the world series, and many other events. this is really a golden opportunity that the city should not miss, not only for business opportunities, but for recreational opportunities. as an enthusiastic sailor, calls on lots of benefits, we look forward to seeing america's cup here and look forward to seeing residents on the day. -- on the bay. >> i represent myself, and i speak in support of the agreement. i understand from some of the tenants that they are concerned about moving, but i'm sure the city can do that in an equitable manner. that this event will just be an economic boon to the city. in reading through the report, it is a great report, and it

shows that it is more than economically feasible, and this report is exceedingly conservative, which they talk about. the race could be run here beyond 2012-2013. with a win, it happens again. that does not happen with the super bowl. we have seen the -- years before, but it does not happen with the world series. this could be great beyond just 2012-2013. thank you. commissioner fong: great, thank you. >> i'm president of the marine firemen's union, located in sentences goossens 1883. our organization wants the america's cup to come here. i think it is a great event. it will be great for the city, but we cannot support a resolution which incorporates

the november 9 host and the new agreement -- and then you agreement -- and venue agreement which opens the door for the passage of vessels services act, which would allow foreign ships for foreign vessels to is engaged in commerce on the bay, so we want to keep american operators, american flag vessels, and american workers working on the day. we will work with the mayor's office to see that it happens. >> i am a native san franciscan, born and raised here. i was the general manager of san francisco's first challenge for the america's cup in 2005. i would ask that we all set

aside what we know about the history of the america's cup because if san francisco gets to host the cup, we will transform it into the largest spectator sport on the earth for free. essentially, there are three reasons why this is the case -- first, the natural carina. we have the only natural our arena where we we can use our surrounding hills to allow people to watch the event with picnic lunches completely for free. secondly, reliable wins. in newport, 40% of our races were canceled for lack of good wind. with the summer breeze all summer long, we will cancel no races, which means more reliable tv coverage, and more sponsorship value. lastly, a slalom course could be constructed in san francisco along the northern waterfront.

just south of petraeus would allow us to keep all the races in a rectangle. a quiet part, and christie fields. that would cause very exciting races. boats are going to go 50 miles an hour ride on spectators, which would transform the old america's cup into an incredible -- incredibly exciting sport which will bring young spectators and high tv interests, but essentially, for all these reasons, your support and the cities to be able to host this would enable san francisco to host what could be probably the largest spectator sport on the planet. america's cup on a beautiful when the san francisco date. commissioner fong: thank you.

>> good morning. i'm a port watcher from way back. i'm very excited about getting this bid. i think even you agreement is getting better and better with each generation, whether or not we go for the open waterfront option. the terms seem to be improving in terms of making the pork whole, which is something that i think is really important. we cannot afford to lose our bonding capacity and our ability to pay for bonds. we cannot just hand off the potential revenues to other city departments or to the public without making the portholes. we need to reactivate the embarcadero transportation planning process that we had going for several years that seems to have fallen by the wayside because we are not going to solve this transportation problem with parking and cars.

we're going to have to think beyond the box on traffic and parking and transportation and shuttles and everything else, and i also want to talk a little bit, following up on what norman said -- our blue-green way is a project we have been working on for a long time with a lot of port support, and the blue part of that is getting people on the water as well as to the water. one thing we would very much like to do is teach kids to swim because they cannot go on the water unless they learn to swim, and our kyak groups are all excited about putting together a program to bring young people on the water, and we hope we will get your support for that. >> good afternoon, everyone.

i'm happy to be here to support the america's cup. this is a thrilling event. after the giants, i cannot tell you how happy that has made everybody. it is super. this has to go forward. the city is broke. that is the reality. the only way we are going to fix the piers -- i said fix the waterfront. no other mayor has done anything, and i'm proud to say the giants are my pride, and when they won the championship, it was just the next thing to heaven. closest thing i will get. the next thing is we cannot disturb the giants development plans. that is very important. it has to be revenue positive, as other people have told you. the onlythe giants have learnedr

lesson. with the 49ers they did not want to pay for it. with that the giants meet one because of this private money. this is what we have to do here. i know that we have capable people that will get that money together. if i can do anything, i will help as well. we have to be very careful about evicting tenants. i would not like to see that, if possible. so, it is a feather in our cap and an amazing opportunity. this will be the most amazing decade we can imagine. thank you. >> my name is [applause] can meal, executive director and

co-founder of non profit called the sea, learning about the ecology and seafaring history and present-day uses of the day. i am here to represent hoping that the america's cup comes here. it will lead a very wide break. i want to argue that it will extend to the children and teenagers in a very real way. beyond economic development, yachting, racing, really into education and making kids care about the bay. to the tens and thousands of kids and families looking at the day when they might be looking elsewhere, this will have a great effect. it will affect how we teach ecology, seafaring history, and well beyond. we hope and urge that you make

it happen. thank you. >> [reads names] julia? >> i think that she is outside. let's all right. good morning, everybody. i am representing the bay area association of disabled sailors. people with virtually all kinds of disabilities have the opportunity to go out sailing. this amazing project brings

people from all different backgrounds together. i am sure that saddam will elaborate. -- adam will elaborate. we think that we will greatly profit from all of the construction that will be going on during the america's cup. for example, the extension of the brick waters will make our sailing grounds more safer. also, the america cup will bring a lot of people to the waterfront. it is this kind of public attention that we need to reach out and provide services to more people. it is also critical to raise the funds that we need to run the whole program. with that i would like to turn

it over. >> hello, iam am ed gallagher over at the south beach yacht club. the entire idea that sailing is a rich, white man's sport, i am here to dispute that. even though i am a poor white man. [laughter] the main thing that i would like to bring out is that we will all benefit and that there is no downside. if you look at the math, the culture, the entire idea of bringing the american cup here, it is a win win win win win situation for everyone. thank you very much. [applause]

>> [reads names] >> i am lori armstrong. i am here to say that this kind of opportunity does not sail into the bay every day. hard to believe that this is november 30. the giants winning, after that having been america's cup coming here could give us that low for months and years. unlike the super bowl and world series, this is not just about who is best in america, is about who is best in the world. like the olympics and the world cup, this is a tremendous opportunity. we know that visitors spend a lot of money. and we know that they stay in hotels. i'd like to extrapolate and say that 65% of every dollar spent

is spent on restaurants, entertainment, shopping, transportation, etc. this money will move throughout the community. when you think of hotel spending, you think of hotel taxes. bringing the america's cup to san francisco is going to give us the economic impact that will not just benefit the port, it will actually benefit across seven cisco. just an interesting fact lloyd, 30% of our visitors come from outside the united states. when they do they tend to spend twice as many nights here as domestic visitors. this will have another long term affect. it has an impact in terms of the future generation of international tourism.

thank you. [applause] >> one of the disadvantages of being in a public forum like this is that almost everything great has already been said by be smart and articulate people in the front. but i would like to share some personal experiences i have had with being involved in the cup for the last 20 years. we have said a lot about the america's cup and economic benefits. i have seen it firsthand in valencia and new zealand, where they had courts and appears much like ours, crumbling into the waterfront. with the investment capital that came with a cup, it transformed them, much like could be done here. also, i never would have dreamed of going to pause lend or spain

without the america's cup. i know that many other people were like that. i spoke to them when i was there. i have been there three and four times respectively just because of the america's cup. a true case that tourists do spend money in those venues. i would also like to talk about what the america's cup really is. the organizing authority has promised to have 13 america's cup world series events around the world. of which at least two will be here in addition to the defender series, challengers' series, and america's cup. meaning 45 days of racing here in the bay and the economic benefits that come with that. in 2011 there will probably be a regatta, but one of them might be pushed to 11 and 12. it will start now and last for

several years, bringing people here. i have seen it and what it can do for cities. i have seen the civic pride that comes from having the america's cup and i urge you to vote in support. thank you. [applause] >> thank you. [reads names] >> good morning, commissioners. michael bishop, the operations manager for many of the ports. i am also an avid sailor. so, i would love to see the america's cup here. as a lieutenant, i am concerned with keeping the port hole.

minding poor tenants. especially on pier 50. on the west end is a vendor of mine managing court assets. the 66 year lease is losing control of the port property for such a long period of time. i would like you to keep that in mind as we move forward. things that have happened in this document so far have been positive and we need to keep moving in that direction. thank you. >> good morning, karen pierce, chair of the southern waterfront advisory committee. i am not speaking on behalf of the committee, as we took no action, but i want to point out that we did have a lively discussion on the proposal that

included using tear 50. i can tell you that i think it was unanimous, members supporting the idea of having the america's cup come to san francisco. one concern is that we ensure that the industrial maritime activities that go on in the southern waterfront are protected and continued. we fear that if peer 50 is taken, not only will it disrupt a number of those activities and tenants, it will also send a message to the rest of the shipping world that the san francisco court is not continuing in its interest in being a working port. there are other members of the sdwack that will come to speak. conveying another concern, the concern of community benefit.

we saw what the package held at the time when we had the presentation. we felt that the only thing in that concept were the kinds of benefits that are not really community benefits. they are actually the expectations of the city for anyone that comes here. i have just two benefits that should be considered that would really be benefits to the entire community. the first is, in addition to whatever goes on, having sponsors support the development of electrifying additional peers so that we have additional coal ironing opportunities. the other, going along with what karan said, implementing the blue-green way in the financing of the development of that process. finally, just slow down the

process. this does not need to be done before the end of the year. >> thank you. [reads names] >> good morning, commissioners. this is a great day for our city. i am here representing the open space water front group for the no. waterfront as present in the barbary coast. we have had the opportunity for seeing, participating, and watching every america's cup since the 1960's. i have watched from the bar at 9:00 a.m.. in valencia when he won the second time it was crazy stuff. i wanted to make sure that you know this, as it is so important for our cities long term presentation of it as a city, it

is completely unique in the history of the america's cup. every race has been held in the ocean off the waterfront from newport beach to valencia. here we are hosting at in the day. it is so cynical and special, it will give tremendous potential for television revenue and spectators, for the world to watch our city on a daily basis for three months each year. and if larry is successful, we may have it again. the new york yacht club had it for almost 80 years. this thing could go on for a long time. i know that it could be expensive and the revenues that will be supported are going to be beneficial overall. good luck. >> thank you. >> good morning.

i am representing two organizations today. the sports organizing committees established in 1987 that was at one. chaired by mr. buhel, who is an outstanding civic leader who without a doubt will bring the efforts of the america's cup organizing committee in to fulfil his part of the three legged stool. having successfully participated in hosting and bidding for the world cup, those are mentioned as examples of the kinds of international festivities and gallows with economic impact that has been mentioned several times. representing the bay area council, established in 1946, the members of the executive committee, [unintelligible]

is the current chairman of the bay area council, both of them having served on the america's cup organizing committee. the bay area council is comprised of 270 member companies. the largest employers of the bay area. they passed a resolution earlier this year endorsing and committing their resources to doing their part for those companies and doing what it will take to fulfil significant responsibilities entailed. 22 seconds left fellow without a doubt, there is a lot of money around this in the private and public sector. all of the lawyers working on this are going to protect the interests of everyone. there is enough money to protect everyone's obligations.

let's grab this opportunity. thank you. [applause] >> how are you at basketball? [laughter] [reads names] >> good morning commissioners and staff. i am with the red and white fleet for the on call public utility operations. i think that we are missing the point here. we have a beautiful bay with a chance to bring the america's cup here on a multi-year venue. getting through the first year, i think you are looking at a many year event. from our business point of view, it will be good the way that the city benefits. another important point is that this is going to transform the

waterfront. it will transform the waterfront. the last time it had this much activity, it was the gold rush and they left the boats here. i hope that that happens here, because we will see the port becoming more passenger friendly, cruise ship friendly, where the public can walk around. that is important to me. on behalf of the fleet, we do support this and have been assured by the mayor's office that the jones act and other legislation to protect the merchant marine will be added and protected, which i think is great and when we look back at it, we should look back to thank a lot of people for it. mark has a specially spent a lot of time. mark, thank you for all your efforts. [applause] >> [reads names]

>> good morning commissioners. i am here to speak on behalf of the 1500 member been -- member businesses of the chamber of commerce in terms of moving forward with the america's cup. we see this as a long-term opportunity for the city in many ways. the previous speaker spoke about what it would be like when this is on television for months at a time, years at a time. you cannot buy that kind of advertising. those blimp shots with the giants were spectacular. this will be blimp's on steroids. cameras on the boats. cameras on the air. highlighting the most beautiful place in the world, making it a place where people will want to come for generations. we also believe that the infrastructure impact that will be had on the port cannot be understated. we have appears that have been

entitled for years and years that have not had developers find a way to make it happen to bring people to the waterfront. this is an opportunity to really change that dynamic and get those put in and fixed in a way that brings them to the water and engages them in their environment while getting paid for. we could hope for a developer to come due, but this is an opportunity is unique for the port. we will be able to support it making sure that the advertising is paid for, benefiting from the customers coming to san francisco. thank you very much. [applause]

>> good morning, commissioners. i am a longtime resident of san francisco and a long time aficionado of sailing from childhood to the present day, where i have a boat still going here in san francisco. i have come to urge you in the strongest terms possible to pass this resolution before you. i have had the privilege of attending the america's cup events in san diego, new zealand, and spain. i have seen firsthand the economic shot in the army and vitality that this event brings whenever it comes to town. it will do the same thing for san francisco. i am not affiliated with city i am not affiliated with city government