certain that these are distributed throughout the whole city, and i take great pride in the fact that i am the son of mexican immigrants. i have a history of working with the non-english speaking communities. it will be a priority to have the mark with this -- and i am also very sensitive to the needs of seniors. my parents will be turning in their keys very soon, and they are able to walk around and maybe depending on the system more than they do today. this is a major component of our population. i hope that will be making a better future -- for the seniors that we can anticipate. for a child that is 8 years old

-- this is safe enough for everyone. i live at the top of the hill, where i can see cars regularly come over 16th and there are traffic accidents there, regularly -- not every day, but frequently, car accidents that could've easily been prevented, with better regulation that would actually make the streets safer for drivers as well. and when the street is safer for the drivers, the transit system will benefit and become more efficient. and there is even more of a need that we all share. i want to stress my history as an advocate and a clatter. i have made my purpose to bring more representation and people of different communities to come together for common ground, to make certain that the system and

the opportunities that we have meet the needs of everyone. we are in a place where change is necessary and i know that change is difficult, but if we all make small sacrifices we can go where we need to be. if you are going over the side of a cliff, changes good. we need to do this. again, i want to thank you all for this opportunity to speak before you, and i am happy to answer any questions about anything i have said. >> and are there any questions? >> i do have a couple of questions. i am very impressed by your experience and your background with public safety. do you own a car? >> i not own a vehicle. i am a regular transit rider. i was 30 minutes late because i

was stuck on the end, and i experienced these frustrations every day. i may sometimes take this multiple times per day. my wife owns a car. she will give this up because of the system that i am describing. i recognize the value and the mobility. i want to make this easier for the cars to get around. this is a serious priority for me. >> you have brought this up, the issue a pedestrian safety in san francisco. this is a major issue for the office. what do you think we should do to make the record better? >> i was fortunate enough to attend a pedestrian hearing in the decided that we did more resources directed to

implementing pedestrian improvements in the infrastructure. a little bit will go very long way, to keep someone from getting injured or killed. i want to make certain that the system is critical of capitalizing on the small improvements so that the system obviously is as safe as possible with a small effort that this may take. >> this has been a controversial issue for the board of supervisors. what are your thoughts about the request for the increased fees? >> the developer fees? >> just -- >> i think the transit riders pay too much as it is. it has been very difficult. i know people who can no longer

afford to get the fast pass, where the things that they need to get. they have to neglect the deal and pay more because they cannot afford this price all once. i will see to it that we avoid the fare hikes, and the increase in the price of the passes as much as possible. in a stand that there are some increases we cannot go back on. i will do everything i possibly can as a member of the board to make certain that we avoid this if all possible. i hold this very dear to make certain that people are mobile. >> thank you. we will open for public comment. i forgot to mention this. just please come forward.

>> good afternoon. i want to thank you for letting us come up here and support joel ramos. i am a member of the san francisco transit riders union, which is a new organization, and the reason i am excited about the organization, which joel is also a member of, is it tries to put together a group of citizens to help get over the problems we have. we are passionate about public transit and very interested in transit first, but we recognize there are issues in our transit system. i want to talk about two things today. we have only had one meeting so far, and i think we were both nominated at the same time, but he is extremely knowledgeable

about transit issues, and i think that's he will bring the wealth of knowledge he has to the mta as well. second, i do not have a car. i do have two children. my youngest learned to read going out to the school and back. i really appreciate the idea that you actually can be a family in san francisco and ride public transit. it does take a little extra push, and, yes, it is getting very expensive for families, so i appreciate the idea that public transit is not just for a certain group of individuals. it should be for everybody. that is the idea. the last thing i wanted to say is that we have -- i think it is nice that we embrace safe, diving, an inclusive, which is also our model for the neighborhood in the lower haight in the sense that safety

is for pedestrians, for writers, and pedestrians -- for pedestrians, and for riders. i am pleased to be here to support the nomination. thank you. >> hello, good afternoon, supervisors. in the community planning manager at chinatown cdc -- i am the community planning manager. i think the whole spectrum of transit improvements, also including recent advocacy for the central subway -- i really want to talk today about how we support jolt -- joel as a transportation justice advocate at how our communities of color are really the ones writing transit.

in chinatown, over 80% of families do not own cars, not necessarily by choice, but by necessity that they need the transit system to get to work, to get to doctors of what it's come to see their family that lived in other neighborhoods, and really commend the mayor and sfmta to give these communities a chance to speak for themselves, to make decisions about what kind of transit they have access to, what their neighborhoods look like in terms of crosswalks, traffic lights, all of that, and to really have time for there to be really dedicated outreach to these communities. i think a little bit of need for creative thinking about how to do it and appreciate, hopefully, working with him in the future on these issues. supervisor kim: thank you. >> hello. i have been a transit advocate

for the last couple of years and just wanted to come forward as a member of also the transit riders union, until the zero weeks ago, we voted to endorse joel's candidacy -- two weeks ago, we voted to endorse his candidacy. he is really well spoken about transit, i just wanted to -- sorry, thank you. supervisor kim: thank you very much. >> good afternoon, supervisors. i am very pleased to bring you our support for joel ramos and his appointment to the mta board of directors. i want to thank the mayor for what we think is a really great combination, shaping up to be stronger and getting some great work done. joel is the real deal. you are hearing that. he is a transit advocate and transit lover, a champion for equity and social justice.

he is very qualified to join the supporting body and led his intelligence to it. i have personally worked with him on a number of matters and always been deeply impressed, but not just as smart and strong advocacy, not just his commitment and diligence, but his skills as a team member and a coalition builder, and the great respect he earns from even those who may disagree with whatever the policy particular is maybe at hand. again, we are very excited to see this nomination come forward. we hope you will support it, and again, we are really excited to see the mta board itself become stronger, more involved, and really, a more capable body. thank you. supervisor kim: thank you. >> hello. i am executive director of walk san francisco. our city's charter says the san francisco is a pedestrian first

city, but with 800 people a year are hit by cars and three people killed in four days last march, we have clearly not reached that goal of pedestrian priority. with that in mind, we are pleased to support joel ramos and his candidacy for the mta commission. mta is the agency most responsible, among many, for the safety and walk ability of our streets. there has been a tremendous amount of attention to pedestrian safety and, i think, supervisor kim among others who paid a lot of attention to this recently, and the appointment of joel ramos to this board could be a step forward in making the real change we need, translating the synergy into real change for our streets. we feel confident that joel ramos will speak up for

sustainable streets, and we also know he will speak up for underserved communities to face a disproportionate risk of being hit by cars on our streets while walking and who depend most on transportation and on walking, so we urge you to make joel ramos the newest member of mta's commission. thank you. >> madam chair, fellow supervisors, i am with the san francisco transit riders union. rather than reiterate what has already been said, i want to just hit on one point in particular, and that is the importance of having someone on the board vote actually write strands it -- someone on the board who actually rides transit. a lot of times, i hear people bragging about how they ride muni sometimes as often as four times a week. that really bugs me. i feel like you need to really

understand the issues. the transit in washington, d.c., is just light years ahead of what we have here. we really are a world-class city, but not when it comes to transit. i have spoken many times about this, and he has great ideas. he understands the connections between transit and land use and how also things like pedestrian safety play into the whole picture of having walkable communities where everyone can really have a neighborhood. so i would definitely encourage you to confirm his nomination. he would be a great addition to the board and can really bring that transit riders perspective. thank you. supervisor kim: thank you. is there any other public comment on this item? seeing none, public comment is now close. ok, we have a motion to move forward with positive recommendation to the full board without any opposition. mr. ramos, again,

congratulations on your nomination. i was very impressed when i met with you for your background and also for your excitement on serving on a challenging board of directors with a lot of very important issues at the majority of san franciscans care deeply about, so we appreciate your willingness to serve on the committee, and i look forward to working with you, so we move this forward to the full board. thank you. so. please call item 3. >> hearing to consider appointing one member, a term ending march 20, 2012, to the pedestrian safety advisory committee. there is one seat and one applicant. supervisor kim: thank you. i believe mr. frausto is here today. if you could spend a couple of minutes introducing yourself and

your background and your interest in serving. >> absolutely. first, thank you very much. to the other members of the border supervisors, i appreciate given the top -- being given the time an opportunity today to express my aspiration to being part of the committee. i am currently a member of the board of directors of walk san francisco, the largest pedestrian advocacy group in san francisco. i also worked as an emergency medicine physician at highland hospital. it is essentially the same type of hospital. we focus on primarily underserved communities, and unfortunately, as a worker in the emergency room there, i constantly have to treat injuries that are suffered as pedestrians on a daily basis. as a resident of san francisco, i am committed to helping

improve the safety of our streets and reducing the overall number of injuries and deaths that occur to pedestrians. i ask that you consider me to represent a pedestrian advocacy organization. i believe that my background in medicine and public health and my involvement through walk sf could be a big benefit. i have become very familiar with the community's work and also with the numerous recommendations to the board of supervisors. i am also aware of the mayor's directive on pedestrian safety and would very much like to get involved in moving that forward as well. again, thank you very much for your consideration, and i'll be happy to answer any questions you may have. supervisor kim: thank you, and i'm sorry, doctor. are there any questions? at this time, i will open up for public comment.

>> walk san francisco. not surprisingly, we are pleased to support kenneth frausto's application. he is a strong advocate for safer, healthier streets, especially for the seniors, the low income people, and the people of color who are most at risk on our streets. we strongly support kenneth as an excellent candidate for this committee and a conscientious and committed advocate for pedestrians in san francisco, which, after all, is all of us because we are all pedestrians. thank you. supervisor kim: thank you. any other public comment on this item? seeing none, public comment is now closed. thank you so much for applying. as i mentioned, this is a really important issue for our office, so it is great to have really engaged committee members. i know there is a meeting next wednesday.

maybe we could move forward as a committee report so we could have you start next week. so impressed that i did not have any questions. i think it would be great to have a position on board who gets to interface with many of the victims and injuries in hospital. i think it is an import the perspective do have. so i'm happy to support you serve on this committee. any other comments? >> i'm sorry, supervisor, in order to move this forward as a committee report, we have to have a request supporting that. supervisor kim: ok, so, we will not be able to do that then. my apologies. you will still be able to attend the meeting, but not as a member. we have a motion to move forward with positive recommendation to the full board. so moved. thank you. madam clerk, can you please call item four? >> item four, hearing to consider appointing one member,

a term ending october 19, 2011, to the eastern neighborhood citizens advisory committee. there is one seat and one applicant. supervisor kim: thank you. is mr. conde -- mr. grande here? yes. thank you so much for being here. again, if you could talk briefly about your background, your interest in serving our eastern neighborhoods cac. >> sure. good afternoon, supervisors. let me tell you a little bit about myself and by i am really interested in wanting to be part of the eastern neighborhood cac. my background or my roots in the city go way back from working class blue-collar -- my family of immigrants got their start in the ne mission, right across from the levi plant. my roots are in the mission.

like many immigrant families, we later moved to the excelsior district where housing prices were a little bit more accessible, and we did plan our roots there. but ne mission, my brother grew up in jamestown. i'm telling you all this because a lot of this really shapes my world view, shapes how i view and interact with my city, and i love my city. and also, as a homeowner, i look at it as a collective homeowner because i own my home with my brother, with michael w. sisters and my parents, which is probably the only way to do it in san francisco, but i think that gives me a unique perspective, and also, just my upbringing in the city and really recognizing the city-wide mosaic. i went to sacred heart. i hope that will not be used against me, supervisors. but i state because as a blue-

collar and moderate income school, i was exposed to communities that i would not have been if i was stuck in my community, and just my upbringing in the excelsior district as a working-class community. similar to joel ramos, who we just heard from, and i'm so glad you guys are recommending, my focus has been of the latino community, on youth, on seniors. basically, on community that have not been represented throughout urban planning. development issues. i cut my teeth on helping develop the eastern neighborhood plan. i spent 10 years on it. got my first gray hair is while doing it. had four kids. so i feel like using my role is preparing and organizing people to take part in these opportunities. but i feel it is my turn, and i feel that i owe that to my city

and to the people, the thousands of people that participated in developing the eastern neighborhoods plan. specifically to the constituents i work with in the mission district. we spent thousands of hours, many, many nights, you know, breaking down of urban planning. what is an urban planning? when you talk to the professionals, they say every day people cannot understand these concepts, but we live these concepts every day. we just need to put it in popular terms. i feel i bring that perspective and experience of breaking down of urban planning policies, design ideas to youth, elders, spanish speakers. i have launched many participatory-based research project in the northeast mission where we are going out there with neighborhood residents, attracting a lot by lot what is there, what are its impacts.

we spent many years developing ideas on how we bring affordable housing resources into the neighborhood. because my role here is i do not want to limit on the past and what the mission was or continues to be. as always, a working-class entry point for immigrant residents, from throughout, from ireland, from spain, from mexico. i do not necessarily want to limit on that, but i want to move forward and how we uphold the eastern neighborhoods, guide it, adapt it? because we have a diverse community now, and everybody is clamoring for the same thing. maybe you got a little bit of money. maybe you are looking at open space. maybe you are looking at some other amenities. families i work with, living in sro hotels, living in cramped apartments -- my role is to bring that voice forward because

there is a lot of -- there could be potentially a lot of unity, once you get past all the stuff and all the drama, and i think we are all clamoring for the same thing, for the best neighborhood, for a healthy neighborhood, a sustainable neighborhood from here on forward. supervisor kim: thank you. are there any questions for the applicant? supervisor elsbernd: you told us where you went to high school. we do good grade school? >> corpus christi. though, buccaneers -- go, buccaneers. supervisor kim: any other substantive questions for our -- [laughter] -- for our applicant today. thank you so much. very familiar with your work. thank you for the work you do as an applicant for our community. at this time, we will open up for public comment. please line up. two minutes please.

>> madam chair, supervisors, good afternoon. i have attended more than my share of eastern neighborhood cac meetings. it is unfortunate that there is not a lot of passion on that cac for their neighborhood plans because the community really had nothing to do with writing those plans. they show no ownership, so they are basically obsessed with deciding how to spend money, and it is money that they do not have. i have gotten to know oscar very well through the trailing years of the eastern neighborhoods process where we desperately try to put people back into the planning process, and i would like to wholeheartedly support his nomination to the eastern neighborhood cac, so that he can

bring some passion to that group. thank you. supervisor kim: thank you. >> good afternoon. i have lived in san francisco for 59 years. listening to mr. grande speak, i feel it is obvious he is well qualified. anyone who has done what he has done is obviously committed to the neighborhood. obviously, the reason why i'm speaking for him is i am also a graduate of sacred heart class of 1970, and i would also like to mention that since he graduated from corpus christi, corpus christi was also the site of that very important service for mr. oscar giminez, who also graduated with the class of 1970, and i think replacing one

oscar with another is good for that neighborhood. thank you. supervisor kim: thank you. any other public comment on this item? seeing none, public comment is closed. thank you so much for being here today and also for your willingness to serve on this committee. i know it has been a very challenging committee to serve on. you have big shoes to fill. as you replace another great advocate. thank you so much for your willingness to serve. any other comments? we have a motion to move forward this item with a positive recommendation to the full board, and that is without objection. thank you. madam clerk, can you please call item five? that item five, hearing to consider appointing one member, a term ending march 31, 2013, to the commission on the aging advisory council. there is one seat and one applicant. supervisor kim: thank you. is ms. halee -- haile here?

thank you. same format. if you could spend a couple of minutes telling us about your background and your interest on continuing to serve. thank you so much for your service already on multiple commissions for the city of san francisco. >> thank you. in my experience, i worked in senior agencies in chinatown, self-help for the elderly, and the tenderloin. so i say my two main interests are aging and immigrants. i am on the immigrants rights commission. in aging, there seems to be no end of stuff to do this year. the advisory council is mandated by the older american debt, and we have certain things we have to do like review the area plan. we have tal