accessible it is, not to mention the condition of the facility and the program. >> and people who live in the bay view apparently can access it -- >> no, that was the other one. >> sorry. i'm sorry. >> the second thing was about -- was about the changes to the student assignment system that have been made in relation to the assignment of twins and multiples. so all of us got -- you know, heard people talking about this and how it was difficult and they didn't quite know what to do. of course, we understood that but contrary to what people said, it's not that we weren't assigning students together but when one twin or multiples gets assigned to a school as we all know during the assignment process, the commuter process, the school's full after that's done. and so it's not just a matter of will to say, oh, sure we'll

assign the other twin or the other kid to the same place. there has to be room for them and there has to be room for them for the clear restrictions of the class size restriction because after all we're talking about kindergarten here. based on discussions with the community, our own discussions last year and what has been said by others, what is done now is that during the application process, parents are allowed to link their multiple kids together so that they will be assigned together during the assignment process instead of what happened before which was that the assignment process was all completed. then the sibling priority kicked in and we were trying to assign more kids when the schools were full. i should caution you because you might get phone calls are

from parents saying they're too full. by the way, there's a q&a of frequently asked questions. so that should be made availability -- any of you should be able to make that available on the website or community organizations who have questions about this. but parents have to choose. do they want to take their chance, if they have kids and they don't link them together in the assignment process, they may get two chances at highly competitive school but then getting the second kid in there is going to be harder. >> i'm actually pleased that we've done somethinging that really fixes this and it's under the control of the parents. if they want to know that they can go to school together, they can choose to link them if they want to take chair chances, they can do that. but we should have far fewer of

the oh, this is to terrible. why don't you put them together? and last, we reviewed the annual report, the first annual report of the new student assignment process. we're -- we couldn't find it on the website our staff last night. so we're hoping it's actually been post and make sure that it is. deputy superintendent lee. very lengthy. it's not too much to read. lots of charts, graphs, things that make clear some of the questions that we've been asking. so i commend to you and all of the members of the public that they ought to look at -- you know, understanding this complex policy issue as well as the technical details of how the is works are really hard and understanding the results as we know are really hard too. so we think -- everybody in the room including members of the

public was really pleased with d report and happy with the information and how much information we have there. and then the most important thing i'm going say which i think i'm mainly saying ifer the public and for commissioner maufas and commissioner yee who were not there. is we have to make some choices here. we've got to say what things are we going to continue to collect the same data on because it was so much. we needed -- this was baseline data on a huge number of questions. all the information, it's interesting and compeling to people and we all express that we would like to continue doing everything. and then also it was -- we were told that, first of all, if you remember we had grant funding for research related to an assignment policy. second, the huge amount of staff work was basically done on people's own time that's all

of sthrem the same jobs. these the same people who are doing the -- actually serving our parentses in the educational placement center and in the weekends and the evenings they were creating these maps an chars and we can't do that. we can't impose on them in the same way. it's when they don't have the research component. we have to decide what we want. it has to be more manageable. and then we have to figure out what resources it would take to do that. >> if it's any consolation to you, commissioner wynns, i've been here a lot of saturday. i just want to tell you sorry that i did. i'll try to make it to the next meeting. i have seen e.p.c. staff when i've come in. >> yes, i wasn't just repeating everybody said when there were five of us in the room but we have a reason to do that. last, i want to say just to switch gears, the rules

committee will be meeting on the 21st here at 6:00 next wednesday. and our new legislative advocates the people with the school innovations anded a vosevowcassy that we just -- advocacy that we just contracted. and their team will talk to about it. so this is the chance of the board. the meeting will be augustmented and the community will begin to develop a relationship with our new advocates. wednesday, the 21st at 6:00. >> who's on the rules committee? >> i am. emily. >> but you're all welcome. and so we want to --

>> deputy superintendent yee? >> i got an e-mail from one of our colleagues about the student assignment monitoring report. it is on the website. so in case people are looking for it or listening to the meeting still. it is on the website. it's in the enrollment section and it should be locateable in that section and we can send the link to all the commissioners so you can find him. >> so i just briefly wanted to report last friday, i attended my first meeting as the newest member of the csba advocacy committee or is it the legislative committee. i was kindly appointed by the president of csba who i happen to know. but of particular interest to this board is that a number of bills have been introduced that have to do with student discipline issues and

suspension, expulsion issues. we did not take any positions yet on those bills. but had a discussion about what kind of legislative principles they should be developing with respect to student discipline such as expulsions. so i actually have a lot of hope that we will come out of something -- that they will be a leader. san francisco has been a leader on this. >> i want to say that i have brought to the csba a policy and program staff and also to the executive committee, the frerls the restorive practices workshop at the school sight summit. they're interested in already working on it. and last i should say that if any of you, the csba will develop a number what i've been calling content area, probably one of community schools,

charter schools, school finance and so all of you who are delegates, three of you will be getting, you know, you'll get information when committees, appointments come up, even if you're not delegates please let me know. >> i wanted to just quick -- there has been a lot of things going on in the school district. but i thought one of the coolest thing that happened -- was it yesterday? was that nasa visited gallileo high, that's what i call it. so they had a live astronaut coming to talk to the kids. and it was such a great day. it's too bad other high schools didn't have the same benefit of having these speakers come to the school because they were pretty inspiring. i could see the kids thinking in their heads, i want to be an

astronaut. and it was that and i'm going to move on to item -- ok. i'm not going to end anything. commissioner mendoza? commissioner mendoza: so budget and businesses service committee is meeting tomorrow at 6:00 p.m. so be here for a third night in a row. and i also want to announce a -- the asian-pacific american heritage month. they're doing a student project and the club or group can win up to $750 for their club. and so we're looking forward for having them apply for this. it's going to be student clubs and association encouraged to enter into a service community project. it can meet the needs of the a.p.a. community and at the same time promotes the awareness and history of a.p.a. history month. and so we're looking forward to

getting this information to all of the high school student clubs and hope that they will take the youth service challenge. >> commissioner murase? >> i just want to make a comment and a couple of shoutouts. tonight was a really super tough meeting. i'm still kind of in shell shock. but i did want to state that the march 15th deadline is state law. there are some things that we criminal and some things that we don't control. i just want to say that we all need to be on the same team. teachers, support staff, i'm hopeful about the measures that will be on the november ballot. but i really invite folks who have possibly solutions to come to us. we heard a lot tonight about whatnot do, but i think we'd love to also hear how we can

work together to close the budget gap. a few shoutouts, many of us were at the honor roll event. i want to thank commissioner maufas for her leadership and virginia marshall. a number of commissioners were at sun set elementary school for read aloud day march 2nd. abraham lincoln had their b.s.a. performance. brotherhood, sisterhood performance on march 8th. and i attendanted the ignite performance on march 10th that brought young women, high school and college students from all over the bay area to get them activated in the political process. it was great. i met some young women from san francisco public high school. let's see, claire had their

starlight celebration on march 10th. and i also joined commissioner ye and commissioner fewer at the galley yo event. i had never met a u.s. astronaut before. so that was very exciting. and just a shoutout for the san francisco p.t.a. they're having their reflections award ceremony on april 14th and bike to school day april 12th. thank you. >> i'm shocked that you didn't mention that yesterday was the 100th anniversary of the founding of the girl scouts of america and both commissioner murase and i were there. the commissioner was instrumental in planning the event. it was the declared girl scouts day by the mayor. >> item t, report of closed session, none. no other staff reports tonight. so item d, adjourn.

yeah.

>> happy new year. i think it is the year of the dragon, and happy valentine's day. i hope you all remember that

today. all right, it is hard to believe -- and somebody may correct me on this. i think this is the 13th year that we have posted this event. think about all the things that have happened in those 13 years. it was a different mayor that we had. it is a thrill and honor to bring together the mayors of these two great cities to look at the state of the cities and our region. we are delighted to have all of you here to listen, and i think there is well over 600 of you, so thank you for making this your morning. last year was the first time we had these two very special measures -- mayors together as each had just assumed the role. it will be interesting after a

year on the job to hear their perspectives, and what a year it has been. we want to congratulate you, mayor lee, on your inauguration and election. and mayor kwan we are so thrilled you are here again. certainly, both of you have been very preoccupied, so to speak. with many challenges that you really did not foresee that we met last year, and many opportunities as well. our tradition is to alternate this event between the two cities from year to year. last year, we hosted the event in san francisco, which is why we are here at the oakland convention center this year. so thank you for being our gracious host this year. we are delighted that mayor lee

traveled across the bay to be here in oakland. doesn't this convention center look fantastic? it has been a great renovation throughout. really terrific asset for this city. i hope your year is off to a good start. i personally feel rather optimistic as we talk to the many businesses we interact with every day and every week. this morning, we're going to start our program with two speakers who will share information about the economy, the outlook for real estate and investing, and then we will hear from our mayors. it is a great time to be talking about the economy because it at least appears to be getting a little bit better, maybe in fits and starts. we are hearing some good news on the job front -- not nearly enough yet. i will just ask -- who does

think that the economy in 2012 will actually be better than 2011? good. that is about maybe half. who thinks that we are lucky to be in the general climate for business and the regional economy? before we get to our program, i want to thank the organizations and people who made all this possible. i will say now, though, you may have questions that you would like our moderator to ask. if you would like to send them up early, there are index cards at your tables, so just hold your hands up high and somebody will come collect them and give them to our moderator. this event is jointly presented by san francisco business times and our title fund. you will soon hear from our

executive vice president and our partner presenting this program. by the way, it was founded in oakland 15 years ago, and they co-founded this with us. we thank our sponsors, starting with city national bank, which is also a longtime sponsor and partner and provides us with the outlook on investment and finance each year. we want to thank bob grant, the vice-president for city national bank, the nation's 26 largest bank with more than $23 billion in total assets and 79 offices in the bay area, southern california, nevada, an atlanta. they provide their businesses and families with complete financial solutions on the way up. we also want to thank golden gate university, which is also what i'm going to sponsor this

event, and an angel, president of golden gate university. you will see him in just a minute. for over 110 years, nonprofit golden gate university has been helping adults achieve their professional goals by providing undergraduate and graduate education in accounting, law, business, and other related areas. ggu is california's fifth largest nonprofit university, and rolling over five dozen students with over 67,000 alumni. offering weakened forces in downtown san francisco and online through the university's award winning cyber campus -- weekend courses in downtown san francisco. kaiser, founded in 1945, nonprofit integrated health-care organization with physicians,

nurses, and staff working in collaboration to provide quality care and address the health care needs of communities served by the organization. kaiser permanente northern california region served almost 3.2 million members, including 5000 positions in the medical group and about 54,000 employees. and the region has 19 major medical centers. each year, kaiser permanente a donates about $300 million to various community programs in northern california. we also want to thank webcor builders. among the many iconic buildings they have built our oakland pose a beautiful cathedral, the academy of science in sanford cisco. there currently a work on some public projects such as sf general hospital, sfpuc, and the transbay terminal.

it has become known for its innovative and efficient approach, wide range of experience, cost-effective design, methodology, skill in construction, expert use of technology in construction, and currently, they are ranked in the top 10 of what does general contractors in california and consistently ranked in the top five green contractors in the u.s. and longtime sponsor returning again is oakland law firm wendell, rosen, black, and dean. this firm -- we have a lot of long standing firms here. more than 100 years in oakland. continues to be a leader here and throughout the bay area. attorneys have played a role in many construction projects, commercial and residential development and business deals that have helped shape this community. they remind you of the importance of having a complete set of legal tools at your

disposal, and the firm hit -- helps a bay area leaders litigation across multiple disciplines. land use, environmental, corporate, i.t., technology, bankruptcy, estate planning -- you got it, they are there for you. thank you. many thanks to our partner in associations to help promote this event. san francisco chamber of commerce, san francisco's center for economic development, oakland metropolitan chamber of commerce, spur, emeryville chamber of commerce, and east bay eba. thank you for partnering with us. i know i will miss some of you, but let me extend a welcome to the public officials that i have been alerted are here. from the city of san francisco, the director of the mta, the executive director of the port of san francisco, the director of the office of economic and

workforce development, the director of business development, office of economic workforce development. from the city of oakland, council member, district 5, city administrator, the sick -- the assistant city administrator, the executive director of the port of oakland, and the chair of the port commission. i know i have missed someone. forgive me. if someone wants to send up a card, i will acknowledge your. there it quickly, just have to mention when i have this many people in the room, a few things about the business. we had a great year. everything that is supposed to be up for us is up. hopefully that is a good economic indicator. we are off to a great start in 2012. hopefully you are a subscriber and read our economic forecast. hopefully you received one or more of our free e-mail

products. we just launched a weekly call structures commercial real estate. e-mail news. free every thursday. we will give you an early alert to some of the things in our print edition. you can go online and sign up for any of them. on the print edition, we have unique premier content that you have to pay for. we are offering a $15 savings on a full year subscription, full access to premium content, and a book of lists, which was just printed. if you want to see our circulation team, leave your card. they will enter you into a contest for a $50 gift certificate, and you will be well armed for doing business in the bay area with all the information we provide every week. hopefully, you are armed already. we do this program every year. also, i was told, if you are tweeting about this program -- i know you all are this morning --

you can do hash tag #sfbtevents and you will be eligible. we have information every day, every week, every hour for you on our website. we do this program every year because we truly love these two cities. we like to think of the great dynamics between the two of them. we think it is neat that our two mayors are longtime friends and colleagues. that is a wonderful thing, so who knows how much they share and the opportunities and possibilities that come from that. we do know the economic vitality of each city impacts the other, so we will have each major share his or her vision for the future, share their priorities, biggest challenges, and how they are tackling them. what they are doing to improve the business climate and how they are bringing businesses to their cities or preventing them from leaving. and how are they dealing with the loss of redevelopment

funding, staff cuts, deficits, and what about those sports teams and stadiums and sailing events? i cannot wait to hear what they have to say. what opportunities exist overseas with china? before we get to the mayor, we will get some expert insight on the economy, what the realistic outlook is, and a look at finance and investing. are we seeing more green shoots of opportunity? let's begin. the executive vice president has been our partner and has been actively engaged as a broker in the sale and leasing of commercial real estate in san francisco for the past 30 years. he most represented the university of the -- of pacific school of dentistry in the acquisition of their new campus and is handling the current headquarters office expansion for online retail giant macys

.com. he is a true expert and knows everything about every building. please welcome dan crestmond. [applause] >> i just have to say the "san francisco business times" is by far the best source of news anywhere in the area. we go every day now, and maybe every hour and every second soon with all that we are getting in the way of business news. i would also like to welcome a year quan -- mayor quan and mayor lee and thank them for participating in the premiere real-estate event in the area. happy valentine's day, everyone. i like to wish my lovely daughter and my lovely wife, who are here with me today, a happy valentine's day. [applause] and thank you all for climbing out of your tents and sleeping