place where they can reach out to a neighbor. now we know there is a community here in san francisco that will support the veterans when they return. i would also like to propose another initiative. when i was in afghanistan, there was a tremendous amount of hills and mountains on a daily basis. as i was walking through the city, i was sweating and this little trolley came rolling up the street. we need those in afghanistan. it may save us in the long run. going up and down those hills is pretty intense. i sincerely want to thank you on behalf of iava, other veterans organizations, everyone else who has been involved, thank you for your leadership. it is an honor to be involved today. now i will ask joanne peters of our va to come up. it is weird to repeat this, but there is so much of this va vs. city friction across the country. i cannot express my confusion more because of our own experience. i will ask her to say a few words as well. it is true, we have a good working relationship with the city and mayor. there are a number of initiatives we are working on. mainly, working with homeless veterans. we partner with hud, the public housing authority. we have 5000 doctors to help the homeless. we have the cover project, which is out of the san francisco jail. we are helping them with different life skills so they can get back and be functional in society. we did the project homeless connect. we worked with the city college. we also worked with the mental health station out there. they can see the veteran s right there. it is an issue. going out to the va is a roadblock. we continue to work well with the city. lots of different areas. we appreciate your support. thank you. we estimate in san francisco again, this is an estimate and the reason we are building this collaborative. there are anywhere between 30,000 and 60,000 living in san francisco. again, just estimates. we are trying to work through the technological challenges to connect people in a way where we can get a better sense of that community. one of the real leaders in helping us with that is leon winston, the coo of swords to plowshares. he deals with the challenges, acute and not so acute, every day. we talk about exporting models, swords to plowshares is certainly one of them. thank you. it is true, the amount of city support that we get. the resources that the va brings to the table in concert with that, with community-based organizations. i became homeless in the early 1990 s, came to san francisco, and through court resources given to me by the city, of swords to plowshares, i was able to get back on my feet. san francisco gets a bit of a bum rap because we are a liberal city, but as far as support for veterans, there is no city that does a better job. this goes back to the feinstein administration, every mayor since then. everyone has done a wonderful job supporting the veterans. san francisco is the only city we know of in the country that pays for mental health care for veterans out of the city budget. we have been doing that for 25 years. we have housing on a treasure island that is a no cost police for veterans. lease for veterans. in the presidio, 102 units of supportive housing. the city provides rehab funding there. veterans with disabilities. more recently, the city made available a landmark building that has revived substantial rehab funding. in 2012, 75 senior hamas veteran will be able to live out their lives in dignity. i just cannot say enough about the job the city does of stepping up to the plate. it is not just about platitudes and waving banners, it is about getting the job done. we are great we are very grateful. randy martina s is the president of the city college. randolph will explain, through the gi bill, how they are now funding the gi bill. it is not about where you are from but where you are going to school. because of the high cost of living, they provide more than just about any other city college in the state. thank you. but i am also a marine, [inaudible] thank you, mayor. policy advisers. thank you for having us here. i served seven years in the marine corps. i am here as the president of veterans alliance. our mission has been to create a home where veterans can come in and have a school that can offer so many things to them. one of the things that we ve pushed the last semester was the better the resource center. dr. griffin made that happen along with walter newman. this veteran the resource center has brought a lot of good things to veterans, such as the va right next door, the chance for veterans who do not feel comfortable going to a hospital, they feel comfortable at school, so we matched both of them. we are getting a lot of good turnaround. our mission also is to bring the veterans together in one home where we can have an easier transition from service to the higher education institutes. also, like the mayor said, we are trying to make sure all veterans coming to see the college are taken care of because it will be multiplying for time to come. the gi bill has been so great, making things happen, where today it can establish the economy to focus on the economy, giving veterans a chance to go to school by providing the highest gi bill assistance we have had so far. we had an increase of 1000 veterans since last semester. last semester we had 200 veterans. that is a good initiative. this is allowing more people to go to school. i am also here because a lot of veterans have problems bringing their issues to the va, problems with learning. but they are so grateful for this city which takes care of them. this is another step forward to make sure that we continue that. i want to thank san francisco for really helping us veterans. thank you. thank you all, very much. we are here to answer any question that you may have. can you tell us more how 311 works? my personal experience is, i often get another phone number. nancy, you can explain the website that is up. i am not a veteran but i believe in providing help to people, so we have designed a comprehensive web site with information in terms of general resources, job and education training, housing, social services, mental health. just a vast array of resources you can find in one place. in most cases, when people call 311, we can provide language assistance and give you the resources available, depending on the need of the veteran. we can provide them a link to the information, service, whether it is sorts to plowshares or anything else. we would provide that information to them. we would not provide the phone number unless they ask for it, but we would deliver those services, based on their request. so it is mostly referring them to the website? them to the website? if they won general resource