accordance with seven to discuss city policy. -- san francisco city policy. the purpose of this is to commission some of our local pieces. right now, the budget for this portion is $14.5 million. basically, it is intended to enhance the rider's experience. you notice the station we have on market street right now are rather bare, except for advertising -- utilitarian is a better word. to that effect, in july of this year, two artists were selected for the project. they are now in the development stage. mta submitted the report for the

new starts. the letter for prejudice approval. that will allow them construction on that access to it. -- access pit. then in february, a major milestone, full funding. immediately after, construction will begin. revenue service, just for the christmas season. the funding plan is mainly unchanged from the baseline. the funding shortfall has been reduced to $133 million from $164 million. that was from high-speed rail connectivity funds that were identified to be used on the project. i also need to mention, even

though technically it is not a shortfall,bn @ there are $88 min in tcrp funds that are dedicated to the project, but because of the state of the economy, it is unlikely that those bonds will materialize. commissioner chu: so it is $88 million on top of the $133? >> yes, these are state funds, traffic improvement funds. because of the financial state, it is unlikely that those funds will materialize on time. it will materialize and eventually, but they -- it will

materialize eventually, but they will need something to fill the gap in the meantime. with that, that completes my presentation. commissioner chu: the shortfall is the $133 million and the back fall, the $88 million, the amount that mta needs to secure before 201. 1. is there an end to a representative who can speak to what the prospects are, are you explore options for that gap, what are they? >> good morning. we have been exploring with a

group called the mind the gap group. the committee has come up with a series of underpriced strategies for closing the gap. -- unprioritized strategies for closing the gap. we do not need to have all the money in hand, we need the commitments in hand. some of the funding, we do not expect until december 2011, but we have to demonstrate to our partners that our funding is solid. right now, there are the gaps. that said, we submitted a new annual report to the fta. we are still processing that internally and we will be briefing staff on the findings of that report in the next few days, weeks. commissioner chu: thank you.

when would be inappropriate time to get a report, update from this committee to educate us on where we are with closing that gap? >> thank you for the question. i think it would be important to have this discussion prior to the next meeting of the plans and programs committee, so that you can be informed about it at the next meeting. the project and process is moving forward. what joel said is correct, you do not need all the money in and, but it will make a stronger case when you are arguing it did before congress. particularly, for a project this size and with this much the visibility. an active role on your part, in terms of understanding where things are going and where advocacy will be needed, so with

your blessing, a level schedule it for october. >> any other questions from the committee? are there any members of the public who wish to speak on item #8? >> howard wong. savemuni.com. we hope on behalf of ridership, the mta, ta, exert the same passion in seeking funds for the muni system, not only for the restoration of service that has already been cut in december and may. but the deferred investment of $1.9 million that the m.t.a. study has concluded has been missing.

$609 million, the structural deficit for the maintenance of the existing fleet. the central subway, as you may know from our previous communiques, in our opinion, is a poor investment, a politically initiated projects that does not serve chinatown or north beach. the central subway projects project -- reduction of services to the stockton corridor. about 75,000 hours per year. we think even the existing state and local funds of $384 million, of which $123 million in prop k funds, might be a salvation of the muni system in the next few years as the city

faces increasing budget deficits. we hope there will be some enlightened leadership, if not from our city, from washington, perhaps the fta themselves, independent agency that are not as potenbeholden to the politicl forces in the city, to guide us, in no way that will improve public transit for all of san francisco in the coming years. thank you. >commissioner chu: thank you. are there any other members of the putt that would like to speak? seeing none, public comment is closed. commissioner dufty: i just want to comment, as a supervisor who has a district including the castro, i cannot imagine the sustainability of my neighborhood without rail transit.

the central subway will offer the reliability of hundreds of thousands of people every year to go to chinatown in a very expedited and fast manner, also union square. i think it does set an important milestone, in terms of providing rail access to other parts of the city. i think this is an important project and is good for the city as a whole. commissioner chu: thank you. any other comments from the committee? commissioner cihu? commissioner chiu: this is a project that will have an enormous impact on the community. insuring that we have real north/south access to our system will expand our transit options and will help the community in ways that is hard to imagine at this time, particularly being able to use such an enormous amount of federal funds in these

tough economic times is an opportunity that we have already decided on numerous occasions as a city to move forward on and that i will continue to support. >commissioner chu: thank you. next item. >> introduction of new items. this is an informational item. commissioner chu: commissioners? commissioner dufty: earlier today, we took action on a number of black related funding items which all of a strong support. i recently spent a bit of time with some policy makers, representatives of the dpw, visitors from the netherlands, to see how public transportation and biking is really a way of life, but not here in the country. i would like to hear an item at the ta to discuss the future of

the bicycling in san francisco. we have been in conversations with representatives from other departments, the viking community, and we would like them to take part in a conversation so we can inform the work that the ta is doing. commissioner chu: thank you, commissioner. related to the topics we spoke about earlier today, we may have spoken on, taking action on with regard to the central subway. it was simply an update to where we are in regards to closing the gap. that will be an important conversation to have. at least an update on where we are heading to, where we might need more help. the other issue relates to the $100,000 additional increase for the audit. i know that we spoke earlier

about the opportunity to bring back to the committee, once we have a good idea of the scope and completion of the components of that. i would also like to request that we have that update as well. any members of the public who wish to speak on item number nine? seeing none, public comment is closed. >> item 10, public comment. commissioner chu: any members who would like to speak in general comment? seeing none, public comment is closed. >> item 11, adjournment. commissioner chu: thank you, we are returneadjourned.

>> good morning, consuls generals and your constituency. the elected officials who may be here and other distiguished guets. sts. may i welcome you here to celebreate the national days of our wonderful countrymen, people from and people who are citizens of the consuls' generals, citizens of el salvador, nicaragua, and mexico. these flags will be outside your

abode. this is a colorful and historical day. we are proud of our ethnic diversity. we're very proud of the history that we have with your country that goes back so many years and we are very happy that these will be in front of the city hall. this is the seat of government. my introduced the custodian of this building. you shone the dome well today. [laughter] and of the government. a mayor who is making history, gavin newsom. [applause] mayor newsom: thank you. thank each and every one of you for being here. it is an honor to have you here, and you have been here many times with the flag raising ceremonies. this is, in particular, very

important and appropriate that we ask all of you to be here. we share so much in terms of the respective histories. i am reminded every time i go down the hallway, of this history. the mayors who are here before the city of san francisco. the city was founded over 200 years ago. that connection in mexico and the relationship with spain, all the challenges that are good and bad. this is more positive with an engaging future. this is something that is indelible in the minds of the people of san francisco. particularly those who served as custodians of this great city. she is right to say that what makes san francisco special and what makes the bay area special, and the state of california so

remarkable is the ability to attract people from every conceivable walk of life, regardless of race or ethnicity or sexual orientation. this is a region and a state that prides itself on its diversity. i say this often because this deserves to be repeated often. we did not tolerate our diversity, we truly celebrate this. it is right to celebrate all of these differences. at the end of the day, those fundamental aspects of our lives are what we all show. what we are doing today is sharing the values of the region and the state. we pride ourselves in being the most diverse state in the most perverse democracy. we have seen this over every conceivable difference. the more that i go out, not just across the state but across the

country and around the world, we have the privilege of visiting people for every conceivable walk of life. and i truly believe that people look to us to see that it is possible to live together through all of these differences. they know that there is something special and magical about this city and this region. and that is why we are here. that is why i am here. and i am grateful that you are here. i am grateful for the extraordinary contribution of the people from mexico and central america. i think that this is interesting and appropriate to notice that san francisco county has the distinction as it relates to the latino community that is unique among the 58 counties. we have more latino representatives. --

>> this is not the case with the other counties. we have these in el salvador and nicaragua, as well as mexico. not everybody understands this and we are celebrating this remarkable collection. the city of san francisco took the lead as the city of refuge after the civil wars in the 1980's. we established, firmly, the foundation that marks so much of what makes this city a special place. it is mocked by those who do not understand and who did not want to understand, and this is trivialized by political campaigns and this should not be diminished by sound bites and in political campaigns. we stand up to that.

and we did not play into this. we do not believe in dividing people. we do not believe in diminishing others in the broader scope of the world. we are also celebrating that today. i am honored that you are here and i am grateful. i am happy that you took the time to celebrate with us. we have, in this spirit, a formal proclamation. you do not have enough wall space for the proclamations that you have received. but this is my honor to recognize, you have to share this today. garcia understands this because there are only 365 days a year. he must have given out 10 days every day. and i am trying to separate this. in the spirit of brown, let me

give out heritage day, guatemalan heritage day, and mexican heritage day. and the crop one -- the crop was -- nicaraguan day. this is the day we celebrate our histories in this remarkable bicentennial. thank you very much. [applause] >> thank you all for coming. we have more to celebreate this historical and colorful day. we thank you for all you do. have a wonderful celebration. >> did you have to hurry? [laughter]

>> gentlemen. we are talking about el salvador. >> thank you very much. iwould like to thank gavin newsom and the mayor's office for inviting us here. the consul general would like to continue our very good relationship working together in the bay area. i'll have a couple of words for the community. [speaking spanish]

[applause] >> i already -- i don't need to translate it. >> guatemala? [applause] >> first of all, i want to mention that i am not the

ambassador, because he has been detained for the work that we do for the temporary protection status with the people of guatemala. i want to thank the city for this wonderful work that they have done for the immigrants, and we celebrate this 15th of september with our sister countries, and also with mexico. and again, we would like to thank the city of san francisco. thank you. [speaking spanish]

>> mexico. >> thank you very much. we're very proud to be here today, on the celebration of the bicentennial. and the continuation of the mexican revolution. these are very important days for mexico and mexicans. and in northern california, this is a special meaning. we have contributed to build this great state. and i think that one more important element is an extremely complex relationship that makes it so happy, is the by cultural family that we support. for that reason, this is a

special occasion for me to be here. and to celebrate with all the friends of mexico. we will continue working with the elected officials with a different representative because we believe that we are part of this the first community. and we can continue contributing with hard work, for the future and the next generation. and i held that the next 100 years -- we will be celebrating the same. thank you very much. [applause] >> we should have won with each consul general. we should have an individual picture.

>> and where is the camera? >> you got here for the picture. [speaking spanish] >> thank you very much.

>> ok. let's have everybody together. >> so quiet. [laughter]

♪ >> vivas. [applause]

1:41 supervisor chu: good morning and welcome to the city operations and neighborhood services committee. are there any announcements today? >> all persons attending this meeting are requested to turn off cell phones and pagers. if you wish to submit speaker cards, please place them in the container at the rail in front of you to your left. if you wish to submit copies of materials for members of the committee, please submit extra copies for the c.