ever to come up with this master plan. that might -- let me put my personal history on it. when i was introduced as public works director, this was one of the first things i had to pitch in to do. we had severe erosion in the last part of the 2000 decade, and> the sewer pipe was threatened. the ocean was undergoing serious erosion because of the el nino years. out here and try to figure out. previous efforts were made by different agencies to cause different kinds of revetments across the beach to try to stem that tide. that was my introduction to laura at the time, and i think she was just opening her cafe down there and trying to organize the people who used the

beach. of course, my introduction to java beach house coffee shop at the time. so we went through some intense -- ed dpw, and want to thank the staff that continues to be here. mohammed nuru, you have got it now, but i think we have moved a lot of sand already. and what we did in those earlier years, at least to me, was to begin on what we could do to contribute to a larger picture, and this is what i got introduced to, the germans -- the tremendous diversity of people and activities that are taking place along our ocean with these new -- the zoo across the street, the ocean waters, the dog walkers, the kite gliders. people love walking our national parks. seniors, elders, and a diverse

communities. and, of course, people who fish once in awhile, too. we also realized it was a we also realíp30 on as a great highway, infrastructure for our public utilities commission. certainly fantastic in very important transportation infrastructure to get in and out of our wonderful parks. it is a link. and it is our ocean for the city. it is our touch of the ocean in is such a remarkable part of ours is -- our city. so beautiful. i know our twoté$%v(qñ supervise greatly appreciate that diverse use of this, along with the small businesses and our zoo and everything else. some time ago,ñs wonderful agency of hours -- taked a wonderful agency of

hours, spur, to -- we have already known about their leadership for many years. i think today, this is a remarkable results of your leadership and effort and your collaboration with all of the agencies here. rec and park included, national park service. all of the agencies. all of the different groups of users. today, we're announcing that the master plan has been completed, at least this phase of it, with this representation of the work and a lot of groups and conversation, engagement of communities out here, and the different interests to produce a plan that will suggest to us innovative ideas to go forward

with decades more of how we continue the vibrant spirit out here that we call ocean beach. i want to thank ben for your leadership. i want to thank all the people standing here and the agencies they represent. as you look at them and understand who they represent, it is reflective of the has to be balanced and how much of viewpoints have to be weighed in. this plan here does do that. we are going to take a good deal of time studying it ourselves, understanding it and then placing its ideas and priorities, but in terms of funding and so forth, but we do have to go through our government processes of adoption and review and make sure that the ideas here also

meet the various legal requirements that we are obligated to carry forth on behalf of the public. i did want to be out here as a signal of my appreciation for the tremendous effort reflected in the completion of this plant. it is important that we are guided by all the viewpoints and all the research that is done so that not just san francisco, but our partners, can all engage in the right direction, do the right thing, discuss among ourselves, and then with our federal, state, and local partners as to the funding priorities and the permissions that we have to gain from each other as to the right things to do. of course, i am always reminded that the most important voice is the snowy clover out here. some bird that i learned to respect very completely.

but it is my joking way of saying that something that i learned in those early years at dpw -- you get out here and you cannot fight nature. you have to respect it. we had these tremendous issues occurring around the world. we're more sensitive to in now with the climate changes and the weekly news that we see of climate changes, the sea rises, the el nino that occurs that caused a lot of erosion. in fact, some parts of the beach reseeded some 40 feet as a result of el nino inthn the 200- to a dozen 10 years. y just the responsibility of an agency. one week give ideas on how to protect the nature and how to manage it, we also have to keep in mind that in the long term, there are things that we have to do to respect nature. we cannot keep fighting it.

that is also something that, if we have a special attention as well. but we have got graded for a stretcher. we have the zoo that has recovered and is very successful. thousands of kids every year. thanks to tanya in your great leadership there for bringing this institution back to life for all of us. and one of the diverse uses. again, i want to thank spur. i want to recognize the great effort here and let you know that this work will be appreciated by all the agencies, certainly by me as we prioritize and engage in theaters around what we can do to continue this work and implement the great ideas. thank you very much. [applause] >> thank you so much, mr. mayor,

for those kind words. my name is benjamin grant. it has been my extraordinary privilege to manage the conversation about ocean beach over the past two years. we're going to hear from quite a number of -- really, a remarkable collection of leaders here who have been involved in the process, which is very exciting. i wanted to mention a few other people who are here, including brian perkins, bill[goo)ru mclan from surf rider, and the county transportation authority. thank you all very much for being here. thank you, mr. mayor. i went to mention one thing -- as you look in this direction, we chose one location because you're looking at a taste of the future. if you look in the background behind you, you see the results

of severe coastal erosion and our intent tos -- attmepts to address that on an emergency basis. ocean beach is the tip of the spear. what is being experienced at ocean beach today is going to be experienced in all coastal communities in the future as climate change and sea level rise sets in. as we continue to do our best to prevent climate change by changing our patterns of behavior and our patterns with the environment, we have to be preparing to adapt to the climate changes that are already locked in. a great deal of change is coming, and one of the first places that expresses itself is on the coast as sea levels rise. k÷d÷e5eocean beach is very impon itself. but it is also very important because it gives us a view of

things to come, and we hope that this process has helped us develop the interagency dialogue and community dialogue that gives us the tools to engage in this kind of climate adaptation planning in the future. so we're very excited that you are all here. this is the second taste of the future that you're seeing which is standing behind me up here. that is the leadership of this city that has been so incredibly receptive and warm and coverage of in working with us as a process and engaging with the different voices in the community to make the different plan come together. i do not want to take any more of your time because we have a lot of folks to hear from. i want to bring up some folks who have been a credible leaders in the process. first we're going to hear from supervisor carmen chu. thank you so much. [applause] >> thank you, ben, and thank you

mayor lee for being out here. i wanted to bring the perspective of the district supervisor. here, as you know for ocean beach, much of ocean beaches the backyard of the sunset district. for many of my residence, you cross the street and there you are it ocean beach. for us, what have bishop -- happens at ocean beach is very much a part of what happens to our own homes and neighborhoods. my interest first started to get peeved because of all the issues we had here. not only the erosion issues, but if you drive along the highway, the road closures that happens, among other things. as a city leader, one of the things we started to recognize is that the real erosion issues were starting to threaten a things like our server infrastructure, among other critical pieces of san francisco's in for a stretcher. so it became pressing for us to pull together a collaboration of individuals to be here. i wanted to speak about how

thrilled i am that is a master plan has been completed. we have a long and a vicious road ahead of us for many of the improvements that are envisioned in the plan to go forward. without everybody who is here, we would be missing key components to make this something that could come to reality. not only our city leaders, the mayor, my colleague eric mar that is here, our spirit -- a city departments, our federal partners, and of course, ben mentioned that we had a representative from congressman jack e. spears office. we need our federal partners to be engaged as well because ocean beach is federal land. i am here to add my voice to support this plan. i think this plan -- this master plan has engaged the public to come together. also, all the stakeholders that are necessary to make this plan something that can be successful and to make sure we

are speaking with one voice. thank you for being here, for recognizing the importance of this and for recognizing that ocean beach is not only destroyed four jaleel. it is city and federal resource that is important to us all. 5!óo=l-- is not only an importat jewel. resource that is important to us all. [applause] zio%.]sñ>> thank you. supervisor carmen chu has been part of the steering committee, and so has our next speaker, supervisor eric mar. >> thank you. and thank you to spur and the mayor and all the departments that have worked so hard on the spirited has been several years, a very inclusive process. i am here to celebrate a product division that represents more than 10 years of work of people putting out ideas of what ocean beach should be. the richmond district stretches from potrero heights to the cliff house, all the way down to

linden boulevard. a lot of my residents are talking about the sand management, which is a cooperative effort between the national park service and our city agencies. also, how to reconnect golden gate park to the key treasure that carmen chu mentioned, ocean beach? many of us see that as our backyard. in my district, bonfires and production of sensitive habitat, like the birds that mayor lee mentioned, but other sensitive habitat that are critical. also maintaining the park connection to ocean beach so we have better access for families. i also wanted to say that the process has been incredibly inclusive with a different stakeholder meetings. numerous community organizations involved. my hope is that this proactive vision with action steps can be a spark for more discussions from neighborhood organizations, not only the surf rider

foundation but many residents around ocean beach. my hope is that as we move forward with interagency 6wcyw$lcooperation, which is tht of this master plan, that we look at issues like these and management issues. also, how we create promise not like the area here or connecting golden gate park to the ocean as a great way to build community while having a sustainable future. thank you for being here. thank you to everyone for working on this master plan. [applause] >> next, we're going to hear from ed harrington, the general manager of the sfpuc. >> good morning. thank you for being here. i will be quick. i wanted to. spur and the folks behind me for the collaboration. a lot of us learned how much their love is for this plays out here and now we need to protect it. supervisor mar mentioned the

sand management. you can see a lot of concrete. people do not like that. up the road, there is too much sand, morse and then you can imagine. in the old days, you could walk down on the beach. now you walk straight out onto the beach. we will be moving 100,000 cubic yards of that sand here. there was a meeting on making this work. that is very useful. our waste water system and our sewer infrastructure is something that is so large, you do not rearrange it quickly easily. if you were on the great highway, our sewer is the entire size of the highway. it is 45 feet wide and 50-feet deep. it is a huge thing. it comes to our pump station and then to the waste water plant. as we talk about changes to the process, it is longtime change.

the process recognizes that. we're grateful for folks to learn about what we do and how that change may happen over time. thank you for including us today. [applause] >> thank you so much, and what for your leadership. next, mohammed nuru, acting director of the department of public works. >> thank you. let me join the mayor and supervisors and everyone up here in this great celebration, a celebrationthat i thing many people worked on. i want to thank spur and ben)2fr his leadership, for bringing us together. we said in many meetings talking about the future of ocean beach in what it should look like. i also want to thank laura for her wisdom. she has been here for many years. this is a great opportunity for all of us to come together. from dpw, frank as lead our

efforts. we maintain the great highway on a daily basis. like carmen said, the great highway does get closed about 17 times a year due to stand. i was able to learn a lot from the vision in process, from different ecological methods on how we would plan and sustain ocean beach. good news is that in november, we did pass proposition become the road and repaving bond. one of the first projects will be paving from slote to point :5u 48t. exercie able to include about 15,000 square feet of additional soft scape. it makes it easier for people crossing from that side of the

street to the beach. if you use the great highway, a lot of people are walking across 5t7ñ it is pretty dangerous. we will be able to at least began to implement some of the ideas or some of the things we heard from the vision the process itself. i am also thankful to mayor lee for his 17-point plan. it does encompass many points that he ran on when he ran for office. most importantly, infrastructure. the project i just spoke about is about $6 million. more importantly, we have a lot of initiatives to make sure we participate in meeting the city's goals for local hire and local contractor participation. i am very excited that this plan is becoming more public, and i'm looking forward to making the

western edge of san francisco look more nice and sustainable. thank you. [applause] >> thank you, mohammed nuru. excuse me. always acting but now permanent. i will like to express my thanks for the initiative to include the median at north of lincoln, which is a big first step for us for having a physical impact on the landscape that will help with pedestrian safety and esthetics. next, phil ginsburg, superintendent -- general manager of the department of recreation and parks, and the steward of our amazing collection of open spaces out here. >> thank you. mohammed nuru is a very tough act to follow. i am phil ginsburg, the general manager of the recreation and parks department.

we're giving thanks to the mayor and to spur for the leadership and vision to undergo this project. we often have to respond to problems in emergencies of the day. arguably, there are a few out here, but this process has been speaking to the future. the trust for public land, an advocacy organizationñmiñ?!i, jt named san francisco as the number 1 urban park system in the united states of america. it is not just the city in the county, but our open space system which comprises 70% of all of this city's land, including the national park service in the state park system. it is so exciting to think aboutejjbkt what can be done o. we all look around. all you have to do is to a 360 loop and the word that comes to mind is potential. it is incredible and precious oceanfront open space. and the opportunity to think about how to agree a better accessibility between our beloved golden gate park, our

zoo, lake merced, some of the national parkland here, and ocean beach in the great highway is a great opportunity. thinking about new trails from a new recreational amenities that can be out here. and areasustc to highlight some of e incredible special events which already have been out here year-round, it is exciting and fun. i want to thank our partners and stakeholders and community leaders for engaging. it is rare in government that it works so well. i have all these different partners and stakeholders coming together to think and plan. the recreation department is grateful to be a part of it. thank you. [applause] thank you. >> thank you. next, at risk in committee director of the san francisco municipal transportation agency -- ed reiskin. >> thank you.

mohammed nuru after me, when i was public works director, great highway, despite its amazing location, manifested itself as a problem. the roadway was a deteriorating. ltgdh5ñwe were losing an endlese against the sand. then the roadway was literally falling into the ocean during my time at dpw. what this process has done is turn the problem into opportunity. what i see now from the transportation perspective is that, through this process, san francisco has decided we do not need a four-lane highway separating san francisco from our beautiful oceanfront, and i think that is agreed direction for us to be going as a city. we're going to turn the great highway from being a barrier to the ocean into a way for us to access the ocean, whether on foot, whether on bicycle, a weather coming on muni. we're going to a better access to the ocean, better access to

all the facilities and the park space and the zoo. it is a great step forward. i want to thank everybody who has been part of the office -- process, but most of all, the public to give us direction in shaping this vision. i am excited to actually advance the vision in see some of these tough start getting into the ground. thank you very much. [applause] >> thank you very much, ed. we look forward to working with sfmta and the sfcta to do the technical analysis required to make this vision into the kind of implemented all projects that the city can pursue. now i want to bring up howard levitt, the director of communication for the golden gate national recreation area, one of our most important federal partners. it gives you a sense of why spur ended up being involved, because it crosses jurisdictional

boundaries, working with federal, state, and local agencies. they have been an amazing partner. welcome, howard. >> thank you very much. i am delighted to be here representing the men and women of the national park service here in san francisco. we are privileged to manage the western edge of this magnificent urban corridor, world class urban corridor. and, mayor lee, i appreciate your shout out for the importance bird. our former superintendent --on current superintendent reiterates what our former superintendent said, that it all begins with a vision. i think the ocean beach master plan constitutes a magnificent vision for this corridor. we, too, look forward to moving on into the implementation phase and bringing some reality to this.

but it has been our honor and privilege to work with ben and the excellent team at spur that he has assembled with our colleagues, from the business sector, from the cadres of wonderfully elected officials we have, our colleagues with rec and park, and public works and the other agencies here in san francisco. it has really been almost a poster child for a collaborative effort, and we're honored to have been part of it. we cannot wait to get into the exciting next phase of implementation. thank you. [applause] >> thank you very much for your kind words. next, we will hear from the director of the san francisco zoo. needless to say, a critical participant and stakeholder in this process. >> thank you very much. a zebra did not escape the zoo. it is me. [laughter]

thank you for coming to this part ofz5 we are reminded that this treasure is being lost. the zoo feels it has to be part of the solution and dialogue. we have to conserve wildlife and wild things. this has to be one of our highest priorities. thank you all for coming together on this. thank you. [applause] >> thank you very much. next, we're going to hear from a couple community partners. on the issue of this not being the end, but rather, the end of the first chapter and the wanted to mention that as a result of this amazing collaborative work, and it is really this group of people and men -- many of the folks in the public as well,; been awarded over';#í funding to pursue a implementation studies and carry these ideas forward to the next level, do that technical work, doing the challenging effort of converting the big ideas into real projects that can be

implemented on the ground. with that, i want to bring up laura, 2 has been working on this in bringing these issues to the attention of -- who has been working on this and bringing these issues to the attention of the city. she was there from the beginning of the process, having already put in a decade on this. [applause] >> thank you. good morning. i am a resident and business owner out here. and one of the biggest privileges i have had is to have been involved in a very long community process, combined effort to create a sustainable future for ocean beach. we began in 1998 with mayer brown's ocean beach task force, which was a very large body of local, state, federal agencies, community members, environmental groups, community groups, and we

met for f part of what is the most proud of from that effort is creating the difference stakeholders and starting to create what i feel is a good foundation for the amazing and cooperative effort that we see today with all of our civic leaders. mayor newsom appointed the ocean beach vision council in 2007 where we continued the conversation. then in a 2009-2010, we started the spur process. i had the privilege of co- chairing the advisory committee with amy meyer,h leader, a community leader for tgnra. each of these councils still fund the work of the former, and countless individuald