they would ask why have we not done it, because ceqa is not required under the law, and to seek an eir

i realize, i think many of these cards checked the wrong box. let me read the final cards, jana, rudy rucker. and let me ask anyone else who wants to speak on behalf of at&t and the proposed project, you can line up for public comment. >> my name is matt regan here representing the bay area council, a public sponsored public advocacy organization with 275 member companies in the bay area. i think the fact that we're discussing this issue at great length is testament to the fact that while san francisco is progressive, it has problems with some progress. any city needs 21st century

infrastructure. we're 30th in the world in broadband access and that's the united states. san francisco is considerably lower down the ladder in terms of city standards. the type of small start-up companies in san francisco, the garage companies, the social media companies taking root here in the city require broadband access to be viable and successful. large employers also require broadband access in the economy where companies ask employees to work at home two or three days a week to meet environmental obligations and it's important for them to have broadband access at home. san francisco is not a theme park. it needs to keep up with the

times if we continue to be a viable place to work. i conclude by asking you to lock around this chamber. it is full of modern infrastructure and technology. it might offend the aesthettic sensibilities of some but i don't think anyone would argue that it doesn't provide a net benefit to those who work here and to the citizens of san francisco. thank you. >> next speaker, please. >> my name is tony harris, i'm a resident of noy valley and proud san franciscan and this is the first time i've been here so please indulge me. i'm not normally part of a group that testifies but i felt moved by this issue because there were four things i thought about that got past the typical political arguments. competition is important but with competition, also, is the

digital divide and making sure we bring everybody in the city up to the technology. many things now and almost everything that's being developed new in the future is going to require that kind of access, and we don't want to be dependent on one monopoly to provide that because then we're going to be the last ones to get any of the new innovation that comes out. we want to be the city that innovates. secondly, it's green because it uses and reuses some of the existing infrastructure in front of my house they're not going to have to dig up because i happen to live on delore street and utilities are underground so they can use what is already there so we're making good efforts to leverage the existing infrastructure with this particular proposal. the third one, i just went through a six-week class and

have newfound respect for our wonderful fire and police departments and we're what expecting them to do in the case of an emergency in my lifetime living here. unfortunately, i went through that after i signed my mortgage. the resiliency of this city, if you look at post-katrina and the gulf is very important. having two networks is better than having one. and for people like me that work at home and depend on that, that's economic vitality. [bell] president chiu: next speaker. >> good evening, president chiu. my name is neal bardac. i live in pacific heights. my concern is that the push for aesthettics will throw the poor and working poor under the bus. the problem you find in san francisco is the cost of cable. cable is not a luxury, it is a

necessity. if you drive through your neighborhoods tonight as you look in open windows, you'll see a flat-screen tv on the wall open to cable. you have shut-ins, stay-at-homes, working mothers with children looking to it for education and entertainment. $162 to $200 a month to a working class family is a lot of money in the budget and the only way you can lower that price is through competition and each of you have a constituent in your district that this is applicable to. it just isn't the poorer neighborhoods. this is all the neighborhoods. in today's world, $40,000 is working poor and that causes people to really pinch and if you don't believe me, i recommend all of you go down and stand in line on a saturday

morning at comcast and talk to the people there and their bills and what it costs and how many of them can't make payments. aesthetics are one thing. i lived in the city since 1967. i remember all the fights that came down about aathletics and you wouldn't have the bank of america building or the transamerica building today if aesthettics were the only considerations people cared about so when you deliberate and get beyond the rhetoric of aesthettics and the groups that care about it passionately and think about your constituents who have to have cable for their lives. it is a necessity in today's world, not a luxury. thank you very much. president chiu: thank you, next speaker. >> good evening, i'm a resident of corona heights in district eight. a couple of things i'd like to mention tonight. one is, our everyday life depends on technology and

infrastructure that surrounds us, the ability to talk to others, send information and watch important events on television. san francisco is known for its high-tech image and savvy residents. to keep that image, we must encourage competitive choice for cable in san francisco to bring high-speed internet, i.p. t.v. and advanced digital phone service. i've heard a lot about graffiti on boxes. where i live in corona heights, i have a phone box a couple of doors down from me and occasionally it is tagged with graffiti and at&t has been very response 95 getting that graffiti removed when i contact them within a couple of days, sometimes within 24 hours. thank you. >> hi, my name is ashley chang, one of the community ambassadors but i'm only speaking on behalf of myself as a resident of district 10. we heard a lot about cumulative

impacts and i'd like to take a minute to talk about economic impacts for our community. there's overwhelming needs in my community, especially the asian community in district 10, about digital equity. right now, comcast is the only in-line service provider in our area. as the area that is known for low-income families and residents, we really do need choices, thereby keeping the prices in check. because in reality, t.v., in many cases, are the only form of entertainment that the residents can afford. so please, if at&t were to install any boxes, please stop by district 10 and on a more personal level or professional level, i'd like to acknowledge that at&t is a very good corporate partnership and supporter for our community and

our phones are supported by the at&t, as a community ambassador, we thank you very much for the support. thank you. president chiu: next speaker. >> good evening, president chiu. it's been a while since i've been here before the board of supervisors, and ladies and gentlemen, i, too, support this project. i have three reasons. one is because where i live, my reception is -- it's no good. i'm an at&t customer and sometimes when i'm in my couch and my phone rings, i have to go outside to the street to get bars. so that's one. two is because i, too, have at&t phone at work and i work at the

first reporter and sometimes our calls drop. so that's two. and three is, as the folks here from at&t stated, that if this goes through, there will be jobs and this is what san franciscans desperately need -- economy, work and a better way of living. thank you. president chiu: next speaker. >> good evening, i've been a resident of district 3 for nine years and i am completely frustrated by the lack of options in the city with respect to cable television. as it currently stands, comcast has a monopoly on the city and treats customers accordingly. at a time when people are facing serious economic struggles, why wouldn't the board of supervisors support a project that would provide san francisco residents with a choice of cable providers and bring much-needed revenue to the city. residents of san francisco would

be outraged if only one cell phone service provider were available within city limits. why is cable television any different? allowing at&t to offer its services as an alternative to comcast only benefits san francisco residents and i therefore strongly support bringing at&t uverse to the city. thank you. president chiu: next speaker? >> good evening, president chiu and board of supervisors. my name is robert longer and i am here tonight to speak on behalf of the communication workers of america, c.w.a. we are the labor union that represents over 23,000 at&t workers here in the state of california as well as san francisco. our c.w.a. members working at at&t represent the largest unionized employer in the united states in at&t. they are highly skilled professionals who are devoted to their jobs. c.w.a. supports at&t's proposed

build-out in san francisco because it will mean hundreds of good union jobs that will be created at a time when our economy desperately needs it. these jobs will pay good wages and benefits. all positions will be filled locally by skilled union labor. due to our contract with at&t, we have good protections, good benefits and language that protects all employees that we represent. we at at&t have worked over the last six years on a national speed matters broadband build-out campaign to extend broadband to both rural and urban centers that need more competition and more access to local citizens and businesses. this build-out will expand access to high-speed internet as well as entertainment and telephony services while also providing critical local jobs in

san francisco. these local jobs will reinvest in their local community and provide a good standard of living for our members and those who are employed with at&t. i urge the board to consider at&t's permit application. with all due respect to the appellate's concerns over aesthettics and other issues, we can work through these. [bell] thank you. president chiu: next speaker. >> good evening president chiu and supervisors. my name is roland anderson, a member of the communication workers of america, c.w.a., local 9410 here in san francisco. i'm also an at&t employee and my job here is to maintain and install the existing network that we have here. i'm also a resident and a homeowner in cathedral hill neighborhood up the street from us.

san francisco has had a long and rich tradition of being a union city. "u.s. news and world report" recently showed san francisco as one of the top five labor friendly cities in the united states. the net effect, if you allow at&t to proceed with this build-out of the lightspeed network and exceed in video services, would be approximately 200 permanent full-time union-represented jobs in san francisco. the current economic climate, this would certainly be a welcome addition to the city. i believe i speak for all my brothers and sisters in the local 9410 when i ask you to allow at&t to proceed with lightspeed upgrade to the network at this time. as a consumer, i'm tired of being held hostage by the current monopolistic video

provider in san francisco. they're vehemently opposed to letting their employees enter into collective bargaining agreement. when their employees attempt to organize, they are systematically fired for their activities. by contrast, at&t has historically allowed work groups created by new technologies to join in the collective bargaining process. thank you for your time. president chiu: next speaker. >> representing bayview at this point. we want to make sure they do local hiring and we don't need nobody from another district coming from another neighborhood trying to get our jobs. all right? thank you. >> good evening, board. my name is calvin chan, a resident of the diamond heights area of san francisco. as a consumer and a resident, i'm ashamed that san francisco doesn't have uverse at this time

when 260 other telephony cities have made that investment in the future. i know my condo association has already designated a spot for our uverse box. i heard a lot of people talking about the aesthetics and as you know, the muni stations, the glass gets broken, there's graffiti but we deal with it when it comes up and i know that at&t will deal with the uverse boxes when there are issues with them but i've seen neighborhoods in other parts of the country and they're really not noticeable. once they're there, you forget they're there. thank you. president chiu: next speaker. >> good evening, president, and board of supervisors. my name is anthony brewster and i'm supportive of at&t network

lightspeed upgrade in beautiful san francisco. thank you. >> my name is brian webbster. i'm a resident of san francisco and chief of staff at instituto -- the workers resource center on 16th and cat. i'd like to read from a letter we emailed to the board of supervisors. dear board of supervisors, our 30-year-old community-based institution is well known in san francisco as a resource center that defends the rights of the working poor. we provide free service and enforce california labor laws and operate financial education empowerment program focused on reaching the poorest and hardest working people in san francisco. we have an expanding working media program that provides internet access and web videos to tell stories related to

issues in serving the needs of the working poor. we would urge you to deny the appeal of the planning department's ruling that at&t does not need an environmental review to place utility boxes in public spaces, on sidewalks and next to buildings to upgrade the broadband network in san francisco. the planning department said in its ruling, "although the project is not without opposition controversy, opposition, controversy do not themselves institute significant environmental impacts. we respect the work and advocacy of the few community-based organizations opposed to at&t's plan but we disagree on this issue. we believe that the environment and quality of life will be improved by expanding broadband access in san francisco. we believe it is good for education, economic empowerment and good for all kinds of sustainable jobs. we believe it would be good for both our local and national economy, it would be good for competition and choice in the

broadband hdtv marketplace and broadband access is essential for a sustainable and green world. we believe there is an economic fast lane and economic slow lane and i hope that -- [bell] president chiu: thank you. next speaker. >> good evening. my name is adele and i've been a resident of san francisco for 57 years and my daughter and i have been waiting for uverse service for years in the sunset district. and i voted for a number of you and i'm hoping that you'll consider voting yes tonight. thank you. >> how you doing, board of supervisors? my name is eric butler representing district 10 and i'm here to ask you to don't take

our rights away from having prominent professional technology in our neighborhoods because my children use computers and they're more computer literate than i am but as far as being a parent that has to afford to pay for the internet, at&t seems to have the best package deal that i might need to be able to not have my children at a disadvantage for the future. thank you. >> good evening, board of supervisors, president. my name is rodney hansen jr., district 10 resident, vice chair of the san francisco workforce collaborative. with more choices, consumers benefit from competition as you know. as providers working to bring more channels and applications to san francisco, we all will be able to see the latest technological advancement in these services. i would like to have a real alternative to cable, one that can bring me more and faster internet speed, integrated digital phone services, hdtv

programming and on-demand movies. i personally think we should embrace private investment when we have the opportunity. at&t is ready to invest in san francisco and provide work opportunities for our residents. their network upgrades can benefit residents by bringing more options and bringing more union jobs into the city and we are craving that in district 10 so we can be self sustaining. lastly, i hope you will choose to block the appeal rather than block employment opportunities as well as at&t. thank you. president chiu: thank you. next speaker? >> good evening. my name is cordele coleman. i am supportive of the planning department idea of at&t's new high-speed broadband network. we want to help the choice of choosing which high-speed network we want.

just having a choice will bring affordable t.v., cable and internet and it will provide jobs which these jobs are very much needed and it will help the economy. thank you. president chiu: next speaker. >> good evening, i'm latasha beadsly and i'm here from district 10. it is crucial to remember that by denying today's appeal you are not approving any specific boxes in any part of the city. at&t will still be required to work with the neighborhoods and they have made a commitment to do so. so stop the process today would be unjustified and unnecessary. thank you. >> good evening, i'm earnestine chester. i'm a supporter of the planning department's environmental determination so please let the san francisco residents and

communities choose whether they want at&t uverse and the benefits of the new high-speed broadband network. thank you. >> i'm tiffany gage and at&t is almost the largest union and the largest in san francisco and we need these jobs in our city. thank you. >> hello, my name is constance harris and i'm a resident of district 10 and i feel like comcast, you get two bills a month from comcast. at&t, if they can do anything better, i feel like it's good, we need the jobs. i mean, i have little kids that do need technology also and, you know, you can learn from television nowadays. so we need something to, you know, put us prosperous and make us have more jobs because we're out here struggling and we need

something so, thank you. >> chamika laurier and i'm proposing at&t so we can have better jobs in our community and district 10. thank you. >> good evening, supervisors, i'm desmond tan. i live in san francisco. i'm formerly a c.w.a. member and currently a local 6 member. i live in the bayview district. i have family in the tenderloin district and i am a voter. i'm a taxpayer. i work in san francisco. i'm a homeowner, supervisors. we voted for you. and you are our representation to vote yes to allow san francisco to have more choices on quality high-speed internet. scott, thank you very much for responding to my email. and this is to improve the

quality of our lives in san francisco. this is to generate income for san franciscans and for those who work in san francisco and this is to help increase the city's operating revenue because the majority of my family, relatives and friends rely on high-speed internet access in order to work at home in san francisco. their children also rely on high-speed internet disos do homework in san francisco. the group opposed to give san francisco high-speed internet access do now represent our voices. they do not represent san francisco. san francisco wants better and more choices on high-speed internet access. vote yes for at&t to invest in san francisco and vote yes to improve the quality of our lives, and by the way, ugly san francisco is not caused by

the cabinet, it's caused by social problems. we need to address the social problems. president chiu: next speaker. >> good evening, ladies and gentlemen, my name is susan finnegan. i live in parkerside -- parkside and i suspect i'm representative of a lot of people in san francisco. i'm a single parent, renter, single income, and even with a good job, i still live paycheck to paycheck. one of the gentlemen earlier mentioned that internet and cable is a necessity these days. and it truly is, especially if you're raising children, especially if you're a giants fan. that's a necessity. and if you can't even see a home game, you know, without having cable, i think that says something. i would love for comcast to have some competition.

perhaps to make pricing, packaging options better, certainly content. it's sad when you have 60 or 70 channels and there's nothing on unless you want to watch "legally blonde" for the 40th time or "16 and pregnant." i would love to see competition. i think it's really, really important. thank you. president chiu: next speaker. >> i'm janita townes. i think by approving this project it would bring more jobs to san francisco and a better network. please approve the project. thank you. >> good evening, my name is niema. i've been a resident of san francisco all my life and you guys have proven this will be a great impact on my community as a low-income person, i can't afford comcast, internet, telephone and cable.

it's very expensive and i have four young children who love the internet and we do a lot of research and i feel like without the internet and being able to afford it, it's cutting off a whole broader world to us and we can't see it because we can't afford it and bringing at&t to san francisco would really make a big impact on my community as far as jobs and for better internet. thank you. >> good evening, supervisors. my name is michael colin and my partner and i own a home in diamond heights. i love san francisco. we love a debate. a constituent of one has a loud voice here and listening to all the arguments tonight it's easy i think to get confused with what the real issue is and i don't know this is about aesthetics, i don't know that it's about graffiti, i don't know that it's about anything but technology. we represent, in