food. there were many applicants in the cafe, and the ortega family one, but not merely did they get the concession, but since then, they have exceeded the expectations of the park. the quality of food, the commitment to local, sustainable, and healthy, and moreover delicious, is not just a commitment, but it is a proven fact. you can taste the difference. it is a beacon for the food that should be served in all of our parks, where the city, state, or federal, and it is time that san francisco parks had a beacon in its own property where these values are not just talk about but actually executed. so please, go on with the great work. accept more commons, but i urge you to taste the difference and recognize the importance of giving our children healthy and affordable food -- accept more comments. >> if i have called your name, please come forward.

i'm going to call a few more names. [reading names] >> hello. together with my wife kathleen, we submitted a proposal for the food concessions at the stow lake but house with bruce mclellan. \ -- bruce mcclellan. formerly, we own it famous, not officially designated san francisco landmark for 20 years. it is true the ortega corporation proposal the swamp the other tibia proposals, but in effect, with their food, be any better, any more nutritional than ours? with their boats rental system and boats be any better than the stow lake corporation is now?

i think not. the continuing mentioned argument of present condition of the boat house regarding improvements does not mention the fact that there was a lease agreement even if improvements were made. for example, let's assume i'm a landlord. i request you upgrade-from kitchen the bathroom, kitchen, paint the place, and renovate the backyard with no guarantee that i might not evict you in the next month. would you do that? that is a question, and i will leave it at that. thank you. commissioner buell: thank you. >> next speaker please. >> good afternoon. i'm a resident of the sunset and

father of two girls, and we jog around stow lake and when i get to the top because i'm tired, i look for a place that i can relax. sometimes my wife wants to either breast feed or change diapers, and there is not really a facility for something like that. other parents i know have talked about that, and i think anything we can do to help improve the family-friendliness of a place like this, that will be an improvement is just something that we could go for. this is a different angle. i'm not that concerned about the preservation of the building. although i am. i think the main thing is that people are more important than the building, and we want to have the nutritional food. i'm not going to feed my kids pink popcorn. i'd rather have something organic and sustainable. that is just the angle i want to put here. i'm in support of the proposition.

>> good afternoon. i'm representing the san francisco convention and visitors bureau. i'm here in place of our president and ceo. he apologized for not being able to be here, but he did send a letter i would like to submit, and i would like to briefly review this letter. "dear president buell, the visitors bureau is in full support for a renewed stow lake. they have found a great partner and plan -- a plan to renovate the boat house concession stand will make it much more attractive decoration for visitors to golden gate park. the wooden boat house has undergone few innovations says it was built in 1946. it is in need of a paint job. mold is growing on the windowsills and awnings and the building so, ruth windows, walls, and doors are compromise allowing the building interior to become damage. moreover, the 60-year-old pope spoke of safety measures. entering at the building is adequately restore will require a new lease see who has ample

experience renovating historic buildings in culturally sensitive areas. moreover, it is an ideal partner if they comply with all the secretary of interior's standards for preservation. it is clear from the proposal that ortega family enterprises has a thoughtful plan that stands stow lake to benefit stow visitors for you to come -- stands to benefit all stow lake visitors for years to come. we hope that you will approve this proposal and ensure that stow lake is once more an attractive destination. thank you. >> thank you. >> next speaker please. >> i am a parent of three young children, ages 9, 6, and 3. i have a letter here that pretty much summarizes my thoughts, which i would like to place into the record. i'm here to speak in favor of the stow lake renovation.

i think that the benefits are really twofold. one small picture and one is fairly big picture. small picture is that, obviously, the building needs some work, and it would be fantastic for it to have local, organic food options for families. i think that kind of speaks for itself, maintaining the activities that are at the lake that will be there, but just having other healthy food options for families i think is plainly obvious. i think the bigger picture is thinking about family friendliness in san francisco. we all know people have children that are ready to go to school, and they leave the city. i think having a strong san francisco unified school district and a strong reconed parks department together really makes the city so much more attractive -- strong wreck and parks department -- strong rec

and parks department. after-school programs would have to be cut, and any way to make sure there is additional revenues so that families can stay in the city and prosper here -- it might not always be the prettiest option, but it is the world we live in. i think this is something that needs to be down for all those reasons. thank you for your time. commissioner buell: thank you. >> next speaker. >> i'm here to support the current operators. i have a job and walked around the lake and rode on the lake and enjoyed many happy hours of outdoor recreation there, and i am here to give my personal comment. i am a registered dietitian and an adult weight management specialist, so i'm also

concerned about health, and it is my belief that the recreation and park committee should support the expansion and preservation of opportunities for outdoor recreation in san francisco, rather than turning our beautiful natural environment, which is limited -- a limited resources, into yet another place to sit down and eat. commissioner buell: thank you. >> commissioners, i would like to thank you for your consideration as well as the input from all the other speakers here today. i am the president of the stow lake corporation. our firm and family has been the concessionaire for the past 67 years since my grandfather reintroduced the boats. i urge you to reconsider staff's

pending recommendation. over the years, we have responded to numerous bids. in each case, the process was competitive, but the evaluation criteria was known. that is not the case here necessarily. following a three of my concerns. throughout the process, the preservation of the boat house was in keeping. the boat house was designed to support the rental operations on the lake, not the cafe gift shop. we included the indoor seating that staff wanted, preserved the repair facility, thereby preserving the visual as well as functional historical character of the boat house, converting the boat house to a cafe gift shop, even with a nautical theme is a departure from the historical use. second, this is a voting venue, not with food offered as an additional amenity. the big you are creating creates a food give shop operation with boating as an amenity. we proposed 85 new boats, practical caring capacity for the lake and size of the current

fleet. the staff has recommended a proposed fleet of 50 books, which would not be sufficient to meet the public need. even if the concessionaire were to increase the fleet, which they can do at their option is my understanding, there's not enough room to service these boats in the basement area, which is roughly 1/3 the size of the shop we're using. 3, the staff right up does not include any kind of financial comparative analysis for the competing bids and potential benefits of the city. how can a decision be made regarding the 20-year contract without looking at the financial benefits to the department? that is a big missing piece of the component. by the one -- by the way, i would like to -- i have a petition for the preservation of the historical nature of the boat house that we want entered into the record. thank you for your

consideration. commissioner buell: thanks very much. [applause] >> next speaker please. >> good afternoon, commissioners. i would like to read a letter on behalf of the executive director of quasa. "dear commissioners, and writing in full support of the department's mission for a department's stow lake erie we urge you to approve the recommendation for a new concessionaire. -- full support of the department's recommendation for a new stow lake the. the ortega family has previous experience working in historical buildings, making them a qualified -- uniquely qualified to restore the deteriorating conditions of the boat house that has seen few changes since 1946. in addition to the more attractive and safer facility, parcourse, bikers, other visitors will have access to a variety of local and organic foods while also being able to

purchase favorites like pink popcorn. we expect it will be able to attract a new, wider range of customers, and by using predominantly new use of proteins from sources less than 40 miles away, they will also be stimulating economic growth throughout the entire san francisco area. we hope that you will >> i am here on behalf of local 261. we support the concession. we support all efforts to

benefit san francisco and the people the trouble here from all over the world. we support the efforts to revitalize and approve our system. we believe these efforts will also support the stuff that have worked in the recreational parks department. we welcome this plan. >> thank you. >> good day, i am one of the three members of the cooperative partnership. we are the people who did in the last round of the rf be.

at the time, we were told the mcnaught and he accepted because we did not have the combined experience of voting and concession management within our partnership. the reason why this was provided was the hopes that someone like this could be accepted in the first round. several of the ideas were incorporated into the proposal language about where to put the boats for maintenance and some of the sustainability issues.

this includes community growth, raising awareness for all of the people to come in and use this. we are all local for the public- school system and everything else. we all have children and we all want to create that unique place that is snow lake. we have a boat expert as well as a chef and they are all local. the majority of our partnership is women. i want to push local thing.

from the financial point, and you can see that they were very even. we put these towards the renovation of the building. the money for the management is going to new mexico, this is not staying in california. this is a very big item for the facility. >> i occasionally walk my dog around small lake. one of the park's that we don't go to is the snow house.

i have worked on other pieces and i would like to let everyone know that they have a lot of pride. we are serious about the qualifications putting in a bit and there are really thorough and but everything that this goes through if the report recommends the of family, i think that the commissioners should approve that. >> i am a 35 year resident of

the haight-ashbury and a long time walker at snow lake. i am here to echo the concerns of hundreds of my fellow walkers to have signed petitions opposing this development. it seems to fundamentally contradiction that you would set out that the recreation and parks department would be to enhance a culture and a century that is valued chiefly for its tranquillity. this will bring in more and more people, more traffic, more noise, most alarming given us no assurances that i'm aware of that all sorts of issues will be respected and addressed if this project moves forward.

people are very concerned about the colony. also the possible effect of night lighting. there are lots of ramifications , the committee has no assurances that. the meetings would be damaging to the wildlife and plants. people are concerned about the serving of alcohol which is the

case at the other park. perhaps, basically an environmental impact report. >> thank you. >> i would like to leave some recommendations which i hope will be included. >> for over 60 years and the privilege of enjoying the lake, where i want for exercise, to

me, one of the principal laws is the tranquility. to existing code half and the staff and the operators have come for a part. i have attended public meetings to describe this. this was not outreach, this was telling us what they were going to do. the was suggest that this is not merely to raise money. i am well aware of the financial difficulty that we are having. i don't think that anyone took that seriously. i think that the evidence is conclusive on that issue. the existing code house is not

ostentatious and the staff as you have indicated is wonderfully integrated. this is one of those precious commodities then not -- that cannot be improved by throwing a lot of money at it. i hope the sense of what the place is will be understood. one point which has not brought up which has disturbed people is the treatment of a family which for 67 years has rented service to this city and finds itself treated like an outsider. to me, this borders on really

shabby. i wish to examine the situation again and consider working with the existing contractor to work credit plan which was consistent with the surroundings. >> thank you. -- to work out a plan which is consistent with the surroundings. >> good afternoon. i represent local to 61 -- 261. >> we are in favor of this. we would like to stress the site and the change. this is not a construction contract. the experience and expertise is

in the buildings. i respectfully disagree with the opposition. we are not talking about turning this into a starbucks. because this does not change, the traffic will not kill us. once again, this is seen as a winner for the community, the park's, as well as the residence. >> thank you. >> good afternoon, commissioners. i am here in support of snow lake. this is this is something that

we need to support. i don't want to regale you with all of the things the -- the place needs support and it needs the new concession and it means to do what needs to be done. it has lost the luster and pop that used to half. it needs to be redone. the old concessions have had over 60 years to do something. it is time that we stand up and say that we need to make this self sustaining as something that you will want to come to. >> thank you.

>> good afternoon. i am the koner of rustic bakery. i had the pleasure of working with ortega family enterprises year after year. i have to say that in every way, it has been a pleasure working with them. they are a wonderful company and i think that if you look at the job they have done at muir woods, they are extremely sensitive to the environment. it is hard to see where it changed at all with the takeover of the group. the other thing i will say is that they cannot compromise at all on the quality of food that they order from us. we are an organic bakery and cafe and everything that we make

is local. price has never been an issue. they have always said that quality comes first and they have always treated us very fairly. i am here to support this concept and have them involved in snow lake. >> i am one of the other owners of rusted bakery. i also want to endorse this project. ortega has been wonderful to us. we have been using the delivery items in all of our packaging. the price range is between $3

to $8 and this appeals to all. we hope that you approve this. >> i'm not affiliated with anyone here. i am a regular to the lake. i think that the corporation has a lot of good ideas and we all agree that the boat house and the concessions could use an upgrade but i am opposed to having an outside corporation come in. i agree with the idea that this is about recreation, not just

about food. i think that parks and recreationi] should be the one d i hope that they have some ability and they guide the family of whatever would be managing it. i would like to know exactly what the standards we are looking now at in terms of having a new building. i resent that i was lobbied coming into here and i was handed this pro ortega information. i agree with restoring the lake. we are all in part of this community. i think that this speak