1. Call to order and Roll Call
5:30 PM
Present Commissioners: Pam Hemphill, Susanna Russo, Philip Gerrie, Geneva Page, Jack Aldridge – DVM,
Absent Commissioners: Ryan Young, John Denny – SFPD, Lisa Wayne – Rec & Park, Vicky Guldbech – ACC
2. General Public Comment
Richard Fong – Want to know about what is being done for wildlife at the Outland Concert this year. Will passes be given for access to feed wildlife? Will Comr. Hemphill be overseeing that? Would like to help.
Comr. Gerrie - Comr. Hemphill can answer your questions after the meeting.
Public comment closed
3. Approval of Draft Minutes for July 14, 2011
No Commissioner comments
Public Comment
Richard Fong – Understood that the Humane Acquisition Proposal was about adoption not breeding. Suggest that one would need to get a license to breed one’s animals more than once. Distinguish between mandating versus licensing.
Public comment closed
Minutes approved unanimously with correction from the public.
4. Chairperson’s report and opening remarks
No Chairperson’s report this month.
5. New Business
A) Discussion and possible action to elect officers for the Commission
Comr. Stephens – We have three seats; Chair, Vice Chair, and Secretary. The Chair’s responsibilities are to prepare the agenda, and work with Commissioners who submit agenda items to make sure wording is clear . Chair cannot refuse to post an agenda item. If the agenda is full the Chair can suggest that an item be put off until the next month. Agenda is sent to the webmaster and to the Public Library. Chair prints out copies of the agenda and any handouts. At meetings, the Chair presides over the meeting and makes sure the meeting complies with Sunshine Rules, preserves order and decorum and decides all questions of order. The Chair picks up and returns the key to the building office in the basement. The Chair is the liaison with the City Attorney’s office. We get 24 hours of attorney time per fiscal year. We have usually used half of that. It is helpful to have an understanding of Sunshine Laws so to not be calling on those concerns. Unsure what would happen if we went over our allotted time. We have no budget to charge extra time to. The Chair maintains the City Appointment Database which recently started. The database includes all Commissioner’s names and when their term started and when it will be up. As vacancies occur, that information will have to be entered. The Chair also contacts the clerk of the Rules Committee when appointments are needed. The Chair has started making a digital-audio recording of the meetings that is uploaded to the Commission’s website. The Chair’s name and number is the contact for any Commission questions.
The Vice-Chair presides over the meeting when the Chair is absent and controls the timer during public comment.
The Secretary prepares the minutes and posts them to the Commission website. The current Secretary has provided much more detail than is required. The requirements for the minutes must include only the time the meeting was called to order, members attending, a roll call vote on any matter that was considered at the meeting, a list of the members of the public that spoke on each matter, whether the speaker supported or opposed the matter under discussion, a brief summary of each speaker’s statement during the public comment period for each agenda item, and the time the meeting ended. The Secretary also checks the Commission’s voicemail and picks up the Commission’s mail at the City Administrator’s Office. The Secretary also provides audio copies of meetings to members of the public that request it.
Comr. Aldridge - Is there a formal process for nominating and voting on these positions?
Comr. Stephens – Either, one is nominated or nominates oneself and then voted on. Are you willing to continue to serve as Secretary?
Comr. Gerrie – I’ve been Secretary for almost four years and would like someone else to do it. Preparing the minutes of the lengthier meetings has been hard but I have learned a lot in getting the details right. I’ve been working from the audio tapes. I tried the MP3 but I didn’t have the same control of listening as I do on the audio tapes.
Comr. Stephens – I would be willing to continue as Chair if people wanted.
Comr. Aldridge – Does anyone else want to be in running for Chair?
Comr. Gerrie – I have appreciated you as Chair in your attention to detail and being balanced and fair. You have worked well with everyone. I would like to be considered for the Vice-Chair.
Comr. Hemphill – Can marks be made on the MP3 recording to mark each agenda item?
Comr. Stephens – Believe it can be done but only by listening to the entire tape. Have been unable to listen to it on my Mac. It only plays on a PC. The company that posts the audio recordings also does all the video archives for the City. Comr. Gerrie would like to be the Vice-Chair.
Comr. Aldridge – The problem is filling the Secretary job. I don’t have the time to be Secretary. I would be willing to serve as Vice-Chair.
Comr. Stephens – Doing the Secretary job would not have to be as labor intensive as what Philip has been doing.
Comr. Gerrie – I would reluctantly be willing to continue if no one else is willing.
Comr. Aldridge – Would you be willing to let go of some level of detail?
Comr. Gerrie – I wouldn’t know how. Everyone is saying things that are good to get down on paper.
Comr. Aldridge – Our meetings are taped now so anyone that is interested can hear exactly what was said. If the Minutes were more like a table of contents of what could be found of the MP3 that would suffice.
Comr. Hemphill – Would like to find out how to mark it to locate agenda items.
Comr. Gerrie – I have been sending my draft minutes to Sally who makes corrections or clarifications from her notes, acting as a proofreader.
Comr. Aldridge – Does anyone know if Comr. Young has an interest in being Vice-Chair?
Comr. Gerrie – I only asked him about being Secretary.
Comr. Stephens – The officers would be myself as Chair. Comr. Aldridge as Vice-Chair and Comr. Gerrie continuing as Secretary.
5 A) Public comment
Richard Fong – Is there anyway items from the public can be put on the agenda? Now the only way is to go through Sally. Could other Commissioners put items on the agenda?
Lisa Vittori – Philip, you shouldn’t feel you have to remain Secretary because no one else will do it. You don’t have to rescue the Commission. You should have the Vice-Chair seat if you want it. Also, can any of the non-voting members handle any of these positions?
Public comment closed
Comr. Stephens – Non-voting members cannot be an officer. Also, I do not control the agenda. I send out an e-mail to all Commissioners requesting agenda items at the beginning of the previous week before our meeting so that I can prepare the agenda to be posted on time. The Chair has no authority to say yes or no to any item. I do address wording that may be confusing or to make it more clear so anyone interested in the issue will know to come.
Comr. Hemphill – What about items that come directly to you?
Comr. Stephens – I actually have not gotten agenda items from the public.
Comr. Aldridge – Any Commissioner can sponsor an agenda item. The public just needs to contact a Commissioner that is willing to champion their issue as long as it is within our purview.
Comr. Hemphill - I don’t think the public understands that. They just contact Sally.
Comr. Aldridge – One reason I stated that it is get it into the MP3 files and the Minutes.
Comr. Stephens – Anyone can come here and speak during general public comment about an issue and any Commissioner can take it up. A Commissioner needs to push it to get it into the agenda.
Comr. Gerrie – It is the same thing when we have something to get passed by the Supervisors we need to get a Supervisor to sponsor our item.
Comr. Stephens – We are not like the Rec & Park Commission that gets items sent to them from the Rec & Park Department. The public generally thinks we have control of Animal Care & Control because of our name but we don’t have any control of ACC.
Comr. Hemphill – We also need to be easy to contact. It is difficult for the public to move forward on an idea because they don’t understand the process for an agenda item.
Comr. Stephens – If you want, look into putting more contact info on our website. However we are not City employees so couldn’t have an e-mail account through sfgov.org.
Comr. Hemphill – Perhaps we could have a gmail account?
Comr. Stephens – We should have this be a future agenda item so we can notify the public for their input.
Comr. Hemphill – I have had that as an agenda item in the past without much success.
Comr. Stephens – Yes, because no one was willing to do the research.
Comr. Hemphill – I see it as more as a public interface problem.
Comr. Aldridge – This is the generation of social media. Perhaps Comr. Young would have some ideas when he returns.
Comr. Stephens – The phone number is on the website. Do you get many calls?
Comr. Gerrie – Almost all for ACC and an occasional media person.
Comr. Russo – I move that we vote on the slate of officers; Comr. Stephens as Chair, Comr. Aldridge as Vice-Chair, and Comr. Gerrie as Secretary.
Comr. Hemphill – I will second with the addendum that we help Philip abbreviate his notes.
Motion passes unanimously.
6. General Public Comment
Lisa Vittori – I apologize to the Commission for the hit job that was in the SF Weekly about the pet ban. It is easy to mock when you take positions that are considered radical. It easy to make fun of things. The native plant people, and other environmental groups, have been mocked for trying to save habitat and wildlife, as well, over the years but now they are now mainstream. What seems radical one year will be common place in ten years. Thank you for your courage.
Richard Fong – I would like to know if Comr. Hemphill needs help during the Outside Lands Concert in feeding displaced wildlife.
Public Comment closed.
Comr. Hemphill – Outside Lands fences are going up. I have enough help. I have several spots to leave food and water. I have seen displaced wildlife caught on one side or other of the fence.
Comr. Stephens – You have done a presentation, in the past, to the Commission, in September or October, on how things went.
Comr. Russo – I hope you will this year too.
7 & 8 Calendar items and task allotments
Comr. Stephens – We’ll have further discussion about possible e-mail for Commissioners.
No public comment
Adjournment 6:15PM
Respectfully submitted by Philip Gerrie
Commission Secretary
