Fire Commission - September 8, 2021
Agenda
Agenda full text
SAN FRANCISCO 
FIRE COMMISSION
Fire Commission Regular Meeting
September 8, 2021, 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
AGENDA
During the Coronavirus Disease emergency, the Fire Commission’s regular meeting room at City Hall is closed, and meetings of the Fire Commission will convene remotely.
Watch live at www.sfgovtv.org
Participating During Public Comment: By Phone
Public Comment Call in number is:
1-415-655-0001
Access Code: 2484 059 1749
Members of the public will have opportunities to participate during public comment. The public is asked to wait for the particular agenda item before making a comment on that item. Comments will be addressed in the order they are received. When the moderator announces that the Commission is taking public comment, members of the public can:
- Raise hand” by pressing * 3 and you will be queued.
- Callers will hear silence when waiting for your turn to speak. Operator will unmute you.
- When prompted, callers will have the standard three minutes to provide comment.
- Ensure you are in a quiet location.
- Speak clearly.
- Turn off any TVs or radios around you.
Item No.
1. ROLL CALL
|
President |
Katherine Feinstein |
|
Vice President |
Stephen A. Nakajo |
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Commissioner |
Francee Covington |
|
Commissioner |
Ken Cleaveland |
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Chief of Department |
Jeanine Nicholson |
Ramaytush Ohlone Land Acknowledgement
The San Francisco Fire Commission acknowledges that we are on the unceded ancestral homeland of the Ramaytush Ohlone who are the original inhabitants of the San Francisco Peninsula. As the indigenous stewards of this land, and in accordance with their traditions, the Ramaytush Ohlone have never ceded, lost, nor forgotten their responsibilities as the caretakers of this place, as well as for all peoples who reside in their traditional territory. As guests, we recognize that we benefit from living and working on their traditional homeland. We wish to pay our respects by acknowledging the Ancestors, Elders, and Relatives of the Ramaytush Ohlone community and by affirming their sovereign rights as First Peoples.
2. GENERAL PUBLIC COMMENT
Members of the public may address the Commission for up to three minutes on any matter within the Commission’s jurisdiction that does not appear on the agenda. Speakers shall address their remarks to the Commission as a whole and not to individual Commissioners or Department personnel. Commissioners are not to enter into debate or discussion with a speaker. The lack of a response by the Commissioners or Department personnel does not necessarily constitute agreement with or support of statements made during public comment.
3. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES [Discussion and possible action]
Discussion and possible action to approve meeting minutes.
- Minutes from Regular Meeting on August 11, 2021.
- Minutes from Regular Meeting on August 25, 2021.
4. CHIEF OF DEPARTMENT’S REPORT [Discussion]
REPORT FROM CHIEF OF DEPARTMENT, JEANINE NICHOLSON
Report on current issues, activities, and events within the Department since the Fire Commission meeting on August 25, 2021, including budget, academies, special events, communications, and outreach to other government agencies and the public.
REPORT FROM OPERATIONS, DEPUTY CHIEF BRYAN RUBENSTEIN
Report on overall field operations, including greater alarm fires, Emergency Medical Services, Bureau of Fire Prevention & Investigation, Homeland Security and Airport Division.
5. COMMISSION REPORT [Discussion]
Report on Commission activities since last meeting on August 25, 2021.
6. AGENDA FOR NEXT AND FUTURE FIRE COMMISSION MEETINGS [Discussion]
Discussion regarding agenda for next and future Fire Commission meetings.
7. ADJOURNMENT
San Francisco Fire Commission
NOTICE OF COMMISSION PROCEDURES
Commission Meeting Schedule and Location
The Fire Commission will meet regularly on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of each month at San Francisco City Hall, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, San Francisco, CA 94102. The second Wednesday in Room 416 at 9:00 a.m. and the fourth Wednesday in Room 400 at 5:00 p.m.
Commission Office
The Fire Commission Office is located at 698 Second Street, Room 220, San Francisco, CA 94107. The Fire Commission telephone number is (415) 558-3451; the fax number is (415) 558-3413. The web address is http://sf-fire.org/fire-commission-home. Office hours are from 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.
Language Access
Per the Language Access Ordinance (Chapter 91 of the San Francisco Administrative Code), Chinese, Spanish and or Filipino (Tagalog) interpreters will be available upon requests. Meeting Minutes may be translated, if requested, after they have been adopted by the Commission. Assistance in additional languages may be honored whenever possible. To request assistance with these services please contact the Commission Secretary at (415) 558-3451, or fire.commission@sfgov.org at least 48 hours in advance of the hearing. Late requests will be honored if possible.
Information on Disability Access
The hearing rooms in City Hall are wheelchair accessible. The closest accessible BART station is the Civic Center Station at United Nations Plaza and Market Street. Accessible MUNI lines serving this location are: #42 Downtown Loop, and #71 Haight/Noriega and the F Line to Market and Van Ness and the Metro Stations at Van Ness and Market and at Civic Center. For information about MUNI accessible services call (415) 923-6142. There is accessible curbside parking adjacent to City Hall on Grove Street and Van Ness Avenue and in the vicinity of the Veterans Building at 401 Van Ness Avenue adjacent to Davies Hall and the War Memorial Complex. For more information about MUNI accessible services, call (415) 701-4485.
To obtain a disability-related modification or accommodation, including auxiliary aids or services, to participate in the meeting, please contact the Commission Secretary at least two business days before the meeting at (415) 558-3451 to make arrangements. Late requests will be honored, if possible.
To assist the City’s efforts to accommodate persons with severe allergies, environmental illnesses, multiple chemical sensitivity or related disabilities, attendees at public meetings are reminded that other attendees may be sensitive to various chemical-based products. Please help the city to accommodate these individuals.
Policy on use of Cell Phones, Pagers and Similar Sound-Producing Electronic Devices at and During Public Meetings
The ringing and use of cell phones, pagers and similar sound-producing electronic devices are prohibited at Fire Commission meetings. Please be advised that the Chair may order the removal from the meeting room of any person(s) responsible for the ringing or use of a cell phone, pager, or other similar sound-producing electronic device.
Documents for Public Inspection
Documents referred to in this agenda, if not otherwise exempt from disclosure, are available for public inspection and copying at the Fire Commission Office. If any materials related to an item on this agenda are distributed to the Fire Commission after distribution of the agenda packet, those materials, if not otherwise exempt from disclosure, are also available for public inspection at the Fire Commission Office, 698 Second Street, room 220, San Francisco, during normal office hours.
Know Your Rights under the Sunshine Ordinance
(Chapter 67 of the San Francisco Administrative Code)
Government's duty is to serve the public, reaching its decisions in full view of the public. Commissions, boards, councils and other agencies of the City and County exist to conduct the people’s business. This ordinance assures that deliberations are conducted before the people and that City operations are open to the people’s review. For more information on your rights under the sunshine ordinance or to report a violation of the ordinance, contact the sunshine ordinance task force. You may contact the Sunshine Ordinance Task Force Administrator, as follows: Sunshine Ordinance Task Force, City Hall, Room 244, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, San Francisco, CA 94102-4689, Phone: (415) 554-7724, Fax: (415) 554-5784, E-mail: sotf@sfgov.org. Copies of the Sunshine Ordinance can be obtained from the Clerk of the Sunshine Task Force, the San Francisco Public Library and on the City’s Web site at http://www.sfgov.org.
San Francisco Lobbyist Ordinance
Individuals and entities that influence or attempt to influence local policy or administrative action may be required by the San Francisco Lobbyist Ordinance (San Francisco Campaign and Governmental Conduct Code sections 2.100 – 2.160) to register and report lobbying activity. For more information about the Lobbyist Ordinance, please contact the Ethics Commission at 30 Van Ness Avenue, Suite 3900, San Francisco, CA 94102, telephone (415) 581-2300, fax (415) 581-2317 and Web site: http://www.sfgov.org/ethics/.
Minutes
Minutes full text
FIRE COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING
MINUTES
Wednesday, September 8, 2021
This meeting was held remotely on WebEx
The Video can be viewed by clicking this link: https://sanfrancisco.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=180&clip_id=39298
President Feinstein called the meeting to order at 9:01 a.m.
|
Commission President |
Katherine Feinstein |
Present |
|
Vice President |
Stephen Nakajo |
Present |
|
Commissioner |
Francee Covington |
Present |
|
Commissioner |
Ken Cleaveland |
Present |
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Chief of Department |
Jeanine Nicholson |
Present. |
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Bryan Rubenstein |
Deputy Chief -- Operations |
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Jose Velo |
Deputy Chief --Administration |
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Shaine Kaialoa |
Division of Training |
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Sandy Tong |
EMS |
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David Brown |
Airport Division |
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Ken Cofflin |
Bureau of Fire Prevention |
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Dawn DeWitt |
Support Services |
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Erica Arteseros |
Homeland Security |
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Tom O’Connor |
AWSS |
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Simon Pang |
Community Paramedicine |
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Staff |
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Mark Corso |
Deputy Director of Finance |
President Feinstein read the Ramaytush Ohlone Land Acknowledgement. Vice President Nakajo confirmed that there did not need to be any changes to the Fire Commission’s Land Acknowledgment, and he thanked Commissioner Covington for the research she did on the Ohlone Peoples.
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 August 11, 2021, and August 25, 2021.
There was no public comment.
4. CHIEF OF DEPARTMENT’S REPORT [Discussion]
REPORT FROM CHIEF OF DEPARTMENT, JEANINE NICHOLSON
Report on current issues, activities, and events within the Department since the Fire Commission meeting on August 25, 2021, including budget, academies, special events, communications, and outreach to other government agencies and the public.
Chief Nicholson reported on activities since the last meeting on August 25, 2021. Chief Nicholson announced that Armie Morgan has been nominated as a new Fire Commissioner and he currently works with the Operating Engineers Local 3. She gave an update on COVID stating 18 members are either off with symptoms or a positive test result or exposure and that 177 members are non-compliant with the vaccine requirements, and they are meeting with those members to make sure they understand what is required of them. She mentioned that the 20th anniversary of the September 11th attacks is on Saturday where there will be a remembrance ceremony at the Public Safety Building at 6:45 a.m. and where Mr. Harry Ong will be in attendance. Mr. Ong is the brother of Ms. Betty Ong who was a flight attendant on American Airlines Flight 11.
Commissioner Covington confirmed that the discussions with Human Resources regarding the process for those people who are not compliant are ongoing, and the first thing the department is doing is meeting with those members and explaining to them why they need to comply, what the deadlines are and what the consequences are, which will be termination if not compliant, a process that is going to be a non-disciplinary separation. Commissioner Covington expressed her concerns about the number of those members who can appeal to the Commission and how the Commission can handle a flood of cases and being aware of the Firefighters Bill of Rights and she would like to know sooner rather than later what the process is going to be so they can plan accordingly. President Feinstein explained that she has been working with the City Attorney’s Office on this issue and what kind of hearing an unvaccinated member would be entitled to receive and that she would report back to discuss and determine the appropriate procedure. She added that it boggles the mind that members are not being vaccinated and placing not only their fellow members in danger but also members of the public. Chief Velo added that Local 798 is sitting next to these employees and advising them of their rights and have been working with the Department to try and convince them to get vaccinated. Commissioner Covington added that she appreciates the leadership of the union taking this on.
There was no public comment.
REPORT FROM OPERATIONS, DEPUTY CHIEF BRYAN RUBENSTEIN
Report on overall field operations, including greater alarm fires, Emergency Medical Services, Bureau of Fire Prevention & Investigation, Homeland Security and Airport Division.
Chief Rubenstein reported on Operation activities for August 2021. He mentioned that they had many incidents and drills during August, including a fire on Geary Boulevard, a car fire on the Bay Bridge, and many cliff and surf rescues. He touched on the mutual aid deployments and described the many fires burning throughout the state. He added that at the fire on La Playa, a Muni bus ran over the fire hose in front of him, and the driver claimed she didn’t know she was not permitted to drive over the hoses. He added that they are working hard to get that message across and to hold people accountable when they do this, as it is illegal to drive over a fire hose and to not follow the directions of a firefighter at the scene of an emergency. He mentioned that the Public Information Officer has been busy out in the community trying to get the message out to encampments not to have open flames. He added that EMS has been busy, and the call volume continues to spike. He described the COVID outbreak on a global striker vessel with 19 crew members that tested positive for COVID. He touched on the Bureau of Fire Prevention and Investigation, Airport Division, and Homeland Security. He announced that on September 3rd, the city had a failure at DEM that took out many systems, including the 9-1-1 system for over an hour. He acknowledged Chief Cannon who showed a tremendous amount of ingenuity during this outage, as he was able to develop systems never before conceived so that they could capture cell phone numbers of people trying to call into 9-1-1 that couldn’t get through to the system so they could call them back.
Commissioner Cleaveland thanked Chief Rubenstein for his excellent report and confirmed that the 9-1-1 outage was most likely caused by a redundant uninterruptible power supply system where one of them had experienced a failure and while they were preparing to fix it, they accidentally damaged the other one. He also noticed that EMS continually has problems with finding beds to take patients to and asked if there is any way they can expand the number of shelter beds and the hours of operation of intake. Chief Pang responded that they have been meeting with the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing about this as they also recognize the problem and they are doing an analysis to see what it would take for increased hiring and staff so they could have longer intake hours as well as considering accommodating all of the new street teams, to have one designated site that would have extended hour intake.
Vice President Nakajo thanked Chief Rubenstein for his comprehensive report, and he stated that he looks forward to a more detailed report of the breakdown of the 9-1-1 communications system. He also appreciated Chief Pang's efforts in the discussions on the subject matter of the result of the lack of beds, resources, and staffing. He went through the written report and highlighted some of the matters covered including the “SCRT, service time and response area, the EMS-6 report with detailed descriptions of encounters and their successes and challenges and acknowledged the members who went above and beyond the call of service and provided needed help to a mother and her four-year-old daughter as well as a family whose van was stolen leaving them with no resources, clothes, food or accommodations. He acknowledged the good work of Chief Pang and how he rolled out six various teams over a very tight timeline and stated he was gratified that the Department and Director Corso have this funded. He acknowledged and appreciated all the members in terms of the work that they are doing.
President Feinstein reminded people that firefighter Matt Vann had a very serious injury as a result of a Muni bus running over a hose line and asked what the consequences are and what MTA is doing and asked if there was something the Commission can do to get MTA educated. She added that not knowing the rules is no excuse. Chief Rubenstein responded that in the case of the La Playa fire, the driver was cited for two things, driving over the hose and failing to follow the directions of a firefighter. He added that they are communicating at the highest level and are currently engaged in a training program with MTA so they can provide that training to MTA members. President Feinstein brought up other incidents regarding the rental bicycle and scooter accidents she gets alerts about. She also confirmed that the categories in the SFFD s monthly response to medical calls are the desired time that they want the first unit, the ALS unit, the first ambulance on scene, and Chief Tong explained the "on time percentage” of those calls.
Commissioner Covington confirmed that the Muni driver who was cited at the La Playa fire was cited by the police for a moving violation of running over the hose and for a misdemeanor of not following the directions of the firefighter at the scene of an emergency. She also suggested having a video available to the larger community about taking directions from the Fire Department at a fire scene or any emergency and that video should be sent to SFGOV-TV TV and she added that the more people that have the information the better things will be. She proposed that the Department PIO get involved and send out some information to everybody on his list. She also advised scooter riders to stay off the sidewalks.
There was no public comment.
5. COMMISSION REPORT [Discussion]
Report on Commission activities since last meeting on August 25, 2021.
Vice President Nakajo reported that he has concluded the evaluation on the Department secretary and will be finishing that product with an interview with the secretary within the next two weeks and he thanked his fellow commissioners for their cooperation.
Commissioner Covington reported that she was at Headquarters when the systems failed, and she was very pleased with how calm everyone was, and she acknowledged Chief Rubenstein in his efforts to get the information out to the commissioners under the most trying of circumstances.
There was no public comment.
6. AGENDA FOR NEXT AND FUTURE FIRE COMMISSION MEETINGS [Discussion]
Discussion regarding agenda for next and future Fire Commission meetings.
Commissioner Covington inquired as to whether there was going to be a presentation on the EFWS supply system as they received voluminous materials some time ago. President Feinstein responded that it was her understanding that they were provided those documents for informational purposes only. Chief Velo added that if the Commission wants a presentation, Chief O'Connor can present the items in a summarized version.
- Presentation from the Physician’s office as to the operations of her office and what they have accomplished during this past year.
There was no public comment.
7. ADJOURNMENT President Feinstein adjourned the meeting at 10:20 a.m.