book distributions over the course of the year. we have approximately a 85% use rate, meaning we get these yellow pages dropped off in plastic bags, in the lobbies of buildings, that we are asked to distribute, and approximately 50% of those who go to places to want to them. that is a certain number of books per distribution that are not used. even two times per year, that would be 1400, or over 10,000 yellow pages books that are not being used. the one thing i would have to say also is one thing we are challenged with is getting to zero ways, and we want to bring our overall operations, -- we want to green our operations. for the tenants who live in the

buildings, we would be more than happy to provide information to our tenants and to the distributors so that the folks who really want them actually get them. and the final thing that i have to say as a director property management is the one thing that remains after the tenant leaves is the yellow pages. in thank you. president chiu: before the next person, let me call of the next number of yellow speaker cards. -- let me call upper -- up the next. if you could all proceed to line up? next speaker, please. >> hi, my name is -- i am just here as kind of your average san francisco resident. president chiu: could you pull the microphone closer? thank you.

>> in my building, they sat on our doorstep for weeks. not a single person picked them up. essentially, each of us received one piece of junk mail, and i really think the biggest question is how can should we pay for it korea why should we have to pay for it? president chiu: thank you. next speaker. >> thank you for the opportunity to share my thoughts. i am a small-business owner, and one of ours is a cycling coalition. we ran a campaign, stopjunkmail.org, for people trying to find out how to stop receiving junk mail. i actually met with a representative from a nonprofit in england, who wanted to find out how he could replicated with his organization at home, so

there is a huge demand for legislation that would allow people to opt in for the types of publications that they receive, as well as trying to -- i am strongly in favor of this registration, and i look forward to not receiving a phone book. president chiu: thank you. next speaker. >> i have something i would like to submit. delivering a directory to someone who will not use it. the coalition korea established is happy to have a debate on the merits of local advertising.

i would like to shine some light on misinformation. number one, supervisor chiu's office had a document that showed only a certain number open to the document. this is not true. the reference by supervisor chiu's office was about those using it for a certain reason. 71% of adults use the yellow pages annually. we did research with another company, a different vendor, and we get the exact same answer, so we're very confident in our usage numbers. supervisor chiu's office has also released information that shows that other [speaking foreign language] people are fine with this ordinance. that is not true. there are some that say this is very bad for their business as

well as businesses they serve. in addition, the rainbow pages, helping the lgbt community connect with services, they are also against the ordinance. point number three, supervisor chiu's office has said that the industry has already tried self regulation and that it does not work. that is not true. we have received approximately 19 million impressions in just six weeks. san francisco consumers and businesses have opted out of nearly 8000 directories. number four, -- this is not true. printed yellow pages advertising delivers a strong return on investment. i urge you to vote no on the

proposal. it is misguided and will be detrimental to small businesses and those that we serve. this is sort of an experiment. in these difficult economic times, i urge you not to experiment with san francisco businesses. president chiu: think you, sir. your time has run out, but i have a question. you talked about the number of impressions that they have experienced, but what that actually has met in san francisco, only 1% of our city has actually opted out. is that correct? >> it has been open for about six weeks, from the february 1, and thus far, almost 2000 residences and businesses have opted out. that does not kill those who have opted out directly with publishers, so i am sure that the number is larger. president chiu: so about .2%,

with, as you said, 19 million immediate impressions, letting the world know that this is something you can do. >> all of the publishers in san francisco will be putting the u.r.l. on the cover of their directories. there is the awareness of the site so the -- so that people can opt out. we have also optimize the sights on google. president chiu: i have seen all of these numbers. they are all around the city. thank you. next speaker. >> good afternoon. my name is jason. i am the general counsel for the yellow pages in one area. i want to talk about the violation of first amendment rights that this represents. this would restrict delivery to those of expressed no problem

with receiving them. other things are left unregulated. print communications. other unsolicited print matter is left untouched by this ordinance, such as direct mail, handbills, flyers, unsolicited newspapers, all of which, more than once per year. this is discriminatory and a problem with freedom of speech. this deals with who your elected officials are, what to do in case of emergency, which, by the way, also recently cited in the media numerous times, sources of evacuation information in the event of a tsunami, and all sorts of other pieces of information that fosters better communication and connectiveness. these are among the most classic types of messages of free speech that our state and country have always held sacred. this provides for these messages. if that disappears, then these messages disappear.

it is also problematic that it would involve the expenditure of taxpayer dollars to disparage our medium and encourage others, when ours does not cause the environment problems that are claimed, and many alternatives to hours of a much worse environmental impacts. there is no evidence that the recycle activities have a net cost of anywhere near the numbers that have been thrown out today. i have asked supervisor chiu's office for information pertaining to this, and they do not have it. using the city of seattle, something that is much less egregious than this one. we are not in the business of selling cities. -- suing cities, but if this is passed, we will get no option. too many small businesses and residents will have a problem.

i urge a no vote. president chiu: next speaker. >> i am with the senior action network. please do this ordinance. it is a truly good practice. seniors will not be overlooked. the department of invar in it in many other san francisco organizations to improve our environment. -- the department of environment. the yellow pages will not disappear, and i do not think at&t has it in their mind reading yellow pages. 84 supporting this legislation -- i do not think at&t has been in their mind to stop delivering yellow pages. thank you for supporting this legislation. president chiu: [reading names]

>> good afternoon. i am from valley yellow pages. i would like to make a couple of comments about the ordinance. one, it was about the outreach program. it says that the outreach program will develop alternatives to private possession, private possession of the telephone book, and the outreach would be to seniors, the disabled, and low-income persons, in the city would then expend money to tell people about it -- and the city would then expand money. the question president chiu asked about, over distribution. the distribution is to every resident and business in the city. in our opinion, it is not over distribution, it is distribution. if someone does not want it, they can tell us about it, and we will not deliver a book to them. the white pages are not affected

by this ordinance. i spoke to the small business commission at the hearing. it was mentioned that this was the directories that we deliver. if the white pages are not affected by this, there will still be directory's delivered in the same form that they are -- there will still be directories delivered. they will be smaller in size, because they will have white pages, but you will see the same pictures, so for the idea that we would eliminate the yellow pages, which is a source of advertising for businesses, and still deliver the white pages, i do not see how the ordinance could possibly be the right thing to do. it is also a pilot program.for three years. then, what happens after three years? we evaluate it and find out? i do not believe that is the right thing to do.

the ordinance also requires -- to deliver a directory when a person is home to accept it, like 8:00 p.m. at night. president chiu: the white pages are action required by the puc, so we cannot pass legislation like this on the white pages, as much as i would like to. you understand that. >> yes, i understand it, that is what i was suggesting we go across the street and deal with that. president chiu: i just want people to know that we are not doing that because of state law. >> the pictures are still going to be there, sir. there is not an opportunity for me to opt out of the white pages. the white pages will still be delivered. everything will stay the same. i understand that part.

i can understand that because it has yellow and they are co- bounded, which means they are together, they are going to be delivered. it will be that way or the way it is currently now. president chiu: we will likely reduce of 7 million pounds, and that will be substantial, but i thank you for your presentation today. next speaker. >> i am glad i am the next speaker. i am with a merchant's association, and we are highly sensitive to anything that affects small business, so we had this conversation at the

last meeting. supporting supervisor chiu's legislation, especially adamant with younger members of our board who have not used the yellow pages in the phone book for advertising for years. they used this. this is the future. and size does count. if we took away the business section of this directory, and a visual artist and a sculptor, so you have had some people sing up your earlier, and i am going to give you a demonstration. this is all that would be sent out to each resident of san francisco by law. it has the government pages in it and the emergency pages and some others. this is the rest of the document. this is what is devoted and goes to waste, and san francisco's

pay for, -- san franciscans paid for, and small businesses do not benefit from them. do not let anyone tell you that we are not charged on this based on spec -- on circulation. the last time i advertised was five years ago in here, and the first thing i was told is that," oh, we have over a one-million- persian circulation." that was the first thing. -- that, "oh, we have over a one-million-person circulation." the idea that people will opt in, it will target. i strongly urge you to support this legislation and forwarded to the rest of the board. i would like to give this back. [applause]

president chiu: thank you. i think what you provided me with is much different than what i have received. but i appreciate your comments. >> i am with a recycling association, and i support the city's attempt to regulate this. 15 years ago, i started producing a conference. we had a brochure. three years ago, it occurred to me for the first time that i had not talked to any of the people who were on the program. every piece of information i exchanged with these people took place electronically. we stopped doing a brochure about six years ago. everything is now done electronically. it is like a whole new world out there, and the yellow pages are, i think, not a part of that. an issue came up in british columbia about 10 or 12 years ago, and it was revealed that a

lot of the paper from the forests, basically, they were being cut down to make telephone books. i think the cost of the print edition of our newsletter which we still send out is basically equal to what the deuce of our organization are. if they switch to electronic editions, and then bill the people for the costs, they will find a lot of people will switch to electronic. i think the yellow pages are part of the past. thank you very much. president cdh -- chiu: thank you. next speaker. >> i am an attorney, and i have been an advertiser in the yellow pages for a couple of decades, and i can tell you for sure, the yellow pages work. i get calls every day. and we also help people every day by giving them free information, free advice, that

kind of thing. people do use them as resources. i would not buy advertising. this would be a death blow to me. my business will stop in san francisco, at least, and there is going to be a lot of people who feel the same way. how are you going to find a pizza? these businesses, at&t, valley, they are right here. they are selling advertising, because people are using phone books. if it was not profitable, they would not do it. everybody wants to do what is right for the environment, as do i, but i believe in capitalism more and freedom of speech. you know, this is really crossing the line on commercial speech, which is a quasi- fundamental right. anyway, i think you are going to

hurt a lot of businesses, and there are a lot of people whose jobs are going to and on the directories side of things. -- things are going to end. it is a rough time out there, and i think you are going to do a lot of damage. thank you. president chiu: thank you. next speaker. >> good afternoon, supervisors. i am a longtime resident, and i would like to share my experience. i come home from work, and i see the pile of yellow pages, and my heart sinks, and a couple of weeks later, i come out to the lobby, and there is a tripping hazard to the recycling bin, over and over again. i think the legislation before you today is a resource saving and timesaving and cost saving, as you have heard from many today. it provides for the needs of the

actual users, and i am here today to encourage you to support this common-sense legislation. thank you. note -- president bush -- president chiu: thank you. next speaker. >> i am here with a group and also as a resident of san francisco. not all in california or all in san francisco have the ability to go online for directory assistance. in fact, if you want to come over to my house, i can introduce you to some of my neighbors to do not have computers or internet access. even when they do, they may not be able to find information on specific businesses and services in their area. for those that depend on the yellow pages, we look to the directories, and it will have a significant negative effect. it is interesting, and we often find ourselves looking at very

moderate approaches. there is a bit of the same thing here. kibler -- wal-mart has already paid to be what i am going to find. i am obviously going to drive there. i am not want to get there any other way. internet access, i use the yellow pages often because i want to find stuff that is local. we used to say, "let your fingers do the walking." i would say, "let your fingers do the driving." by taking away a local resource, you may actually encourage not only dollars to go out of the city but people to go out of the city to spend their dollars, so we think that from a perspective, the opt out can be very effective, and we think

that gives customers the choice to opt out. we have heard it gives apartment dwellers perhaps the option to decide that not all of them want it, and they're all of those who do not have internet access and do not realize how much they depend on this resource. until it is taken away from them. president chiu: as the next speaker steps up to the microphone, if i could ask these other people? [reading names] to step up and please line up. thank you. next speaker. >> good afternoon, supervisors. my name is michelle, and i am with the sierra club and also a san francisco resident.

3,500 tons of waste enters the waste stream every year because of the production of the yellow pages. the epa states that over one phone book per person is produced nationally come on and there are three times as many of what is needed is produced more and more people are going online. yelp is actually developed by

the consumer. if we would cut this down in half, we would save over 680 metric tons of carbon dioxide. this is an industry that has not involved with modern times, so we need to step in and do something about this. president chiu: thank you. next citizen. >> my name is brittainy, and i am a concerned citizen. i personally have not used in yellow pages phone book since i sat on it to reach the dinner table. i am part of the population that uses the internet and other resources like my cell phone to look up phone numbers for businesses and contacts in

general. in conclusion, i am in support of this ordinance, and i hope you war, too. thank you. president chiu: next speaker. >> hello. my name is ursula mcgwire. i am with the senior action network, and i am here to speak to talk about what would be done for small businesses. we could use the internet.

the email address is yelp.com or google it. obviously, i am not able to get to a desk comfortably, and my dexterity is slow, and in that case, we could use ing for 11, or 800 -- 800, free, f-r-e-e. these will give you list of businesses for free. and hook you up to the business

for free, also. this will show you how the yellow pages do not serve me, and i have technology. thank you very, very much. president chiu: thank you very much for coming today to testify. next speaker, please. >> president mar, supervisors, and president chiu. i am with the association of direct publishers, founded in 1898 and the oldest trade association in our industry.

i am here to talk about the process that has led to this hearing today. i think it is important that you all understand if you have not been actively involved in this just what is happening, because in my 14 years in this position, working with the united states congress, federal regulatory agencies, state and municipal governments, environmental and other groups, this process, this issue, has provided less opportunity for meaningful, open dialogue than any i have never been involved in. despite what has been said today, the sponsor and/or his staff have attempted to create the false perception that only a very small percentage of san franciscans use the yellow pages. they have summarily rejected their research-based usage data for san francisco presented to them,