we had card readers and video cameras, people would be a differently. now, i have to say, we talked about this today. there are even some criticisms with this. there are some who do not want to be identified. my boss is the lead on this. hot -- there are some industry stakeholders, and we hope to bring it to you in the near future. president roja: i never ate, it commissioner's comments and questions. seeing none, we will move to item no. 9, new business request for future agenda items.

commissioner: just to get the card reader in at a date. are we ever going to read a celebration for the departure of commissioner alan -- have a celebration? >> i guess i can answer. given the level of work that he continues to generate, it is hard. it may be september though, unfortunately. we are required to do that. president roja: anybody else? seeing none, that concludes the

tuesday, august 10, meeting of the entertainment commission. >> the most important thing abuot this decision was the decision itself, and the words that would matter most are in the 138-page document that are processed in thea ppellate court. they did not just set out to win

a lower court decision. they set out to withstand scrutiny at the appellate level, successfully and unsuccessfully, understanding what the court is up against. judge walker set forth rules that became the foundation to which this will, i believe and hope, be appealed and adjudicated at the supreme court. i'm not a lawyer. i'm not going to profess to make the legal argument that has bee n made.

the most important thing is to get a solid decision out. not a win, but to get a decision where the arguments made are validated, and my understanding was that the points they made that they emphasized were advanced in this decision, and that is a significant thing. so i will leave that to legal scholars, but the next phase of analysis would be the argument, not just the win at walker's court. >> in terms of going ahead with preventive measures, have decisions been made?

>> we have always abided the rule of law. when courts said start and stop, we said we started and we st opped. no one was married today. no one was able to get a certificate or license. there were couples that were quite disappointed. some had come with the impression they would be able to get married this afternoon, and obviously that was another blow. those hopes, nonetheless, are not dashed, and we will see what happens in subsequent decisions as processes of the courts. [unintelligible] >> it's an important point.

we had adjudication in california and elsewhere on state grounds. this is the first court on federal principle, and it is the principle of our founding fathers here. it has been used to expand people's rights, not deny them. to the extent this is a constitutional challenge, this is very much a narrative we have lived with in this country. it is a narrative that is familiar to those in virginia, and the last major constitutional challenge. when we look at the issue of

interracial marriage. this is a fast-tracked narrative, so i am hopeful. i would not have imagined it. we have had good days and bad days, we have seen success advanced around the world, and i don't think anyone could have imagined a more optimistic setting. we have had setbacks in other states that have given us pause and caution. this is who i am, my last

breath. this has never been about politics. you look back in your life and you are staying in principle. you are given a moment in time to do the right thing. i said this to my father about the issue. good people i love disagree. but whether you agree with me or not, you know it.

i have a big propblem voting for people i don't trust, because they are telling me what they think i want to hear, not what i believe. this is what i believe, and my cards are on the table. i saw that as a student of history. in 1967, 70% of americans opposed interracial marriage. there is a fundamental principle here that has been used over and over and over again, for women's rights, racial and ethnic rights. it makes sense. you have a minority of people being oppressed, you need the

courts to do that. that's why there are distinguished and separate branches of government. it's not surprising this has taken the course that it's on. >> the meaningful decision, it was crystal clear that they did not want to just win the

decision. they want to win it in the right way. what i believe is they won it in the right way, which is why this is a more significant victory. but the arguments are compelling that it is positive and successful. justice kennedy, for better or for worse, seems to be the one based on his colorado decision that would be put in the spotlight.

he was wright in lawrence v. texas. it will be interesting to see him argue this, because in so many ways he was prescient. look. personally, this is an extraordinary moment, because real people's lives have once again been affirmed. at the same time, you temper your appreciation because you recognize the work that's been ahead. this is another step in a very long process, but perhaps the most historic and compelling, because this is a federal decision based on the u.s. constitution, and i should remind people, bush wanted to

change the constitution for a reason, because he thought there was something wrong. we think there is something right, that there is nothing in this constitution denying equal protection in due process.

>> [inaudible] >> if i lose fighting for something i believe in, i am proud. i would reather lose an election than capitulate my true beliefs. there are politicians better tat that than me, and many are better politicians. but i believe in this. i am not an idealogue about this. i have family members that disagree with me vehemently about this. i remember when i was a kid, i thought, don't hold hands in

public. it's not what i believe in. it's not what my contemporaries believe in. and i will say this, time is on our side. i have friends and young folks whoa re not caught up in this. they don't get it. there is an expectation that time will play itself out and we'll see how that occurs, but thisá>f is going to help with tt process. >> please direct your eyes to the water out over the bay.

just a quick note -- the 5:30 to net the lawn is not canceled -- to nebulon is not changed. for those wishing to change rocket ships, you can talk to spot. we have another rocket ship on the way, but this one is where they take off, any minute now. we have a couple of speakers here today. the first one is an lazarus from the port. public art like this is not done without partnerships, and the partnership that we have with the port of san francisco turned this space into an art space and has been spectacular. thank you, ford of san francisco. if you are representing the whole commission and some staff, though, ann if you want to say few words, that would be great.

our boarding up is right here. >> thank you all for being here today. i would like to thank mike for wearing his seersucker suit so we were sure to get some sunshine today. i'm assuming there is a cause and effect there. it takes a village to accomplish something like this, just as with everything else in life. as mike said, this has the complete, wholehearted endorsement of the port commission, all of us, of our staff, our planning staff, even all the way across to our maintenance staff, led by tom carter. i just want to say in closing and thanking everyone, who says we do not have ships down at this waterfront? [laughter] thank you. [applause] >> i also want to thank the opportunity thank thebcdc who helped us -- bank -- thank bcdc,

who helped us get a permit for this. i told people that the cost of putting something up like this cost the city about the cost of a billboard for one month, and they had a greater ability to create community and space, and it has been a fabulous addition to the port of san francisco. people will talk about this rocket ship forever. the next person we have is our district supervisor, david chiu. when david first came to the board of supervisors, he had a conversation with the cultural affairs director for the city and county of san francisco, and he made art in san francisco a priority. he wanted to make sure the money we were spending was spent on artists from the bay area. it was very important to him that this happened. as many of you may or may not know, san franciscans -- san francisco is one of the city with the most artists per capita.

our government agencies spend more money on arts than any other government agency per- capita, and the foundations that work in san francisco spend more of a percentage of their money on art in san francisco, so with that -- for them, we're all grateful, and we will talk more about them. without further ado, supervisor david chiu. >> hello, fellow travelers. i go to a lot of events every day, and i have to say, this was the event i was looking forward to all week. yes, and one feel that way? happy friday, by the way. i'm going to say a couple of things that elected officials probably should not. when i was a kid, one of my favorite pastimes was to launch off bottle rockets. and if i had gotten some better grades in physics, i might be helping to build these things as opposed to major in political science and becoming a politician, but at the end of the day, this is part of what is so special about san francisco,

and one other thing that i'm going to say that i probably should not say -- i have never gone to burning man, but i think it might be about time. i want to thank all of you who are part of this amazing community that has helped to move forward not just the arts community, but to really improve upon community collaboration, improve upon how we think about living together as san franciscans, as californians, as citizens of the universe. i think the last thing i want to say is, as someone who represents much of the waterfront here, this is obviously what i hope is just one of a number of amazing installations that i know that the local artist community is so incredibly capable of developing, and i look forward to future installations like this so that we can make sure that our art remains not just burned in our minds, but burned in the minds of everyone throughout the world and

throughout the universe. congratulations. thank you. [applause] >> this fabulous relationship that the city and county have started in about 2005, and we had some very creative project that had happened since then, and it all started with the executive director than coming into the mayor's office and saying that we want to do more public art. put more public are on the streets and the community of san francisco, and start trying to build community. then, it changed to melissa. she carried over, and we had more projects, and we kept coming back, and then, it started to go national. started happening in detroit and reno. if you want this to continue, you have to go and give. it does not happen without your

support and supporting your community. i know we all do it in different ways, but you have to try to find a way to do more so that stuff like this can continue happen. with that, tomas is going to talk a little bit about the project and the people responsible for it. [applause] >> he just said everything i was going to say, except when we saw this ship last year -- i do not know how many of you were there -- and friday night, when the incredible thing happened that nobody thought could happen -- this rock actually launched, and as it was out there, i had a feeling that it would probably land right here. thank you all for coming out. i do need to thank a number of people that made this possible.

chad, andrea lesser l --ester -- lester, thank you all so much, and also, to alex rosenthal who pulled together this event, thank you. have a good time. [applause] >> one of the great things about this art and the other art from the desert that has come to san francisco is to see how much the art changes in a different environment and how our perception of where we are at in our space and how this has changed -- it will change before. it is interesting looking at the perspective here. it is a really great day. i do want to bring up sean orlando, who is representing the

artist. it is so great to have him here. he represents a team of many people, and i'm sure he is going to talk about those people. it is a great to see -- many times, artists have communities that follow them out there, but oftentimes, you do not have artists where community is the process. do you want to talk a little bit about your piece? . -- [applause] >> thank you all for coming out. this is really incredible. thank you to the port of san francisco for clearing the air space to allow us to crash land on pier 14. it is really quite an honor. this has been an incredible experience for us, working with brad and lesley trichet and the port and city to allow us to place this amazing work of art that was designed and built as a group project in a collaborative manner by artists and engineers and programmers from all round the bay area, and i'm really

proud to work with them. it is incredible that -- even more so, that this is the first ever rocket stop in the united states. virgin galactic, you have nothing on us. one of the new elements that we have added to the rocket, which you will notice in the background is the rockets thought, is our intergalactic bay area rocket transport or ibart. [laughter] thank you all for coming out. we have the phenomenon coming on in a little bit. we have the space cowboys, gastronaut and all their amazing food. thank you to all the volunteers. [applause] i want to go over couple of things.

first off, braf has a table over there, so if you can, and get more information about what they're doing across san francisco, across the country, and get them to try to dedicate a little bit of time, money, and cash to try to help them succeed in putting art like this together. here is the reason why -- if any of you have a chance, leslie wrote a piece about why flocked matters, which was a piece we put out in city hall a little while ago -- i guess three or four years ago. basically, it said that public art is art that you own. no one can tell you what to think about it. there's no one telling you how the field or believe is possible with this art. it is art that any opinion matters. one of the highlights for me was went 35 grammar school kids came up and tried to tell different people what they thought that that was, and it was so fascinating. with each piece, there is a different story and a different tale that the community is

telling. with david best's piece that went in his brain, some guys said thank you for that piece, and some guy said definitively without a doubt, but " this is a bird house", right? and everybody in the community saw an argument start between people in the community about a debate about what it was. another thing, the art that was created there has created another space, which is dedicated to art. out of that came the hayes valley coalition that continued to put up piece after piece and are committed to continue to bring artists into that space to show their work here in san francisco, which is really great. i'm trying to string a little bit of time out here before i introduce the mayor of san francisco, and i'm trying to get an indication of how far out he is. any indication? >> [inaudible] >> laugh i do not know any

jokes, but we do have someone here who wants to do some poetry. no poetry and no jokes, but what many of you may not know is that we built this rocket ship in 1944 and launched it in 1944. we got lost, so we -- throughout our travels, we have been traveling through space and time, picking up passengers, dropping them off, upgrading our rocket ship, collecting specimens and aliens, and some of the specimens and aliens are actually amongst you. we landed in san francisco because we thought you would not notice them as much, but the problem is that the customs agent approached me, and you all forgot your cards, your id cards, so aliens, if you could please come here and collect your cards, because you will get stock. there is one. thank you. thank you. they just blend right in, don't

they? thank you. great, here he is. ladies and gentlemen, the mayor of san francisco. gavin newsom thank you all for coming out. -- mayor newsom: thank you all for coming out. i want to thank all of you for being willing to once again allow the city to try new things. it was not that many years ago that we could not put a peace sign up at the panhandle. we could not put a spider on top of city hall, and we could not even put a giant foot down at the embarcadero. folks, in san francisco, for all our progressive politics and our our progressive politics and our aggressive policies, there's