i am here representing a planning coalition. i have a letter on ellen's behalf. we are pleased to submit comments supporting the northeast embarcadero study. these are guidelines for new development in the area. we are very pleased that the san francisco planning commission approved the study's recommendation at the hearing on july 8. we hope the port commission will do likewise and approve the study. it has many sound recommendations. the following are representative examples of what we see as useful comments. the sea wall should be developed and released from the growing limits. development should include neighborhood and city-serving uses on the ground floor. new development should provide the range of natural to poverty

and surrounding communities. these developments should complement the character of historic districts, but also represent the best of contemporary architecture. the sand francisco bay and waterfront industry are a major contributor to commerce, recreation, and the environment. the blake -- the bay planning commission have supported this process for many decades. it is an important foundation on which the san francisco planning department can build its recommendations. the thoughtful and visionary approach to ensuring compatibility of development and sustainability is a model for coastal ports across our nation. founded in 1983, the bay planning coalition is a nonprofit organization representing a broad spectrum of the bay of business and environmental entities. the 175 members include the

maritime industry, local government, residential and commercial builders, labor unions, recreational users, and professional firms. we request that you approve the study and support the planning commission vision. thank you for your time. president fong: kevin loskatoff? >> good evening, commissioners. i am here in support of the planning commission recommendations. i want to think staff for their work in creating a document that looks at the city and waterfront as a whole. i am a member of the tennis and swim club and enjoy the disabilities. however, this will bring about much-needed renovations while also surprising -- while also providing land for the greater

community outside of as private members. currently, the only citywide contribution of the club is the unfortunate wall that overshadows a large section of the embarcadero. is that a wall, a fence, or a combination? it is important to remember the civic responsibility our city has to the waterfront. the importance of this area and the need to replace certain parking lots with developments that benefit the port and city and create visible neighborhoods -- there has been more than enough public input during a number of meetings. i urge you to put it to use and move forward with progress along the west side of the embarcadero. if i may, i have heard a few references to an alternative plan this evening. i advocate you please not consider this plan was created behind closed doors, representing a special interest pursuing their own agenda. hundreds of san franciscans have made a good-faith effort, spending many hours attending

meetings and submitting commons for a transparent study that considers the entire community's point of view. i respectfully request to move forward with that plan. president fong: matt harris? >> good evening. i am in north beach resident. i have been at most of the meetings and assure you that have been throw, productive, and balanced. at the last couple of meetings, nothing new came up. planning has done an excellent job of presenting a study that serves the best interest of the waterfront as well as the city as a whole. upon a recent trip to win as onerous -- a recent trip to buenos aires, i sought new buildings that blended and

complemented the longstanding architecture of the city. seeing this all my strength and my feelings for positive growth. san francisco needs to be encouraging development along the waterfront to ensure that the recent successes along the embarcadero can continue. president fong: is there any other public comment on this item? >> good evening, commissioners. thank you for your patience. it is now 6:30 p.m.. my name is fred allerdice. i am a professional real-estate broker for over 35 years, marketing homes, condominiums, that's a trap on the waterfront. i take some umbrage with the previous comment that the amount of inventory of 800 units is about to be depleted in san francisco. i have a number of clients that

have purchased real-estate in the last 10 years south of market, in this area, of which over 2000 are under water, meaning the value of their homes is less than their mortgage. the cannot sell their homes. they cannot do a short sale. they are basically up a creek. they would give their homes away today if somebody would take their position. those 2000 people would love to be in the market. it is not 800 units that have not been sold. it is potentially 2000 more just in those neighborhoods that cannot even become available. that is all over the bay area, all over the country. to make a preposition or supposition that another 180 condominiums need to be built based upon lack of supply to me is a fallacy. it is a real shame because of this part of the market. getting back to the golden gateway tennis club, i have been

to these meetings for 20 years. 90% of the people who spoke on behalf of this project today, and specifically washington street approval, are employed or have an economic relationship to the people at washington street. these people are here because they have potential economic gains for this project to be approved. that should be on the table. everybody should know it. there are reasons for them to have that position. there is nothing wrong with that. this is america. as far as the process of this plan, i have seen today that the project was proposed by the planning department to be 55 feet on the front and 125 feet on the back. that increases the size by another 40%. everybody knows the club will disappear and behalf. the vast majority of new club members will live in the condominium. the whole neighborhood knows the benefit of this club that over

3000 people have been using for 60 years. the green fence -- that was put there because there was a freeway there. it is nothing to do with the aesthetics of it. you could remove that tomorrow and make it pleasing. i think you'll find as time goes along that the proposal has some very attractive parts to it. i think it is getting another chance to be at least exposed. thank you for your patience. president fong: any other public comment? >> good evening, president fong and commissioners. i have to comment on this other comment you heard today. you notice it is lopsided. the reason is i call people to see if they would come and speak. they said no, we are waiting until we can present the alternative study.

i hope you will take that into consideration. it was my understanding this was just an informational presentation and it you will be hearing the other side of the story in august. president fong: thank you. any other public comment? ok. the commissioners have questions or comments? commissioner lazarus: i would like to add my thanks to the planning department. i am not sure this was necessarily their idea. so we appreciate all the concentrated effort that went into it. i know we all hoped it would come to a conclusion sooner than it did, i expect there were reasons it took this long, to maximize opportunities for

input. as someone who has no background or experience in design and planning, i appreciate the fact we have a sister agency with the professionals who can assist us in doing this kind of a process and really helping to set of contacts. this was not intended to be about a particular project, a particular development, or a particular lot, but was designed to give us principles and guidelines we can apply as a backdrop as a set of standards making decisions going forward. i believe you have provided us with that. i also want to say i find it a bit disingenuous that as of two months ago there is some second or ancillary planning process going on, because you had this process underway for a year and a half. i know you came to a preliminary set of conclusions that were then revisited with additional public input. i very much appreciate what you have done.

i feel it does give us any background we need to move forward as different things come before us. thank you very much. commissioner brandon: i do not think i could have said that any better. i want to commend the planning department and staff for the numerous hours, time, and meetings that have gone into this study. we really appreciate your efforts and all of the knowledge and expertise you have given us to work from. a lot of work went into this, and a lot of good recommendations came out of it. we really appreciate the plan that you have given us. thank you. president fong: my thoughts are this is a comprehensive and well put together study. i believe there were five different workshops or the public had opportunity, maybe four with the port as well.

there have been many opportunities. i know most of all of you by first name from public comment or sitting at a round table in this room hearing about a particular project within the scope of this study. i did have the benefit of going online and watching last thursday's planning commission. i heard all the comments there. i heard the recap of what they are looking at doing. some of the comments were thepearl about pearls in san francisco. if you look at the work that is being done at valencia's street, fisherman's wharf, all public plan similar to what was presented to us today. the port is doing work on the blue-green way as well. i think this is a key spot for san francisco visitors as well as residents to have an

opportunity to explore this area further. a bit of a side note -- i had a bicycle stolen in front of this site. i had a friend's get broken into in front of this site. there was a stabbing at broadway and embarcadero a couple of nights ago. while there is no direct connection to urban planning and crime, it figures that in the dark area is not a great place to be. i think this plan, not specifically the sea wall, but all of the open spaces including lot 314 -- that is the corner of bay and embarcadero -- if we feel this is an important juncture, that one is more important from a traffic point of view. going straight to fisherman's wharf along the waterfront, are going left -- that is a key point.

i am applauding the work that was presented and thank you. i want to clarify with the director that there is no action to be taken. that is correct. >> that is correct. it is not that the port of.studies of the planning commission. it is simply something we could dissipate in. the item before you today is so you can hear all the details as the public has, and others according to the findings of the planning commission. i did hear there are some expectations that there will be another follow-up item in august. i am not clear on what that is. it is not something the staff is planning right now. at this point, we have not been invited to participate in any other discussions. hopefully, we will be, but as of

yet i do not know what that is. president fong: we take this very seriously. if there are any other comments, i am sure staff and the port will look at them as well. any other comments, commissioners? thank you for those who stayed late. >> what do you want to do with the next item? president fong: is it fast? let us hear the next item, a 10a. >> a request approval of the first amendment to the memorandum of understanding between the port of san francisco and the san francisco municipal transportation agency, extending for two years the ports contract for services regarding multi-based pay stations on port property.

commissioner lazarus: is their emotion? in musty feel like you need a presentation, we do not need to make one. president fong: any public comments? any opposed? >> item 11, new business. i think you have heard a lot of it. [laughter] see you on august 19. president fong: keep going. >> item 12, public comment. i think he left. president fong: paul bicharte? >> hello, commissioners. i am here to speak specifically about a port aspect, which is dry dock number one. i do not know if you are familiar with that. it is a big tin cans that is

currently moored at terminal 80. i consider myself a stakeholder in the harbor. i own a barge company in the harbor and also a commercial fuel business. i really wanted to commend the port, specifically the engineering department, for thinking outside of the box. i thought i would be able to speak easily appear. i feel embarrassed. i do not know why. you were able to secure for the port a large sum of money to mediate and dispose of this drydock facility. my purpose of coming here today was to urge the commission to provide resources for the port to ameliorate that liability of

drydock number one. it is a approximately 600 foot long barge that is in extremely poor condition. if it were to sink, the cost to the port could be millions and millions of dollars. really, that is all i wanted to say. thank you. president fong: thank you. any other public comment? ok. motion to adjourn. all in favor? thank you. commissioner lazarus: yes.

>> but want to encourage anyone who is on the fence as a grand jury member to do so. as former supervisor and as mayor, it is equally valuable for people to participate as grand jury members -- to feel connected to the community in a meaningful way. this is a place where you can feel the kind of connection as a member of the grand jury, who is out there working in the interest of all san francisco's and holding in check members of our elected departments that need that kind of direction and advice from real people, not people with an ax to grind. not people with particular self-

interest, but people that want to make our city a better place. thank you for your inspiration. i am encouraged by the fact you have taken enough time to pay attention to this. i am hopeful that you participate in this process, which i assure you will have great meaning in your life. >> i am grateful for having had the experience of being on a civil grand jury, for the difference it has made for the city and in my own life, just being able to share the experiences i have had, to feel good about myself and what i have done for the citizens of this city. >> i found the grand jury rewarding because of the seriousness of the work and the prestige it gave me, the prestige of thing many of our elected officials, department heads, and many government employees work very -- were very kind in extending to us.

it was very exciting. >> what i found most gratifying was, first of all, being part of a group of 19 incredibly different san franciscans, with a different backgrounds, different amounts of education, all kinds of professions -- stay at home spouses -- it was a great mix. there were people i never would have met unless i had been part of that. the second thing that was incredibly interesting all year long were the investigations we were conducting with different agencies and departments of the city government. pulling together all of our different viewpoints in each of our presentations, and all our information and data -- we put that into a report. it was incredibly gratifying stuff. i guess the third gratifying thing was that in our particular year, 2000-2003, we had a number of reports that

really made a difference. >> the court is now accepting applications for the civil grand jury. this watchdog body is comprised of 19 citizens selected by my colleagues on the court. the grand jury is charged with conducting independent, confidential investigations of city departments, to insure these agencies are operating effectively and ethically. at the conclusion of its term, the grand jury publishes its reports and submits them to the presiding judge in to the departments that have been examined. departments have to respond to the findings of the grand jury and present their response at public hearings conducted by the board of supervisors. these hearings great public awareness and media attention for the challenges faced by city departments and provide a forum for civil dialogue to propose

solutions to issues confronting our government. reports about disaster preparedness, the department of building management, and the fire department have an influential effect on change in the improvement of city services. >> a new reports and valuable, not only as a mayor but as a member of the board of supervisors. poor me, it is always helpful to get a third set of eyes with someone else's perspective -- an objective perspective. grand jury reports provide that employee. i am someone that likes being challenged in terms of looking more critically at what we are doing in the city. i think grand jury reports provide the critical eye. i think the grand jury report that was most important from my perspective represented the first day i was in office as mayor. that was the report done years ago about the readiness of our disaster plans in san francisco.

one of the recommendations that was made was to update our emergency operations plans. there were a number of specific -- specific recommendations we have completed. the consequences -- we were in better shape from a planning perspective because of the grand jury and the work that was done in that report. >> the grand jury axe as a city watchdog to work that city agencies cannot be focusing on. over the years, and asking the tough questions that otherwise are not being asked. the civil grand jurors have the ability to ask questions of anything that they want within the city government. they get to ask the tough

probing questions that we need our citizens to be asking. >> to me, the best thing was the impact that was made on the knowledge of the city. >> one of the things that is mandated is to visit your jails. that was absolutely fascinated. all of the jurors went out into

the community and we observed a lot of precincts. it was a terrific observation. you get to meet most major officials including the mayor, members of the board of supervisors and their offices and department heads as well as having interviews with a variety of public and private sectors and many other agencies i don't know about. >> the followthrough was set for a particular concern to our grand jury. the toss grand jury reports have been given a great deal of initial support and attention

and it will not always follow through. this will allow future grand juries to track the project of support for key issue is. the mayor's office was very supportive of helping to develop this database and spreadsheet. >> we will begin to put things on line next year. we are improving our accountability. >> we have a very substantial debate about the reform.

there is a crisis in our pension system. in the jury, they take issues that for whatever reason, they're complicated. they do the analysis. at the board of supervisors, we hold hearings on the outcome of the findings of the reports. we can educate ourselves on the the good that we have done. >> i would say that the current board of supervisors seems to have an interest in implementing many of the issues that we raised. the future of the grand jury is very good. >> if you love the incredible community that we live then and we want to have a role in making it better and help serve the public. i cannot think it better way to

do this than to serve the grand jury. >> we all do what we have come to do continuity. continuity is making sure that any recommendations have been considered publicly. >> you think it is over there are ramifications for all of the hard work you have done. >> hello. the court is now recruiting specific grand jurors. we're looking to have a pool of candidates. >>