but i have been a longtime member of the st. francis yacht club. when i was, or we tried to bring the america's cup to san francisco with our team. we fell short, but i am very excited about the fact that the golden gate yacht club has succeeded where we have failed. i must say that many of the speakers before me have already made the points that i would make to you. but the one point that i would make is that i do not know if you realize how many other maritime cities around the world would love to have the opportunity before us right now. many people have been serenading the people to get this event. personally, i know that the

commodore of the new york yacht club is a friend of mine. we have discussed this many times and he is very disappointed that the new york yacht club did not get this event back. so, we are on the 2 yard line, first and goal. do not let it get away. >> thank you. [applause] [reads names] >> hello, my name is rick dickerson. we manage approximately 1000 apartment and condominium units within a short walk of the pier. i think that this is a very exciting time for the city, getting a chance to possibly hope the america's cup. i think it is a wonderful opportunity for the pork to

hopefully kickstart some of the infrastructure work that they would need to fully develop the areas of our residential neighborhoods. i know that there is excitement in residential neighborhoods. with regards to the opportunity to hold this event here, what it was like to do is it encouraged residential neighborhoods going forward, as you have in the past. planning not only for the event, but the long-term development of these properties. we have a fine history here in the neighborhood of working cooperatively with that the port. and with other neighbors in

densely populated areas. i feel that if we can have the same sort of cooperation and and cut between the cork and the neighborhood, we will be able to do the same thing with this. >> thank you. [reads names] > >> thank you. and i am a resident and in coming, or of the south beach yacht club. i am also known as the columnist on waterfront issues in the chronicle. as far as the overall approach on this, my commendations from the yacht club and the four as well as the city, from the club

perspective of our board of supervisors and board of directors has already issued important improvements in safety and water access for the public as having an important economic impact with full support and reinforcement by and your decision to approve the city's resolution. on the economic development side there are things that we believe did not sufficiently address, the first being the cost to rehabilitate perak 30 and 32, making it necessary to continue existing income streams. something i am sure the two were close to. we encourage you to make sure

that the board of supervisors is aware when they look at the economic and physical impact on the city. and this is not adequately reflected in the report. >> the second is that mr. roh was assumed that there would be no long-term jobs, as you heard from the testimony you've already heard there will be a long-term jobs and tax impact beyond which mr. roh is had reported. timing is of the essence. the message to you simply is to bring it. [laughter] >> [leads names] >> good morning.

i am a member of the blue-green steering commission. families and youth as a host city, the event will incorporate and support sailing related programs and activities with was the largest organizations in the district. i wanted to share a story. it had nothing to do with a million-dollar yacht, just small kayaks.

and the staff of a youth group was very about the opportunity to get their views on a wire the fact that china wasn't in love was the emotional and northern and talk about african-american youth which goes back to the statement of rich, white men. all of these activities on the bed are white people because of the fact that there is this

tremendous inequality in swimming. i hope that we take a look gaps this and to try to do something to change the situation. so that we can really get you onto the water. especially i am talking about the blue-green way. thank you. [applause] >> i feel i am the only ones in here with a shirt. as you might recognize, this sure recognizes pedicab, and i am also coming as the father of a six month old. i have been coaching high schools and have been driving pedicab for the last five years

in rome island, boston, washington, d.c., key west. all very famous sailing towns. as an outsider when i came here and learned about the cup, i cannot tell you how much of an opportunity this is for the city in terms of a launch pad. i am telling you, there are significant gaps in the pierce. i have some ideas i would like to turn into reality to create jobs. it took about one year for us to get going but over the last six months we have created over 50 jobs. i have some real ideas that i would like to turn into reality. this is something that is a very practical situation where i could play my role to help.

as an outsider i want to deliver the message that this is a huge opportunity for the city. as someone with a unique perspective of want to say that this is a good deal and you should go for it. >> i would ask that we keep everyone's attention and we will take a small recess. if we may. of course, we have more questions, but if we can just take a 3 minuthank you very muc. we appreciate everyone coming today and we want to make sure that we get everyone's comments. i am going to pick up with andrew waters. >> we already had andrew. >> jerry robinson, please.

>> hello, everyone. this is so exciting. i was born and raised here and have been sailing here my entire life. i love the bay. as far as the community in general, racing is a second thought. i run a charter company. we are a privately-owned gambling run business. my chief mate is right over here. we are a small organization. for us this would be over the top. fantastic for the business. miami businessman and a sailor. i love the opportunity and i cannot wait for this to be

approved and we go forward. thank you for the opportunity to speak. >> thank you. [leads names] >> sorry, i was caught in the bleachers. mr. president, members of the commission, in the ceo of san francisco bay railroad and m the vice chair of the southern waterfront by azeri committee of the port. and i am a member of the maritime commerce committee. i am an avid sailor and i want to join the other people who strongly supported having the america's cup here on san

francisco bay. one thing that i would like to say that the others have not said that i think needs to be said that may not be popular, i think that there are two issues. the first is risk, the other is leverage. first of all, we all know that the port has critical, long-term financial needs. to me this is an opportunity to address those needs. with that the leverage that we have, and i do not believe that there is actually competition to the bay. by think that mr. ellison wants to very badly have the racier and i think it is a good choice as well, the leverage that we have, it would seem we have an ability to strike an agreement that minimizes or mitigate risk

to the port in the city, financial risk. so, i would like us to think about that kind of stuff, the port making money to address its financial needs and not losing sleep over potentially losing money. we all know the things that have an estimated cost seem to always go up. i think that towards that end, the no. waterfront option is a much better option than giving away a tear 50, which has a ripple affect down the southern waterfront. displacing those people will impact the ability for the court to earn revenue. i know that the mayor was to get this done before he moves on to sacramento, but i would like support staff and the mayor's

staff to actually know that the people of sanford cisco are behind them in striking the best possible deal with the least possible risk. >> paul, and, please. >> good morning. my name is paul dimes and i have been working on the san francisco bay waterfront for almost 20 years, putting myself through college working in marine trades as well. i am currently a tenant in the hyde street municipal pier. as a small charter business we are grateful not to have to compete with luxury yacht on the waterfront. as you consider this proposal there are long-term tenants whose livelihoods depend a great number of jobs depend on access to the piers and water. while we unequivocally support

your acceptance of the protocol, we would also just ask if there is some way if the long-term tenants and tenants such as us, on a year-to-year basis least, in the position of competing for the large yachts, but might at some point come before the commission that there would be a question as to whether smaller charter boats and working boats would be allowed to remain when there is so much more revenue from spectating fleets. we would ask that your existing tenants like ours be offered long-term leases with other service businesses that are in place to provide those important structural benefits that are part of the offer being afforded some opportunity for a longer lease so that we can invest in our infrastructure of staff,

training, and resources, providing the resources that will be required in the manner that would represent our city as a professional and worthwhile place. thank you for your time, in encourage support for this proposal. >> thank you. >> hello. my name is dan ross. skycam -- i am long time involved in land use activities, putting together the waterfront plan for the advisory committee. by come to you today more familiar with most people about -- more familiar than most people with what goes on in the port. the e-mail that i got yesterday, we were notified several weeks ago about this, although it was only really 12 days ago.

frankly, the attachment report did not come out until 2:00 yesterday afternoon and i did not get around to my e-mail last night. needless to say i have not had time to go through this 50 page document very carefully. these keep that in mind as i make my comments. my initial response is that i am concerned for the future of the port based on these leases, many of which are still unclear. i was trying to articulate that in my notes and have had trouble doing so. the balance of leverage in throwing this thing together over a short period of time, i am not clear at this point what the waterfront options are in trade-offs.

what kinds of 66 year leases are negotiated on waterfront property? i am concerned about the balance in terms of what we have known over the years, putting these proposals together is a complicated process. leverage is an oddball park to get a deal. does that mean that my time is up? i did not hear that there was a time limit. >> thank you very much. [reads names] >> good morning, everyone. i am here to voice support for the america's cup. i am proud of the giants for winning the world series, but i was out sailing when the games were going on and i was not

alone. i think that the perception that we are giving away the waterfront needs to be at rest or interpreted correctly. these concessions will be in the turn for benefits that will be long term with a great effect on the infrastructure of the port. i am sure that the topic of the investment is one that we are familiar with. this is one opportunity where the revenue that comes from the event itself will make many opportunities commercially viable, something that is very tough based on the investment required. again, i urge you to bring the world cup to san francisco, it is a great venue. it would be like any city in brazil passing up the soccer world cup. if that does not do it for you,

it would also be equivalent to the vatican passing up the opportunity to host the second coming. [applause] >> and the cats. keith [unintelligible] >> it is hard to follow the comments about the second coming, but anyways. my name is andrew cats. phd strongly supports bringing the america's cup to the northern waterfront so that our historic peers can be used by the public to view the event free of charge. it is important that these potential plans take into account the historic nature of the peers. the america's cup is a classic example of a spectacular event that draws people to the waterfront for maritime oriented use that could not happen anywhere else in the city.

but the devil is in the details and you want to be sure that in addition to structures and developments, that this only happens with strong community and put with long-term ramifications on the board of revenue. we only received the documents host city revenue agreement yesterday. so, we are hoping that there will be ample opportunity to review commands for public input along the way. we are not sure why this has to be rushed through so quickly. it will be a great opportunity. thank you. >> patrick [unintelligible] , >> thank you, commissioners. i am the general manager of the got connection international. we have been providing affordable yachts to the general

public since 1979. remember, some of our boards are a long pier 39. frankly, this is san francisco's to lose. it would help to define san francisco and the sailing community. the sailing community with its maritime background goes back years. to talk about economic development, i would like to put more of a face on it. many of our businesses are suffering from year to year. this is a significant moment in time and this could be something that we could repeat over and over again. looking back in history, this could be the opportunity where we go around the corner and pull out of a financial downturn. thank you. [applause] >> good morning.

my name is patrick markell on pier 29. maybe you are not aware of our not-for-profit arts organization with a strong educational component in its 11th year. we employ over 50 full-time employees each year. a significant portion of the revenue goes to the port. for a lease. we entertain and to bring joy to people from around the world and the bay area. we consider ourselves a cultural institution. we support the bid to win the america's cup and we look forward to being part of any plan to move forward. thank you. [applause] >> [reads names]

>> hello. my name is jim pettigrew, i am a scientist that studies the surface currents of the san francisco ballet and the california coast. we work under a bond funded measure, thank you very much. our data is provided for free to the public, in the past it has been used to monitor the flow in the sound. our measurements were key in the trajectory maps. technology was developed and currently manufactured in the bay area. the america cup knowledge of the currents in the bay area will be crucial for all competitors, producing a map every half of an hour. very high resolution yield.

obviously, we are in support of the america's cup being held here. i think that a likely outcome of using our data for planning the race will be products that will make sailing a basic for everyone. thank you for your time. [applause] >> good morning, commissioners. my name is michael hammond. i am a member of the southern waterfront advisory committee and a resident of the basin, active in other bayview organizations. including the host point project area. our community, along with staff members, have worked for many years to ensure and expand the maritime industrial activities

of the southern waterfront that have met with some steady and the growing success over the years. we have a number of enterprises that provide much needed jobs to our community and city. we look with great trepidation and alarmed at the proposals for the long-term transformation of the southern waterfront, turning it into commercial, retail, and perhaps even residential activity. this would completely obliterate the opportunities for blue collar, maritime jobs in san francisco. in fact it would ruin the san francisco heritage as a maritime power house on the west coast and would have a great long-term harm for the overall city. we think that there is a way to do this that will be successful and will not have these deleterious effects. we hope that you will consider

strongly other venues other than the southern waterfront for this. let me suggest to you one that no one has mentioned that is an obvious choice to me, the hunters point shipyard. there are huge peers out there and a lot of space. i am sure they would be thrilled to discuss the opportunities with these people to provide everything that you have on pier 50 and elsewhere. thank you very much. >> [reads names] >> thank you. i am a historian with the california heritage council. we endorse bringing the america cup to san francisco. we have a couple of proposals in that regard for historical context exhibits. one would be to exhibit the history of yachting in san francisco and california

generally. and a history of the america's cup going battue the original days in england and the the east coast. i think that this would be done with support and in conjunction with the maritime museum and it would be most appropriate to contribute to the display. we have a couple of other proposals for historical oriented type exhibits. i think that it is premature to bring them up right now. altering the possibility at the appropriate time. thank you very much. >> is there any other public comment at this time, on this item appeare? >> yes, i am fred sherman, president of marine highways