Fire Commission - March 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

Dan De Cassio Prevention

Tony Rivera Support Service

Andy Zanoff EMS

Joel Sato Division of Training

 

Assistant Chiefs

Rex Hale Division 2

Steven Bokura Division 3

 

 

2. PUBLIC COMMENT

 

There was no public comment.

 

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

Discussion and possible action to approve meeting minutes.

 

• Minutes from Regular Meeting on March 13, 2019.

 

Vice President Covington asked the Commission Secretary to expand on the Fort Mason landslide as described by Chief Juratovac and add that the SFFD is the lead agency in these types of incidents.

 

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

 

4. UPDATE ON SFFD TRAINING FACILITY [Discussion]

Charles Higueras, Deputy Director of the Department of Public Works to provide an update on a new training facility.

 

Charles Higueras, the Bond Program Manager for the Earthquake Safety and Emergency Response Bond programs 2010 and 2014 presented the attached PowerPoint on the update of the SFFD Training Facility:  https://sf-fire.org/sites/default/files/COMMISSION/Fire%20Commission%20…

 

He stated that the project has been the product of great collaboration with the Fire Department and went through each of the slides, along with Mr. Matt Jasmin showing the progress being made throughout the last few years in regard to defining the mission.  He added that the catalyst for the project is in large part, the departure from Treasure Island owing principally to the development anticipated for the island.  Mr. Jasmin touched on the three studies that have been done over the past three years, including the study for space and use inventory of existing functions at the two current facilities as well as a training inventory study and the study with McClaren, Wilson & Lawrie to identify the facility needs, the current uses, square footage required for program areas for both the site and specific buildings for a 50-year plus facility.  He added that the total acreage required and identified in their report is about 7.7 acres, assuming it would be on a single site and single level.  He described the training props they could expect to see at a new training facility.

 

Vice President Covington thanked them for their presentation and appreciated their forward thinking regarding the training props as well as location and the preferred characteristics, including having it all at one site.  She also mentioned that she was glad they were looking at property near the shoreline that is reasonably adjacent to San Francisco.  She added that it is very important that they have a place for the next generation of firefighters to be trained in a facility that accommodates what's happening in the real work now. 

 

Commissioner Veronese thanked them for their presentation and stated that we know what we want, but what are they doing about it.  Mr. Higueras stated that it is the top priority of the Department of Real Estate to find alternative sites and to pursue those, to some eventual acquisition.  He added that they cannot disclose what those potentials are because in the world of real estate, it is very important to keep things close to the vest, especially in regard to the city's interest as they don't want to see themselves at a disadvantage to someone who would maybe seek to undermine what they are seeking to acquire in regard to land.  Commissioner Veronese asked if there is a future bond anticipated to fund the project and Mr. Higueras answered that it is his understanding that ESER 2020 is meant to be the funding mechanism for the project.  He added that he is reasonably confident that the Department of Real Estate will find a property that will be suitable for the purpose that they have described in the presentation. 

 

Commissioner Cleaveland thanked them for their presentation and stated it is something they've all looked forward to with great anticipation.  He confirmed that they have looked into Port property down at the southeast part of San Francisco.  He also suggested that this might be an opportunity to find space for the antique vehicles and needed space for a museum.

 

Commissioner Hardeman thanked them for their report and appreciated all the graphics.  He confirmed that the only times they have available for outside agencies to use the Treasure Island facility would be in between recruit classes, and over the last couple of years, there has been very little time to allow other people to use the facility, except on weekends.  He stated that he didn't think offering the training facility to outside agencies as a bargaining chip was a good idea, because of the limited time it is available.

 

President Nakajo thanked them for their presentation and confirmed that the ESER Bond is scheduled for 2020 and it will contain other projects as well as the training facility.  Mr. Higueras broke it down as follows:  150 million for the fire training facility, 125 million for fire stations, 121 million for police facilities, 125 million for the Emergency Firefighting Water System, nine million for the 9-1-1 call center renovation and 70 million for the seismic upgrade of select post-disaster relief type facilities.  He confirmed that they will utilize the Treasure Island as long as they can and hopefully until the new facility is up and running, and then slowly move all the operations over to the new facility.  President Nakajo stated he hopes for a smooth and orderly transition.

 

There was no public comment.

 

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 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 March 13, 2019.  She mentioned that the budget continues to be in discussions with the mayor’s budget office and she acknowledged the efforts of the commissioners volunteering to assist with meeting with various members of the Board of Supervisors when the time is appropriate before the mayor submits her balanced budget on June 1, 2019.  Regarding academies, she mentioned that the 125th class is in their ninth week with 45 members, down from the 54 they started with.  She announced that they anticipate the 126th academy class to start sometime in September with 54 members.  Relating to activities since the last meeting, she stated she attended the St. Patrick’s Day parade, a labor-management meeting, a department head meeting and a going away gathering for her assistant, Kelly, whose last day was on March 20, 2019.  She mentioned that Deputy Chief Gonzales and Assistant Deputy Chief Cochrane attended the funeral for retired Battalion Chief Jack Bogue and she and Deputy Chief Gonzales attended the funeral of retired Incident Support Specialist David “Doc” Lavelle.  She asked President Nakajo to consider adjourning the meeting in the memory of retired firefighter Bob Territo.

 

Commissioner Cleaveland confirmed that the graduation date for the 125th Academy class is scheduled for June 14, 2019, at the Scottish Rite Hall. 

 

Commissioner Hardeman stated how proud he was to have two women Chiefs of the Department sitting in the room and acknowledged it was women’s month and the city should pat themselves on the back for this accomplishment.

 

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 and update on Department’s Strategic Plan.

 

Chief Nicholson reported on events for the month of February.  She parsed out her report to her assistant deputy chiefs.  She stated that she is in the middle of a transition and has been working on putting a team together and announced that she has chosen Battalion Chief Victor Wyrsch as her Deputy Chief of Operations and Division Chief Jose Velo as her Deputy Chief of Administration.  She also acknowledged and thanked Chief Gonzales for his tireless efforts of the last years as CD-2.  Chief Velo thanked her and stated that he is truly humbled and honored that he was selected for the position.  Assistant Deputy Chief Anthony Rivera gave an overview on Support Services which included an update on Station 5, which is moving right along and looking at having construction completed in April, with a possibility of a ribbon cutting ceremony shortly thereafter.  He touched on the Ambulance Deployment Facility, and Station 35.  He mentioned that they have received six new fire engines, and they have six more on order, as well as five new trucks and 15 ambulances, of which 2 are currently being outfitted to go into service.  He touched on the Bureau of Equipment, and the Clothing Depot.  Chief Cochrane reported on Homeland Security and thanked Chief Zanoff for his work at the Jeff Adachi memorial, and St. Patrick’s Day parade.  He also acknowledged Lt. Baxter for all his work.  He talked about Fleet Week planning and active shooter training with the SFPD.  He mentioned that they are going over radio failure procedures and the tsunami plan which is being updated.  He stated that the Fire Department Operations Center is completed and that the Drone Policy is with the City Attorney’s Office with minor language changes.  Chief Sato presented on the Division of Training and mentioned that the 125th academy class is in their 9th week and the in-service staff has been busy expanding their Class A, ordinary combustibles prop.  He stated that the H-8 class that graduated a few weeks ago are now doing their field ride outs.

 

Director Mark Corso gave an update on the strategic plan and mentioned that conversations are ongoing with the work of the plan and priorities.  He mentioned that the plan is broken into five sections, covering operations, community preparedness, community programs and partnerships, health and wellness infrastructure, and recruitment staffing and training and that each of those sections has a number of goals within them and strategies for achieving those goals.  He described the goals and progress for each of the sections.  He added that as they go through the transition, they will be discussing with Chief Nicholson and her new deputies about the strategic plan overall and eventually forming sub workups of the plan.

 

Commissioner Cleaveland thanked Mr. Corso for his update and stated that every department in the city needs to have a very good and vibrant strategic plan and asked if Mr. Corso would provide the report in written form so the commissioners could further study it and digest it and compare it to the strategic plan that was put together about 3 years ago.  He also asked if there is any possibility to add language to the Strategic Plan that deals with storing and maintaining the antique apparatus and equipment in the possession of the SFFD.  Mr. Corso responded that there is a section that deals with facilities in the Strategic Plan and he could look into adding additional language to it.  Commissioner Cleaveland asked for clarification on alternative destinations.  Chief Zanoff explained that it is a pilot project right now that has not been launched and the idea is that patients would be able to be transported to facilities that are more appropriate to their medical needs.  Commissioner Cleaveland asked if the Grant Writer is on board yet and Mr. Corso responded not yet, they are looking at opening it up for a longer period to see if there’s additional interest, as there wasn’t a high volume of direct grant writing experience in applications that were received.

 

Commissioner Veronese supported reopening the grant writer position soon rather than later and confirmed that the process allows for direct recruiting as it is an exempt position so there's no Civil Service exam.   He suggested that the Department should consider going to LinkedIn and doing their own digging and finding good grant writers.  He asked Chief Cochrane if there were any estimates on when the Department will be flying drones.  Chief Cochrane stated he doesn’t have an exact date, but he met with the City Attorney and she gave them some additional language and it should be coming back to the Commission for approval soon and then it goes to Cal OES for approval then they can order it.  There was discussion on what engines and trucks had ALS on them and Chief Nicholson acknowledged that those issues will be up for discussion during her transition into Chief of Department and she would have more information at a later date.  He also acknowledged her fine choice of Chief Wyrsch and Chief Velo and stated both those are obviously big shoes to fill in both positions. 

 

Commissioner Hardeman congratulated Chief Nicholson on her newly announced appointments.  He mentioned that because Mr. Corso has his hands full with the budget, he didn’t think there was a hurry to work on the strategic plan as well.  Mr. Corso explained that the budget and strategic plan are somewhat related, they both identify future and current initiatives and the strategic plan is meant to be an evolving document.

 

President Nakajo congratulated Chief Nicholson on her choices of Chief Velo and Chief Wyrsch, and that he is looking forward to working with them.  He thanked Chief Gonzales for all of the years and dedication that he’s provided to the Department.  He acknowledged all of the command staff that presented during Chief Nicholson’s report as well as Clothing Depot employee Nick Song, who does an outstanding job in terms of all of the requests he receives pertaining to uniforms.  He also appreciated the Strategic Plan update from Director Corso.

 

There was no public comment.

 

6. COMMISSION REPORT [Discussion]

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

 

Commissioner Hardeman recognized the very well put together SFFD museum at Station 10 and the Presidio and stated he misspoke at a previous meeting at a lack of a huge museum, like the one they have in San Diego.  He stated he regrets the criticism he made.  He acknowledged Kelly, the Chief’s Assistant and mentioned how fantastic she is that whenever you needed to get some information, she was always there to help, and she will be missed.  He also mentioned that he attended the wonderful fundraiser dinner for the Cancer Prevention Program and he thanked Commissioner Veronese for inviting him.  He stated that he marched in the St. Patrick’s Day parade.

 

Commissioner Covington stated she also attended the fundraiser, Art of Fire event at the Palace Hotel vetted by Commissioner Veronese.  She added that it was so nice to see so many members of the Department and the honorees that received the white helmets.  She also acknowledged the photos that were on display by the talented Mike Mustacchi, who passed away and is missed by many.

 

Commissioner Veronese thanked the individuals that were participants of the Peer Support meeting that he attended and thanked Chief Hayes-White for allocating the assets and people to that unit.  He added that it was a very fruitful meeting and they are slowly making progress.  He thanked Tony Stefani who put on an amazing event for the Cancer Prevention as well as to all the honorees.  He acknowledged the great speech Chief Nicholson gave at that event.  He also acknowledged the amazing job Andrea Callen did as the executive director of the event. 

 

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.

 

• Fire Reserves to Honor Chief Joanne Hayes-White

• Drone Policy

• Station 5 video

• MOU w/ Guardian of the City

• Resolution for Fire Reserves to be considered when hiring for H2 positions

• New DEM Director to present an update

 

There was no public comment.

 

8. ADJOURNMENT President Nakajo adjourned the meeting in the memory of retired member Bob Territo at 6:42 p.m.