were all due to the america's cup coming there. the have showcased their fine cities. i would never have gone to valencia, or halfway around the world to auckland, new zealand. they were able to showcase their cities on television, on the internet, and in print media, so we could get a better understanding of how great the cities were and how much better they became. they also brought tourist dollars to the cities, very important to us in a down economy. finally, the provided jobs and tax revenue to the cities, which is very important. i do not think anybody has put the numbers on how long the cup has stayed in new york and newport, rhode island. it was there for 132 years. it was the longest standing winning streak in history, over

27 successful defenses. i am sure mr. ellison would love to hold it that long. it is unlikely he will, but it has a long lasting benefit. also, youth programs. our foundation supports youth programs. i fell in love with sailing when i was 12 years old. i actually had polio when i was 3 months old, and so i could not do baseball, football, and other things. sailing was one of those areas where i could compete on a level basis with others that were able-bodied. one of the organizations i benefit from will talk about that part of sailing. i will give strong encouragement to move forward. chairperson maxwell: geoff green, joy o'connor, bob

neihbor, jessica schumer. >> good afternoon. i do not know anything about politics and economics. there are other people who know about it. but i am a sailor. my guy is also an avid sailor. we think this is a good opportunity to try to keep the america's cup in the bay area. i am part of a group called the bay area association of sailors. we have managed to sell floats for close to 25 years in the bay area with the help of able- bodied sailors. we think having the america's cup here can only benefit us. there is more to sailing then

prestige and money for us -- than prestige and money for us. it is about lifting the human spirit and healing the soul. i have seen many people come through our group. it has done wonders for people as young as eight or 16 with autism, people who are quadriplegic, who can learn to sail by themselves with a server system. people like me, who are blind, who have never thought of sailing. with the wind up on my face and the sun on my head, it is a fantastic experience and a good opportunity for us to bring that to the poor front. thank you. chairperson maxwell: next speaker, please. >> good afternoon.

my name is jeff greene. i direct the team program. there are several aspects of this. one of them is that when we take our people sailing and they go to treasure island, we cannot get on the docks because the docks facilities have not been set up. this is an opportunity for the facilities of san francisco to be raised and the accessibility to be improved. for me, sailing is extremely exciting. i grew up in san francisco. until the age of 11 years, i was never able to cut -- never able to touch a sailboat because it was an inaccessible area for me. when i went to vietnam, i met a fellow named fred hess.

we met in thailand. i was building boats in thailand. i came back here and eight years ago we met again. he had a disease called muscular dystrophy. fred had failed at the stamford -- failed at stanford as a competition sailor. we set up a single vote for him to sail on. we discovered something called access denidinghys, which make sailing possible for everyone. i am going to be followed by a competitor racer who races with the able-bodied. this is an opportunity for our world of the u.s. to realize that accessible sailing is something that can be achieved by every city in the country,

not just san francisco. we have the largest fleet of accessible boats in the world. i would appreciate your supporting this project. it would benefit all of us. thank you. >> my name is christina ripke. i and our group are proud members of the san francisco sailing community. we strongly support this bid. as my colleagues and my other south beach yacht club people have told you, this is a wonderful place to sail. the south of market area is insanely cool. it is up and coming.

we have so much going on. i think it is a wonderful opportunity to increase the diversity in that area and increased access in that area, for all of us. i am glad we now have two women who have spoken so it is not just a male-dominated discussion. i would encourage anybody who thinks it is an elitist sport to come out and still with us. thank you. let us know if you have any questions on the accessibility things we do. we are glad to be part of that discussion. thanks. >> i am bob neighbor. i am here with several hats. i am a member of island yacht club in alameda.

that is a diversity perspective. i am also a board of directors member for the san francisco yacht racing association. we oversee all racing in the area. i am excited about the boat choice as the commodore. lastly, i am a golden gate yacht club member. i grew up in ohio. neither of my parents went to college. my dad built our boat in our basement. during the summer and spring time, we would move it to make it ready for the summertime. we went sailing on the lakes in ohio. i watched the america's cup growing up. i visited rhode island as part of that. i moved to silicon valley to work in high-tech as an engineer. part of the attraction of the area was the sailing.

this is the premier sailing venue in the world. people in harbor basic differently, but it is generally acknowledged that it is one of the top if not the top venues in the world. it is a natural amphitheater so the public can enjoy it. sailing is available across demographic groups. golden gate yacht club does support everyone in the area. sailing is a green event. it is going to be a tremendous economic boon not just for the city and county, but the greater bay area and the state. i will make a "from a local -- make a quote from a local seller of international acclaim. he had a midlife crisis a few years ago, and during that he went to the olympics. he said it was funny that he went to the olympics and all of

the olympic sailors were aspiring to be america's cup sailors. the whole world is watching and they would love to see it here. chairperson maxwell: next speaker. dr. jessica schumer, via boyd, vincent casselinas, ronald wallace, bill riley. >> madam chair, supervisors, i am the chairman of the board of directors of the south beach yacht club in district 6. i am a resident of supervisor elsbernd's district. you have heard from our commodore. a couple more bits about it. this is why we support wholeheartedly the term sheet

and efforts of the city to attract america's cup for san francisco. our club has about 500 numbers in district 6. most keep their boats there. some travel in from elsewhere around the bay. it is a region one facility. we offer access to the community. as mr. per se mentioned, we have a youth sailing program. we had about 80 kids come through the program this year. it was oversubscribed. we would like to expand it and can expand it with the right facilities. we have cooperated with san francisco friends of the children to make sure and get community participation outside of our membership. we bring in 120 to 130 sailors from around the city on a given friday night. we strongly support the effort.

we passed a resolution at our board meeting on thursday night and have a copy of our letter of support. for all the reasons for the city that have been outlined, and for the opportunities to district 6 -- addressing the crumbling appears -- piers, enabling access, and enabling us to have marine events, world championships, and major were -- major used sailing events. there are world championships in all kinds of areas. this would allow us to do it. we want to develop that with your support. chairperson maxwell: jamie whittacker. come right out if your name was called. >> mining is based washington. i was born and raised in san francisco.

i am appalled as an african american here in san francisco. we all know we are diminishing our numbers down to a little bit. but now we have all the rich -- not the rich but the super rich. they want to have a playground here in san francisco once a year. i have been reading about it. my own supervisor supports it. but i want to ask the city and the rest of the rich, rich people -- have you heard what is going on here in san francisco, about the out migration of the african-american community? have you heard what urban renewal did in the west of mission? some of us call it negro removal. this city and council, and the mayor, i know the mayor personally. i am seeing all these super rich people who want to make plans for the next five years after we

are gone so they can have a place to play in yachts and boats. none of this is related or connected to what the mayor talked about with the african american out-migration. what we have here is called community reform. but one something that the generation coming after me can enjoy. i am appalled of the mayor. he really does not care. he is going to sacramento, or have you heard. here in silly hall, we have the progressives. you are planning on three or four years. i am appalled at city hall. what the hell is going on here in the silly hall?

chairperson maxwell: next speaker, please. >> my name is jamie whitaker. i am a resident of maine and harrison street. i am close to pier 32. i am president of the labour association and president of the mission bay neighborhood association, but i am speaking as an individual at this meeting. i would like to say that in general i believe our community is supportive, anxious, and excited to see of our waterfront developed. i see a longer-term resident than i am of the area. that project has been in the works since 1999. i know $18 million has been set aside for the development.

it would be great to see it done. in general, very supportive. i would like to agree with my supervisor, chris daly, that it is unfortunate the mayor's office did not reach out to him to hear questions, concerns, and ideas from the residents of district 6 earlier in the process. he is our supervisor and i believe it is disrespectful to all of us who live in district 6 bore him to not be included. we are an engine for the whole city. we have the giants. we have these condo high rises with six or seven -- with $6 million or $7 million in property taxes, yet there is no continuous sidewalk. i am very excited. i want to make sure there is

community space reserved for people who live in that area. i would like people to have their opinions inc. while they are being formed, and not just apologized for afterward. chairperson maxwell: next speaker, come forward. >> i am bill reilly. i am a 34-year resident of district 3. i am a member of the golden gate yacht club. just a couple of points i would like to add to the discussion so far. one is i went to valencia in 2006. i viewed some of the races. it was to me incredible to see how much the city did to attract the races in that time. newspaper reports said they spent $2 million in infrastructure. having been there, i believe it.

they built a complete light rail network down to the port. they transformed their entire port. the converted more than a third of it from industrial port to what is now called the america's cup port, with separate access to the sea. it was marvelous. i agree with supervisor mercury me -- mirkarimi. the jobs have been way understated. and america's cup event lasts for more than a month. every place has lots of security. there are security guards everywhere. every news organization in the world sends two or three people. there is a huge fall on that comes with this thing. the other thing, as mr. young stated earlier, is in newport and valencia the only way to see the cup in person was to be on a

boat and go out and see it. we have a unique opportunity in san francisco where we have a natural and the theater. sydney has a similar opportunity, but nobody wants to go that far. we have an opportunity to continue with additional races after this, not only the america's cup. there are losers and winners at every one of these races. but there are dozens of major boat races in the world every year. it is like if you build it they will come. a think we have what we need here to do that. -- i think we have what we need here to do that. thank you. >> my name is kevin manell. i am a manager of the small business located in marine county. right now, we have five employees. i think that with an opportunity like this we have the ability of

vastly expanding. we are a builder of a great technology. we can power 45-foot sailboats or catamarans. we are also a global company and manufacturing house. we can reach out with america's cup being in the bay area and reached out to the world. we can easily quadruple our work force within the next couple of years. i think it is a very good thing and i am having a supportive of it. >> i applaud your stamina. >> my name is john stangmeister.

i represent the city of long beach's efforts in sale long beach, a bid package that unfortunately was not chosen. i want to impress upon you the opportunity you have. long beach spent some resources in time on their bid package. while we were disappointed, we were thrilled that the golden gate yacht club have taken such a hard look at hosting the event on san francisco bay. i was privileged to sail with dennis in the '87 and 92 america's cups and have had the joy of sailing on your day in at least a dozen big boats series. it is spectacular and i know your city will host a tremendous event. time is of the essence. bids for this are serious, real,

and competitive. i hope that through your leadership you will move quickly and affirme the presentation. thank you. chairperson maxwell: thank you. thank you for coming. next speaker, please. >> my name is robert mozina. my wife and my children started the golden gate youth program. we did it in such a way where it would cost something much more than money. it is without charge. it costs much more. it illustrates constructive friendship and practice. for our children, the day was a backyard. our son is a captain on the bay. my daughter is the captain of

the ucla sailing team. we always wanted and always felt it should be this way for the children of the entire bay area. going ahead with this project will do more to tear down the barriers between young people in this area and the bay than anything i have witnessed in my lifetime. thank you. >> good afternoon, supervisors. winning is peter kandiss. i am a resident on rincon hill. america's cup has a worldwide audience. if you check your video logs from all around the world, there are people watching your live streaming. as a resident of district 6, i want to apologize for all of our international viewers for the behavior of supervisor daly. although he represents my

district, he does not represent myself and many of our residents. i want to encourage you as a lifelong sailor myself and somebody who grew up in a working-class family -- my father was a teacher. he worked three jobs to be able to buy a boat, a 21-foot base sailor -- bay sailer. having enjoyed the sailing on san francisco -- i think the whole issue about which people -- the money this is going to bring into san francisco, the maids cleaning hotel rooms, the cooks that make the food -- the number of jobs that are going to be generated. maybe some of us are over optimistic. but the opportunity for san francisco -- everybody has said it. i cannot emphasize enough. for me, as a resident of

district 6, the opportunity to redevelop the waterfront and to have that actually be useful and bring people to that area and have more life down there -- if we blow that because of that kind of behavior and that kind of thinking, that is what the previous gentleman who was so angry should be appalled at, if we blow this opportunity, especially given that -- what do they want to see their besides crumbling piers? do they think they can do better than that? chairperson maxwell: i want to say that i think supervisor daly has a responsibility to many people and has a responsibility to ask those questions. i think those questions are very appropriate. i think we have the answers to them, but i think they should be asked. he represents people who feel the same way he does and has a responsibility to represent those people. i and many of us here may be in agreement to have those

questions asked. to have his voice is important. supervisor mirkarimi: -- supervisor mar: i think our chair for acknowledging the important question supervisor daly was raising and supervisor mirkarimi for validating a number of the key concerns. i recall getting the "chronicle" or "examiner" articles and calling your office to get more information. it is his district that is being impacted. more of an effort should have been raised to bring him up to speed. another issue people have raised that i want to know more about is that people have said sailing is not an elitist sport. i just did my google search of

"is sailing an elitist sport." i know how much it cost to put on bowling shoes. i do not understand how much it costs a working-class family -- or a low income family from the mission or the tenderloin -- if they want to do that. if you say it is not an elitist sport, give me examples of why you are saying that. chairperson maxwell: not now. supervisor mar: if it is an elitist sport, how do we make it more accessible for everyone? members of district 6 want to know how they can participate and benefit from a tremendous opportunity like we have here before us. those are questions that are in my head. chairperson maxwell: i think those are very valid questions, and i also think it is important to say whether it is or is not we want to get more people out there. i think maybe this is an opportunity and we need to recognize it has been.

look at the audience. what do you see? from that, it is not as diverse as we would like it to be. certainly, it does not look a lot like san francisco. how do we make that happen? for me, this stuff is also about making it happen. next speaker, please. >> my name is curtis kalusen. i am going to talk about elitist sports. my supporter is the bay area youth sailing association. that is a conglomeration of the huge sailing programs in the bay. we have approximately 2500 youth that are sailing against each other. these use come into our sport without owning a boat. they are all sailing our boats. they raced against each other on the pueblo and on the regional level. about half are girls.

about half our boys. there are many diverse people who sail against each other. it is a wonderful community. i can tell you on behalf of the kids we are all very excited about this prospect. chairperson maxwell: next speaker, please. i want to thank everybody for staying. i just want to thank everybody for staying. a key for hanging in there and staying with us. move closer note -- thank you for hanging in there and staying with us. move closer. >> i have been sailing for over 30 years. i did not come from an elitist background. over the years in the bay area, i have found