Fire Commission - June 27, 2018

 

 

The Video can be viewed by clicking this link:  http://sanfrancisco.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=180&clip_id=30…

 

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

 

Michael Cochrane Homeland Security

Andy Zanoff EMS

Joel Sato Division of Training

Khai Ali Airport Division

 

Assistant Chiefs

Brook Baker Division 2

Nicol Juratovac Division 3

 

Staff

Mark Corso Deputy Director of Finance

Olivia Scanlon Communications and Outreach

 

 

3. PUBLIC COMMENT

 

Paul Kim, Janice Chung, Victor Lubeck, John Corbett, Sagiv Weiss-Ishai, and Tom Haney, (who read a statement from Senior Engineer Fred Stump), and Carolyn Prim all spoke in support of reinstating terminated Department Fire Protection Engineer Mark Ma.  They all attributed his release to a misunderstanding and cultural indifference.  Mr. Ma also spoke and thanked his union rep and co-workers for coming forward and for their support.  He explained the circumstances of what he thought was the right thing to do but what lead to his termination and that he would like the commission to reconsider his case and allow him to return to work.

 

Estella Irving commented that she knows the department has her on their radar as they know here comings and goings and she feels they are stalking her.  She commented that she is tired of it and that the Chief needs to do something about it.

 

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

Discussion and possible action to approve meeting minutes.

 

• Minutes from Regular Meeting on June 13, 2018.

 

Commissioner Hardeman Moved to approve the above meeting Minutes.  Commissioner Veronese Seconded.  Motion to approve above Minutes was unanimous.

 

There was no public comment.

 

4. PRESENTATION FROM THE NERT ADVISORY BOARD [Discussion]

Members from the NERT Advisory Board to make presentation.

 

Captain Erica Arteseros, the program coordinator introduced herself as well as the Advisory Board chair, Gary Pegueros, and Advisory Board member Lulu Liebersbach.  She presented the attached PowerPoint:  https://sf-fire.org/sites/default/files/COMMISSION/Fire%20Commission%20…

 

Captain Arteseros explained that the Neighborhood Emergency Response Team (NERT) is the Department’s invitation to any San Francisco resident to become a responder and become prepared for disasters that will occur in the City.  She added that they have a very committed cadre of volunteers and she invited Mr. Pegueros and Ms. Liebersbach to speak about the NERT program and to touch on the highlights.  Mr. Pegueros stated that he has volunteered for NERT for the past 13 years and he also serves as the coordinator for South Beach, Rincon Hill, and Mission Bay neighborhoods, as well as the Chair of the NERT Advisory Board.  He also volunteers for the SFPD’s Alert Disaster Response Program.  He acknowledged his fellow board members that were in attendance, including Ms. Liebersbach, Linda Ingram, Nathan Karkoski, Lisa Dunmeyer and Chris Pedregal Martin.  He stated that the NERT program continues to be free to residents and is taught by an amazing group of San Francisco firefighters and is still the only hands-on training of basic and advanced preparedness skills to anyone living or working in San Francisco.  He added that they are grateful for the continued support of the Fire Commission, Chief Hayes-White, and the Fire Department.  He stated that there have been over 29,000 residents who have taken the training and currently, there are over 11,000 members that they reach through Regroup.  He went on to explain the PowerPoint slides in detail.  Ms. Liebersbach spoke and talked about some of the accomplishments for the year with the NERT program including the Public Health Foundation partnership complete for their 501 (C) (3) and they have some money coming in from members of the NERT community.  She added that so far this year, they have had 17 full NERT training sessions.  She touched on next step for the program, including increasing support for the neighborhood team building, retention and outreach, and updating the student materials as well as the NERT office, which needs to be brought into modern standards with technology as they are still using pen and paper.

 

Chief Hayes-White thanked them for their presentation and stated that she supports and appreciates the wonderful NERT program and that it wouldn’t work without the dedicated leadership of Captain Arteseros as well as her advisory board team.  She added that they all have enthusiasm and dedication to the program and they really make it work in conjunction with the Department members that are the trainers.

 

Commissioner Veronese asked what types of emergencies to the NERT volunteers respond to.  Captain Arteseros stated that the original plan was to respond to earthquakes as the program was put into place following the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake, but they also have responded to oil spills and heat wave warnings.  She added that they also have a trained cadre that can deploy outside of the area, where they can support the wildland fires and residents in the wildland fires supporting other civilians.  The goal is to train people to the level that they can relieve the burden on the Fire Department for the need to respond to certain things and in that partnership, anyone that takes care of themselves is one less person that the Fire Department needs to get to.  She described the neighborhood structure on how the NERT team functions in a catastrophic emergency.  Commissioner Veronese stated that he would be willing to talk offline with 501 (c) (3) organizations that can possibly help in supplying items needed such as technology and computers.

 

Commissioner Covington stated that it was quite a wonderful thing to attend the NERT sessions and she learned so much and felt very capable after taking the classes.  She encouraged everyone to do as much as you can to get the information that you need to help your neighbors and NERT gives you the skills that you need to be able to do that.  She asked Captain Arteseros how she is getting the word out about the NERT program.  Captain Arteseros responded that the biggest champions of getting the word out are through the graduates of the program.  She added that they also use Twitter and the Next Door app.  Commissioner Covington suggested having SFGOV TV air a piece on the program.  She asked Captain Arteseros to give a short overview of what the classes cover.  Captain Arteseros stated that the NERT training is an invitation to preparedness, readiness, and response to a large emergency and during class number one, they offer the personal preparedness aspect of what you need to do to be personally ready for a large emergency, including what supplies are needed as well as a personal plan.  In the second session, they cover utilities; gas, water, and electricity including practice sessions on turning off those utilities and they talk about what to do if you're in a room when a small fire starts and how to use fire extinguishers and what hazardous materials are and the types of terrorist threats that are around.  She continued that in the third session, they practice triage, which are the medical decisions you make when you have more injured people than rescuers and they teach the volunteers decision making processes to help support the EMT’s and firefighters when there are many, many injured people and they must find the most critical.  She stated that the fourth session is for search and rescue and how to rescue somebody in a lightly damaged building and who may be trapped under some debris and the techniques for lifting when you don’t have very many people to muscle it up, but to actually use leverage devices to raise the debris and things of that sort. The fifth class goes directly to the emergency response plan and teaches the Incident Command System and how to run a command center in your neighborhood that interfaces with the fire battalion chief and the sixth session is the hands-on practice of the triage, search and rescue, putting a fire out and an overview test.  Commissioner Covington confirmed that at the end, you get a vest, hat, and gloves and that the instructors are excellent.

 

Vice President Nakajo thanked Captain Arteseros and her team for the comprehensive presentation.  He had each of them introduce themselves.  Vice President Nakajo praised the program and thanked them for their dedication and services to the City.

 

Commissioner Hardeman thanked them for their presentation and stated that his wife is the NERT of the family.  He mentioned that a recent article he read, stated that families with children are leaving the area because it’s too expensive to live here and he thanked them for all they do.

 

President Cleaveland thanked Captain Arteseros and all of her Advisory Committee members for the hard work they do in helping San Franciscans be prepared for the big one.  He hopes that people watching the meeting will hopefully step forward and contact NERT so the areas not covered by volunteers will see future coverage.  He confirmed that there are about 5 remaining classes scheduled for the year.  Captain Arteseros explained the study done through the Mayor’s office where they partnered with STIR, in where they did a deep dive into where NERT was and where they could go and the tech solution is one of the things that was pointed out as well as showing that they have trained less than one percent of San Francisco residents and the goal would be to get to five percent and recommended that some of the training be available online.  He confirmed that to be a NERT instructor, you must be a member of the SFFD.  President Cleaveland again thanked each person that's involved with the program and that they should be very proud of themselves as they are helping to protect not only themselves and the city but others as well. 

 

5. 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 June 13, 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 March 14, 2018.  Chief Hayes-White stated that in regards to the budget, it remains flux and ongoing, however the department’s hearings have concluded as they reported to the Budget and Finance Committee on June 15, 2018 and June 21, 2018 and they were in agreement with all but one recommendation made by the budget and legislative analyst which had to do with the funding in this coming fiscal year and the one after that for equipment, specifically ambulances and reducing the earmarked 1.4 million dollars by $825,000 over the course of the two years and it remains a work in progress.  She explained to the Budget and Finance Committee that the Department has 23 ambulances in their fleet with an average of about 165,000 miles each and there is a lot of wear and tear on those ambulances.  She touched on the Division of Training, and the 124th class that is in their 14th week with 49 members remaining with a graduation date on August 10th at Riordan High School.  Chief Hayes-White detailed the activities she attended during the reporting period including the Department of Building Inspection’s annual Earthquake Preparedness and Safety Fair, the San Francisco District of Council Merchants dinner at the Olympic Club where they honored public safety members, which included Captain Rob Neuneker; the Juneteenth parade, and the memorial wall dedication to Battalion Chief Terry Smerdel.  Chief Hayes-White announced that she met with the relatively new members of the Stress Unit, Dan Nazaretta, and Daniel Mahoney and was happy to report that they're off to a very good start and she thinks they both bring different aspects to the team and they're doing a really good job.  She mentioned that because she had to report to the Budget Committee, she sent Chief Gonzales to the San Francisco Travel luncheon where they acknowledged Lt. John Baxter, who does wonderful work with outreach.   She also participated in the Pride Parade along with Commissioner Covington and President Cleaveland.  She also threw out the first pitch at the SF Giants firefighter appreciation night.

 

There was no public comment.

 

REPORT FROM ADMINISTRATION, 

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

 

Chief Hayes-White reported on the Admin Division for the Month of May 2018.  She announced that Chief Nicholson was on a well-deserved vacation.  She stated that in regards to the Investigative Service Bureau since the last reporting period, there were 101 drug and alcohol tests conducted, all with negative results.  She touched on the Assignment Office where they are monitoring retirements among the other many tasks they oversee, and she announced the promotion of Battalion Chief Brook Baker to Assistant Chief of the Department.  She touched on Support Services and asked Chief Sato to give a brief overview of the new Vent Pro props which are installed on a roof at the training facility and it is a large wooden frame covered with a diamond plate surface and it is used for live fire training and it cuts down on costs a great deal.

 

Commissioner Covington thanked Chief Hayes-White for her report and complimented her on being steadfast in her advocacy of the Department and pushing for the resources that are needed to fund the ambulance fleet.  She was happy that the Chief explained that there is no downtime for the ambulances, that they operate 24/7, and it’s important for people to know that these are the nuts and bolts of why there is such wear and tear on the equipment and for laying out the difference between what was referred to as the big box ambulances and the Sprinter model.  Commissioner Covington confirmed that the Department has 58 ambulances in the fleet and that 23 of them which equals 40 percent, are over 10 years old and average 165,000 miles on the odometer.  Commissioner Covington stated that she feels the Budget Committee appears to fully understand what the Chief is saying in regards to her request for 23 ambulances and she thinks they will do whatever is necessary during the next budget cycle to make sure that the Department can get all 23 vehicles that need to be replaced.

 

Commissioner Veronese let the Chief know what a great job she did representing the Department at the Giant’s game and what a great first pitch she threw.  He said it made him proud to see her.  He asked if Cal Fire is giving notice about the severity of the current wildland fires in Northern California.  Chief Hayes-White responded that they receive regular notice through Region 2, the region the SFFD belongs to.  She acknowledged that they have sent a number of wildland trained individuals, but the challenge is not having adequate Strike Team leaders, due to retirements, to be able to send a crew if they were actually requested.  She added that they are currently trying to build up the number of Strike Team leaders and they have five in trainee mode, which means they need to go and get deployed another time or two before they get the full certification as a Strike Team leader.  Commissioner Veronese confirmed that fire season has started slightly earlier than last season.

 

Vice President Nakajo appreciated the comments of Commissioner Covington on the insight and grasp she has within the budget process, as well as the city process.  He added that with the new recent election and with the Board of Supervisors in flux in terms of waiting for things to settle, he stated the Commission still has to go about with their business and he thinks it’s important to hear that members of the Board of Supervisors understand and comprehend the need of the Department’s ambulance service.

 

Commissioner Hardeman thanked the Chief for her extensive report and commented that she is busy as usual.  He added that he watched the June 15, 2018 Budget session and acknowledged she did a great job and represented the Fire Department very well.  He explained in years past when the Department was underfunded the Chief had to take it on the chin and now, it’s nice to see progress being made  He congratulated Chief Baker on his promotion.

 

President Cleaveland commended the Chief on her advocacy on behalf of the Fire Department’s budget and he thanked Commissioner Covington for delving into the budget and describing some of the things that they deal with, in particular, the ambulances.  He acknowledged that the Department has dynamic deployment with the ambulances which means the ambulances are always on the road and they put a lot of miles on every vehicle very quickly so keeping the fleet up to date is a high priority and should be a high priority for the City and each of the citizens.  He confirmed that the Department is working very closely with the Department of Public Works, who has brought on a consultant to do a formal assessment and who has the subject matter expertise in training facilities with regard to finding a location to relocate the Treasure Island Training Facility.

 

There was no public comment.

 

6. COMMISSION REPORT [Discussion]

Report on Commission activities since last meeting on June 13, 2018

 

Vice President Nakajo congratulated Chief Baker on his promotion and that he looks forward to working with him as well.

 

Commissioner Hardeman commented that the ceremony for Chief Smerdel was extremely well done and that there was a huge crowd. 

 

There was no public comment.

 

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

Discussion regarding agenda for the April 11, 2018 and future regular meetings.

 

• Peer Support Unit Resolution.

 

There was no public comment.

 

8. ADJOURNMENT

 

President Cleaveland adjourned the meeting at 7:00 p.m.