questions. i will have the same questions on item 13. i think i know the answer. the option is at the tjpa's option? >> correct. director cohen: nancy is doing a fantastic job, but the term is very long. we have had early termination rights in these contracts. >> all of them have termination for convenience or cause. director cohen: great. thank you very much. >> just a couple of questions. nancy has done a fine job for us. i'm support of this. i have a few questions. i noticed we only had two composers. can you tell us why we have only had two proposers? >> when we have done the outreach, they're not very many.

there are just a couple that offer all of these services from one firm. >> ok. that is good. i was looking at the scoring. looking a panelist b, who scored a 20, as opposed to when you look at the other two panelists, over 120 points, it seems like a wide variation in terms of scoring. >> i think that panelist b probably would not have wanted to be one of your high school teachers. there's a bit of a curve there. panelists often do vary widely in the scoring because it is a matter of opinion as to whether or not a proposal met minimum requirements. in this case, the panelists did not feel the proposal met the

minimum requirements. other panelists were little more generous. director ford: that is clearly apparent. >> i think it is worth noting, even if that panelist made a mistake, and there was a zero left off, and you made that 200, nancy whelan consulting is ahead by a significant -- director ford: it has been my experience that you look of those variations in terms of determining the process in terms of its fairness. that is what i am trying to stay here. it is one thing not to be scored in line with kind of the rest of the scores. this is a very wide variation, 20 out of a maximum of 220. >> yes. tim hawkinson -- director ford: you could have scored perfectly

and not have a shot. >> that is correct. the panelists did not feel this proposal mentor needs. director ford: ok. it has been moved. it has been properly seconded. members of the public? >> no members of the public have indicated they would wish to speak. director ford: all in favor? opposed? motion carries. let's go to the next item. >> reitman of and is approving an amendment to a contract number 08-04-cmgc-000, authorizing a joint venture to award a subcontract to m. squared construction incorporated. it would increase authorized direct costs under the contract

by $1,842,000. >> good morning, directors. this package is the relocation of sewer and a sludge line over to main. this is to facilitate future construction of the shoring wall. it comes across the street. all the utilities would be relocated. this is the relocation of the public utilities. as with all of our relocation packages, we have a goal of 100% spe. m. squared would be a subcontractor to webcor/oba yashi. with that, i wonder if you have

any questions. director ford: it has been moved and properly seconded. all those in favor? the motion carries. any opposed? ok. >> no opposed and no members of the public wish to address the atom. item 11 is approved. item 12, approving an amendment to the contract authorizing webcor/obayashi joint venture to execute a subcontract agreement for on-call survey and control services with chaudhary & associates. it is for three years and compensation of $1,250,000. >> thank you, members of the board. like the previous contract, this

is the subcontract underneath the cmgc as part of the logistic effort being conducted. there will be doing the layout among subcontractors on the layout of the project elements. it is an on-call professional services. it has an initial term of three years and $1,250,000, with an option to extend by a two-year term. that total would be $2.5 million. if you have any questions, i would be happy to answer them. >> motion to approve the contract. director ford: moved and properly seconded. any member of the public wish to address the item? >> no members of the public wish to address the item. director ford: all those in favor? opposed? the motion carries.

recognize the fact that director cohen stepped out. not present for the vote. next item. >> item 13 is authorizing the executive director to execute an agreement with singer associates for public relations support and community outreach services at a cost not to exceed $900,000 and for a term of five years. >> tjpa requires the public relations consultant to help us keep the neighbors and transit riders in form. it is important for a project of this scale in downtown san francisco. we use this consultant with our media spokesperson. they're responsible for maintaining a consistent and positive impression of the project at all levels, from local to international. many of you are familiar with

singer associates from their reports to the sport -- this board. we put out an rfp. we did only receive one proposal. we did advertise and sent notice out to over 250 firms. we just received the one proposal. we rank to the proposal and we did go ahead and conduct an interview to make sure that the team understood what our continued needs are moving forward in this area. we need vitiated -- we negotiated a contract on a retainer basis. it keeps the budget even from month to month. singer associates is a certified spe and they also have a dbe subcontractor.

i can answer any questions you may have. director ford: any questions from the board? ok. it has been moved. it has been moved and properly seconded. any member of the public wish to address us on this? with that, all those in favor? opposed? motion carries. next item appeared >> item 13 is approved. item 14, approving the recommended applicant to the transbay joint powers authority citizens' advisory committee. >> good morning, directors. we formed the committee in april of 2007. it was our first meeting. half of the terms are one-year and the other half or two-year terms. we're coming up for the second batch of two-year terms are expiring.

we have a number of people we applying for seats. five of those seats are being reappllied for. -- reapplied for. seats open up because people are not continuing. one is the bicycle advocacy and the other is the disabled advocacy. we have two new appointments for those seats that we are presenting to you today as well. i can answer any questions you have on the process, the outreach, or the applications. >> i have a question. director ortiz: i see among the categories that minority participation is not included. the board makes the point of saying there is a gender equity. are there any racial minorities in that group?

>> we have a hispanic male. i am trying to think. the majority of board members are caucasian. we have a hispanic male. yeah. we have had an african-american participant in the past, but she is no longer continuing with us. director ortiz: do we make an effort to reach out to minority groups or people to apply for this? >> we do quite a broad outreach. none of it is specific to a particular minority group. it is to a number of stakeholder groups. we announced it through our member agencies, in the case of the disabled advocacy, the

disabled access counsel here at city hall, the bicycle coalition, and so forth. all of the agencies that are on our mailing list, as well. we don't have a specific minority outreach component to that. director ortiz: "is the latino male? >> anthony. he is in the labour representative seat. director ortiz: there are more than eight members? >> we have a total of 15 members on the board. we have seven continuing members and eight new members. >> you're saying out of 15 members, you only have one person of color. your including existing -- i thought you were talking among new applicants. you are saying on board a 15, you have only one person of color. >> i believe that is correct.

>> that is troublesome. >> we have put out extensive outreach to the various stakeholders and organizations, asking for people to apply. i think maybe what we can do is advertise in the various ethnic media in the future. >> i thought that was a given. >> we do that for all our other contracts. had we -- have we advertised for the seat in any of the papers? >> we don't advertise -- >> we don't do that because of the project. we do contact transit. we reach out to all of our operators, to caltrain, and we ask you for your recommendations. this is what we have received. it is a commitment for people to

come in once a month in the evenings. that might be one of the issues. director ortiz: i would like to see a more concerted effort for future appointments. director cohen: a question is, if we want that effort to be reflected sooner rather than later, whether weast -- we continue this item, try to ask staff to do more outreach and bring back something that maybe has a little more -- broader range of diversity. >> we could do that. do you have any suggestions as to where we could do more outreach, on the east bay side? please let us know. >> i am sure we could put it in

one of our bulletin. >> caltrain has put it in all of your bulletins. so has mta. we have not received any applications. director ortiz: i think a more concerted effort is desired. >> understood. >> debra have a comment. director ford: let's continue this item. i think you know the direction we would like you to go in. if you would like to have a discussion with any board member, that is available over the next month or so. there is no question in terms of these individuals and their commitment. we are not not recognizing that. there is a sense that this board would like to see a bit more diversity. >> understood. all right. >> we will continue that item.

>> we will move to item 15. it is authorizing the executive director to execute a temporary easement agreement with pg&e, authorizing pg need to install, maintain, and remove electrical and natural gas facilities through tjpa-owned parcels at no cost to the tjpa. >> this will be at no cost to the tjpa. the determination will occur 12 months after we notify them. any questions? i am happy to answer them. >> second. director ford: it has been moved and seconded. all those in favor?

any members of the public? ok. all those in favor? opposed? motion carries. >> item 15 is approved. at this time, your calendar is scheduled to go into closed session. we have not received an indication that any member of the public wishes to address you on the items listed. they have an opportunity to do so at this time, or we will clear the director ford: we're back in open session. >> the meeting is now back in open session and the council reports. >> as to item 16. one, the purchase of 85 natoma,

we authorize the purchase for $815,000. as to the next item, the price in terms of payment for the acquisition of property interests in 90 natoma street, the tjpa board of directors authorizes the executive director to execute an agreement, providing the business $225,000 total for relocation expenses and compensation of loss of business goodwill. tjpa has already compensated john collins for the expenses. >> that does conclude the report.

>> thank you. [gavel] [horns honking] [siren wails]

announcer: big dreams and goodrades aren't enough to get into college. there are actual steps you need to take. finding someone who can help is the first and most important. for the next steps, go to knowhow2go.org. >> welcome to "culture wire."

i'm here with james lee, and exhibiting artist, and we will have a chat today about the body of work you are presenting. after you left the military, what prompted you to go back to a place where the u.s. is engaged in military action? >> it is interesting. the population of afghanistan is around 29 million, and there's probably no more than 80,000 u.s. soldiers serving in afghanistan right now, but if you look at the stories that come out, you think the numbers are completely reversed. all the stories are about americans, and you see almost no images of stories about the afghan people themselves, so if you look at the dominant representational paradigm uc today, it is all about foreign soldiers. my idea was to try incurred

counted to that a popularized narrative and focus on images and stories that really reflect that lived experience of conflict through the eyes of the afghan people. >> you are exhibiting with three other photographers. it is true all three of them have really focused in the areas where a lot of u.s. and allied forces are seeing action, are actually involved in combat, so your story is different than theirs. what does it mean to show your body of work along side of the stories that probably are more familiar? what kind of juxtaposition does that create for you as an artist? >> i think the strength of bringing the two different stories together is i think there is a real danger in focusing only on surface similarities between conflicts. when people look at a body of work and say that they see in this conflict photography, and

it reminds them of somalia or iraq, i think that is dangerous because i think there are very unique elements to each conflict, and if you do not focus on the distinctions, you start to create a broader, watered-down topic, which is armed conflict, so i think it is important that when we focus on conflict, we make sure we do not just generalize, but we allow specific places and voices and people to be heard and we do not make these generalized assumptions about what conflict is like. >> the other photographers in the show, what is local, and the others are from new york and new delhi. what do you like about some of their work? >> in a big fan of the fact that he approaches photography from a non-traditional point of view. he also cunner has a mixed view of cameras themselves. he calls them toys. >> he uses these cameras that one might assume our toys, but

he also says all the toy cameras are cameras, so it does not really matter to him what he is using to take the images as long as he is getting the images he wants. and because they are taken with these film cameras, they have a very different feel than the other pictures in the show. one of the things i want to talk about is that lindsey's body of work is running down one side of the hall, and it is all about women in afghanistan and how they serve and their special interactions with civilian women and communities, which is the special role that women soldiers play in afghanistan. across from eric copeland's work, which is extremely masculine and black and white and very aggressive -- what do you think about that juxtaposition between their two bodies of work? >> i like lindsey's contribution to the exhibit. she shoots in color, like i do, so it is great to see more

color. she has a gift for capturing distinct moments that balance the conflict that these women are facing did today, but also very intimate, very feminine moments. she has one where a female soldier is shaving her legs at the beginning of her day, and it is kind of an odd thing to consider, but, obviously, it happens every day, but most people do not think about the challenges that face women in these types of environments where they continue to be feminine, continue to be women, but they also serve a vital role in afghanistan. she allows viewers to come in and see those kinds of intimate moments you might not normally think about. >> to our viewers, and actually the curator of the show. one of the things i was interested in with your work and with the other bodies of work i selected was that you are presenting a real human perspective. each of you zeroes in on individuals, and the kind of sensitive, intimate, or private

moments. >> if you look at most people's lives today and the way they spend their lives, it is probably not that different from what goes on on some of these larger for an operating basis. they have cafeterias. they have internet cafes. they have laundromats. they have their own spaces where they read, play video games. it is really like a small, microcosm of what they might find back in the united states. >> what do you hope that viewers take away from seeing your body of work or the exhibition as a whole? >> i think it is important for people to question how much we do or do not know about afghanistan, but conflict in general. too often today, i think we see one or two images and we think we understand what is going on in a part of the world, and we should try to get away from that. we should question what we know about a conflict, where we got the information, and always look for new perspectives and new focus is on topics that we think we already understand.

>> james, thank you for spending time with us, and congratulations on the exhibition and letting san francisco see this big body of work of yours. >> thanks. >> welcome to "culture wire." on this episode, we explore what it means to the aged, in today's society -- what it means to be chicana in today's society. chica chic features an array of artwork by five leading chicana

artists that addresses a range of issues such as integration, sustainability, and integration. using a distinct visual approach, each of the artist's response to the shifting needs of their communities in ways that offer unique perspectives and multiple points of entry. >> the exhibition is to bring together the voices of a new generation chicana artists, all of whom reference the works of the civil-rights movement in their works, but they are also responding to a new cultural concerns and new cultural circumstances. >> the works in the show include a large canvas depicting a woman washing the beach with her hair at the u.s./mexican border. the painting encourages the viewer to engage with the current debates over immigration and the politics of women and labor. influenced by the campaigns of the chicano civil rights movement, this oakland artist is

a print maker whose work has helped and sustainability with the immigrant community as well as other current sociopolitical issues. this print-based work draws on appropriated agricultural worker manuals and high fashion labels to satirically address class issues, cultural identities, and consumerism. >> angelica -- her father was an agricultural worker, so she has drawn a lot from the materials the agricultural department sends to agricultural workers, referencing the depiction of farm workers and some of the information about pesticide application. >> mitzi combines a variety of media, including embroidery, to create artifacts of mexican, create artifacts of mexican, chicano, pop culture.