San Francisco Government Audit and Oversight Committee Special Meeting – September 30, 2021
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San Francisco Government Audit and Oversight Committee Special Meeting – September 30, 2021
Chair Supervisor Dean Preston convened the special meeting at 6:15 PM (UTC) with Vice Chair Connie Chan and Member Rafael Mandelman. The committee considered one ordinance (a memorandum of understanding with the Committee of Interns and Residents) and four civil grand jury reports, each with a corresponding board response resolution. The meeting lasted approximately three hours, with all votes taken unanimously (3-0).
Consent Calendar
- Item 1 – Ordinance Adopting Amendment No. 2 to the MOU with the Committee of Interns and Residents (SEIU): The ordinance extends the term by one year (through June 30, 2022), updates the Patient Care Fund provision (UCSF to provide $183,319; San Francisco General not funding this year), and removes obsolete language. Jonathan Wright (Department of Human Resources) presented. No public comment. The committee voted 3-0 to recommend the ordinance to the full Board of Supervisors for consideration on October 19, 2021.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Michael Hoffman (Foreperson, 2021–2022 Civil Grand Jury): Congratulated the previous grand jury on its work and thanked the committee for taking the reports seriously.
- Monica Lyon (Higher Education Action Team): Sought to speak on the Living Wage report but was redirected to the correct agenda item; no further comments on that item.
- David Bill Powell (public commenter): Expressed appreciation for the thoroughness of the civil grand jury reports and the city’s responses, noting that the MTA and PUC board responses were less defensive than staff drafts.
Discussion Items
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Items 2 & 3 – Continuity Report (Civil Grand Jury Report 210700/210701): Dr. Donna Horowitz (civil grand jury) presented the report, which found that 11% of required responses over three years were non-compliant due to missing timelines. Ashley Groffenberger (Mayor’s Office) responded, partially disagreeing with the finding because some timelines were implied or constrained by legislative/budget processes. Chair Preston then offered amendments to the resolution: agreeing with all three findings and stating that both recommendations have been implemented (as detailed in the mayor’s response). The committee voted 3-0 to amend, then 3-0 to recommend the resolution as a committee report to the Board of Supervisors for October 5, 2021, and 3-0 to file the hearing.
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Items 4 & 5 – Strategic Alignment: Breaking Through to a Living Wage (210706/210707): Dr. Janet Mole Botani (civil grand jury) presented the report, emphasizing the need to align City College certificate programs with OEWD workforce training to help participants achieve living wages. Joshua Arce (OEWD) and John Halpin (City College) responded, noting ongoing partnerships (e.g., City Build, TechSF) and a new outreach specialist position. Chair Preston proposed detailed amendments to the resolution, including partially disagreeing with findings 1, 3, 5, and 7, agreeing with findings 4 and 6, and stating that recommendations 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 would not be implemented (or would be implemented in the future) for reasons including funding constraints, purview limitations, and alignment with existing processes. The committee voted 3-0 to amend, then 3-0 to recommend the resolution as a committee report for October 5, 2021, and 3-0 to continue the hearing to the call of the chair.
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Items 6 & 7 – A Fluid Concern: San Francisco Must Improve Fuel Resilience (210704/210705): Alan Cohn and Nicholas Weininger (civil grand jury) presented the report, which found the city lacks a comprehensive fuel resilience plan and made 20 recommendations. Jennifer Johnston (Deputy City Administrator) responded, noting existing fuel working groups and progress. Vice Chair Chan proposed amendments to the resolution, including partially disagreeing with findings 3, 4, and 18 (citing purview and climate goals), agreeing with finding 19, and requiring further analysis on recommendation 9 (opposing a fueling station at the Southeast Treatment Plant due to environmental justice concerns). The committee voted 3-0 to amend, then 3-0 to recommend the resolution as a committee report for October 5, 2021, and 3-0 to continue the hearing to the call of the chair.
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Items 8 & 9 – Van Ness Avenue: What Lies Beneath (210702/210703): Simone Manganelli (civil grand jury) presented the report, which found that avoidable underground utility issues, poor contractor accountability, and inadequate risk management caused the project to run 23% over budget ($281M to $346M) and more than 2.5 years behind schedule (from October 2019 to early 2022). Tom McGuire (SFMTA) and John Scarpulla (SFPUC) responded, highlighting lessons learned and improvements on later projects (e.g., Geary, L Taraval). Supervisor Mandelman noted ongoing litigation and proposed continuing the items to the next GAO meeting (October 7, 2021) to explore a potential closed session. The committee voted 3-0 to continue both items.
Key Outcomes
- Item 1: Recommended to full board (3-0).
- Items 2–3: Resolution amended and recommended to full board; hearing filed (3-0).
- Items 4–5: Resolution amended and recommended to full board; hearing continued to call of chair (3-0).
- Items 6–7: Resolution amended and recommended to full board; hearing continued to call of chair (3-0).
- Items 8–9: Continued to October 7, 2021 GAO meeting; potential closed session to be explored (3-0).
Meeting Transcript
September 30th, 2021 special meeting of the government audits and oversight committee of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. I am Supervisor Dean Preston, Chair of the Committee, and I am joined by Vice Chair Supervisor Connie Chan and by Committee Member Supervisor Raphael Mandelin. The committee clerk is John Carroll. And I also want to thank Helena Mendoza and Jason Goldhammer from SFGov TV for staffing this meeting. Mr. Clark, do you have any announcements? Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. The minutes will reflect that committee members are participating in this remote meeting through video conference to the same extent as if they were physically present in their committee room. The board recognizes that public access to city services is essential and invites public participation in the following ways. First, public comment will be available on each item on this agenda, either cable channel 26, 78, or 99, as well as sfgovtv.org are streaming the public comment call in number across the screen at this time. Each speaker will be allowed two minutes to speak. Your opportunities to speak during any of today's public comment periods are available to you via phone by dialing 415-65501. There is a meeting ID to access today's meeting. The meeting ID is 2484 263825. Following that, you'll want to press the pound symbol twice to connect to the meeting. When you are connected to the meeting, you will hear the meeting discussions, but your line will be muted and in a listening mode. When your item of interest comes up on our agenda, dial star, followed by three to be added to the speaker line to speak for that item. Best practices are to call from a quiet location to speak clearly and slowly and to turn down your television, your radio, your streaming device, or whatever you may be using to access the proceedings. Alternatively, you may submit public comment in writing. You can do so by emailing them to me. I'm the government audit and oversight committee clerk, and my email address is J-O-H-N, period C-A-R-R-O-L-L at SFGOV.org. If you submit your public comment by email, I will forward it to all of the members of the Board of Supervisors, and it will be included as part of the official file for the item on which you're commenting. And I'll do the same with any uh comments that I receive through the post. You can send your written comments through the mail to our office in City Hall. Our office is the clerk's office, room 244, and City Hall's address is one Dr. Carlton B. Goodlit Place, San Francisco, California 94102. Of course, all this contact information can be consulted on the front page of any of our agenda. And finally, Mr. Chair, items acted upon today are expected to appear on the Board of Supervisors Agenda of October 19th, 2021, unless otherwise stated. Thank you, Mr. Clerk. Uh, please call the first item. Agenda item number one is an ordinance adopting and implementing amended amendment number two to the 2017 to 2021 memorandum of understanding between the city and county of San Francisco and the Committee of Interns and Residents, Service Employees International Union to extend the term by one year, update the patient care fund provision and eliminate obsolete language. Members of the public wish to provide public comments on this ordinance should call the public comment number. I'll repeat it. 41565501. Enter the meeting ID of 24842634825. Press the pound symbol twice to connect to the meeting and then press star, followed by the number three to raise your hand to speak. When you are in line, waiting for your chance to speak, wait for a prompt that informs you that your line has been unmuted, and that will begin your opportunity to provide your comments, Mr. Chair. Thank you, Mr. Clerk. And we are, I believe, uh I hope joined by um a Willie Togbeno of uh the Department of Human Resources. Uh is Mr. Tegbeno available to present on this item. Uh good morning, supervisors. Yes, uh DHR is in the house. I actually have um uh Jonathan Wright uh with us to present on this item.
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