2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 APPROVED
MINUTES OF THE
SOUTHEAST COMMUNITY FACILITY COMMISSION
MEETING WEDNESDAY, JULY 23, 2008 – 6:00 PM
ALEX L. PITCHER, JR. COMMUNITY ROOM, 1800 OAKDALE AVENUE
SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124
1.0 CALL TO ORDER
Commission President Bobbrie Brown called the Wednesday, July 23, 2008 meeting to order at 6:10 p.m. in the Alex L. Pitcher Community Room at 1800 Oakdale Avenue.
1.1 ROLL CALL
6:10 p.m. Commission Secretary – Carla Vaughn
Commissioners Present: Brown, Jones, Kennedy, Churchwell,
Sampson, Chung, Yang
Staff Present: Toye Moses, Executive Director
Carla Vaughn, Commission Secretary
Cheryl Berne’Adams, Clerk/Receptionist
1.2 SUNSHINE ORDINANCE ANNOUNCEMENT
AND CONSENT CALENDAR
Commission President Bobbrie Brown welcomed all present and announced the Sunshine Ordinance and the Consent Calendar.
Commissioner Jones moved to accept the consent calendar. Commissioner Kennedy seconded the motion.
2.0 PUBLIC COMMENT
Ms. Espanola Jackson, Community Activist announced the SFPUC voted to resend the decision to have peakers placed in the Bay View community. She thanked Mr. Harrington, the new General Manager, for being a friend to the community.
Ms. Jackson asked the community to support Mr. Harrington in placing new digesters where the old ones are. Ms. Jackson acknowledged the return of the 9910 program said she hoped black managers would be hired soon.
Mr. Francisco DaCosta, Director of the Environmental Justice Advocacy spoke regarding cumulative pollution and the effect on the community. He asked the Commission to request a hearing with the Mayor and Board of Supervisors to discuss the pollutants and the raw sewage treatment plant. Mr. DaCosta stated the elders and children of the community were suffering.
In closing, Mr. DaCosta welcomed Mr. Harrington and stated most of the SFPUC Commissioners have supported the community when the constituents have gone before them and expressed their concerns.
Chair Bobbrie Brown thanked Mr. DaCosta for his remarks.
3.0 COMMUNICATIONS
Carla Vaughn, Commission Secretary announced the following:
a) “Bay View Residents Take Back The Night-Again!”/Quesada Gardens Initiative Outdoor Film Festival.
b) Mayor Newsom Announces New Sunday Streets Initiative
c) Mayor Newsom Lauds New California Water Supply Reliability Bill SBXX 1 Announced by Senator Perata & Speaker Bass.
4.0 PRESENTATION
Commission Chair Bobbrie Brown introduced Mr. Ed Harrington, the new SFPUC General Manager.
Mr. Harrington thanked the Commission for the invitation and noted previous visits in the capacity of City Controller. He stated that as General Manager of the SFPUC he could make more of a difference.
Mr. Harrington introduced and thanked SFPUC staffers in attendance. Mr. Harrington congratulated the 9910 Program graduates. He acknowledged working with City Build and the 7501 Program. Mr. Harrington said the Garden Project was a partner and acknowledged Kathryn Sneed. Mr. Harrington noted it might be time for another job fair.
Mr. Harrington stated the SFPUC would be spending a lot of money doing the water system improvement program and other projects. He advised the money should be spent to hire people from the community.
Mr. Harrington advised another issue that might be of concern is the wastewater master program and the digesters. He stated there was a hearing at the SFPUC Commission meeting and the issue has been turned over to environmental review in the city Planning Department. Mr. Harrington advised the turn around time was two years. He said community advisory committees would be set up and he invited a representative from the SECFC to participate on the advisory panel. Mr. Harrington said there would be a lot of outreach to the community and he expected differences of opinion regarding where the digesters should be placed. Mr. Harrington said the environmental review would begin with an open mind and he invited questions from the Commissioners and the public.
Chair Bobbrie Brown thanked Mr. Harrington and invited questions from the Commissioners and the audience.
Commissioner Kennedy asked what part the SFPUC plays in the development of the shipyard.
Mr. Harrington responded the SFPUC provides water to the city of San Francisco and much of the Bay Area. He stated the SFPUC provides wastewater treatment for the city of San Francisco and traditionally this service would be provided to the whole rebuild of the shipyard. In addition, he noted typically SFPUC provides power just for municipal purposes such as City Hall, running the light rail vehicles, etc. Mr. Harrington advised that power was being provided to residential users and one of the first places will be the shipyard. He stated when the shipyard is built public water, wastewater, and power will be moved in.
Commissioner Kennedy said people from the community were concerned about connecting the sewer from the shipyard to this community.
Mr. Harrington stated he did not know enough to answer at this time but he would check into it.
Commissioner Kennedy suggested he address the issue upon his next visit.
Reverend Charlotte Meyers, State Director for California Interfaith Power and Light, an organization that works with churches making policy and suggesting opportunities for alternative sources of using energy, asked if SFPUC would consider traditional or alternative sources for providing energy.
Mr. Harrington answered that most of the power that comes to San Francisco from the Hetch-Hetchy system is hydroelectric, so it is not natural gas, coal, or any of those kinds of things. He advised SFPUC was a part of the western power grid and we have access to other kinds of sources of power. Mr. Harrington stated in order of priority the first priority is conservation and efficiency, and using less power. The second priority would be renewable energy such as, hydro, solar, wind, geothermal, title, and all kinds of different sources of power. Mr. Harrington stated they’d like to diversify so they are not dependent on one source only. He advised that ultimately the goal was to get to 100 percent renewable.
Commissioner Jones thanked Mr. Harrington for his presentation and stated through Mr. Samuel Murray the Commission presented an event, “Healthy Bodies, Healthy Minds, Children/Families First” in April. She stated it was a great success thanks to the assistance of the SFPUC through Mr. Samuel Murray. Commissioner Jones said she hoped SFPUC would be as involved when the event is presented again next year because our children are suffering educationally and health-wise. She had a question regarding setting up the community advisory committee per Mr. Harrington’s suggestion and the timeline for its beginning.
Mr. Harrington said he would be available for the “Healthy Bodies, Healthy Minds” event. He advised the environmental review would start in three months and the advisory committee would be set up sometime in October.
Ms. Ellouise Patton, Executive Director of Young Community Developers congratulated Mr. Harrington on his appointment and offered the services of YCD to prepare the community to be able to participate in the higher level employment opportunities.
Ms. Espanola Jackson provided clarification by reminding those present that the PUC wastewater system covers the entire city and county of San Francisco and not just members of the Bay View community, however she noted they should be the majority since the sewage plant is in their backyard. Ms. Jackson advised that people from the Sunset, Richmond, Chinatown, and North Point would also be involved. She pointed out that a lot of people don’t know the community is San Francisco community so people shouldn’t get upset when the committee is being set up and they see folk that don’t live in the Bay View. Ms. Jackson stated they pay for water and services in the other areas just like we do. She wanted to make that clear and did not want anyone to get upset with Mr. Harrington later on.
Mr. Harrington thanked Ms. Jackson for the clarification.
Commissioner Churchwell had questions regarding contracts and how the middleman, or the small contractors or construction folks could get involved.
Mr. Harrington invited anyone interested to see him or his staff who were in attendance. He advised there were a variety of ways to get contracts and one of the bars to entry for small contractors typically is in getting bonded and getting surety bonds to be able to do the work. He reported the SFPUC had a hearing about the Surety Bond Program recently at city hall, and the only department that had taken full advantage of the program was the PUC. Mr. Harrington said the SFPUC has spent more money in the surety bond program than pretty much the rest of the city put together. H noted the SFPUC always does outreach and makes their primes do outreach as well, because there is a lot of money involved and some of those projects are so large it is very difficult to be a prime contractor with the city and you end up being a sub-contractor. Mr. Harrington advised there are goals for the primes at all times. He said he would be happy to meet with, and or assist, anybody who hasn’t been able to get access to those programs so they could get involved and be there at the right time when the money’s going out the door. Mr. Harrington stated there are a lot of contract people at work for the PUC who are willing and able to let people know what those programs are, how they work, how to get involved and they’re happy to do it.
Commissioner Churchwell said it is know that the projects are large. He said the sub-contractors would like to see the projects cut down and split up so some of them could get a part of it. He noted the way some of the projects are structured now the sub-contractors could not compete with the requirements, the bonding and all that, but if it was split up in smaller parcels, and same prime, then the sub-contractors could compete.
Mr. Harrington advised he had conversations about that exact issue with his staff. He noted some of the staff think the projects are broken up too small already, so there is tension but he advised he would be happy to go back and look at the projects that are now being worked on and see whether that can happen and how much can be done. Mr. Harrington stated he understood the issue that if there is a 10 or 20 million dollar contract a whole lot of people have been knocked out from even being part of the competition. He said the contracts that have some chance to be broken down more would be local and city projects and those would be ones that may be attractive here, but people are going to need to have skills of laying pipe, paving streets, doing those kinds of things. Mr. Harrington advised contracts could be broken down smaller, but he said it is hard to get down to less than half a million or so, but we can look at that.
Commissioner Churchwell announced the San Francisco Black Chamber of Commerce has a directory of contractors and other’s with skills in this field and they would like to meet and go over some of the qualifications, and present some of the local contractors.
Mr. Harrington responded that would be fine and he’d be happy to meet with them.
Delijah Harrell, a community member who currently works as a foreman with Empire Engineering and Construction, introduced himself to the Commission and stated he started working through Yerba Buena. He said a superintendent named Clifton Birch became a general contractor and started his own business and Mr. Harrell is now a foreman on his way to become a superintendent. Mr. Harrell said with Empire Engineering and Construction he has the opportunity to hire within the community. He said he had the opportunity to create jobs but needs help. Mr. Harrell noted that if there were any set-asides available he was willing and ready to work. He thanked the Commission and said he appreciated the meetings.
Mr. Harrington stated Mr. Harrell was a role model and he was glad he was there and hoped to work with him for a long time.
Mr. Fred Jordan, President of the San Francisco African American Chamber of Commerce stated his organization had met with SFPUC several times and now the SFPUC program is coming on line. He said there was no real track as to how African American businesses can participate in this program. Mr. Jordan noted the SFPUC projects are very large and he acknowledged the hard work of the deputy general manager, however, he requested the personal blessing of Mr. Harrington to break down the projects as Commissioner Churchwell had requested. Mr. Jordan said a direct track was needed to avoid another Third Street Light Rail, which was an enormous disappointment. He noted the Third Street Light Rail installations are right here in the Bay View community. Mr. Jordan stated at the end of the day the community wants to make sure the engineers, architects, contractors, and truckers have a piece of the action, not what was planned. He advised the design contracts were out and there was not too much and it was not a good way to start. Mr. Jordan said the construction management contracts were coming on line and they are huge. He stated the requirements are enormous and are set up for big firms. Mr. Jordan requested there be a review of the process and stated everything should be in place so when the construction contracts begin the businesses do not have to go through this again.
Mr. Ted Hunt, owner of T-Hunt Plumbing, said he had been awarded one of the contracts for Forest Knoll Pump Station under Cal State Construction. He stated it was great up to this point, however his problem was with the insurance. Mr. Hunt stated the bonding was fine but it is the continued cost of continuing business. He said because of the SFPUC payment time period small contractors can’t pay their bills. Mr. Hunt said he was stuck halfway between beginning a job and wondering where he’ll get the money to finish a job until he gets a check from the SFPUC.
Mr. Hunt asked Mr. Harrington if there was some way he could get the SFPUC or the contractors to have a faster turn around pay for the smaller contractors.
Mr. Harrington responded that had been a long standing complaint and the SFPUC put new processes in place about five months ago. He said all contracts were being paid within fifteen days of receiving the bill. Mr. Harrington said if you’re a sub by the time you send your bill to the prime, prime bills PUC, PUC pays the prime, they pay it back to you, that could slow it down. He noted payments were now being made through electronic transfer so there is no mailing of checks. Mr. Harrington stated a new billing system was being put in place that would allow the prime to do the billing on line and show how much the subs are being paid. He stated the subs would be able to see what share they have, and when the PUC makes the payment to the prime the subs can see when the prime got paid and they can call and say I know you have your check give me mine. Mr. Harrington said the information will allow you to collect money from the prime much faster because the whole process will be automated, and so for the prime if there’s no problem SFPUC should be having payments done within a week, which in any case should then speed it down to the subs. He advised the project is starting and it will also fill out all of the HRC forms and everything else for the City so it will get rid of a whole lot of the paper work that happens right now and a lot of paper handling and mailing. Mr. Harrington said all of it could be done on line. He advised it should be in place in about six months but now payment should be made within two weeks and if you are not having that experience let him know.
Mr. Francisco DaCosta had general questions regarding global warming and the effects on Hetch-Hetchy and how the SFPUC would address the issues.
Mr. Harrington responded the SFPUC was doing a variety of things because clearly climate change is coming. He said right now the SFPUC is asking the federal government for more scientific data that goes down to a much more regional level. Mr. Harrington advised right now there is a general assumption that California will be drier, and that it will be warmer so people assume that every watershed will get more rain and less snow. He stated that is a problem for us obviously, because so much of our storage is actually in the snow pack and not in reservoirs. Mr. Harrington said if your even noticing what’s happening this year East Bay Mud is in rationing and we’re not. He advised our watershed is higher and it’s larger. Mr. Harrington said we need better data to not just make a gross assumption that everything will impact everybody the same way. He stated we’re not going to be doing the same thing as East Bay Mud or somebody else.
Mr. Harrington advised the first thing is getting information and the second part is we’re not going to be knocking down the Hetch-Hetchy Dam or raising it, so that is not a solution one way or the other. He said there are other ways to store water, there are other good things you can do. The first thing that we’re trying to do is what they’re calling the ‘no regrets strategy’ you should do the things that you should do anyway because they are smart things to do and if you happen to be wrong you haven’t wasted your money because you’ve done the right thing anyway. What are some of those right things? Water recycling. Mr. Harrington said in San Francisco we all view ourselves as members of the Sierra Club but we take beautiful clear water, bring it straight down to San Francisco, and we flush it right out into the ocean, or right out into the Bay. He noted most people don’t have that luxury. He said most people who live on rivers, somebody else used that water upstream, put it back in, they took it out, filtered it, used it and put it back in, it has multiple use.
Mr. Harrington reported the first major recycling project that’s actually in our city would be at the Oceanside Treatment Plant. He said the environmental review would start for that this fall and it would provide enough water to start to at least use recycled water for Golden Gate Park and for parks out in the Sunset District. Mr. Harrington noted anything done here will have to include recycled water use, and again, there’s no reason that we shouldn’t be watering parks and doing things with very good water, just not clear perfect water from Hetchy.
Mr. Harrington said there are some State laws that need to be changed to allow for gray water. He advised the SFPUC was supporting a bill that’s in the legislature right now that will allow individuals to disconnect and start using gray water for watering plants and doing that kind of thing. He said there is a general grouping of projects called Low Impact Development and this fall the SFPUC will start to distribute large plastic canisters that will allow you to disconnect your downspout from the sewer system and start storing your own onsite water that can then be used for watering plants and doing different kinds of things, again, to reuse the water as opposed to just flushing it out the Bay. Mr. Harrington advised the SFPUC is looking at a variety of things.
Mr. Harrington announced there was a mandate that new buildings downtown put in a dual water system with purple pipe for recycled water and we can’t use it because there is nothing that takes it out of the building. He said the first thing that can be done is to actually allow people to do some on-site recycling and there is no reason it has to go to some big treatment center somewhere far away. He advised there are a lot of things now that can happen within a building to reuse water within that building and the SFPUC is working on those kinds of things.
Mr. Harrington commented there is a lot going on but again, the SFPUC does not want to rush out and spend money badly. He said they want to make sure that it’s something that we can do, that’s right to do no matter what happens in terms of global warming.
Mr. Harrington stated that traditionally people have gotten water out of the ground. He said there is no reason that we can’t bring water down and pump water into the ground and then pump it back out when we need it. Mr. Harrington stated we are working with Daly City who is actually ahead of us on recycling and we’re going to be using their water for Harding Park and the golf courses out there. He advised SFPUC planned to talk to them and the cemeteries for using their water to water the cemeteries, all of which allows for clean water for the things you need clean water for and recycled water for things that you can do that way. Mr. Harrington said he did not think you were going to be seeing major new dams and major new reservoirs. He said you will be seeing more reuse and you’ll be seeing more ground water infusion.
There was a question regarding underground piping and Mr. Harrington responded there were all kinds of underground pipe projects that are a part of the water system improvement program. He said the first large one will be near the Crystal Springs and the Sunset Reservoir is pretty much finished and the University Mountain Reservoir will be next. Mr. Harrington stated the first big pipe project in the region will be a Crystal Springs bypass tunnel that will be built right near the Crystal Springs watershed to provide redundancy for seismic safety and a second tunnel will be built to make sure water will flow to SF even if there is an earthquake. Regarding piping he stated 4.5 miles of sewer pipe a year is replaced and it should be more like 15 miles a year, so at 4.5 miles a year it will take 190 years to replace pipe that has a 100 year life, so that is not good. Mr. Harrington noted that we would see more streets torn up both for water and for wastewater.
Ms. Nadine Boyd, a general laborer, classification 7514, and shop steward for Local 261 Laborers, stated she was employed at the Southeast Wastewater Plant. She had questions regarding unemployment in the Bay View and wanted to know how Mr. Harrington felt about opening up classes to all classifications, as long as they are trying to better their careers. Ms. Boyd said everyone should be able to attend classes at Southeast. She asked Mr. Harrington how he felt about people attending training classes at Southeast. Ms. Boyd wanted to know if tours could be available to YCD participants so they could see what types of positions are available in management.
Mr. Harrington said the idea of opening up tours and talking about management availability is fine however, the idea of opening up classes is more involved than that. He said the 9910 Program is a specific program and the success of the individuals was important. Mr. Harrington said he did not want to dilute the program by bringing others in, however it did not mean that classes or training could not be offered and he stated he would be happy to work on that.
Commission Chair Bobbrie Brown thanked Ms. Boyd for her questions.
Mr. Sam Murray, SFPUC liaison said the SFPUC was looking at projects that would allow people to be able to go after other jobs. He invited people from the community to contact him directly if they had questions or problems. Mr. Murray said there were new things happening that had not happened before. Mr. Murray stated the SFPUC was going in a new direction and the direction is success. He thanked the Commissioners for supporting the Cal Maritime Program, and thanked them for being proactive.
Chair Bobbrie Brown thanked Mr. Harrington for taking the time to address the Commission and offered the support of the Commission. She invited him to return to the Commission and advise them of the ongoing progress as it was being made. Chair Brown acknowledged the positive relationship Mr. Harrington had with the community and said she knew he would keep his word and the commitments made to the community.
Chair Brown introduced Ms. Alma Robinson, Executive Director/California Lawyers for the Arts.
Ms. Robinson thanked the Commission and introduced Ms. Andrea Bruss, of the Mayor’s Office of Economic & Workforce Development who announced a Community Planning Workshop hosted with the Redevelopment Agency to be held on July 31 at the Bay View Opera House. Ms. Bruss stated the purpose of the meeting was to discuss the creation of an arts district at the Shipyard, which would include permanent artists’ studios and land for a community arts facility. She advised this was the second of three meetings to be held regarding the project and hope the community would attend.
Ms. Robinson provided a brief summary stating there was now an opportunity to develop a world class Arts Center for the community at Hunter’s Point Shipyard to facilitate the creativity of our children. She said this was one of the “baked-in benefits” promised to the community by Lennar. Ms. Robinson told the Commission that California Lawyers for the Arts with the help of the Mayor’s Office of Economic Development and Base Reuse were engaged in a community planning process, which has looked at what the possibilities are.
Ms. Robinson urged the Commission and audience to attend the workshop and to think about how our young people can be more engaged in developing their own future through the arts at the shipyard and how this can be a community resource for reducing ethnic tension in our community, reducing juvenile crime, recidivism, and helping people develop a future.
Commission Chair Brown thanked Ms. Robinson for providing the information.
5.0 STAFF REPORT
Dr. Toye Moses, Executive Director of the Southeast Community Facility Commission thanked Decorative Plants, San Francisco Foliage, and SunBourne Nursery for their contribution of plants to the Commission meeting. He also thanked Mr. Calvin Hayes for his generosity, which helped to provide the pizza, and The Quesada Gardens for the Garden Project.
Dr. Moses presented an update on the 08-09 budget. He advised the budget was final and suggested calendaring the budget for the next commission meeting to go over it step by step.
Dr. Moses reported the ADA Project was going well and advised it was expected to be completed in August.
Chair Brown asked if the Commissioners had questions.
Commissioner Churchwell thanked the audience for attending the Commission meeting and said he wanted to see more people in the audience with SFPUC contracts. He advised the Commission would be watching the SFPUC to assure the commitment to the community would reach fruition.
Commissioner Churchwell thanked all of the audience participants for their comments.
6.0 NEW AND ON-GOING BUSINESS
Chair Brown requested placing selecting a date for the election of officers for 08-09 on the upcoming agenda.
8.0 PUBLIC COMMENT
None.
9.0 ANNOUNCEMENTS
Commissioner Churchwell announced the passing of Will Bass, a community activist and friend of the Commission. He said the funeral would be held at 11am on Thursday, July 24th at Allen Temple Baptist Church in Oakland at 11 am.
10 ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 7:29 pm.
Respectfully submitted
Carla Vaughn, Commission Secretary
