willing to go to 20 days, then i will not argue with the. commissioner fung: i should have said this on the previous case, but just to inform thepublic ane only way this is overturned is if you get four boats. if you do not get four boats -- votes, so i am when to move that we grant the appeal and reduce the penalty to 20 days. commissioner garcia: all the signs indicate you would ask someone for an idea regardless what age they are. regardless of who is working the register, they asked for id from

the this week. i was flattered. i think they knew who i was. no matter how old someone looks, ask for aideed for safety. >> shall we call the roll back? >> the motion is to grant the appeal and modify the suspension to 20 days. on that motion -- president goh: aey. ye. >> the vote is 4-0. the appeal is granted and the suspension is modified to 20 days. >> showing move on to the last item?

president goh: yes. are we losing our counsel? >> yes. she is not needed for this item, unless you want her to stay. commissioner fung: i would say the same thing. [laughter] >> commissioners, the last item on the calendar tonight is the consideration of the budget for fiscal year 2011-2012. you should have a memo outlining a proposal. there is a copy also available on the dais. the budget is due by close of business on february 22. i hope you will review and approve it this evening so we can make hours of battle on time. i would like to what he briefly

to the proposal for next year. this year, we are seeing a potential deficit in the surcharge revenues. that represents 95% of the board's budget. right now, we are looking at a 5.4% deficit, about $50,000. that is good news this is the third year of the deficit, and this amount is much less than where we were. last year, we were looking at 30%. the year before, 27%. the economy is coming back off and we are experiencing that. our filing for revenue is up. it looks likely we will and the year with a slight surplus. -- will end the year with a

slight surplus. we are looking to reduce expenses. we have some salary and personnel cost savings because of having used a part-time employee for part of this fiscal year and having so many on leave. we also had reductions in expenses for non-personnel costs, because the appeal volume is down from average. we have not been having to use our notification contractor and spend the money on the supplies needed for the other things related to the appeal process. my hope is we can continue to save money the way we have been, and that our projected revenue does not get any worse. we will be able to close the year with the books balanced. we do know that if the department does and with a deficit that the mayor's office will help us out with the general fund. moving forward to the proposal

for next fiscal year, in my memo i mentioned that we had some numbers we did not quite yet know coming out of the controller, especially around fringe benefit costs. many of those numbers have been identified to date. i have a revised budget detail that i would like to distribute. commissioner fung, if you don't mind? thank you. the total proposed budget with these numbers is $952,067. that is about a 2.19% increase over the current year. we still have a couple of line items pending. the retiree health subsidy and long-term disability insurance -- we have been told those will increase. i do not know that there will dramatically change the projected increased i am looking

at. none of these are increases that have come out of our pollution. the have all been imposed upon the board. unlike the bulk of other city employees and labor groups, siu employees did not do a swap some years back or they got additional pay and agreed to contribute more to their retirement funds. during the last round of negotiations, they agreed to that. that will be going into effect. you're looking at an increase in salaries for siu employees, and there is a decrease in the retirement contribution on our end. there are some fringe benefit increases. and the employer contribution has gone up. we do see in little bit of increase in some of our work orders. most of them are staying flat.

the department of technology has asked for increases in some of their line items, and to absorb some of the personal cost. our operating expenses -- 65% are labor costs. 25% to work orders and services we receive from other departments. the other 10% covers our grant and contract expenses, materials, and supplies. we have been lucky that our red has not gone up in the last couple of years. just the 2.2% increase -- i am going to ask that we look at introducing legislation to raise the surcharge is again this year. the way our legislation currently is written, the comptroller has the ability to automatically adjust it by applying the rate of inflation without any further action.

we will be close to our projected budget, but we will still be short. because that amount is still vowing to increase and because we know the surcharges have not been producing the revenue they were projected to produce, i would be reluctant to go into another year where we will be setting ourselves up for a deficit. i am not uncomfortable at tightening our belts, but there is only so much we can do. i think as the economy comes back, the ability to save money on non-personnel costs is good to be difficult. we do have to pay for the appeals we are to be processing. my recommendation is that we introduce legislation to adjust to the surcharges in order to produce sufficient revenue to cover our expenses. if we looked at the 2.25% increase to the surcharges, the

amount of increase is minimal. we have a $25 surcharge applied to dbi that would go up to $25.50. there is a $6 surcharge would go up to $6.15. the amounts are fairly minimal, spread over a large number of individuals. we would not know the exact rates until the department submits information to us about the permit volume they are anticipating next year and what their experience has been this year. that would happen in a couple of months. that is my proposal. i would also like us to include in that the possibility that the controller might be able to adjust rates beyond the consumer price index in future years. we have had this structure since fiscal year 2004-2005. in six of those years, we have needed to introduce legislation

to adjust the rates. it seems in addition to do that. the board of supervisors and the mayor's office have ample opportunity to review our budget, since 95% comes from surcharges. looking at separate legislation on surcharges is pro forma. i think it would be an efficiency to move that out. that is my overview. i do not know if you have any questions. commissioner fung: i have two questions, madam director. one is do you and the rest of your team have sufficient resources to do the work? >> we are working on that. we definitely need to improve the computer being used by one staff member who is having a tough time right now. that is something i would like to do this year. i do not know if you recall -- in last year's budget, there was funding for the development of a database which we hope will go live by the end of this fiscal

year. we would need to set up a workstation for that. i think we have the resources to do that in this current budget. commissioner fung: my second question is also related to technology. is it even foreseeable in the future that the process can be web-based? i am sure i will be long gone by then. you can use technology to look at the information. searches so it is easy to look for common -- you cannot find it on paper. those kind of things are readily available now. that makes it not only moreeffia better process for commissioners. it would help the information

stream. >> if the commission were interested in receiving its materials electronically, that is something i would be interested in exploring. i have had mixed messages from board members in my discussions about that. some people feel very comfortable with the paper and want to keep it. some people do not. my hope had been at one point that we would be able to get a grant or something like that for ipads, or some other way that electronic data could be used within the hearing room of to move -- the hearing room to move in that direction. i am open to any suggestions from board members about alternative means of getting their material. commissioner fung: i think you may want to put that into your long-term plans. it is not so much hardware, but access to a database.

to have netbooks and other things is easy. it is access. i am sure it will be implemented long after item off the board -- i am off the board. commissioner peterson: on a related note, i would be very interested in electronic submission. i think it saves trees and time, and some labor costs. a probably asked this last year i do not understand the city attorney cost. it looks like a full-time salary almost charged to this department. i just need some enlightenment on that. how is that delegated? >> it has been a multi-year negotiation. for many years, the board had no work order with the city attorney and did not pay for their services at all.

in the last few years, there has been the first time where those hours are being to regulated and an assessment of how many dollars need to be allocated for that cost. last year, we reduced work orders somewhat significantly and did not have enough money for it. this year, when we discussed the work order, we increased it with some cushion in order to have sufficient funds. but at this point we are running behind in terms of the work order, in the sense that we are not spending it at the rate of which we might, given the amount allocated. i think that once we see how this year ends, we could make an adjustment. we would not pay for hours that are not built. money that is left within that line item would stay in the department and go to other uses. commissioner peterson: can we wait on the suggested surcharge

increase until we have a better sense of how the work order system worked through this fiscal year? >> i do not think the timing will allow for that. commissioner peterson: do we only have one chance to ask for a surcharge increase? >> that is right. all the budget legislation has to be submitted at a specific time period for our department, it is may 1. commissioner peterson: what is the wage increase, percentage wise? >> i am not sure if it was 7%. >> i think the deal is a 6% increase and they will contribute 7.5% pretax into the pension. i think that is the deal coming in july. commissioner peterson: thank you. vice presdient garcia: to follow up on commissioner peterson's question, do we know how we get

-- at least i don't know. if i were to calmness -- call miss gesner and ask her about something on the agenda, do we get charged for that? >> yes. we get a charge for any time anybody on the board in lists their services. vice presdient garcia: there are lots of times when i call when i might call you instead. that would save the board money. >> you can do that. commissioner peterson: who initiates the work order? >> the work order is between the different departments. it covers the utilization of services from the city attorney. whoever initiates the utilization of services is relevant to the charge. i would be happy to give you some information about your individual charges, if you ever care to know about it. i get a print out with every billable hour, and it identifies

who in the city attorney is working on the issue and who they were working on it for. for instance, if you were to call the deputy city attorney, it would indicate that on the billing. vice presdient garcia: it seems like there are times when -- i am going slowly here, because i do not want to sound negative or critical. but there are times when we get directives from the city attorney's office on information that we might be directed to go find, rather than paying for those hours. it seems that if we were to get something on taxi having to do with a legal point that is relative to a case we have, this seems as though rather than have all that be sent to us, we might just get a citation. if we were curious, we could go find it. the scenes there are probably ways to reduce that number.

that is a high number. the other question i have has to do with -- in order for us to raise the surcharge at a rate of 1.52, the current cpi, it seems like a straight-line function. in other words, if the cpi is 1.52, the fees would be raised by 1 pi 52. is that accurate? what is 1.50 to reflect? is that for a year? how is that derived? >> i can find that out for you. it is a number the controller's office prepares. vice presdient garcia: i am just curious. do not ask the city attorney. [laughter] president goh: i will make some comments around that same item. i wonder if every time we send e-mails and cc the deputy city

attorney that is a billable hour for her. perhaps we could minimize that. with regard to the various statutes or case law citations, we could get those from staff. i know staff is overburdened already and doing so much with so little. many of these, we see over and over again and have right in front of us when we are reading the case packet. commissioner peterson: i think the time involved in that work is not necessarily the time involved in sending an e-mail to the board and assessing what it is the attorney feels the board needs to know in order to properly evaluate the cases coming before it. >> another thing to keep in mind is that e-mails that you receive from the attorney are privileged. e-mails you receive from me are not. commissioner fung: who initiates

the request for the as the mills? -- for those e-mails? i have rarely asked for them. i need to know what my options are. however, we get quite a few e- mails. are those initiated by ourselves? >> in large part, those are initiated by the city attorney, who is a buy rating the case and -- who is evaluating the case. commissioner fung: it is fine for them to protect the city on their own direct. not on hours. vice presdient garcia: would it be reasonable to have a totally different approach, for us to call or e-mail staff and have staff make determinations

whether or not the city attorney should be involved? >> when you have a question that comes up, you are welcome to call me. i would be happy to do that evaluation. if it is information i can provide to you, i will. if i need assistance from the city attorney's office, i will bring them into our conversation. vice presdient garcia: maybe e- mail will be better so as not to interrupt you. then you can deal with it when it is most practical. >> that is fine, keeping in mind that any e-mails to me our sunshine -- are sunshinable, if i can turn that into a verb. commissioner peterson: i think we are all just trying to build back to the surcharge. well the economy is picking up, it is not quite there yet. i think it is vital to have a balanced budget and it is fiscally responsible. i will support whatever it takes to have a balanced budget going

forward. >> i do not have the figure at the top of my head, but i believe our work order with the city attorney buildup last year at slightly over $160,000. we are not largely over that period -- over that. vice presdient garcia: would you be willing to prepare a memo for us immediately to guess how to reduce what we pay to the city attorney's office? >> certainly. but i think that what has been talked about this evening really hits on the high points. just be mindful of the use of her time, or their time. on the other hand, be mindful of what information gets pushed from that office to the board. i can work with that office on that question. commissioner fung: can i bring

up something a little bit aside? >> i did. commissioner fung: i never saw anything. >> did i not? i shared it with the past president. i did not share it with the employee, assuming personnel matters were confidential. i give her the highest marks. vice presdient garcia: president goh is faced with having to come up with two superlatives. >> i could really screw up. president goh: do we need a motion? any other comments? i will move to adopt the budget. >> there is number of the public for public comment. call the roll, please. >> on that motion from president

goh to adopt the department will budget for fiscal year 2011- 2012. commissioner fung: aye. vice presdient garcia: aye. commissioner peterson: aye. >> the vote is 4-0. the budget is adopted. president goh: we should probably change our letterhead to reflect the new mayor. >> yes. i did that and i must have used an old template. my apologies. absolutely. there is no further business. president goh: we are adjourned.

the biggest issue in america today? segregation still exists... racism... the repression and oppression of women the educational system stem cell research homeless people cloning government health care taxation announcer: so, is there anything you're doing to help make a change? i'm not really doin' anything. ummmm [sighs] got me on that one... >> so it's a tremendous honor to be here today. we've got a tremendous program for you. this is our annual black history month kickoff. it was started many, many years ago. dr. carter g. woodson had

participated in the founding of black history month. he was involved in the group known as the oh, -- association for the study of african-american life and history. the local chapter of that group is what is now known as the african-american cultural and historical society. so it's an honor. we've been doing this for many, many years and it's great to see so many faces out here today. right now what i'd like to do is thank our partners and acknowledge them for their participateation. the san francisco public library much the california cultural arts program and we couldn't do it without the good folks in the mayor's office of neighborhood services. what i'd like to do now is strue -- shall truce -- intro

duce tanish hollins from the mayor's office of neighborhood services. >> good amp, family. happy black history month. could we hear it one more time? [applause] >> we are so honored to be here. we look forward to this every year. it's a hall mark event for the city and county of san francisco. an opportunity to reflect on the many, many contributions of african-americans in this city and how each of us has changed the gee graval and cultural landscape of this city. how fitting that we celebrate black history month today, which is also the same as lunar new year and also an opportunity -- opportunity to reflect on the diversity of this city and how happy we are to be in a city which is so inclussive. so without forth delay i would

like to welcome you on behalf of mator's office of neighborhood services. mayor lee will be joining us later. with the invocations, we would like to invite pastor stacey kerns. >> good amp. let us pause for a moment to invite the presence of god. shall we pray together? god, our help in ages past, our hope in years to come, we invite your holy presence to bless this celebration of african-american history month. we give up thanks and praise for the legacy, the creativity, the genius and contributions of african-american people everywhere. we pray that you would strengthen this organization and strengthen all organizations that support telling the story of black history. and so today we ask that as we continue on the journey. that we might be able to do