Fire Commission - February 27, 2019

 

 

The Video can be viewed by clicking this link:  http://sanfrancisco.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=180&clip_id=32…

 

President Nakajo called the meeting to order at 5:01 p.m.

 

1. ROLL CALL

 

Commission President Stephen Nakajo Present

Commission Vice President Francee Covington Present

Commissioner Michael Hardeman Present

Commissioner Ken Cleaveland Present

Commissioner Joe Alioto Veronese Present

 

Chief of Department Joanne Hayes-White Present

 

Mark Gonzales Deputy Chief -- Operations

Jeanine Nicholson Deputy Chief --Administration

 

Khai Ali Airport

Michael Cochrane Homeland Security

Andy Zanoff EMS

Joel Sato Division of Training

 

Assistant Chiefs

Rex Hale Division 2

Steven Bokura Division 3

 

 

2. PUBLIC COMMENT

 

The following members of the public spoke on behalf of their support of having pets in the SFFD Stations and recommended that Edna the cat be returned to Station 49:  Michele Estrada; Nadine May; Christine Gagan; Carol Brownson; Paul Wermer; Liza Ibanez; and Linda Connelly; 

 

3. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES [Discussion and possible action]

Discussion and possible action to approve meeting minutes.

 

• Minutes from Special Meeting on February 8, 2019.

 

Commissioner Cleaveland Moved to approve the above meeting Minutes.  Commissioner Veronese Seconded.  Motion to approve above Minutes was unanimous.  There was no public comment.

 

• Minutes from Regular Meeting on February 13, 2019

 

Commissioner Hardeman Moved to approve the above meeting Minutes as amended.  Commissioner Cleaveland Seconded.  Motion to approve above Minutes as amended was unanimous.  There was no public comment.

 

• Minutes from Regular Meeting on February 14, 2019

 

Commissioner Cleaveland Moved to approve the above meeting Minutes.  Commissioner Hardeman Seconded.  Motion to approve above Minutes was unanimous.  There was no public comment.

 

There was no public comment.

 

4. CHIEF OF DEPARTMENT’S REPORT [Discussion]

REPORT FROM CHIEF OF DEPARTMENT, JOANNE HAYES-WHITE

Report on current issues, activities and events within the Department since the Fire Commission meeting on February 13, 2019, including budget, academies, special events, communications and outreach to other government agencies and the public.

 

Chief Hayes-White reported on events and activities since the last meeting on February 13, 2019.  She mentioned that the budget was timely submitted on February 21, 2019, and acknowledged the work that Director Corso puts it to that task year after year.  She announced that she and President Nakajo co-signed a letter to the Mayor acknowledging the budget and indicating that they are team players but were unable to meet the reduction request and the reason why, as well as highlighting a variety of needs that were identified during the Budget Committee process, including increasing emergency medical services resources, restoration of the Incident Support Specialist and additional funding for equipment, both for frontline engine and trucks, as well as disaster preparedness such as hose tenders.  She stated that the 125th academy class is in their fifth week and that graduation will be in mid-June and that they anticipate the 126th H-2 academy class beginning in fall.  She touched on recent activities she attended since the last meeting, including a fundraiser for Zuckerberg SFGH Hearts and Heroes event, the Congenital Heart Disease Awareness Day, a meeting with the Mayor’s office, along with other stakeholders in anticipation of the opening of the Warriors Chase Center arena, a Healthy Streets Operations Committee meeting, the annual AAGE lunch sponsored by the Asian Firefighters Association.  She described the tragic landslide at Fort Funston that trapped a woman who was walking on the beach with a friend and a dog, and the valiant efforts of the members of the Department that were trying to locate her.  To date, the victim has not been located.  She also attended the opening season of youth baseball in collaboration between the SFFD, and Rec and Park and overseen by the FLAME program and run by Firefighter Rick Hui.  She added that she, Phil Ginsburg and Mayor Breed threw out the first pitch.  She participated in the Law Enforcement Polar Plunge which raises money for the Special Olympics.  She thanked President John Choy of the Asian Firefighters Association for hosting the dinner following the Chinese New Year Parade which she attended along with Commissioner Veronese, President Nakajo, members of the Department and the Command Staff.  She also attended a read aloud with first graders at Mission Dolores Academy and a meeting with the Merced Ingleside Group of Neighborhoods to talk about their concerns of PG & E transmission lines that run through their neighborhood.

 

Commissioner Cleaveland asked if there have been any discussions or plans made with regard to a new station around the Chase Center.  Chief Hayes-White answered that the City is fortunate that Station 4 which is one of the newer stations is approximately two blocks from the Chase Center and the nearest engine company would be Station 25, which is at 3rd and Amador.

 

There was no public comment.

 

REPORT FROM ADMINISTRATION, DEPUTY CHIEF JEANINE NICHOLSON

Report on the Administrative Divisions, Fleet and Facility status and updates, Finance, Support Services, Homeland Security, Training within the Department, update on MOU between Department and Guardians of the City and MOU between Department and Port regarding Station 35.

 

Chief Nicholson reported on events for the month of January.  She mentioned that the Physician’s Office has conducted 56 promotional and permanent physicals in multiple ranks as well as 40 return to work evaluations.  She stated that the Investigative Services Bureau conducted 90 random drug and alcohol tests which were all negative.  She mentioned that Support Services had over 120 facility requests and they are working closely with Public Works to get that list down.  She touched on the Bureau of Equipment where six new engines are being outfitted by Central Shops.  She stated that the Operations Center at Headquarters is being upgraded which will give the Department great ability to be able to see what’s going on in the city in case of a large disaster.  She attended the Capital Planning meeting where they passed the 2020 ESER bond that includes 150 million dollars for a new training facility and 125 million dollars for AWSS which is now called EFWS, Emergency Firefighting Water Supply.  She touched on the Ambulance Deployment Facility, Station 16 and Station 5.  Regarding the Training Division, she stated that all staff underwent implicit bias training as well as most of the Command Staff.  She stated that the H-8 per diem academy has begun with 27 students.  She touched on the Fire Reserves, NERT, outreach, recruitment where Jonathan Baxter and Keith Baraka have gone to several different events and attended the  City Job Fair career information sessions at the DOT and are now working with high schools, specifically, with Mission High School working towards getting a public safety career pathway and expanding it to other schools.  Regarding the MOU with Guardians of the City, she stated thatt they have come to realize how complicated it is and will take time to hash it all out.  In the meantime, they came up with a 12-month interim plan which includes a communications plan, creating a list of events and what vehicles they will want to use and coming up with a creative solution in terms of storing the antique vehicles on Treasure Island.  She touched on the progress of the MOU with the Port in regard to rent at Station 35 which is work in progress.

 

Chief Hayes-White acknowledged Chief Cochrane and Chief Zanoff for working collaboratively on putting together a stellar event action plan for the Chinese New Year event.  She also clarified the amount of the 2020 ESER bond by stating it is to be a 600-million-dollar bond in which 400 million is slated for the SFFD; 150 million for the training facility, 125 million for the emergency firefighting water supply and 125 million for the neighborhood fire stations ongoing seismic and structural work.

 

Commissioner Cleaveland thanked Chief Nicholson for her comprehensive report and asked what the washout is for the H-8 per diam classification.  Chief Zanoff explained that the H-8 academy is a very hard one and testing is very difficult, and they have lost four or five people from an H-8 academy in the past.  He also complimented her, PIO Baxter and Recruitment Officer Keith Baraka for establishing the public safety career track at Mission High School and he would like to see that track flourish and be replicated in other high schools in the City.  He also commented that he hopes the MOU with GOTC will eventually get done and that the interim agreement will set forth exactly what the responsibilities are for the Department and GOTC, as he thinks it is an important part of the history to maintain and exhibit the historic fire engines and fire apparatuses and a healthy partnership between the two organizations is needed.

 

Commissioner Veronese asked about the update on the drones.  Chief Nicholson stated they are waiting for the policy to be approved by the City Attorney's Office.  Commissioner Veronese stated that the policy has already been approved by the Commission.  Mr. Corso stated that the policy had some additional comments that were circulated internally as well as from the commission and that final feedback, combined with the original round of city attorney comments were incorporated and sent back for final review.  They are also waiting for an FAA waiver they need to receive from the State but the policy has to be in place before any of that can be done and it needs to be signed off by the City Attorney's Office.  Commissioner Veronese asked that once the city attorney has reviewed it and made changes to it, that it comes back to the Commission so that the Commission can vote on it because the only current policy that's been adopted by the Commission is the one that was adopted two months ago.  Chief Cochrane added that because the drone is grant funded and the aviation request form goes to Cal OES, and that Cal OES has requested the full policy before the Department can order a drone.   Commissioner Veronese asked Chief Nicholson to add to her report the test results from the cancer study from Local 798 when they become available.  He also confirmed the reason that Central Shops outfits the apparatus instead of the manufacturer is because the Department has different equipment that needs to be considered, such as SCBAs, thermal imaging cameras, and radios.  It was confirmed that not only is the purpose of the MOU with the GOTC to restore the historical vehicles but to also determine what rigs get driven and by whom and for what events as well as other artifacts that are stored.  It was also confirmed that there were several antique apparatuses that are stored indoors on Treasure Island.  Commissioner Veronese confirmed that the memo that was provided in response to the 2018 Peer Support Resolution was not the response that he required but was informational only.  Chief Hayes-White responded that she has been very upfront and candid about how ambitious the resolution is and she thinks the Department has a very robust Peer Support Unit and she acknowledged that it is an important issue and is in her top 10 priorities, probably 9 or 10 and she thinks it is going to take more time.  Commissioner Veronese stated he understands that this is the bottom of Chief Hayes-White’s priority list, but he will continue to advocate for a state-of-the-art Peer Support Unit as he thinks they can do better.

 

Commissioner Hardeman conformed that the contractors might be asking for a 7-day extension to complete Station 5.  He also commented that it was good news on the ESER bonds.  He also mentioned that the sooner the better the department will be on getting drones.

 

Vice President Covington confirmed that the 2020 ESER Bond monies will not be covering new fire stations at Candlestick Point and out by the former Schlage Lock company and that funding for those stations is to be determined down the road, that there may be some private funding based on the developments slated for those areas.  Vice President Covington also expressed here concerns on having sufficient funds for a training facility and that the Commission needs an adequate update on the training facility.  She is also concerned with how they came up with a figure for a facility without knowing what the land cost will be.  She added that for at least 10 years, the department has known that it is not included in the master plan on Treasure Island and in that period of time, the costs of land in the city have escalated beyond anyone’s imagination and that it is essential that the Commission, as an oversight body for the Department, have something before them to at least discuss.   Chief Hayes-White responded that it is a complicated issue and part of the reason the land costs were not initially looked at is that they were potentially looking at doing a property exchange and the entity they were looking to swap land with is no longer viable given unforeseen circumstances.  She added that the City administrator and the Mayor's office are aware of the issue.  Vice President Covington added that she has expressed her concern repeatedly regarding the training facility and that there needs to be some kind of timeline and that it is very frustrating to her as a commissioner not to have something that they can look at, discuss, and make decisions and suggestions about.  Chief Hayes-White responded that she believes they have briefed Vice President Covington and given her a thick document in terms of what the needs assessment are and agreed with her that an essential piece is the identification of a location, which time after time has not come to fruition.  She added that they have done a lot of work in terms of what their needs are and have been working with Real Estate, Capital Planning, the City Administrators and the Mayor's office and she encouraged the commission to continue to support and advocate the issue with the Board of Supervisors as it has been the top priority for the Department.  Vice President Covington acknowledged all the hard work that has been mentioned, but she needs to see results as well as an action plan.  There was a brief discussion on the tragic event at Fort Funston.  Vice President Covington confirmed that Chief Cochrane and Chief Sato will be the drone operators once they have been procured and that they will take a 24-hour online class to get their license.

 

President Nakajo thanked Chief Nicholson for her comprehensive report and stated that at the next Commissioner meeting there will be the Operations report where they can discuss in further detail the Fort Funston incident and the PG&E gas explosion. 

 

Ms. Tana Hall stated she got to the meeting late because of MUNI and missed general public comment where she wanted to voice her support for the return of Edna the cat to Station 49.  An unidentified female also expressed here support for Edna.

 

5. RETREAT SUBCOMMITTEE UPDATE AND ACTION PLAN [Discussion]

Vice President Covington and Commissioner Veronese to provide an update on action to be taken following the September 25, 2018 Commission Special Meeting/Retreat.

 

Vice President Covington stated that they have been very busy on the Commission interviewing people for the position of Chief of the Department as well as well as other duties and that the update on the retreat items took a back seat.  Commissioner Veronese added that he and Vice President Covington did meet regarding the retreat and they looked at each of the items and notes and came up with a list on how they will be approached, some are legislative, some require budgets and that the goal is to determine the best strategy and to prioritize those items.  President Nakajo agreed to continue the matter to a time when both Vice President Covington and Commissioner Veronese agreed on, so they could work on a more in-depth substantive report. 

 

There was no public comment.

 

6. COMMISSION REPORT [Discussion]

Report on Commission activities since last meeting on February 13, 2019

 

President Nakajo stated that he and Commissioner Cleaveland met with Supervisor Mars Office.  He also met with Supervisor Peskin’s office to clarify and understand information in terms of the reference of Station 13 and the possible rebuild of that station.  He also thanked Chief Zanoff, Chief Cochrane and Chief Molloy for the briefing of the Chinatown parade as well as AFA president John Choy.  He acknowledged Chief Hayes-White, who retires on May 5th for the great participation that she does at events including the Chinatown parade.  He mentioned that he would be reaching out to the commissioners to advocate for the budget to individual Board of Supervisor members.

 

There was no public comment.

 

7. AGENDA FOR NEXT AND FUTURE FIRE COMMISSION MEETINGS [Discussion]

Discussion regarding agenda for the next and future regular meetings.

 

Commissioner Veronese referenced general order 19-A07, which is the policy regarding animals on Department property and he acknowledged and thanked the public who came and spoke.  He also acknowledged the many emails in support of Edna and asked that they be a part of the next agenda packet.

 

• Coastline Resolution

• Pets in the workplace and rule change Resolution

• Resolution in support of the Fire Reserves given consideration for employment

• Update on Department’s Strategic Plan

• Retreat update

• Cancer Accord Resolution

 

There was no public comment.

 

8. ADJOURNMENT President Nakajo adjourned the meeting in the memory of retired Battalion Chief Jack Bogue, Jr., and Public Defender Jeff Adachi at 7:00 p.m.