all of you for being here at this wonderful announcement. i want to thank all of my colleagues from the public sector world and your leadership for helping to rescue this incredible institution. as mayor brown said -- and i do not need to restate it. this institution is of critical importance to the arts world, to the asian community, to the storytelling of who we are as human beings. i am so honored to be an asian american representative here in san francisco and to have the largest art collection in the western world in our cities across the street from where i work is truly special. to have the 6000-year history, as depicted in the 17,000 artifacts that are here, i do not think any of us can question our fortune.

the work that was done to pull together this complicated negotiation and to get to where we are today, i want to thank the mayor, city attorney, then rosenfield, nadia, my colleagues on the board. i commit to you as the president of the board of supervisors along with my colleagues, that we will do what we need to do to get this done. hopefully, in short order, we can write the financial situation here and get us back on a footing we need to hopefully be an institution that will be around for another 6000 years. thank you for being here. [applause] >> our next speaker will be the president of the foundation of the asian art museum and the vice chair of the asian arts commission. >> on behalf of the asian art

museum foundation, i express our deep gratitude to mayor newsom, mayer brown, city attorney dennis herrerra, controller rosenfield, and other leaders for their leadership and helping us find a solution to the debt. we appreciate the city's assistance and support for assisting us in these difficult economic challenges. the city's support is for a wealthy cause. for nearly 40 years, the asian art museum foundation has provided much-needed financial support for the museum. this support has enabled the museum to successfully fulfill its mission of leading a diverse global audience in discovering the unique materials, aesthetic and intellectual, achievements of the asian culture. over the years, millions of museum visitors have experienced the museum's world-renowned connection -- collection.

truly one of the city's most viable assets as well as for a great array of education. the city's plan for strengthening the museum's financial position will make sure the foundation can continue these efforts for future generations. a successful capital campaign requires leadership, leadership, -- leadership, vision, and a well found gold. the foundation's leadership, led by our chair, has developed a framework of a strategic plan that aims to bolster the museum's commitment to serving our community. the plan also intends to maintain the organization's financial health to robust fundraising while also making sure the museum uses its resources in the most effective manner. we fully recognize the challenge

that lies ahead but oare confident that our members and donors will support us, as they have done in the past. the foundation welcomes the leadership of the city in helping us achieve our goal. also, thanks to the board of supervisors who have shown strong support of the mayor's proposal. thank you very much. [applause] >> let's welcome supervisor carmen chu. [applause] >> good afternoon. thank you for all of the individuals who came today. as you know, today is a day that we can celebrate a path for for the asian arts museum. i want to take some time to thank the people who have been so crucial in making sure this day is here. mayor gavin newsom and your staff for leading this effort

and for all of your attention to this. even over the winter holiday, i know staff was working through this, so a big thank-you to you. dennis and his fine team who have been working diligently to make sure that all the terms are correct, that we have the best deal for the city. thank you to the board president and members of the board who have always supported the asian arts museum. this is a good day for the asian foundation. of course, to the comptroller ben rosenfield and nadia, we would not be here without your hard work. today, i simply want to give two messages. one is just how important the asian art museum is to san francisco and to our history. san francisco and asian american communities are intricately linked. we have had a huge mystery here. one of the things that this museum represents to me

personally is not just an arts museum that shows bali and the shanghai exhibit. it is the history from where my parents came, from where many san franciscans have come. if there is any message i could leave today, for my lincoln high school mustangs out there, communities in the richmond, bayview hunters point, visitation valley -- this is not my museum along. this is your museum, this is your history. please support the museum. please make sure that this can stay here for your generation and for our kids. thank you for the tremendous leadership we have seen today, and thank you in advance to the community for their support. [applause] thank you -- >> thank you so much supervisor carmen chu. now i think we have all been waiting to hear from our city comptroller ben rosenfield about

key points of the proposal to restructure the foundation's bond. [applause] >> that would be the first time that people would be waiting to hear me speak. [laughter] i am just happy to be here today because that means we found a solution to a set of problems that threaten the viability and vitality of this wonderful institution. more than anything, i am pleased that collectively we have gone to that point. i will talk through some of the high points in the deal. fundamentally, this is a complicated negotiation agreement that involves five different parties, very quickly worked out under challenging circumstances and executed this morning. some are still subsequent to board approval, approval of the

founders of the board of directors and others, but the deal is set. what it's fundamentally does -- of the $120 million in outstanding debt that the foundation formally held, lenders have forgiven $21 million. so approaching 20% of the debt has been written off. secondly, $30 million approximately in collateral that the foundation had been required to post with j.p. morgan under the terms of the old financial arrangement. those would be returned to the foundation. the form of that underlie agreement has been ripped up. secondly, so that the amount of outstanding debt is reduced, what is outstanding his then refinanced under more stable terms. form of financing was a variable rate subject to interest-rate fluctuations that would change the foundation's payments.

it has been restructured as a stable, fixed 30-year loan at 4.6%, which is a competitive rate, and is free of some of the other financial bells and whistles that had served to create some of the challenge with the former financing. third, the foundation commits, with the assistance of elected to the leadership, to raise $20 million over the next 20 years to meet the remaining gap on this financing. lastly, the city enters into this agreement and provides certain assurances for the lenders necessary to make this financing work. in essence, we lead our credit rating to this deal. in the words of the city attorney, it is hard to find

such a good deal for all the five parties involved. it would not have happened without the leadership of each. i am here, happy to talk about the leadership before me and look forward to more stable financial footing for the foundation and this wonderful museum in the years ahead. thank you. [applause] >> once again, on behalf of the staff of the asian art museum, i cannot say enough of our gratitude to civic leaders, mayor newsom, the city attorney, and board of supervisors president david chiu, carmen chu, ben rosenfield, and the public utilities finance director, and the others who have done so much work without being mentioned. and everyone coming together,

from the museum to our city, and banking communities coming together to develop this proposal. about the value of the museum, i cannot say it any better any be civic leaders that have said about the wonderful importance of this museum. so we are very motivated to work together, to move the process forward and the at some upon the i would like to acknowledge some of the save members on the museum staff who worked diligently particularly our c.f.o., mark. he is right there. thank you very much. come back to visit us as a body and once again we have experienced wonderful art from asia and interconnectivity from asia and our city. our leaders here will be available for interviews afterwards for questions. thank you very much for coming. t

during the meeting -- text during the meeting. >> call to order. item number two, approval of the minutes of the december 14, 2010 meeting. >> public comments? are there any? item number four, executive session. >> all those in favor? >> second. aye.

[inaudible] >> vote for executive session dempsten? >> those in favor? aye. any opposed?

>> move not to disclose the items discussed in executive session. >> aye. >> item #6. please be advised that the ringing in use of cell phones, pagers, and similar sound producing electronic devices are prohibited at this meeting. the chairman order the removal from the meeting room and the person responsible for the ringing of a cell phone or similar sound producing device. please be advised that a member of the public has up to three minutes to make permanent public comments on each agenda item. item 7a. >> i would like to open the floor for the nomination of port commission president. >> i would like to nominate

kimberly brandon. >> are there any other nominations? the nominations for board commission president -- port commission president is now closed. >> congratulations. [laughter] >> that was quick. >> thank you. >> we have to vote. >> those in favor? any opposed? hearing no opposition, by support it as unanimous. i would like to thank you for your continued support. last year was a wonderful year for the port. we had a lot of changes and i think there will be even more this year with the america cup. maybe the giants will win the world series again. we look forward to more revenue, there is so much going on. i am just happy to be a part of

it. i am happy to serve on the commission. thank you for your support. i would like to open up nomination for port commission vice-president. are there any nominations? >> ann lazarus. >> i would second that. are there any other nominations? are there any other nominations? hearing none, let's vote. >> aye. an ny opposed? congratulations. >> i look forward to working with you, madam president, and our soul other commission member. [laughter] anyways, i second everything the

board commission -- port commission president just said. thank you. >> item 7 b, executive directors report. >> good afternoon. thank you for joining us today. thank you very much for being willing to take on the role as officer. this is a fantastic thing. we have had it now once before. i was commenting to someone else earlier, there are 85 public ports in the united states and there are not 85 women in officer positions at those ports. we are proud to have you as our leadership. it will be an exciting time. we have a lot of work ahead of us and thank you for being willing to serve. i look forward to seeing two

bodies in this empty chairs someday soon, i hope. coming up will be our budget items that will come to you next month. the ideal is that we can have all five of you in those chairs. i have a couple of items on the executive director's report today. the first is a very prestigious one. the environmental protection agency has announced that ito center at heron's head park as being recognized for bringing environmental justice and education into neighborhoods. the partnership being awarded here is the literacy for environmental justice award, as well as the city and county of san francisco through the department of the environment

and the port itself, and the state of california through coastal conservancy with industry partners. i would like to acknowledge maleek, pamela, as well as the chairwoman overact pledge for their incredible work in putting together the application for the award. so, i would like to say a little bit about what this board is. these awards are made to recognize partnerships of governments, nonprofit, an industry that address local concerns and it -- and result in something positive. you may recall that the ecocenter is the only environmental justice center in the bay area. it is a very popular one and is 100% of the grid. we are very proud of it.

it has taken 10 years in the making, right? to get to this era. i might say that this would be one of the greatest spots to watch the america's cup in 2013. and hopefully it will be a very popular and become very well now as a result. what else do i want to say? off the grid, as i mentioned. renewable energy, pollution, greenhouse gas production -- reduction. it has been a terrific partnership for all of us, funded with coastal conservancy money and with the lease from the port of san francisco. we are all extremely proud and numerous departments have become off the grid, including the

department of public health and san francisco public utilities commission. this is really a great effort and congratulations to them for winning such a prestigious award. we wish them well. next is the news we have all been awaiting, the response to the pier 70 waterfront site rfq. as you recall, the request is for a 25 acre site at pier 70. we received six responses. fantastic news. the mission bay development group, san francisco waterfront partners, tmg partners, and the

san francisco medical center. we have a lot of very interesting and qualified teams. the job of the panel is to make sure that they are qualified proposals. i am very happy to see so many of our local partner showing interest in what is such an incredible sight. a great view in place for the america's cup. again, we offer this competitive solicitation after we did our years of community processing. now they will be going to and auguste body to review and we hope to come back either in the late february or early march meeting. does that sound good to you, kathleen? equally exciting as the pending 40 anniversary of the san francisco heritage. today we have with us mark dealer, the executive director,

who has brought an example of their cell laboratory work. most appropriately entitled port city. an amazing piece of work that reminds us all of the fact that there was a port, then there was a city. that we really are a very integrated part of the city's heritage in many ways. like -- sorry, mark -- i am married to him like, got to get that right. in august 2010 he was appointed as executive director, moving here from the los angeles conservancy where he led the organization's advocacy program. he was successful in the preservation of historic resources in the port of los angeles. thank you for doing that. he is a regional attorney for the national historic western

office and is on the board of trustees for the california foundation since 2006 and has published two publications on their behalf. award winning design solutions and what is in it for you. he has his from the santa clara university of lot and has come to our fine city to lead an organization that is very important point in history. one of the most interesting things i have found so far in the book is the point where the port was influential in the city. equally important was the court's role or the role of our partners in the rebuilding of the city after the 1906 earthquake. a very intriguing book. thank you for taking it on. >> nice to meet you as well as

the commissioners. this is really a homecoming for me. before the los angeles conservancy i was at the office here in san francisco for eight years. i am delighted to be back working with the port and throughout the city, it is a great opportunity. as you know, you have a copy above book before you and hopefully you will get a chance to move through it -- read through. this is really the first book to tell a comprehensive story of the port of san francisco, largely an unknown story. it goes well beyond architectural and engineering landmarks, building into the history of workers, warehouses, connected to the port. it talks about the story of how the court did receive the development of the city.

it chronicles the port from its inception in the mid 19th century to the present day, concluding with an epilogue tracing the ongoing transformation through present day. it set the stage for future changes ahead with the future announcement regarding the america's cup. really it is a wonderful read if i might say so myself. over 300 historic photos, maps, and illustrations from different times in the port's history. a lavishly illustrated book. this project is only made possible because of the partnership between the port of san francisco and heritage, dating back to the 1990's where heritage worked closely with the pork and community in conceiving the proposal for the national

register historic district. this partnership has continued into the present day since august from my start here, working closely with mark on the board, as well as renee martin. planning for the rollout we want to get maximum exposure. several of ants are already on the calendar. a panel discussion of the historical society to highlight this very rich story. more information will be posted on the heritage web site. in addition our partnership transcends this particular project. over the years the port has continued before the issues committee for feedback on various projects proposed.

i am honored to have recently been appointed to the central water fund advisory group. likewise, our annual fund-raiser will be at 35 this year. thank you to monique, mark, and others for securing that been you. we feel that this project is critical in enhancing vision of advocacy and the port commission, especially as the world's attention will be focused on the rich array of historic resources that comprise the historic waterfront at the port of san francisco. just in terms of where you can get the book, it is currently available on our website. literally hot off the presses. just before today i drop off in order downstairs, a very logical retailer for this book. we are pleased to have them as a partner in this project.

likewise the port will have copies on sale for the public. thank you again. i look forward to working with you in the months and years ahead. >> thank you, mike, very much. about them and thank you for taking on the committee assignment. i think that you will enjoy it. a great place to be. the book is fantastic. i do not know if you have had a chance to flip through, i had seen many of them but there were so many i had not seen before. it should be mandatory reading. next on the agenda for today is a very interesting news. i know that you think i have finished but i have more things to talk about. the first is carnival splendor. remember that ship that broke down outside the waters of mexico? mexico? it has been in dry dock in