transportation authority. the first was by our own budget analyst and focused on compliance with state and federal regulation in identifying areas where there could be potential savings to the operating budget. that effort did identify some welcome opportunities, i think it would be fair to characterize those as marginal in terms of how much they could help with the structural deficit in our long-term concerns. when the phase was completed, we discussed the next steps. i proposed to move with a second phase, funded with proposition k dollars. there are opportunities to ensure through the capital program that the mta investment projects that result in better service for the people who take transit -- so we procured a

second audit process with a firm, cgr. the auditors are here today. it's still very early in the process. we are not expecting findings. a number of board members, commissioners, have been interviewed. this is an opportunity to further understand the scope of the audit and how it is proceeding and relevant to our ongoing concerns about budget matters and efficiency matters regarding the mta. commissioner campos and the staff have been working with cgr, as has my office. i want to ask commissioner campos if he has any comments before the presentation. commissioner campos: thank you very much, mr. chairman. i think you have essentially summarize how we got here and

where the work is. i just look forward to hearing from cgr in terms of the status and in terms of the process. i think it is good for the rest of the transportation authority to hear that. i do not have anything to add at this point. commissioner mirkarimi: thank you. cgr, will you please join us? >> mr. chairman, commissioners, my name is jim ayers. in a principal with cgr management consultants. my team members here are jim kennedy and keith kennedy. commissioner mirkarimi: i'm going to ask you to speak directly into the microphone. thank you. >> sorry. just to refresh your memory is

about the three functional areas that you chartered in the audit, these are the three. they are important for a couple of reasons. one, we want to focus very much on the questions and issues that you presented to us. we have also had some differences with mta in terms of setting up meetings and perhaps trying to limit the scope of the meetings and the coverage we can do with any individual to a preselected items on this list. we do not consider these three areas -- they are interlinked.

they're not stand alone. that is an artificial kind of separation. one of the first tasks that we had was to focus the audit on particular areas of interest. that cost us to make these items in scope. when we had our entrancts conference, we wanted to make sure we had but central subway project included. one of the other themes that we heard in the meeting is getting value for money. finding other ways to be more efficient, other than cutting

budget costs. here is our task structure. we've provided our first deliverable, which i believe came to you electronically. it was an initial assessment. that was deliverable on october 29. we are probably going to be late because of noise we had including access to mta staff. commissioner mirkarimi: what was the reason? >> because of problems in getting access to the staffs at mta. we had a window of interviews.

and the reason has to do with conditions that i mentioned before about which topics we would be limited to, and also to have questions in advance that we would be asking during those interviews. we escalated this issue to supervisor campos' office and we are in the process of getting resolution. anyway, we think this will probably have an impact on our schedule of up to four weeks. we will try to keep the process moving as quickly as we can, of course, but we have lots of time. moving on into some of the

components of the audit, one key feature is what we call referenced projects. a reference project is a way to go back and look at specific projects, how they were initiated, and what the budget was at the point, and what happened during the execution of the process. it is like an auditor might sample accounts. one of the three criteria here -- only one of the criteria has to be met.

our analysis and documentation has three fundamental components. the first component is how mta defines a process now. that is something that can be gleaned from written procedures. in the absence of a written procedure, there may be a presentation, so how they say they do it. the second component is best practice. best practice is our opinion. it comes from sources like the institute for asset management and other sources. the third one, and this is where the referenced project comes in, this is what the current practice is. is there evidence that the

written procedure is being followed? the audit report organization will be in this format. we will have three sections. the first is called enablers and controls. we do not call it that. it is the infrastructure or the environment in which the products are carried out. it would be like what a road is to an automobile. a road enables an automobile to travel from place to place. the second component is porfolio

and program management. that means selecting the right projects, the process you go through all the time. setting priorities, how that is done, and how it compares with the best practices. the third component is the project itself, and that is during the construction, and during the purchase, or during the rehab and how that is carried out. are there any questions? commissioner mirkarimi: just one, and i think commissioner campos might want to underscore this as well. i take it that this audit will

only be as effective as we hope based on the collaboration of mta to provide you access to information. in your experience, if you have not received that kind of access, what has generally been your standard practice in dealing with these type of situations? >> well, the value of the whole effort will be enhanced by their efforts. your spot on with that observation. some adversarial audits will be paper based. you do not have the insight that you get from these people. they may not review the preliminary findings and documentation that you want to provide to them. that makes it richer. that makes it less susceptible

to criticism later by the agency after you have published your findings. they have a sense, perhaps, of participation in it. and no surprises. no surprises. unfettered access is vital. commissioner mirkarimi: commissioner campos. commissioner campos: thank you, mr. chairman. i'm confident that we will be able to work collaborative with the mta. i have a meeting with the executive director to talk about issues with respect to access to the information. i'm confident we will be able to do that. the second thing, a quick question for the auditors. i just want to make sure, in terms of the budget, if you see yourselves staying within the

budget that has been allocated. we want to make sure we are as close to the budget as possible. commissioner mirkarimi: it is the holidays. be careful. >> we respect that concern. the flow chart showed everything in a sequence. we are doing things in parallel. there's a lot of behind-the- scenes work. we dial thback our billing rates to do everything we can to stay within the budget. we take pride, in general, and not going back for additional funds, unless there is mutually agreed to changes. commissioner mirkarimi: thank you. thank you, commissioner campos

, for your focus on this. i want to emphasize one point that i think will be helpful for all of us. that is some sort of early warning system that provides us a heads up. especially with the holiday schedules in the next few months and the fluctuations in government, that we are provided as much early notice so that if access to information is not a fluid that we know. the last thing we want is to eat up the clock or the contract of cgr and then discover at the end of the contract that we did not intervene when we needed to. >> we would appreciate that. we would like to thank commissioner campos for his rapid interventionç. commissioner mirkarimi: good.

appreciate that. good work. colleagues, any comments or questions for our consultants? seeing none, thank you. you may have a seat. we appreciate the introduction. any public comment on this item? seeing none, public comment is closed. this is an information item. madam clark, please read item 6. >> authorized the executive director to execute all master agreements, program supplemental agreements, fund exchange amendments, between the authority and the california department of transportation for receipt of federal and state funds. this is an action item. commissioner mirkarimi: very good. any comment from seeing none staffseeing -- seeing none, public comment. public comment is closed.

we take this -- we did not do roll-call. [roll-call vote] the item passes. commissioner mirkarimi: items seven, please. >> reappoint fran martin to the citizens advisory committee of san francisco county transportation authority for two year. this is an action item. commissioner mirkarimi: we take this without objection. congratulations. item eight.

commissioner mirkarimi: public comment is closed. we did this without objection. next item. >> allocate $460 in prop k funds with conditions to san francisco municipal transportation agency for two projects. this is an action item. commissioner mirkarimi: any discussion on this item? erikseeing none, public comment. public comment is closed. item 10, please.

commissioner mirkarimi: i just had a quick question to staff on this. the reach of our authority on the climate initiatives program -- can you just explain that a little bit in terms of how that would garner, and what that might garner in terms of grants? >>-understanding is that this is part of the delegation process. this is an opportunity for us to essentially show local support for the climate initiatives grant program so we can continue to advocate for the program in

various capacities. the resolution provides a little bit more detail on that on page 87. commissioner mirkarimi: i'm looking at that. >> we also need that resolution in place in order to accept grants under the program. commissioner mirkarimi: ok. any discussion on this? seeing none, public comment? public comment is closed. we take this without objection. introduction of new items. i'm sorry. next item. >> in the 11th, ethics annual compensation for the executive director for the period of january 1 through december 31. this is an action item. commissioner mirkarimi: this was handled by the personnel committee. any public comment? take this without objection, colleagues? so moved. i'm sorry. i did not see you. thank you.

please take roll-call. >> [roll-call vote] commissioner mirkarimi: aye. >> the item passes. commissioner mirkarimi: thank you. >> item 12. introduction of new items. this is an information item. commissioner mirkarimi: any information on new items? seeing none, public comment. public comment is closed. >> item 13, public comments. commissioner mirkarimi: one last chance for public comment. public comment is closed.

>> item 14, adjournment. commissioner mirkarimi: meeting is adjourned. thank you. >> good evening. welcome to the meeting of the san francisco board of appeals. the presiding officer is board president tanya peterson.

joining her are commissioners garcia, fung, and hwang. we expect commissioner goh momentarily. i wonder if ms. young is here, if she could raise her hand. i want to let the audience know we have translation device is here for anyone who needs translation services. i will ask again and see if she arrived and can help to translate that message and to set of the headphones. sitting to my left is the deputy city attorney. she will provide the board with any needed legal advice this evening. in the front row, we have representatives from some of the city departments you'll be hearing from this evening. we have senior building inspector joe duffey representing the department of building inspection. scott sanchez, the building administrator, is here representing the planning department and planning commission.

jarvus murrais murray is represg the transportation department. john hwang represents st. use and mapping. the board's legal assistant is the boards except to director. >> the board requests to turn off all cell phones, beepers, and pagers. please carry on conversations in the hallway. the board's rules of presentation are as follows. appellants, permit holders, and department respondents each have seven minutes to present their cases and three minutes for but a. people affiliated with these parties must include their comments within the seven and three minutes. those who are not affiliated with the parties have up to three minutes to address the board, with no rebuttal.

to assist in proportion of minutes, members of the public who wish to speak are asked but not required to submit a speaker card or business card to staff when you come up to the lectern. speaker cards and pans are available on the left side of the podium. the board welcome your comments and suggestions. there are customer satisfaction service cards on the left side of the podium. if you have questions about requesting a rehearing, please speak to staff during a break or after the meeting, or call the office tomorrow morning. the office is located at 1650 mission, room 304. this meeting is broadcast live on san francisco government television, sfgtv, cable channel 78. these are available for purchase directly from sfgtv. at this point, we will conduct our swearing in process.

if you intend to testify tonight, please raise your right hand and say "i do" after you have been sworn in or affirmed. do you solemnly swear or affirm that the testimony you are about to give will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? thank you. >> thank you, mr. pachinko. we have one housekeeping item this evening which has to do with item eight, appeal 10-103, regarding a tree removal permits. the parties have jointly requested that this matter be continued to january 26, 2011. with emotion, we can move the item to that date. is there any public comment on this rescheduling? simenon, if you could call the roll, please. >> on the motion from the

president to reschedule 10-103 to january 26, 2011. commissioner fung: aye. commissioner garcia: aye. aye. -- commissioner hwang: aye. president peterson: we will take up item one, public comment. if there is anyone who wishes to speak on an item which is not on tonight's calendar, please step forward. >> good evening, commissioners. all of you should have received my e-mail-about my response to miss gethener's response to your qualifications. some of you are not qualified to into the questions before you. you do not have the qualifications. i will ask that the overhead be turned on. i would like to bring your

attention to it -- i would like people to get their attention to this. this is a santa cruz news article published on-line. you may you use -- please note that you may bring a small clams action of $7,500. the planning examiners and planning staff have been found operating without certification by the state that is mandated. the judge will hear your case, and the government step can be sued personally. this has worked quite well for the people. please contact this paralegal, no charge, to assist you. this tells me that planning department staff are not doing their job. they are not doing the job the people are hiring them to do to protect them, to uphold the codes. they can be sued and dragged

into court -- sued personally. it seems that is a question that if it has taken place in santa cruz, we should be able to do that here in san francisco. thank you. president peterson: thank you. next speaker, please. sir, were you wanting to speak on public, now? any other public comment? seen none, we will move on to commissioner comments and questions. commissioner garcia: the last time we met here was two weeks ago, and scott sanchez had just been appointed za, . that was the day they held the parade for the giants having won the world series. i think i know i speak for the whole board when i say we want to absolutely congratulate mr. sanchez on what is a very important appointment. he is well qualified.

he is very knowledgeable about codes. he comes here extremely well- prepared. anyone that has watched our proceedings or met mr. sanchez knows he is obviously highly intelligent. the only thing that might be bad about his appointment is the fact that he might decide not to come here any longer and represent the planning department. i hope that does not happen. beyond congratulating him, i want to commend the planning department on what i consider to be a very, very good choice in have been chosen him for a zoning administrator. on a less happy note, the other announcement i have is that i have to leave your early tonight. i have to attend a funeral service. my daughter in law lost her mother, lisa, mary louise stewart, and the service is tonight. i apologize if this creates trouble for anyone