Fire Commission - February 28, 2018

 

 

The Video can be viewed by clicking this link:  http://sanfrancisco.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=180&clip_id=29…

 

President Cleaveland called the meeting to order at 5:02 p.m.

 

1. ROLL CALL

 

Commission President Ken Cleaveland Present 

Commission Vice President Stephen Nakajo Present

Commissioner Michael Hardeman Present

Commissioner Francee Covington Present

Commissioner Joe Alioto Veronese Present 

 

Chief of Department Joanne Hayes-White Present

 

Mark Gonzales Deputy Chief – Operations

Jeanine Nicholson Deputy Chief --Administration

 

Dan De Cossio Bureau of Fire Prevention

Tony Rivera Support Services

Khai Ali Airport Division

Jeff Columbini Division of Training

 

Assistant Chiefs

Nicole Juratovac Division 2

Bill Storti Division 3

 

Staff

Mark Corso Deputy Director of Finance

Olivia Scanlon Communications and Outreach

Jesusa Bushong Department Personnel Officer

 

 

3. PUBLIC COMMENT

 

There was no public comment.

 

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

Discussion and possible action to approve meeting minutes.

 

• Minutes from Regular Meeting on February 14, 2018.

 

Commissioner Hardeman Moved to approve the above meeting Minutes.  Vice President Nakajo Seconded.  Motion to approve above Minutes was unanimous.

 

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 14, 2018, including budget, academies, special events, communications and outreach to other government agencies and the public.

 

Chief Hayes-White reported on events since the last meeting on February 14, 2018.  Chief Hayes-White stated that in regards to the budget, she thanked President Cleaveland, for co-signing a letter with her, which allowed Director Corso to submit the budget in a timely fashion on February 21, 2018, and she appreciates the support of the Commission.  She mentioned that they were asked to submit a two and a half percent reduction in the current fiscal year, which they were no able to meet, given the host of issues including the increase in call volume and expenses in order to provide services to the citizens of the City as required.  She added that they also submitted an additional FTE as directed by the Commission for a grant writer.  With regards to academies, she announced that they have an H-3 Level 1 EMT class currently training and they will graduate on March 9, 2018, at 3:00 p.m.  With regards to the 124th academy, they anticipate a start date on March 26, 2018, consisting of 54 recruits.  Chief Hayes-White described the recent events she attended, including the monthly labor-management meeting with Local 798, a meeting in preparation for the Public Safety Hearing where they addressed many issues including the out-of-service call boxes.  She attended at the request of the Asian Firefighters Association, the annual CAAGE lunch, the opening day of the San Francisco Youth Baseball League baseball season for the boys and girls participating in baseball, and the Chinese New Year’s Parade.  She congratulated Commissioner Hardeman’s son for his induction into the Sacred Heart High School Hall of Fame.  She also thanked the Asian Firefighters Association for their efforts in regards to the Chinse New Year Parade.  Chief Hayes-White also attended the Black American History event, where Harlan Kelly was recognized for his service to the City.  She asked that the meeting be adjourned in the memory of retired Battalion Chief Vic Wyrsch.  She mentioned a few upcoming events such as the St. Patrick’s Day Parade, and the SPUR awards where the SFFD’s IT Manager, Jesus Mora will be honored.

 

There was no public comment.

 

REPORT FROM ADMINISTRATION, DEPUTY CHIEF JEANINE NICHOLSON

Report on the Administrative Divisions, Fleet and Facility status, Finance, Support Services, Homeland Security and Training within the Department.

 

Chief Nicholson wished Chief Hayes-White a happy birthday.  Chief Nicholson announced that Chief Columbini has retired from the Division of Training and they have received applications for his position and they will likely be conducting interviews early next week.  She added that the DOT is also doing continual testing of probationary firefighters, as well as EMS personnel and that the live burn module is underway and is in its third week under the guidance of the new in-service captain, Darius Luttropp.  She touched on NERT, stating they have conducted over 20 trainings, and the fire reserves have donated 332 hours of their time in drills and other events.  She mentioned that Jonathan Baxter, PIO, has been working with the San Francisco Academy of Art to begin a partnership with their video program and will work with them to assist with training videos and PSA's.  She touched on the Investigative Services Bureau, the Assignment Office, which will be going strictly electronic shortly.  She mentioned that Support Services, working with DPW, has issued a notice to proceed in order to install the remaining nine wash extractors for the turnouts.  She announced that she, Chief Rivera and Tony Boone, attended the Cancer Prevention Foundation meeting last week where they talked about the PPE contract and they are working towards excluding carcinogenic and toxic chemicals from the PPE’s.  Chief Nicholson stated that Station 16 is to be completed in September of 2018 and Station 5 is delayed until December of 2018 due to some unforeseen circumstances, including soil analysis.  With regards to Fleet management, she mentioned that the first pilot program ambulance is in service and they are getting a lot of feedback from members at Station 49.  They are also working with the Wildland Committee at purchasing five new rigs from the state to upgrade the strike team fleet.  She mentioned that in regards to EMS-6, they have added an EMS-6A component that is now in service and the member works from 6:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. four days a week and deals with not just some of the operational overflow, but a lot of the administrative tasks that were not getting met, and interfacing with other groups within the city’s homeless outreach as well as DPH.  She touched on BOE and Homeland Security.

 

There was no public comment.

 

Commissioner Hardeman thanked her for her busy report and asked if somebody could comment on the recent article in the Chronicle regarding the mutual aid and wildfires and the request for extra resources.  Chief Hayes-White answered that she thinks these wildfires are becoming and will continue to be a vexing problem for the State of California and there are a finite number of resources and they are looking at alternatives to address what will become a problem that is only going to grow.  Chief Siragusa added that he thinks the bottom line is that the economic downturn of 2008 through 2012 depleted a lot of departments from recovering and you add that together with the increased request for additional resources.  He stated that in 2003, the state was able to put a thousand fire engines on the road within 24 hours stateside and the estimate right now is possibly somewhere between 400 and 500 and a lot of departments have to cover their home turf and don't have the relief apparatus or personnel to meet those needs.  He added that the $100,000,000 mentioned in the article would be for what they’ve done in the past which is to pre-deploy resources and make the finances available when necessary to deploy strike teams.  He added that there a lot of hurdles to overcome financially for that to happen.

 

Commissioner Covington asked how they lobby to access the money mentioned in the article.  Chief Hayes-White responded that it’s a combination of things, and that she sits on the California Metro Chiefs Association and they have been discussing about the ability to lobby to the extent that more resources need to be funneled in that direction and ultimately, it’s a decision made at the state level in the governor’s office for funding towards Cal Fire.  Commissioner Covington suggested that this item be placed on the next agenda to drill down and get more information about this issue to the citizens of San Francisco.  She added that they need to make sure that when others call upon the Department that they are able to respond and when the Department is in need, other departments can respond to help.  Chief Gonzales responded that the SFFD is better prepared than most, as they can send out more resources as far as equipped engines and they have made a concerted effort to get that accomplished over the last couple of years, but the rest of the state needs help covering the region.  Chief Siragusa added that the monies would not come directly to departments, they would be in a bank account and would allow the Office of Emergency Service to have a fund available to reimburse departments for their response.  There was brief discussion on the cancer study that is being conducted with members that responded to the North Bay fires and a detailed presentation is forthcoming.

 

Commissioner Veronese asked that in regards to the results from the study if the Department has any sort of plan of action in the way of changing policies or making recommendations to the Commission for changing policies.  Chief Nicholson answered that they are very interested in the results and she thinks that it will definitely help to drive policy, not just for SFFD but for other departments as well.  Commissioner Veronese asked for clarification on the workgroup and committee assignments.  Chief Nicholson explained that they were put together because it’s important to get feedback from the field in terms of driving policies or looking at new technologies and things of that sort and the members sign up to be on particular committees and all committees are made up of internal personnel.  Commissioner Veronese announced that he will be presenting a Resolution at a future meeting and he thinks the Department may want to share it with the Stress Unit Committee.  He asked about the State rigs the department is considering purchasing and Chief Siragusa explained that as the state purchases new apparatus, they have a surplus of used engines that are low mileage and are well-maintained, and since the department’s current State engines have served their time, the Department is negotiating replacing them with 5 of the State’s surplus engines.

 

Vice President Nakajo wished Chief Hayes-White a happy birthday and thanked Chief Nicholson for her comprehensive report and confirmed that the 124th academy class will be starting on March 26, 2018.  He talked about the artwork that will be going into the new ADF and that they are working with the Art’s Commission.  He acknowledged Chief Zanoff and Chief Molloy for the work they put in to prepare for the Chinese New Year's parade and he was able to observe the medical units and members as they prepared for the parade.  Vice President Nakajo acknowledged the handouts in his agenda packet, including the one from the Red Cross which stated “when in doubt, call us out” and that it has the listings of situations, people evacuated by fire or natural disaster and it tells you what the Red Cross can do along with important telephone numbers.

 

President Cleaveland asked Chief Nicholson for an update on the historic rigs and engines.  Chief Nicholson explained that they have been working closely with the Guardians of the City in order to house them and keep them out of harm’s way and are in the process of being moved to Treasure Island.  Chief Rivera added that they have been diligently moving the antique rigs to an area on Treasure Island and they were able to procure a covering that will be put on the vehicles to preserve them.  President Cleaveland confirmed that the workgroup committees can make presentations to the Commission at their pleasure.  Chief Rivera confirmed that the work being done at pump station 1, which is Fire Department Headquarters is near completion.

 

Commissioner Veronese commented in regards to lack of space for the antique rigs is not the challenge, but that there are not enough people in power that are talking about this issue and that they don’t give a damn.

 

There was no public comment.

 

5. COMMISSION REPORT [Discussion]

Report on Commission activities since last meeting on February 14, 2018

 

Commissioner Veronese gave a quick update on the wonderful Chinese New Year’s parade and thanked the Asian Firefighters for the great job they did, making sure it was a fantastic event.  He also mentioned that he attended the funeral of Firefighter Wyrsch and thanked the Chief for the great job representing the Department and he would like to see the commission do something to honor members who have passed away.

 

There was no public comment.

 

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

Discussion regarding agenda for the March 14, 2018 and future regular meetings.

 

• AWSS presentation.

• EMS-6 Resolution

• Mutual aid presentation

• Update on ECG monitor/ defibrillator

 

There was no public comment.

 

7. CORRESPONDENCE RECEIVED SINCE LAST MEETING

 

• Email dated 2/22/18 from Sara Watson

 

Commissioner Covington asked for more background on the contents of the email.  It was decided that it would be addressed under the operations report at the next meeting.

 

There was no public comment.

 

8. PUBLIC COMMENT ON ITEM 9

Public comment on all matters pertaining to Item 9 (b) below, including public comment on whether to hold Items 9 (b) in closed session. 

 

President Cleaveland called for public comment.  There was no public comment.

 

9. POSSIBLE CLOSED SESSION REGARDING PERSONNEL MATTERS

 

a. VOTE ON WHETHER TO CONDUCT ITEMS 9(b) IN CLOSED SESSION [Action]

The Commission may hear Item 9(b) in closed session pursuant to Government Code Section 54957(b) and Administrative Code Section 67.10(b).

 

Commissioner Covington made a motion to conduct item 9(b) in Closed Session.  Commissioner Veronese seconded, and the motion was unanimously approved.  (5-0; Cleaveland, Nakajo, Hardeman, Covington, Veronese)

 

The Commission went into closed session at 6:22 p.m.

 

Also present was Deputy City Attorney, Cecilia Mangoba.

 

b. DEPARTMENT PHYSICIAN PERFORMANCE EVALUATION (Con’t)

Pursuant to Admin. Code section 67.10(b); Govt. Code section 54957(b), Govt. Code section 54957.1(a)(5), the Commission may hold a closed session to discuss the performance evaluation of Department Physician, Ramon Terrazas [Discussion and possible action].

 

10. REPORT ON ANY ACTION TAKEN IN CLOSED SESSION [Discussion and possible action] as specified in California Government Code Section 54957.1(a) and San Francisco Administrative Code section 67.12(b).

 

The Commission reconvened in Open Session at 6:52 p.m.  President Cleaveland reported that the Commission will vote on a form to use on Dr. Terrazas performance evaluation in open session at the next scheduled Fire Commission meeting.

 

11. VOTE TO ELECT WHETHER TO DISCLOSE ANY OR ALL DISCUSSIONS HELD IN CLOSED SESSION, as specified in San Francisco Administrative Code Section 67.12(a).   [Action]

 

Commissioner Veronese Moved to not disclose discussions held in closed session.  Commissioner Covington Seconded.  The motion was unanimously approved.  (5-0; Cleaveland, Nakajo, Hardeman, Covington, Veronese)

 

12. ADJOURNMENT

 

President Cleaveland adjourned the meeting at 6:53 p.m. in memory of retired member Herman Wrysch.