you're going to do it good now the city's going to shine, and how you're going to make your rules dreams come true you do it today make it happen your way make your task dreams come true for city me and you ♪ chairperson kim: thank you. for members of the public, there is a photo exhibit -- mr. paulson, what is the name of the hotel? it just is kicked my memory. >> ccr. chairperson kim: the civic center hotel. there is a great photo of mr. paulson and residence. >> a whole selection of them. they did some good art work

there. a good project. chairperson kim: it is beautiful. i encourage citizens to go check out the photos. it is on mcalester between jones -- thank you. >> ♪ come see about our work thank you ♪ chairperson kim: public comment is now closed. we can do that without objection. we will move item four through 9 to the full board as a committee report. madam clerk, can you please call item 10? >> itunes four through 9 are not scheduled -- items four 29 are not scheduled to be heard this week. chairperson kim: we will move

them forward without objection. >> item 10, ordinance amending the elections code to establish a process that permits voters to receive the voter information pamphlet and associated materials by electronic means instead of paper mill. -- mail. chairperson kim: i believe we have a representative from supervisor mirkarimi's office here. >> my name is ted walter. chairperson kim: thank you for being here today. >> you are welcome. the legislation that is before you would require the department of elections to establish procedures whereby voters would be able to opt out of receiving their voter information pamphlets through the mail, and instead could receive them through e-mail or access them on the department of elections

website. the benefits of this are severalfold. that our environmental. they also would save the city potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars at each election. we have a couple of amendments we would like to make. i think they have been circulated. chairperson kim: yes. we have them in front of us. could you read them into the record? >> the first one is the findings. it is lengthy. i can talk about why we added them. chairperson kim: briefly. >> the other thing we are adding -- the department of elections up the procedures shall provide visible notice to voters about these confidentiality provisions and circumstances win voter information might be disclosed. the findings were related to that amendment. supervisor elsbernd: this is an

opt out? sometimes we like to do opt ins, but this is an opt out. >> this is an opt out to receiving the pamphlet by mail. they would be opting in at the same time to receive by e-mail. supervisor elsbernd: but if you do not take action, you will continue to receive it. you have to affirmatively do something to no longer receive it in the mail. >> correct. chairperson kim: any other questions? can we adopt these amendments without opposition? >> thank you. we have the elections commission and the department of the environment here to speak about this. chairperson kim: ok. why don't we have them come up and speak. >> this is gerard gleason with the elections commission and david osmond with the department of the environment. chairperson kim: why don't we

take mr. gleason first, if you just speak briefly. >> thank you for allowing me to be here today. just for background, i worked as the associate director of conservatory. we work on the environmental impact of pulp and paper on the street. in 1999 through 2002 i worked to produce the ballots and reduce the boater information pamphlet. i have been the core supervisor of the elections committee. mr. osmond is a former colleague of mine at conservatory. it is like old home week for me. i will allow him to explain the environmental impact and savings on this. frankly, there is going to be tremendous potential for taxpayer savings on this. there is a lot of redundancy in the ballots with people getting

vote by mail and then the sample ballot. i want to address a very narrow focus. i appreciate that the supervisor's staff has discussed about an issue the election commission has been concerned about. this is the fact that people would have to get their e-mails to have this work. there is an issue in that in the california elections code -- it is very broad. anybody has access to this, even though they say it is restricted. anybody who wants to contact somebody for political purposes has access to the voter data base in san francisco, which is available for 75 cents. it is a major reason why people do not provide phone number and e-mail contact information on a voter registration card. the fact that it is optional speaks to the fact that this

would happen if it was mandatory. there have been an explosion of vote by mail ballots. we have situations where people send in their ballot. they forget to sign and it comes in days before the election. they do not have an e-mail or phone contact in the department. so those ballots are not counted. we have a serious issue of people's votes not being counted. we had an op-ed in the chronicle about this issue. we did to the elections commission go through the channels we were supposed to go, through the legislation committee. we never heard back from either of them. we never heard back from the mayor's office. my personal characterization of that is we were stonewalled. i appreciate that supervisor mirkarimi's office has put this issue on the notification that there would be disclosure that

goes beyond what the assembly bill that allows this does. on the voter registration form, it says this information cannot be used for commercial purposes. once this material is out there, there is no control over it. there are data mining operations which go out and take the 75 cent list and sell it for $14,000. you guys can figure out the rate of return on that. anyway, i will leave these documents here for you to review. what i ultimately hope is that somebody in the city goes and champions this in the state, the we have an additional opt out, that people can give their e- mail and phone number on their voter registration form but ask that it be used by the department of elections for administrative use only come up

for contacting them for voter registration or their ballot. i think it is a simple proposition, the same one pot reborn has to live up to. i know it impacts people who have campaigns, but the issue comes back to votes are not being counted. chairperson kim: thank you. mr. osmond, if you could be brief, i only have -- >> no controversy. i will talk for 30 seconds. deputy director from department of the environment. from an environmental perspective, this is a no- brainer. 240 tons of paper can be used to produce a single voter guide. even if we use 100% recycled newsprint, that is 300 million gallons of waste water and 75 tons of solid waste. obviously, if you eliminate even a percentage of that, not only is this a financial savings but an environmental benefit. it is an opt out, not an opt in.

you have to be pro-active in order to not receive this. the last thing i want to mention is the 350 tons of co2 in the production of one voter guide is the same as the annual emissions from 280 residences in san francisco or 2,500 barrels of oil. there is an environmental benefit from our perspective. we strongly support this. chairperson kim: thank you. at this time, we will open up for public comment. two minutes, please. >> thank you for finally having this hearing. i would just show my evidence. this is the last election. i don't vote three times, but myself, my wife, and my mother. i usually know what is going on in the city and do not even read these. it just makes common sense that if we can ban telephone books

from coming i think we can do this. i would be happy to work to help with fixing the legislation so that the e-mails do not go out to unintended -- so you can opt out of having your e-mails in commercial places. i urge support of this. thank you. chairperson kim: public comment is now closed. supervisor elsbernd: do you have anything you want to say? i move this forward with recommendation. chairperson kim: i believe we can do that without opposition. my apologies for not calling you forward. we move this forward without opposition. thank you, everyone, for being here. if we can go back to item one, i was just waiting to hear from folks interested in real estate

development. i would like to take a motion to move forward for september 9, as suggested earlier, without opposition. >> would you like this item to be sent to the board with the committee report? chairperson kim: yes. we will move forward maruura blitzer for seat 9. is there anything else on the agenda? >> no, madam chair. chairperson kim: meeting adjourned.

hello, and welcome to the department of elections ranked-choice voting instructional video. this video is part of the department of elections' ranked-choice voting outreach campaign and is designed to educate san francisco voters about ranked-choice voting. today we will learn what ranked-choice voting is, and who is elected using this new voting method. we will also talk about what the ranked-choice ballot looks like and how to mark it correctly. finally, we'll see how the ranked-choice voting process works and show you an example of an election using ranked-choice voting. so, what is ranked-choice voting? in march of 2002, san francisco voters adopted a charter amendment to implement ranked-choice voting, also known as the instant run-off voting.

san francisco voters will use ranked-choice voting to elect most local officials by selecting a first-choice candidate in the first column on the ballot, and different second- and third-choice candidates in the second and third columns respectively. this makes it possible to elect local officials with a majority of votes, more than 50%, without the need for a separate run-off election. in san francisco, ranked-choice voting applies to the election of members of the board of supervisors, the mayor, sheriff, district attorney, city attorney, treasurer, assessor-recorder, and public defender. ranked-choice voting does not apply to elections for local school board and community college board members, nor the election of state or federal officials. ranked-choice voting does not affect the adoption of ballot measures.

when voters receive their ballot, either at a polling place or as an absentee ballot in the mail, it will consist of multiple cards. voters will receive cards that contain contests for federal and state offices, as well as for state propositions and local ballot measures. for ranked-choice voting contests, voters will receive a separate ranked-choice ballot card. the design of the ranked-choice ballot card and the instructions to rank three choices are new. the ranked-choice ballot is designed in a side-by-side column format that lists the names of all candidates in each of the three columns. when marking the ranked-choice ballot, voters select their first-choice candidate in the first column by completing the arrow pointing to their choice. for their second-choice, voters select a different candidate in the second column by completing the arrow pointing to their choice.

for their third-choice, voters select a different candidate in the third column by completing the arrow pointing to their choice. voters wishing to vote for a qualified write-in candidate for any of their three choices can write in a candidate's name on the line provided and they must complete the arrow pointing to their choice. keep in mind a voter should select a different candidate for each of the three columns of the ranked-choice ballot card. if a voter selects the same candidate in more than one column, his or her vote for that candidate will count only once. also, a voter's second choice will be counted only if his or her first-choice candidate has been eliminated and a voter's third choice will be counted only if both his or her first- and second-choice candidates have been eliminated. we have talked about how to mark the ranked-choice ballot. now let's look at how ranked-choice voting works.

initially every first-choice vote is counted. any candidate who receives a majority, more than 50% of the first-choice votes, is determined to be the winner. if no candidate receives more than 50% of the first-choice votes, a process of eliminating candidates and transferring votes begins. first, the candidate who received the fewest number of first-choice votes is eliminated from the race. second, voters who selected the eliminated candidate as their first choice will have their vote transferred to their second choice. third, all the votes are recounted. fourth, if any candidate receives more than 50% of the votes, he or she is declared the winner. if no candidate receives more than 50% of the votes, the process of eliminating candidates and transferring votes is repeated until one candidate has a winning majority.

in this example, we have three candidates: candidate a, candidate b and candidate c. in this example, we have three candidates: candidate a, candidate b., and candidate c. after all the first-choice votes are counted, none of the three candidates has received more than 50%, or a majority of the first-choice votes cast. candidate a has received 25% of the votes, candidate b has received 40% of the votes, and candidate c has received 35% of the votes. . because no candidate received a majority, the candidate who received the fewest number of first-choice votes, candidate a, is eliminated from the race. voters who picked candidate a as their first-choice candidate will have their vote transferred to their second-choice candidate. of the voters who picked candidate a as their first choice candidate, 15% chose candidate b as their second-choice candidate and 10% chose candidate c as their second-choice candidate.

these votes are then applied to candidates b and candidate c and the votes are recounted. we see now that candidate b has 55% of the votes and candidate c has 45% of the vote. candidate b now has more than 50% of the votes and is determined to be the winner. thank you for watching. we hope that you have learned more about ranked-choice voting and who is elected using this method. you have seen the ranked-choice ballot, learned how to correctly mark it, and learned how the ranked-choice voting process works. if you have any further questions about ranked-choice voting, please contact us at: department of elections, city hall, room 48, 1 dr. carlton b. goodlett place, san francisco, california 94102. call us at: 415-554-4375.

visit our web site at: wwww >> what i think about the arts in san francisco, i think of an ecosystem that has many different constituents and components. you have many large organizations, mid-sized groups, and smaller organizations looking to prevent their ideas to the public. part of the ecosystem includes a parade of committing. individuals have to partner with the organizations. today, we are speaking with one of the important components of that ecosystem which is the role of the art incubator. we are fitting with [inaudible]

joining me to talk about this is jessica robinson love, the executive director. welcome to culture wire. >> thank you for having me. >> can you tell me about your organization? >> we serve as an incubator for artists who are experimenting, departing from, and developing their performance work. we support this through an artist in residence program, through festivals, and also through a variety of commission programs and shorter showings. >> what prompted us to come and visit with you is that in the month of november, you have brought to life as you have nurtured for a couple of years. >> performing diaspora came to

me for an idea several years ago when i was looking at a the ecosystem and the cultural community of the bay area. artists who are rooted in traditional performance of forms have a certain amount of opportunity to show their work. often, when they want to transform that work, there's not a support system. contemporary presenters are more and more open to additional work but without a lot of context. what i want to do is to create an opportunity for artists, give them a chance to develop new work not just to the festival but through a residency program and decommissioning process so we can fully support the work and it's development.

>> what i want is for the dancers to feel like dancers, not like folklorico dancers. the choreographer, i want to be able to do a much more personal work that speaks about the reality that we live then. not the reality of our parents. even more importantly, not every dance is about happy people and happy places. we need to use the vocabulary i have always known within this context. i've tried to do that again and again. never with the support of an organization behind me. that is the big difference. >> how would you describe the performance that you demonstrated. >> we have an after-school

program. there, we service children from the third grade to the 12th grade. then we have the company that has been dancing from 3 to however many years. what we have been doing is having some institute people tend to we wanted a family feel to it. it is about family and the values of family. >> what will you take from the experience? >> this is a wonderful thing to be able to perform the same program for four years in a row. this is a way to grow the product that i have seldom experienced.

i feel like it is a broadway musical. i am taking this on the road. >> thank you so much for bringing your company to san francisco. >> i got a grant in 2008 and there is a disconnect between african-americans and africans that live on the continent. >> participating in this festival, does this serve as a kind of incentives and processed experience? >> this is the first opportunity

that i have had to express my true feelings about my trip. in african culture, you don't go and talk about your family. even though we had a rough time understanding each other, we understood each other. a understood that i was american. i never had a relationship to my citizenship until that. >> it sounds like these are pretty profound issues and issues. what was the creative process like to bring those issues to the fore? >> when they want us to speak, it might be inconvenient for us. it has been very emotional for me. dealing with the work in

progress, listening to what people had to say about it. >> many people have given you this opportunity to present this to work. has that been useful for you? >> i am so grateful for this experience. like i said, in the bay area, it is very traditional. any opportunity to step in and show that we understand what we have been taught and how we are putting our own voice into this is very pleasing. i get to stand in front of my elders and be me and also be them. improvisation in rhythmic is closely intertwined in the classical music.

>> the musician is the dancer as well. we are dancing and music and the rhythm. we improvise with the musicians. >> your whole body is an instrument. >> our body is the instrument. this house that we produce with our mouth, we produce with our feet and also the instrument produces the same sounds. we can communicate by reciting, dancing, by movement. the body is an instrument. >> how has this helped to move >> we are not only have these residence where we get to go deeply into it all work with other artists, but we get to talk about it. we get to write about it. we have to think about it.

belaruour gurus weesee this and there is feedback. we are revising this. this is relevant to contemporary kind. it has been a real blessing and a wonderful opportunity for me as a solo artist. >> thank you for being in such a great culture. >> thank you. my pleasure. >> it has been extraordinary to have this opportunity to talk with some of the performers who are performing in the diaspora. it really piqued my interest. where can get more information? >> the festival in november has been really well documented and this is available in our website.