conditioning licenses in order to get the effect that they want, such as requiring minimum pricing or restricting hours. >> he let it be known that when a licence is issued, there is a hands-off period of 12 months where it they can do very little to the person that has been granting -- granted the license. after that, they can't really take away -- >> excuse me, that was not my understanding. my understanding is that they are not a hands-on. the one-year period is to establish whether or not you are following the rules. they like to have a one-year

time frame of operation to establish that you are, indeed, irresponsible operator before they give you any more room. >> the said they wouldn't be able to take away the license, but they would suspend it. violations can result in the suspension of the license. he went on to state that there are not replacing the traditional roles of the police station, they are still part of the process. it was a very informative meeting for me. that concludes my report. >> item number 18, the outreach committee report. >> almost everything that we covered in the meeting tonight, we continued to discuss our

awardees for small business and empoyee recognition. -- employee recognition. we would like to invite all of the commissioners to think about a local or small business that you would recommend for the small business recognition award. i am really pleased with how much it means to the small business people and their supporters. i also think it is good to continue to look at public employees and the work that they do to assist the small business community. please think about awardees in the future. let's see. and then, vacancy as was reported -- we have had no

responses. >> am i correct that we sent out a second round of letters to the same folks we have sent out of the first round? >> we are about to send out the second round. >> we have submitted some addresses. >> it will show that we have done our due diligence to contact these folks. and then we will go on from then and talk about possible legislative pieces that might aid in filling out some of these vacancies and allowing the city to keep track of folks that are keeping their properties in kind of derelict condition.

it will allow the community to have posted where to contact the owners if they are interested in renting, if they see a problem with some kind of danger or construction problem. i think it might give somewhat of a database on where we are with the vacancies. >> and under new business, we discussed out reaching to the supervisor's office coming in the wake of the alcohol mitigation and other legislation that is hitting small business before it has time to prepare a kind of input or response. we really think that at region needs to be done to each supervisor from the small business commission to identify priorities -- policy priorities.

they have different policy objectives during their time in office, and we feel that it would be helpful if we could assist them in fulfilling their policy objectives and partnering with them. it seems as though -- we need to fix this problem, and they are going to go for the fastest and most expedient way. and sometimes without adequately considering all of the consequences. again, this has come out of the discussion from the alcohol mitigation fee that could have a very negative effect. you don't think so, but you can't hire those extra people. he can't do different things. in the next five months, we

would like to reach out to each supervisor. we discussed office hours in relation to the small business assistance center. >> the small business center -- the city is not taking furlough days, so what the majority of the unions did do was take the equivalent of 12 furlough days and reduce individual salaries based upon that amount. what was added was that there were 12 floating holidays that employees are able to take, and they need to take this before they take a vacation paid, floating holidays, and they need

to use it within a specified window of time. with the small staff having hours monday through friday, 8:00 to 5:00, those are staffed by -- one of those individuals would be off or be sick, as it is dealt, -- as it is now, there is some minor difficulty in terms of being able to have somebody being able to attend to that counter the full time that it is open. what we have done to try to deal with the furlough days -- the floating holidays, on fridays, the assistant center is open for appointment only, and the tax

and treasurer's office is closed in room 110 -- is closing room 110 the wednesday before thanksgiving and the week between christmas and new year's. we will be open for appointments only because those doors will be locked. as a means of trying to manage workflow and accommodating for the 12 floating holidays. we have made an announcement in the september bulletin, and it is noted on the web site as well. >> that concludes my report. >> item number 19, the president's report. president riley: basically, i

attended the meeting with the committee, and it was commissioner kasselman, the first meeting. we heard the legislation the you heard today. that is in it. next item, please. >> commissioners, item number 20, vice president's report. commissioner clyde: i attended the walk, it was very near my house, and i have to say, i was very grateful that the truancy initiative kicked off because it was a great opportunity to show off the diversity of businesses and the continued investment in small businesses on lower twenty

fourth street. many of the family-owned businesses that are beginning to transition between generations, another generation of family members are working and bringing new energy into long-term family owned businesses. it is along with new businesses, there are new business models on twenty first street. we got in e -- an earful. we started to hear about some of the things that are coming down comingpie -- down the pipeline between 4:00 am and 6:00 am, when no one is there. there are lots of transients, late-night activity. there is considerable concern about the ability for

businesses to keep their storefronts in order when no one is there. we are very concerned about that. we also heard about the sidewalk repair issue, who is responsible for them. hopefully everyone will be following up. the other little piece of information that i have is that october is disability employment awareness month. we have invited someone to give a presentation from the community vocational enterprise. they train and place people with disabilities in businesses across san francisco. it will be a very formative discussion. i am glad that this is coming up right now as we are also dealing with ada lawsuits.

it is really important for us to look at hiring persons with disabilities as part of the business plan and really put them at the front of the line. and look at the value of hiring persons. that is my report. president riley: next item, please. >> item 21, commissioner reports. president riley: any reports? commissioner dooley: i have a report on a few things. i have been attending weekly meetings with the owners of the small pet shops in san francisco regarding the attempted invasion of the neighborhood corridors by formula retail chains. they have filed an appeal with the board of supervisors on the

latest permit by the planning commission, so we will see how that goes. on the eleventh, i attended as i do every month, the group formed to create a waterfront plan for the northern area where the sea wall lots are, and i continue to promote ideas for -- that will help the neighborhood corridors like a shuttle bus that will take people from the cruise ship terminal to north beach, to chinatown, trying to continue to promote local businesses that way. and i have been talking with the owners, the recipient of

another ada lawsuit. i know she is very motivated. >> where street is the business on? >> i think it is sixteenth. >> by the restaurant. commissioner dooley: she is motivated to get the neighborhood together. we have to keep that on our priority list. it is not going away. that concludes my report. >> thank you for working on that. president riley: next item, please. >> commissioners, item number 22

is general public comment. president riley: seeing none. >> item number 23, new business? >> i wanted to bring up the fact that the giants are tied for first place and there is only three weeks left. let's go. >> i would like to second that. [laughter] >> may i make a request? i was derelict in something and i want to reopen by vice president's report if that is okay. >> we will go ahead and close new business. >> i wanted to say that the response from the small business community has been phenomenal, and i like to thank all of the small business people that came out on their own and organized

on their own. there has been some press are around the big alcohol lobby, but many of the small business people were there on their own. there were there because they were concerned about costs, they were concerned about livelihood, they were concerned about businesses, and they are not being driven by paid lobbyists. frankly, considering the lobby that is the public health department, the people that are going to benefit financially should this be passed, i really don't think we should -- we need to pay attention to the fact that the small business people that are affected are showing up at their voices are being heard. it is going to be very difficult hearing tomorrow, but i will be there to support the small business community. >> there won't be any public comments tomorrow, right?

>> is my understanding that many people are planning to show up and they should show up if they can. >> item number 24, adjournemenm. president riley: all in favor? >> the meeting is adjourned at 8:49pm.

>> good afternoon. i'm the director san francisco's department of the environment. we are here today with our partners to make an announcement about san francisco's accomplishments in the cycling that can only be called the story. san francisco is a city that knows how to recycle. over the years, our city has been a nationwide later in recycling, and mayor newsom has made it a priority to develop new recycling and composting programs, set aggressive goals, and keep us on track. without further delay, it is my pleasure to introduce mayor gavin newsom, who has some spectacular news. mayor newsom: i think this is the completion of your first week on the job. melanie was with the speaker's office doing similar work, so

that we could be successful in san francisco and but in a position to make a lot of the announcements we have been making bore over the last number of years. i happen to think this is a big deal. i think that other cities across the country that struggle to deal with the issue of their diversion rates with landfills that are literally filling up, that are becoming floating regattas of landfills that are being pushed up and down rivers and across the coast and around the continent, that this represents an important milestone, the cities can think differently and act differently and do some of them substantially differently -- do something substantially differently as it relates to their waist. what we know, we do not think, is that 1 million to 1.5 million people are moving into the urban cores and consuming roughly 80% of the earth's natural resources in these urban centers. what do you do with that

consumption? what do you do with that waste? what do you do with the construction debris associated with accommodating for that mass urbanization as it relates to the majority of the planet now living in these urban course? in san francisco, we have answered these questions to the degree that no other american city has answered. we have answered these questions in a way that not only protect our environmental framework and footprint but at it -- advances and economic framework and paradigm that creates wealth, opportunities, jobs, as we reduce our aversion rates and greenhouse gas emissions concurrently. this is a big announcement. was not that long ago that i got into local government, that we. 35% of our waste was being diverted from the landfill. it was pretty good at the time, and i'm not 90 years old. it was not that long ago.

and we set these audacious targets, people saying, "there they go once again. this cannot be done nearly this will destroynqñ!ó the economic c of the city. this is burdensome, the government coming in and determining how someone should ask, how someone should " weç hit that goal. people said it was amazing. other cities said that it was amazing and asked how we did it. they came out here, and we started to see the first groups of folks coming on tour, not to see coit tower, not to see the golden gate bridge, not to jump on a cable car or go down to the birthplace of the biotech industry or ucsf. they started coming down to the recycling facility. foreign leaders coming onshore to the recycling facility asking how we did it. we have experts from government,

from business. we saw folks in academia saying that san francisco is doing something right, so we reach that milestone of 15%, and we said that is not a stretch bowl. that was a good and impressive first start, but let's raise the bar. what we did a number of years ago, i think it was seven years ago, we set forth our new, more audacious goals, and that goal was to reach 75% of version by 2010. -- 75 percent diversion. and eventually get to zero waste by 2020. people said that was cute, that was fun, but these guys have lost it because they do not understand. i remember listening to these experts saying that we just did not understand how it works. the first 50% or 60% is the easy part. once you get past 60% or 65%,

then every% increase comes at a huge cost. it is too difficult, but we thought we could put it together, and one of the ideas was to create a construction and debris ordinance, which we passed in 2006. this was landmark legislation. where we said if you were going to develop or get in the construction business or remodel or reconstruct and demolish, the you have got to get -- what? roughly 60%? 65% of that debris diverted. that helped. the construction industry was not necessarily opposed. they saw some benefit. they have got to dispose of this one way or another. requires some on-site disposals and strategies that at the time took a little different kind of thinking, but eventually, people got it right. we extended the small folks you

see behind me in the pickup truck, so they do not have to worry about their back yard and their little kitchen, but for the bigger projects, we did this, and suddenly, our numbers started to creep up over 70%. no city in america has ever come close to that. there are cities just down the road that have not even reach 50%. big cities can never even imagined 50% or 55%, and here we are. i remember being mayor out here a number of years back, and we were proud of 7%. they said it would be very difficult to reach that 75%. that income is tough. until last year when we came out and we were out here and we have the hard hats on, and we came out and said because not only that construction and building debris ordinance, but because of this new idea on composting, which we realize was a big component of the remaining

waste that is here that was not being diverted that if we could raise the bar be on the first ordinance with this next order is, that we could reach that goal, and we announced that we were close. we were at 72%. this again was historic and people were mesmerized, and no one more than us, that we could reach that goal because the incredible work that you see from the folks behind me and the imagination of recology. and then composting happen. first city in america to require composting. "san francisco's off the deep been. they have lost." we do not know why it did not happen before. the ban on plastic bags, and no one could shop again. we have shut the economy down. water bottles. now with composting, you have gone too far. "you mean, sir, that you will

require me to take eggshells, and i have to put them where? the green, the blue, no, no, the green -- that is too much." san franciscans could never figure this out, and some actually went to my private garbage. reporters had a photograph taken of my garbage. it opened the lid. came down and visit me at home. there was a top of a water bottle in a green been, not the blue one. this is outrageous. the garbage police are next because they are going to find you. this is a way of generating money. of course, what we were ultimately generating was hysteria. now, we are here to celebrate what we have really generated is jobs. the folks you see behind me are

green collar examples. these are the folks that because of these proposals, because of these new ideas have work and have the dignity that comes with a paycheck. 118 jobs have been created in the last couple of years since we instituted some of these new proposals. recology has over 1000 folks disproportionately in the recycling business now. that is why they changed their name, so there was this notion of recovery, as opposed to the old scavenger framework. it was all about hauling and just dumping. now, it is about hauling and diverting, and the jobs that are part of this are the jobs of the new economy, and that is what we are celebrating. 77% of our waste is being diverted, highest in the united states of america, shattering our hopes and expectations of

reaching that 75% milestone and giving us so much mentum -- momentum and enthusiasm that that goal, talk about a truly 20% city, is proving this can be down, right in front of us. let me end as i began -- enthusiastically. i do not think this is a big deal. i know this is a big deal. the more i tell, not just the state, but the country, and i see folks all around the world, and they are dumbfounded by what the city has accomplished. you know how cities really operate? what you do not want to understand is what goes on and goes down here. this is about waste water. this is the stuff that lies beneath the surface, and at the end of the day, it is the stuff that really matters because at the end of the day is the work that these guys are doing behind me in this building