that, i got a very clearly. it is clear the area is designed around a maintenance function. it is noisy and often unpleasant for people waiting for the bus, train or just walking through. there are few amenities nearby. when we had the tour on march 17th, it was clear to me there are serious safety concerns with the law walkway between this asian and maintenance yard as well as improvements that need to be made -- between the station and maintenance yard as well as improving the cleanliness of the station. the city has recognize the problems and the potential of this area. the bell ballpark station area plan developed by the plot -- the balboa park station area plan recommend the right variety of improvements ranging from creating safer, more attractive places to wait for the bus or train, restoring order reusing the historic geneva office building and reusing the yard parcel for a development that

will bring positive activity to that area. i must say i, that upper yard has to be preserved for the development, not additional space for the art. we will be working toward that goal together. i have asked city departments to take the following steps starting now -- install solar powered signs and improve other informational sign it. clean up the news rack areas. you've got the update on that already. improve the san jose avenue boarding platform that is already funded and will be constructed as part of the larger project. close off the unsafe walkway which will no longer be necessary when the new platform opens on san jose avenue. we are cleaning the area twice daily with heavy cleaning my regular basis.

we need a new class -- a crosswalk, countdown signals at ocean avenue and i 280 would be of the reach city college. this is scheduled to be completed by late 2012, but i have asked the mta to expedite this for earlier completion. i have spoken to the maintenance and safety issues, but we are also working hard on transforming the balboa park station into a mixed used project focused on development -- on affordable housing. it would further many regional goals related to affordable housing, smart growth and activation of critical public areas. accordingly, a residential development on the site is prioritized in the recent development area planned. i'm asking for a complete

report for results and next steps. those steps support a community- led study of potential development sites in the vicinity of the station. [tone] conduct an analysis of current real estate needs to determine which of those parcels are needed in the future for maintenance uses and pecan turnover to more neighborhood- oriented uses. conduct an analysis by the department of public health related to noise and air quality for development near the station and conduct an analysis of the cost of developing the up briard over the bart station. [tone] i think it is fair to say that in the spring of 2012, city staff and community stakeholders' should convene to look at the result of these studies. my office is ready to work closely with your office to make sure these issues are addressed in a timely fashion.

we created a matrix of follow-on actions which we have shared with you and a meeting has been scheduled for april 14th with your offices. again, i think the long term here is we make this more of a residential hub man -- and a transportation hub rather than the maintenance yard has been. president chiu: mr. mayer, on behalf of the board, would like to thank you for your participation. we thank you for your public discussions about our formal policy issues. let me now -- colleagues, i would like to leave this item open for public comment later on in the agenda, which is something called for under the ordinance. i would like to at this time, out of respect for the mayor's schedule is to move to are closed session on pensions. could you please call item 21?

>> item 21 is a motion the board of supervisors convene in closed session to consult with the mayor and the city's labor relations negotiators for the purpose of reviewing the mayor's instructions to negotiators related to pension, health care, retiree health care proposals. president chiu: can i have a motion to gloat -- to go into closed session? any public comment on whether we should go into closed session? seeing that none of, without objection, let's go into closed section. for this item, to discuss our cities situation regarding the pension, health care and retiree health-care costs, if i could ask you to please vacate that chambers. we will open the doors up when the closed session is completed.

president chiu: welcome back to the board of supervisors meeting for april 12th, 2011. we are back from are closed session. can i have a motion to not disclose what was an hour closed session? without objection, the motion passes to not disclose the information. >> item 2, or dent amending the article establishing a payroll tax exclusion for businesses located in the central market

street and tenderloin area. >>supervisor kim: last week, i introduce legislation that aimed at reducing the tenderloin area into which businesses can enter the tax exclusion. the version that was publicly noticed and is in front of us now does not reflect the amendment i introduced last week. it was unfortunately submitted by the city attorney's office and is now publicly noticed. there is an inconsistency between the narrative and the math and the narrative by introduced. i'm going to reintroduce my amendments today. the amendments to not change the nature of the scope or area, latest clarify the statement i made last week. this is obviously a very important piece of legislation and we wanted to be reflective of our intentions and what we are voting for.

i have distributed the amendments. we are deleting blocks 0716 on page two, reducing the scope of the legislation to apply to parcells on the north side of alice. we also have the consistency which changes the from the mayor's office of economic development to the office of city administrator that shall submit the annual report to the board of supervisors. those amendments are not substantive but will require us to have a second reading the following week. thank you. president chiu: is there a second? any objection to the amendments? without objection, the amendments are adopted. now, if we could take a first reading vote on the ordinance

as amended. >> [roll-call] there are eight ayes and three nos. president chiu: i would like to go to our 3:30 special orders because i know we have a number of certificates and commendations today. i would like to start with supervisor avalos. supervisor avalos: thank you. i would like to call kathy chen

to the podium. colleagues, as many of you know or may not know, this is national public safety telecommunications week. officially established by congress in 1991, this is an opportunity to honor the dedicated women and men who are on the line without fail, responding to emergency calls, dispatching emergency staff and equipment and saving lives. san francisco has the third busiest dispatch center in california. i am not surprised. handling approximately 1 million calls. the average answering time for a 911 call is 3 seconds. this is all things to the dedicated work of our emergency dispatchers. of which cathy is one of. i would like to honor the extraordinary work of one particular emergency dispatcher who has been honored by the

department's emergency management as dispatcher of the year. she is a district 11 resident. most recently, she was the dispatcher who took a call on november 11th, 2010, from a distraught man who was threatening to blow up his vehicle and jump from the bay bridge. kathy maintained contact with this person and kept him talking until the negotiation team of the police department arrived. as the first public safety official in contact with this man, her calm and professional manner helped keep the incident from escalating further. it protected the public from harm during a busy morning commute and got a much-needed resources to this troubled man and his daughter as well. she has an outstanding public safety dispatch career, spanning 15 years. she has consistently demonstrated extraordinary skill in handling life-threatening and

police called in a calm and professional manner and adapted skills as a radio dispatcher. she is also at a patient and effective trainer to new dispatchers. she is a model of professionalism and courage for her co-workers and that inspiration to us all. i would like to invite the director to offer her word on her great experience and work. thank you for all of your great work. [applause] >> i am the director of emergency management and i am so thrilled to be here today. thank you for this honor for the department. all of our dispatchers have

their lives on the line every single day working with the public and we are such an important part of the public safety system. thank you supervisor and thank you all. if you have time this week, he should come to our communications center. i know you could not make it to our open house, but we have lots of festivities going on to celebrate the great work our dispatchers do. thank you. [applause] >> good afternoon and thank you for this honor. i am the that the director in charge of the center. it is our honor and privilege to get this today. all of our dispatcher's work tirelessly and every day, they're saving someone's life. kathy did a fabulous job and we want to recognize her. thank you. [applause] >> thank you very much supervisor and the other board

members for this honor. i appreciate it. it is a wonderful to be here and share this day with my husband, like children and with my co- workers at the department of emergency management. on november 11th of last year, the caller explained he stopped his car on the bay bridge and claimed he had explosions with -- had explosives with them. he also threatened to jump from the bridge. i worked to keep him talking until negotiators arrived. it was a challenging call and i'm glad i was able to help the police department bring a peaceful end to this incident. 911 dispatchers answer difficult calls every day. we receive an average of 2500 calls per day. i am proud to be here to represent my fellow dispatchers and put a face on all of the men and women who worked so hard to bring help to all the people who

call us every day. thank you again for this honor. [applause] [applause] president chiu: congratulations and thank you for keeping us safe. our next commendation is by supervisor kim. supervisor kim: i get the honor of representing some great neighborhoods here in san francisco, come up -- , including south of market.

including one of our institutions here, that eagled tavern. [applause] -- that eagle tavern. today, our office and board of supervisors want to recognize this institution, the eagle tavern for their 30 years as both an entertainment venue, a cultural institution, a safe haven, a home and community for the city of san francisco and of course our lgbt community. many of us heard over the weekend that the tavern might be closing at the end of the month. it's amazing the hundreds of individuals who have come out for an emergency meeting last night at the tavern to figure out what we can do to save this important institution. the south of market has had a long history of serving our lgbt

communities. many business establishments that cater to our community popped up in what is known as an aging industrial belt and revitalized this area and created a home for many people who flock to san francisco. supervisor wiener and a former supervisor were there last night. it was part of the committee that walked to the skylark bar where i heard there was a set in -- asit in because i heard there were negotiations for a -- we want to recognize you. it is more than just a bar. for years, every sunday, and has been raising money and supporting our city, raising close to $3 million over the last 30 years for an important community groups like dykes on

bikes, the asian emergency fund and countless communities in san francisco. we are honored to honor that eagle for its leadership in our community and your service. as much as you have given to our city, we are behind you and do what we can to support that eagle continuing to be an institution here in san francisco. i would like to call up anyone who like to come up to accept our commendation to the eagle talon. -- eagle tavern. [applause]

>> thank you. >> thank you. i would like to say a couple of words real quick. we are in the fight for our life. over 30 years, we have raised millions of dollars for charity but in this city through the eagle tavern. it is my passion to keep this going and with the help of everyone has gotten involved in the last three days, we are hopeful we will be able to do this for the city and our community. thank you. [applause] >> i would just like to add on top of all of the benefit fund raising for all sorts of people,

that it has become a beacon -- is the jewel in the crown of san francisco globally. it is a beacon to the rest of the world. a friend from argentina described it as the eiffel tower to gaze everywhere. i'm so glad the city is behind us in helping however we can to preserve that there will be an eagle in san francisco. thank you. [applause] supervisor campos: i just wanted to add to something that was said -- i speak as an openly gay man when i recognize the importance of the contribution this has made to our community. this has been demonstrated in

the last few days. you cannot threaten to do something, without the community rallying to support this. i am very proud of them, and we will do everything they can. thank you. [applause] >> i want to second campos's remarks, and thank supervisor kim for stepping up on this issue. i must closely identified with the lbgt community. the communities throughout the city, in terms of the population and cultural institutions, and the gathering spaces for the community, this

is a critical neighborhood. >> we will move to the final commendation of the day, which has been offered by supervisor mar. supervisor mar: i want to abolish the important collective that has been in the city for several years. i know a lot of teachers from all of other institutions that have often used modern times. this is often a refuge for me, with activists for 30 years supporting the modern times bookstore. i hope that they can come up and

join us. modern times bookstore began in 1971, one of the last remaining bookstore collectivist in the country. and a volunteer collective modern times bookstore, offering community space with literature and events, for several decades. and despite the demise of many other collectives, for about 20 years they have been right at 19th street in the mission, sponsoring many local authors that appreciated the support for the local artists and authors, with the radical and progressive artists and activists from all over the country. i look forward to the ongoing future partnership that this will continue to provide, with

the intellectual and community space progressive community. i know that the landlords have said that they have to be out by april 30, and there is a big party on april 23. and the bookstore is having a lot of great discounts through the end of the month but there are other events as well. i would like to say that you can keep in touch with the collective by joining the page on facebook and also supporting them as an independent collective, the independent bookstore and a dying breed in the country. let me say to all of the collective members, thank you for 30 years of my life and 40 years for the people of san francisco and is great to give you this commendation today.

thank you. >> thank you so much, supervisor. we are so proud of you and grateful to you, or serving the city the way that you do. thank you, so much. i also want to thank the rest of the board for this commendation, and this is an honor to receive this, when we are having to move because of the rising rent, basically. we cannot afford to keep paying debts. i also want to talk about the people -- this is the collective at the moment. there have been many people and i want to talk about michael rosenthal, who is here and he was a collective member for 35 years. he really helped to get the store started, it was an all-

volunteer collective and he was part of that. for all of those years, he kept the store going, and i feel like the commendation is really for michael. there have been over 150 -- 160 or even more people who actually have been working at the store. this is in the last 40 years. we received this in their honor as well. plus, all of the amazing writers, poets and political people who have come through the store, writing these things that we can sell to people and the community, that they want to purchase and read. but also to have made this a community space, for all of those people, and the incredible

bay area community that kept us alive, we have the most loyal customer base. the customer base has a kind of welty to us. we're just grateful that this community has seen fit to make us a community space, and people keep coming there and being there, making this a wonderful exchange of ideas, and art. thank you all, very much. [applause]

>> thank you. and if we can now go to item #3. >> this is an ordinance to update the controls and regulates the agricultural usage in various zoning districts. >> we can take a roll-call vote on the item. [calling role] mirkarimi, aye. wiener, aye. avalos, aye. campos, aye. chu, aye. chiu, aye. cohen, aye. elsbernd, aye. there are 11 ayes. >> the ordinance has passed. next item? >> this is for a settlement agreement, related to a lease agreement with the san

francisco forty-niners. >> can we take this with the same call? this ordinance has been passed. >> item 5 is from the budget and finance committee, to extend the admission fees to the botanical gardens until june 30, 2011. approximating $400,000 from the general fund, to reduce the botanical garden fee revenue, which will be rescinded on the effective date of the ordinance. >> supervisor? >> thank you, supervisor. >> i rise in support of item six, the supplemental appropriations -- this would be $143,000 of the general fund revenue to replace