patio by 9:00 p.m. on weeknights and 10:00 p.m. on weekends. it and posting staff at the door on weekends. the staff has received approximately 40 letters in support of the project and a petition of about 200 signatures. this emphasizes the importance of the gathering space. the staff has also received three letters and phone calls in opposition to the continuance of the bar. they complained about noise and readiness from the bar, cigarette smoking on the rear patio, and alleged that patrons had been smoking marijuana in the vicinity of the business. i would like to submit to you a packet of letters that included an affidavit from one of the individuals who was originally an opposition withdrawn her opposition based on the condition to prohibit smoking on

the patio and the closure of the patio. the planning department believes that the bar with conditions of approval can continue to operate as a locally owned and locally patronized business. it will not affect the neighborhood. staff recommends the approval of the condition with authorization. i am available for questioning. commissioner olague: project sponsor? >> good evening, commissioners. this is my wife. we are the owners, operators, and tenants of the red jack saloon. we have operated it since 1993 under the precedent that it was a legal business. we are a historic asset to the neighborhood and the city of san and cisco. here are a few reasons why we feel that way.

we have safe lighting and an attractive storefront on what could be a very dark stretch of bay street. we have raised close to $75,000 for the boys and girls club of hunter's point. we employ five people consistently that live in san francisco, we pay a competitive wage and consider them family. most establishments in our area are chains. we're one of the few in the area that can command and needed the owners. we are working, you can get an affordable drink and intelligent, local conversation. it is a place for neighbors to

meet in times of tragedy and in celebration, for both local and national needs. it is a place for people to come if they lock themselves out. [laughter] after a night of drinking. sometimes. 90% of our customers are locals from the neighborhood so there is no impact on traffic. we have couples that come in on their anniversaries saying they were mad at the establishment we have never had any health code violations or complaints and i have always tried to be proactive with our neighbors. we respectfully urge you to approve a conditional use and allow us to continue operating. please let me introduce our attorney who will go over the legal aspects of this.

>> thank you for your time. >> i see nothing on the clock, so that is good news for me, i guess. thanks for accommodating a health care issue at my house told earlier today. every once in awhile, you have a client, men and a land-use attorney like me gets lucky. they're very hard-working, sincere, straightforward. they do charitable work, they have a great cause, a great business, a historical location, he cares a lot about the patients -- the patrons and the neighborhood. i feel really lucky this time, not to mention the fact that we have our client meetings at a bar which is kind of fun. we walked into this saloon at and sees people greeting each other like families, the red sox memorabilia, the navy memorabilia because this used to

service the navy at the wharf. instantly, it seems familiar, and especially the boston red sox staff makes you think of a certain tv show where there is a bar where everyone knows your name. sure enough, it looks quite like cheers. it is no surprise. there from boston and they love their red sox. one word about how we got there -- how we got here today. this area was turned into residential route 1970. the city found this to be a blight to area. the two down most of the historic buildings and put up a very modern residential ones. this became an nonconforming use as a result. it was only supposed to last until 1990. the planning department was supposed to notify the owner of that, and the owners in similar

situations, every four years, their termination date was coming up. they are supposed to indicate that they had a right to extend it to permanently should they wish to. they had to apply for a conditional use prior to the termination date. that notice did not go out. we are here tonight to ask for the conditional use permit that would have been asked for if the honor at a time have gone unnoticed that they have the right to a conditional use permit. initially, we asked the zoning administrator to give us our conditional use permit hearing because of the mistake. it is an honest one, in the planning department has not had the personnel to send out notices to hundreds if not thousands of locations. the planning department initially said to us, we are not going to give you a conditional

use permit. if you disagree, go to the board of supervisors -- i'm sorry, to the board of appeals. the reconsidered, that is quite an effort. i would like to thank the staff for reconsidering, and allowing us to have this opportunity to get a conditional use permit today. i am not going to talk about a lot of subjects. it is getting late. i think kevin has done an excellent job on this. we're very pleased to reach the agreement with the neighbor behind about no more smoking on the deck and closing the deck at earlier hours, 9:00 on weekdays. given the lateness, i have asked the speakers to speak very shortly. the first five may speak a minute or two. i have asked the others to keep it to less than one minute and not to repeat. i want to thank you all for

letting us be here tonight. thank you. commissioner olague: is there anyone in the audience that is opposed to the project? i don't have any speaker cards that indicates any opposition. there were some letters that indicated such. do you all want to stand up and show your support, or do some of you have a burning desire to speak which we won't prohibit. you have a right to speak, it is up to you. ok, thank you. does anyone want to speak? ok. >> i think you have the vote. [laughter] commissioner olague: i don't want to deny you. we will close the public hearing. commissioner borden.

commissioner borden: what we try to do with the planning code is think about a general plan and highlight details about what the city is, how to make a city and town. and even that issue you were listening to, there is a community that even though we are a big city, we are still a small town. all the things that you have done for your neighbors and for your community, i was bawling. there are so many wonderful things you will do to support the community. your willingness to work with the neighbor behind you. clearly, there was a mistake made. this has been a bar that looks sometimes -- one of you did a chronology and it looks like it might have been from 1910 that there was a bar here. there is a bar here at least from the 1960's. i don't understand why we

wouldn't continue to let it exist. what we hear is that there is such a strong sense of community that this establishment brings. it is necessary and desirable, i can't think of a project that is more necessary and desirable. i need to check out this bar. it sounds like an amazing community assets. the owners have done such a great job to create such a space in the community that people could not live without it. i moved to approve. >> the water apparently came up to the other side until 1882. it was at least a restaurant until 1911, and i am sure they had something to drink there, too. commissioner olague: call the question.

dodge the motion before you is for approval on that motion. commissioner antonini:aye. commissioner borden: aye. commissioner moore: aye. commissioner sugaya: aye. >> of the motion passes unanimously. [applause] commissioners, you now have general public comment. commissioner olague: is there any general public comment? seeing none, general public comment is closed and the meeting is adjourned.

>> as the city of san francisco has grown, there are a number of cultural organizations that have grown with it. the san francisco symphony, the ballet, and ensure we are celebrating the 75th anniversary of the san francisco museum of modern art's. one of the things many of our

viewers may not understand about museums is the way they grow and evolve is really about a broad. his patient and support from many individuals who give their collections -- and broad support from many individuals who give their collections to the museum. this year it will be celebrating and abolishing those individuals through exhibition -- and acknowledging those individuals throughout asia. joining me is janet bishop, the curator. i understand you have been with the museum quite a number of years. you remember its original home on van ness. now you are part of that transition to the center, the civic center, and of course your museum has been really the anchor of cultural tenants that has helped us transform this

area of the city. >> to my mind, it is wonderful to be part of such a rich cultural community. when visitors come to this area, that have so many different options. >> let's talk about the anniversary show, which will be a phenomenal opportunity for san franciscans and all visitors of the city to get a real sense of how the city has grown and the importance of culture. >> we focus on moments where it was involved in pushing the dialogue about contemporary art forward. the jackson pollock exhibition in 1945 is a perfect example of that. our founding director was deeply interested in abstraction and was engaged in dialogue with the guggenheim about bringing the jackson pollack showed to the west coast. the original price for the painting, $750.

are directors thought that was too much of a stretch before the board of trustees, so she convinced them to reduce the price to firefighter dollars. it was just -- to $500. it was what was needed to persuade the board. it is a very subjective history of art. it has been very much shaped by the individuals involved with the museum over the years. in 1935, would start with the gallery with works that came in through albert bender, one of our founding trusties. when we opened our doors in 1935, 181 of the 186 pieces in our permanent collection had been gifted. >> what are the names that pop out as the museum evolved? >> we have another gallery that looks at the theories that the museum has since the late

1980's. we focus on a particular aspect of that program that developed under one of art curators. he arrived in 1989 and was especially interested in artists. >> are some of the highlights? >> one of the aspects of the museum program that i have been especially involved with have been the exhibitions that stand for society for the encouragement of contemporary art. it is encouraged to honor exceptional bay area artists during their careers. for instance, an early worked who showed here in 1996. for this exhibition, he has extended an updated it to 2010 with the addition of photographs and other

frameworks. >> thank you for joining us. >> my pleasure. >> as we examine the 75th anniversary, we cannot overlook its important role as an educational institution and how it brings public program to all of our citizens in the bay area. try me now to talk about that is dominick, the curator of education and public programs. you are vested with a multifaceted responsibility, with education and also multimedia. could you explain that? >> there are three main areas. we produce education activities for all ages, k-12, and adults, and we also produce a lot of educational media, a lot of

interviews with artists, stuff that we published online, and other galleries. there's also a public program, which include some educational activities, but also live cultural programming for the artists projects. >> what are all the ways that the museum reaches out? >> the latest platform for educational media is launching right now with his anniversary. we have gotten to the point where we could put a lot of the content about artists, the stories behind artists we have had on line, but those on to the ipod touch. >> could you talk about the education role that the museum plays in the city of san francisco? >> we are in the middle of a new initiative to provide more resources and programs for families and the locality.

we are benefiting from a grant from the wallace foundation, and in the last two years many more bay area families have come to the museum, participated in the programs, most of which take place on sundays. we will see more and more different offerings rolled out in the coming months. >> thank you, dominic, for being part of "culture wire." >> the museums are almost like a team sport. there is a tremendous amount of talented staff that puts together patrons to help support the institutions, but they all need a coach. the coach is the director. neal, could you let the viewers know, you have been director how long? >> we are working on eight years.

>> now you have the 75th anniversary. how does that feel? >> we opened this building in 1995. it was bought at that time as a move from the civic center and the veterans building 2 third street, into our new building, a much expanded space, better space. it will be wonderful for the museum for decades to come. and 15 short years we have been amazed by we have outgrown the building. the collection has grown to 26,000 works. >> was a challenging to decide what was going to be put on display during the anniversary year? >> 3 people on our staff spent 2 1/2 years of going through archives, the storage vaults, honor think all kinds of works that we have not seen --

uncovering lot of works that we have not seen but also history we uncovered about how we presented a television show produced by the museum, in the museum, in 1950. a lot of great stories that the presentation tells. >> the most recent news was the incredible decision on the part of donna morris fisher to give their collection to sfmoma. >> think it is commonly understood that the fischer collection was 1100 works by some of the great contemporary works, one of the great collections in the world. in fact, the collection has not been seen. it has been largely stored at the headquarters, there has never been a publication or exhibition. >> but fischer collection and the additional expansion over

the next 50 years, what in the next 25 years will the museum be doing? >> we are very committed to expanding the museum, expanding the collection, the overall growth of the museum. that is one of the things that is very important to us. we are about to enter a strategic planning process. the fundamental question we want to address is, how wil sfmoma growth and enhanced its engagement with the community? it is not enough that the museum has great works in its collection, has great exhibitions, wonderful education programs, it is how does the institution grow and enhance its relationship with the community. it is very important to us. >> on behalf of the residents of san francisco, we thank you for shepherding this institution

through this incredible growth phase, and thank you for being part of "culture wire." >> my pleasure, thank you. >> the museum has exciting anni . >> my name is mark tieman and i'm senior councilor at pet camp, san francisco, california. we dispose of a lot of carbon-based material here, dog poop, and the more we can turn that into something viable, the better off we are. in san francisco there's more dogs than children.

finding a viable use for dog poop. >> proenvironmental policies, that's a way to win hearts and that's a way to win hearts and minds. announcer: this is sarah watkins. a lot of people almost helped her. one almost cooked for her. another almost drove her to the doctor. still another almost stopped by to say hello. they almost helped. the almost gave of themselves. but almost giving

is the same as not giving at all. [stomach rumbles] vincent: sounds like you could use some van goghgurt. it's fortified with arts-rich nutrients to improve your math and reading skills... catch! boy: van goghgurt...thanks. so what's the deal with your ear? vincent: always with the ear, huh... announcer: feed your kids the arts. for ten simple ways to learn how, visit americansforthearts.org ♪ whatever we deny or embrace ♪ for worse or for better ♪ we belong ♪ we belong, we belong, we belong together ♪ underneath everything we are, underneath everything we do, we are all people-- connected, interdependent, united--

and when we reach out a hand to one, we can influence the condition of all. that's what it means to live united. ♪ we belong [horns honking] [siren wails]

announcer: big dreams and goodrades aren't enough to get into college. there are actual steps you need to take. finding someone who can help is the first and most important. for the next steps, go to knowhow2go.org. >> the next time you take a

muni bus or train, there could be new technology that could make it easier to get to your destination. many are taking a position of next bus technology now in use around the city. updated at regular intervals from the comfort of their home or workplace. next bus uses satellite technology and advanced computer modeling to track buses and trains, estimating are bought stocks with a high degree of accuracy. the bus and train our arrival information can be accessed from your computer and even on your cellular phone or personal digital assistant. knowing their arrival time of the bus allows riders the choice of waiting for it or perhaps doing some shopping locally or getting a cup of coffee. it also gives a greater sense that they can count on you to get to their destination on time. the next bus our arrival information is also transmitted to bus shelters around the city equipped with the next bus sign.

riders are updated strictly about arrival times. to make this information available, muni has tested push to talk buttons at trial shelters. rider when pushes the button, the text is displayed -- when a rider pushes the button. >> the success of these tests led to the expansion of the program to all stations on the light rail and is part of the new shelter contract, push to talk will be installed. check out the new technology making your right easier every day