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1.
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Approval of minutes of October 28, 2008, meeting.
Public Comment: None
Motion to approve the minutes of October 28, 2008 ( Knee / Goldman )
Ayes: Knee, Cauthen, Washburn, Knoebber, Johnson, Chu, Chan, Goldman
Excused: Craven, Williams
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2.
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Special recognition to David Pilpel for his community service as a contributing member of the Sunshine Ordinance Task Force.
Chair Chu presented David Pilpel with a certificate of recognition and a desk momento. Mr. Pilpel said even though his approach to issues discussed at the Task Force hearings had been at odds with other members, his goal had always been to promote public access to meetings and records. He said every member was different in many ways and that person's unique quality should be respected and recognized. He also said he would be monitoring the Task Force and was willing to assist if requested. Members later praised him for his knowledge of issues and devotion to details. They all wished him well.
Public Comment: None
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3
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08045
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Determination of jurisdiction on complaint filed by Barry Taranto against the Municipal Transportation Agency for failure to provide an equal amount of speaking time during a public comment session.
Motion to accept jurisdiction ( Goldman / Cauthen )
Ayes: Knee, Cauthen, Washburn, Knoebber, Johnson, Chu, Chan, Goldman
Excused: Craven, Williams
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a
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Public hearing on complaint filed by Barry Taranto against the Municipal Transportation Agency for failure to provide an equal amount of speaking time during a public comment session.
Barry Taranto said although the MTA had recognized its mistake, Irwin Lum, president of the Muni Drivers Union, was allowed to speak beyond the two-minute timeframe announced at the beginning of the public comment session. If the MTA needed a report or statement from Mr. Lum, he said it should have come under the executive director's report because the agency has a division that handles union issues. He requested that the Task Force send the MTA a letter requesting that the public be properly identified and allowed equal time and to have reports presented under another category.
The agency was not represented. It was noted that they had made their presentation at the first hearing and was also present at the second hearing.
Member Knee said it was a straightforward case in which Mr. Taranto made his complaint and the agency admitted its mistake and did not contest jurisdiction. Therefore, no action or motion was needed, he said.
Member Cauthen disagreed and recalled an experience she had with the MTA over two public comment session disagreements. She wanted a violation found and then to commend the agency for following the law. She also wanted the letter to mention that the public should be provided adequate speaking time at public comment sessions.
DCA Llorente, based on Member Cauthen's statement, questioned her ability to be impartial in deciding Mr. Taranto's complaint. Member Cauthen responded that she was imparting to the Task Force and the public her knowledge of the MTA and its practices.
Motion to find violation of 67.15 ( Chan / Cauthen )
Public Comment: Ray Hartz said most people are reluctant to step up and speak before boards and commissions. But when they do, he said, they need to be given the respect and dignity they deserve. He also said that he was going to tell the Board of Supervisors that the only way the public is going to believe that the supervisors want their comment is for them to listen to what the public is saying.
DCA Llorente suggested that the Order of Determination should also say that the Task Force acknowledges that the MTA realized it mistake early in the process and commend them for their effort to change the procedures to ensure that the problem does not occur in the future.
Members Chan and Cauthen accepted the amended motion.
On the motion:
Ayes: Knee, Cauthen, Washburn, Knoebber, Johnson, Chu, Chan, Goldman
Excused: Craven, Williams
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4
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08050
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Determination of jurisdiction on complaint filed by Charles Pitts against the Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice for failure to provide speaking time during a recent public meeting. (action item) (attachment)
Motion to find jurisdiction ( Goldman / Cauthen )
On the motion:
Ayes: Knee, Cauthen, Washburn, Knoebber, Johnson, Chu, Chan, Goldman
Excused: Craven, Williams
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a
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Public hearing on complaint filed by Charles Pitts against the Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice for failure to provide speaking time during a recent public meeting. (attachment)
Complainant Charles Pitts said the meeting held by the San Francisco Streets and Neighborhoods Workgroup under the Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice was about what to do with a certain class of people. The players, he said, were well-informed and presented a number of solutions. He also said he was prevented from entering the room until a representative of the Coalition on Homelessness intervened on his behalf. The group, he said, was using Section 67.4 as a cover and that they were not talking about the drunks exiting the bars in North Beach but fixated on removing a certain group of people from city sidewalks. Thomas Picarello said he was at the meeting where Mr. Pitts was denied public comment. The issue, he said, is when is a meeting passive and when is it not passive because substantive issues were addressed at the meeting. A mayor's representative should be asked to appear before the Task Force and explain their position, he added.
Member Cauthen wanted the case to be continued to allow the Mayor's office to present their opinion. Finding the Mayor's office in violation of 67.21 (failure to appear) does not solve the issue, she said.
Member Knee said the body is a passive meeting body as defined by the Ordinance and therefore is not required to allow for public comment sessions.
Member Knoebber said he could not decide the status of the body because the Mayor's office has not responded to the complaint.
Member Johnson said the public should be allowed to speak in the spirit of Sunshine, but continuing the case would be fruitless if the Ordinance did not warrant it.
Motion to find no violation ( Knee / Goldman )
Public Comment: Ray Hartz said city representatives have come before the Task Force many times and have presented facts that have nothing to do with the complaint. And when they do not send representatives to the hearings they send a clear picture of what they think of the Task Force and its authority. The Ordinance permits him to visit any city department and ask for any document, he said. The question, he said, is it a public record and could he get a copy. And if not, why not? The Task Force, he added, should focus on holding city representatives accountable for showing up at meetings and for them to deal with issues and not personalities.
Member Cauthen urged Mr. Pitts to file a Sunshine record request with the MOCJ to get to know more about the body.
On the motion:
Ayes: Knee, Washburn, Knoebber, Johnson, Chu, Goldman
Noes: Cauthen, Chan
Excused: Craven, Williams
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5
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Report: Compliance and Amendments Committee meeting of November 12, 2008. (Richard Knee) (discussion and possible action) (5 min) (attachment)
Committee Chair Richard Knee made the report.
Public Comment: None
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6.
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Administrator's Report. (discussion) (5 min) (attachment)
Mr. Rustom made the report
Public Comment: None
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7
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Public comment for items not listed on the agenda.
Mr. Thomas Picarello said the Task Force could compel the respondent's presence by having an ordinance that says the complaint is true unless proven otherwise. He also said he did not know how Member Knee reached the conclusion that the meeting was a passive body meeting without sitting through the two-hour MOCJ discussion. What needs to be done, he said, is to ask the Mayor's office to explain to the Task Force what was discussed and who attended the meeting before an opinion is reached. Chair Chu then cautioned Mr. Picarello that commenting on an item that was on the agenda was not allowed.
Mr. Ray Hartz said Chair Chu's admonishment was a perfect example of the public being told what it can and cannot say at a public comment session because it was more important to follow the rules that it was to reach a substantive outcome. What he intends to do next, he said, is to collect data on how much money was being spent on the Task Force and then suggest to the Board of Supervisors that the Task Force be shutdown and the monies used on something productive.
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8.
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Announcements, questions, and future agenda items from the Task Force. (no action item) (5 min) (no attachment)
December 23, 2008, meeting cancelled and rescheduled for January 6, 2009.
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7
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Report: Compliance and Amendments Committee meeting of October 8, 2008.
Compliance and Amendments Committee Chair Richard Knee gave the report.
Chair Chu said the Electronic Records Ad Hoc Committee is being folded into the Compliance and Amendments Committee because the Clerk of the Board was not providing support. Member Cauthen said ad hoc committees could survive without the COB's support. For example, she said, the Library Citizens Advisory Committee uses a Board of Supervisors copier to do all their photocopying.
Public Comment: Ray Hartz said he has attended many public meetings where everybody is politic and nothing gets accomplished. Style is nice, he said, but substance was better. How long, he asked, would the Task Force continue going around and asking what it could be doing with its decisions without ruffling anybody's feathers? He said DCA Llorente should recuse himself from anything to do with the Task Force because he works for the City and knows which side his bread is buttered on. And, he added, Mr. Llorente was not going to do anything to make the Sunshine Ordinance effective. Someone else has to take the initiative, he said.
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Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 5:33 p.m.
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This meeting has been audio recorded and is on file in the Office of the Sunshine Ordinance Task Force
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