where the water comes from, how precious the water is, and where it goes, it will protect all of us in the future, and they certainly will be much more educated than us today. i think we need to start there. if we're looking into all the problems with the school district, how do we make that happen? i know they have a hard time because they love to go to the zoo. we have a treatment plant underneath the zoo. how can we make that transition happen? so the school district is meeting again next week with our h. r. director, and there are folks putting together the program. we are all ready partnering with some -- already partnering with some union folks to teach a class at the high school. this is facilities maintenance that has to do with water. at that point, it is a little

bit late. we need to get them early. how many of us are tired of looking at the statistics that the u.s. is 25th or 30th in math and science? we need to get the children interested. not just waste water plant operators but chemists, ph.d. doing all this research for us. we can help with that. everything in with water and water, a lot of math involved. we deal with volume. they have to calculate about how you see it clearly, but it is slightly cloudy. the need to figure out what is in their that causes it to be cloudy. this may help the kids, get them induced about math and science. there is a much bigger picture that we have to think about. supervisor maxwell: that is what i'm talking about. isn't that exciting?

there is just more of it. if you open up those plants to tours, people really get excited about it when they look at all the laboratories that are there and what people are doing. i think a lot of our staff, folks went up to hetch hetchy. i think that is extremely important that you make sure that they are educated. supervisor mar: they prevented us from going, but our staff benefit. and we started them off right. we started at the southeast with water treatment plant. supervisor maxwell: i know that the waste water pre- apprenticeship station engineers -- people have been in to see me several times, and i think this program should be ours on, i do. so if the program needs to be revamped a little bit, if it needs to be brought up to a different standard, maybe we need to talk about what that standard needs to be because i

think it is extremely important. it is where people are trained to be stationary engineers and they go forward. can you give me a little insight about that? >> the program started when we expanded the treatment plant in the 1980's. there is only seven physicians. however, a lot of the people that came to this program in the 1980's have retired from these jobs. they are not construction jobs. we are training them to be stationary engineers. a stationary engineer makes somewhere around $85,000. it pressed them for the apprenticeship program through local 39, and if they get in the program, it is a full year education that they can come out of there with an associate's degree, certainly with some certifications to work in any

treatment plan basically in the united states. so we are working on revamping with our general manager. we're hoping to get some more positions out of that. we're hoping to get some sewer system improvement programs. this program has been very successful. what we are doing with the program today is slightly different than what was done in the past. in the past, they have come in just going to waste water. for the current program, we have -- the water department actually hired someone. that is the first time that has happened. the sheriff's department hired from our program because stationary engineers also run buildings. not just waste water treatment plants. they run buildings. they operate elevators. they work on lighting. they work on boilers and all those kinds of things. in the jails and those

facilities, they have those things there, so it is important, but we want them to be competing with the other apprentices. the apprenticeship is not an easy one to get into. approximately two dozen people compete for dispositions, and they only higher somewhere between 50 and 85 people every two years. we're working on the start time so we can make sure they get enough training for the apprenticeships exam and that they stick a long enough after the list comes our so they have an opportunity -- and that they stick around long enough after the list comes out said they have an opportunity to be hired. supervisor maxwell: is that the southeast treatment plant work force program? >> yes, they rotate. they go to oceanside. they work on all parts of our plan. our maintenance, operations, so they do rotate around.

supervisor maxwell: when you all come back with a dollar amount, i think it might be helpful -- i know it all does not fit in one category so you can categorize it, but i think it is important to put a figure on what we do here. >> i agree. supervisor maxwell: it is very valuable. when the educate somebody for four years, what is the value of that? what does that mean? that is the puc doing that. the programs we have during the summer that i have been part of, when you all go and get young people of color, engineers, and they come and work in the city, i think that is a brilliant program, and it should be documented. we should note that you also provide some housing. it is important for people to know where their dollars are going as well. >> yes in deed. our general manager mentioned, i

was in the golf tournament -- it was not all fun and games, but it was fun. this program was put together by our employees and some key business folks that put together funds. this is for kids to have great potential, graduate from high school, and moving on to a four- year college. this has a 90% success rate. to send them to a maritime academy to live there with an academic enrichment program during the summer for six weeks, so only one kid that has gone through the program -- we have been doing this since 2004 -- that has not gone to a four-year college. it is a 90% success rate. this is just the employees doing this, and it is specifically for kids out of the bayview hunters point. >> i just want to also mention fred murray -- sam mary -- sam

murray has done a lot with those programs. >> he is the one you mention that ran the program we run out of thurgood marshall. he is the one that put the whole career thing together. supervisor maxwell: just to think about that. all right, anything else you would like to add? >> we look forward to coming back on november 1. >> karen, is she still here? thank you so much for everything. talk about enthusiasm. it is really -- i do not know what it is about wastewater. anyway, thank you all, and we look forward to talking to you. also, that is a good one. november 1, all the things we have asked for is when you will

bring that back as well. is there anything you would like to hear or ask for? all right, thank you. thank you so much fun. does that include your part of the presentation, everybody? i would like to open his heart of to public comment. >> not only a stakeholder with puc, but i was on the task force that was set up, and we worked with him for 18 or 19 months. the community benefit project that came before you earlier -- there was a lot of discussion earlier. we met with a lot of sound that came, and one of the things we did discuss that is not a pioneer of when they talked about the 2% going to the art and culture are commission, i came up with a figure of 5% to

come to 93124. we did not have what we call community benefit. at that time, it was called mitigation, and as you know, you have met with some of the young people from the community that have fought in certificates working on the solo, and we are getting more people working on it. that is one of the good programs, and i do not know if you know it or not, but in the ec ambassador for solar -- i am the puc ambassador for solar. supervisor maxwell: you have it on your home, right? >> yes, i was the first one. i came running up there when i heard about it. some of the supervisors were

there. they came here in i would just like to say that i hope that you pass on this because you do not just wait for the percentage. the 5% that i have requested. we were concerned -- mostly everything they read off was what they learned at our meeting. community concern and oversight and monitoring and about local hiring in the community. because these are some of the things that we have been dealing with over the years, and i would like to say, as you know, puc just came about under -- who was that? if the mayor because they were not always there. everything was under department of public works. but since they are coming together, i give them history sometimes, to let them know where we have been, and i'm not leaving bayview/hunters point, so i'm quite sure at the next

meeting, they will have a percentage. you want to give us more, i would appreciate that very much because it is very important for the education. we talk about math, science, but we need to have our young people learn algebra because of the fact that we are stagnated, and we have schools that do not want to proceed, and there should be a demand that this be done for our young people because they aren't going to be the rate payers in the coming years. thank you so very much. -- they are going to be the rate payers in the coming years. >> good afternoon, supervisors, chair of the sustainability workgroup with the san francisco green party. first of all, i just want to applaud sfpuc staff, and especially commissioner ellis, for especially bringing this process into the 21st century. this goes beyond words community

benefits and becomes more like interactive community process about what the entire community is going to be like and much more holistic. some specific recommendations, a very specific one -- i do not know if it is in there or not, but i do not think the sfpuc has yet barrier wetlands plants, and i think that needs to be integrated. new orleans had serious problems because it focused on sea walls instead of restoring what land barrier have attacked it would have protected new orleans better against sea level rise disaster events. i also want to second what share maxwell said about community process. i think it is important that maybe redo the spreadsheets for the presentations so that community benefits is not the

democratic process is not under community benefits but how you reached community benefits and so there is a very aggressive process to go out and reach the entire community in public meetings is at the table so that nobody gets left out. i have one third and very important recommendation, which i have a feeling is not there yet. after being an organizer for about seven years in san francisco on city hall years, there is one glaring problem i have seen over and over again -- knowing that a budget is coming forward, knowing that if they work the process, they can get community benefits dollars for their own organization, and it makes it impossible for that good democratic communication to happen because some organizations are so aggressively pursuing their own interests. i would like to see in this a very specific set up so that

whenever community benefits dollars are brought in, there is a will that is created for the entire -- a pool that is created for the entire enterprise, not just the project, and it moves want some of that money, they have to meet the create the pool, but they do not automatically get it. they have to bid for the jobs. same thing with the contractors themselves. instead of allowing them to independently give money to organizations, whatever project money they get, they should be putting into the public community benefits process, which would have to be bid on the public process. supervisor maxwell: well said. i think a lot of us have been thinking it, but that was well said. >> greetings.

we support this program and want to thank the sfpuc and consultants for their hard work in the excited they will make this program even better. we look forward to the education fees, more public meetings, will look jobs and opportunities for our community. supervisor maxwell: thank you. >>the puc being who they are, they are part of a conglomerate dealing with the energy, energy being the largest employer there is, the largest industry there is. the opportunities that they

bring to the community, especially the lower and disadvantaged neighborhood, is something that needs to be looked at and needs to be dealt with. i look at the project over here on golden gate where they are constructing a building, and i see very few people from the neighborhood. i have not seen one woman there. i do not know if they call themselves policing their own projects. i'd like to see some community activity to monitor these projects because i find it hard for an agency of this magnitude to look at itself in any kind of critical way, being part of the southeast job coalition, i would like to be able to thank supervisor maxwell for the work that she has done in this area,

especially creating job opportunities and bring it to the light of the possible list of what can happen if and when we all work together. again, puc is a billion dollars more times than one, and i would like to see the transparency. there are too many jobs not being afforded to the people who live here in san francisco. i would like to see some people and are able to sit down at the table with puc from the community and be able to negotiate some working agreeable plans where they are not excluded. thank you for this opportunity. supervisor maxwell: thank you. >> good afternoon. front-line defense budget, a member of southeast jobs

coalition. wanted to thank the puc, former commissioner ellis, general manager harrington, the consultants who have worked so hard on this. you know that the office of economic work force development have worked very hard and have met with us. we had a big meeting to go over this. we met in the city hall to get feedback with an array of other groups to help inform this, and i think we are really excited. most of all, want to thank supervisor maxwell, and i say this because i was just telling the executive director that i think most of us recognize that which is your 2003 resolution about promoting social justice through project labor

agreements. i carry this around all the time. a number of us do because i think this discussion started out of a really big sense of disappointment with respect to the wsip pla not delivering on what he wanted it to deliver. i think the work you have done with your colleagues has made it better. also, i think it is important because we want to do more project labor agreements, but we want to do it with mandatory local hiring. i know a number of community advocates -- we only want union jobs. union jobs are what we seek to do, and seek to create more union jobs because that is the way we're going to break cycles of poverty. i want to make sure your colleagues have a copy of this so we can carry over the coming months and years to just keep referring back to this document. the language is just so important.

i'm really serious. we look at this all the time, to know that this is how we are going to do it. the challenges are serious, but the city is going to create 9400 blue-collar and green color jobs starting on january 1 of next year, and if we do not do something about the way we approach local hiring, this good faith efforts nonsense is not going to deliver. you said we were going to do this to create opportunities for specific communities, and role minorities and women, we were going to create long-term lifetime careers in the construction industry that carry with it an opportunity for maintaining a family-wage income, this will be our guiding principle. this is a vehicle to do it through this program, a vehicle to do it at the board of supervisors in the coming days, maybe ours. tomorrow may be. thank you again so much. supervisor maxwell: thank you for your work.

thank you so much. any further public comment? seeing none, public comment is closed. any comments, general manager? allied, colleagues, comments or questions -- colleagues, any comments or questions? then he so much for your attention. thank you all then. why don't we continue this item until november 1? all right, thank you. well, yes.

>> welcome to the october 19 meeting of the san francisco municipal transportation agency. please call roll. [roll call] .

>> mr. chairman, of a forum. chairman nolan. thank you. >> electronic devices are prohibited at the meeting. any person responsible for the ringing of or use of the cell phone pager or a sound producing electronic device may be removed from the meeting. please be advised cell phones set on vibrate do call microphone interference so the board respectfully requests that they be placed in the off position. item four, approval of the minutes of september 7, 2010, regular meeting. chairman nolan: can we do the 21st as well? >> yes. chairman nolan: is there a motion to approve the meetings? >> motion to move. chairman nolan: second? all proved say eh. approved. >> item five, communications. chairman nolan: this morning i

would like to ask we do the special recognition awards that we move right to item 11. our controller is here to make the presentation. at that point we can return with the board members report and the rest of the agenda as planned. also one item on here is the card scheduled for 12:00. until then there will be a closed session before that time. >> mr. chairman, in addition, please be advised that two items in closed session have been removed from the agenda at the request of staff, that is anticipated litigation and the performance evaluation of the executive director. item six, introduction of new or unfinished business by board members. chairman: i think director heinicke. commisioner heinicke: yes. thank you for following up on the issue of peak-time cabs. i'm informed by our counsel

that we do not need a formal pc&n study with quasi judicial findings like we may have in the taxi commission days to put out peak time medallions, but we do need to make a sort of legislative finding as a board that there is a need for this. will i personally am convinced there is a need for it. but i think this is something the whole board should do so with your direction, director ford, and deputy director's permission and permission of the chairman, what i request is that we ask staff to propose a timeline for how we act and review a peak time taxi proposal and maybe i would suggest that one of the first things we do is actually to schedule a hearing as to whether there's a need for this or not. if it turns out i'm wrong and there isn't a need in view of the board, we can stop it there and consider other things if there is a need for it as i personally believe, then we can make the legislative finding that we need to, to go forward

and handle that all in one fell swoop, perhaps with the direction of the city attorney's office. the second issue. chairman: board member's sconet? ok, director. commissioner heinicke: the other thing we have talked about briefly of offline and i wanted to bring to the board's attention is for those of you who ride regularly, there's been some significant service interruptions. recently director ford and deputy director haley and i. i was unable to make it because i was stuck in the tunnel. say that for levity reasons. know director ford and deputy director haley are aware of this issue. it's my understanding we are getting a comprehensive memo reporting on the issues that i know he's on top of 78 and what i suggest again, director nolan, so we can have a public airing of this and let our constituents know what our staff is doing to address this

is once that memo has been sent to us so we can explain our remedies. >> second. director heinicke: i'll leave that to you. this is a -- i do think the public should hear about what the problems are and what we're doing to address them because they are very noticeable as i talk to fellow riders. director nolan: well taken. director ford: our plans -- there are few issues we are dealing with right now in terms of the age. director nolan: thank you. director brinkman? director brinkman. . i wanted to call attention to the article. i had a phone call with one of the parents who haze child at that elementary school and there's a proposal to do some traffic calming on monterey boulevard. i understand they are already

working with staff in the group and that they do have support of supervisor elsbernd to do some traffic calming and lower the speed limits on that street. know as director beach correctly pointed out that we do have to take into account the speed of muni service along there with any chankse that are made. wanted to bring that up because it's so important that according to the scammer, 50% of the students live within a mile of that school, which is really what neighborhood schools are about, but only 20% walk probably because of the safety issues. director nolan: would you like report back from the staff? >> sure. we will put together a memo in terms of solutions and a timeline for when they will be implemented. director nolan: i was happy to read about -- i guess starting today, the new taxi stand over at the ballpark. >> yes. director nolan: 10 spaces. is that right? director ford: exactly. we're trying to make sure we