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tv   [untitled]    July 16, 2011 9:30pm-10:00pm PDT

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next speaker, please. >> i worked at an independent cell phones store. i grew up in san francisco. born and raised. i believe that the ordinance, it would not make it harder for us to do business. we have only one location left. we used to have three. we have competition from all sorts of places. we try to keep our business in the city. when people come in, they see signs allover saying that our product may lead to cancer, this kind of stuff, it makes it really hard for us. if there was harm that would be done, this ordinance would be in place all over the united states.
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supervisor avalos: thank you. if there are no other members of the public, we will close public comment. i would like to call the director backup. just a few things the responsibility on the merchant selling cell phones, is that correct? >> correct. and back to the department of the environment is responsible for that most of the coach.
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it's simply -- it simply says that cell phone exposure, as stated by a number of studies and there is metalwork to -- under in the is there any consolation how that might protect themselves? >> one speaker spoke about her manual. it is true, and consumers have
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to be at and from asia collects for me of the good to know our profit. it unknown and -- i will protect myself. using handsfree devices, even when making phone calls, as i fear what more i have actually wanted to find a way is where i could be rescued -- i wanted to protect myself and we provided that information to consumers. we are simply providing information. that is what is important to know and what was that about?
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and at the state level? and similar to this piece of the deflation the notice can be placed at a physical retail the location weathers said. as though thank you for considering them. >> and they-they referred to
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having it all. is that right? >> exactly. in the 2010 legislation the researchers would have been required to find this for each so -- for each phone and it has in great know of redemption and consumers and a was think that
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the move by an retailers -- of the smaller churches this saying that they're more interested in the bells and whistles on the phone. just having a basic negotiator that will harm the buying of that technology will create better awareness in the public. i find it to be an important public health measure.
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but i am sensitive to the small business. >> will the legislation and you will get spoiled for this. we will make it easier with this information. this information will be displayed so, i am actually doing as a favor, as it is much easier to work with my decision i had the last piece -- work.
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>> i found it odd that the department was inserting a scientific method and had not been fully vetted. clearly that is one of the reasons we are here today. what we have now it is significantly watered down from last year. my question to the retailers association, i do not think that there is much of a burden on this at all with a poster that minute -- melanie developed, i was concerned over points regarding accuracy. it is as if there are a disputed and in terms of the
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balances, it is at least worth a shot. supervisor avalos: thank you. we would like to motion to forward this to the full board with recommendation. i have a very technical amendment that will not be substantive. the first makes reference to collecting references from different sections. those statements will be in posters. very minor adjustments to the legislation. taken without objection. ok. moving forward? without objection. thank you note of -- thank you.
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legislation adjourned. impossible. announcer: when you open a book, you can explore new lands... [bird screeches] meet new friends, and discover new adventures. there are amazing possibilities when you open your mind to reading. [roar] you can log onto he library of congress website
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and let the journey begin. >> the public wants to access particular information about your house or neighborhood we point them to gis. gis is a combination of maps and data. not a graphic you see on a screen. you get the traffic for the
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streets the number of crimes for a police district in a period of time. if the idea of combining the different layerce of information and stacking them on top of each other to present to the public. >> other types of gis are web based mapping systems. like google earth, yahoo maps. microsoft. those are examples of on line mapping systems that can be used to find businesses or get driving directions or check on traffic conditions. all digital maps. >> gis is used in the city of san francisco to better support what departments do. >> you imagine all the various elements of a city including parcels and the critical infrastructure where the storm drains are. the city access like the traffic
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lights and fire hydrants. anything you is represent in a geo graphic space with be stored for retrieval and analysis. >> the department of public works they maintain what goes on in the right-of-way, looking to dig up the streets to put in a pipe. with the permit. with mapping you click on the map, click on the street and up will come up the nchgz that will help them make a decision. currently available is sf parcel the assessor's application. you can go to the assessor's website and bring up a map of san francisco you can search by address and get information
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about any place in san francisco. you can search by address and find incidents of crime in san francisco in the last 90 days. we have [inaudible] which allows you to click on a map and get nchldz like your supervisor or who your supervisor is. the nearest public facility. and through the sf applications we support from the mayor's office of neighborhood services. you can drill down in the neighborhood and get where the newest hospital or police or fire station. >> we are positive about gis not only people access it in the office but from home because we use the internet. what we used to do was carry the large maps and it took a long time to find the information.
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>> it saves the city time and money. you are not taking up the time of a particular employee at the assessor's office. you might be doing things more efficient. >> they have it ready to go and say, this is what i want. >> they are finding the same things happening on the phone where people call in and ask, how do i find this information? we say, go to this website and they go and get the information easily. >> a picture tells a thousand stories. some say a map >> good morning, everyone. welcome to the beautiful and quiet powell street, here in downtown san francisco. i am the director of public
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works. i am delighted to see all of you here today. we are here for a special occasion, a special group of folks that i want to introduce before we get going. starting to your far lesft, border supervisor david chiu. sitting next to him, the mayor of our great city, and elite. -- ed lee. [applause] the chief marketing officer for audi america, organizer of this event. [applause] the man whose design we will be enjoying, walter hood. and finally, the director of the business improvement district. [applause]
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here in san francisco, on a beautiful, sunny day, it is time to celebrate the innovative spirit of san francisco. we innovate social policy, housing, the environment, on transportation and technology. we innovate when it comes to the weather. we call this summer, here in san francisco. and when it comes to the public way, it is hard to think about innovation. it was billed years ago and it is hard to change, at least that is what some people think. although much of the public rights of way in san francisco take up 25% of our city, they were built generations ago, in a different time to serve different needs with different sensibilities, largely built for people to pass through, as
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opposed to being in. we are changing that in the city and we are showing that the environment can change for the better. what we have here today is an exemplar of that. i will let the other speakers tell you more specifically what we are talking about today, but i want to thank some of the folks, besides those up on the stage, who have been a part of making this happen. i will start with the shepherd of this project from the planning department, andres power. [applause] without his work, no question, from navigating the city bureaucracy, working with the city planner, public, this would not have happened without his efforts. from my department, his counterpart, nick ellser.
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from the mayor's office of workforce development, the mother of our communities in our town, lisa pegan. and the guy from the mta who gets all the difficult job of figuring out how all this all works, jerry robbins. those are the folks on the city side. there are a lot of other folks to thank, a lot of other work that went into this. but now, it is my pleasure -- this man was progressive before it was cool to be progressive, and he was innovating in the public rights of way before it was cool. as a public works director, he started addressing alleyways in
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chinatown, in the tenderloin, making them more attractive and welcoming, improving the public realm all over the city. he has since moved on to bigger and better things but has carried that affect on with him, forcing collaboration between city departments, the private sector, and this is the epitome of the kind of partnership that edwin lee is bringing to the city. it is my pleasure to introduce to you mayor ed lee. [applause] >> good morning, everybody. welcome to union square. one of my favorite places. you may know this, but two- thirds of our annual visitors make their way down here to union square. that is why 10% of our annual sales tax revenue comes from right here. people love coming here, and why not? why not link the historic cable
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car stop on market street, and make the experience of making up here -- making it up here and the rest of the city and experience. one of the things that i love is we get to collaborate between our planning department, mta, department of public works, working with the private sector. working with some fantastic designers, like walter, and his fantastic design studio. and gaining the confidence of the people who protect this gem of the city, the business improvement district in union square. i want to thank everyone for coming together and blessing, with the contribution from audi of america, coming together to make these couple of blocks even
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better, to modernize it, make it even more welcoming, and to make sure that it is people-friendly in every respect. i want to give a shout out to all of these departments because we are seldom recognized. collaboration is often behind the scenes, but this is out in front for everybody. i want people to get excited about the friendliness of this street, but you are doing to try to change the feeling here, make sure that the experience invites even more people to enjoy union square, powell street, the cable car experience. i also want to recognize the police department. as we transition this landscape, they are going to keep everyone safe, make sure we all have the opportunity to enjoy it. i want to thank everyone for this collaboration. so happy to be part of this.
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and also to make sure that we are investing and renewing every part of our city, to make sure that the tourists enjoy this area, and even people like ourselves -- those of us now live in the city -- will love it even more. this will benefit everybody. i also want to introduce another champion, someone that i have worked with closely this past year, who has led a very positive dialogue. that is our board president, president david chiu. [applause] >> thank you, mr. mayor. i want to welcome everyone to what mark twain calls a classic summer day in san francisco. i am proud to be here as part of this announcement, and i am here on behalf of my colleague jane kim, who is stuck in city hall.
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the two of us have the honor of representing the number one place in san francisco where people come to shop, and hello to everyone on the cable cars, spend time in our incredible city. this is an announcement of how we build 21st century city -- cities, how we can create communities on very sy dance streets. we know it takes a village to create a parklet. i want to thank the city department for being our partners. dpw, oewd, mta -- these acronyms refer to organizations and thousands of hours done to come up with this. three years ago, when i first came into office, a number of merchants from union square came
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to me and said, david, we would like to tax ourselves more. we would like to triple the size of the business improvement district. today's announcement is part of that portion of that amazing vision. i want to thank the in square business improvement district for everything you are doing to make union square one of the best attractions that san francisco has to offer. and of course, in closing, one of the most amazing aspects of this partnership happens to be our partnership with the private sector. we could not do this without the generosity of an amazing car company. i do hope in addition to seeing the audi symbol here, i do hope that we see more of them traveling through the city, so feel free to donate any, if you would like. we look forward to continuing
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this green, clean, community- based transformation that we are undertaking, here in san francisco. have a wonderful day. >> before i introduce our next speaker, i want to make sure to recognize the very important person on the stage as well. wayne is our ambassador here. he is in bright red. as you know, the business improvement district has been spared in making sure that not only are people safe, but that they are treated well when they come here. that is what keeps the economy going. as david said earlier, audi is a pretty special company. scott, i want to let you know, too, i am jazzed about that car
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that i want which appeared in the "ironman" movie. when i saw it i said, i want that kind of car. not only does audi have great style and a great corporate image, but they are a fantastic partner. let me introduce scott of audi of america. [applause] >> it is a great pleasure for me to be here. i am the chief marketing officer for audi of america. it is crucial for companies, not only to celebrate things, but it is also important to do great things. whether you look at the racetracks up le mans, our electronic research lab, here in palo alto, or on the streets of
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san francisco, it is important to do great things. of course, the concept that our design and technology can have far reaching ramifications. we spend billions of dollars in research and development, and i think you see a lot of those elements in this design. when we first started making cars out of aluminum frames, they said we were crazy. it turns out, aluminum is stronger and less weight. i think you will get a good sense of that design here. led lighting. people said it was madness to use them in cars. now you see it in every one of our cars and being imitated everywhere. the beautiful lines of our cars, walter had done a great job recreating that a static. and most importantly, wi-fi.
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-- recreating that aesthetic. the ideals of audi were brought here to this, not. i am very thankful to be here. this is why it means so much to us. now i want to introduce david, the group president of the business improvement district, here in union square. again, sincere thanks. >> thank you, scott. on behalf of the union square business improvement district, property owners, and the businesses, i would like to thank mayor lee, supervisor david chiu, the city departments, the san ci