Fire Commission - November 8, 2017

 

 

 

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 9:00 AM.  

 

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

(Excused at 10:00 a.m.)

 

Chief of Department Joanne Hayes-White Present

 

Mark Gonzales Deputy Chief – Operations

 

Dan DeCossio Bureau of Fire Prevention

Tony Rivera Support Services

Shane Francisco Homeland Security

Andy Zanoff EMS

Captain Cochran Division of Training

Kai Ali Airport Division

 

Assistant Chiefs

Jose Velo Division 2

Tom Siragusa Division 3

 

Staff

Mark Corso Deputy Director of Finance

Olivia Scanlon Communications and Outreach

Dr. Clement Yeh Medical Director

 

2. 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 October 25, 2017.

 

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

 

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 October 25, 2017, 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 October 25, 2017.  She announced that they have entered into the second quarter of the budget and are following through on all of the 2017-2018 initiatives, including the purchase of fleet and equipment according to the plan that was approved for multiple years and that they will be reconvening the Budget Committee prior to the upcoming budget season.  With regards to academies, she stated that the 123rd academy is in its seventh week and progressing along very well and they still have 54 members remaining in the class.  She anticipates starting the 124th academy class sometime in March of 2018, which will also have 54 recruits.  She described a two-car accident she responded to at Park Presidio and Crossover Drive which required three extrications and commended the crews who responded for the outstanding job they did which included Engine 22, Truck 12, RC-1 and 2, Battalion 8, Medic 91, King American Ambulance and Division 2 Chief.  She touched on activities through the reporting period including the promotional badge pinning of H-3 Level 1 EMT’s who ascended to H-3 Level 2 Paramedics as well as H-2s that were recently hired that had their paramedic licenses, and became trained H-3 Level 3 Firefighters/Paramedics.  She commended the Training Division and EMS Division for all their hard work in that effort.

 

Chief Hayes-White mentioned that she and her staff met with Charles Higueras of the Department of Public Works to get an update on some of the 2010 and 2014 ESER projects, including the status of the complete teardown of Stations 5 and 15 and that they continue to work closely with them.  She displayed her disappointment in the delay of Station 16’s progress.  She mentioned that she participated in the Mira Loma Park Neighbor Fest, along with many NERT members, and Arson Investigator Janet Brock who demonstrated the use of a fire extinguisher to the attendees.  She touched on the Vigilant Guardian Exercise, the CAL Metro Chiefs meeting, the tour of the new Medical Examiner’s Office and the deployment of the new Engine at Station 13, which has solar panels, a smaller profile, and tighter turning radius which are all environmentally friendly and in support of the Vision Zero goals.  She mentioned that SPUR will be honoring Vice President Nakajo and that 310 members were taking the H-20 Lieutenants exam.  She also announced that President Cleaveland would be retiring at the end of the year from his full-time position at BOMA.  She asked that the meeting be adjourned in the memory of two retired members that have passed on, Don Lyons and Al McCarthy.

 

Commissioner Hardeman thanked Chief Hayes-White for her great report and acknowledged Kelly Alves, the Chief’s Assistant for the great job she does.  Chief Hayes-White confirmed that Ms. Alves does a great job and is an unsung hero.  Commissioner Hardman mentioned that he attended the funeral of for Larry Martin, who was head of the Transportation Workers Union for many years.

 

President Cleaveland asked why there are delays in the construction of Station 16.  Chief Hayes-White answered that it was due in part because of weather-related problems as well as issues of missing deadlines and the difficulty of getting subcontractors to do the work.

 

There was no public comment.

 

REPORT FROM OPERATIONS, DEPUTY CHIEF MARK GONZALES

Report on overall field operations, including greater alarm fires, Emergency Medical Services, Bureau of Fire Prevention & Investigation, Airport.

 

Chief Gonzales reported on events from the month of October, 2017.  He stated that during the reporting period, they had two greater alarms and both were second alarms. The first second alarm was on October 18, 2017, at 475 Vienna under the command of temporary Assistant Chief Michael Thompson and there were no injuries, although five adults were displaced.  The cause has been determined to be accidental.  The second greater alarm on October 28, 2017 was at 65 Cora Street under the command of Assistant Chief Nicol Juratovac, who reported there were no injuries and this fire was also determined to be caused accidentally.  Chief Gonzales invited Chief Siragusa to speak on behalf of the strike teams that were deployed to the North Bay Fires.  Chief Siragusa explained in detail how the teams were deployed and how they worked to gain control of the fires and how they first focused on evacuations.  The narrative is attached here. Chief Siragusa concluded by stating that the fire, in general, was a very sad, significant, dynamic and incredible event and he couldn't be prouder of what the strike teams did and that they performed at a very high level.

 

President Cleaveland thanked him for his impressive report and response to the North Bay Fires.

 

Commissioner Hardeman acknowledged the great work done by Chief Siragusa and suggested anyone who wants to be a firefighter, should research Chief Siragusa’s career and he commended him for his leadership.

 

Commissioner Veronese echoed the same sentiments and thanked all the members for their hard work that were deployed to the North Bay fires.  He also pointed out how important it is to fully maintain the Department’s Stress Unit for incidents like this where the members witness so much destruction and death and other traumatic events.

 

Vice President Nakajo expressed his appreciation of Chief Siragusa as well as the rest of the deployed strike teams as well as the summary he provided of what they saw and experienced at the North Bay fires and how it’s important for members of the public to know how mutual aid response works and how vital it is.

 

Commissioner Covington thanked Chief Siragusa and appreciated hearing the summary of the North Bay fires first hand and encouraged members of the public to go through the materials online once the minutes are posted.  She also mentioned that she would like to have a panel discussion on the event and have it videotaped so they can have it for posterity for future classes in the academy and future members of the organization to have access to that information to see firsthand what was going on at that event.  She also stated how important mutual aid is.  She took time to read a portion of the North Bay fire narrative as follows:  “Dangerous situations were encountered countless times.  Nearly 100 structures were saved.  Civilians were evacuated to safety and parts of the fire were brought to a halt.  The members of 2254-A rose to the challenge and each time they were asked if they could give more, they did so without hesitation and the quality and dedication of their service never wavered, and countless lives were made better through their service.”  She asked Chief Siragusa regarding better practices, if there was anything that needs to be included in the upcoming budget discussions.  Chief Siragusa added that he is working with the State of California to purchase five replacement engines for the Strike Teams response and enhancing training and that the Administration has been very supportive of equipment needs. 

 

Chief Gonzales thanked all the members that responded to the North Bay fires from the Department and stated they did an outstanding job representing the Department and saved many buildings, evacuated a lot of people and helped many people who were in a very dire situation.  He also thanked Chief Hayes-White, Deputy Chief Williams, Assistant Deputy Chief Rivera, for working on getting the strike team equipment and working with City Hall in order to be able to provide 12 engines and three Strike Team leaders as well as the ambulance strike team and all members who were deployed.

 

Chief Gonzales touched on other notable events during his reporting period including a first alarm at 44 Molimo.  He read some of the social media comments received, and described outreach and education events that took place during the reporting period.  He touched on Bureau of Fire Prevention, Plan Check, TASC and the Bureau of Fire Investigation.

 

Vice President Nakajo thanked Chief Gonzales for his comprehensive report and commended the department in terms of their response to mutual aid.

 

Commissioner Covington thanked Chief Gonzales for his report and asked that in regards to outreach if they can add to the social media messages that bike riding on the sidewalks is illegal in San Francisco.  She also asked if the Commission could get an update on the Vigilant Guardian exercise.  Chief Francisco provided a brief summary of the exercise.  He stated that it was a very large-scale exercise involving a radiological incident that occurred over a week-long period which basically assimilated two aspects of a radiological terrorism incident.  He described what a dirty bomb is and how they practiced responding to certain scenarios, as well as various mutual aid systems and he concluded by stating that they learned a lot from the exercise.  Commissioner Covington thanked him for his summation and was sorry she was unable to attend the exercise. 

 

President Cleaveland asked Chief Francisco how many members of the Department are hazmat specialist trained.  Chief Francisco responded about 200 firefighters in the Department are hazmat specialist trained.

 

Commissioner Covington asked if she could get clarification on the budget as it relates to the Ambulance Deployment Facility.  Chief Andy Zanoff explained that they meet every other week with the design team at DPW and the plans are to be submitted to permitting sometime in December and the budget is pretty well locked down.  He added that DPW assures him that they are absolutely on track for the submitted schedule with a total budget of 45 million for the entire project.

 

There was discussion about different issues that keep ambulances out of service, including vehicle cracking, and mechanical issues as the vehicles are on the street almost 24 hours a day, seven days a week.  Chief Zanoff touched on the new pilot program for single-body ambulances that they expect to have in the next couple of weeks.

 

Dr. Yeh provided information on the number of high-frequency users of the 9-1-1- system and the EMS-6 program.  He mentioned that in September they had about 84 unique individuals that EMS-6 were working with.  President Cleaveland suggested expanding the funding for the EMS 6 program.  He also thanked Chief Gonzales for his comprehensive report and appreciates getting the report in advance of the meeting.  Commissioner Hardeman acknowledged the good report Chief Ali from the Airport submitted and he can see how busy they are down at the Airport.

 

There was no public comment.

 

6. COMMISSION REPORT [Discussion]

Report on Commission activities since the last meeting of October 25, 2017

 

Vice President Nakajo talked about his visit to the Dive Team exercise on October 21 and November 2, 2017, the Strategic Development plan that was issued and his meeting with the Mayor.  With regards to the Dive Drill, he explained the vocabulary terms he learned such as “principal diver”, “90 percent diver”, “tender one” and “tender two”.  He talked about the protocol in terms of the dive team and stated he was able to witness the drill being conducted and was able to speak to the dive team members after their drill and was able to come up with a list of what is needed in terms of equipment and personnel to keep the program going.

 

With regards to his meeting with the Mayor, he stated that they discussed three areas of interest, including the training facility at Treasure Island, a shelter for the antique rigs and a dedicated Marine Unit.  He mentioned that he thanked the Mayor for his support of the Department.

 

With regard to finding a new training facility, he mentioned that in all likelihood, Treasure Island will not be an option and they are looking at getting a new bond for the citizens of San Francisco to vote on.  He added that in terms of priority, a training facility is a very important priority.  He added that housing the antique apparatus is not a priority for the Mayor’s office and although they have found temporary shelter on Treasure Island, the suggestion is to work with Guardians of the City and get funding through private donations and fundraising to secure permanent housing for those antique apparatus.  During his meeting with the Mayor, they also talked about a dedicated Marine Unit and communications will continue.  President Cleaveland thanked Vice President Nakajo for his excellent summary of their meeting with the mayor and he concurs with it and added that they also talked about the AWSS system in the city and that there are long-term issues that they need to address and make sure they have adequate current means of protecting all parts of the city from fires post-earthquake.  Chief Hayes-White also thanked them for their meeting summary with the mayor and added that she would be more than happy to sit down with them as well as Deputy Chief of Operations to discuss the dive drill and equipment needs but pointed out that they have workgroups and committees where they can submit their needs during budget talks as well as the ability to reach out through Division Chiefs to come up with items of need.  They can't always fund them, but certainly, they try to have participatory budget discussions. She also took a moment to acknowledge Captain Michael Corcoran who was representing the Division of Training so that Chief Columbini could attend a funeral.

 

Commissioner Covington thanked Vice President Nakajo for his comprehensive report as well as the meeting he and President Cleaveland had with the Mayor regarding these pressing issues.  She added that there is a lot of work to be done and stated that everything that has been discussed goes back to her key pushes for the Department to have grant writers on staff as many of the items mentioned are going to need monies that come from elsewhere as well as from the general fund.

 

There was no public comment.

 

7. FIRE COMMISSION MEETING CALENDAR 2018 [Discussion and possible action]

Discussion and possible action to adopt the 2018 Fire Commission Regular Meeting calendar. 

 

Commissioner Covington Moved to approve the 2018 Fire Commission Meeting Calendar.  Commissioner Hardeman Seconded.  Motion to approve 2018 meeting calendar was unanimous.

 

There was no public comment.

 

8. AGENDA FOR NEXT FIRE COMMISSION MEETING [Discussion]

Discussion regarding agenda for the December 13, 2017 regular meeting.

 

• Draft Drone Policy update

• Industrial Hygienist presentation

• Early warning system presentation from DEM

• Budget overview and process

• Strategic plan/January agenda

 

Commissioner Hardeman commented that the Strategic Plan is very well done and congratulated the Chief on putting it together.  Chief Hayes-White confirmed that it will also be provided in PDF form and is meant to be shared.

 

9. CORRESPONDENCE TO COMMISSION [Discussion]

 

• Email from Richard L. Gulson.

 

There was no public comment.

 

10. CLOSED SESSION: PUBLIC EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF FIRE COMMISSION SECRETARY [Discussion and possible action]

 

A. Public comment on all matters pertaining to the potential closed session.

 

President Cleaveland called for public comment.  No member of the public came forward and President Cleaveland closed public comment.  A short recess was taken to clear the room.

 

 

B. Vote on decision whether to go into closed session.

 

Commissioner Hardeman made a motion to conduct Public Employee Performance Evaluation of Fire Commission Secretary in Closed Session.  Commissioner Covington seconded, and the motion was unanimously approved.  (4-0; Cleaveland, Nakajo, Hardeman, Covington)

 

The Commission went into closed session at 11:02 a.m.

 

C. Fire Commission Secretary Performance Evaluation

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 evaluation of Fire Commission Secretary (Discussion).

 

D Vote on whether to disclose discussions if held in Closed Session per Administrative Code §67.12(a).

 

Reconvened in open session at 11:34 a.m.

 

Commissioner Hardeman Moved to not disclose discussions held in closed session.  Commissioner Covington Seconded.  The motion was unanimously approved.  (4-0; Cleaveland, Nakajo, Hardeman, Covington)

 

11. ADJOURNMENT

Meeting adjourned at 11:35 a.m.