away on wednesday, november 10, at age 89. he worked for the veterans administration, and retired after completing 30 years of service. he was a community leader and has been in the trenches of community work for over 25 years. he organized the bayview hill neighborhood association and served as president and agent from 1985 through 2004. he received numerous awards in recognition for his tireless work in the community. he was appointed to the board of permit appeals under agnes and served as commissioner for four years. he was a humble and wonderful man and worked tirelessly for his community. ralph will be missed by his family and friends, and all the community and all the people who knew him. i would like to extend my deepest sympathy to his family. his funeral service is sunday, november 25 at the mortuary. there will be a funeral mass at

10:00 a.m. at st. paul's of the shipwreck church. >> thank you, supervisor maxwell. we will skip over supervisor alioto-pier and go to -- supervisor alioto-pier. supervisor alioto-pier: thank you, madam clark. i have one in memoriam today for robert baragelata. he was a trial attorney for more than five decades and the brother of a late supervisor. he died after suffering a stroke. he was 85 years old. he devoted most of his career to representing accident becomes who claimed they were mistreated by insurance companies. he retired from the practice of law several years ago. his longtime friend and colleague said that the two of

them were discussing an upcoming insurance case the day before he died. he is survived by his wife of 54 years, his daughter, his sons michael and robert, and four grandchildren. he was known as being a dapper dresser who walked down the streets of san francisco, at home, and abroad, handing business cards to people he met and inviting them to call him when he came to san francisco. he will be sorely missed. supervisor campos: -- supervisor chu: if we can do it from the full board. that would be appreciated inappropriate. i would also like to adjourn in the memory of william frost. he was born in san francisco in

1923 and passed away last friday, surrounded by his loving family. his wife barbara raised their eight children in the sunset district and more active members of the parish in the district. he served honorably in the army during world war ii and was always very active in the community. he was an avid runner, loved camping and body surfing, and also square dancing. he will be missed by his children his grandchildren and his family and friends. >> supervisor daly is not in the chamber. supervisor dufty: i have introduced an ordinance that relates to the path of gold and rainbow banners that hang on the street fixtures. that measure hopefully will be referred to the city operations committee and we will be looking at the replacement of some of the banners that are on market street. colleagues, i would like to submit an in memoriam on

behalf of joseph medina, the fire chief, on behalf of the entire board. he passed away on october 26 at the age of 75. he grew up in san francisco. he attended local elementary schools and graduated from galileo high school. he went on to serve for two years during the korean war as a member of the marine corps. afterwards, he studied fire science at san francisco's city college. in 1962, he joined the fire department and work of the ranks. he was promoted to lieutenant in 1970, captain in 1973, a battalion chief in 1977, and assistant chief in 1982. he was appointed to position of file -- fire marshal and in 1992

named head of the department. he retired in 1996. he was a respected individual who led the department. he worked at every station and studied constantly as he was promoted to the ranks to become chief. he was always appreciative of the effort and dedication to fellow firefighters and treasure the bond of friendship with those who worked under his command. he took a great interest in the lives and deeds of all the personnel and their families and is regarded as one of the great fire chiefs that has served the city and county of san francisco. he will be remembered fondly as a fairly dark, a gentleman, and a friend. he is survived by his wife of 26 years, his children, family members. we appreciate his service and dedication to his city. i am also introducing an in memorial for erwin bayer. he built a successful textile

manufacturing business here in the san francisco bay area. it became a premier supplier of quilting fabrics around the world. erwin was a past president of the jewish community life in san francisco and a longtime supporter of the jewish community federation. he was a graduate of san francisco state university and was an avid forty-niners fan. he held season tickets for 40 years and attended all the super bowls at which they competed. last, i am submitting an in memoriam for john robert myer. he passed away with his partner james at his side. he was the and the son of theo and lucille and enjoyed a rich and full life. at 16, he joined the merchant marines as a cook and survived two bomb attacks on the ship. he worked as a makeup artist for the san francisco opera and

studied with the martha graham company and the joffrey ballet. his family was involved in managing properties. he and his partner owned property in many cities. while he lived in many cities, he much beloved san francisco, which was always the city he loved most. his final days rest and surrounded by many of the people he touched throughout his life. he is survived by his loving partner and his adopted the sun, and many other nephews and family members. he will be greatly missed. >> thank you, supervisor dufty. supervisor dufty: there is one item i did not mention. i want to acknowledge last night there was a vigil outside of city hall that was hosted by the

healing circle support group. i wanted to share that among those people who were remembered at the candlelight vigil was the sixth month anniversary of the passing of a husband and father of three children, delmand eugene carter, who was shot and killed on may 15 of this year. his wife was in attendance, as was his mother. i saw his mother at public comment, but i do not believe she was able to stay in order to testify. i want to acknowledge there were family members and loved ones of jovan hilton, the 22-year-old young man who is the second son of felicia willis to be killed in gun violence, and the parents of another 22-year-old who was murdered on november 8. i want to acknowledge them. obviously, many colleagues have worked with the healing circle. i would also like to share that

in all of the sadness among those that were remembered, they went out of their way to acknowledge it kathleen perran, the individual who lost her life in russian hill. their stance in behalf of her loss was greatly appreciated. thank you. >> thank you. supervisor mirkarimi: with supervisor dufty, i was at the healing circle vigil last night. i want to commend them for their ongoing work. most often not in the spotlight of the media or large public crowds, they gather together to commemorate and reflect on those whose lives have been lost on the streets of san francisco. i think it is important that if anybody who has not witnessed or been part of that process -- that they actually do so. at the beginning of this meeting, we were shocked to learn of the passing of brother kelly cullen of tndc.

i do not have all the information we would like to collect in order to address the othebrother cullen's life in the way would like, but this really does it as pretty hard. he was only 57 years old, and his impact on the city and the tenderloin is everlasting, and will be woefully missed. everybody who knows brother kelly's creativity and in the fatigue of all energy -- and indefatiguable energy will miss him greatly. he has been connected to tncdc from its founding in 1981. he ascended to executive

director. he became one of the first tenants at their first building. the hotel, for most of his 21 years in the tenderloin -- brother kelly has lived in the franciscan friar at st. barnabas church. he has a long history in the tenderloin. he in 1979 became director of employment at st. anthony's foundation, which everybody knows very well. they feed thousands of people per day. in 1981, as i said, he joined the staff and became director of the tenderloin recreation center, working with san francisco recreation and parks department and eventually joining tndc. when he became executive director in ne, they have nine

buildings and 1000 tenants. later, they have 21 buildings with 61 units of housing and 3000 tenants. he left, making a mark and like any. i know that the city will feel his loss. i would ask that on behalf of the whole board that will certainly send our condolences. president chiu: without objection, that shall be the case. supervisor mirkarimi: i have a feeling some of our colleagues will want to weigh in on this since it is fresh news, if not today certainly next week. >> thank you, supervisor. supervisor daly/ ? supervisor campos: i will introduce an ordinance to extend the operation of the voting system task force, as that deadline is expiring. i do not know if i am supposed to do this, but i want to wish my partner happy birthday, who is waiting for me at home.

thank you. president chiu: on behalf of the full board, we all extend him that. [laughter] supervisor elsbernd: i would like to ask the board to adjourn today's meeting in memory of someone who i consider myself lucky to call a friend, howard lester, who recently retired as the ceo of williams sonoma company. howard took over williams sonoma in 1970 and took it from a company that at that time had just a few stores around the bay area, and he is largely responsible for developing it into the tremendous brand. pottery barn, west elm -- howard did all of that for san francisco. he was very proud of his roots in oklahoma, but a lot of people do not realize williams sonoma headquarters are right down there at the very end of van ess, right there by galileo high

school. howard did it in district 2. i got to know howard not through that. i got to know him through his tremendous charitable work. howard actually did not want it known then, but he was largely responsible for the project in supervisor maxwell's district. he was the general chairman of the hugely successful 2005 american express championship and the general chairman of the president's cup last year at hardin park. his contributions locally and to the state -- he spent the last several years down in the desert communities, palm desert, palm springs, and his native state of oklahoma. he was a tremendous man, a brilliant man, and very, very generous. most importantly, a huge heart. i will miss him personally. this is a community that will

very much miss all that howard lester did. i ask us to adjourn in his memory tonight. >> that concludes roll call for introductions. president chiu: we can now go to general public comment. we have obviously had two sessions of public comment related to mayoral succession. general public comment is for those topics we have not yet discussed. please focus on topics we have not discussed. thank you. first speaker. >> [speaking a foreign language]

ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. i am here to show you. i have three different firelier. the flier here says free thanksgiving day dinner. i hope and i wish that madame clerk could give each one of you a flier for the one i have in my hand. at least i can see you and invite you to serve as food to the homeless people, who deserve it. i have here three different places.

we need your help. and i need your help. and i need to give you a chance to have touched and to know something about the homeless people, who wait for your mayor. ladies and gentlemen, you go to the service. i would like to see you there. there is a shelter on geary street. and there is also a lovely place i have here, as i said -- unity church on brinkman street. i wish and i hope everyone of you can understand that the people who are waiting for this

free dinner of thanksgiving would like to see you. and i would like to thank the people who help them before. they do very much. president chiu: thank you. >> stop the public report of the public library. do not accept money from a foundation. private money used to distort social values is a bigger issue than just the library. private money is used to maintain the class barriers and convert public assets to private goals. that is why the influence of private money always depends on lies and secrecy. it is important to realize how little private money is involved. i could tell you that the library's public budget is $83 million and the contribution of the so-called public-private

partnership is 0.45%. last week i talked about the relationship between private salaries and the donation to the library. the week before that i talked about the abuse of public comment that the ethics commission has found to be below the standard of decency. those facts depend on each other. it takes a lot of abuse to make liars and thieves more respectable than an honest citizen. the truth is we are not being enslaved by private money. they are using our money to enslave us. are you prepared for a city hall where you cannot talk them corporations because they paid for the chairs? that is what they do for the library. we have publicly funded institutions to reflect the virtues of democracy. that effort is a trade for a fraction of a penny. what happens to public institutions when they are used to maintain class barriers and

to promote the influence of private money is that truth itself becomes meaningless. what they have done to the library can be done to what you care about, and it will. including city hall itself. that is why i always say the allies cost more than the money. thank you very much. >> supervisors, i am joshua wellington. i have spoken to you before about the police department being overly violent with citizens and how to better make them responsible. what i have found is even in 2001, the ninth circuit found the city was lacking in making officers tell who they are. still, that policy is in place. at the time, they did not have to put anything on a report.

now, although they may have a right to the report, the refuse to give it to them. the policies inside the city attorney's office are so fraudulent and unlawful that allow police officer indemnification. if you would not mind putting the thing here, you know it shows flat out that you guys refuse to hold the officers accountable. you refuse to hold yourself accountable. your officers are supposed to be responsible for things but do not hold themselves accountable. at this point, we the people have no way meeting you or any part of city government accountable to the law you are violating. you are supposed to be responsible for upholding the law, not violated it. yet that seemed to be the majority of their policies. public policy protect them, indemnifying them from their responsibility without an investigation. the stance of the city

attorney's office is to ask them if they did anything wrong. all they have to do is say we did not do anything wrong. we did not violate anybody's rights. we did not falsified a police report. nobody is going to go look into their lives. -- their lies. you can affect not only policy, but police training. that makes you responsible to hold them accountable for their actions. i am currently seeking through the city attorney's office. president chiu: thank you very much. next speaker. >> peter warfield, library users association. here we are, almost 9:00 p.m. at the end for landmarking arena branch last week. it was a disappointment you did

not do the landmarking for the north beach branch library. in much of the discussion that occurred publicly with respect to that issue, there was a great deal of discussion about the supposed benefits of a new library that the library wants to erect on the triangle next to the park, to the existing playground. the discussion did not mention, and in a sense acted as though free money was available for that alternative. there was not a discussion about the tremendously increased cost of the new library, and how that would negatively affect library operations for many years to come. a couple of short six levels. arimstead maupin, author of

"tales of the city," well known for his writings, has a new book out. when i inquired about the availability of it, i was told there were four copies available and 63 reserves on those four copies. if everybody takes those up for three weeks one after another, it would be a year before i or anybody else on that line, unless they bought more copies promptly. park branch library closed. replacement is five to eight hours per week of interim service. there are very serious impact that a tripling of the cost of the library building will have on years of library service in the future. that was not discussed. president chiu: thank you. next speaker.

>> good evening, board of supervisors. thank you for your wonderful vacation here this evening. i am late brother stephen girard. i am travelling to the california coastline, presenting the concept of life piece on behalf of fatherhood, motherhood, and childhood. you'll be happy to know that i spoke at united for life this past monday on this new zoning concept that has been presented, in fact, on the burton road within the last year. in a life peace zone, it is a new zoning law. you have the legislative authority to establish this new type of the zoning caught fire. how a life peace zone works is that if you have a business district, residential areas, commercial hospitals, whatever

you will, you can establish a new life peace zone on a district by district basis. in this zone, you would transform and create a new overlay, a fire so that your business districts -- if they desire, your business districts can be rezoned to become a b3l. what a wonderful concept. you could ratify this new type of zoning code on a wonderful day such as mother's day or father's day, a new net -- another new way of thinking. i am delighted to let you know i have bill white placard labels a would like to give to each of you before you leave tonight. you can put it above your light switch, whether it is in your office, whether it is it your home, to start considering the possibility of life peace

zones. it is a very simple concept. thank you very much on behalf of life peace zones. president chiu: thank you. next speaker, please. >> good evening, supervisors, president. i wanted to discuss last week's decision that you made against the landmark issue of the north beach library. i find it interesting that completely ignored in the process last week was ignoring the fact that the historic preservation commission recommended this to you, 7 mayor-appointed specialists in the field. we were told by president chiu that many documents from various fields of expertise are opposing the land working. the sunshine request revealed that there was not one preservationist. in the implication of

disregarding the mayors appointed experts for the city, there are 7-0 with regard to preservation specialists. the rest of the list -- one particular focus is architecture and architecture context. there were no historians represented whatsoever. what are we getting for this? if you could project please the view of the bay destroyed, because it is not being covered. it is not being exposed. a 6000 square foot building is being proposed for a 4000 square foot site. it spills out onto mason st., destroys the view. this is being put forward as an alternative to a landmark, which was not even considered last