SF Supervisors Committee: Fire Apparatus, Green Benefit District, and Four Pillars Drug Hearing (May 15, 2025)
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SF Supervisors Committee: Fire Apparatus, Green Benefit District, and Four Pillars Drug Hearing (May 15, 2025)
The Government Audit and Oversight Committee of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, chaired by Supervisor Jackie Fielder, held a regular meeting on May 15, 2025. The agenda included a hearing on the "Four Pillars Strategy" to address the city's drug crisis, alongside votes on resolutions authorizing private fundraising for new fire apparatus and renewing the Dogpatch & Northwest Potrero Hill Green Benefit District (GBD). All items were forwarded to the full Board of Supervisors with positive recommendations or filed.
Consent Calendar / Litigation Settlements
- Items 4-8 (Settlement Approvals): The committee unanimously approved a block of five litigation settlement ordinances, including settlements for a PG&E FERC matter, an IBM lawsuit ($2,659,826.83), and individual claims from Lyudmila Maleva ($60,000), Mary Tuimavave ($26,250), and Arthur Fraser ($111,500). Items 4 and 8 were forwarded as committee reports, while items 5, 6, and 7 received positive recommendations.
Regular Agenda Item 1: Behested Payment Waiver – Fire Apparatus
- Presenters: Sponsor Supervisor Connie Chan and Fire Chief Dean Crispin.
- Summary: The committee considered a resolution authorizing a limited number of city officials to solicit private donations for the procurement of fire apparatus. Supervisor Chan explained that manufacturing is monopolized by three companies, leading to order fulfillment times exceeding 1,000 days (over three years), and noted that some San Francisco fire trucks are still in operation from the 1970s. Chief Crispin expressed concern about the city's readiness for a major disaster like an earthquake, citing a recent fourth-alarm fire that highlighted the lack of functional apparatus. The item was unanimously forwarded to the full Board.
Regular Agenda Item 2: Dogpatch & Northwest Potrero Hill Green Benefit District Renewal
- Presenters: Percy Birch (Legislative Aide to Supervisor Walton) and Donovan Lacey (Acting Executive Director of the GBD).
- Summary: The committee reviewed a resolution to renew the property-based business improvement district for 15 years and expand its boundaries. Mr. Lacey stated the GBD has transformed over seven acres of open space and leveraged $5 million in assessments into over $16 million in funding. The renewal petition received overwhelming community support (280 yes petitions and 32 no petitions), and the average small property owner pays less than $300 annually. The item was unanimously forwarded to the full Board.
Regular Agenda Item 3: Hearing – Four Pillars Strategy
- Overview: Chair Fielder stated the hearing was timely, noting the city is on track for the second-highest rate of overdose deaths. She argued the evidence-based "Four Pillars Strategy" (Prevention, Treatment, Harm Reduction, Enforcement) used in Zurich is transferable to San Francisco's fentanyl crisis.
- BLA Presentation: Fred Brousseau presented a report comparing San Francisco and Zurich. The report found Zurich has extensive interagency collaboration while San Francisco lacks a shared overarching goal. The BLA's cost-benefit analysis of a potential safe consumption site estimated a benefit-to-cost ratio of 2.0 to 4.7 (excluding the value of 15-27 estimated lives saved per year). The report noted that medication-assisted treatment uptake in Zurich is 75% compared to roughly 22% in the U.S.
- Medical Expert Testimony: Dr. Opalach and Dr. Cicaroni of UCSF testified that addiction is a chronic disease, not a moral failing, and that recovery takes time and multiple attempts. They stressed that engagement requires trust, non-judgmental care, and a full toolkit of services integrating harm reduction and treatment.
- Department Presentations:
- DPH Director Sai: Acknowledged that "what we've done to date has not worked." He described a "new day" of collaboration, including expanded treatment beds, the "Restore" program (low-barrier housing with treatment initiation), and a 50% increase in medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) starts.
- DEM Director Carroll: Presented the Neighborhood Street Teams initiative launched March 25, 2025, which integrates DPH, HSH, SFPD, and Fire. The new "Astrid" data system tracks over 13,000 individuals.
- SFPD Commander Lou: Presented the Drug Market Agency Coordination (DMAC) strategy. He reported 1,223 user-related arrests year-to-date in 2025, acknowledging that displacement is a "known symptom" of focusing resources. He noted officers had directly sheltered 178 individuals and medically transported 97 since August 2024.
- Sheriff and Public Defender: Assistant Sheriff Carter described jail health services and a new CalAIM grant providing 30 days of medication upon release. Public Defender Alexandra Prey argued that the "catch-and-release" cycle for low-level drug offenses rarely leads to successful treatment engagement and increases the jail population.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Support for Four Pillars: A majority of public speakers expressed strong support for implementing a balanced Four Pillars strategy, emphasizing that harm reduction, treatment, and prevention must be given equal weight alongside enforcement.
- Criticism of Enforcement: Several speakers stated that arrest-based strategies undermine trust, displace problems to other neighborhoods, and do not address addiction as a health issue. One speaker cited research showing overdose mortality increases near drug seizures.
- Support for Safe Consumption Sites: Multiple speakers urged the city to follow the examples of New York and Providence by opening safe consumption sites, arguing they save lives and reduce public drug use.
- ARF/RCFE Preservation: Numerous speakers, including residents and family members, spoke passionately against the proposed closure of the Adult Residential Facility (ARF) and Residential Care Facility for the Elderly (RCFE) at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, calling them critical long-term homes that provide stability for people with severe mental illness and substance use disorders.
Key Outcomes
- Item 1 (Fire Apparatus): Forwarded to the full Board of Supervisors as a committee report with positive recommendation (3-0: Sauter, Sheryl, Fielder).
- Item 2 (GBD): Forwarded to the full Board of Supervisors as a committee report with positive recommendation (3-0).
- Item 3 (Four Pillars): The hearing was filed (3-0). No formal policy was adopted, but the discussion established a framework for future work.
- Directives and Next Steps: Chair Fielder and Supervisor Dorsey emphasized the need for better metrics to measure success, such as reduced 911 calls, increased treatment retention, and lower overdose rates, and stressed the importance of addressing the negative effects of displacement caused by current enforcement strategies.
Meeting Transcript
Good morning. This meeting will come to order. Welcome to the May 15th, 2025 regular meeting of the Government Audit and Oversight Committee of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. I am Supervisor Jackie Fielder, Chair of the Committee, joined by Vice Chair Sauter, as well as Supervisor Cheryl and later Supervisor Dorsey will also be joining us and as well as Supervisor Chen. The committee clerk today is Monique Creighton, and our thanks to Kalina Mendoza of SFGov TV for staffing this meeting. Madam Clerk, do you have any announcements? Yes. Public comment will be taken on each item on this agenda. When your item of interest comes up and public comment is called, please line up to speak on your right. Alternatively, you may submit some public comment in writing in either of the following ways. Email them to the government audit and oversight committee clerk at M O N I Q E. T O N at SFGOV dot O R G. You can 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. Number one, Dr. Carlton B. Goodlit Place, Room 244, San Francisco, California 94102. If you have documents you would like to be included as part of the file, please submit them to me before the end of the meeting. Please make sure to silence all cell phones and electronic devices to prevent any interruptions to today's proceedings. Finally, items act items acted upon today are expected to appear on the Board of Supervisors' agenda of June 3rd, 2025, unless otherwise stated. Thank you, Madam Clerk. Please call item number one. Yes, item number one is a resolution authorizing the mayor, the mayor's chief of staff, chief of public safety, assistant chief of public safety, policy advisor, and the chief of the fire department to solicit donations from various private entities and organizations to support the procurement of fire apparatus for six months from the effective date of this resolution, notwithstanding the behested payment ordinance. This item will be forwarded. This item will be referred, excuse me, to the full board as a committee report for consideration on May 20th, 2025. Thank you. And today we're joined by Supervisor Connie Chan, sponsor of this item, and Fire Chief Dean Crispin, who will be presenting. Supervisor Chan, please go ahead. Thank you, Chair Fielder. Uh thank you, colleagues, uh, for calendaring this item today. Uh the intent is to grant our fire department and our mayor the ability to seek the resources we need to really support uh our fire department and purchase vital fire safety equipment. Uh as I have spoken about this previously, uh reports have shown that our fire apparatus manufacturing across the country is manipul monopolized by three companies, and the orders can take years to fulfill. Um, according to uh our fire department yesterday, uh, that it could be more than uh thousand days, so more than three years. This particularly affects San Francisco, where we have a unique combination of terrain and buildings. Our firefighters are always first on the scene of our emergencies, but our aging trucks, some of which are still in operation from the 1970s, have not been as reliable. So yesterday at the Budget and Finance Committee, we unanimously recommended uh the companion legislation uh to grant our department, our fire department, a so-source contracting authority in order to how fast track the purchase uh of these fire apparatus. Um and they are gonna be tailored specifically to our needs in the city and keeping us safe. Uh so today you're seeing uh and really hearing and hopeful with your approval today um another piece of legislation and which is necessary in the time of budget deficit. Uh this piece of legislation before you is that we are granting a very limited number of people, the mayor, the mayor's chief of staff, chief of public safety, assistant chief of public safety, uh policy advisor, and the chief of the fire department the authority to raise funds that we need to replace our aging equipment and give our firefighters the equipment they need so that they can keep us safe. Uh I want to thank the mayor and President Mendelman for sponsoring and supporting this legislation, uh, as we also have um Supervisor Sherrow and Souter uh for their co-sponsorship. Uh, I hope that to have this committee's recommendation on this item. And last but not least, uh, I see that not only our our chief uh Dean Crispin is here, but really his team uh and other city agency that really being here and supporting us and making sure that our city is safe. Um colleagues, I also just wanted to be uh making us aware that the reality of the budget deficits and why again this is a critical piece of legislation. Um we have so much more that we need to make sure, not just uh fire apparatus. Uh we have previously discussed uh firefighters uh turnout that is in need um to be updated uh without PFAS. We have taught because we know that is cancer causing. We have talked about the importance of cancer screening uh and for our firefighters because early detection uh helped the longevity and health, not just them our firefighters, but also their families. Um this is critical step, but I really want to say it's only also the first step.
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