SF Government Audit & Oversight Committee Meeting - May 20, 2021
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San Francisco Government Audit and Oversight Committee Meeting - May 20, 2021
The Government Audit and Oversight Committee of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors held a remote regular meeting on May 20, 2021, chaired by Supervisor Dean Preston and joined by Vice Chair Connie Chan and Supervisor Rafael Mandelman. The committee reviewed four affordable housing grant applications, held hearings on SkyChef's noncompliance with the Healthy Airport Ordinance and the city's 2021 Language Access Report, and then convened in closed session for litigation settlements.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Items 1–4 (Affordable Housing Grants): No public comment was received.
- Item 5 (SkyChef): Anand Singh, president of Unite Here Local 2, called SkyChef's actions egregious and urged the city to hold the company accountable, including terminating or revoking its authorization to operate at SFO. SkyChef workers Lillian Bora and Dul Subtunde described lost wages, commuting burdens, and the need for affordable health insurance. A Unite Here organizing director (Toto) said workers in San Jose were making $17.45/hour while serving SFO flights.
- Item 6 (Language Access): A Cantonese-speaking single mother expressed concern about Asian hate and the need for multilingual resources. A Spanish-speaking resident (Danny) testified he was arrested and suffered a fractured back because police and paramedics had no Spanish-speaking responder when he had a seizure; he urged the city to ensure emergency services match residents' languages.
- Items 7–10 (Closed Session): No public comment was received.
Discussion Items
- Affordable Housing Grant Applications (Items 1–4): Sarah Amaral, senior project manager at the Mayor's Office of Housing and Community Development (MOCD), presented resolutions authorizing joint applications with housing developers to the state Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities (AHSC) Program, which uses cap-and-trade funds to support housing and transit projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The projects were: Balboa Reservoir Building E with BRIDGE Housing (124 units), Sunnydale Block 3A (80 units), Sunnydale Block 3B (90 units), and The Kelsey Civic Center with Mercy Housing California and The Kelsey (112 units, including 28 reserved for people with disabilities). Funding requests ranged from $2.4 million to $20 million for housing, plus additional transportation grant amounts. The resolutions authorize the city to assume joint and several liability for project completion. Supervisor Melgar expressed support for the Balboa Reservoir application, citing its combination of affordable housing and climate action. The committee sent all four items to the full board as a committee report.
- SkyChef Healthy Airport Ordinance Hearing (Item 5): Supervisor Mandelman, co-sponsored by President Walton, described SkyChef's alleged "runaway shop" tactic: moving roughly 60% of its SFO workforce to San Jose to avoid the Healthy Airport Ordinance, affecting up to 300 workers with lower pay and no family health care. OLSE Director Pat Mulligan testified that OLSE opened an investigation, sent an investigative notice on April 16, 2021, and issued a notice of violation for failure to cooperate after SkyChef denied access to its San Jose facility and did not produce payroll documents. OLSE's position is that SkyChef is bound by the ordinance at its Burlingame and San Jose facilities while providing services for SFO. Worker Linda Fajardo testified she earns $18.16/hour, pays $250/month for insurance plus $60 copays, and cannot afford physical therapy; she pleaded for help bringing work back to SFO. Supervisors Haney and Walton said companies that flout city laws should not continue contracting with the city.
- 2021 Language Access Report Hearing (Item 6): President Walton chaired this hearing. OCEIA Director Adrian Pond presented the 2021 Language Access Report, noting San Francisco has over 870,000 residents, with more than one-third foreign-born and about one-fifth limited English proficient (LEP). Of 56 departments required to report, 53 did, 41 attended OCEIA training, and 46 had written language access policies. Citywide language-access spending was over $22 million, a more than 40% increase from $16.1 million, but the number of bilingual staff and LEP interactions declined, particularly in Cantonese, Mandarin, and Spanish. Pond and Immigrant Rights Commission members Celine Kennelly and Paul Monge recommended stronger emergency planning, a community interpreter bank, expanded bilingual certification, and more enforcement "teeth." Annette Wong, Eva Poon, and Rebecca Dean of the Language Access Network testified about translation quality problems, long waits, over-reliance on telephonic interpretation, gaps for non-threshold languages, and insufficient accountability through department self-reporting. They urged independent audits, publication of violations, and investment in bilingual staffing.
- Closed Session Litigation (Items 7–10): The committee convened in closed session to consider settlements: Mohammad Joiyah ($200,000), Daniel Alvarenga ($60,000), Grace International Consortia, Inc. ($316,250), and Bruce Storrs ($55,000). After returning to open session, the clerk reported that the committee unanimously continued the Daniel Alvarenga settlement item to the June 3, 2021 Government Audit and Oversight Committee meeting.
Key Outcomes
- The committee voted 3-0 to send Items 1–4 to the full Board of Supervisors with positive recommendation as a committee report for the May 25, 2021 meeting.
- The committee voted 3-0 to file the SkyChef hearing (Item 5).
- The committee voted 3-0 to file the 2021 Language Access Report hearing (Item 6).
- The committee unanimously continued the Daniel Alvarenga settlement to June 3, 2021, from closed session.
Meeting Transcript
Good morning. This meeting will come to order. Welcome to the May 20th, 2021 regular meeting of the Government Audit and Oversight Committee of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. I am Supervisor Dean Preston, the chair of this committee. I am joined by committee member Rafael Mandelman and soon to be joined by our Vice Chair, Supervisor Connie Chan. The committee clerk is John Carroll, and I also want to thank Kalina Mendoza and Jim Smith with SFGov TV for staffing this meeting. Mr. Clark, do you have any announcements? Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. In order to protect the public, board members, and city employees during the COVID 19 health emergency, the Board of Supervisors Legislative Chamber and Committee Room are closed. This precaution is taken pursuant to all various local state and federal orders, declarations, and directives. Committee members are attending this meeting through video conference and will participate in this meeting to the same extent as if they are physically present in their committee room. Public comment will be available for each item on today's agenda. Both San Francisco Cable Channel 26 and SFgovTV.org are streaming the public comment call-in number across the screen at this time. Your opportunity to speak and provide your comments during any of today's public comment periods will be available to you via phone by dialing 415 65501. Once you're connected and prompted into the meeting ID for today's meeting, which is 1870 5484. Following that, press pound twice to be connected to the meeting. When you're connected, you will hear the meeting discussions, but your line will be muted and in listening mode only. When your item of interest comes up on the agenda for today, dial star followed by three to be added to the speaker line. Assistant prompt will indicate that you have raised your hand. Please wait until the system indicates that you have been unmuted and you may then begin your comments. One of them would be by emailing me. I'm the clerk of the government audit and oversight committee. My name is John Carroll. My email address is J-O-H-N period C-A-R-R-O-L-L at SFGO V dot O R G. Or you can send your written comments via post to our office in City Hall. The clerk's office is room 244. City Hall's address is one Dr. Carlton B. Goodlet Place, San Francisco, California 94102. In partnership with OCIA, we also have interpreters available to provide uh interpretation for public comment that may come in uh for speakers of Spanish and Chinese. We have uh Arturo Cosenza and Agnes Lee on the line. Uh Agnes, could you start us off? Just provide any listeners with instructions for providing their public comment in Chinese Yes. Thank you. Yes, David Salud de COVID para proteger los membros de la Junta, los empleados andacial public, la Camera Legislativa de la Junta de Supervisors in the Sala de Comités encuentran actualmente cerradas. Sorry. Cada orador tendrá permitido solo dos minutos para expresarse para dar su comentario public. Marque 1415-655-0001. Seguido por el código de Relium 18708484. Gracias. Thank you, John. Thank you both very much. And one final thing, Mr. Chair, items acted upon today will appear on the Board of Supervisors' Agenda of June 8th, 2021, unless otherwise stated. Thank you, Mr. Clerk. And for the record, we are joined by Vice Chair Chan as well. And just want to thank Mr.
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