improper way is. we have essentially come up to speed on how to show the books in a way that is consistent with current practice but the national level. really, it is limited to that, so that they're perfectly clear not just to auditors and finance people, but the public. the other thing that is absolutely fundamental, dovetailing with questions that the commissioner was asking earlier, books are needed for having really good deed -- good dealings with ratings agencies, leading to better rates for borrowing money. supervisor mar: thank you. anything else on this item? >> one more comment to be added to the executive director's. the structure of the financial

statement, for the debt compliance telescope -- kept within scope for the money. supervisor mar: commissioner? >>supervisor farrell: is this an annual endeavor? >> it is annual. on a quarterly basis with the present to the finance committee. supervisor mar: colleagues, we are joined by supervisor elsbernd:. . congratulations on another clean audit. i wanted to thank you for your great work. thank you, congratulations.

anyone from the public that would like to speak? seeing no one, public comment is closed. can we move this forward without objection? i do know that we have public comment for the minutes. we did? great. are there any other items before us? >> the federal update, and information by them. supervisor mar: great. >> mr. chairman, commissioners, we welcome the vice chair to the meeting. just a very quick thing. first of all, this item is an update on state and federal legislation. [unintelligible] is here to talk to you about this. no one is better qualified. i will let him handle that.

i did want in consideration of the changes that taken place, to give you just a quick sense, my quick sense of where things seem to be going as far as transportation of pictures and legislation. of course, you know that the transportation infrastructure committee is one of the largest committees in the house of congress. that committee is now chaired by congressman john michael from florida. the membership of the committee as available currently, three republican representatives from southern california. we have yet to see on the other side of the elbow of the members

will be. the bottom line is that it will be an interesting year in washington, d.c.. likely a very difficult year between the new congress focus on reducing the deficit and spending and also the apparent lack of any consensus so far that one can in any way see on the issue of raising revenues for transportation. what we are likely to see, if we are lucky, is hanging on to the amounts of money available currently, authorized currently within the budget for transportation purposes, they are in the vast majority for highway projects. but ithe prospect for the reauthorization of the surface

projects act on the six year bill, already very late -- it is several years delayed by the outgoing congress -- because of lack of consensus on revenue sources. it is probably going to have a tough time getting to a final vote this year as well. we are certainly hoping so. the new chairman of the committee has said that he would make this reauthorization a major priority for his committee. i do not doubt that he believes that. the question is that there would be consensus in congress. i am talking about a situation where congress has failed to come to agreement on even a 5 cent increase in a gas tax. so, not an encouraging picture.

we will continue our advocacy to try to maintain support for the projects we have in the pipeline. we have major projects to meet support commitment. the one that comes to mind as increasing significantly in the central subway, and almost $1 billion grant agreement from congress and the federal transit administration to move forward. that would clearly be a centerpiece of advocacy with a number of other projects and a panoply of projects that meet federal support that need to be the focus of our activity this year. we will also try to be as active as possible in terms of reauthorization discussions. i think that i would be remiss if i did not say that we should not expect too much. we certainly should not expect new revenue above what we are getting in the formula and so on

for the next couple of years. that would be a prudent course of action. i think that local sales taxes and probably in user fees, at some point, would be the larger chunk of money for future transportation initiatives. we will not try to make that lott the case, but the policy in washington is very diverse. that is my summary of federal. thank you. >> chairman, commissioners, thank you for having me here again. since i was here in december the legislature was convened for two years. we have seen the introduction of about 100 bills in each house. that trend will increase quickly now that we have moved back into active sessions with the budget having been announced.

the deadline for bill reduction is the third week of february. we will see the vast majority of legislation the two will take a look gaps coming on line shortly after february, most likely to march. today we have identified six bills or seven bills to take a look at. by the way, the matrix is on page 71 of your package. there are three bills suggested that you might consider supporting. two of the measures deal with high-speed rail. conflict of interest issues during the last year. there were a number of issues that the high speed rail authority that dealt with conflict of office issues with certain members being members of their local transportation agencies in their home towns and counties, questions about whether that was appropriate. in addition there were questions about whether or not the work

proposed was worth it. two of the bills would attempt to address that. there was a bill caught at the end of the session that contained the same language but failed to pass. two members, one in each house, attempting to impose conflict we are suggesting a support position for the. that is an import statement to make. the other bill we are making specific recommendations, support and concept is mr. bell's bill, ab 57, which deals with contracts with caltrans. the reason we did not recommend a full launch support, but allows me to voice your opinion in sacramento. provided the bill stays a

reasonably in the shape that it is now, we are not in talks with his office right now. i would not want to be locked into a position that is ever to your interest. we are supporting concept but we may change as the bill becomes more fleshed out later in time. that is all on the legislative matrix. the legislature -- the governor announced his budget yesterday. there had been a lot of work done in november and december by coalitions in sacramento in the wake of the passage of proposition 26. that has the potential to have an effect on state financing to the tune of $2.5 billion if certain legislation is not re- enacted pursuant to proposition 26. i can answer questions, if that is your interest, but i wanted to get to the bottom line. the governor has embraced the coalition perspective which is,

let's wrap in the reenact the necessary statute pursuant to proposition 26 so that we save those funds that were adopted a year ago. we think that has a reasonable chance of passing. there were two other notable elements in the bond act -- i am sorry, in the budget for transportation. one is they tried to maintain faith with the amount of transportation assistance to operators, a target pursuant to legislation adopted in 2010. about $350 million to be distributed statewide to operators. due to a shift in the estimate of the source of the revenues, it is probably more like $330 million. nonetheless, this has been a target of previous administrations to redirect the general fund. they are going to try to finance transportation operations at the

minimum acceptable level, which is a change in attitude in sacramento which is welcomed by transit operators across the state. finally, the last point to make is, that the governor has made proposals that would shore of the general bond plans that are earmarked for transportation. they decided to dedicate truck weight fees, in lieu of the general fund, to pay for general obligation debt service that the state would otherwise have to pay for out of the general fund. that is projected to be as much as $700 million in any one given year. so that was money that we were not counting on. that will now be used to shore up transportation general obligation bonds, which is an important thing in the coming years. commissioner mar: we have a question from commissioner

elsbernd. commissioner elsbernd: we have you here, so i went to take advantage of you being in front of us. just to give us a quick primer on what the governor means when he talks about realignment to local government. i know that may not be a specific question to transportation, but it will hit everything that we do. >> there have been factual, direct reallocations of local redevelopment funds. and there is the programmatic part and the underlying part. on the programmatic side -- i did not spend any time mr. looking at the governor's strategy in the realignment area -- but it is looking to shift certain programs from the state to local area, in areas like public safety, child care provision, and certain medical

and mental health services. i do not know the breadth and scope of those. i could probably provide -- commissioner elsbernd: generally shifting from state to local, but maybe we will get some additional revenue? >> correct. by repealing the statutory reauthorization for development agencies, they ceased to exist. by action we take -- the property tax in california would then be available for local expenditures for the state programs. in a nutshell, that is how that would work. it sounds counter intuitive, in contrast to proposition 22, which says you cannot move the money, but they are not moving the money. they are proposing to eliminate the authority for the blight

condition, any incremental financing with property taxes. in addition, i believe certain portions of the taxes that are due to expire, some at the end of this year, some next year, were adopted in 2009. the permanent extension of that was declined by the voters in 2009. some of those funds will find their way to support the transit activities. commissioner elsbernd: my question for staff, transportation, we are talking about redevelopment, but what will be the impact on transbay and the overall transbay plans? i am sure commissioner kim is very concerned about that. we are doing every development

in commissioner cohen's district. it is all going to have a trickle of fact. i know is not specific transportation funding, but it is important. -- effect. if you could let us know, we would be appreciative. >> we are looking and that already. obviously, we have seen the ability to leverage tax increments for infrastructure projects is a key, especially in an urban setting like ours. we want to make sure that remains the case. commissioner elsbernd: just another one to look at, the park merced project. i know that there are some taxes that could be used to improve the 19th corridor. that will be key to whether the

project is approved. >> it is also a fundamental mechanisms for listing the private sector in participating with infrastructure building. we want to see that continue. commissioner elsbernd: it is also my dream financing mechanism for caltrain. commissioner mar: thank you. anything else? colleagues, if there are no other questions, let's open this up to the public. is there anyone from the public that would like to comment on this item? seeing none, public comment is closed. colleagues, can we move the recommendation forward without recommendations? thank you. are there any other items of for us? >> item 7, introduction of new items. this is an information item. commissioner mar: are there any items that colleagues would like to bring? seeing none, let's open this up to public comment. is there anyone from the public that would like to comment on

this item? seeing none, public comment is closed. are there any other items before us? >> item 8, public comment. commissioner mar: is there anyone from the public that would like to comment on this item? seeing none, public comment is closed. thank you. >> item 9. adjournment. commissioner mar: thank you, everyone. meeting is adjourned.

tape 55 >> welcome, this is carl. >> great to meet you. >> great to me you, and i want to thank you for your interest and this is the city's animal shelter. and come in and a lot of people come here to adopt a animal or if they have lost their animal or looking for other animals. and we deal with other animals like birds and rabbits and you name it. this is more to see in this facility and more to see in the community. and i suggest you go with an animal control person and see what they co, whether rescuing

animals in distress or hit by a car or dealing with aggressive animals or wildlife or a variety of things. you can only get that flavor with them and doing it first hand. >> i have been with animal control for about six years, i spent a year in the kennel and then the office came up and i started doing it and it really fit. it's really the job for me. and animals i have to handle and i know what i am doing, i rarely get scared. [whistle]. we do a lot of investigations and most are not as bad as people report but everyone once in a while they are. and i had one and people had

moved out and the dog was in the inside and it makes me teary and when the dog is in the backyard, and i can pull an animal out of a horrible environment and feel good. >> where does this animal go after this? >> they go for the shots and then the kennel. >> and if they just found this, and once we enter everything in the computer and they can track to find out if the dog went back home. we hold them for five days. >> this is a stray dog and it came in today and we immobilize it and then put it in a room with food and water. >> and then evaluate for

medical behavior and see if anyone is interested in adopting then. >> we want to be sure that their behavior is good for the average adopter and not aggression problem, toward people or animals. >> and if they growl and don't bite the hand, she passes that. and good girl, in case she has something in her mouth, we get it out. and one more test, called the startle test and it startled hear but she came to me. and passed the handling test. >> for the mental exam i feel for lumps and bumps.

and the ears and see if they are infected and look at the eyes and be sure they are clear and don't have cataracts and look at their teeth and heart. this is the first job that i feel i make a dvrngs. -- difference. and we may do 40 to 80 animals a day for treatments. and do blood work and skin scrapings and cultures to diagnose different diseases. and x-rays, i can take an animal that would be euthanized at a different shelter and fix it and get it ready for a home. >> we have a partnership and we let a professional groomer run a private business from our facility and in turn grooms our

shelter animals. what is the big deal of that? when someone comes to adopt an animal, if it looks good, chances are it will be adopted more. >> and we groom and clean the ears and the works. >> typically a shelter wouldn't have grooming? >> not at all. and these dogs are treated with the utmot -- utmost care that others can't provide. this is a shampoo to bring out the luster. and i feel satisfied in helping the shelter pets be adopted and to be a part of such a wonderful staff, from the top all the way down. if she passes our evaluation, she will stay until she's adopted. if you are interested in

adoption and don't want to put them to sleep, that means at a last resort, we will give you a call before putting to sleep. you are not bound to the dog, and we would give you a call, and it's an actual adoption and cost $107 and it will be your dog. >> the volunteers to meet are the unsung heroes in this field that take the animals to hope and nurse them to get strong enough to come down and rehome. without volunteers, i would have to be honest to say this wouldn't be much more than a pound. we thank god that we have the number of committed people coming down and helping us out, it makes all the difference in the world.

>> when you want to come in and volunteer, you go through a general orientation, about two hours. there is a lot of flexibility. and the various programs available, are baseline dog walking. you can work with the cats. you can work with tony's kitty rescue, with the small animals and guinea pigs and birds and chickens. >> you always have an appreciative audience. >> do you feel that what you have learned here helped you with your own dogs? >> the training they don't have? yes. and it's things that you learn, we usually outlive our dogs and every time you get a new one, you have skills to teach them. >> one of the programs is

training program and it's staffed by a member of the community and one of the programs she has is dog socialization. >> we started this program for canine socialization. and all the dogs available for adoption get to play for two hours. and it's a time for them to get incredible exercise and play with other dogs and we have remedial socialization. and it's incredible the dogs and they get exercise and run and tumble and when most adopters come to look in the afternoon, they are quiet and settled. >> and i want come and someone sees a dog and loves it, it's

quick. and after three weekends, i saw him and he connected and i connected and came back. >> what is your experience of working with the animals? >> unbelievable. from the guy that is came to the house and everyone here, they are friendly and knowledge believe and -- knowledgeable and they care about the animals. >> and it's a great place to visit and look at the animals and maybe fall in love and take one home. and look at our grooming program and volunteer program and many say, hey, this [older man speaking foreign language]

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