VETERANS AFFAIRS COMMISSION

City and County of San Francisco

1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place

San Francisco, CA 94102

 

 

APPROVED MEETING MINUTES

Tuesday, October 8, 2019 – 1800

San Francisco City Hall, Room 416

 

GEORGE ISHIKATA, SECRETARY

WILLIAM BARNICKEL, CHRISTINE BORGOGNONI (EXCUSED), MATTHEW BRAUER, HANLEY CHAN, DAVID CHASTEEN (EXCUSED), GEORGE CHEWNING (EXCUSED), DEBORAH DACUMOS, MARGO ELLIS, KIM FLAHERTY (ABSENT), JEFF MARSHALL (EXCUSED), STEPHEN MARTIN-PINTO, IKRAM MANSOURI, CHRISTOPHER McDONALD, VICTOR OLIVIERI (EXCUSED), MYLES TUCKER, RAYMOND WONG

 

 

CALL TO ORDER

 

Meeting called to order at 1806 by Secretary Ishikata.

 

 

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE AND ROLL CALL

 

 

COMMUNICATIONS

 

            Bilateral Assignments

                        District 6 – Commissioners Brauer and Mansouri indicated meeting with Supervisor Haney’s staff on generating shelter beds and VA home loan use.

 

                        District 10 – Commissioner Tucker reached out to Supervisor Walton’s office and is coordinating a follow up meeting.

 

            Officer’s Reports

                        President – Indicated concerned about upcoming events.

 

                        Vice President – Apologies for absence; will work follow on for upcoming activities.

 

                        Secretary – Nothing to report beyond the three internal dissemination messages sent to all commissioners.

 

            Veterans Related Legislation – VFW Legislative Priorities sent out to all commissioners that we should consider using as a framework for our own legislative priorities.  These are federal priorities, of course.  If anyone has any suggestions for priorities, please send them to the Legislative Committee for summarization and their internal prioritization.

 

 

APPROVAL OF MEETING MINUTES

Commissioner Chan moved to approve the September minutes as written.  Commissioner Brauer seconded the motion.  Motion passes unanimously.

 

 

AGENDA CHANGES

            One item to add under “unfinished business” is a vote on the draft letter from the Legislative Committee on H.R. 444.  Commissioner Tucker moves to approve the agenda with the one amendment.  Commissioner Chan seconds the motion.  The agenda is unanimously approved with changes.

 

 

REGULAR AGENDA

 

UNFINISHED BUSINESS

            Commissioner Ellis reviewed the draft summary of the Veterans Summit.  Discussion ensued regarding the annual report of the commission, as well as the purpose of the Veterans Affairs Commission.  Some commissioners discussed the value and need for veteran outreach, whereas others pointed out our legal requirement to our mission of providing policy guidance to the Board of Supervisors and Mayor.  One commissioner suggested the need for a monthly newsletter to collaborate and disseminate information.  Another suggested doing a newsletter well takes considerably more time, and perhaps a quarterly option would be good.  The ultimate suggestion on a newsletter was to refer suggestions to the Communications Committee.  Commissioner Ellis conducted a number of straw polls to help shape the draft.

 

            Treasurer’s Veterans Benefits Seminar.  Will occur per the flyer disseminated previously.

 

            Veterans Month Resolution.  This initiative is still on track with the Board of Supervisors.

 

            Fleet Week.  Everyone should have received invitations to various events.

 

            Vote on H.R. 444.  Motion by Commissioner Chan. Seconded by Commissioner McDonald.  Approved unanimously.

 

NEW BUSINESS

            Presentation by Miguel Guerrero, Field Representative from Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi’s office.  Mr. Guerrero gave a brief overview of what support he can provide to veterans.  He asked the VAC to keep him informed of events, so he could participate as part of his outreach function.  He reported the Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs, Mark Chicano (Southern California), is attempting to collect stories about veterans in different congressional districts.  Wanted to extend an invitation to the members of the VAC, or any veterans we know, who would be willing to share their stories.  The goal is to gather these by Veteran’s Day.  Mr. Guerrero ended his presentation by fielding questions from the commissioners.  He also extended an invitation to commissioners to visit his offices.

 

            Committee Reports.

 

                        Communications Committee.  Draft of the Veterans Summit report is the extent of product to share with the commission.  Briefly discussed National Association of County Officers (NACO), and will work on issues for Events Committee.

 

                        No other committee updates provided.

 

            Announcements

 

                        Commissioner Barnickel provided an invite to commissioners to attend the next benefits seminar for the SFPD on 16 Oct, 1200-1300 at POA Building on 8th and Bryant St.

 

                        Commissioner Dacumos noted the Veterans Treatment Court is not designed for female veterans.  So they’re looking into a separate process for females.

 

                        On Thu 10 Oct, 1200, Jonathan Darby from NSA will make a presentation to the Commonwealth Club entitled: Spies, Soldiers, and Hackers: National Security Threats to the United States.  Commissioners are invited to attend.

 

                        The 1st Marine Band is performing at City Hall on Thu 10 Oct, 1200-1230.  Commissioners are invited to attend and should RSVP to the invitation.

 

                        Fleet Week.  The Humanitarian Assistance Village displays will be open Fri through Sun on Marina Green.  On Sat, the two Soldiers who distinguished themselves in Jun at Tanforan Mall, will receive the Soldier’s Medal in a public ceremony.  Commissioners are invited to attend.

 

 

PUBLIC COMMENT

An opportunity for members of the public to directly address the Commission on items of interest to the public that are within the subject matter jurisdiction of the Commission, including items being considered today which have not been considered by a Commission committee and excluding items which have been considered by a Commission committee. Members of the public may address the Commission for up to three minutes. Each member of the public will be allotted the same number of minutes to speak, except that public speakers using translation assistance will be allowed to testify for twice the amount of the public testimony time limit. If simultaneous translation services are used, speakers will be governed by the public testimony time limit applied to speakers not requesting translation assistance. The President or the Commission may limit the total testimony to 30 minutes.

 

Members of the public who want a document placed on the overhead for display should clearly state such and subsequently remove the document when they want the screen to return to live coverage of the meeting.

 

            No public comment.

 

 

HONORS REPORT AND MOMENT OF SILENCE

In memory of American service members in all wars and conflicts who made the ultimate sacrifice.  We also remember the passing of homeless veterans, veterans who died while awaiting approval of benefits, and suicides within the veteran and armed service communities.

 

 

ADJOURNMENT

Meeting adjourned at 1912.

 

 

This document is Official Business of the Veterans Affairs Commission, City and County of San Francisco.  It is part of the official Public Record of the City and County of San Francisco.

 

Public Access:

Public Records are covered under the State of California Brown Act, as well as the Sunshine Ordinance of the City and County of San Francisco. These acts ensure that deliberations of City Business are conducted “before the People,” and that City and County operations are open to the People’s review.

 

For information on your rights under the Sunshine Ordinance (Chapter 67 of the San Francisco Administrative Code), or to report a violation of the ordinance, please contact:  Mr. Chris Ruston, Administrator, Sunshine Ordinance Task Force, at (415) 554-7724.

 

Veterans Affairs Commission Meetings:

General meetings of the SFVAC are scheduled for 6:00 p.m. on the second Tuesday of every month, with the exception for the month of July, when there is no scheduled SF VAC meeting, and are held in Room 416 in City Hall.

 

Meeting confirmation, and specific announcement of general meetings are made via public posting of the Meeting Agenda as required by law, at least 72 hours prior to scheduled meetings. Agendas for SFVAC meetings (and archived meeting minutes) are available on the SFVAC Pages of the City of San Francisco website, and are also available for public view and inspection at the 5th Floor Government Information Center at the San Francisco Public Library, at 100 Larkin Street, San Francisco, CA 94102.  The documents librarian telephone number is (415) 554-4472.

 

Disability Access:

City Hall of San Francisco is wheelchair accessible via all entrances.  There is wheelchair accessible public parking nearby, including the underground garage at the north side of City Hall.  The nearby BART/MUNI station (Civic Center) is wheelchair accessible as are nearby city bus lines and stops.  For more public transit information services, call (415) 923-6142 or dial 311.