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Good morning.

The meeting will come to order.

Welcome to the September 7th, 2023 regular meeting of the Government Audit and Oversight Committee of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.

Welcome back, colleagues, after our recess.

I'm Supervisor Dean Preston, chair of the committee, joined by Vice Chair Catherine Stephanie and Supervisor Connie Chan.

And the committee clerk today is Stephanie Cabrera.

And our thanks to the team at SFGov TV for staffing this meeting.

Madam Clerk, do you have any announcements?

Yes, thank you.

The Board of Supervisors and its committees are 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.

When your item of interest comes up and 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 queue.

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Alternatively, you may submit written public comment by email to the government audit and committee clerk, me, Stephanie Cabrera at Stephanie.cabrera, C as in California, A, BSM Bay, R E R A at SFgov.org.

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.

If you submit public comment in writing, it will be forwarded to the supervisors and included as part of the official file.

Finally, items acted upon today are expected to appear on the Board of Supervisors agenda of September 19th, unless otherwise stated.

Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

And uh why don't we go ahead and call the first item?

Thank you.

Item number one is a hearing on strategies for apartmental or apartment building fires prevention and support for victims, including current city protocols and resources available to those facing displacement and requesting the San Francisco Fire Department and Human Services Agency to report.

Members of the public who wish to provide public comment on this item should call the call-in number scrolling across your screen when prompted, enter the meeting ID, then press pound twice.

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Please wait until the system indicates you have been unmuted, and you may begin your comments when we go to public comment.

Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

Uh and colleagues, uh today uh I'm holding uh this hearing that I call for on fire prevention and the city's response protocol for displaced residents.

Want to speak to it briefly, then we'll hear from presenters.

Um, but I do want to give some context.

Um you know this is a message received often late at night or first thing in the morning that I know all of us on this board uh dread, which is the residential fire that's occurred in our district and our constituents.

Umce we've ascertained that they are safe, they are still really in the blink of an eye, have in a position where they've lost everything, often nearly all their possessions or all their possessions, um, and are suddenly without a home unexpectedly and really in need of assistance.

Umce the the start of 2022, um there have been uh at least um 17 fires in my district in district five uh that have resulted in displacement, leaving more than 200 residents, um, most of whom live in rent control buildings, uh needing immediate uh housing and shelter.

Um what we have learned in my office over the last few years that I've been in office is that um that our office, myself and my staff um physically going to the scene of a fire as we have done in uh nearly all of these incidents that I've uh referenced is uh is crucial.

Um and the reasons uh as we'll explore in the hearing today is not just to offer um uh comfort and moral support uh to folks who are displaced, but it's also um because we end up playing uh an important role uh by going uh and and assisting victims directly.

And while we have hardworking staff in various departments uh that are tasked with fire response, um far too many people end up falling through the cracks and not getting the help they need.

I think there are real gaps in our city's uh fire response.

Um I need I I believe we need to be doing more to make sure victims experiencing the severe trauma of losing their homes are getting uh the help that they need.

Uh this past August, we saw in the span of just one week two major fires in my district on uh the Devisadero corridor.

The first one was at uh 1600 block of McAllister Street, the second at the intersection, uh hate uh in and divisadero, more than a dozen tenants, uh some of whom lived in their home for decades were uh displaced uh at each fire.

And while we saw and appreciated that Red Cross responded to each of those, uh we also saw that by being on scene uh and and getting contact info of victims ourselves, we were able to connect and help assist uh more folks than we otherwise would have.

And I misspoke when I said this this last August.

That was actually the August, uh, the previous August.

We've had other fires since then.

Um we have also seen that what started as fires in a single unit uh in these older low rise and mid-rise rent control buildings quickly spread to engulf much of the entire uh structures, uh resulting in buildings being entirely uninhabitable and displacing all of the residents and those buildings continue to be uninhabitable today.

Um I think it is uh clear to uh most involved, most who are involved in this, and we'll certainly hear directly from the fire department that had the had some of these buildings been outfitted with sprinklers, uh, which are not required of these buildings currently, um, there is little doubt uh that the fires would have caused less damage and potentially have been contained to an individual room or unit instead of spreading uh and displacing the entire building.

Um in March of this year we had another incident that I want to note.

Um we we learned of a devastating late night fire at uh 120 Hyde Street and SRO Hotel here in the tenderloin in my district.

A majority of the 28 residents uh displaced there were receiving housing support from the transgender gender variant intersex justice project, TGI JP.

Um, and after connecting the impacted residents with city departments, we were really struck by the lack of coordination, the lack of urgency uh with nearly a week passing, and many of the residents without stable housing uh forcing TGIJP to use uh their funds to pay for hotel rooms and step in uh where uh housing was not being provided.

In the context of that, my office dealt with six different city departments and agencies in an effort to figure out how to place the impacted residents into temporary housing.

Um countless hours uh trying to do that.

We were finally able to find more permanent placements uh after a week of of uh extensive work and outreach.