Love and Meetings the Second Time Around

Caring for the city’s animals, whether they be wild or a pet, is the charge of the SF Animal Commission. photo: AdobeStock

Most of us would agree that some things are better on the second try. Not a lot of things perhaps, but maybe some of the more important ones. Frank Sinatra pegged it when he sang, “Love is lovelier the second time around… just as wonderful with both feet on the ground.” 

But besides love, what else is better the second time around? How about the Animal Commission meetings and our return to City Hall? Are in-person meetings better? Is City Hall, to quote the song, “like a friendly home the second time you call?”

Well, better or not, in-person meetings after three years of virtual meetings have definitely been an eye-opener. While it feels great to be back at City Hall, it’s certainly different from the remote, shoes-optional meetings we’d all grown used to. For commissioners, meetings now involve adjusting our schedules on meeting days to be sure we get to the Civic Center in time. It also means making sure we’re in town since we can no longer log in from home, the other side of the country, or even the other side of the globe (to be clear, members of the public can still attend our meetings remotely). 

A big adjustment for me has been not being able to remove myself easily from a meeting even for just a few moments. With remote meetings, I could just shut off my camera and, without being seen by anyone else, take a deep breath and collect my thoughts - not as simple when you’re seated in front of the room where everyone can see you. 

Please don’t get me wrong. I enjoy being able to interact with the community again. But there is something about the ease and privacy of the remote meetings that I miss.

Besides those adjustments, commissioners have also had to learn new-to-us technology in the commission meeting room. Although I practiced beforehand and had the wonderful support of the city’s Media Systems Department, there were still some hiccups during our first in-person meeting. 

Because of my unfamiliarity with the room, I made a few errors when setting up the first meeting, which resulted in remote attendees being unable to provide public comment, see the presentations, or hear some of the speakers. After that initial debacle, I was able to troubleshoot with Media Systems and SFGovTV, as well as a City Hall employee who regularly uses the same room for meetings. Thanks to their assistance, there were no problems during our second in-person meeting and we don’t anticipate any further issues involving the room’s technology. I’m happy to report that the Animal Commission is now all set for the future - so that’s a case of something that was definitely better the second time around! 

And speaking of the future, the commission will be taking up some very important issues in our upcoming meetings. These topics include a community panel to discuss vector borne diseases and what resources are needed to effectively manage cases and outbreaks, as well as a presentation by the national nonprofit Animal Outlook reporting on that group’s investigative work into local live animal markets. And, of course, we’ll continue updates on the commission’s work to create legislation to ban the sale and use of inhumane glue traps in San Francisco. 

The commission looks forward to the community sharing their thoughts on these and other issues. Whether you prefer to communicate via in-person public comment, remote public comment, or just a simple email, we want to know what you’re thinking. 

Before I sign off, I have a few farewell-and-hello announcements.

• Nina Irani and Iris Chan, two of our wonderful commissioners, have left us. Nina, whom I consider a mentor and I am blessed to call a friend, served as secretary and chairperson during her terms on the commission. Her contributions have been immeasurable, and without her work it is extremely doubtful we would have been able to operate as a commission during the pandemic. It’s hard to imagine the commission without Nina, and we will really miss her.  Likewise, we deeply appreciate Iris Chan’s outstanding work during her term, especially her assistance creating and managing the commission’s social media accounts. Iris is moving away from San Francisco, hence her resignation from the commission. We wish both Nina and Iris all the best!

• We’d also like to say hello to Dr. George Han, our new Department of Public Health representative. Dr. Han is the Director of Communicable Disease and Prevention at the Department of Public Health and will attend commission meetings on an as-needed basis to answer questions and provide department guidance. We are very fortunate to have Dr. Han on board, and we look forward to working with him.

That’s it for this month’s commission update. Whether you join us in person or remotely, we hope to see you at City Hall soon! 

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The next meeting of the Commission of Animal Control and Welfare will be held at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 13. There will not be a meeting in June. Meetings are held in Room 408 at City Hall (1 Carlton B. Goodlett Place, San Francisco, CA 94102). Information concerning remote access to meetings is on our website at https://sf.gov/animalcommission (agendas for upcoming meetings are published within 72 hours prior to that meeting).

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Please be aware that the views and opinions expressed in this column are those of Commissioner Torres and do not necessarily reflect the official policies or positions of the Commission of Animal Control and Welfare.