San Francisco Public Utilities Commission
Citizens’ Advisory Committee

MINUTES

February 25, 2008

5:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
1155 Market Street
4th Floor Conference Room

Members

Alex Lantsberg– Chair	Lurilla Harris	David Pascal
Nick Carlin	Winchell Hayward	Laurie Schoeman
Jennifer Clary	Art Jensen	Robert Varni
David Dawdy	Steve Lawrence	Judy West
Richard T. Hansen	Kimia Mizany

Staff: Betsy L. Rhodes

ORDER OF BUSINESS 
 

1. Call to order

Chair Lantsberg called the meeting to order at 5:34 p.m.

2. Roll Call

Members Present: Lantsberg, Carlin (arrived at 5:40 p.m.), Clary, Hansen, Harris,  
Hayward, Jensen, Lawrence, Schoeman, Varni, West
Members Absent: Dawdy, Mizany, Pascal

3. Approval of the minutes of the January 2008 Meeting (attached).

Moved by J. Clary, seconded by L. Schoeman, approved unanimously.

4. Public Comment – members of the public may address the Committee on matters that are within the Committee’s jurisdiction and are not on today’s agenda.

None

11.  Announcement/Comments (5 minutes)

At the request of L. Harris, the Chair moved the announcements/Comments agenda item up in the agenda.

L. Harris’ announcements: [all referred to appropriate subcommittees]

Garden for the Environment class; The CAC should have a representative at the Mayor’s office Disability Disaster Preparedness Committee; Propose to send a letter to the Mayor and Board of Supervisors recommending they pressure PG&E regarding the use of nuclear energy; the Solar Initiative Project [which provides money to San Francisco homeowners for solar installations] should be retroactive; Draw attention of committee to raptor deaths because of wind turbines. 

5. Report from the Chair (20 minutes)

a) Discussion and action to approve PUCAC 2007 Year-end report for transmittal to San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, San Francisco Board of Supervisors, and Mayor Gavin Newsom.

Items a and b on the agenda were combined.

Chair Lantsberg submitted a revised year-end report to the Committee reflecting the subcommittee activities. 

Comments from Committee Members:
   • Change “Energy Committee” to Power Subcommittee, remove “exceptionally well qualified” under description of at-large members, add a sentence in the beginning to reflect all the work Committee has done.

Chair Lantsberg  will make changes and send it to Francisco Public Utilities Commissioners for presentation to them on 2/26/08.

J. Clary moved to approve as amended and discussed. S. Lawrence seconded. 

No public comment.
Item passed unanimously.

(ITEMS 6 THROUGH 11 ARE CONTINUED FROM THE JANUARY 28, 2008 CAC MEETING)

6. Action by Committee to Elect Officers to the CAC: Chair, Vice Chair, and Secretary (20 minutes)

There are two candidates for Chair – S. Lawrence and A. Lantsberg. Each Committee member had the opportunity to question the candidates or comment.   The Committee discussed the relevancy of the Committee, the future focus of each Candidate, and how they differ. 

Public Comment:
Adam Scow commented on the issue of Committee relevance and the requirements of the charter. 

Members voting in favor of A. Lantsberg:
Clary, Jensen, West, Schoeman,   Lantsberg,

Members voting for S. Lawrence:
Hayward, Hansen, Varni, Carlin, Lawrence

L. Harris left the room at this time and did not vote.

Motion fails.

J. Clary moved that the Committee have Co-Chairs with both sharing the job.   L. Shoeman seconded.

Discussion:
• Jensen would vote against it with the concern that it would be more difficult to get things done.
• W. Hayward moved to table the motion pending clarification from counsel on the possibility of co-chairs.  A. Lantsberg seconded.  

No public comment.

7. Action on proposed resolution from the Water Subcommittee demanding that the SFPUC create a Reserve Fund for Capital Assets for repair and maintenance projects and that a plan be created for this fund. (10 minutes)

A. Jensen moved that they adopt and it be sent to the Board of Supervisors, Mayor and the SFPUC.   Seconded by R. Hansen and W. Hayward.

Discussion:
• B. Varni elaborated that the Charter states that the SFPUC put money away each year for repair and maintenance, so funds will be available to fix problems.
• J. Clary proposed a  friendly amendment to add as a second ‘Whereas,’
“Whereas, SFPUC up to this point has not complied with the Charter provision”,
• L. Harris and R. Hansen suggested requesting a response from the Board of Supervisors and the Mayor’s Office.

Public Comment
None

Passes unanimously as amended.

L. Harris left the meeting at 7:05 p.m.

8. Strategic planning and reporting by SFPUC in compliance with Proposition. E. Report in response to a request from the CAC. (10 minutes)

• S. Lawrence: at the CAC’s request for all planning processes at the SFPUC, staff produced a memo described as a laundry list of planning in progress, with few dates.  S. Lawrence stated that the Charter requires that the SFPUC create a 10-year capital plan for Commission approval and CAC comment.  S. Lawrence is working to convince staff and the Commission to create one. 
• A. Jensen volunteered to author a resolution for the next meeting calling on the SFPUC to write such a plan.

Public Comment
None

9. Subcommittee Reports:  (15 minutes)

Water – Jennifer Clary – Going through looking at a protocol for agendizing items, will talk about it at Wednesday’s Water Sub meeting.

Power – Nick Carlin for Kimia Mizany – Had report from John Doyle on current status of implementation of solar power projects.  They completed a study of tidal power and determined that it’s a big waste of time. 

John O'Donnell from Ausra will speak to the Subcommittee on April 1, 2008 about new solar technologies with potential to solve global warming.

Environmental Justice – A. Lantsberg for David Pascal – David Pascal will speak tomorrow to the Commission urging the adoption of guidelines and permanent EJ guidelines. 

Wastewater – Alex Lantsberg –  Tommy Moala – new Acting Assistant General Manager of Wastewater presented to Subcommittee. In response, the Subcommittee has written a letter to the General Manager and the Commission to address deficiencies in R&R funding and staffing.

10. Discussion of potential future agenda items: (5 minutes)

none

11. Adjournment at 7:36 p.m.
 
Additional materials not listed as explanatory documents on this agenda, if any, that are distributed to the SFPUC Citizens’ Advisory Committee (CAC) prior to or during the meeting in connection with any agenda item will be available to the public for inspection and copying in accordance with Government Code Section 54954.1 and Sunshine Ordinance §§ 67.9, 67.28 (b) & 67.28 (d).

Passed November 28, 2007

Passed by the CAC on February 25, 2008

Whereas, the Charter of the City and County of San Francisco, Section 16.103 (a) and (b) requires that the Public Utilities Commission create a Reserve Fund for Capital Assets and,

Whereas, SFPUC up to this point has not complied with the Charter provision and,

Whereas, such assets are found within the Power Enterprise, Water Enterprise and Wastewater Enterprise

Be it Resolved, that the Citizens Advisory Committee demands that the Public Utilities Commission develop a Reserve Fund allocation plan and said Commission begin funding said plan on July 1, 2009 and,

Be it Further Resolved, that said plan development, implementation and operation be presented to the Citizens Advisory Committee on a quarterly basis.