of the green group. are they good for business? and are they good for the environment? this is a no-brainer. it is good for business because it is highly targeted markets, and right now, it is grossly highly inefficient. in a city of this many residents, why are we producing over 1 million books? of that, according to the experience of the summer 2010 consumer survey, only 30% of the respondents replied that they actually opened up the yellow pages in the last 12 months. that means that over 1 million phone books that are being distributed within our city, only 370,000 people are actually getting them, so the gentleman earlier was worried about not getting these books into the hands of people who need them, but there is a gross overproduction of nearly three times what we really need. for business, given that the

rate that the yellow pages charges the advertisers, it is disproportionate to the distribution, and the numbers that i bring up now clearly show that the circulation or the distribution, it is just not an accurate number, so businesses are overpaying for this advertising. allowing an opt in system would give these advertisers and much more targeted and relevant basis. it is also good for the environment. in 2008, the u.s. epa study found that only 21% of these phone books actually were recycled. we heard earlier from recology and others that it costs over $3,000 per ton to recycle, which costs the city of san francisco over $1 million per year. president chiu: before you leave, i wanted to ask a question, and i know from the green chamber, there was the

consumer survey, showing that only 38% of adults referred to the yellow pages in the last months, and you mentioned the yellow pages' of a statistic, where they claim that 75% referred to the yellow pages each year, and i was really struck by that paragraph. i wanted to know what your thoughts were on that. >> i do not have that in front of me right now, but there is something you might be able to answer that for you. >> the statistics, research institutions for the entire country.

next speaker. >> i represent approximately 840 residents in the city and county at 10 different buildings for a total of about 1680 different 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,