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 of a time

sensitive nature requiring that they could be filled as quickly as possible. for me, because of that there is something unique about this appointment. given the nature of the qualifications of the applicant, the urgency of this position, it is certainly something i am open to moving forward. supervisor mar: i would agree with my colleague as well. given the urgency of the puc's important projects. i know your background with labor alliances and local hiring and so many issues that bring community within the different bodies that you work in, so i think you are perfectly poised to join the puc at this critical time as they move forward. an environmental justice issues, as well as bringing together various labor and union and community-based groups together to fight for better public

utilities for the whole city, so i'm looking forward to being supportive of your appointment today and not continuing this item, but i will listen to the comments first. supervisor campos: why don't we now open to public comment? thank you, mr. courtney. >> supervisors, happy new year. i'm the director of the san francisco labor council. i'm encouraged by your comments, but i'm still going to work off the agenda as i saw it when i walked in this morning. i want to be clear -- vince courtney is a great leader in our trade union movement. he is well versed in a lot of the different functions of san francisco and the puc. it is obviously one of the most important commissions in all of san francisco. mr. courtney sits as an executive officer on our legal counsel. -- on our labor council. the labor council recommends him

highly for this very important position. supervisor campos: thank you. is there any other member of the public who would like to speak on this item? please come forward. >> good afternoon, commissioners. my name is gregory reed. i'm the executive director of the randolph institute, and i'm here today to give our support as well as with me today, and i brought a van full of community members and members of our chapter. we wholeheartedly give our support to mr. courtney's appointment to the puc. thank you. supervisor campos: thank you very much. next speaker. >> hello, supervisors. you may have in your packet a letter was submitted in support of mr. courtney. i have copies here for the clerk. we need vince courtney on the

puc. i do not a with the discussion of the date is, but i cannot stress how much we need him. he was one of the first labor leaders to support what is now mandatory local hiring, along with members of the rules committee, as fate would have it, and we need him because starting in five or six weeks, all the mandatory language that the board has passed and is now a city law has to get into all these city contracts, the puc first and foremost. we need this to be the champion. we work with him, he works with us. he has experience working with environmental organizations. he was a member of the sunshine or dance task force, which a lot of people do not know. he stands for community labor partnership. if we can get him on tomorrow -- as soon as possible. i really cannot stress that enough. the community needs him. he is going to be a champion. we need him as soon as possible. did i say we need him on the

puc, like, now? supervisor campos: i think you said now, but human yesterday. [laughter] next speaker, please. -- you meant yesterday. [laughter] >> i'm here today to support mr. courtney to be your next commissioner. we the community supports the hard work he is doing for the community and he also supports local hiring. we at the philip randolph institute said francisco chapter and the community believe he would do an excellent job. be a born and raised in san francisco has demonstrated being about we the people of san francisco. we are asking for your support for mr. courtney. thank you. >> thank you very much, ma'am. next speaker, please. >> happy new year, supervisors.

we support vince courtney to be the next commissioner. we represent over 3000 members, and we urge you guys to support it and give the jobs to the community. we are the big supporters of the community and any city and county of san francisco. supervisor campos: thank you. we have been joined by the general manager of the rec and park department. >> i wanted to say a brief word of support for vince courtney and his appointment. i have had the great pleasure and honor of working closely with this for a number of years, most closely over the last couple of years, and he is a person of tremendous integrity, a tremendous collaboration and pragmatism. he fights fiercely for his members, and as someone who understands always some of the

nuances and challenges of running a city department or running a big city. he is innovative and is one of the leaders of the first apprentice -- partner apprenticeship program in the state of california. he is a wonderful individual and a wonderful asset to the city, and i support him wholeheartedly. supervisor campos: thank you very much. next speaker please. >> i am a member of the local 261, the laborers union, and i'm here to support mr. courtney. i have served with him on several boards that the union has, and he has a very diverse aspect on things that i think he will be a great addition to the puc commission. supervisor campos: thank you. any other speaker? good afternoon. welcome to rules committee. >> thank you, and happy new year to you, supervisor. i'm with local 261, here to

encourage you to place vince courtney on the commission as of yesterday. again, i've known fenced throughout the year as a union brother, a friend, and a colleague, and he is more than qualified. thank you. supervisor campos: thank you. next speaker please. >> happy new year, supervisors. i'm here to support vince. oftentimes, communities have to work with unions trying to work up the best deal possible and trying to figure out innovative ways to be able to integrate people that are trying to get to work and trying to get to the limited amount of jobs and merge community interests with union interests. i have always found vince as one of those go to people to try to

figure out those kinds of problems and try to deal with those kinds of issues. i'm in full support of this, and he is one of the reasons that even though my sources told me that nothing was going to get voted on today, i still wanted to come by and support him because i do not know how it is going to shake out when everything is said and done, but i really want to hold everybody here that no matter how it shakes out, no matter who is appointed to mayor, that this particular appointee is locked and solid. thank you. supervisor campos: thank you. we have been joined by a member of the san francisco board of education, newly reelected member. good afternoon, and welcome to the rules committee. >> happy new year. i just wanted to take a break from holding my granddaughter, very new to our family, and work on the board of education to let

you know how much i am in support of vince courtney, and i'm grateful that this nomination has come before you, and i wanted to tell you briefly what impresses me most about mr. courtney, and that is his ability to reach across communities, across the aisle over and over again to bring people to the discussion table on issues, and i have seen him do that over and over again, and i cannot begin to tell you how highly i value that ability and capacity to do it, regardless of the argument or discussion at the table. he reaches across and brings people together to the conversation, and i believe he will continue to do that, and i know he will be an excellent appointment on the puc. i want to encourage you and let you know that he has my wholehearted support in this endeavor. thank you again, and happy new year. supervisor campos: happy new year. is there any other member of the public who would like to speak? seeing none, public comment is closed. supervisor dufty: i wanted to

briefly add my support to mr. courtney. i look forward to voting for him hopefully tomorrow at the full board, and a one take a moment to reflect on his parents, and i had the privilege of knowing them both. -- i want to take a moment to reflect of his parents. his mother is a respected member of the latino community who has been a trailblazer in her own right, and i know he will continue their tradition and do a great job. supervisor alioto-pier: thank you. i would like to echo the remarks of my colleague. i wholeheartedly support the appointment of mr. courtney to the puc, and i would like to make a motion to send this forward with recommendations. supervisor campos: we had a motion on the table. notwithstanding the trend we saw in this meeting, i do believe that for the reasons that have been articulated by supervisor mar and myself that it is really

critical that we move this item for wood, there is a lot of work that needs to be done at the puc, and it is not just local hiring but a lot of other issues that are really critical and time sensitive in nature, and i think that this is an excellent appointment. the motion is to send as a committee report, supervisor. and to table -- supervisor mar: so it would be to -- >> mou for item 7, table item eight, and sen through as a committee report -- the motion would be to move forward items 7, table item eight, and sent through as a committee report. >> -- supervisor campos: can you please call item 9? >> item 9, resolution approving the appointment of herb cohn and harry kim to the san francisco

relocation appeals board. supervisor campos: good afternoon. welcome to the rules committee. >> happy new year. ok. >> happy new year, everybody. >> happy new year. >> relocation appeals commissioner since 1993. before that, i was golden gate bridge director for four years. of course, here today to get reappointment. i'm also a chair of a san

francisco committee, and it is so good to be here. i've got so many things to talk about, but it is already lunchtime. anyway. to see everyone here, happy holidays. supervisor campos: ok, thank you, commissioner. any questions, colleagues? no questions. why don't we ask herb cohn -- supervisor dufty, i'm sorry. supervisor dufty: thank you. i want to reflect on my long friendship with mr. kim. i would say that i am the beneficiary of the least till we what ties similar to the one he has on today, which are miracle ties, if he shows you they do

not have to be tight, but look quite good. in all seriousness, he is a great individual, and there are people from communities that are bridges to the whole city, and he is one because of his consistent presence at city events and a willingness to be helpful. he is a start. colleagues, i want to briefly read into the record a letter for herb cohn, a longtime friend and colleague of mine in the castro neighborhood. he is a cpa, and he has been mined for more than 10 years, but more than that, he has been the past president of the merchants of our market and castro, which is a very vibrant merchants association. he was instrumental in the creation of the community benefit district and served as its first president and as someone who just gives tremendously. he served as a leader and president of the council of district merchants association, which is the merchants brought the city.

the letter that he provided me, "i'm writing to ask for your support to my nomination to the city's relocation appeals board, submitted to you by major new some. due to a long-planned trip out of town, i will not be able to change, i will not be a person -- i will not be able to attend in person. i regret not being able to attend since i'm extremely excited to have the opportunity to serve my city in this way. i've arranged to have supervisor dufty spiegel might have since he knows me very well. we work together on projects for over 10 years. i will also be available by phone. you have a list of my activities, but a few highlights include serving as president of the district council merchants association, serving on the border buffer marketing castro, forming and serving as the original board president of the castro upper market and community district and owning and managing two commercial and managing two commercial properties in health appeared