on ssi. that is a program for low-income elderly and disabled. then we have about 27% of the population -- has an income less than 50% of poverty. so we do have rich seniors in town, but the majority are on fixed incomes and are struggling to get by. they notice everything that you do that affects them. i go to meals programs in the western addition, and the richmond, and i would like to talk to seniors. i know that every time you raise something, it affects them, and a notice. one thing that they will notice is the $2 a month increase that muni is going to have, which they call part of indexing.

well, that will be hard, and we will hear about it. i have said this to muni, but they show no signs of knowing about any way to change that, so i'm hoping somebody will help do that. we are also exploring the 5 fulton extension. i live on the edge of the ocean. you should know, to go out there, it is not just making it harder for seniors, because you have four blocks to walk. if you have alternate ltd's and locals, it would be an ideal way to make things better in the richmond. [applause] >> we have kristen evans from

district 5. she had to leave? ok. dennis from district 5? >> hi, mayor, supervisors, city staff. i am a native san franciscan, went to public schools mostly in district 5, more than 50-some years. you know there was no district 5 where i was born. there are a couple of things i want to say. i will not be as specific as some of the prior speakers, even though i have appreciated what i have heard tonight. i look at this and i can tell a lot of folks in san francisco, having served for many years, many decades on the labor

council in san and cisco, having chaired the law and legislative committee, being involved in this particular district for the last 38 years, i can tell you what some perception of the public are about the budget, this $6.8 billion. 52% enterprise money, 48% general fund. that is a huge number for the general fund, yet, the parks budget, if i'm not mistaken, will get $33 million this year. and i as a stand it, it was good to be cut by $3 million. but at the same time, our administration felt very comfortable giving larry ellison pledges of a huge amount of money for the america's cup regatta race for the billionaires, when in fact, there are a whole lot of people that will not show up for that. most of the money would be a trickle-down money that would come in from taxes and so on. the reality is, there is a perception that i certainly share, which is that we, as a

city, feel comfortable giving money to wealth, and are really cheap when it comes to things like parks and the poor, as several speakers here have already said, to the people who are residents of the city who are in great need. i would urge that you look at that value system and reevaluate it. the money needs to go where the residents of san francisco need it to go, not just to those -- like twitter and larry ellison -- who are really not in need of our money. [applause] >> we are going to do two more speakers. then i'm going to have to rush you, mayor lee, because i have

another meeting at 7:30. what can i say? it is the teacher in me. i cannot help it. pam lee from district 1. the next person is carry patterson. all the rest of these are going to be given to the proper people so that we have everything you wanted to say. >> i have a couple of things i want to say, so i will do it quickly. i am a teacher at city college. the students are in serious crisis. my students are coming up to me, telling me they can no longer stay in school. because there are not enough classes, and also because the price per unit is so high and the books are too expensive.

what i am seeing is, my students are leaving school and going into low-wage jobs. we have to find a way to save city college. we're one of the wealthiest -- my son has helped to build three condominiums, places for the will to live, so i know they are here in this city. we need to find a way to take care of our children. the second thing is, i drive through golden gate park every day. there are all these bike lanes. i would like the public health department or some entity to be able to do a public health-kind of education on how to share the road. i do not think cars know how to make a right-hand turn when there is a bike lane on the right. i see by sneaking left-hand turns like they are cars. there are all kinds of other violations that are going on. i would like to see some kind of public education around this

comment in the newspaper, on tv or something. we have to learn how to share the road. thank you for your attention. [applause] >> terry patterson? if a elizabeth jones could get right behind me, i will give you half a minute peters you will be talking about something that is important to me. >> i am terry patterson, a resident of district 5, a member of the sap system mental health board. as the last speaker, i am glad to be able to express my concerns on behalf of cuts to the mental health budget. as you all know, mental health affects every area of city life. and as many of the eloquent previous speakers spoke to senior centers, used shelters, community centers, public

transportation, the people who are not getting our corporate mental health care are often hidden in homes where families have to deplete their budgets and take care of them. i am talking about the people with bipolar and other serious disorders, who, if their immediate situation does not rise to the level of going to cite an emergency, as many of you know, or become hospitalized, they do not get services. so, i want to urge the city not to be penny wise and pound foolish when it comes to preventive services and sustained services for people who need them in the city, not only to protect public safety, but to bring our families together to function adequately. thank you very much.

[applause] >> this is the reason i wanted this laid to speak about summer programs. -- lady to speak about summer programs. >> good evening, mayor lee, city officials. my name is elizabeth jones, president of the west sacramento tennis association. i am standing here hoping to receive funding for the summer arts camp. i started the program last year in the summer of 2011, and it turned out to be a huge success. i founded the program, which was an out-of-pocket expense from a part-time job. i have made numerous attempts in try to obtain funding for the west side courts summer camp. it is just unfair that west side courts children are once again being left behind. there is enough funding that can be divided equally where west

side courts can receive a portion of the proceeds. why can the children of west side courts receive equal treatment as the other developments? i understand some of the kids wanted to speak, but they are shy. thank you for listening. [applause] >> the residents of district 5 and district 1, this does that make your job any easier. they were eloquent, talked about the problems they see, where we think the minute should go. now it is time for you to answer back, right? you do not have much time, but that is okay, too. >> thank you very much. >> thank you. first of all, thanks for your input. you know, tonight, we emphasize

from the start of our time would be focused on listening to all of you. so, we have done that. obviously, some of you deserve answers right away, but we cannot do that because we, the supervisors and the mayor, and all of these departments, have to get together to decide, after hearing from all of you, what are those things that we must pay attention to? so we have kept our minds open. there has been no decision on the budget as of yet because we wanted to make sure we heard from everybody about what you think priorities are. having said that, we can at least give some of you a feeling of what direction we are headed in. some of you tonight spoke very eloquently, and i wanted you to know there are some answers on the way.

for example, that washington, did you know we got 5000 jobs this summer for kids -- matt washington. to thousand 500 of those jobs are with city agencies, and another 2500 jobs are from private companies, and all join together with united way to create jobs for our summer youth, age 16 to 24, aimed specifically at disconnect the use and use in poverty. in other words, youth from our public housing. these are paid internships jobs the would begin in very short weeks. everybody is participating. so that is part of the answer. i just wanted to let you know that because we knew that having positive outcomes for our youth was going to be very important because we pay in the short and long term if we do not do that, so that is on the way.

we are focused on -- in fact, we've got some proposals already. you heard hsa has already submitted a proposal to not cut some very valuable funding that we had for seniors. we are listening to our director tonight to make sure we pay attention to that. he is watching us like a hawk, make sure we do not say anything different, but at the same time, we will try to figure out other things that we need as a city. we need to invest in public safety. all of us have been around. i'm not getting any younger. neither is our police force. captain goldberg, thank you very much for being here today. his cohorts are younger. they will be here, but we need to move on, so we've got to make room for classes for our training. we also are paying attention to

families. we are working very hard to create family-friendly policy that will lead to good investments in our city. by the way, i know you said may be giving away to some rich folks. i turned to my supervisor -- did we give some money to larry ellison i did not know about or to twitter? ok, but we are raising that money in the private sector. to cover our costs for america's cup. that is why we have recreation and park here. they know that. we have to raise $32 million in the private-sector to cover the cost in that, so they are going the public/private partnership in that way. we will go into more details about it because i know there are perceptions out there that we are giving money away to twitter. we did not give money to them. we just tried to save 2500 jobs

to make sure they did not go to south san francisco because they were moving. we gave them a tax break. but something that we can cover because we are going to get it back with their investments in mid market. these kids, when they are living and staying and working there, they spend money. that is why we got revenue increases coming on in the city. maybe, but they would not be spending money at the levels they are spending now. that is why we got the recovery going on. i will not say the word trust, because there's different perceptions out there. we have to prove to -- >> we are not here to argue. and saying that to the gentleman over there. we are here now to listen to this gentleman. >> i'm trying to provide some answers. i will not have the complete answers. we will have some answers to it, and we will work on providing complete answers, hopefully more

in our budget and more in ongoing discussions that people want to have when it comes to families, to schools, transportation -- i think a gentleman here was saying we should work with the adults -- there's a lot of other investments that we could be making as we go into our sessions about how we collaborate with each other to make sure we find the best and most important things we are hearing throughout the community. i just wanted to let you know, at least when i regurgitate some of the things, you know that i heard some of it, that i'm awake, not on my cell phone listening to the latest twists or something like that. i just wanted to let you know these are some of the things i have heard. i have taken my notes. we will read through the others that have submitted. thank you again for submitting written comments and questions. we will get those back out. we have a lot of other groups we are meeting with between now and when we present our budget to the board of supervisors, but

again, a big thanks to all of you for coming up tonight and for being participants on this and having enough trust and faith in your kids can come out and give us a good feeling about what we do. liz, you got my attention. >> thank you all for coming. [applause]

>> there are kids and families ever were. it is really an extraordinary playground. it has got a little something for everyone. it is aesthetically billion. it is completely accessible. you can see how excited people are for this playground. it is very special. >> on opening day in the brand- new helen diller playground at north park, children can be seen swinging, gliding, swinging, exploring, digging, hanging, jumping, and even making drumming sounds. this major renovation was possible with the generous donation of more than $1.5 million from the mercer fund in honor of san francisco bay area philanthropist helen diller. together with the clean and safe

neighborhood parks fund and the city's general fund. >> 4. 3. 2. 1. [applause] >> the playground is broken into three general areas. one for the preschool set, another for older children, and a sand area designed for kids of all ages. unlike the old playground, the new one is accessible to people with disabilities. this brand-new playground has several unique and exciting features. two slides, including one 45- foot super slide with an elevation change of nearly 30 feet. climbing ropes and walls, including one made of granite. 88 suspension bridge. recycling, traditional swing, plus a therapeutics win for children with disabilities, and even a sand garden with chines and drums. >> it is a visionary $3.5 million world class playground in the heart of san francisco.

this is just really a big, community win and a celebration for us all. >> to learn more about the helen diller playground in dolores park, go to sfrecpark.org.