whatsoever. it has really taken probably the fee itself forced to realize how nice it is for us to not have one. in rejecting the fee back in 2009, i have been inspired by joni mitchell, in her song "big yellow taxi." she said, "we took all the trees and put them in a tree museum and charge the people a dollar and a half just to see them." that inspired me not to approve the fee in 2009, but i have another part i want to quote -- "don't it always seemed to go that we do not know what we've got until it's gone?" supervisor mirkarimi: hard to

follow that, but i have to say thank you, supervisor avalos. i know there is a few of us who have been staunchly against and continue to be against that gate fee. it was a mistake in my opinion. i quite agree with you that the consequence has been death by 1000 cuts, and it is manifested through these constant increases in fees, so i look forward to the debate that i'm sure will be well-spirited as i'm sure others will try to defend the interests of what privatization might look like in a kinder gentler way, but as this ordinance set that discussion in motion about where the city is going in a larger direction, as it relates to reconciling our differences by constantly imposing these kind of fees, let this be the issue.

i look forward to it. i want to use this opportunity to refer back on introductions to advertise that we are holding a town hall meeting in my district and doing it in rather quick fashion, so i want to use the opportunity to tell the audience in our district and the surrounding communities, like president chiu had expressed great lament about violence in his district, so we begin with the uptick in hours. on monday, february 7, at the caribbean community center on buchanan at grove, we are bringing together the police chief, the district attorney's office, the housing authority, adult and juvenile probation, department of children's, yes, and family, the mayor's office, and a number of others. we used to have to do this. counting heavily on the book in strategy of law enforcement and services to make sure that we deal with these kind of upticks

in a holistic and effective way, and now, we have to dispatch accordingly, so we expect to have a robust town hall meeting, and we encourage the community to come out. thank you. 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. supervisor avalos: a couple of things i forgot to imagine -- subliminal appropriation is $80,000 for the last three months of the fiscal year to cover the things that we have collected over the last three months of the fiscal year. it is co-sponsored by supervisor ross mirkarimi, supervisor campos, a supervisor mar, kim,, and hopefully others will join in. the resolution that passed, there was a huge community effort involved in making sure these community efforts get past couple on the streets knocking on doors.

i want to make sure we know that it was a huge community effort to make the legislation go forward. supervisor wiener: i have a question through the chair about the supplemental appropriation for $80,000, about whether it is justified web that $80,000 would come from elsewhere in the budget. i'm assuming it would go to the botanical society for the work it needs to do. supervisor chiu: generally during roll call, it is not the delay, for us to ask questions. i can leave this discussion in committee, but do you have a quick answer to that? supervisor avalos: the subliminal procreation on the sources side is the real estate tax increase, and on the uses side, the recreation and park

department. it is coming out of the general fund, going to the recreation and park department. >> mr. president, that concludes roll call for introductions. supervisor chiu: thank you. at this time, i would like to move to our 3:30 special accommodations. i believe in the only person who has won today. i would like to invite up morgan holland to the microphone. colleagues, i would like today to recognize the important work of the american heart association in the ongoing fight against heart disease. cardiovascular disease is our nation's leading cause of death. it accounts for one out of three deaths nationwide. according to the most recent data, about 1168 san franciscans die from heart disease every

year. the united states federal government has an effort of reducing coronary heart disease rates. we are about 20% above that, so we have a lot of work to do. ha has been an amazing organization to help us aggressively educating our citizens, help to train us on cpr and frankly helping us to save lives. this friday, february 4, is national where red tape. americans nationwide will be wearing red to show their support for heart disease awareness. i'm wearing a red tide today, and i will do so again on friday, and i hope folks in the public will consider wearing red this friday out of respect and celebration for the work that h.a. is doing in memory of folks who have passed away from heart disease. >> i'm representing morgan

today. thank you, supervisor. good afternoon. in here with other members of the society and as a volunteer and advocate for the american heart association, and i'm honored to accept this on your behalf. cardiovascular disease is a growing public health problem in the united states, especially among women. each year, heart disease, stroke, and other cardiovascular diseases claim the lives of approximately 460,000 women, more than the next five causes of death combined, and yet, many women are not aware that heart disease is their greatest health threat. our collective efforts are making a difference. awareness of heart disease is growing among women, but more progress is needed. a deficit in awareness exists, and many women are still not taking the necessary steps to keep their heart healthy. february 4 is where red day, an entire cities across the nation will go read -- wear red day,

and entire cities across the nation will go red, so i encourage you to support this effort. thank you. [applause] supervisor chiu: madam clerk, why don't we go to general public comments? >> the next item on the agenda -- supervisor chiu: i did not realize campos, realize -- i did not realize, supervisor campos has accommodation. for public comment, if you would like to make -- remained standing, that is fine. supervisor campos: i would like to take this opportunity to recognize a pretty amazing

organization. it is my honor to recognize the women's initiative for self- sufficiency, a nonprofit organization that is headquartered in my district, whose mission is to build the entrepreneurial capacity of lower-income women to overcome social and economic barriers and achieve self-sufficiency. i would like to ask the executive director of the women's initiative for self- sufficiency, who is here. she is not only the executive director but someone who has been involved with the organization for many years, and i know she is here with a number of graduates of the organization's training. for those of you who may not be knowledgeable about what the women's initiative does, they have been in existence for more than 23 years. they have helped over that time more than 23,000 women to start

or expand their own businesses. why these -- who are these women that they serve? 80% of the women are women of color. 53% are latino. 22 are african-american. 36% have a high-school equivalency or less. 25% of these women have actually unfortunately reported a domestic violence incident. 21% are single parents. and by providing women the comprehensive courses and training that the initiative has provided to them, they have over the last few years, number of years helped women build stable homes, generate new jobs, and helped entire communities. i was impressed to learn during a recent visit that 70% of the women that have graduated from the women's initiative actually

remain in business for five years after completing the program, which is a pretty amazing figure here in household income increases from an average of $1,800 to more than $2,900 per month. after just one year in the program. in 2009, and this is a pretty amazing an incredible figure, clients or graduates of the initiative created more than 2200 jobs here in san francisco, which had paid an average wage of more than $16 an hour. that alone is an amazing figure that shows the kind of contribution they have made. net worth for these women has increased more than 300% after just two years in the program from close to $13,000 to $53,000, which is an amazing

figure. just last week, when i did a pretty incredible visit that they put together, i have the opportunity to meet george howard, who is the owner of a hair salon that just opened up in my district. they had been in business for just a few months. i was impressed to learn that with the help of the women's initiative training program, started her own business, created jobs for independence stylist, and just opened an amazing storefront on 22nd street, and i certainly need a haircut, so i look forward to going to do that. but georgette is just one of many examples of the success that this amazing organization has had. with that, it is my honor on behalf of the board of supervisors to recognize the work of the women's initiative, and i would like to ask nicole for a few words.

>> thank you very much. do you want to come work for us? we are so honored to receive this award, and wanted to mention that we are not just working in supervisor combos -- campos'district but we're working in all of your district. i have some packets of information for those of you who are not as familiar with us, and you will see there is a listing of all the businesses in the last five years i endorse it could. you may be surprised to see some businesses that you did not realize had come through with its initiative training. i just want to quickly recognize two of our amazing staff. sandra who has been with the organization as a business transfer 12 years and has been personally responsible for so many of the women that have come through the program, increasing their incomes and creating jobs. also, felicia is from colombia.

finally, before i introduce nancy, one of our success stories, i want to really focus on job creation. i know we are all talking about jobs, how do we create jobs? not enough of us are talking about how micro enterprise, very small businesses, are really the answer to our job situation. our clients created 2244 jobs last year, and that is an incredible number. we were hearing that nobody was able to create jobs. we do that for about $3,000 per client, so for every $1 that is invested in the initiative, $30 goes back into the community. huge economic impact. i'm going to now turn it over to nancy. thank you so much for the recognition, and i look forward to getting to know all of you new supervisors and past

supervisors. and you so much. >> good afternoon. i know i've had the pleasure of meeting some of you before, but i look forward to welcoming the new board of supervisors and looking forward to working in your district as well. i'm dedicated to preserving mexican traditions through educational programs in the community. initially, i was at 24th and mission for 10 years. recently, i got the opportunity to expand into a new location on valencia street at 22nd, so i invite you to stop by. we consist of a retail store online, but we do wholesale as well, and i think diversifying my business has really allowed me to succeed through these economic hard times. my story is a little bit unusual, so i'm not your normal,

i guess, women's initiative client. i actually come from a family dedicated to small businesses. my mom is from southern mexico, very close to the guatemalan border. she is actually half chinese and half mexican, so my grandfather immigrated from southern china to southern mexico, and i grew up with a merchant family. when we emigrated to the u.s., my family also had family businesses, but even though i had all that preparation, opening my own business and working in a family environment, i was not prepared for the obstacle and challenges of having my own business. this is where the women's initiative program really helped me to develop actually technical training, business plans -- all of the things that i have not

done because my mom had a very old school way of is this mentality, which was basically sink or swim. my company -- i have four full- time staff and two part-time in the low season, but in the high season, that can expand up to five or three part-time employees that all live and work in the mission district, so this is really, to me, about grass roots economy, rebuilding this country, and the recession gives us an opportunity to reevaluate our relationship with community. they have been very helpful to me, and i described them as the strap that we can pull ourselves up by, the straps on our goods that we can relate will ourselves up by. even though my business is dedicated to preserving cultural traditions, i do not believe

that all traditions are sick with -- sacred. i believe in transforming the cultural norms that deny women the opportunity to be their best, and even though much progress has been made in latin american communities, we still face millions of women that find themselves in a position of economic this empowerment. very important for immigrant women to be able to have economic control over our lives because that really means economic control over our destinies. sometimes, all a girl needs is a lucky break. thank you very much. [applause]

supervisor chiu: why don't we move at this time to general public comment? then the next item is the opportunity for the public to address the board for kid of the women of items within the subject matter jurisdiction of the board, including items on the adoption of the committee reference portion of the agenda and excluding items which have been considered by the board committee. speakers using translation assistance will be allowed twice the amount of time. if a member of the public would like a document to be displayed on the overhead projector, please clearly states such and remove the document when the screen should return to live coverage of the meeting. supervisor chiu: thank you. given the number of folks i see, my suggestion is we do public, for about half an hour, and hopefully, that will get through most of the folks, and then proceed to our 4:00 special

order. >> [speaking foreign language] what i said, i write it for my bible, where i come from.

in the meantime, i write another one in my language about how i feel. for four years, have been run away from my country. i have here a copy not only for my brother, for the men who are going to have bridges and like it, and to let me read it and tell you why our language -- wake up, time for you to go. if you like my people, time for you to go. how much money from america you get. january, 2011, i hope you never forgets. your position of power will never going to be away.

my uncle gets you to write in the right way, but your corruption has become your weight. i see that your family gets scared. i hope to see our hero. when i was young, i was very proud of my all who did help -- my uncle who did help mubarak, and the money you gave him helped him, and i'm here for the

homeless. bring our money back to the people here. thank you. >> good afternoon, supervisors. stop the corporate rate of the public library. a crucial aspect of the rape of the library is an understanding of how little the public/private partnership actually continued rigid contributes. the citizens voted on an issue to remodel, and a new report is out from the department of public works. program, approved by the board, would cost $106 million in bond funds and be finished in january 2010. to date, the public expenditures have told 136% of the original commitment. eventually, the public expenditures are expected to reach almost 190% or $200 million. at the same time, the friends and foundation of the library claims it would raise $16

million. today, the friends and foundation have expanded 7.1% of its commitment. the total contribution to the branches is $1.1 million. during the life of the grant program, the friends have raised $31.7 million, so the foundation have provided only 3.4% of what they raised. yet, from the face of the long history of failure i presented last week, accountability is suspended because private money is its own justification. the friends and foundation would not answer questions about their finances before your finance committee, so they were allowed to operate without an agreement with the city. everyone knows that the program is supposed to be finished in january 2010, and the cost overruns and public funds were so delayed because the foundation needed more money, more time to raise their private money. yet, we are supposed to be grateful for the privatization,

as if privatization is not even expected to justify itself or show any benefit in the long term? i always say the allies cost more than the money. supervisor mirkarimi: thank you. next speaker please. >> i would like the overhead to remain on the screen until i remove my final slide. this presentation is called san francisco open government. what we do not but should have. i'm director of san francisco open government, and you can contact the sf open government. i expect to have folks contact me. over the next year, for the

following year, i'm going to be talking about a number of different cities, boards, and commissions. we will be moving to the police commission, the board of appeals, the library commission, the sunshine or that its task force, the ethics commission, and finally, this board of supervisors. in the other residents in my business -- i and my residence in san francisco, in the building owned by abraham and run by the realty, went through a process before the renvoi involving it passed through. it was unjust, illegal, and

immoral. i'm doing and not just for them, but for the simple fact that 70% of the residents of this city are before the rent board because they are tenants. tenants are legally and morally entitled to fair treatment, but they do not get it because the rent board is correct. supervisor mirkarimi: thank you. next speaker please. >> i want to commend rushed limbaugh for the fine work that he did. he was not disrespecting the chinese. he is disrespecting the murderous communist chinese as part of the eugenics program. not long ago, dr. king mentioned in the world summit conference that we need to reduce the population by 90%. that is what red china is doing

you can obtain a copy of the speech on radioliberty.com if you think i'm lying. good for you, rush. i'm of the opinion that the 1335 days in the book of daniel is anywhere from november 27, 2009, to march 15-16, 2010. in other words, there was a 108- day window for opening for the conclusion of the so-called 1335 days, which i interpret as 287- year cycles -- 28 seven-year cycles from christ. probably 5108 days, which ended either on the last day of the sabbatical cycle or the first day of the sabbatical cycle. i cannot legitimately stretch it out. i mentioned one time that my last day of my 50th year was my

son daniels 4444 day, which does not mean anything other than i would still be 50 years old, even though at 50 years old and 365 days. i know i came up here time after time saying christ is going to return around thanksgiving of 2009, but if i could have an hour, i could do it. cake, and i'm not very smart. february 9 or 10 is going to be 70777 from the jubilee -- supervisor mirkarimi: enjoy. next speaker please. >> this is about what is going on in egypt. i love my country but hate our foreign policy. first, what right did george bush in february 2004 have to kidnap democratically elected president se