>> fewer approved the contract for one executive director. item e was other informational items and we have two reports classified personal act, trance akses and acceptance of gift for the month of -- 20 -- >> may i make a comment on acceptance? >> yes. >> i just want to give a shoutout. commissioner maufases asked about discretionary funds. basically p.t.a. or p.t.o. raise dollars and they go into a trust fund that is earmarked for principal discretionary funds or different things. when you go over the list, i just want to give a shoutout at lafayette, stevenson, sunny side some other schools that raised $136,000 in support of our school district. and shame on the state of california for having parents pay for teachers!

like, you know, this is really unacceptable to have parents putting together these funds to pay for teachers, like this is just completely unacceptable. a lot of the public comment we heard tonight was about the state budget and i really just ask everyone to make sure that our state funds our schools. parents should not be paying for teachers. >> thank you. >> so item sbrvings our adjournment and this evening we're going to be adjourning in memory of diane. she serve as an associate superintendent from 1983 through 2001. diane passed away after a long illness. she was named associate superintendent for the associate division. she served as a superintendent for kansas city schools for

five years. she joined the burrlingham schools as superintendent. even in the middle of her health situation she reached out to others to console and comfort. her smile and laughter will be missed. she truly kept the heart of education at the forefront. as we all know diane's husband enrique nava was employ for many years. diana will be missed by many of her colleagues by this school district and other school districts which she serves. the board of education express insere condolences to enrique nava and to the entire talerico family. meeting adjourned.

i feel like all of us are starng to see what the problems in this country are. i think plenty of people are opinionated. i don't think there's many forums where you can really express yourself or try to make a difference or anything. i mean...wha'...whatdo... what do i do, ya' know? the only people that i'm able to affect are the people who care about what i have to say. there is something you can do, but i'm sure it wouldn't be, uh...easy. different man: i get angry about it, but it's like... ya' know, in my own apartment. [laughs]

>> welcome to "culturewire." since december 2005, the museum of the african diaspora, known locally,moad, has presented programs that celebrate and explore the culture, history, and art of people with african descent throughout the and added states and throughout the world. the director of cultural affairs recently met with the museum director. to learn more about the current expedition, textural rhythms, constructing the jazz tradition, contemporary african american quilts.

>> welcome to "culturewire." today, we are at the museum of the african diaspora, which is celebrating its fifth anniversary occupying one of the premier cultural district in the world, the yerba buena cultural arts center in san francisco. joining me is the cultural art director. tell us what moad's mission is. what does it do? >> the museum of the african diaspora showcases the history, art, and cultural richness that resulted from the dispersal of africans throughout the world. we do that through compelling and innovative exhibitions, public programs, and education programs. our goal is to celebrate and present for appreciation to our

broad and diverse public the controversial energy contributions of people of african descent to world culture in all aspects in all areas, including politics, culture, economics, education, just in all aspects of cultural forms of expression. >> one of the fascinating things since 2005 when the museum was established, is that it has become clear from science that all of humanity originates in africa. how does that influence the education programs or presentation here at moad? >> obviously, being able to attenuate that, and there is a sign at the door that says, "when did you know that you were african?" our point is that we share a common dna, and it connects us on a number of different levels. this institution is an

institution available to everyone, a resourced for everyone. >> you have both permanent and temporary exhibitions, right? >> we do. our temporary exhibition program is one that we are restructuring. i have been here now for about a year and a few months, and as a former curator, i'm very interested in this aspect of developing the visual arts program. part of what we are looking at is using the four core seems that define our program -- origins, migration and movement, transformation, an adaptation -- as a framework for our thinking about the kinds of exhibits we present. >> we want everybody to come and see the permanent exhibition. there might be a special opportunity to visit with the current show that you currently have, which is constructing the jazz tradition, which is a very striking exhibition of quilts. >> it is a compelling exhibit on a number of different levels.

visually, it is compelling. in terms of the subject matter, in terms of the approach to materials, it is so rich and diverse. it is a colorful show, a show that is deep in content, and we know something of the history of the "'s tradition within the african-american community. it is a tradition that came from africa, has its roots in africa, but during slavery, this was a combination of things. one was a way to be able to communicate with each other, a way to create beautiful objects, and a way to create functional, utilitarian objects for the family and community. the other part that makes it so interesting is the focus on jazz. there are two attritions being celebrated here. certainly, the tradition as we know it -- these are not traditional quilts. they have their roots in traditional aspects, but what you will find in this exhibition are works that include materials on the surface, new

processes, copying, and putting photographic images on the surface. you will find packets sewn onto the surface, so the methodology from traditional " making has changed from how traditional quilt makers use the medium. >> our visitors can visit the web site, which we will be showing on the segment, so follow the link to the website, and get all of the latest information about all these events related to this exhibition, and, of course, you guys are very active. throughout the year, with all kinds of special programs. >> yes, we are. this is what i'm so excited about. >> this may take us off track a little bit, but a couple of things i wanted to highlight is that the creation of moad is one

of the flagship creations of the redevelopment of san francisco. it is housed inside -- what is the building? the regency, right? >> the st. regis museum tower. >> the st. regis museum tower, which is one of the development projects that was promoted by the redevelopment agency is what allows the city to -- and the development agency to give form and establish moad in the yerba buena cultural district. now, we are looking at governor brown oppose a proposal, which means that in the future, it he is successful, they would not have had the rebel the agency to promote these economic and cultural projects. it is something that has relevance today in terms of public policy today, what is going to happen in the future if we do not have a redevelopment agency to promote this

development. >> yes. moad is the result or culmination of a public/private partnership that included the redevelopment agency and former mayor brown, and included the developer of this area. we had an opportunity to develop, create important cultural components of this public/private partnership. i understand the concern. i'm delighted they are here and will continue to be here and will continue to do the good work we are doing. >> absolutely. thank you so much for being part of "culturewire." >> thank you for having me. >> for more information about the museum of the african diaspora, visit moadsf.org.

i'm the president of friends of mclaren park. it is one of the oldest neighborhood community park groups in san francisco. i give a lot of tours through the park. during those tours, a lot of the folks in the group will think of the park as very scary. it has a lot of hills, there's a lot of dense groves. once you get towards the center of the park you really lose your orientation. you are very much in a remote area. there are a lot of trees that shield your view from the urban setting. you would simply see different groves that gives you a sense of freedom, of being outdoors, not being burdened by the worries of city life. john mclaren had said that golden gate park was too far away. he proposed that we have a park in the south end of the city. the campaign slogan was, people need this open space. one of the things that had to open is there were a lot of

people who did a homestead here, about 25 different families. their property had to be bought up. so it took from 1928 to 1957 to buy up all the parcels of land that ended up in this 317 acres. the park, as a general rule, is heavily used in the mornings and the evenings. one of the favorite places is up by the upper reservoir because dogs get to go swim. it's extremely popular. many fights in the city, as you know, about dogs in parks. we have 317 acres and god knows there's plenty of room for both of us. man and his best friend. early in the morning people before they go to work will walk their dogs or go on a jog themselves with their dogs. joggers love the park, there's 7 miles of hiking trails and

there's off trail paths that hikers can take. all the recreational areas are heavily used on weekends. we have the group picnic area which should accommodate 200 people, tennis courts are full. it also has 3 playground areas. the ampitheater was built in 1972. it was the home of the first blues festival. given the fact that jerry garcia used to play in this park, he was from this neighborhood, everybody knows his reputation. we thought what a great thing it would be to have an ampitheater named after jerry garcia. that is a name that has panache. it brings people from all over the bay area to the ampitheater. the calls that come in, we'd like to do a concert at the jerry garcia ampitheater and we do everything we can to accommodate them and help them

because it gets people into the park. people like a lot of color and that's what they call a park. other people don't. you have to try to reconcile all those different points of view. what should a park look like and what should it have? should it be manicured, should it be nice little cobblestones around all of the paths and like that. the biggest objective of course is getting people into the park to appreciate open space. whatever that's going to take to make them happy, to get them there, that's the main goal. if it takes a planter with flowers and stuff like that, fine. you know, so what? people need to get away from that urban rush and noise and this is a perfect place to do it. feedback is always amazement. they don't believe that it's in san francisco. we have visitors who will say, i never knew this was here and i'm a native san franciscoan. they wonder how long it's been

here. when i tell them next year we'll get to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the park,k, >> hello. welcome to "meet your district supervisor." we are here with supervisor carmen chu from district four,

which includes the central and outer sunset and park side neighborhood. supervisor chu was elected to the board of supervisors in 2008 and reelected in 2010. we will get to know her and talk about the toughest issues facing the city. welcome, supervisor. thank you for joining us. let's start by talking about your background -- where you grew up, what kinds of jobs you have work. supervisor chu: my parents immigrated to the united states about 30 years ago, and i would say that is probably the most formative part of my background. growing up in an immigrant family, you learn many things. my parents raised me in southern california, and i grew up in the restaurant business. they had a small restaurant at the time, and i was there every weekend, working -- well, not working, eating. having a fried egg roll, wanton, something good. it taught me the value of working hard and what it meant to be part of a small business,

a small business -- a small business, small family, and an immigrant family at that. really being impacted by the los angeles riots, when that occurred, put me on the path toward public policy and understanding what it meant to have opportunities and not have opportunities in our various communities. >> why did you choose to live in san francisco? supervisor chu: i came to the area to pursue a master's degree in public policy at the uc- berkeley school. ever since then, i fell in love with what a wonderful area the bay area is. >> what motivated your interest in politics? supervisor chu: to be frank, i never saw myself in an elected position at all. i had grown up in southern california, and during the first day of the los angeles riots, my parents had their cars stolen at gunpoint. they were left out and had to pay someone $100 to get back to chinatown. it really influenced me.

we had a restaurant at the time, and at the time, we were always worried, watching the news, to see whether or not the restaurant would be looted, whether or not it would go up in fire. that was something that was a big concern and worry for my family at the time. i remember thinking even at that age how important it was to consider what the economics were in communities, whether people had or felt that they had opportunities or did not have opportunities, and what role it was that government played in those outcomes. that is what really put me on the path to public policy. so i pursued public policy both at occidental college, where i went to school as an undergrad, and also you see-berkeley where i pursued public policy -- also you see -- also uc-berkeley. that was really what shape my interest in public policy. >> where you place yourself on the local political spectrum?

the left or right? supervisor chu: i know a lot of folks want to put a person in the position where they call you left, progressive, moderate, whatever category that might be, and i think it really depends on the issue. generally, i am a very practical legislator. i like to look at what the impacts of legislation would be before voting on it, so i think, depending on the issue, you could move around, and i think that should be the way that most people think, which is, "let's consider the facts of legislation before you actually consider it, irrespective of what spectrum it comes from." >> what did you learn from campaigning for supervisor? supervisor chu: it is hard. i learned that my shoes were out pretty quickly -- wore out pretty quickly. i learned to be more practical about the types of shoes i war, of course, but overall, i learned how important it is to communicate with people about

what it is you would like to do. in any campaign and any political idea that comes forward, there are misconceptions about candidates, about people, about issues. the most important thing you can do to break through that is to have direct conversations in people's living rooms and talk to them about the issues that you see are pressing and what you are working on and explain your values to people. at the end of the day, they can choose to support you or not support you, support your issue or not, but at the end of the day, at least you are not perpetuating misinformation. at the end of the day, i enjoyed getting to know the people out there. in terms of interesting jobs, this has to be one of the most interesting jobs. you work on a whole host of issues all year round, and you meet so many interesting people along the way. so i really enjoyed that. >> what are the biggest issues facing san francisco now? supervisor chu: i would say that

really taking a look at our budget and where we see ourselves going is going to be a big, paramount issue. this year, i served as chair for the budget and finance committee, and that is definitely a focus for me in the coming year. we are also looking at how it is that we continue to have systemic gaps in our budget year after year. what are the reasons for that? what are the cost drivers that might be driving it? what are the not-controllable economic conditions that drive that? part of the issue will be pension reform. that is something that i think is on the minds of many people, not only in san francisco, but elsewhere around the nation, and it certainly will be a topic here as we look at how it is we can control some of our costs and understand where our trajectory of our budget deficit is going to be. certainly, the budget is not simply a numbers issue. it has a big impact when you translate it into the lives of our residents. when you are talking about deficits that may impact the

morning commute because you write muni -- you ride muni, or whether we're talking about closing down seven facilities, or whether we're talking about impacts to services, there is an impact to residents, so i think that impact of the budget is big, as well as economic growth for our residents. >> what are the biggest issues for your district? supervisor chu: sunset district is a great district. it has many residents who are families. we have a lot of families in our district. lots of kids, lots of seniors, people who have raised their families there for many generations, and one of the paramount thing is, aside from the larger issues that are important to the entire city -- i think the big issue that is really in people's minds is the state of the economy. how is it that we are going to be able to bring down the unemployment rate in san francisco? how is it that we can have sustainable job growth in

different sectors in san francisco? how is it that our future generations -- our kids and use -- are trained so they are able to take advantage of what is emerging -- our kids and youth. weather is the health care industry and other things that might be looking rosier -- whether it is the health care industry and other things that might be looking rosier in terms of job activity. >> how will you balance the needs of your district against the needs of the city as a whole? >> -- supervisor chu: a lot of people ask that question. they ask how you can be an effective supervisor and have the city's overall interests in mind, but the thing people often lose is the fact that what is good for the city often times is good for our residents as well. if we are seeing huge economic uncertainty or recessions that are impacting, let's say, the downtown core where many of our businesses are located, that has a huge impact on my residents

who are commuting downtown for work every day. i do not think that is so much about balancing one over the other, and it is not always whether one has a different side or a different perspective. i think that being able to watch over the city's interests, making sure we have a good economy, strong foundation overall, is a benefit to the residents in my district as well as other places. the balance between city-wide interest and district residents sometimes are not as far as people think. >> once again, the city is faced with tough budget decisions, including where to make cuts and where to increase taxes and fees. how will you approach these difficult choices? supervisor chu: we know that our budget deficit is a significant one. at the moment, blooms are around $380 million -- at the moment, it looms around $380 million. we could not meet that gap. i think the city needs to take a

balanced approach, and if you take a look at previous years, we have taken a look at things like where are fee revenues, what do those look like? where are the changes in other revenue pictures, whether it is transfer tax or hotel tax or other things that help to improve the picture. in addition to that, how is it that we can really control some of our expenses? i think that in order to address the $380 million budget deficit, we really have to take a look at both sides, revenue side as well as the cost side of things, and i think there are certain things that the city can do right now that might that not impact this year's budget or -- that might not impact this year's budget for next year's budget but will have a long-term effect. i mean pension reform and some of the ways we calculate those liabilities. those will be important topics to think about as we go forward. >> what are the city's housing needs, and what do you think the board of supervisors should be doing to address those? supervisor chu: it is no secret

-- you talk to any person on the street, and people recognize generally that it is expensive to live in san francisco. standard of living for cost of living is a little bit higher here. housing prices are a little bit higher. i think that we have done or we have focused on a city very much on providing housing for very low-income residents in san francisco, and there is always more to do in that area, but one area we really should begin to look at is also what are we doing for middle-income housing? the creation of middle-income housing. what are we doing to provide opportunities for families who would like to stay in san francisco? are we doing the types of homes that are actually workable for someone who is the two-income earner in the family?