it is hard to play out and i don't want to talk about doomsday scenarios, but i think this changes the fundamental structure of the host of that agreement that was approved back and december. supervisor farrell: thank you. >> supervisor, just to respond to supervisor avalos' point, the reason we are concerned about the language, it is not specifically debated about clubhouses. it says all recreation facilities, including but not limited to clubhouses not least on the effective date of this measure shall not be leased to private entities. supervisor elsbernd: i was curious why this was in there. the effective date of the measure? the day it was introduced, why it was. why is it the day it was introduced, as opposed to every other ballot measure i have ever seen that makes the effective

date after the department of elections declares the election result? is there something happening between the day you introduced and the day you expect the department of elections to pass it? are we trying to catch something? why was it written that way? supervisor avalos: we wanted to make sure that there would be no future leases going forward and we wanted to make sure that our parks could say as accessible and open and not be given exclusive clues to a lessee it would provide recreation space for the lessee and not the general public. supervisor elsbernd: that is a city attorney question, how exactly is that going to work? is there truly the ability for someone to go and potentially sue us with some sort of retroactive action? supervisor kim: turn on her mic,

please. >> we view that this measure, that the effective date language, would work in two ways. it would be effective with respect to the prohibition on new fees. that would start on june 21. but it would not prohibit the department from going ahead and entering into contracts until this measure becomes law. and the reason is twofold. one, they cannot have the ability to interfere with department contracts. they cannot go to the department say you entered into this contract, get out of it, which in essence is what would be happening if this is adopt it. so there is this interim time between the effective date of the ordinance and the date is enacted.

we would advise that the department can enter enter contracts, but once this measure is adopted, the department would be precluded from entering into agreements. supervisor elsbernd: so not necessarily the intent that the state is going to be applied. we could enter into leases over the next few months. just curious, next tuesday when we vote on the budget, did you have to balance this year's budget with any new fees? >> for the first time in 10 years, our budget had no new fees, no layoffs, and no reduction in service. supervisor elsbernd: and it does not sound like we would have and the fees that would be subject to a retroactive application of this measure passes. >> i believe we may have the legislation regarding dog walkers pending.

just one point of clarification on clubhouses. i know there is this perception inaccessible and we're leasing them out to private entities. i thought some facts would help the conversation. of the 48 clubhouses, four are closed for renovation. 40% of clubhouses this summer have some kind of rpd programming and them. that number will shrink in the fall. 43% are programmed with nonprofit partners. 10% are completely vacant. those partners, which range from the boys and girls club of san francisco, help for the elderly, to opportunity impact, provide 25,000 hours of programming for tiny tots, at risk youth, seniors.

overall, the park staff provides 76,000 hours of programming. that is an additional 25,000 hours on top of that. all of our club house partners except for one, which is a bilingual preschool, are nonprofit organizations. our strategy without adequate staff to actually keep all of our club house is open has been to leverage the support of the nonprofit service providers to add programming were we would not otherwise have it, and to keep our clubhouses open where they would otherwise be closed. the strategy is to keep our parks safer by activating this basis. the idea that the public cannot get into them is not accurate. over 3000 -- the lin supervisor avalos: i like to dispute that. i appreciate the amount of

program you have. this summer at the excelsior clubhouse, they have programing. during the school year, there is only clubhouse openings when there is an actual after-school program going on. the rest of the time, it is a program early in the day, and the rest of the time it is closed. in the past, you were able to enter that facility. you had a community meetings at the facility where members could go and do that, at gatherings of people. we have no ability to go in there and have a community meeting like we had in the past. those are the common experiences that we have had in the past. >> just a word about the excelsior clubhouse. currently we have tiny tot programing tuesday, wednesday, and thursday. we have zoomba classes between

5:3630 and a junior giants. there is a variety of programming that is affecting a big demographic. mission wide has its own financial challenges, and we can work with them to do more given the funding they get, which possibly comes from all of you, but they do hold quarterly open houses as required in their lease. significantly, and all of our clubhouse is, if you look at this on the macro level, we have permitted over 3000 community events in this very same clubhouses we are told are being and accessible, ranging from community meetings to birthday parties to a variety of different community events happening in this clubhouse is. the clubhouse restrooms remain open for the public, yet somehow we're discounting the 25,000 hours of programming that is being offered by non-profit

providers to the public. our mission, if you give us the money, we will make you a deal, you give us the money, we will keep everyone of the facilities in our district open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. but in the absence of that, we are forced to make choices and we're forced to figure out how we can leverage leases. we should be celebrating the fact are nonprofits are providing 25,000 hours of programming for youths, at risk teens, and seniors, which now trying to condemn it. supervisor kim: thank you, mr. ginsburg. if there are no further questions, we will move to public comment. we have but little over 40 members who have signed up for public comment. we have quite a bit of time ahead of us. supervisor avalos? supervisor avalos: i will read

the cards. if he could come up in the order that you are called, or close to it, vince, andrea, mary ann, bennis, meredith thomas, karen sidwell, richard, george, suzanne, catherine howard. >> thank you, supervisors. with the birthday cake, and hats, they are great. i was angry when i first came in. i feel a little bit better. you know who i am, i am vince with the labor organization. we represent 3000 men and women. we are a very diverse group, a good cross-section of san francisco. some of the lowest paid workers, but very active and engaged with our people. it is an honor to be here speaking for them. it seems like we have had this

vote twice already over the past year and now we are into a third time. what bothers us most about this, why is this on the ballot? we have our suspicions because we are friends with john avalos and we think we have a lot of the same progressive values. one of those is the value of sunshine, and i used to serve on the sunshine ordinance, and it means a lot to me because of what we are up against. what concerns us is we do not even get a phone call. real leadership in this city, with the city needs right now is to bring people together who have the same common ground. our common ground in part is significant. i remember when ross mirkarimi were trying to do with, dennis, myself, we were all at the table. i think, supervisor avalos, --

i thank you, but more important that, you would not do this to the nurses or the hotel workers were the teachers, and you should not be doing it to the corridors and laborers, the good men and women that we represent with the parks department. it is not right to make it happen this way. i think you need somebody who can bring everybody together, check it all out, and then we all win. supervisor avalos: next speaker, please? >> good afternoon. i am really glad that we had this meeting today because i was interested in hearing the intent of what is written here. i read this a lot of times, and i am not a lawyer, but i am a native english speaker, and i don't think that what is written here matches up with your intent. the process by which we have got this language to was has not been looked at enough.

it squeezes every possible outcome out of what it may be, and about the process by which this is going to get on the ballot. that has a lot of possible applications we're not sure of, the america's cup, i just don't know. i know what you are saying, but the language you are saying does not say the same thing. i would urge you to consider withdrawing it from the ballot and consider putting it through the normal legislative process. thank you very much for allowing this hearing before it's on the ballot. supervisor avalos: thank you. next speaker, please? >> supervises co. ms. bennis. first, i went for a year and half as part of our take back our parks, sought to have

meetings with both ten to one and vince, whom i share a seat on the san francisco labor council. we were not able to have those meetings, and we invited those people to come to our committee meetings and invite us to share to find common ground. i will read the language of the ordinance so everybody in the audience knows exactly what it says, and yet been followed on the green sheet at the bottom. notwithstanding any other provision of law, as of the effective date of this ordinance, all parts or portions thereof and park and recreation facilities shall remain accessible to the public, and those that are currently without entry fee shall remain without entry fee. all recreation facilities including but not limited to clubhouses not least on the effective date of this measure shall not be leased to private entities but shall remain open and accessible to the public. and nothing in this section

shall prevent neighborhood groups or community-based nonprofit organizations from providing programming and recreation facilities, including clubhouses, although it is clear and we support the position that supervisor avalos has taken that we're not interested in contracting out the work. but if you think about it, there is nothing in there about birthday parties or all of the type that is all over the internet the last week. this is a simple ordinance. it's as if a park is free and open now, it will stay free and open. if not, it is grandfathered. if a club house is not under lease, it or remain so, but if so, it will not be leased out. i understand the vagaries some people suggested exist. is that it, is that two minutes? thank you. supervisor avalos: thank you. next speaker, please. >> good afternoon, supervisors.

i am a 32-year employee of the city and county of san francisco and have been with the parks department 22 years. i am now a part services manager for area 1, which is the northern part of the city from embarcadero to the beach. i am very proud and privileged and honored to carry on a family tradition of over 100 years of service to the city and county of san francisco that began with my great-grandfather who is it with parked patrol. i am here on my own time because i felt so strongly about this measure and the impact it would have that i want you to hear about the people that will be affected by at the most, the gardners, the custodians, and all of the people who depend on the services they provide. for most of the 22 years i have been at park and rec, staff have been scraping by to do the best that can with minimal materials and only the basic supplies.

the saying that we have done that so much with so little so long that we can now do everything with nothing must have been created with the parks department. it was not out of the ordinary for employees to pay out of the run pocket just so the work could get done. the last couple years have been extremely difficult for the department as they have been for everyone. we were faced potentially with the possibility of losing our recreation division completely. at the beginning of the cycle for this fiscal year, we all expected to lose gardeners and custodians and we were expecting a grim outlook in terms of the department's fiscal picture. none of that happened. for the first time ever in 22 years and the department, this year we have received a budget that will actually cover all of our basic needs for the parks in my area. we could actually look forward to planning and accomplishing projects. the gardners and custodians and

directors are coming to work every day with enthusiasm and excitement, more than i have seen in many years because they will have with a need to do the job. supervisor avalos: thank you very much. next speaker, please? >> good afternoon, supervisors. meredith thomas, executive director of the neighborhood parks council. we have been an parks to get there, and i completely understand your intention behind this legislation. as a park-serving organization, we agree that our parks should be well funded by the city and supported and open and accessible. her lover, this legislation. however, this legislation, the way that it is written, will not do that because it does not come with any money. it comes with the hope of money that will somehow appear in the general fund that has not appeared when we have asked for it.

the bitter fighting that occurs between the departments that are subsidized by the general fund is ugly and it will make it unclear. we need to rethink the way we have our conversations about the parks and i would love to work with you on this. i think we could have come up with a piece of legislation that the parks council could be fully behind, that our coalition to be fully behind. i think there's a lot of unity around the need for more funding for the parks, and that did not happen. we did not talk about this until it was already done. i think it falls short of expectations. i think it is unclear and will cause unintended problems and ongoing fighting. this is happen before were legislation pops up and i have to spend all summer and fall fighting something rather than spending all summer and fall working with you to do something that is better. i would rather not move this piece forward because i don't think it is complete and work together to complete the picture. i honestly believe this is not going to get you where you think is going to go, and i think we could do better and we could

introduce increased accountability, transparency, and funding for the apartment also meeting the needs of park -- and funding for the department while also meeting the needs of the park users. we cannot support something we think is incomplete and does not come with funding. thank you. [applause] >> good afternoon, supplies. karen could well with the san francisco parks trust. we're also a philanthropy and advocacy organization. you know about some of the organization would have done for parks. we have worked very hard for years to ensure that the parks serve the public. it is undeniable there is a funding crisis right now for the parks. we're concerned this legislation requires the department do certain things without providing funding for them. it is an unfunded mandate and it could have-the unforeseen

consequences. -- and it could have negative but forseen consequences. i find the language very unfair and inflammatory. in cases where recreation and park department cannot staff a clubhouse, there least at low- cost to nonprofits. the actual term for these organizations is public benefit corporations. they are not private. i realize it seems people are being excluded, but this is not exclusionary ior being leased to a country club or business. it that is what the language somehow seems to suggest. they are being leased to public benefit corporations. we would have liked to have had a piece in the drafting of this legislation. we are trying to come up with ideas for solving this crisis in part funded and we want to help and come up with solutions to gather. i ask, as meredith did, can we

put our energy and time and limited resources into working together for parks and open space? it will be more productive for all of us and i look forward to working with you over the next several months to bring more generous on support for our part to keep them open and accessible for all. thank you. supervisor avalos: thank you. if i call your name, please come forward. and please line up on the side after a call your name. >> good afternoon, supervisors. i support this initiative. do you like my hat? sometimes we have to point out how ridiculous and idea is. i am referring to the idea of building a miniature golf course in golden gate park. this idea quickly sack, so we thought. i told people about it.

they cannot believe i heard this. now the idea is back. the department stated this ballot initiative means that rec and park cannot build a miniature golf course and our parks. gosh, what it lost where park system. parks is not happy with this initiative. why is that? what is planned for our parks? i suggest that everyone here today, and i know that everyone here and people watching are here because they love their parks, asked rec and park directly, what are their five-, 10-, and 20-year plans for the parks. get them to write it down and sign it. this initiative is shining a light on issues and problems that have been hit in, and deserves -- that have been hidden, and it deserves to go forward so would find out what features plan for our parks. thank you very much. supervisor avalos: thank you.

next speaker, please? >> hi, my name is george. good afternoon. for years, san francisco has deferred maintenance on all types of infrastructure like roads, water maintenance, and parks. fully 80% of the deferred money went into salaries and benefits. yet something like the recreation and park department keeps sending revenue back to the city general fund. voters do not want all of the money to be paid to the parks to be continued to be deferred. we'll try. we're tired of paying for services that we no longer receive. don't ask us to pay for the park's twice. the best the park service that we have already paid for. stopping the parks a low priority and start giving them a full budget. free the parts from the inefficiency of our city government.

-- free the parks from the inefficiency of our city government. a stop using their rectum as a criteria. -- stop using favoritism as a criteria. stop making the will of your contributor more important than the voice of the people. i have noticed that the parks seem to be more and more favorable to the people donating to them than listening to the people that are giving them tax money. i think it is vital that parks for the public be passed. thank you. supervisor avalos: thank you. ext. speaker, please? >> good afternoon, suzanne. i am with the save stow lake boat house organization. it go to the website to get the real story that the media will not. because phil ginsberg keep

planting puff pieces and the media instead of the truth. the public deserves the truth about the parks. it is very disingenuous for mr. ginsberg talked-about outpour he is. he is going for a lease at the boat house that loses money. he is giving great discounts of revenue to an out-of-state fender with no boating experience. when he talks about children and families that we run at the city because of these things, what is he going to be one recreational boating operation we have four children in this city but the meaning it so and out of state souvenir chain can take over the one and only historic still like but house. --stow lake boathouse. we have been trying to work with parks so long. the director is stubborn and not interested in working with the

public. he works with those where rich and powerful, and if you are poor, you will lose out. i support this initiative, and you should also. the people are listening and watching. thank you. >> andrea o'leary. i will try to speak from the point of view of somebody who is not involved in a lot of the politics of this. i think in my neighborhood, a lot of people are worried, and we have reason to be. i willi can give you two exampl. one is one we renovated art park and had a surplus. we said we want something in return. that is that rec and park will give us the programs they have been promising for 30 years. they will not do that. instead, they are redesigning to

turn our clubhouse in to staff offices. we panicked and had huge community meetings. we want access to our clubhouse. a couple of us were sitting in ginzberg's office, and he comes up with the idea of turning our historic conservatory into a coffeehouse. they are serious about this. we never really thought they would. i have been to at least four of these meetings. its staff had come with lots of great ideas -- there are all these people who will sign an and new -- and mou and provide these exercises for us. but they do not know who they are.

they do not know where they are. they have no suggestions. i think what people are worried about is if we do not stop this, we will not be able to turn the clock back. supervisor avalos: i am going to read a few more calls -- more cards. [names are called] sorry if i do not pronounce your name correctly. >> my name is dawn holliday. i book the artists for strictly bluegrass. i am an owner of the american music hall. this year, i was almost forced to close due to a poorly written ordinance.

the big language is troubling to me because of my experience with something that was vaguely written. they language restricting what can and cannot be done was detrimental to us and the 90 employees i have. after 20 years of business and being shut down for two weeks, it hurt. go back. look at the language. work on it. it was painful. that is what my staff had to go through. it is hard to comply with regulations you have no standard for. that is all i am saying. i love our festival. i love the festival's that are there. i would throw myself in front of a train for it. thank you. supervisor avalos: it