the other thing that someone had mentioned -- i read had mentioned that ms., is a contractor. she does 90% local hire, so i expect to see that when work is done on the people's call that we are going to see our people, our communities, union work force, community work force rebuilding the city's tall, and i think that is something that florence kong can really make sure happens. supervisor campos: thank you. any other member of the public who would like to speak? seeing none, supervisor mar. supervisor mar: thank you. i look forward to supporting your in the future, but i'm going to continue this item. but i really strongly support your candidacy. supervisor campos: i, too, look forward to supporting you in the future, so we have a motion to continue. supervisor alioto-pier: i would just like you to know that we were voting today, i would vote for you. i will not be on the rules

committee next time, but i wish you luck, and i am here to support you. supervisor campos: we have a motion to continue to the call of the chair. can we take that without objection? thank you very much. madam clerk, please call item 11. >> item 11, resolution confirming the appointment leona bridges to the municipal transportation agency board of directors, a term ending march 1, 2014. supervisor campos: thank you very much. if we may now ask ms. leona bridges to come forward. this is an appointment made by the mayor to the municipal transportation agency board of directors. before i turn it over to the nominee, i would like to thank ms. bridges for taking the time to sit down with me and to speak with me over the phone and for making herself available throughout this process to answer any questions we have. i just wanted to thank you and

say that this appreciated. welcome to the rules committee. and if you could speak into the microphone please. >> thank you very much. good afternoon. thank you, supervisors. thank you for arranging a special hearing of the rules committee today. my name is leona bridges, and it is an honor and privilege to have been nominated to serve on the board of directors for the sap system municipal transportation agency. as a former managing director at barclays global investors, i come with over 25 years of investment experience. i will bring financial expertise to the mta. bgi, now blackrock, is the largest asset manager in the world. my responsibility was over about $800 billion in assets. during my tenure, i was responsible for budgets,

investment strategy, client reporting, audits, client service, and financial capabilities of the largest firms in the world with global fiduciary responsibilities for all of those funds. some might say, more importantly, i'm a lifelong muni rider, a lifelong user of public transportation in san francisco. growing up in san francisco, i walked to middle school, wrote three buses to abraham lincoln high school, and rode three buses to sanford stake -- san francisco state university. i have continued to be a lifelong user of muni transportation. additionally, i take taxis and what many places. i have a vested interest in this city. i have a vested interest in knowing that we have timely, accessible, reliable, affordable, and save modes of transportation and services in the city. i offer the rules committee six

policy areas of priority i can elaborate on a few wish. the first is accessibility. transit should be accessible in all neighborhoods and people and provide -- provided on a timely basis. affordability -- all modes of transportation and parking garages must be affordable, and not disproportionately impact low income communities. we must serve our communities in this city. reliability -- we must maintain and enhance our current levels of service. safety -- we must provide safe environments for pedestrians, bikes, buses, taxis, and traffic garages. jobs -- we must maximize local hiring with community contracts. it is important that we used muni contract as we look at the central subway and utilize and maximize mta to implement the

local hiring policy that was just passed by the board of supervisors, and we must do it quickly. lastly, finance. we must maintain the critical lots on how mta spends its funds and address the priority areas that i have outlined above. i may have a learning curve when it comes to mta, but i bring my finance knowledge and my experience as a lifelong muni and public transit rider. the current board has experts in the areas of transportation, accessibility, labor negotiation, and parking and traffic. it is a good mix of knowledge, and everyone is very strong. i would bring it out and round out with a finance background, and this is why the mayor has asked me to serve. that said, i feel very strongly that the job of every member of the board is to listen to what the public has to say and make the best decisions for the city. i'm an independent thinker, as a member of the board, you can

count on me to listen to all and respect all stakeholders with an open mind. again, i would like to thank you in the advance for your consideration of this nomination of the mayor. thank you. supervisor campos: thank you. we have a question from supervisor alioto-pier. supervisor alioto-pier: thank you. i wanted to start off by simply saying that i am 100% behind you, and i support your nomination completely. i'm thrilled that the mayor made it. just two comments, really, more than anything. you talked a lot about accessibility, which is something i like to hear about. public transportation is not always accessible to people with disabilities. what most people do not know is that almost 95% of our paratransit is operated through yellow cab and luxor

cab. it is almost as if there is this area that has been privatized almost. buses are difficult for people with disabilities, particularly people who use wheelchair's. the part of our system that runs along the embarcadero, the beautiful old historic trains or cars, are virtually inaccessible. there are parts of our system not have been cut off to the disabled community, so i just want to bring that to your attention. it is something that i have spoken to mr. ford about. he has always been very receptive, but we do need a few more movements in that direction and in that area. most people with disabilities have a hard time finding employment because they simply cannot get to work. transportation is considered the single most important issue to the disabled community. i just want to bring that up. the second thing is that through the passage of prop a few years

ago, as members of the board of supervisors, we used to take care of the concerns of our streets and neighborhoods. if we had a constituent who wanted a stop sign, we did try to get one. if we needed a pothole filled, it would be easy for us to do it. with the passage of prop. a, those responsibilities were taken from the board of supervisors and given to the mta. my other request is to make sure you listen to the community because sometimes, it can be a source of frustration when we know that there are potholes that are not getting fixed and neighbors who continually complained to us, thinking that we have the power to do that, when, unfortunately, we do not any more. i just want to bring that to your attention. because it is a powerful place, and it does have a lot of neighborhood concerns, and i think that the neighbors themselves and people within the community would probably reach

out and touch a little more often, but those are really more comments. if you have any comments of your own on what i've said, i would love to hear it. otherwise, i believe supervisor dufty would like to say a few words. but i wish you luck. supervisor dufty: i'm thrilled to be here, and i would like nothing but it then to be able to vote on your nomination. i wanted to make a couple of points. in the eight years i've served on the board, i do not think i've ever seen the turnout we had today from leading members of the african-american community in san francisco to support the nomination. i think that speaks volumes about you, and i also think it speaks about the importance of having black community representation on the board, and i think now is a vital time. just as we spoke about the importance of commissioner designate courtney being on the puc, i think this is an

extremely important time because there has been much difference between the board of supervisors and the mta and the mayor about the direction of muni. i think this is the time for accountability. this is a time for healing and reaching out to the operators that we rely upon, many of whom have some very rough feelings about what happened in the most recent election, and i think you are uniquely qualified to step forward and bring people together and really make our promise of a world-class transportation system a reality. so many people have spoken about your work at san francisco state university. you have been modest in that regard, but you were viewed as a legacy graduate, someone who recognizes the importance of this institution to our city. you have done so much to enable students of all backgrounds to go and have opportunity, and i think that is really a testament to your personal qualities, and i hope that the strength of the testimony that is presented

today can make as compelling case as we have for another nominee that came before this committee. because i do think it is extremely important to have you on the mta board. >> thank you, supervisor. i appreciate that. supervisor mar: thank you. to fill the shoes of the rev. james mcrae, they are big shoes to fill, but your decades of experience in the financial community would be sorely needed within the mta board, but i wanted to ask. i know what of the challenges has been the final results, and the recent cutbacks have been a challenge, but what ideas did you have for ensuring there is adequate funding stream so we could have an equitable and affordable transportation system? >> one of the things we looked at and talk about is we have funding coming in from the state and federal levels. i was also looking at maybe possibly issuing bonds as one thing that is coming up as well.

to issue bonds is very complex, but if we do that, we have to get it right. looking at the streams of revenue we have, making sure that what we're doing, allocating it appropriately -- i mean, there are areas in parking as well as in traffic where we have allocations that we could probably streamline. as well as, you know, with the last election, the way we voted was looking at the negotiations coming up, what we are going to extract from those negotiations. supervisor mar: my colleagues and i also on the county transportation authority, and we recently went through a thorny negotiations on a congested management study. do you have thoughts on how to keep relations with our brothers and sisters to the south of us but also still paying attention to the air pollution in our city? do you have any thoughts? >> i saw some of the information, but i have not had the privilege to see all of its

and all the research done in to that, but i think it is interesting. i saw where the table to a further date and not making any move on it as a board, so i look forward to doing more research on it and then make comments afterwards. supervisor campos: thank you. i just wanted to ask you a couple of questions. as you know and every member of the public knows, the mta, muni, is one of those agencies that we in city hall and throughout the city really care about and think about and talk about, and a lot has been said. i think it is important for us to have as strong a board of directors of that agency as possible. with respect to the fiscal and financial expertise that you bring, i think that is something that is badly needed and one of the things that we saw last year was an audit of some of the work

that was done by the board of directors, and i was really shocked to see that in a two- year period, even though muni accounted for half the cities over time, not once did the board of directors during that time even discuss the issue of overtime in its agenda, in its meeting, so it does make you wonder the kind of oversight that is being provided. one of the unfortunate things, that i saw, last year was this ballot measure that in my view it unfairly targeted drivers. there are many issues that are the reasons why muni is the way that it is, but i do not think it is fair to target one group of people and put the entire blame on workers, which is what i believe happened. did you have a position on that ballot measure? i wonder if you have any

thoughts about that. >> i believe you are referring to the ballot measure where our drivers are paid the second- highest in the country by charter, and that was removed by the last election and last ballot. it is one of those things in labor, unfortunately, that i think we have to look at holistic play in terms of how we evaluate labor negotiations. i know transportation is one of the highly paid industries in this country. for that long time we have had that charter. i think we have to work with the union to come up with a workable solution we are not under paying our drivers. it is a stressful job. it is very stressful on a day- to-day basis, and they have to endure a lot spirits as saying that -- and i think that is where you go in here -- at the same time, i think we can evaluate it from a financial standpoint to make sure we are not underpaying based on the financial benchmark of the rest

of the country. i think we need to figure out a system to make it equitable for the rest of the country. >> i appreciate that response. were you for it or against it or no position? >> no position on it. supervisor campos: one of the things that we were really concerned about as the board last year was some of the cuts that were made. you had the board of supervisors not only in its capacity as the board of supervisors, but also as the transportation authority trying to do everything we could to minimize the level of cuts. one of the things that we repeatedly heard from, certainly my district, was the lack of input from the public about how those cuts were made. i'm especially concerned about the way in which decisions are made that impact communities that may not necessarily be as

well-off as others and who rely on public transportation as a means of putting food on the table. i'm wondering if you can talk a little bit about how you would approach that in your job in terms of making sure that there is sufficient community input as those decisions are made. >> in my last comment, made a comment that i would be open to all stakeholders, and i think it is important because our decisions are made on the input we received from the citizens of this city. that is who we serve. i listened to all, and an open to hear from all stakeholders. i'm very concerned that we do not disadvantage neighborhoods, particularly underserved neighborhoods where we have a lot of seniors and minorities. for a long time, and i will cite an example -- for a long time, going to the bayview district, we had one bus service.

that is not good. again, and underserved community. for me, it would be very important to listen to the constituents of those communities to make sure they are not disproportionately impacted. supervisor campos: we have the example of my neighborhood, which is the 67 line, the only one that goes through the alamein the housing development, and they cut that line in have so if you are a resident now, you have to transfer buses to be able to get to a safe way. so where is the equity in that? those are the kinds of things that we are looking at. one of the things that i noted before about this appointment is the frustration that i had in the fact that this vacancy was open for a while and the appointment was not made until december 1. as you know, we have a new group of supervisors that will be coming in on the eighth of

january, and many of them -- take, for instance, in district 8, supervisor elect weiner -- many of them ran and were elected on platforms that focus on public transportation. i wonder if you could talk about the kinds of conversations you had with current members of the board of supervisors and whether or not you would be willing to meet with those newly elected supervisors to make sure that they have a chance to speak to you and talk to you about the issues. i know you have been very open and very willing to speak with me, so i'm wondering if you can just talk a little about your conversations. >> yes, i have had various conversations with current supervisors, and every single supervisor has voiced concerns about mta. everyone has strong concerns, and i'm very willing to meet with new supervisors.

i'm very open to hear their comments as well because at the end of the day, their constituents will come to them and complain about the services. yes, i am willing to meet with them. >> before i turn it over to public comment, one thing i would say about this is i think there has been a disservice to you and to the public in terms of the timing of this appointment because i think if it had been made earlier, that it would have given you an opportunity to do all the things you have been trying to do in a very short time. in my sense, having spoken to you and been very impressed, is that the more people talk to you, the more impressed they will be. with that, why don't we open it up to public comment? i know that there are members of the public who are here to speak on this item. please come forward. you each have two minutes. >> good afternoon, supervisors.

it is a fantastic afternoon in san francisco, isn't it? and aren't we glad we live in america where we have the freedom of choice? i am dr. shelton, third vice president of the san francisco branch naacp, and 82-year-old organization in the city and county of san francisco. as you said early on, there is a lot of activity going on in sacramento, our president had to run up to sacramento, but we are here as an naacp branch in support of leona bridges for the position she is seeking and we hope you will confirm her to. i will not go into all of her credentials because the power that be have seen to the fact that she is here for you to put her in that position, and as you see, we are here to help you make the choice. [laughter]

we are here to help you make the choice. please no that we are behind her 100%, and we will make sure she does the best job for the city and county of san francisco and for all of us who live here and make this beautiful city our home. thank you for your consideration. supervisor campos: thank you very much. next speaker please. >> good afternoon. i'm a member of the san francisco alumni chapter of delta sigma theta. many of our sorority sisters are here in support leona bridges. i have a letter that i would like to read from another member of our surety. "it is with pleasure that i submit this letter to you on behalf of ms. leona bridges, nomination to the mta. it was my intent to deliver these comments to you verbally,

but another obligation prevented me from joining you on this date. i have been in the transit industry for 32 years. san. muni as the trading manager, ac transit as the assistant manager of administration, bart as the department manager of human- resources, and currently, as a member of the executive paratransit council. during these years, i worked with numerous elected and appointed policy makers. in addition to being a regular transit rider, i feel the phone skills are essential for any transit policy maker to possess. visionary, thoughtful and critical thinker, communication skills, management skills, independent thinker, ms. bridges has the expertise to serve with distinction with the mta. leona possesses all of the skills listed above. she is a quick study.

she will learn the terms and transit concepts in short order. her background will serve her well as a policymaker prepared to address the issues facing the mta in the years ahead. her life experiences will serve the city of sanford says go in setting policies that will enhance all transit-related issues. i live in san francisco for 29 years. i still own property in the city. i care about the city. we urge you to support -- to vote in support of her. you will not regretted." supervisor campos: thank you very much. next speaker please. >> good afternoon. my name is mike williams, and i am a former vice chairman of barclays global investors. bgi was headquartered in san francisco and at the time was the world's largest global investment business. we serve over $2 trillion in

assets. i have known leona bridges in a professional capacity since 1993 and seen her in a wide variety of roles and functions at the firm. she managed the global financial markets operation, which provide significant income to our clients. she had responsibility for people management. she ran a large budget, audits, regulatory compliance. she was very successful in developing the global the apartment, and making certain year after year that our firm had clean audit results. when i became head of the global index and markets group, directly responsible for 14 $3 trillion in customer assets, leona moved into a role serving clients in a much more directed capacity. she brought a wonderful school to our clients -- the ability to translate the arcane language of finance to everyone broadly, so

that the experience -- that her experience and knowledge was more accessible to our clients. in this role, she maintained relationships with pension plans, as she said representing nearly $800 billion in assets. to work with everyone at the plan with a professional financial management down to the individual participants. bgi was a fiduciary business. our responsibility as a fiduciary was to manage client assets as though they were our own. as the financial markets became increasingly complex, it became very important to ask a highly experienced financial market professional to manage our client relationships. supervisor campos: thank you very much. next speaker please. >> i've the executive director of what its san francisco.

pedestrian safety is a big and important issue. 800 people a year get hit or injured -- hit and injured and killed by cars. the media, recently, and there is a new executive director from the mayor to work on that, which walk san francisco worked with him on, and we are excited about it. this appointment was fairly recent, so we would really like to ask, as part of the sustainable transportation community, to have the opportunity to meet with ms. bridges and talk more with her about pedestrian safety, cycling, public transportation, so we would ask that you differ -- i guess the term is continue -- the nomination to give us a chance to do that. >> are there any african- american members of the board of directors of walk san francisco?

>> not right now. it is a very small organization. but we very much support diversity. >> right, but i'm suggesting is a two-way street. i think your organization, like many in the environmental community, could do a far better job of being engaged with the affected communities. [applause] my only suggestion is when you want to build a relationship, all you have to do is reach out a hand. i do not think he could - telehealth to her testimony -- i do not think you could have listened to her testimony and not been responsive, so i had a feeling. i do not want to be critical, but i wanted to bring that up. [applause] supervisor campos: thank you. next speaker please. >> good afternoon. i'm the president of the san francisco alumni chapter of

delta sigma theta inc., which has been a chapter in this city for 62 years. we are part of a national chapter of over 200,000 women, predominantly african-american women. i would like the members of delta sigma theta to stand as i make my presentation. i have a lot of things i wanted to say, but people have said everything i wanted to say. i just want to tell you what i know of ms. bridges. i have known her for over 30 years. she is a warm, caring, compassionate woman. she loves this city. when she says she is going to do something, she does it. she is the rope. because we grew up in this diverse city, we work with all types of people, and she knows how to do that. she knows how to communicate, and she knows how to make you feel you are the only person she is talking to, she is listening to, and that she is