Public Safety Committee Meeting (July 8, 2021): Paramedic 5150 Holds, Liquor License, and Continuances
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Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee Meeting - July 8, 2021
The Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee, chaired by Supervisor Gordon Maher, met on Thursday, July 8, 2021. The committee acted on five agenda items, including a liquor license transfer, an ordinance to allow fire department paramedics to initiate 5150 mental health holds, and continuances for three other items due to noticing errors or sponsor requests. The meeting focused heavily on expanding non-police crisis response and included detailed presentations from the San Francisco Fire Department, the Department of Public Health, and the firefighters' union.
Consent Calendar
- No consent calendar items were on the agenda.
Public Comments & Testimony
- No members of the public called in to provide comment on any agenda item during the scheduled public comment periods.
Discussion Items
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Item 1 – Liquor License Transfer (1600 Jackson Street – Mollie Stone’s Market)
- The San Francisco Police Department Alcohol Liaison Unit reported zero letters of protest or support. The location is in a high-crime, high-saturation area, but Northern Station had no opposition. The liaison recommended approval with a condition to prevent loitering.
- The applicant, John Devlin (representing Mollie Stone’s), stated the license is for a new full-service grocery store at the former Lombardi Sports site. He argued it would serve public convenience by being the only full grocery store with a liquor license in the census tract.
- Supervisor Mar noted Supervisor Peskin’s support and moved to forward a positive recommendation to the full board. The committee voted unanimously (3–0) to approve the resolution finding the transfer serves public convenience and necessity.
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Item 3 – Ordinance to Designate Fire Department Paramedics to Initiate 5150 Holds
- Supervisor Ahsha Safai, the primary sponsor, presented the ordinance as part of shifting mental health crisis response away from law enforcement. He cited the Street Crisis Response Team (SCRT) data: since April 2021, SCRT responded to over 700 calls with an average response time of 15 minutes, diverting nearly 20% of mentally disturbed person calls from police dispatch. He emphasized that 37% of SCRT calls resulted in transport to hospital or behavioral providers.
- Deputy Chief Simon Peng (SFFD) explained that law enforcement currently places the majority of 5150 holds—approximately 3,043 per year (8–9 per day). He argued that police presence can stigmatize and trigger people with mental illness. The fire department proposes to train community paramedics (30 FTEs in service daily by January 2022) and rescue captains to assess and place holds. He cited successful programs in Santa Barbara and San Mateo that reduced overall 5150s after paramedics took over.
- Adrian Sims (Local 798, firefighters union) expressed 100% support, noting that a police uniform can be triggering for people of color and mental health crises can be handled without escalation.
- Dr. Angelica Almeida (Department of Public Health) provided data: citywide, approximately 9,000 5150s were placed in FY 2019–20 (including those by clinicians and police). The health department will collaborate on training and quality improvement, with 100% review of paramedic-initiated holds in the first year.
- Assistant Deputy Chief Sandy Tong (SFFD) noted a concerning rise in assaults on EMTs and paramedics, and that her department is working with the city attorney to ensure protection of personnel.
- Supervisors Mar and Stephanie expressed strong support, with Mar requesting to be added as a co-sponsor. Supervisor Stephanie inquired about resources and raised the issue of 5250 holds (14-day holds) and release patterns; she requested data from SF General on releases against medical advice.
- The committee voted unanimously (3–0) to send the ordinance to the full Board of Supervisors with a positive recommendation.
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Items 2, 4, 5 – Continuances
- Item 2 (Ordinance on Alternate Water Sources for Non-Potable Applications): Due to a noticing error by the clerk, the item was not eligible for hearing. The committee voted unanimously (3–0) to continue it to the call of the chair.
- Item 4 (Hearing on Wildfire Preparedness): Supervisor Haney’s office requested a continuance. The committee voted unanimously (3–0) to continue to the call of the chair after no public comment.
- Item 5 (Hearing on Starting a Small Business/Proposition H): The committee voted unanimously (3–0) to continue to the call of the chair after no public comment.
Key Outcomes
- Item 1 (Liquor License): Motion to prepare a resolution finding the transfer serves public convenience and necessity and send it to the full board with positive recommendation passed 3–0 (Supervisors Mar, Safai, Stephanie in favor).
- Item 3 (Paramedic 5150 Holds): Motion to recommend the ordinance to the full board passed 3–0.
- Items 2, 4, 5: Each continued to the call of the chair by unanimous 3–0 votes.
- Supervisor Mar added as a co-sponsor to Item 3.
- Supervisor Stephanie requested a report from Department of Public Health on 5250 holds and releases against medical advice.
- The committee noted the need for additional paramedic FTEs; the recently adopted budget added 10 new paramedics (increasing from 200 to 210), with further analysis promised.
Meeting Transcript
The meeting will come to order. Welcome to the Thursday, July 8th meeting of the Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee. I'm Supervisor Gordon Maher, the chair of this committee, and I'm joined by Vice Chair Supervisor Stephanie. Supervisor Matt Haney is unable to join us today. And so he will be excused. And we have a received a presidential action memo. Welcoming Supervisor Safayi as a substitute for Supervisor Haney for today's committee meeting. Thank you. Uh to this committee John Carroll. And I'd also like to thank SFGup TV for staffing this meeting. Mr. Clerk, do you have any announcements? Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. The minutes will reflect that committee members have participated 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 today's agenda. Either cable channel 26, 78 or 99 through sfgovtv.org. Are all streaming the public comment callant number across the screen at this time? Each public caller on any of today's public comment call-in periods will be allowed two minutes to speak. Your comments and opportunities to speak during any of today's public comment period are available to you via phone by calling 415 65501. After you've dialed that number, you'll want to enter today's meeting ID. The meeting ID for this public safety neighborhood services committee meeting is 146 283 5668. Following that, press the pound symbol twice. When you are connected, you will hear the meeting discussions, but you'll be muted and your phone will be in listening mode only. When your item of interest comes up, dial star followed by three to be added to the speaker line. 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, whatever you may be using to hear today's broadcast. Alternatively, you may submit public comment in writing in either of the following ways. You may email them to myself. I'm the Public Safety Neighborhood Services Committee Clerk, and my email address is J-O-H-N. Period C-A-R-R-O-L-L at SFGOV.org. Alternatively, you can send your written public comments through the U.S. Post to our office in City Hall. Our office is City Hall, one Dr. Carlton B. Goodlit Place, room 244, San Francisco, California, 94102. Of course, any documents that you send to me uh commenting on any of today's files will be added to the files and will be transmitted to the members of the committee for their consideration. And finally, items acted upon today are expected to appear on the board of supervisors agenda of July 20th, 2021, unless otherwise stated. Okay, thank you, Mr. Clerk. Actually, I wanted to remind all the attendees that are here. You could um keep your cameras off until we get to your item. We'd appreciate that. Mr. Clerk, please call item number one. Agenda item number one is a hearing to consider that the transfer of a type 21 off-sale general beer, wine, and distilled spirits liquor license to Albaco Incorporated doing businesses in Molly Stone's Market located at 1600 Jackson will serve the public convenience or necessity of the city and county. Members of the public wish to provide public comment on this hearing should call the whole public comment number, which is 415-65501. Enter the meeting ID of 146-2835668. Press the pound symbol twice to connect to the meeting, and then press star followed by the number three to enter the queue to speak. The system prompts will indicate that you've raised your hand.
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