united states mint. the project holds great promise for the city and will be house as a national an historic landmark. the hope is that the museum and the visitors center will provide a great introduction to visitors from all nations. the project is supposed to be environmentally sensitive and is to provide an innovative approach to preservation standards. i can attest to mr. johns vision i am leaving the board and acting as a client to the design team over the past several years. i know that his interest and commitment to history, particularly that of san francisco and the bay area, goes back much further than that. this experience qualifies him for this commission. he would be were the commission to the historic preservation commission. i hope that you will act on his

behalf. supervisor campos: thank you. next speaker, please. >> good afternoon, supervisors. peter warfield. i would like to echo what supervisor morris said earlier. one wants to look at the best qualified. while the projects of mr. johnson seemed to be worthy and i would like to talk with him about who he knew, there are others who i think have of standing qualifications without having to rely on the and/or clause. including a name that has been mentioned and not to be forgotten, the current holder of that seat, james buckley. in the meetings i have been to

and being concerned with, i have found him to be thoughtful, knowledgeable, willing to contribute to public discourse, certainly worthy of continuation in his post. the apparently sudden dropping of mr. buckley raises questions as to what's going on with someone who has served for quite a time in outposts -- in that post. one imagines if the appointment at the branch library might have had something to do with his being dropped as the others have not been dropped for reappointment. i would support james buckley and urge him to support -- and urge support of a qualified candidate in this position rather than going on with the

current nominee. as i previously said, i would encourage you to vote as you have on the previous items [tone] -- items. [tone] supervisor campos: next speaker, please. >> hon. supervisors, my name is [unintelligible] i am impressed that we have in san francisco so many enthusiastic volunteers interested in the history of the city and in putting a lot of time and energy into that. however, these are volunteers. i think that the text of the qualifications in proposition j was geared at a professional historian.

i feel that mr. johns is a professional lawyer but not a historian. therefore i would urge you to consider reappointing james buckley or professor shanley. they accuse some lunch. supervisor campos: thank you. next speaker, please. >> our long, speaking for the hit -- sentences the preservation society. mr. johnson is a great citizen and civic leader. i commend him for the organizations that he belongs to. our consortium strongly supported proper j and it's very specific requirements for commissioners. amongst commissions, this is one of the most highly qualified professional groups in the city. historical a we have not, for a

sophisticated city, been attentive to our heritage as many other cities in the country and the world are. this seat before you is very specific in its language. not only in terms of being a historian, but it must comply with the secretary of the interiors professional qualifications standards. many of the seats had been -- have been filled by phd historians. the point was to elevate the commission as high as possible to help the citizens of this city and preserve the heritage of this city. hpc historians provide technical expertise as well to maintain

san francisco's status as eligible for federal and state grant funding providing enhanced roles in the nomination to the national register of historic places subject to consultation by federal and state agencies. by law state agencies rely on the determination of historic resources responsibilities. [tone] supervisor campos: thank you very much. next speaker? supervisor alioto-pier: i just want to make one comment. personally, i would like to focus our attention to the candidate at hand. the charter is very clear. we are not here to drafted again or make appointments ourselves. we are here to look at the appointments before us. you might like someone more, but

that is not our purview. that is not what we do. it is a lay oral appointment. we take the candidates the mayor sends us and we look at them. i would like us to try to focus a bit more on left. it is clear in the charter, and/or. or is a very important word. you do not have to have both of those qualifications. mr. johns has demonstrated demonstrable experience in north america bay architectural area history. let's talk specifically about that. if someone out steps for the experience fits into -- if someone doubts that for the experience fifth into another regiono umphr the thought -- or

the experience fits into another qualification, we should hear. >> one of the things that has not been said today is that the secretaries standards require a minimum professional qualification in history. a graduate degree or a ba plus other things. i was very involved in the drafting of prop j. it is very important to maintain high standards that we set in the charter amendment for the history position. there are no qualified historians in the planning department. most of them do not even know how to do local research. who fills that seat is very important in terms of judging the historical accuracy of architectural surveys, reviewing

registered nominations we have received from the state, landmark nominations and other things. i woke up this morning thinking that wanted to share my resume with you. i have been around for a long time, as you know. i am not qualified for this seat. i am considered a nationwide expert and am not qualified for this seat. thank you. supervisor campos: next speaker, please. >> i am a professor of history at san francisco state. i have continued to serve in eight advisory capacity for the planning department for the past two years that i was not on the

board. my name has been mentioned here. i would be willing to serve, but that is not why i am here. i am here as a historian. this appointment calls into question what it means to be an historian. the charter says that seat four must be a historian. what does that mean? to me, being a historian means being centrally involved, professionally, with history. i do not see that in this candidate. his bachelor's degree is in english and his graduate degree is in the lot. he has had a long and passionate commitment to historical preservation, but does that make him a historian? in my mind, it does not any more

than it makes him an architect. there are other professional qualifications involved beyond passion and commitment. it is embarrassing that someone with this background has to listen to these kinds of comments about his qualifications. i think he would be highly qualified for the at large seat. i wish there were more at large seats on this commission. there is only one, unfortunately. i think the public need more representation. but i do not think mr. johns is a historian. supervisor campos: thank you. [tone] supervisor campos: next speaker, please. >> good morning, members of the committee. we feel it is critical for the

city to recognize and preserve professional qualifications established under the charter for other nominees. we want to emphasize overriding priorities are to uphold the priority of proposition j. with all due respect to mr. john's and other members of the committee, of we do not feel that the language in proposition j makes compliance with professional qualifications optional. we read that section in the language as to whether or not that person should have specialized training were demonstrable experience in bay area history to the extent that there is ambiguity i would urge the committee to seek guidance and opinion from the city attorney to clarify that issue. based on the material submitted today the questions on whether

he can meet the objective professional qualifications established by the city charter for this seat, we do not question his dedication in the history or preservation of historic resources or deny that those qualifications are impressive. however, in the absence of evidence that satisfies qualification requirements in standards, we request this nomination withdrawn from further consideration. i'd also like to add that because of the peculiar timing of this hearing, i have not had an opportunity to meet with mr. johns. i am relying exclusively on the material submitted before you. thank you very much. [tone] supervisor campos: next speakers, please. >> [unintelligible] with bright lime. with respect to mr. john, we heard a lot about his

background and expertise in the area of history. i would however like to know where he would seek to incorporate community history and where he would use the lens that the historic preservation committee is going to be asked to apply in 2011, community preservation of just architecture preservation. does he support the idea of protection for low-income communities of color and working-class families? moderate income homeowners fell to opt out -- homeowners to opt out? there was a hub of a few weeks ago where i hardline was taken. no means no when it came to demolishing historic resources to protect communities and homeowners that did not want to live under these rules that are a burden as much as a benefit when it comes to living in

historic communities. my good friend [unintelligible] jackson had to leave but she joined me at that meeting and reminded me that she testified -- look, i do not want to live here if it means i have to go through you all to get the paint changed on my house. there are certain people that do not want to have to go through these rules because they are happy as it is. they feel a sense of community. it seems that mr. johnson has a very strong historic lands for some of these issues. in 2011 the preservation commission is going to be asked about the community and moderate income homeowners. i want to know where he stands on these issues. [tone] supervisor campos: thank you very much. next speaker? >> good morning. my name is john bardee. i am one of the founders of the living hill historic district.

it is not whether he is an outstanding member of the historic preservation community, he is. he would be eminently qualified for one of the other seats. however, this is the seat for the historian. i really want to commend the wonderful remarks of [unintelligible] mr. a few moments ago. -- mr. [unintelligible] a few moments ago. i would never dream of qualifying for this c. these are issues of complexity and they need the advice of a historian on the board. this is not like the historic landmarks board. this is a fully empowered commission. we do not even have the sort of expertise in the planning department itself. we need the expertise. the commissioners asked each

other questions and we need that general high qualifications for architectural historians, which this implies. i think that elizabethan theater is fine, but it is not in america and it is a very thin connection. the historic connection needs to be of held in san francisco. i would not want our city to be imperiled for some reason like this. this is a very important consideration of this board. thank you very much. really, this was very short notice and i didn't know about this until the last week. i just came back from san diego. thank you. supervisor campos: any other members of the public that would like to speak? seeing no one, public comment is closed. i would like to ask mr. johnson a follow-up question. again, thank you for your

patience. the way that i read section 3 of the charter, with respect to number four, is that it is an historian that either meets the qualifications of the secretary of the interior, and/or has a demonstrable experience in north american area history. nonetheless, the person must be an historian as well. a historian that meets one of two qualifications. do you consider yourself an historian? >> absolutely. if i had not i would not have devoted 20 years to studying, promoting, and preserving the history of the city and county of san francisco. supervisor campos: thank you very much. colleagues them love any questions? supervisor dufty a m?

supervisor dufty: i just wanted to reiterate that based on no doubt of the way he has conducted himself, mr. johns is going to do a great job. i feel very strongly that richard would be an excellent commissioner in this role and be a dynamic historian, providing a law of personal talent to the work in the preservation commission. i do recognize the presence of the action of other nominees and i respect that it appears at this point that that is what might happen in terms of this nomination continuing. supervisor campos: great. yes, just wanted to fill -- the

clerk has given me a note to make it clear that the agenda items one through six contain the same clerical error. they should read historic preservation commission, not historical preservation commission. wanted to make tax address. -- i wanted to make that address. i see the point that has been raised and the point raised by supervisor duftymar. that said, even though my reading of the language is that though there may be different -- differences of opinion, i do think that this individual meets the qualifications as written. and i certainly thought that you did a nice job with the presentation. to the extent that people have

questions about tax, the answer is to clarify the language. i think that, to be fair, in my estimation the qualifications have been met. with that, a supervisor, we need a motion to continue. supervisor mar: thank you for your presentation and everyone that has testified. i will move to continue the item to the call of the chair. supervisor campos: taken without objection? thank you. madam clerk, please call items 5 and 6. >> item #five. unfamotion approving the mayor's nomination for reappointment of karl hasz to the historical preservation commission, seat no. 6, for a four-year term ending december 31, 2014. item #6. motion rejecting the mayor's nomination for reappointment of karl hasz to the historical preservation commission, seat no. 6, for a four-year term ending december 31, 2014.

supervisor campos: if we could ask commissioner hasz to come forward? good morning. yes, it is still mourning. >> i had to look at my watch as well. i previously served on the landmarks preservation board. i have served on the architectural review committee. i am seat 6 as a contractor. hasz construction is my firm and as a contractor i find that my job on the historic preservation commission, in advantage to keeping our existing buildings intact id is important to me -- architectural heritage is the most important asset of the city. i am very honored that i have had pleasure to serve and

protect, reusing by expertise within the city. a couple of things i wanted to mention specifically. coming upper is that we have a couple of -- coming uppe we hava couple of issues and there is misinformation in the public. in terms of architectural heritage, getting an out reach program within the city to straighten out exactly what the rules are for a historic district and what it means to be a landmark, the gentleman that spoke previously to our commission today from bright line, i think that his comments are very good about going out into communities. we might be able to wrap up within the program. realtors are based in each area

throughout the city. by giving them an education commission we can further those ideas for the commission. questions? supervisor alioto-pier: by would like to thank the commissioner for his work on historic preservation commission. you have always been a very well and thoughtful person. to that and the city has benefited greatly and i would like to thank you. supervisor campos: thank you. supervisor mar: thank you for your work on a landmark for advisory committee as well with the advice in the committee, thank you. supervisor campos: supervisor dufty? supervisor dufty: i did not want to miss the opportunity to c thankar thank carl for his workr

the years. he has been extremely exemplary, time after time. supervisor campos: thank you very much. commissioner, thank you for your service. let's open this to public comment. any member of the public that would like to speak? please come forward. >> supervisors, my name this [unintelligible] and i am supporting the employment of commissioner hasz. he has served the commission well and i look forward to his continuing in that function. a thank-you. supervisor campos: thank you. next speaker, please? >> howard wong for the san francisco preservation consortium. mr. hasz is a licensed

contractor that meets all of the qualifications of this seat. having observed him he has certainly shown his expertise and has been fair minded i am contributing to historic preservation and we support his nomination. thank you. >> i would like to support the nomination and reappointment. supervisor campos: next speaker? >> san francisco heritage would like to add their support. including the fact that he has reached out to us to work with heritage on the proposed workshop for realtors. we are working with him on issues involving shipwrights college.

thank you very large. supervisor campos: is there any other member of the public that would like to speak? seeing no one, public comment is close to supervisor mar:. i look forward to -- supervisor alioto-pier: but supervisor mar: look -- a look -- supervisor mar: i look forward to supporting his reappointment at another time. moved forward to the call of the chair. supervisor campos: please call items numbers 7 and 8. >> item number 7. motion approving the mayor's appointment of vince courtney to the public utilities commission, seat no. 5, for the unexpired portion of a four-year term ending august 1, 2012. item #8. motion rejecting the mayor's appointment of vince courtney to the public utilities commission, seat no. 5, for the unexpired portion of a four-year term ending august 1, 2012. supervisor campos: mr. courtney,

welcome to the rules committee. >> thank you very much. thank-you to the members of local 261 for being here as well as our friends and supporters. i know that this is not an ideal circumstance, but it certainly is an exciting time and i am hopeful that you will give me a moment to tell you a bit about myself. born and raised in san francisco i have worked for the fillmore for the last six years. i have worked for the most aggressive trade union in town. i think that one of the reasons we are in this situation today is that we have a lot of members are in the public sector and private sector directly impacted by the public utilities commission. i have been at those locations many times over the course of

the past six years. one of the things that excites me and makes me enthusiastic about this opportunity to serve is the opportunity to work with the community. local hiring, community benefits, or simply creating opportunities where they have dried up, that is what the union stands for. that is why members come out so often. on behalf all of us, thank you for having me. supervisor campos: as you indicated, these are unusual circumstances that we find ourselves in. for me the moment that this nomination was made, this was definitely something i would be more than happy and proud to support. there is something unique about the appointment as we are talking about the public utilities commission. many issues are