budget. i will tell you that these numbers will get worse in the coming months. i will tell you about that in a second. secondly, the attendance of the garden has plummeted. [bell rings] supervisor chiu: thank you very much. next speaker please. >> good afternoon, supervisors. i am pleased to speak before the full board today. i wanted to echo a little bit of what the previous speaker said. i know you have a handout that was submitted before the meeting, and if you could refer a little bit to that. i basically have a simple point today, and in light of the harvey rose budget analyst report that came out, there is some significant doubts as to how the arboretum fee is performing, and the projections that are being put forward.

basically, i just want to say that there have been many people who have worked very hard to bring in a solution to this fee, and the ordinance that some of your colleagues have put forward to actually supplied a sustainable solution to abolish this fee that we have worked really hard to get prop n money passed last year and provide this solution that actually satisfies with the botanical society and the rec and park department asked as requirements to maintain and operate the arboretum as a free public garden. i appreciate your looking at the new information that is coming out around this, and i appreciate your support for actually ending the fees and creating this icon for san francisco to continue after the 70 years it has been freed. thank you. supervisor chiu: thank you.

next speaker. >> good afternoon. it is a privilege to be here in front of you. thank you very much. i just want to thank you for passing the ordinance for the payroll tax for mid market. i have been a resident of san francisco for two years in district 8. previously eight years in district 5. i worked down at -- >> excuse me, sir, if you could make your comments more general, not just about that item, as it was on today's agenda. >> absolutely. i hope that the board would consider framing debates around economic revitalization of san francisco to include the performing arts and the creative arts. i have read very much around that many museums and performing arts theaters would like to be included in the development of san francisco. thank you very much.

>> good evening, supervisors. i'm here to we lay a very serious message -- to relay a very serious message. i'm not here to sing, but to invite the supervisors to the various historical meetings that take place in the western addition. keynote speakers will be the developer of the redevelopment agency. we have many other guests. i'm happy here to announce a meeting of this magnitude. i also want to invite supervisor cohen also to attend because we want to speak about some crucial issues about the redevelopment agency, the past, the present, and the uncertain future of the rebel agency, as it affects the african-american community specifically. we will be talking about the unfinished agenda, the out

migration report, so this is a very informative meeting. we would like the city and county to pay close attention. because without a doubt, you may not be listening to me, but without a doubt, this is institutionalized out migration. u.s. tralee is the only one that has on record documented the inception from the current mayor, the out migration report. and i want to announce whoever sits in that seat, including the current mayor, and from then on, this is institutionalized, and without a doubt, you may not like it, and it seems that we are few in numbers, but blacks are leaving this town. not only this town, but it is occurring throughout the country. yours truly has been studying this from the unfinished agenda of the way to the current out migration report. therefore, i am here to tell you

i am on a mission and hope that i can have somebody come out and take a listen. >> glad to have the opportunity to do good to all men, especially those that are [inaudible] i have written with my own hands a letter. as providence would have it -- i did not know if you remember, but the last time i was here, i put on as a of 54. i had a carpet cleaning job that night, and i turned on the radio, and the brother was reading as a 54 -- isiah 54. i am relating this to the cps. google nancy schaefer expose the evil cps. google that. so keep this in mind. i know it applies to other things, but mainly the sons of

bitches that work for cps. god here -- you have to drink a lot of sweet wine to get drunk. has very low and alcoholic content. god says he is going to take vengeance. god is a god of the engines. -- of vengeance. he does not really understand about the jubilee.

he thinks he does, but that cannot be the day of judgment in my opinion. i hope he is right, i really do, but i think the christians have to wait 5775 days -- [bell rings] supervisor chiu: thank you. next speaker. >> i want to thank the people who came out to the rally at bank of america. i came today to express two things -- i want to talk about what was reported in the "examiner." an editorial of the city departments, and i think that gives a lot of people who live in some kind of house in san francisco a lot of hope that you just do not understand that some of those landlords could do

things like that. we must really protect tenants, and that scares me because this is in the "chronicle" right here. they may not get their section eight. i have also been informed right here that president obama is under a lot of stress that they may want to take the money from social security, that is really not -- does not have nothing to do with the government. it is important that you get in touch with the california line for retired americans at 888- 223-6107, and the senior action network. we are planning to talk to senator dianne feinstein. she is the only one that has not supported the roof of " -- or

not let the republicans/democrat committee teardown things that we as ordinary people. i think that men should wear pink and women should have green. last time the boys had blue, they had glueballs, and they go to war. [bell rings] supervisor chiu: thank you. further speakers for general public,? our clerk would like to skip to the adoption of the committee reference calendar, items 14 and 15. >> these items will be acted upon by a single roll call vote unless a member requests discussion of the item, and they will be considered separately. supervisor chiu: would anyone like to sever any of these items? roll-call vote on these items. >> mar aye mirkarimi aye

wiener aye avalos aye chiu aye chu aye elsbernd aye farrell aye kim aye. there are 11 ayes. supervisor chiu: the resolution is adopted in motion approved. item 13. >> item 13 is the motion of the board convening of a closed session for the purpose of receiving advice from the city attorney regarding a lawsuit in title ctia versus the city and county of san francisco. supervisor chiu: can we have a motion to go into closed session? is there any public comment on whether we should go into closed session on this item? seeing none, public comment is closed. without objection, why don't we go into closed session?

ladies and gentlemen, we are going to go into closed session for this item. we do not have any other items on the agenda after this. if we could ask all members of the public to please had to the exits. >> we are back in open session. colleagues, can i have a motion not to disclose what we just discussed in closed session? the motion passes. can you please read the in memo riums? >> for the late mr. mike roche and miss amy polache. >> is there any more business and fun of this board? >> ladies and gentlemen, we are

adjourned. -- is there any more business in front of this board. >> i work with the department of environment and we are recycling oil. thank you. we can go into a refinery and we can use it again.

they do oil changes and sell it anyway, so now they know when a ticket to a. hal>> to you have something you want to get rid of? >> why throw it away when you can reuse it? >> it can be filtered out and used for other products. >> [speaking spanish] >> it is going to be a good thing for us to take used motor oil from customers. we have a 75-gallon tank that we

used and we have someone take it from here to recycle. >> so far, we have 35 people. we have collected 78 gallons, if not more. these are other locations that you can go. it is absolutely free. you just need to have the location open. you are set to go. >> welcome to the april 5th meeting of the municipal

transportation authority. mr. chairman, you have a quorum. >> item 3, the prohibition of some producing devices during the meeting. any person responsible for one going off in the meeting might be asked to leave. please be advised that say are steps in this position which causes interference. the regular meeting, march 8th, the special closed session. >> moved and seconded. >> introduction of new or unfinished business by board members. >> this is a very sad day for

us. this is the first day that cameron beach is not with us. in honor of his memory, heat -- we have left his name plate up here. he died about two weeks ago. he really cared passionately about the work of the mta. he was interested in it, a wonderful service in his memory. oftentimes, i asked him about something. this is a huge amount of knowledge and was very wise. we have done a number of suggestions in recent weeks about this report to recognize him. one suggestion is to name the street car coach and he was very

involved in this. another one that makes a lot of sense to me would be the geneva yard where the historic st. cars are stored and repaired. that would be a fitting thing to named after him. his contributions to the city was enormous and i think it would be a fitting way to remember him i understand to do this, what we need to do is to ask the city attorney to draw up some kind of resolution to do that and i would be interested in members of the board's comments. >> i will miss his wisdom, his wit, and his generosity. i think naming the street car barn after him is a fabulous

idea. i would like the idea of people saying his name multiple times a day. >> thank you. >> i just want to say it was a real pleasure serving on the board with director beach. i learned a lot from him and i respected it lot of his knowledge. i respected his integrity. he was outstanding. >> actually, i found him to be so giving of his time. how busy he was, he always made time and i really value his importance. i don't know what we would do without him. i think that a historic street car order, the geneva barn named

after him, i think i would like that. >> although i knew him for a very short time, he welcomed me to the board warmly and i support changing the names of the streetcars. >> i guess there are various parts of it. this could be called the cameron beach yard or something like it. >> or the beach. >> i understand that there are a couple of facilities that are part of the park and recreation department. we are not talking about that. i would hope that we could get some kind of resolution drawn up for this body so that we can do

this in the next meeting, maybe. we can have some kind of ceremony. when that is ready, we can put something out there. there are a number of people here who knew mr. beach. do they care to say anything? we also have that opportunity when actually dedicate a plaque. thank you very much. >> mr. chairman, before you move on to the next item, i would like to share in my appreciation for director cameron beach. he is definitely going to be a loss to the san francisco mta. he was there when i needed some information or history in terms of our operation and he definitely has a strong technical resources. he was highly respected in our

industry nationally and internationally and i came to meet him through our association. i've really known him for almost two decades in terms of my career and working with him in the industry. he will be sorely missed here at the agency as well as around the country and definitely internationally as well. >> it would be nice to see him on the national level. there has been a lot of -- from around the world. this is in fact a huge loss. we mourn his passing. director beach was share of our policy and a governance committee and i would ask the vice chair to serve as the chairman of that committee and we need one more director who might be interested to please

let -- know if you are interested in meeting. especially if there are major policies that can come before. is there any new or unfinished business? >> mr. chairman, can we close the meeting in his honor? >> we will adjourn the meeting in mr. beach's memory. ok. >> item 7, executive director's report. >> good afternoon, mr. chairman, members of the board. as is our custom, we will lead off a special recognition awards for three of our talented and a valued employees. the first award will go to -- of the transit services division. will you please go to the

podium? [applause] -- is a transit operator and has been with the agency for over 20 years. he has operated for over two decades without an accident, no public service relations complaints, and he maintains an excellent attendance record. he always has a smile and a professional attitude toward his duties and his interactions with his customers. he is also praised by his supervisors for his demeanor and approach to his duties. when asked to go the extra mile, he says, no problem. the director of transit services will present the award. >> congratulations. on behalf of the board of directors and the entire mta, thank you for your great work through the years. before the meeting, --

attributed everything to -- but we appreciate your service to the city. >> he would like to make a short speech because he is anxious to get back to his -- be are very grateful for him. he represents the best of the city. -- we are grateful for him. our next award goes to --, an automotive mechanic who has been with the agency for 10 years. can you please come up to the podium? [applause] congratulations. he is widely recognized for his excellent electrical trouble shooting skills, especially in the articulating section which

saves many labor hours by pinpointing codes cost by open or short circuits. he continues to make these go away like magic. his trouble shooting skills save time and money and returns our buses to service. he is a well-respected team player by his co-workers and he is always willing to assist other mechanics by sharing his knowledge. he has developed a special talent that few individuals have which is why the war is being presented. -- why the award is being presented. >> i thought it would be nice if his supervisor could present the award. >> thank you. >> it is an honor to stand by simon and fun of the board -- in

front of the board. i have known him for decades. this honor is very well preserved. >> thank you for your time. we are very impressed with the great work that you do. thank you very much. [applause] >> next, we turn to our finance and information technology division. our next award goes to the principal administrative analyst to has been with the mta for seven years. [applause] -- recently submitted to the stimulus grants which were essential to sustaining the

transit service. she strives to improve productivity and her ideas for streamlining reports have saved the agency at least 50-100 hours annually. she has been at the cutting edge of securing the grandson's and the grants that she has written have supported nearly all of the core functions, accessible service, a pedestrian operations, as well as safe routes to schools. the breadth and variety of grants that she has applied for are enormous and has resulted in funding for our new boss -- buss as will -- funding of our new bus as well as projects across the city. >> it is a great pleasure for me to present this award. there are many individuals in the audience who love -- [applause]

she is very well-loved. part of the reason is that she brings a lot of money to the agency. she got us over 80 million to multiple agencies. my favorite relationship with her is that when she and i used to sit around and talk strategically about the status of transportation funding in this country and how dismal the picture looks. thank you. thank you for all of your hard work. it is a pleasure to be here to give you this award. >> on behalf of the board members, the mta, san francisco thank you. thank you for all -- think this to all of you for coming to support your colleagues. -- thanks to all of you for coming to support your colleagues. >> thank you mr. chair and

members of the board. i feel really lucky having my job. i have to thank all the people who put up with me and support me in everything that i do. i work with a really dedicated group of people in grant administration and grant procurement. we worked extremely hard trying to get these for the assets to the mta. -- to get these for the sfmta. thank you. [applause] >> mr. chairman, members of the board and public, that ends the public service recognition awards. i would like to give you a snapshot in terms of preparations for the giants. the giants of the world champions, we anticipate elevated attendants as we embark on the 2011 season. there are three plants we