machines look like. you go and take your recyclables, whether you are using your shopping cart, standing in line, are going to a particular the grocery store or those who would like to take your car and you want to unload what is in your trunk or cargo space, you have to feed that machine. of the plan as unfeasible and does not line up between the bureaucracies that decided that they had a plan in tow by losing hank recycling. frankly, i do not even think the stores, and think that they are going to sign on to this 27 vending machine replacement substitute idea and loss of the recycling center realize that they could very well have lines

behind the block, and they could be candidates, and they get tired of standing up with their shopping carts -- lines are down the block ready to be able to manage that the jugular boomerang effect. that was not well thought out. we recognize the fears this seesaw back and forth between neighborhoods. at the same time, the question of the purpose of the value of the recycling center cannot be dismissed or discount and in the way that it did, i thank the supervisors who co-sponsored this resolution. i realize we do not have statutory reached over the rec and park's decision. i think that is a defect of the charter. the charter should give the board of supervisors the ability to listen to appeals by rec and

park, but they are one of two commissions where we do not have that. in this case, it would be wrong to remain silent, submitting a resolution in light of what i think is a serious mistake. the rest i will submit. thank you. supervisor campos: i want to thank supervisor wiener for calling for a hearing on the proposal by ggnra. as a caretaker of a bulldog named winston, i appreciate the fact that if the changes go through, it will mean that certain parts will not be available to many pets in the city. the second item that i wanted to talk about is something that i know supervisor mirkarimi has been working on for quite some time, and that is the issue of community policing. over the last few years, he has taken a leadership role in pushing community policing

throughout the city. as part of that process, we have an item where there will be a joint hearing of the police commission and of the border supervisors' public safety committee, but the objective is not simply to have a discussion about the issue of community policing but to actually come up with a working definition of community policing. i'm proud of the fact that a supervisor mirkarimi and myself will be working with the city attorney's office and stakeholders to come up with a definition of community policing that could be codified so there is some basic uniformity city- wide i interns of what community policing looks like, and i'm proud of that work. the rest i submit. >> thank you. supervisor mar. supervisor mar: thank you. i also wanted to echo my

colleagues in banking supervisor wiener for calling for the hearing. i know that the policy would also impact the northern part of ocean beach and people with dogs, but also residents that love the space without dogs. i think there is going to be a good debate with the hearing, and i look forward to for dissipating as well. i also wanted to thank supervisor kim for the in memoriam for my friend. i am introducing today a resolution for a request for a hearing in the aftermath of the tragic death of a runner at the finish line of a marathon in golden gate park. the race organizers were roddy co-productions, and i think that

should be a wake-up call for much safer athletic events, especially in golden gate park. i was saddened to hear about the collapse and death of peter hoss after running the kaiser marathon. the only ambulances available had been diverted to care for another runner and novak were available. it took city response personnel 22 minutes or six times longer than average to get to his location to provide assistance. -- no back ups were available. no one who work for the organizer assisted him. the hearing i'm requesting will exploit the adequacy of current minimum response personnel requirements. i would also like for our city departments to review responsibilities and requirements for athletic event organizers to provide maps, routes, and other information to the public and the emergency

response personnel regarding street closures in the park and coordination with other agencies responsible for the flow of the traffic and to provide for safety, such as the mta. the rest i will submit. thank you. supervisor avalos: just a few items for introduction. calling on a hearing on the status of the implementation of the local hire ordnance. also, an ordinance appropriating funds from the general fund to replace the non-resident fee at the botanical gardens that would be heard as soon as possible. hopefully in budget and finance. i have a couple of in memoriams. levio cunti passed away peacefully at home surrounded by his family. he was born in italy on

september 3, 1930, and came to the united states in 1958. he worked as a mason, but his fashion once his family and friends. he was enthusiastic about cooking and feeding as many people as he could gather together for a meal. he enjoyed his involvement with the crocker amazon by she ball club where he served as president and cook many a meal for the players. he is survived by his wife, his daughter, and son-in-law, his son and daughter-in-law, and daughter and son-in-law, and his greatest joy, his grandchildren. this request will be sent to the 5 g ball corp. where his great friends will see him. also, another in memoriam for

john ross. you may remember john ross from a commendation we had done for him a couple of years ago. he was a great san francisco and mexico-based activist. he died at the age of 72 in mexico. few have lived such a full life as john ross. he was born in new york city, a red diaper baby. as a young teenager, he recited poetry with jazz luminaries in new york city. he was the first person in the united states who did time as a conscientious objector to the vietnam war. he served two years in the federal penitentiary in terminal island, california in long beach. in the 1960's, he was a tense right activists. in the 1970's, he discovered journalism. he may find work looking at many local and world events.

he was the first person to break into -- to report on the shining path in peru. he offered critical stories about the shining path. he also in 1967 haven't for the board of supervisors, and he had been removed from the ballot in that year because he had been a war resister and had done time. he was not allowed to run. john ross was also drawn to a lot of action around the world, as i mentioned. in 1985, he reported on the mexico city earthquake and the drama and trauma that had cost to the tens of thousands of people in mexico. he made mexico his home away from home, away from san francisco, where much of the demonstrations that have been around mexico city happen. he reported on the elections of

carlos salinas and indeed they calderon, but most of all, he is known on his work on the zapatista uprising in 1994 -- carlos salinas and the need a calderon -- philippe de -- fil ipe calderon. he served as a human shield before the u.s. invasion of rack and the protector of palestinian homes against israeli settlements in the occupied territories. john ross and his writings continued to the 11th hour, publishing novels and historical accounts as late as last year. in 2009, the board of supervisors honored john ross, declaring may 12 john ross day and urging the department of elections to give back his filing fee. although john ross in his serve again in a little boy refused the board's honor. he did ask for his filing fee with interest, and he did accept a framed handmade t-shirt made by native graphics.

he is survived by his sister, two daughters and grandchild. there will be a memorial event for john ross on february 26 between 3:00 and 5:00 in the afternoon at united mission presbyterian church at the corner of 23rd and cap. there will be a reception to follow at cafe la boheme. hope everyone can attend. thank you. supervisor chiu: thank you, colleagues. today, i'm introducing a resolution concerning sb 223, concerning the vehicle license fee, sponsored by senator mark leno. as many of you probably know, in

2003, governor schwarzenegger really did damage to our budget by rolling back the vehicle license fee. he rolled back a vlf that had for 50 years been in place. the move cost our state about $6 billion a year, including hundreds of billions of dollars to san francisco -- hundreds of millions of dollars to san francisco. we considered raising the vehicle license fee back to the 2003 levels, which would have brought the city close to $50 million. there was a super majority of the board that supported that, and it was also supported by our local chamber of commerce and labor unions. unfortunately, in order for us to put this to san francisco voters, it would have required a state law change that governor schwarzenegger vetoed. senator leno earlier this week introduced the legislation to make the change that would be required to allow san francisco and other localities around the state to decide for ourselves whether or not we should bring

our vehicle license fee back to the 2003 levels that have been in place for 50 years. i want to thank supervisors wiener, avalos, elsbernd, and mirkarimi for your co sponsorship, and i ask my colleagues for your support. i also had two in memoriams for two great artists that recently passed. the first was jack baker, a constituent of mine on nob hill. over the weekend, the san francisco police department found him the victim of a tragic homicide. he was someone who was very well liked by my constituents. he had mural work in our local neighborhoods. he was a very quiet, peaceful man, and i know that there are many neighbors who are grieving today and hoping for justice with regards to jack baker. i also had a second in memorial for another wonderful artists and arts educator, dan kristen,

who passed on after a short but intense battle with pneumonia. he was someone who could have worked in the professional theater and had done so but actually chose to apply his considerable gifts towards educating young people in our public schools as a credentialed teacher at the school of the arts. dan was someone who was the heart and soul of that school for so many students. he mounted hundreds of shows brilliantly, which were seen by thousands of students, parents, and community members. i actually attended his open-air " -- "seussical"production last year, and it was tremendous. i know there are many within the arts education community who understand that at this time, a bright light has gone out within the arts education world. the rest of my items i will submit. >> thank you, mr. president. seeing no other names on the

roster, that concludes roll call for introductions. supervisor chiu: thank you. at this time, if we could go to general public comment. >> the next item is the opportunity for the public to adjust the board for two minutes on items within the subject matter jurisdiction of the board including items on the adopt without consideration but excluding items already considered by the committee. if a member of the public would like a document 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: each speaker shall have up to two minutes unless you are translating in another language. first speaker. first speaker. >> [speaking foreign language]

[tone]

ladies and gentlemen, i would like to tell you i am here today as the oldest american egyptian native. i cannot deny where i come from. i would like to thank everyone. 5000 people walk with us in the midi up -- the middle of the city of san francisco. i would like to thank each one of you. i would also like to thank john avalos. he came and spoke with us. it does not matter where i come from, egypt or any other country, but we are here like family. thank you very much, john, and thank you very much for each one of our people who support us. 5000 people going to be in the

city when i organize them. to let you know that we are not easy to play games with us. i grew up in tahrir square. 26 years, one i m eight years old. i still remember, i still know where i come from. i love this country. i love each of the people who supported me. thank you, god, and thank each one of you guys. god bless america. thank you. supervisor chiu: next speaker. >> hello, supervisors. i'm a human rights activist. probably, you have seen me several times in here. however, most of my people are

somewhere else. i do have a comment and a request. the first comment i have is i would like to thank you all for your hard work toward the major issues that our community faces, such as budgets, health, education, crime, drug use and drug cultivation, which destroyed our community. i understand that you try to do the best he can to serve our community. however, the kind of environment that you have today has turned your office as board of supervisors to a court house. you address the issues after they have happened. you take the hit like anyone else in the streets and try to sweep it up after. i would like to encourage you to take a step ahead by addressing

the issues before they happen. one of the main involvement you can do is try to get involved with -- directly with our u.s. government by advising them to make the right decision towards the issues and causes of destroying our community. basically, we have no money today because of the war. the war that killed civilians abroad overseas, especially in the middle east. we all know where our problems and disasters came from. it came from the bad decisions that take place in the white house. to date, the u.s. government's realize that they did spend a lot of money for no reason just to support dictatorships in the middle east. what happened in geneva? there is a revolution. in egypt, there is a revolution we cannot even denied. [tone] supervisor chiu: thank you very

much. thank you very much. next speaker. >> thank you, supervisors. the public can be given three minutes. stop the corporate rate of our public library. i have recently described the scandals to the privatization produced in our san francisco public library. i have also described how the library has become an income stream of private fund raisers without social responsibility or accountability of any kind. how they are able to accomplish this is no secret. the san francisco public library has a reputation as the most egregious sunshine by later in the city of san francisco. when the president of the library commission violates someone's right to make public comment, the sunshine task force found a violation so egregious it was referred to the ethics commission, which has issued its report and found that the library's conduct "falls below the standard of decency, good faith, and right actions

impliedly required of public officials." the library has shown its contempt for decency by failing even to acknowledge and ratified the violation by reelecting the violator as their president. there was a time when this would have been considered and outrage, and yet, this is all too typical of the library commission as the most flagrant privatize are in san francisco. as an essentially private institution, contempt for democracy and accountability has become part of their institutional culture. their attitude is, of course, they are anti-democratic. they are raising millions of dollars from the city's corporate elite. the public library has become a private income stream, and obstruction of democracy is what the builders expect for their money. you know very well the forces of abuse that are unleashed when

you allow private forces to raise private money with no accountability. therefore, the damage to our civic society is in measurable. -- immeasurable. supervisor chiu: thank you. next speaker. >> [inaudible] and i have come before you several times. and supervisor mar's subcommittee on the homeless and the conditions that are there. i have asked you if you would be so kind as to do a task force looking on how specifically african-americans are treated in the church, the religious place.

i have had the most horrendous things happen to me with what they called denial of service. they can pull you out on the street. i'm asking you to do a resolution to do a moratorium on seniors to not be thrown out of city-funded programs or the episcopal st. vincent depaul providence. the staff is so incompetent, and they treat us with such disrespect and with such cruelty that it should be criminal. you must give my committee credence to have ross, kim, mar, set up a task force, and we will not stop there because senior white mothers have fallen through the cracks of the social institute into the social service so were. this senior abuse of the nile and neglect as if we are not

even there, and if it was not for us, you would not be here. they took it out of the homeless proposal because they wanted to shift this all to their private hotels and newly built senior housing. we want a shelter. we want to live free just like the crackheads and prostitutes who are now using it as a flophouse. we want this committee to have the power to enforce $60,000 to us, and a warehouse, so we can have a safe place to even communicate. these boys are so fierce and the staff is so ridiculous that you can add even file a complaint -- these bullies are so fierce. supervisor chiu: thank you very much. next speaker. >> yesterday was 5444 days from the jubilee, and it can still be said the it has been 777 weeks

because the date is not over. we are becoming more opposed to the bible as a nation and as a people. [cell phone rings] that's not me. supervisor chiu: may i ask for the phone to be turned off? thank you. >> i clean carpets for a living. when i mention that we're now at 7077 weeks from the jubilee, somehow, i just think obama is going to meet jesus. do you know what he said to me? i could think of worse things that can happen. he is not a christian. i can tell. if he was, he would want all of his rulers to be christians, and as far as i know, he did not get born again, but i was thinking that will be a perfect time for obama to this date, on abraham lincoln's birthday, a spiritual way on the very day

that abraham lincoln came into this world. i think of the ramifications of that. he would shut down guantanamo bay, stop the torture, stop planned parenthood. sometimes, i pray for hillary clinton. i think about the ramifications if she got born again. that would be so awesome. she was satisfied bill. all he would have to do is a wink at her, and she would died on the bed, knowing her christian obligation to satisfy him. as far as the cfr goes, she would spurn it. you can watch her kiss of to the council on foreign relations and thank them for giving her directions. absolutely amazing. she would say, "no way. i'm a christian now. i'm going to serve the lord jesus as a senator and call for a new 9/11 commission investigation, by the way." israel had to be in on it.

larry boyd silverstein -- [tone] supervisor chiu: thank you very much. next speaker. >> i would like the camera to remain on the overhead projector. again, i'm here to talk about the rent petition i have talked about several times before, and what i view as to be the rent board closing policy, which is, open the " screw you if you are a tenant -- "screw you if you are a tenant." it says at the time of purchase of a property, if you anticipate filing a petition, you should required documentation of capital improvement as a condition of closing escrow. it is often difficult to obtain these records from the prior owner after the transaction is complete. complete. throughout the entire red boar