elsbernd. supervisor elsbernd: one item today, a big item along with the mayor, actually for the mayor, and definitely his leadership that brought us to this point and along with president chiu, supervisor avalos, supervise chu, cohen, farrell and wiener. i am proud to introduce a charter amendment that is much more than i or the sport have done in the past in terms of retiree health care reform. this is not a proposal that is a baby step that i have characterized some proposals in the past. this is real reform. this is also real sacrifice on behalf of our current city employees.

this is not simply a proposal but is about new employees and the lighting savings 10, 15, 20 years out. this is a proposal that produces savings in the first year of its passage. this means that current employees will be sacrificing. they will be contributing more to the pension fund as the taxpayers contribute more to the pension fund. it is a fair and equitable float of those employee contributions. not just a fai from ar point of view, but from a legal point of view. in those cities when the city has a booming investments, employees will also benefit. there is a fairness in that. that is the crux of this proposal. that said, it is not the only

piece of this proposal. a new tier for all employees. we are addressing things that others have mess. we're talking about over 1000 employees who are in koppers. we talked about vesting retirement, a proposal that allows employees to get a very large annuity, even if that have not reached retirement age. most importantly, this is not a pension proposal. we are also addressing retiree health. there is a piece in this proposal that the men's competition from the current board. supervise chu is our current rep. i sat on that board for five

years. this is the proposal i am most excited about in terms of producing fair and equitable results. we also have mandates for current employees making contributions to the retiree trust fund. they may recall that mandated that employees hired after passage have to make employee contributions. they are stepping forth and saying that they will make contributions as well. this is a comprehensive proposal. i cannot emphasize that enough. comprehensive, comprehensive, comprehensive. to throw out some numbers, the controller's best estimates, this will save us between $800 million and $1 billion. last year when we were debating the merits of proposition d, a proposition about two or three-

year vesting, that was $40 million over 25 years. this is $800 million to $1 billion over 10 years. that does not get into what the t newier saves us or what the contributions will do for us long term. this is a measure that i could not be more proud of. i want to thank the mayor for his steady hand in guiding this process. warren for his steady hand, president chiu for participating in those meetings. i had to the attorney's office and to those members of the board who co-sponsored it. that is a great sign for the electorate. they recognize a comprehensive

consensus approach is the best approach. to those of you who are not yet there, i look forward to seeing your names there come the day wwe vote on this. supervisor avalos: by will like to congratulate supervisor elsbernd for his great work on pension reform as well as the mayor and staff. it is significant that we are able to get where we are at on this measure. a consensus approach is the right way to go. we need to make sure that as we are making our prospects for covering our pension obligation much more sound, that we could have broad support of the board of supervisors. we could show that to the electorate. i think the process has been a difficult one. that brought out some of the greatest talents we have in the

city to make that happen. at nciu, they are not quite on board. we can help bring them in. we can have the courage -- a true consensus that we want to have. we have time to do that. i want to thank the mayor for his openness with that. supervisor elsbernd's as well. supervisor elsbernd, since i first got on the board a couple of years ago, you have been talking about this issue. it is a looming problem. for the first few months, we did not pay as much attention as we probably could have. you suffer from a cassandra complex. you spoke about the doom and gloom that is coming and people were not paying attention. it is going to have the support it is going to need to pass. thank you for your work on that.

in other matters, i had a resolution to receive statewide program grant funds to support the development of the easement adjacent to the library. supervisor elsbernd will be cosponsoring this because it is on the border of both of their districts. a couple of years ago, i worked to reprogram these so we could develop this easement so that we could have really could landscaping between the library and a part of this project. the community groups have been working together on design, which i think is significant. it is going to make a great improvement when we see all of the great st. worked in that area. we can see ocean avenue coming into its own.

lastly, i just wanted -- i am an old fogey in a way. i listened to bob dylan once a week. today is his 70th birthday. he turns 70 today. he is like the picasso of the united states. i thought i would embarrass myself by reading a song. sin sing it. i might add up singing it by reciting it. and myth that the waters around you have grown soon you will be benched soon you will sink like a stone the rock -- the times are changing do not speak too soon the wheel is still spinning.

the loser now will win the times are a changing their is a battle outside and it is a raging the times are a changin do not criticize what you cannot understand your sons and daughters are changing the line that is drawn and the curse that is cast the slow 1 now will later be last the order is rapidly fading the first 1 now will then be last

the times are a chaning. >> happy birthday, bob dylan. supervisor wiener: i neglected to say this before. i think he left the room. really acknowledging and commending supervisor elsbernd not just for two years, but for years and years of latching on and not letting us forget about this issue. he saw the coming when a lot of people did not see it coming. he would not let it go. a lot of people contributed to a very strong pension reform measure. supervisor elsbernd, we cannot give him enough credit for keeping the momentum moving forward. thank you, supervisor elsbernd. >> thank you, supervisor wi

ener. that concludes roll-call for introductions. president chiu: why do we not moved to our 3:30 special accommodations? the first will be offered by supervisor kim. supervisor kim: we recognize that small businesses in our city and the continued commitment to job creation, job growth, and the support of diverse industries in san francisco. as many of you know, a little bit about their organization. the purpose is to help revive our local manufacturing landscape in san francisco. we had a strong manufacturing industry. we've lost a lot of that over

the last couple of decades. the mission is to help rebuild the dynamic manufacturing area in san francisco. it can? many of our local businesses to which other encouraging entrepreneurial ship. it is bringing us to the 21st century. that also helps create employment opportunities for a diverse local work force. this is a movement that is here in san francisco along with new york and a couple of other cities. there has been a lot of talk about coming back full circle to producing things locally. san francisco is ahead of the curve. in order to strengthen these industries and issues, it is important that we support balkanizing. many of these issues on affordable housing, just as

importantly, we need to organize our small businesses as well. we need to support each other by creating a more vibrant local economy. create networks, share best practices, and hope that the city and port create a cohesive policy is that will support their industries. i am proud that the majority of businesses are located here in district 6. when you walk around our district on any given day, you can smell the coffee that is being produced. you can walk up howard streets and visit the sisters that produced their own stationery for weddings and birthdays and other special events. there are many immigrant owned garment manufacturing businesses. many of you carry rickshaw bags.

other products are produced locally in san francisco. i am proud to honor the organization. the director is here today. she will talk a little bit more about the organization. all week long, they will be hosting free tours of their member businesses. i would encourage you all to come out to their event tomorrow. thank you so much for all of your work. really excited about what is happening in san francisco. >> thank you very much. we really appreciate this honor. it is a continuing reinforcement that manufacturing is back on the map in san francisco. many of these companies have been around. sum for more than 100 years. some are new and have been around for the last six months.

they are starting to hire again. we have close to 160 companies in our network all located in san francisco. by last count, they employed close to 2000 men and women from skilled swewers, woodworkers, drawing from neighborhoods mostly in the southeast part of the city. they are spread across the mission. certainly across district sex, down in market and across to the bayview. we are proud to represent this industry and offer you a direct conduit to this industry. there are times when we can weigh in thand die policy issue.

we have been working towards the local neighborhoods where we have manufacturing. the offer goes to any of you. it is an illuminating way to understand how these dynamic companies and the men and women stay employee really fit into the neighborhoods that are in. they enliven the communities they are in. whether you just want to learn more about so thank you very much. we very much appreciate it. and i'll see some of you tomorrow night. thanks. [applause] president chiu: congratulations, kate. and i also want to add to

speier -- to -- what you're doing in san francisco, hopefully someday will be the envy of the nation. but certainly we love your products. and i love carrying around one of our san francisco manufactured bike messen jer bags myself. i am honored to present the next four commendations. if i could ask rafael powell, lorraine perry, livan chung and gia polly if you could step up to the microphone. it's coming to the end of the school year. and at a time when we are celebraterring the graduation of many students, i wanted to help recognize four incredible educators who are retiring after a combined 126 years of service. we are truly honored to count you among our neighbors and friends. and these are four educators who have educated thousands of students within my district and

within the northeast part of the city. let me start with rafael powell. following his graduate studies rafael taught at an all girls christian school in hong kong. in 1991, rafael emigrated to the u.s., settled in san francisco, and for the next 20 years, he dedicated himself to teaching students. in addition to marina middle school where he is retiring from, rafael also taught at horace mann and her better hoover middle schools. -- herbert hoover middle schools. and spent much of his time teaching as a bilingual teacher. students remember rafael as a teacher who not only takes his teaching very seriously but apparently never runs out of funny jokes. lorraine perry is a third generation san franciscan. lorraine, her parents, and her grandparents all attended public schools in san francisco. in the fall of 1985, lorraine was hired to teach science at james middle school where she worked for three years. and then she transferred to

marina middle school where she has taught math and science for the past 23 years. as well as being part of the gender academy under the leadership of john michaelson. livan chung in 1970 started her teaching career in san francisco. she was hired by the women's junior league to coordinate a tutorial and saturday program for immigrant students. from 1970 through 2000, livan taught at the chinese education center, washington irving elementary, rafael wheel and elementary, and benjamin franklin middle school and marina middle school. in 2000 evon was awarded the award for excellence in math and science and was at george washington high school and now retiring from her post as the principal of yuqual school in the heart of my district. last and certainly not least,

judy polly, in the 42 years she has been with the district she has served in a wide range of roles in our elementary and middle schools. she's been a counselor, a dean of students, program director, and an assistant principal at marina middle and for the past five years judy has served as the principal at francisco middle school. over this past year, in recognition of her tremendous contributions, judy has received many educational awards. school master of the year by the california school masters club, administrator of the year by the association of california school administrators, and mayor's principal of the year presented by the city and county of san francisco. i have to say by the way, i cannot believe that the four of you have 126 years of educating history. on behalf of not just all the parents, all the families, the elected officials, but thank you for generations of thousands and thousands of

students that you have helped to educate to make san francisco the amazing city that we all live in and with the amazingly educated students that you have helped to mentor. congratulations. [applause] and actually, before you leave, we would love each of you if you want to say 30 seconds or a minute of any final advice you would give to the board of supervisors and the public and your students as you retire. >> i'm not sure about advice, but i have to say as a lifelong san francisco resident, it's been such an honor to serve in this way. i'm going to miss the students and the relationships i've built. and i guess maybe one suggestion i could make is that building relationships is what it's about in terms of education. we must build relationships first.

and then we educate. and i would just recommend that that be something we all continue to do. thank you. [applause] >> ivan, rafael or lorraine. or i will just give you your certificates. [applause]

if we can go back to the rest of our meeting. i understand supervisor wiener would like to call up the at&t items before the 4:00 special order. so colleagues, if we could do that without objection. supervisor wiener. supervisor wiener: thank you, plment. -- mr. president. so -- president chiu: exciting day today. supervisor wiener: exactly. one of those days. so with respect to items six, seven and eight, the at&t appeal, you know, this has been i know for a lot of us a difficult issue. there are many, many people who would like to see this technology come into san francisco. but without damaging our public rights of way.

and the ceqa issue, there's definitely a lot of arguments on both sides. and it is frankly a close call. i have very serious concerns about the impact of these boxes. i want to see the technology come into san francisco and want comcast to have competition. at&t has requested a continuance to present an altered and scaled back project. and i would like to give them the opportunity to do that. and so -- and it's my hope that they will think outside of the box literally and figuratively. and come back with something that we can live with. so i am -- i'm going -- i do

move to continue item six, seven and eight for five weeks to june 28. president chiu: colleagues, advisor wiener has made a moked to continue seconded by supervisor campos k we take that without objection or a roll call vote? ok. if we can continue this item to five weeks, without objection, that should be the case. why don't we now move to our 4:00 special order. items 19 through 22. >> item 19 is a public hearing of persons interested in the objection to the decision of the planning department dated january 20, 2011, that a project roketted at 1787 union street is exempt from environmental review under categorical exemption class one, item 20 is a motion affirming the planning department's determination that the union street project is exempt from environmental review. item 21, motion reverserring

the planning department's determination that the union street project is exempt. and item 22 is a motion directing the preparation of findings. president chiu: colleagues, we have in front of us the appeal of the environmental review exemption for the proposed project at 1787 union street. for this hearing, we'll hear and consider the adequacy, accuracy, sufficiency and completeness of the planning department's determination that this project is cat gorkly exempt from environmental review. we'll first hear from the appellants who will have 10 minutes to describe the grounds for the appeal. and then take public comment from folks, individuals that wish to speak on behalf of the appellants. each speaker shall have two minutes. we'll then hear from the planning department. we'll have up to 10 minutes to describe the grounds of their determination. that this project is exempt from environmental review. following planning, we'll hear from the real party in interest who will have up to 10 minutes to present. and we'll hear from persons speaking on behalf of the real party in interest, each speaker shall have up to two minutes to present. finally, the appellants will have three minutes for a

rebuttal. colleagues, any objections to proceeding in this way? supervisor farrell, as the district supervisor in which the project is located, do you have any opening remarks? ok. why don't we then proceed and hear from the appellant. you have up to 10 minutes. >> thank you very much. my name is gloria smith. i'm an attorney for appellants. and appellant megan would like to speak for about three minutes on the impacts of this project and then i will get back here and talk to you about ceqa. >> my name is megan shael and i live 07 feetaway, directly across the street from the brickyard at 1792 union street. i've lived there for 22 years, maybe going on 23 now. and during that time, there's always been a bar across the street at the same location that the brickyard is in now. we've -- at least i've never had a problem with noise there

previously. but unfortunately, the way that the project is proposed to be constituted right now for the brickyard -- ok. can you hear me better? sorry about that. do i need to repeat? or am i ok? so anyway, the way the project is proposed right now at the brickyard is they have taken off the front of the building which was the front wall of the building. it was a glass wall. and are creating an elevated deck which is about i think 5 1/2 to six feet above ground level. and you'll see in pictures, i think, that seminar community will be presenting that this is configured in an auditorium-like fashion. again, raised, so it has corresponding noise effects of an auditorium, projects the noise upward and outward. i know the entertainment commission came out and did a sound reading. and i think that is a report that planning is relying on to say that there isn't a sound

problem or a noise issue. which is really the reason that we're here. unfortunately, that entertainment commission report does not -- was not taken to -- or measure the true characteristics of the project. it was taken with the door completely closed. but the entrance doors at the bottom as well as the front wall of the doors that now constitute the front of the building and the deck was unoccupied. the reading was also taken on street level. excuse me. so the point here is that that's not reflective of the project as is. and quite frankly, prior to the brickyard being told by the permit officer of northern station to keep the door shut because of the noise, that was emanating from that, we had severe problems. and it got so bad at one point that i actually went out and bought a sound meter.