area. i have made a -- suggestions along with the skateboard association for things that could be done there that would cost nothing. we're told that the people that where going to design the skateboard area in line to improve temporary structures there so the skateboarders would have a place to skate. i suggest you direct staff that we move with this as quickly as possible because skateboarding is not going away. we need to deal with it. >> thank you so much. >> good afternoon, commission, general manager. staff as well. >> i'm speaking in behalf of the a.s.o. community.

i have been involved in meetings and commissions and an attitude and approach towards us has causetitude and approach towards us has caused the -- quite a bit of concern. for a lit -- we're a little disappointed because it hasn't helped and there's been quite a bit of discrimination. that word "help" that i mentioned has not been providing us equal access. i defwoo like to make the suggestion to all of the staff, once -- want you to think about help as not -- not helping us and guiding us, we want to be able to have equal access. it seems that that is -- that is improved or your thought it would be im3r06ed with -- improved with helping us and helping our community. it really stayed the same. you do understand the word "access" but it seems it has been ignored and you focus on helping our community.

there hasn't beech much improvement in the department. it seems most of the community lost respect for what you have been lacking and providing us. we want the accessibility, not necessarily the help. we don't therapy. we don't need doctors or nurses or help. so we don't appreciate is not having the access. the last world cup, the department hosted, an approach. we didn't go -- my son was under age, we weren't allowed to go, the group felt if general the accessibility wasn't sufficient. those went to the bar, wee ask if they would turn on the captions, they said they couldn't because it was unacceptable. we would go to different places and not be provided that access. a couple of years ago when

president obama made the speech in washington d.c. during his inauguration there was a wonderful access all around but the department here didn't provide the same access as it did in d.c. my son told me there weren't many accessibility places for him. i had to remind people to turn on the caption setting. when we were watching the world cup, and other events. it seemed that many staff just around ignored our request. also would refuse to identify themselves. it had been extremely frustrating. it seems it has gotten considerably worse. we have requested interpreter services. sometimes we get turned down. we can't have the interpreter while we're watching television, that's a strong insult.

as well as for everyone else in the community. so as to provide the service that is have the captions, that you don't charge. i don't understand why the department is providing such an attitude and -- it feels like a very personal insult to us within the community. it is causing us to lose respect. so we're asking for access, not help. >> thank you so much commissioners. >> thank you so much. i am going to ask the staff if they could provide the commission with -- just at a fourt date, general information about how we broy access and maybe we could pursue this further. >> we have more. >> earnest teen weis and jeff cosal. i'm sorry i can't read this name. shock, allen jefferson, and let's see what it is at that

point. we actually only have five more minutes, go ahead. >> my name is earn ness stein waters weis. it came to my attention this past sunday at 9:00, we had an event in the herman plaza with the music blasting away at 9:00 this the morning. you have to talk to dana and reduce the decibels on -- des -- decibels on these permits. the community is fed up, no necessity to have such loud sound in a small area. you know how big justin herman plaza is. it is very small. let's stop the noise once and for all. first of all, the park is supposed to be passive, it is supposed to be for passive enjoyment. we need the money but we don't need the noise. sunday mornings and when people come home from work. please, stop the music.

lower it. the next thing is -- there are there are rumors of a playground being proposed on the square right next to your proposed bochy court. they want a playground there. have any of you ever gone down there to see exactly where this spot is? it is right on the border of the f line. give me a break. you want a 2-year-old to run out in the street and get killed by an f line? then next to the f line shelter, there's a handicap ramp which is quite wide next to it. this is not the place for a playground. all of the parks and the major cities do not have sports, do not have play grounds at waterfront parks. it is about time we copied what is nice and successful. new york sydney australia. vancouver, chicago, all have beautiful tasteful parks. let's have the same thing here. the next thing is -- they -- the

leftover electric generators which are huge a and block 202 of the ferry park which peter pan put there for their -- their show has to go. this cannot remain -- number one -- may i complete this statement. against the rules of the park when i -- were -- no buildings were to be built there-on. this has to be removed immediately. this will never be used again. that's the end of it. thank you. >> thank you. >> miss jefferson. >> and katherine howard, did you want to speak under general public? >> okay. thank you. >> my name is alan jefferson. i'm a resident at 1339 pier street and while we love the park and the renovation, we don't love the pal league there in the evenings. doing their practice. it is a very dangerous situation there. we have complained, our neighbors are -- our

neighborhood association has complained to the park and recs to the police. and now i'm going to the fire department after -- after this because it -- the double parking, the belligerent behavior is a danger to the children that dash if and out of the -- between the cars, running to their parents, you cannot get through pier street between 6:45 and 7:30 any evening, i welcome any of you to come out. i'm not sure if they're there this week but -- they may have ended it -- as of last week but i have to literally get out of my car and take 15, 20 minutes to go in to the park to find people who have blocked my driveway. i have to get cursed out by parents for blocking my driveway. i'm like drawing the line if the sand. i have been going through this for years. i think this -- the -- this department should have as a requirement when they rent the space that they provide you know some -- some traffic monitoring

for that -- that area, because it is where -- for the safety. i'm an adult, i can handle myself. i can go out in the community and doo what i need to do. but these children, it is danger for these children to be crossing the streetp1 kids to be crossing the street and dashing out with all of the cars. and i welcome any of you to come out and observe for yourself. it doesn't take brain surgery to figure the danger that's taking place. but my neighbors and i, we should not be harassed. we're taxpayers in the city and we should be able to have access in and out of our home free of belligerent, rude parents. so i ask that you come out. i'm just letting you know i'm on a mission to get this resolved, because i shouldn't deal with it and the children should not be placed in danger. president buell: thank you very much. we'll look into it. >> we have one more blue card and that's bruce mcclellan.

>> hello, commissioners, i'm here talking on behalf of -- i'm bruce mcclellan, the concession heir down at the ma reena green. right now -- not today, but it's going to be coming up. you're thinking about putting foods carts down at the marina grieb. i think the food carts are a wonderful idea in many locations where there aren't any facilities to offer the same services that food carts can offer. however, at the marina green there is a facility, our facility, and i would encourage you at this time to just start thinking about the placement of these food carts. i know they're going to be in the different parks around the city. i think that's great. but not where you already have a business. it is going to impact our

business. a majority of our customers are the bicycle rental customers who drive their bikes all along the marina green and they buy food at our concession. if you have these hoot carts further down there's going to spend their money before they get to us. from what i understand the percentage that the food carts are going to be paying is 10%. i'm currently paying 20%. my guaranteed minimum, which is $18,000 a year, overshadows the guarantee or the estimated income of $7,000 that they're going to be providing. we're hanging in there. we're doing well. we have exceeded our minimum last year. that was before the new cafe opened in the presidio 100 feet from our location. that was having an impact on us. i am concerned that the food carts, if you put them down in

the marina green, are going to have a further impact on our business. i am your partner down at the marina green and i want to work together with you, but this is going to make it kind of tough. thank you. president buell: thank you. >> we are done with general public comment at this time and we are on to item number five, which is the consent calendar. i do have one card and that is peter -- president buell: there is public comment at the end of the meeting as well, but we open it up to 15 minutes at the beginning of the meeting. so if you haven't been heard you'll get a chance for items that aren't on the agenda. >> peter? >> ok. is there any other public comment under the consent calendar? seeing known, public comment is closed. commissioners? >> moved to approve.

president buell: it's been moved and seconded. any questions? hearing none, all those in favor. [chorus of ayes. ] president buell: it's unanimous. >> we're on to number six. vendor location. >> good afternoon, commissioners i'm the director of partnerships and resource development for the department. i'm here today to present the location of the blue bottle coffee concession in delores park. on september 2 the commission approved a two-year permit. it was in response to feedback from the community, where they preferred not to have a five-year permit, but instead, preferred to have a shorter permit. at that meeting the commission also directed staff to locate blue bottle in the southwest quadrant of the park and to return to a future commission meeting to plent the proposed

location. we have since met with blue bottle staff as well as operations staff to identify a suitable location. the proposed location is adjacent to the children's play area in the southern portion of the park. the department staff worked closely to identify a location closer to 20th and church, but there's very little hardscape in that area, so this is the furthest or closest appropriate location to the proposed location. and this location is over 1,000 feet away from 18th street and delores. i also want to discuss what will happen when the playground undergoes renovation sometime hopefully next year. as this playground renovation will occupy a large part of the southern portion of the park, including the identified location for blue bottle coffee, it was necessary to find an alternative location during construction. and due to uncertain logistics

-- construction logistics, we haven't identified exactly where that will go, but we are proposing that it will go against what is going to be a construction fence. it's also on this map. it's hard to see, but it's the top sort of white box. this is almost 1,000 feet away from 18th street and delores. we had a community outreach meeting to discuss this and our vendor policy in general. it was held on september 27 at mission delores church right off the park. it was convened by delores park works and attended by approximately 45 to 50 people. there were panel relationships that included relationships from the recreation and park department, neighborhood parks council, blue bottle and delores park works. it was also facilitated by delores park works. at the meeting we presented the blue bottle location and responded to the community's concern about having vendors in the parks. in response, we -- due to those

concerns, we have agreed vehemently to monitor the operation, the initiative and the park and i want to point out if negative impacts on the park cannot be mitigated. the permits are fully revocable. president buell: thank you. do we want to hear public comment before we get commission comment? >> ok. elizabeth gibbons, julie flynn, daniella, rob lord, shakira finley. if you hear your name, please come forward. and deborah conscious. . . deborah -- thank you. >> my name is robert lord. i am the chair of delores park

works. thanks for all the nice things said and thank you for the bathroom. that's a tremendous improvement and i appreciate a member of delores park works is actually leaving the organization, crystal is here, for being an advocate for that. very quickly, as you may be aware, we're a community volunteer organization serving the park's many patrons, in particular, their shared interest, including urgent channels of trash abatement, bathrooms to serve thousands on the weekends and how to cooperate with processes with the rec and park department, which is something i'm engaged with phil on. it's great. today we're here specifically to comment on the park vendor issue. we have concluded that the choice in terms of the vendors, if any, is beyond the delores works park scope and instead

will be addressed by community groups, organizations, a lot of people here. our job is to essentially be above the fray and focus instead on the process. so specifically with the vendor agreement, whereas rec and park has executed ventor agreement contracts that have a provision where rec and park can unilaterally revoke those permits and whereas we work with rec and park -- that is delores pork works, neighborhood parks council, can work to document, publish and adhere to community communication engagement and accountability best practices, then and only then delores park works endorses the releasing of the vendor park holds. we understand that it's completely the authority of rec and park and this commission and nevertheless, we think it's important to underscore this communication engagement and accountability best practices

so that issues of recourse don't have to become an issue in the future. thank you so much. >> thank you. >> good afternoon. i'd like to, if i may, read a letter on behalf of the executive director of la cocina. to recreation parks and the concerned citizens of san francisco. first of all, thank you for this opportunity to present all of you with knees words. i am sorry that i cannot be here for this meeting, but i am happy knowing that so many people do care about the situation. briefly, i am writing in support of mobile vending in delores park. while the process may be flawed, as has already been indicated, i would also like to put in the general record a sincere acknowledgment of the effort that has to this point gone into the selection of not only small businesses, but the progressive attempts by city departments to create a sustainable revenue stream for its valuable park systems. as a general city, let alone state and country issues, the presence of mobile food vending

units in public green space is truly miniscule. but because these parks are parks for all of us, this conversation has been both enlightening and necessary. as an organization la cocina has advocated for five years that would allow low-income entrepreneurs to access avenues for formalization. we believe that the rec and park program is just such a policy and they go a long way in innovation for small business owners. make no mistake about it. this is still very much a business. there have been no give machine awace. with the minimum monthly rents of over $12 per squake foot, we'll be lucky to make money. we need to be cognizant of the potential of making this work and delores park seemed like the right place. we mention this because we believe that part of this conversation must consider the economic reliability of the proposal and the viability of this program. it is because of this recognition that we believe

that all sizes of business and nothing is not a good thing for the program and for the parks. hopefully most people know what we do as an organization and know that we work hard to ensure that the city creates opportunities for entrepreneurs. we are here to support the entrepreneurs. president buell: you can finish, go ahead. >> to support our nrps in their opportunities to launch their businesses for a hungry public but also to encourage all of us here today to consider not only the drawbacks, but also the clear benefit of the proposal at hand, increase watchfulness of the park, additional revenue streams into the park's covers in a city that is notoriously difficult to do business in. we have heard and understood the concerns of everyone and rest easy knowing that we can answer to nearly all of the concerns by not only addressing the issues raised, but also by being part of the solution. again, thank you to the city and to all of us here for the ability to have this conversation. president buell: thank you very much.

>> next speaker, please. i'll read a few more names. rachel herbert, steven gillett, michael mcconnell and jeff -- president buell: before you begin, let me suggest to staff that i think there are now enough seats that we'll let the staff not suffer anymore. they can sit down. >> hi, folks. my name is julie flynn and i'm also here from la cocina. i wanted to make one additional comment. i think one big concern that we heard at the community meeting was the mismatch of resources in the park in terms of trash and bathrooms, with the addition of new vendors. as an organization that works really closely with one of the vendors that will be in the park, i want to drive home the point that we're excited to be part of the parks community. the way we view our role there is added trash pickup. not only do we have an obligation to pick up the trash, but we would also have a vested interest in doing so. so i think we just really hope to continue to add value to the

park community and while the process of the contract may have been flawed and i know there's a lot of emotion flying around that, we really are open to the discussion and hope to continue to add value. so thanks for hearing us. president buell: thank you very much. >> next speaker. >> good afternoon, everyone. my name is shakira finley. i am a small food business owner. i'm also president -- a president of the castro. i am speaking -- i'm sorry. i'm speaking -- i'm here not to be the voice of, but to provide ears for small businesses who cannot be here and speak on behalf of themselves. but hopefully that you will listen and understand that. we really appreciate what san francisco has already done to increase opportunity for mobile vending. it's ironic that we're having

this conversation and just several hours ago we had mobile vendors providing great food this afternoon in the plaza. and based on my twitter feed, people love that. in light of the economic market, the tight credit market and also general obstacles for specifically people of color and women in starting and maintaining a business, we should not be limiting opportunities for these populations to operate. i think that's irresponsible. i speak very personally about this issue because it affects me directly. and i really, really feel in allowing for these businesses who come from disadvantaged backgrounds to operate in delores park and add that extra value and bring people into our public spaces and bring tourists and money and our community out. that's something that seems like a common sense to me. the 18th street is a commercial

corridor. as a small business, i understand if you go into business there's going to be competition and that's just part of running a business. so i think we should be mindful of that. i just -- sorry, i'm just real passionate about this. i think it's important that we pay attention to the populations that we be revoking opportunity for -- as it is. president buell: thank you very much. >> next speaker, please. >> good afternoon. my name is debora. i'm an 18-year resident of 19th street and i am a 10-year teacher at everett middle school. i'm speaking as a voice for my neighborhood and community. i am most definitely not anti-small business, i am for community, which is why i live

and work in my community. as i was listening to the speakers before me, i took notes. i heard someone talk about the degree gragation of golden gate park and about the damage to trees. i heard someone talk about neighborhoods covered in graffiti. that's been the reality of our neighborhood around delores park for the last five years. the overuse is well known and documented. i won't spend your time on that. the park is dead. there is very little green grass. it is mostly brown. the trash fills up. i invite all of you -- everyone invites you to come see things. come see our neighborhood. at 6:00 on a monday or sunday morning after every weekend the overuse and look at the trash buildup. look at the money that our city is spending to remove this trash. the extra garbage cans, the extra few porta-potties, and i agree, sir, they're very

unsightly and i can see them from my living room window. it's astonishing the quality of life degrad days that has happened. there are plenty of coffee and food shops within a two to three-block radius. it's not about not wanting vendors in the park it's about wanting to keep the park as calm and less populated as possible. it is overused and it is well documented. thank you. >> rachel, steven, michael, jeff, dina open enshime, lucifer. >> hello, commissioners, thank you for the opportunity to speak again. i just want to preface what i'm going to say by saying that i really love la cocina. they're a great organization and i think they do great work in the mission and around the city, and i personally support

them 500%. i am here to talk and speak to the process by which the whole idea of food vendors came about in delores park. it seems that history is repeating itself. in 2008 rec and park signed a contract with a vendor at clay tower without doing sufficient outreach to the neighborhood. the tower concession principles and goals document that i have with me today was drafted by various neighborhood groups in north beach and telegraph hill and is the result of community efforts, involvements and monitoring after a misguided proposal for the coit tower concession in 2008. it has become a public document and should be referred to that way. as i mentioned, i have a copy with me today for your review, but i'm sure you guys already have one. it is clear that the neighborhood is opposed to the commercialization of delores park. we have a petition with over 1,000 signatures from people who are in opposition to a

commercialization of delores park. this document speaks for itself as it was posted online and it was put in a handful of neighborhood businesses only five days ago. we have 1,000 signatures. we have about 1,200 signatures after five days. please listen to the community on this one. we understand that the park is in serious need of funding. the numbers thrown out by phil ginsberg at our last community meeting was $70,000. i know phil is doing really good work in other areas and around the city, there's no doubt about that. but let's turn this situation around. i stand before you today as a neighbor and a business owner and i give you my word that i will help raise up $70,000 for delores park. there are numerous ways to come up with that money without having to sell delores park out from under the neighborhood. so please come to us for help instead of pitting us against each other and wreaking havoc in our