can draw down on commercial paper to come up with the funds. because we have used conservative assumptions, if we decide to use commercial paper through the completion of the project, the dollar amount comes even lower. you do not need the capital interest fund, and saving between a deal bond and commercial paper would be about 43 million. because you are required to have a reserve fund on the cop structure. supervisor chu: if we approve this item, we are expecting that our general fund would go up, and the amount we are paying for debt service, in the tune of $12 million. do we know what the city is paying, what percentage of our operation? >> we have the 10-year be have

allowed ourselves 3.25% of our discretionary revenues. as we pay down these revenues, we will look and only one appeared with this track fashion in peru -- including, we are within the 3.25% of discretionary revenues. supervisor chu: even if we approve this item, we would be within our 3.25% of general discretion funds? >> correct. supervisor chu: thank you. are there any members of the public that would like to comment on this item? item 8. >> madame chair, supervisors, my name is tim. 25 years have passed since the loma create your quick and we have seismically updated or demolished all of the buildings near the civic center but two.

the veterans building and the health department building. the federal building at un plaza is currently under reconstruction. the veterans building was damaged. no damages were repaired, but it was also seismically impaired. the next earthquake could cause incredible damage in the building and, particularly, damaged the theater. the engineering reports that are mentioned in your document talk about the building on a three out of 4 scale. in discussions with the engineers, reports, testimonies, the issue of whether the building should have been closed was raised. they recommended, if the city had a plan to be -- rehabilitate the building, it would be safe to leave the

building open until such time it was closed. if there was no plan, then the building should be closed and boarded up. today, we have a plan, one that is well conceived and well developed. although there is concern in the general public about the financing technique you are going to use, the alternative is to board up and close the building. that is with the engineering report basically says. if you have no plan, you should close the building. i would urge you to approve this and move on with this matter. supervisor chu: thank you. are there any members of the public that would like to comment on this item? seeing none, public comment is closed. colleagues, one final question to the war memorial. with regards to the improvements at 6.3, arts commission, opera,

are these identified funds, do we anticipate being able to raise these funds over time? >> for the war memorial, $4.3 million, inc. all ready for capital projects, which we have accrued over the past five years in anticipation of this major project. we have identified two sources for potential gift funds to augment that. weaverville confident about that additional $2 million. the san francisco opera is undertaking a fund-raising campaign for their $15 million to $20 million. we are meeting regularly with them and they do confident, at this point, about that amount. the parks commission -- arts commission has not fully developed its plan yet. supervisor chu: all of these

items, in terms of improvements -- the parts commisarts commisst identified yet, these are things that could happen after? >> yes, they would typically happen after the construction project. supervisor chu: ok. do we have a motion on the item? supervisor kim. supervisor kim: i would like to move it forward but just make a couple of comments. it was difficult for me to support just wanted to raise some of the concerns that i had but also to appreciate the presentation put together, the work done to bring this forward. clearly, this is a more expensive way of financing our seismic retrofitting. i know this may come up with the few remaining city and public buildings. i did have concerns that this did not pass several years ago with voters and they may not see this as a priority.

this is an incredibly expensive way to fund the retrofitting, but i appreciate the work that went into this, as well as staying below the 3.25% debt service. i understand this building has a lot of historic and important uses for the city that may not be recognized by the public, particularly, the use of the theater and the use by our veteran communities. i am excited there will also be a partnership with the sf opera. i think the concerns from the public are valid, but we need to move forward with this project. i wanted to thank everyone for their work on this issue. supervisor chu: thank you. we have a motion to send the item forward with recommendations. colleagues, can we take out with recommendations? thank you. item 9.

>> item 9. ordinance calling and providing for a special election to be held in the city and county of san francisco on tuesday, november 8, 2011, for the purpose of submitting to the voters a proposition to incur the following bonded debt of the city and county. to a record $48 million to finance the repaving, reconstruction of roads, rehabilitation, replacement of sidewalks, installation and renovation of curb routes, renovation of streetscapes to include pedestrian and bicycle improvements, and construction rehabilitation of traffic infrastructure, and related costs necessary that are convenient for purposes. supervisor chu: thank you. we have the department of public works. this is an item that we have seen before us. i do not believe the underlying details of this proposal has changed, but i have asked the department of public works director to provide a brief recap of what we have seen.

>> ed riskin, director of the department of public works. this item was before this committee and you recommended to the full board, which approved in june, a resolution for this bond. this was the board cost of finding that this was imminent capital need, and it was one that was in the public interest, one that could not be met through existing revenue sources. what is before you today is the board met at a place that measure on the ballot. it proposes to report it million dollars in general-obligation bonds that would do a number of things, but predominantly, the lion's share of funding, $148 million, would go to paving our streets. that level of funding would allow for 1400 blocks to be paid in our city.

the proposed bond also has $50 million in it for pedestrian and bicycle safety and other improvements to our public spaces. these are improvements were there are few other funding sources for, so this amount of funds would allow us to implement many of the things that were discussed in recent public pedestrian safety hearings, and allow us to further implement the bike plan, further streetscape improvements. the bond also has $22 million to support continued implementation of the ada transition plan. that would allow us to do 1900 curb ramps,. $20 million of the bond would go to traffic signal improvements, which is the top on funded party of the transit effectiveness

program. about $7 million for seismic and other repairs, and other safety repairs, to city structures such as tunnels, bridges, overpasses, and stairways. what this bond will also do is create jobs, or than 1000 san and siskins -- more than 1007 second1000 san franciscans woule put to work. because of the local fire ordinance, this would be a significant job generator. what this bond will not do, because it came as a recommendation from the 10-year capital plan, is that it will not result in a property tax rate increase. the capital planning committee has established in the plan policy of issuing new debt only as old debt retired so that we have as a baseline of 2006

property-tax rates. this bond and all others recommended by the capital plan are sized as such they will incur new debt for the city only as old debt is retired. there will be no increase in property tax rates. this is before you today or recommendation to the full board to go on the ballot this november. i would be happy to answer any questions. supervisor chu: thank you. mr. rose, any comments to add to the presentation? >> madam chair, members of the committee, as you stated, the numbers are the same, the debt service is the same. we concur by the statement by mr. riskin to say that there will be no pay increases in property taxes offset by the existing debt going down. we recommend approval of this based on the prior policy decisions of the board.

supervisor chu: thank you. colleagues, if we do not have any further questions, why don't we open this up for public comment. are there any members of the public that would like to comment on this item? seeing none, public comment is closed. colleagues, if there are no questions or comments, can we make a motion to send this item forward with recommendation? ok, we have a motion to send this item forward with recommendation. without objection. colleagues, bear with me for a second to rescind a few votes so that our colleagues who joined us later could participate. if we could rescind items 1 through 5 and item 7. okay, without objection. that will be the case. on items 1 through 3, item 5,

7, a motion to move forward with recommendations. without objection. in addition, item 4. this is an item that we made an amended to with regards to the theater agreement. i think the consensus was that we were reluctantly agreeing to or renew the retroactive contract, but wanted to urge the mta to come forward with a new methodology about the new theater program, bringing forward the fastpass program at the same time. can we send that out with recommendations? without objection, thank you. do we have any other items before us? supervisor wiener: i just wanted wiener colonthe chair. i was at a meeting with the metropolitan committee. supervisor chiu: this regularly

scheduled meeting was also changed to 10:00, so we have to double our schedules. supervisor chu: thank you. given that there are no other items before us, we are adjourned.

supervisor campos: i understand. i will. i will. supervisor chiu: good afternoon. welcome to the san francisco board of supervisors meeting of

tuesday, july 12, 2011. please call the roll. >> avalos present. campos present. chiu present. chu present. cohen present. elsbernd present. farrell present. kim present. mar present. mirkarimi present. wiener present. mr. president, all members are present. supervisor chiu: thank you. ladies and gentlemen, could you please join me in the pledge of allegiance?

colleagues, you should have copies of our may 27 and may 24, 2011, board meeting minutes. without objection, this meeting minutes will be approved. madam clerk, are there any communications? >> i have no communications, mr. president. supervisor chiu: if you could read our 2:00 special order. >> the first item is the opportunity for the mayor to engage in formal policy discussions with members of the board by answering eligible questions submitted from supervisors representing the even district this month. the mayor may address the board initially for of to 5 minutes. the mayor may recognize members of the board from districts two, four, six, and 10, who will present their own questions, and discuss and shall not exceed five minutes per supervisor. supervisor chiu: thank you, and i want to welcome our mayor. thank you, and welcome back to our fourth session of our formal policy discussions. i would like to give you the opportunity to make any opening remarks.

mayor lee: thank you. members of the board of supervisors, thank you very much. it is my pleasure to be here again to answer the questions you have presented and to know again my thanks for working with me on the budget and balancing that. i look forward to working with each and every one of you on a number of different aspects as we meet both individually as well as as a group. there's so much to accomplish, and i appreciate the invitations to be in your district every time we are able to signal to the public and to your constituents the things we are getting done to make the city safe and solvent and successful. supervisor chiu: 90. we have five questions that will be provided by our colleagues that represent our even-numbered districts. the first question will be provided by supervisor farrell from district two. supervisor farrell: thank you. beyond what we have accomplished in city hall in 2011, i wanted to understand whether you have any other specific plans you plan to

implement before leaving office? >> thank you. that, for me, is a very important question when it comes to stimulating our economy. as you know, i have worked very hard to do that. i see so many other cities and counties around our bay area as well as in the nation that are very challenge by the economics of the country, the state, and the area. for me, it is very important, and it has been a topic that i have taken very seriously from the very first day of taking the oath of office. as far as plans for continuing our work on development issues, we will continue to focus on sector-based strategies, and i think these will be the most effective ways to attract and maintain high-growth industries in san francisco. this includes our targeted efforts on biotech, clean tech, manufacturing, and our international initiatives. with the passage of the central market payroll tax exclusion, we have focused effort on promoting

opportunities in central market, and we continue to promote a valuable tax incentives like the enterprise zone, workforce programs, green incentives, and other business assistance programs for current and prospective businesses. i want to thank the supervisors as a whole for working with me on everything from the mid- market payroll tax exemption to the stock options exemptions for new businesses, and i look forward further to working with everyone on the advice we are getting from the clean tech advisory council for more ideas to help sustain the growth in our new industries. at the neighborhood level, we will continue to operate on our existing economic development program, such as the neighborhood marketplace initiative, the revolving loan program, the community deficit district support, and the san francisco shines facade improvement program. funding for the sf shines facade

improvement program was slightly increase in the upcoming fiscal year, which will allow us to do an expansion of that program. that means that in addition to about 10 for saw the improvement projects that will assist existing businesses, we will have the resources to undertake between three and five larger scales project to upgrade long vacant properties around the city -- in addition to about 10 facade improvement projects. our neighborhood commercial corridors are the economic engines of this city, and getting people to shop there, creating jobs and economic activity -- that is essential and integral to our strategy. also, the office of small businesses is able to increase its one on one services to small businesses, resulting in more businesses participating in a wage subsidy programs and providing proactive solutions to improve the business plan -- business climate. supervisor farrell, a continual

-- i continually welcome any questions you have. i also want to commit to working with all supervisors on the technology council because it think they represent the new industries, and they are giving us very good advice. we will be forthcoming in presenting this to the rest of the board. i also announced this morning at the into solar conference yet another major solar company opening its north american headquarters in san francisco just today. that is china's sun energy -- china sun energy. they decided to locate here as a result of years of work from our office with the china sf program. we have five or six of the world's top 10 solar manufacturers in san francisco, and i think we are getting even more. the advent of solar as its response to energy challenges of

the world, not just our region, signals that we are one of the best regions to really attract this kind of industry. so we will keep working on those things that make us successful, and i am glad to report that to the board. thank you. supervisor chiu: our second question will be provided by supervisor chu from district four. supervisor chu: 90. the municipal transportation agency board will soon have the task of appointing a new director for the mta. how will you help ensure that the new director will steer our city's transit agency in a direction that leads to service improvements and increase reliability for riders? how will you ensure that the new director will have a broad vision for transportation in our city? mayor lee: thank you, supervisor. that is probably one of the most challenging questions that we receive, and it is certainly one that i have been carefully considering in response to this. as you know, it is the responsibility of the mta board

to select a new director, but i also know our role, and our role is to review with them in the goals of the agency and all of its aspects. first, the new director must implement the new labor agreement with twu local 250a, the operators' union, said the agency can continue to put the public first in everything they do.

of central importance to our riders, one of our new directors made tasks is to improve reliability and on-time performance. muni is only there when you expect it 71% of the time. this needs to increase with a voter mandate 85% on-time performance. mta has already made some important safety improvements, but much more needs to be done to improve the safety system. on-time performance and safety are important operational priorities, but we also have a number of capital projects as well. high-speed rail, the transbay terminal, the electrification of caltrain, the subway, and the van ness and geary bus projects. in addition, we need to improve taxi availability, especially during peak times and for people who live in our neighborhoods

and for disabled populations. we must do everything in our power to address pedestrian injuries and fatalities. making our streets and sidewalks safer and more enjoyable for everyone is a priority. i would also like the mta to continue making bike improvements. we have seen nearly a 60% increase in the number of people riding their bikes over the past a few years, and the new director should continue the positive trend. finally, the mta should encourage adoption of electric vehicles. as you may have already heard, i myself am now writing in a wonderful chevy -- riding in a wonderful chevy volt. i hope the mta will stay focused on increasing the ev infrastructure for this city. that is quite a bit for an mta board and directed to do, and i want to share with you that as i assist in my role to review

with the mta board who they will select, there are a couple of very strong themes that, across -- that come across. we need to have not only a visionary, but we also need to make sure that there is a team approach. there is not just one person that can lead the mta. it has got to be a very dedicated team. i also want to make sure that the person exhibits a high level of collaboration. even the on-time performance is not just muni alone. it has to do with so many other entities that affect the streets. and the ability of a leader in muni has that ability to collaborate with all the other agencies, all the different aspects of people and entities who use the streets. it will be critical to their success of implementing good leadership. we also want to make sure that someone has the ability and willingness to develop strong relationships.

muni could never be seen as an isolated agency. it has to build relationships with everybody. it also must build stronger relationships with its own work force. thank you. supervisor chiu: thank you. our next question will be provided by supervisor kim from district 6. supervisor kim: good afternoon. as you know, there have been a number of shootings recently in district 6. a recent newspaper article noted that this increase -- that there has been an increase in suspected gang violence along these corridors. of the five listed shooting incidents that occurred just within the last month and a half, four of them were youth- related. i think included is a vision for the city's youth and family infrastructure. what policies and investments are would prioritizing that focuses on our city's youth and

families? what is our city doing to ensure they have access to violence prevention programs and economic opportunities that are pathways to economic self-sufficiency in the future? specifically within that, what is the city strategy for youth and access to job opportunities with companies we are trying to partner with such as twitter? mayor lee: thank you, supervisor. as you know, you and i have been working closely on the mid- market. every time there is violence, it is something that i worry about constantly. i am not just troubled by it. i am actually kept up every night wondering where the violence is coming from and how we can stem it. i want to assure you that i would never think that just simply creating a substation is the answer. i agree with you and with so many of our colleagues here and i'm sure with the public that we have got to get to the root of what our youth are doing, what they are motivated with, d