don't think anyone has really looked at. the monetary thing of policing those areas from those type of things happening. thank you. >> thank you very much. hi. >> hi. i'm barbara, and against my better judgment, i'm up here speaking. but i do want to make two points, and one is that i'm against the ggnra's proposals, their report, their plans, because it's blatantly discriminating against dog owners. if we can't go to these areas, we have a responsibility for our dogs, then we can't go to the areas that are being blocked off. and the other thing is that as a frequent visitor to crissy field, i have noticed that when the park put a more substantial fence around the plover area,

it actually helped greatly to prevent people from coming through the areas. so all they need to do is make provisions like that to help and to not discriminate against dog owners. thank you. >> thank you very much. hi. come on up. >> hi. my name is janet, and i'm a professional dog walker in san francisco. i've been in business now for about three years. and my reason for going into the business was because there were so many different problems with dog walkers that i felt like i could really make a difference. and so i started my business using -- i have six crates inside of a van, so each dog has its own crate with bedding and it's safe. i only take six dogs at a time. i have a first aid kit and i'm certified in first aid. all the things that dog walkers

should be doing. i just feel that because i've been doing this for three years, i've kind of like been the trial person. i've done six doings' work, the number of dogs you take out. and what i feel is is because the employment in the city and the economic environment have been so bad, that it makes our business unpredictable. i have dog walkers cut down, and they'll call me at the last minute saying, can you please take my dog. at any given moment, even though i have a list of six dogs and a limit, i may have a customer add in another dog. so the reality of it is is if

you use the -- the second part of it was the fact that in the problem sal they are -- [chime] >> you can finish your sentence. >> ok. they were saying that we have to keep our dogs on leash. as we get out of the advance. that's really difficult. the people who hire me are people who are -- who have very difficult dogs. and so, you know, taking six dogs down the beach off leash is really a very difficult thing to do. thank you.

>> thank you. ok. is there any further public comment? ok. hearing none, public comment is closed. thank you all so much for coming out. superintendent, would you like to say anything? >> i'll be brief. this is the hour's late. this was informative for us, we've listened cavely. this was a difficult and challenging issue for us all. we are the second most national park area in the country. 14 million people. and we realize that a large part of that is because we live next to six million people who come here many times during the week. i'm not going to get into rebuttals or disputing some of the things we've heard today. one thing i want to point out,

we manage 80,000 acres that's within the park, but only manage directly 14,000. but it seems like a lot of the areas that we're focusing on and that we studied for the plan is the same small percentage, sort of the prime real estate, where everyone wants to go, the beach areas and some of the more popular areas, like crissy field. we understand that, and that's part of the challenge that we all face. we will continue to work with the city as we go forward and at the end of the day this will be a plan that attempts to balance the recreational needs and also protect resources, and we'll be deeply informed by what we've heard. i also wanted to mention that through the previous meetings that we had, the public meetings we have, over 180 pages of flip charts that are being translated and put into informing us in our planning as we go forward and will be incorporated as public documents in the final plan. in the ends, though, this will be the most ferentzly national

recreation area in the country -- friendly national recreation area in the country as far as dogs, whatever final details, it will be the most friendly national recreation area in the nation. we take our recreation very seriously and we have to consider and balance the needs of all users. so thank you again. just a reminder to everyone. we have been taking notes, as i said, but continue to comment subsequently through our website, so that we can account for all the comments. thank you. i appreciate that. and if i may just ask, going forward, will ggnra -- will you be in a position, in terms of interacting with city representatives, not simply to listen, which, of course, is a good thing, but in addition, to engage in an active dialogue? because i think you heard today and you've heard before what the concerns are, but actively dialoguing with the city

departments to try to address those concerns? >> yes, we are. and we're happy to work with sarah and phil ginsberg and the professionals there or at the board of supervisors. there is legalities here that we're in the middle of this process. there's some things that we can't necessarily totally abrogate, but we are willing to work with you, engage with you and help shape the plan. >> ok, thank you. i appreciate that. >> you're welcome. >> quickly. >> yes. [inaudible] >> no. we're postponing the hearing -- the aspect of the hearing on the regulation of commercial dog walkers. [inaudible] >> yes. we have a quorum. yes, two out of three is a quorum. so i want to thank everyone for coming out today and especially ggnra for not only coming out, but sitting here and listening and actively engaging. we appreciate that. this is -- i know it's a difficult issue, like i said at

the beginning. any time you're talking about our scarce public spaces and all the different users, it's difficult. but i think that you -- i think that today we heard a lot of different perspectives and good perspectives from san franciscanses in terms of the needs of the people of this city. so i am going to move that we continue item four to the call of the chair. and that we forward item five as a committee report. >> ok. recommended. [gavel pounded] >> madam clerk, any other matters? >> no, there are no further items tonight. >> all right, thank you very much. that's it. [applause] [meeting adjourned at 8:38 p.m. eastern standard time.]

>> hello. welcome to "meet your district supervisor." we are here with supervisor farrell from district2, which includes the marina, pacific heights, st. cliff, and the neighborhoods surrounding the presidio. supervisor farrell started his first term this january, so he is new to the board. we will get to know him and talk about the toughest issues facing the city. welcome, supervisor. thank you for joining us. tell us about your background -- where you grew up, went to school, the kind of jobs you have worked. >> i am a born and raised san franciscan, first and foremost. very proud of that. i am also a born and raised district 2 residents. i grew up close to the palace of

fine arts. my parents still live in the same set of flats i grew up in. i went to grammar school at stuart hall in district 2. i went to high school in st. ignatius. i'm a very proud wildcat. i went to college at loyola marymount college in los angeles. i had a scholarship to play baseball down there. ended up going to ireland and getting a master's degree at university college dublin. came back to the states and went to law school at the university of pennsylvania. spent three years in philadelphia. came back, and ever since coming back to the bay area, professionally, i have been a corporate attorney down at palo alto. i left after about three years and became an investment banker here in san francisco at thomas was all partners. working the industry for about five and a half years. in the summer of 2009, joined a venture capital firm. i am happily married.

my wife and i lived around laurel village in district 2. we have two small children. our goal is five and our boy is three. how parents and excited to be here on the board. >> why did you choose to live in san francisco? and tell us about what motivated your interest in politics. >> choosing to live in san francisco was natural, given that i was born and raised here. when you are a child, you do not understand what you have until you leave home. i have the fortunate opportunity to live in los angeles and abroad in ireland and in philadelphia. there is no place like home in san francisco is your home. very natural and something was looking forward to in trying to find a job to come home to after law school. my job afforded me that opportunity, to come back to the bay area. so i'm lucky, and i will be here the rest of my life. in terms of getting into politics, for me, it was two

reasons. first, being from here was part of my motivation. really feeling a sense of routes in san francisco, and also raising our children here. as a young family, we went through the discussion and dialogue that many young families go through in san francisco. "should we move to the suburbs? should we move elsewhere? san francisco is expensive to live. the public-school system has been difficult in the past." i think less about the quality of schools because we have great schools and grieg parental involvement, but more about the assignment process. where would my child go to school? a lot of family leaves, -- a lot of families leave. we stuck around, but it was a turning point decision to say, all right, we are here from -- we're here for good. what can we do to make this place better? getting involved in politics was the fact that the seed was open for election for the first time

in a long time. it was previously mayor newsom's seat and supervisor alioto- pier's seat. i did not get into politics because i had a lifelong ambition of being a politician. that is not me. i came from a private sector, and looking at honestly answering the question -- did i have something different to offer that i thought would be valuable to sanford's is go right now? i do think a large part of our problems in the city are financial, economic. with my background, i did think i would be able to add a lot of value, and that is why i decided to get into politics. >> where do you place yourself on the political spectrum? >> i have to say, i'm one that has been trying to get away from the political spectrum dialogue in san francisco. i would just say, generically, i think i am in the middle. i'm a moderate person. nationally, i think we are a

little bit left in san francisco, but i think i am a socially liberal person. that is what i tend to practice what i preach. >> what did you learn campaigning for supervisor, and was there anything that surprised you? >> that is a great question. i have never run for office before. i am new to the political world. for me, the learning curve was the best he could be. there were a lot of lessons to be learned in running a race in san francisco. a few that stick in my mind -- money does matter. raising money. that is the simple, somewhat unfortunate fact of life. i think really having a message that resonates with voters, not just saying you want to be a politician, but you have to really explain why you, and i think that was really court to what we did.

most importantly, the one thing i drew out of it was the hard work and other determination is the thing that will, i think, allow you to succeed more than anything else. i believe that the candidates who won this past november with the ones who worked the hardest in their races. >> what are the biggest issues facing san francisco? >> i believe the biggest ones are economic problems right now. we face was estimated to be a $400 million deficit this fiscal year. potentially growing next fiscal year. it all comes back to that in many ways. we have a growing pension and retiree health care problem that is huge and looming and getting worse. as important, we have a huge unemployment rate here in san francisco. it is about 9.6% right now, and the fact that we have not done much about that in city hall i think is about to change.

that is certainly something i will be focused on, putting people back to work. it is an individual issue, but it is a family issue, and we have a lot of families still struggling, and a think people have lost sight of that. hopefully, we will be getting out of this recession soon, but we need to do a lot in city hall to accelerate getting out of the recession, making sure families are back at work, making sure children are provided for. that is my biggest priority. >> talk about the issues facing your district specifically and how you are going to balance the issues facing the city at large against those in your district. >> we definitely have a few big projects for issues -- or issues we're paying a lot of attention to and we will continue to devote a lot of attention to, both myself and my staff. one of biggest ones is the planned development of the new campus for california and pacific medical center. that has dominated a lot of

city-wide dialogue in the past few years. that project is slated to go forward or get through the entitlement process this year in city hall. if you are not familiar, we currently have a california campus and a pacific campus, and the plan is to build a bigger campus and consolidate those services into one larger hospital at the old cathedral hill spa on van ness, and that is going to have a huge impact, both in terms of the neighborhood in district 2, not only the new campus, but what happens to the pacific and california campus. also, is a huge job creator. we're making sure to do it in a way to we have every constituent buy into the project, create a ton of new jobs, and move forward with a health care system that benefits all of us. otherwise, some of the other issues coming up -- francisco

reservoir in russian hill is going to be an issue that comes up. we have a huge project on doyle drive that is getting finished in the next couple of years. we need to make sure we wanted to the impacts. it is going to be a big deal. after leaving here, i am going down there with the mayor and the head of our department of transportation to really make sure we understand exactly what is happening at this point in time in the project. that is just a smattering of some of the issues, but they are very important, and a plan to spend a lot of my time -- and these are the neighborhoods i grew up in, so, for me, it is fun to be in these neighborhoods to see what is going on and influence some of the thinking of some of the people making these decisions. i think we do lose a lot of sight. in the past, district supervisor's have lost sight of the fact that we do represent sanford cisco as a whole, and we need to major in city hall that

we are acting policies, laws, and legislation that will of the city forward as a whole. there are a lot of issues like that. i mentioned job creation, pensions. a lot of them are economic, but some of them are more than that, making sure we continue to have dialogue with the 49ers. that is something that is not necessarily economic but something that matters to the city as a whole. it is a big part of what i look forward to doing in city hall. >> what are the specific thoughts you have on how the city can deal with budget issues? >> i think of two things. i'm not one the things that we can raise revenue and that is going to solve out of our problems -- i'm not one who thinks that we can raise revenue, and that will solve all our problems. we need to look at what we do as a city and was services we offer. we have 26,000 city employees. our payroll and fringe benefits for city employees accounts for over 60% of our budget.

if we are not willing to look at that issue, i do not think we are going to solve -- i know we will not solve our long-term financial issues. that, to me, is the biggest deal. second, it is about job creation. jobs are not just putting people back to work, which i think is the highest priority, but it is all the ancillary benefits we received, whether it be payroll taxes, an increase in property taxes. people who live and work in san francisco also shop at local restaurants, so shop at the local retail stores. it is a huge economic impact in san francisco. in my opinion, it is getting our costs under control but also promoting economic development so we have a financial engine that will continue to promote us year after year. >> what are your ideas on dealing with the issue of homelessness in san francisco? >> i am one that thinks mayor newsom did a great job thinking

proactively about what we need to do in san francisco. when he started care not cash -- but enacted so many things past that. project award down, when he ended up making sure there were family members on the receiving end, giving people bus tickets to go back home to where they are from -- project homeward bound. unfortunately, the project does not have a silver bullet ending. we deal with our homeless problem, and a lot of it, we need to make sure that the homeless population -- a lot of them have mental health issues where it is just not solvable to lock them up. we need to help them, and i think we have that in our heart and soul to make sure that we treat the people as much as possible. at the same time, our biggest issue is that we have a continued influx of people in san francisco, so the more people we help, the more people come in, so it is a rotating

system right now, and i think we need to continue to address the issue, spend a lot of financial resources on the issue, but again, i think it is something we will have to grapple with. but what is the long term solution here? we continue to attract more and more people in san francisco. again, i do not know what a silver bullet is to that, but i acknowledge it is a huge priority, a huge issue that affects everyone in the city. in our neighborhoods, the homeless people themselves, of course, and also the tourism industry, which we rely on so much, so i think it is a big issue and something we all need to focus on. >> what about the city's housing needs? what you think the board of supervisors should do to really address housing? >> again, a huge issue here in san francisco. we live in a very expensive place. housing is one of the biggest components of that. i'm not one the things we should

be interfering with private markets sales and so forth. i think that should be left to its own devices. again, we are in an expensive city. however, what we can do at the board is in sure that we promote and provide for both affordable and middle-class housing in the city. i think it is so important that we maintain our diversity in san francisco and who we are as a people and we really stay true to those values. the large part, insuring something that we want to focus on and i want to focus on, making sure that there are housing opportunities for our first responders to be here in san francisco and living here, police officers, firefighters, sheriffs, teachers -- people that provide such essential services for our community, to make sure they have opportunities in san francisco to buy homes, set up groups as a family and really be integrated into our neighborhoods. to me, that is what we should be doing and, again, something we should be doing.

>> let's talk again about transportation in your district. is there adequate service? let's talk about parking and traffic. tell us a little bit about district 2. >> district 2 definitely relies on muni quite a bit, though perhaps not as much as other districts, but it is so important for a number of people, for a community perspective to and from work. the mainline, stockton and the marina. the one california is a major bust the comes through the district, and a few other lines, of course, on the borders of our district. it is a huge deal for us, and we need to make sure we continue to provide a great service. we are transit first here, and people embrace that, but we need to make sure we have a reliable, robust public transportation system, so it is a big deal. we do have a lot of people in the district that drive cars, a

lot of people that have families. i'm one of those as well. i take it was once in awhile, but frankly, the way we have arranged in our family is i spend my morning with my children, and time allowing, i take them to school in the morning, so i drive them with my car. i do not believe the way to achieve our goals is to make parking so inconvenient, so expensive, such a bad experience that people, so to speak, capitulate and take public transportation. that is not the way we are going to make it happen. we need to innovate, in my opinion, our public transportation system. we are doing things like the bus rapid transit systems, things like being allowed to pay for your public transportation -- we now have the clipper card. let's talk about putting that on your mobile phone and using that. innovating in ways were people say that public transportation is a great way to go.

that is the way to achieve true innovation, not through making it so inconvenient for people to drive. i think it is a fact of life. young families are going to use their vehicles. we need to do a lot in san francisco to encourage young people and young families to stay in san francisco. i think we are missing out on a lot of our diversity when young families leave our city. we need to do all we can to be mindful of the needs of young families in the city. we mentioned housing. schools are a big deal. but also being able to be flexible with transportation and children. >> what is happening with crime in your district? give me your thoughts on how you think the police are doing with respect to crime in your district? >> i think we are very fortunate in district two. we have a number of great police captains that oversee the stations that touched district