see in their parks. a draft of the final report is available not just in your agenda packet but also on our website. there are still some remaining community meetings. there will be a district 10 and 11 meeting posted by malia cohen, supervisor don abel lows, and the parks alliance this saturday april 21, at 2:00 at the louis center playground house. district 6 meeting code hosted by jane kim that and the san francisco parts alliance on monday evening april 23. i want to briefly recognize two individuals. one of them is here -- as you know we have our quarterly employee recognition. this is a peer recognition. i am incredibly pleased to be able to recognize today karen

from our capital planning division, are planning director. since her appointment in 2006, karen has been highly dedicated to ensuring the capital program serve the public. karen has made significant contributions to the 2008 parks bond. she is advocating for the inclusion of trees and the trails and our successful community opportunity fund, which has leveraged approximately $13 million in outside funding. she is someone who exhibits excellence in building community leadership, building morale, have shown exceptional skill in building a community consensus with state agencies, interest groups from the community, has inspired confidence through her park advocacy, responsiveness, reliability, for supervisor hads a goal and in the being the advocate for the department through all stages of the joe

dimaggio project, having forged a strong partnership with a library and stakeholders to move the project forward. if she had not been assigned to the project, it would not have happened. karen is now working on the environmental review, many aspects of the 2012 bond proposal. one of the things i belly most about caring is she does not just talk the talk, she walks the walk. she is very active the hayes valley neighborhood association and is a park user and advocate, both in her personal and professional life. she is incredibly dedicated to her job, one that constantly exemplifies professionalism. it is a joy to recognize her today in our quarterly recognition. [applause] commissioner buell:

congratulations. >> one other bit of recognition before we move on to our short video. with sadness, but with great understanding and appreciation for his 16 years with rec and park, i am announcing that rick saul will be leaving us and has taken on a great opportunity at the airport. that is a new challenge for him and something which will -- i think he told me it will take well over one hour from his daily commute. his wife and children are extraordinarily happy that he has made the choice to improve life balance, something to which we all strive. as a product manager, rick has worked on a number of signature project from the harding park

golf course to the music concourse renovation, children's quarters, the 2008 bond forestry program, and through all of his projects, rick is known for managing all situations with an incredibly calm demeanor, intelligence, a feminist, sense of humor, perspective, and commitment to quality shows and everything that he touches. like karen, this is extreme professionalism day at the rec and park department. rick, you have demonstrated nothing but professionalism throughout the time i have had the pleasure of knowing you. he has been an extraordinary colleague. i think many of his colleagues in the capital planning unit are here today. we are just going to miss him a ton. i promise you, rick, we will find a way when your kids are older to lure you back. given the fact that you probably did more of your work in golden gate park than anywhere else,

and undoubtedly you will have some work space at the airport where the office quarters are a lot more luxurious than our own recreation and park department, we wanted you to have something that was of any corporate size, given what i am sure will be an appropriately larger office for you to remember us by. commissioners, if you could join me in giving rick a little something to always remember us by. [applause] >> [inaudible] [applause]

>> just a quick thank you. i have been fortunate enough to work and park projects for the last 16 years, including some as many as five generations and my family have been able to enjoy. as a native to this area, as a landscape architect, it has truly been a dream come true. i have been able to work on many amazing projects, but i have also been fortunate enough to work with some great individuals who aren't dedicated and passionate to our parks, so thank you, and a special thank you to don and a very hard- working individuals of our capital and planning division who have worked tirelessly to continue to improve our parks. thank you. commissioner buell: thank you

very much. good luck with your new job. >> thank you. i want to conclude with a quick look at april and our parks. >> it was said by john mclaren at golden gate park is the lungs of the city. if that is true, then dolores park is its heart. on the average weekend, there aren't 10,000 people here. many of them are crammed in this immediate space.

in this world-class city, this is the heart of the city, the heartbeat of this city that we are able to cut a ribbon today on what can only be described as a world-class playground.

>> thank you, commissioners. that concludes the general manager's reports. >> we are now on items 4. i'm sorry, is there any public comment on the general manager'' report? being none, public comment is closed. we are now on item four. general public comment. at this time, members of the public may address the commission on items of interest to the public better within the subject matter jurisdiction of the commission and that do not appear on the agenda. with respect to agenda items, your opportunity to address the commission will be afforded when

the item is reached in the meeting. commissioner buell: before we get comments, how many people in the room are intending to talk about any item at all? i want to get a sense -- we are going to have quite a bit of testimony today. i am sure to set the stage at two minutes, in the interest of everybody. >> catherine howard. >> good morning, commissioners. katherine power -- howard. i am here to talk about the athletic fields in golden gate park. for a background, for the general public, the athletic fields is a project that would remove over 7 acres of meadow and golden gate park and would be replaced with artificial turf. it would add 150,000 watts of night lighting at ocean beach in the park. there would be additional parking.

in a city that is possible transit first there will be more paving and more lights. it is something to contemplate as we celebrate earth day, what we're doing to golden gate park and ocean beach with this project. over the last few months we have distributed bulletin's giving background on the draft environmental impact reports. public comment at hearing often gives little time for thoughtful communication about the myriad of issues surrounding any project. these bulletins are our effort to more fully inform the citizens of san francisco and our city officials about this project. it is probable negative impact on golden gate park, the plaza in the draft an arm of impact report, an alternative to the project. we expect a final comments and responses for the environmental impact report to be issued on may 9. we're going to be some documents which we hope you will read and keep them in mind as you read the report. we would also like to say that members of our group would like to meet with each of you

individually to discuss not only the project but also alternatives which could result in a win-win situation for everyone. and there is a letter in here with my phone number. here is the information that we have been distributing. please look at it. if you have questions or you would like to know how we can make the product works better for everybody, please contact me. thank you. >> thea barbaria. >> good morning, my name is david barber reappeared i hear about these sunny side park projects. i have here documents and pictures of the fence, as it was supposed to be. when i called meghan -- i

understand you are very nice. i cannot say much about the other person. commissioner buell: excuse me, let me stop there. for public testimony, what people to be courteous and respectful. we know everyone has their own opinion, and we hear loud and clear, but let's be appropriate. >> anyway, the fence was also supposed to be 85 feet. i measured it at 127 feet. it is very nice, secluded, private. they tore down all the vines and everything off the fence, including mine. now i have a fence with a view of the park. i have no privacy. this is my house, as you can see. that is actually the ivy next door to me. my house is just to the right. that is, according to meghan,

she said that this is part of the damaged offense and is supposed to be replaced. i called her, she denied everything that was there. here i am again this week to try to get some privacy in my house. i am sure that if this was you, you would want privacy also. this offense is totally bare. it probably cost a couple thousand dollars to take it down and put it back up -- to have a matching fence. i am having a hell of a time -- i talk to people -- they say good luck. fortunately, i am retired. i have lived here for 45 years. i am one of the longest living neighbors in the area. commissioner buell: the clock has gone but thank you. i would like staff to report back on this because i know that

you were here before. >> i would like to have a meeting if possible. commissioner buell: let's see what we can arrange with staff to start with and we will pursue it. daniel weaver -- >> daniel weaver. >> good morning, commissioners. today, i am speaking as board chairman of the geneva car barn and powerhouse. as you may know, we are located in district 11 and is an organization created and partnering with rec and park department to rehabilitate and program the historic geneva car barn on san jose and geneva. in brief, a quick summary of how this has come about.

1999, primarily through neighborhood efforts, we save the building from demolition. in 2002 through 2004, we established a partnership with the rec and park based upon the idea that programming for recreational purposes for 14 through 24-year-old was an area of that the department was weak, and the goal here was to develop a new approach to recreation at this building. the building is also the center piece around the center of the district 11 neighborhood, and it is right across the street from the bart station and extremely transit accessible. that was another major reason why the department was interested in locating a facility for this purpose at this location. in 2004, the building was

psychically upgraded with funding from muni's demolition fund for the building and from the rec and park department, and also from grants which the geneva car burned received. we hired staff people, started the recreation programming. we have been on the back burning in terms of rehabing the building for the past 10 years. we have met with the mayor in the last 10 days. everyone at the meeting agreed that it is time to move the project to the front burner. we think the best way to do this is to have us a named project on the upcoming parks bond. thank you. commissioner buell: thank you. >> bruce bonneker, bruce stone. >> i also serve on the friends of geneva car burn.

could you distribute this to commissioners? what i am passing out here is a quick summary of what dan was speaking of, and also identification of those people who have been helping us through the years in our efforts to help the department of recreation and park on this effort to put the geneva car barn into productive use for the benefit of teens in district 11. district 11 has a significant need that is probably not as clearly defined as in other districts. it is one of the most culturally and racially diverse districts. it is the district with the most children in it. it is one of the district's the lowest per family income, so

therefore, there is a crying need for programs for the youth in district 11. frankly, geneva car barn will be useful, because it is so close to bart, for the districts as well. we know it has been in your charge for at least eight years and was being considered for your charge for two years before that. it is still vacant, it is deteriorating, it is a landmark. it cannot go away. it will only get more expensive if we do not deal with it soon. we would love to be identified as a named project in the bond, absent that, obviously, we would love to have some of the undefined moneys put toward it. we are prepared to, shall we

say, a campaign very vigorously for the bond issue if we are a named project. thank you very much. commissioner buell: thank you. >> bruce stone, president of the merida harbor association. i am here to address the 2000- 2008 budget analyst report that was conducted by the board of supervisors, requested by the harbor association. this report documented accounting issues, management oversight. we assume many of these things have been taken care of under mr. ginsburg's administration, but there is a lot of capital funds that should have been refunded to the harbor trust, which we have not seen documented, yet the budget analyst pointed them out related to double charges on utility bills, garbage collection, so forth. this is an important amount of money, over $600,000. we would like to see accounting

records disclosed to members of the harbor and reviewed by you guys. i do not know if you are familiar with the situation. in addition, the report noted accounting irregularities, lack of staffing, lack of ability to track checks, which went uncashed for many months. stale checks being handled by the harbor. we are worried that the nitty gritty procedure is coming up under the next topic later, that the staff is not setup to handle that. well we think many of those procedures are important, we think many of them are completely inappropriate and they cannot handle 1300 piece of fresh paper. we would like to go back to the budget analyst report, renew -- review the recommendations, document whether the department is taking care of them before you even get into these new rules and regulations, because we do not believe rec and park is staffed for that. on the age our side, it took two

years to get an apartment master. we do not think we have the staff set up to implement these rules and regulations. commissioner buell: thank you. >> is there any other public comment? being none, public comment is closed. we are now on item 5, the consent calendar. we have one comment from the public on item h. frank triska. >> hello, name is frank. i came to comment about the playground and restaurant. i was on the task force for the renovation of the park restaurants. so my experience with rossi park is as a visitor there in conjunction with whether the

building should be torn down and replaced, or renovated. when we went out there, it was pretty obvious the building was obsolete, it cannot be brought up to 88 requirements, and should be replaced. the people in the nearby desert in a restroom. -- ada requirements, and should be replaced. but in talked-about, the restroom, there is a street in between, which i believe is an inherent danger situation. there will be signed inch, but to me, that is a distraction. a kid in a career, even on the on busy street, a driver with his radio. when i was 10, i was run over by a car in a school zone. i was not seriously hurt, but that is the way it is.ds get di. sign it always helps. being hit by a car doesn't make me a safety expert and i do not think there are many in the room, but there are safety experts out there, so before you approve these plans, i would ask

that you have the plans of the alternative reviewed from a safety perspective. if i'm wrong, we will all feel better about the decision, but if i'm right, you may want to consider moving the restaurants to the main part of the park. nobody wants to see a kid get hit by a car on the way to the restrooms. commissioner buell: thank you. >> is there any other public comment? >> good morning, commissioners. i will put on my other hat. i see there will now be a plan for the music concourse. we are happy to see that. we are sure this will be done tastefully and appropriately. we look forward to learning more about what you're planning to do there. thank you. >> is there any other public comment? being none, public comment is closed. commissioner buell: commissioners, on the items on the consent calendar? moved and seconded. all those in favor?

it is unanimous. >> we are now item 6, san francisco zoo. >> good morning, donna peterson, director of the san francisco zoo. i know that these are going out of fear but i want to point out this to make the cover of the real pages. -- the yellow pages. there was a young man that negotiated for this to happen for free. thank you very much for that. maybe next time you can get the park on there? you are welcome, danny. i wanted to report that we lost a sumatran tiger earlier this week. she was 22. she was the oldest sumatran tiger in the american association of zoos and aquariums. she is thought to be the oldest worldwide with only one male 18 days older than she was.

she was beloved by staff and visitors and she had a calming influence on her neighbors, the siberian tiger. we hope to bring a male sumatran in the summit to agree with our remaining female leanne. she is a sumatran as well. she successfully mother of three cubs recently. she is smaller in size than the siberian beer there are only five and left in the world feared other good news, we brought in a new fema lauder to meet with our mail. they are going through a slow introduction process, like any other couple. have to work things out. staff is slowly introducing them. she is excited to meet trent, trent, not excited to be hurt. we are participating in earth day this weekend as well. and much cheaper talks, solar presentations, the cafe will be offering low food mile specials for lunch, and we will be introducing our global tap water

changing station. this is a partnership with the puc on their drink tap initiative to forgo usage of's and bottles at the zoo. we think the puc for that. lastly on attendance, march 10 was impacted by rain. as you missed a march projection by 9000 visitors, 16% pure thankfully, april is off to a good start with visitor attendance over budget by 8000 visitors for the first 15 days. with that, we continue to stay ahead of you to the projections by 10%. that concludes my report. commissioner buell: thank you very much. >> is there any public comment on this item? being none, public comment is closed. we are now on item eight, and general obligation bond november 2012. commissioner buell: can i ask the folks in the back and corner, if you could find a

seat. we are trying to have everyone seated in the room who is here. if you have other business, please take it outside and you can come back in. >> commissioners, planning capital director. i am excited today to be here to share with you the result eight months-plus of work to develop a proposal for the november 2012 ballot.

we are entitling this the san francisco clean and safe neighborhoods park bond. i am here today to talk through that proposal with you. also, to review the process that we will be going through from here until hopefully the board of supervisors places it on the ballot. san francisco parks have been the beneficiary of voter support over the past decade. we have always -- voters have recognized the central role that parks play in san francisco and their quality of life, and because of that, we have received support in the open space fund, the 2004 bond, and the 2008 park spawned. that being said, we also have a fantastically whatever system. if that is part of what makes it great, but that means we have 220 parks, over 400 built structures, and everything from as you to our marriot harbor