Veterans' Affairs Commission - March 11, 2014

3 Minutes for Veterans Affairs Commission Meeting: March 11, 2014

Call to Order

Having achieved a Quorum (see Roll Call, below), the March Meeting (of the SFVAC) was called to order (in City Hall Hearing Room #416) by President Stephen Noetzel at 6:01pm. Meeting started with the traditional Pledge of Allegiance.

Roll Call

In Attendance for the Meeting: Commissioners: Baldonado, Caldera, Dacumos, Guy, Maffei, Marshall, Noetzel, Ramirez, Smith, Weeby, Wilkerson, Wong (12) Absent and excused by President: Comm. J. Towers; and Comm. L. Burnette (Illness). Absent – UN-EXCUSED: Commissioner J. Gallagher

Note: Commission strength currently at 15 members, with a total of TWO vacancies, (i.e. One Mayoral appointed and One (BOS Appointed).

Attending Guests: Dara Wong, Dwane Kennedy, Ian Thompson, Lucy Baldonado, Charmaine Angeles, and Latonia Dixon.

(Note: City Attorney W. Snodgrass was unable to attend)

Approval of AGENDA

Motion to accept Agenda, as written, made by Comm. Ramirez (2^nd, Comm. Wilkerson). Without further discussion, the meeting AGENDA, was approved by unanimous vote.

Review of Minutes of Previous VAC meeting.

Motion to Approve draft of Minutes for VAC meeting of January 14, 2014 (as written by Secretary Burnette) made by Comm. Wilkerson (2nd Comm. Dacumos). In discussion President Noetzel noted that the Draft Minutes were deficient in that the Recap of the Election of Officers did not include disclosure of how each Commissioner voted, as mandated by the CA Brown Act. He distributed a draft of revised TEXT to recap the votes, by name. VP Maffei spoke in agreement, adding a comment that his personal vote (for President), had been incorrectly listed. Comm. Maffei then made a Secondary Motion to adopt the Noetzel text revisions (2^nd. Comm. Wilkerson). After minimal discussion on the added text, the Question was Called and the Commission Voted Unanimously to adopt the modifications offered by Comm. Noetzel. A vote on the Original Motion (i.e. to adopt the Draft Minutes as originally written), was unanimously defeated. The Approved Minutes, as modified, will be distributed and archived.

Agenda item 1 – Call for PUBLIC COMMENT

Ms. Latonia Dixon introduced herself as Commander of American Legion Post 315 and other affiliations. She invited the Commission to publicize and attend upcoming events including:

The 3/22/14 WOMEN VETERANS APPRECIATION DAY ANNUAL LUNCHEON
The 4/6/14 CHARTER MEETING of the San Francisco VETERANS LIONS CLUB

Note: Full details on above events will be posted to the Social Media pages of the SFVAC Website.

Agenda item 2 - Officers Reports

President’s Report;

(A.1) President Noetzel began his Report with ‘Thumbnail’ introductions of the TWO newest members of the

Commission, Namely, Commissioner R. Bruce Smith, (an Army Vet who resides in the Sunset District), and

Commissioner Jeff Marshall (an Air Force Vet who resides in Noe Valley). After a welcoming round of applause,

each of the new (Mayor Appointed) Commissioners expressed their gratitude for the Welcome and pledged to add

their efforts to those of the Commission.

(A.2) Next, President Noetzel raised the issue of Meeting Attendance, reviewing the unfortunate situation with regard

to the cancellation of the February meeting of the VAC, due to failure to achieve a quorum. He read aloud the

‘Attendance’ provisions of the Commission Bylaws (Article V; Section 5, items (a), through (e), with particular

emphasis on the need to notify Commission leadership of a pending absence prior to the meeting.

(A.3) Next, President Noetzel raised the issue of ETHICS TRAINING and the need for ALL Commissioners to complete

this important training on an intermittent basis; certainly within the first year after appointment to the Commission.

He then POLLED the Commission and determined the following:

Commissioners Smith, Marshall, Maffei, Wong and Noetzel (total: 5) attended and completed the 2-hour Ethics Training Session of 2/25/14.

Commissioners Weeby, Guy, and Dacumos (3) have completed the ONLINE Ethics Training Course within the past year.

Commissioners Ramirez, Caldera, and Wilkerson (3) have all taken the Ethics Training Course in the past (some, multiple times).

Commissioners Burnette, Gallagher and Towers (3) were absent – No info available.

Commissioner Baldonado is willing to attend a training session pending health issues.

President Noetzel ended this discussion by urging members overdue for ETHICS TRAINING, to do so via

ONLINE TRAINING as it will likely be 2-years before Classroom Training is offered again.

President’s Report; (CONTINUED….)

(A.4) Next, President Noetzel raised the issue of Archive Records for the canceled February VAC meeting. He

distributed copies of 2 documents (he created) in lieu of actual Meeting Agenda or Meeting Minutes. Since

there was no meeting, said documents will be filed in the February archive records as: February VAC AGENDA

NOTES, and February VAC MINUTES NOTES. Each of the documents addresses the reason for cancellation of

the meeting due to Failure to Achieve a Quorum, and provides full detail on the official February Meeting

Attendance Record.

(A.5) Next, President Noetzel introduced an updated Commission ROSTER, and passed it around for all present

Commissioners to check its accuracy regarding their own information, as a new CONFIDENTIAL ROSTER will

soon be distributed (via Email) to all Commissioners. He noted that the Roster information will also be the basis

for creation of new Business Cards for those needing Business cards. President Noetzel then noted that the

subject ROSTER, indicates TWO current Commission Vacancies; i.e., One Mayoral appointed seat (to

replace Comm. Crichlow), and one BOS Appointed seat (BOS Seat #2 – to replace Comm. Tramil). He also

pointed out that Commission Terms for Commissioners Dacumos and Towers had EXPIRED on 1/31/15.

President Noetzel then announced that on Thursday the 20^th of March, the BOS RULES COMMITTEE (Led by

Supervisor YEE) would hold a HEARING to consider new appointments for ALL THREE of the available BOS

Appointed seats. He noted that Commissioner Dacumos had filed an application for Re-Appointment to her

current Commission Seat, but that Commissioner Towers has DECLINED opportunity for renewed

appointment. Net result is that the March 20 hearing will afford opportunity for appointment of TWO new

Candidates (i.e. for BOS Seat # 2, and BOS Seat #10). President urged all interested parties to attend the

Nominating Hearing and support the best available candidates for appointment.

(A.6) Next, President Noetzel raised the issue of new Business cards for Commissioners who needed them.

He announced that the Business Card ordering process has become simplified as the Office of the City

Administrator has recently determined that (in the interests of privacy), City Business Cards will no longer

include home addresses, but rather, the official Commission address. He also advised that new Business

cards will be issued to Commissioners who now hold leadership positions, as well as those who no longer hold

such positions.

(A.7) Finally, President Noetzel announced that on Tuesday afternoon, the 25^th of March, he and VP Maffei will be

meeting with Ms. Nicole Wheaton of the Office of the Mayor to discuss a variety of issues that will hopefully

lead to improved communications and new understandings between the VAC and the Office of the Mayor.

He asked that individual Commissioners contact him via Email, if they have suggested Agenda Items for such a

meeting.

B. Vice Presidents Report;

V.P. Maffei announced that he had nothing additional to report.

C. Secretary’s Report;

Secretary Burnette was absent due to illness. No Report.

Agenda Item 3. – 2013 Annual Report

President Noetzel began with a distribution of a 12-page version of the subject REPORT as submitted by former VP, Comm. Jordan Towers. The President expressed disappointment in the effort, pointing out that it was nothing more than a Re-Print of each of the Approved Minutes from all 11 of the 2013 Commission meetings. He pointed out that we already have all such Minutes available in the VAC Website Archive section.

President Noetzel then distributed printed copies of a 5-page ANNUAL REPORT that he had authored, and sent out to Commissioners for review, via Email on 3/12/14. President Noetzel pointed out that the REPORT that he produced includes an Executive Summary, a Section on Commission Leadership and 2013 Personnel Changes; a section on Significant Actions taken by the VAC in 2013; another Section on Ancillary Events undertaken by the Commission in 2013; a Section called - “Heading into 2014 – The New Leadership Year”, and finally, the traditional Commissioners Attendance Record for 2013.

Comm. Maffei made a Motion to accept and adopt the Noetzel version of the 2013 Annual Report (2^nd. Comm. Guy). In discussion several spelling errors and typos were pointed out and corrected. Commissioners Ramirez and Weeby suggested minor changes or deletions to improve the report. Suggested changes were supported by all. With no further suggestions for edits, the question was called and a vote (on the acceptance Motion) was held. The vote was unanimous in favor of adopting and ratifying the subject REPORT (as modified). The 2013 ANNUAL REPORT of the SFVAC will be forwarded to the Mayor, the BOS, the general Mailing List, and entered into the Website Archive.

Agenda Item 4. NEW Business

A. Discussion of recent mis-application of Street Artist Vendor Fees law exempting Veterans from such fees.

Commissioner Ramirez informed the Commission that the Street Artist Vendor Fees law allows those veterans who have

received an honorable discharge to apply for a waiver of the fees associated with the application for a Street Artist Vendor

permit.

B. Discussion of potential new ways to disseminate Agendas & Minutes to reduce paper waste and mailing costs.

President Noetzel polled all Commissioners on how they would prefer to receive future minutes for VAC meetings.

Commissioner Baldonado indicated that his email suffers from a virus, and that a mailed hard copy would be preferred.

Additionally, although copies may be emailed to commissioners ahead of time, Sunshine Ordinance mandates that hard

copies must be provided at the meeting, for members of the public to review. All other Commissioners indicated a

preference to receive all documents via Email.

Agenda Item 5. Veteran Related LEGISLATION.

Commissioner Wong sent an email, entitled “VFW Legislative Report,” which lists the concerns raised by 4 of the largest Veterans Service Organizations (AMVETS, Disabled American Veterans, Paralyzed Veterans of America, and Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S) regarding the President’s proposed budget for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The proposed budget is approximately $2.7 billion less than what Veterans groups are suggesting is an appropriate level of funding.

B. Commissioner Weeby informed the Commission that she will continue her work with IAVA (Iraq and Afghanistan

Veterans of America) and the program “Storm the Hill” which will take place the week of March 22 – 28, in

Washington, DC. During that time, members of IAVA will lobby legislators and raise issues pertinent to Veterans.

Commissioner Weeby participated in the event last year, and found it to be extremely helpful. She will report back to the

Commission at next month’s meeting regarding the program.

Commissioner Dacumos encouraged all members of the Commission to write their Supervisor about what steps the

Board of Supervisors can take with regard to the issue of homelessness among Veterans. She informed the

Commission that approximately 1 in 4 Veterans in San Francisco is homeless. She suggested that the Commissioners

write asking for the Board of Supervisors to hold Town Hall Meetings on this issue. She also mentioned that

Supervisor Mark Farrell is very receptive to Veterans issues and is taking the lead on the BOS regarding the

homelessness issue in San Francisco.

D. Commissioner Guy also echoed Commissioner Dacumos with regard to Supervisor Farrell’s stance on homelessness

in San Francisco.

Agenda Item 6 – War Memorial Veterans Building

Commission President Noetzel provided the Commission with a copy of a letter dated Feb 1, 2014, from Nelson Lum, Chairman of the American Legion War Memorial Commission to the Legion membership, and for public distribution. The letter reviews “important developments” regarding the space allocation for Veterans use of the War Memorial Veterans Building on completion of the retrofit construction (some time in 2015). The most significant of these ‘developments’ is the fact that the ALWMC has now retained a Law Firm (DLA Piper) to register objection to the Space Allocation Plan put forth by the Board of Trust of the War Memorial Buildings. A final attempt to negotiate a fair Space Allocation Veterans use (in the Veterans Building) is now underway.

Agenda Item 7 – Announcements

Note: Many of the announcements cited below have further information and details on the VAC Facebook page.

Click Facebook icon (and Twitter icon) on the homepage, of the SFVA website, at: http://sfgov3.org/index.aspx?page=1688

March 20, from 6pm-9pm, there will be a panel at San Jose City Hall, entitled “Servicewomen Come Marching Home,” with Commissioner Guy serving as one of the panel members.

March 21, at 5PM, Intuit will host a “Vets in Tech” networking event.

March 22, from noon to 3pm, the WOMEN VETERANS APPRECIATION DAY ANNUAL LUNCHEON at 678 Portola, San Francisco. Event is produced by AMVETS. Contact Latonia Dixon at oshun45@gmail.com

Agenda Item 7 – Announcements …..(Continued)

March 26, from 9-11 and 3-5, at 450 Golden Gate, in the Arizona Room, the SF Veterans Town Hall Collaborative will meet. This is a recurring event, which meets on the 4th Wednesday of the month for the rest of the year. Commissioner Ramirez hosts this event, which seeks to bring together Veterans who need assistance, and the Veterans Service Providers who can assist them.

April 6^th Starting 5pm at the United Irish Cultural Center, the CHARTER NIGHT DINNER event to install officers of the newly formed San Francisco VETERANS LIONS CLUB ($50. Ticket) Contact Latonia Dixon at oshun45@gmail.com

Agenda Item #8 - Honors Report and Moment of Silence:

In memory of American Armed Service members who have made the ultimate sacrifice in all wars and conflicts, plus the passing of homeless veterans and veterans who died while waiting approval of benefits requests and suicides within the veterans and armed services community.

Agenda Item #9 - AJORNMENT

Meeting adjourned @ 7:25pm

Minutes of the 3/11/14 VAC Meeting written by S. Noetzel and M. Maffei, and UNANIMOUSLY APPROVED (after corrections and minor modifications) at the VAC Meeting of 4/8/14

Veterans' Affairs Commission - March 11, 2014 - Meeting Minutes