Government Audit and Oversight Committee Meeting: Buried Problems, Overdose Prevention, Taxi Pilot - September 29, 2022
STREAMING COPY IN PREPARATION — RECORDING AVAILABLE FROM THE ORIGINAL SOURCE
Government Audit and Oversight Committee Meeting: Buried Problems, Overdose Prevention, Taxi Pilot - September 29, 2022
The Government Audit and Oversight Committee of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors met in a hybrid special session on Thursday, September 29, 2022, chaired by Supervisor Dean Preston and also attended by Vice Chair Connie Chan and Board President Shamann Walton (sitting in for Supervisor Mandelman, who was excused). The committee took up three major matters: the civil grand jury report on Hunters Point Naval Shipyard, the city's comprehensive overdose prevention plan, and a resolution regarding the taxi upfront fare pilot.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Hunters Point: Community members and advocates expressed deep frustration and distrust, saying agencies had failed the Bayview Hunters Point community. Speakers included Ariane Harrison (Marie Harrison Community Foundation), who said she had test results showing plutonium, uranium, silica, and lead-based isotopes in community members; Dr. Ahimsa Sumchai (Hunters Point Community Biomonitoring Program), who urged reinstatement of the Hunters Point Shipyard Restoration Advisory Board and implementation of Proposition P as an ordinance; and Dan Hirsch (Committee to Bridge the Gap), who argued the Navy planned to leave the majority of contamination covered up rather than fully cleaned and urged the Board not to accept transfer of the land without a 100% complete cleanup. Dr. Robert Gould (San Francisco Bay Physicians for Social Responsibility) expressed outrage at the mayor's dismissal of the grand jury report.
- Overdose Prevention: Public comment was overwhelmingly in favor of the DPH plan and overdose prevention centers, with many speakers urging faster and broader implementation. Tom Wolf, a recovery advocate, criticized the plan for omitting the word "recovery" and called for treatment on demand. Representatives from DISH, HomeRise, Gubbio Project, Safer Inside Coalition, Treatment on Demand Coalition, and others urged full funding for peer overdose responders, "Brave Button" programs, naloxone saturation in supportive housing, and citywide overdose prevention centers. Ellen Graham (Mothers Against Drug Death) expressed frustration about lack of recovery services and cautioned against supervised consumption sites, citing negative findings she attributed to Vancouver.
- Taxi Pilot: Taxi drivers, medallion holders, Grey Panthers, Teamsters, and community members largely supported Supervisor Chan's resolution to remove third-party dispatch, citing Uber's predatory pricing, data opacity, harm to the taxi industry, and risks to seniors and paratransit riders without smartphones. Some taxi drivers, including Flywheel president Hansu Kim and several medallion holders, supported the third-party arrangement, saying it would bring more trips and income to taxi drivers.
Discussion Items
- Hunters Point Naval Shipyard (Items 1 & 2): The committee heard a report on the Civil Grand Jury report "Buried Problems and a Buried Process: The Hunters Point Naval Shipyard in a Time of Climate Change," released June 1, 2022. The Board was asked to respond to findings four, five, and six and recommendations two, three, and seven on pages 37 and 38. U.S. EPA Region 9 Assistant Director Angeles Herrera said the site is a priority, that EPA will require the Navy to assess vulnerabilities and develop adaptive plans for climate change, and that EPA will elevate concerns to the Pentagon if necessary. DTSC Northern California Division Chief Naline Cowbell said the department recognizes climate change as an urgent crisis and will address sea level rise and groundwater rise through the five-year review. A letter from the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board was read because water board staff were unavailable due to a previously scheduled racial equity and environmental justice training. Mayor's Office representative Tom Paulino said the administration would not amend its written response but would work collaboratively if the Board created a task force or independent study. Deputy City Attorney Ann Pearson noted that a subpoena request to the Navy was possible under Board rules but unlikely to be completed within the grand jury response timeline. President Walton proposed amendments to the Board response, including changing recommendation R2 to "will be implemented," creating a short-term task force for recommendation three, and implementing recommendation seven within 18 months.
- Comprehensive Overdose Prevention Plan (Item 3): The Department of Public Health presented its plan, released the day before the hearing. Dr. Hilary Kunins described the national crisis, with more than 100,000 overdose deaths in the U.S. in 2021, and highlighted severe racial disparities in San Francisco, with Black/African American residents dying at exponentially higher rates. The plan includes wellness hubs with overdose prevention services, expanded medications for addiction treatment, increased naloxone distribution from 47,000 to 75,000 kits annually in the first one to two years and to 100,000 kits in three to four years, and completion of a public data dashboard. Epidemiologist Alex Kral of RTI International said existing harm reduction services work and should be expanded, and that overdose prevention sites have no negative peer-reviewed findings. Jeanette Zanipatin of Drug Policy Alliance argued against criminalization and involuntary treatment, noting people are 120 times more likely to die of opioid overdose in the first two weeks after incarceration. Maurice Byrd of Harm Reduction Therapy Center said the war on drugs is racist and called for regulation and safer supply. In response to Supervisor Preston, Dr. Kunins confirmed the first wellness hub is planned to open by December 2022, with a second in 2023, while saying the city aims to minimize any gap when the Tenderloin center closes.
- Taxi Upfront Fare Pilot Resolution (Item 4): Supervisor Chan introduced a non-binding resolution urging the SFMTA Board of Directors to remove third-party dispatch from the taxi upfront fare pilot. SFMTA Director of Taxis Kate Toran explained that the pilot was approved in September 2021, the third-party provision was added in April 2022, and applications had been received from Aero, Flywheel, and Yo Taxi. She said the one-year pilot includes opt-out rights for drivers, data reporting through an API, quarterly public meetings, and the ability to adjust rules. SFCTA Deputy Director Joe Castelone said TNCs have resisted sharing data with the city, and only one set of data had been received from the CPUC in about ten years. Supervisor Chan and Chair Preston raised concerns about dynamic pricing, data asymmetry, paratransit access, and what the city would receive from Uber in exchange. Public comment was split, with many drivers opposing the arrangement and others supporting it as an additional source of income.
Key Outcomes
- Items 1 & 2 (Hunters Point): The hearing and Board response were continued to the committee's next regular meeting on October 6, 2022, to allow President Walton, the City Attorney, and other parties to finalize amendments to the response. No final Board response was adopted.
- Item 3 (Overdose Prevention): The committee filed and closed the hearing on the comprehensive overdose prevention plan by a 2-0 vote. Supervisor Preston said the plan is a strong starting point and emphasized that safe consumption sites work and must be implemented "to the greatest extent legally possible."
- Item 4 (Taxi Pilot): The committee adopted Supervisor Chan's clarifying amendments to the resolution by a 2-0 vote, then voted 2-0 to continue the item to the call of the chair. Supervisor Chan said she would facilitate further conversations among SFMTA, SFCTA, taxi workers, and stakeholders before the SFMTA's next quarterly public meeting in November 2022. The resolution itself was not approved or rejected.
Meeting Transcript
Good morning. This meeting will come to order. Welcome to the September 29th, uh, 2022 special meeting of the government audit and oversight committee of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. I'm Supervisor Dean Preston, Chair of the Committee, joined by Vice Chair Connie Chan and our Board President Shaman Walton, who is temporarily sitting in for Supervisor Mandelman today. The committee clerk is Lisa Samara, and uh want to thank the team at SFGov TV for staffing this meeting. Madam Clerk, do we have any announcements? The Board of Supervisors and its committees are now convening hybrid meetings that allow in-person attendance and public comment while still providing remote access and public comment via telephone. The board recognizes that equitable public access is essential and will be taking public comment as follows. First, public comment will be taken on each item on this agenda. Those attending in person will be allowed to speak first, then we will take those who are waiting on the telephone line. For those watching either Channel 26, 28, 78, or 99, and sfgovtv.org, the public comment call-in number is streaming across the screen. The number is 415 655 0001. Again, 415 655 0001. When prompted, enter the meeting ID 2484 489 0060. Then press pound, then pound again. When connected, you will hear the meeting discussions, but you will be muted and in listening mode only. When your item of interest comes up and the public comment is called, those joining us in person should line up to speak, and those on the telephone should dial star three to be added to the speaker line. If you are on your telephone, please remember to turn down your TV and all listening devices you may be using. As already indicated, we will take public comment from those attending in person first. Then we will go on to our public comment telephone line. Alternatively, you may submit public comment in writing in either of the following ways. Email them to myself, the government audit and oversight clerk at Stephanie.cabrera, CAB as in Bravo, R E R A, at SFgov.org. If you submit public comment via email, it will be forwarded to the supervisors and also included as part of the official file. You may also send your written comments via U.S. Postal Service to our office in City Hall at 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlit Place, room 244, San Francisco, California 94102. Finally, items acted upon today are expected to appear on the Board of Supervisors Agenda for October 18th, unless otherwise stated. Thank you, Madam Clerk. And uh I will amend my statement earlier. You just heard from uh our clerk Stephanie Cabrera and uh I mentioned before uh Alisa Samara, who is also here. So the only thing better than uh one clerk at our GAO meeting is two. Um with that, uh before we go on to the agenda items. I'd like to make a motion to excuse Supervisor Mandelman, who's unable to join us today. Please call the roll. Vice Chair Chan. Chan I, Member Walton. Walton I, Chair Preston. Aye. Preston I, three ayes. Thank you. The motion passes, and uh, Madam Clerk, please call items one and two together. Item number one is a hearing on the report released on June 1st, 2022 by the civil grand jury titled Buried Problems and a Buried Process: The Hunter's Point Naval Shipyard in a Time of Climate Change. For departments to review and report back to the Board of Supervisors on what each agency's response to the recommendations are, and requesting San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, Department of Public Health, Environmental Protection Agency, Navy, and other related agencies to report. Item two is a resolution responding to the presiding judge of the Superior Court on the findings and recommendations contained in the 2021-2022 civil grand jury report entitled Buried Problems and a Buried Process: The Hunter's Point Naval Shipyard in a Time of Climate Change, and urging the mayor to cause the implementation of accepting findings and recommendations through her department heads and through the development of the annual budget. Thank you, Madam Clerk. Colleagues, uh, this committee heard these two items during our last GAO meeting and continued them to today to ensure uh that we could draft uh full and complete responses uh to the grand jury report. Um, and uh President Walton is sponsoring this hearing, temporarily joining the committee as mentioned uh today, um, and I know has done an enormous amount of work uh leading up to our prior hearing and uh leading up to today um and incorporating all the feedback and uh testimony from the last hearing on this. So, welcome President Walton. Thanks for all your work on this, and I will turn it over to you for any remarks or and to call it on speakers at your discretion.
openpublica.com