by being on tv we actually take away from people that attend these meetings. i want to recognize captain sanford. we had a great relationship with him when he was at our station. he did a fabulous job there. very excited to have him here at richmond steags. we spend a lot of time at the community meet skhgs we do a lot of work. ashley handles our district work at sunshine and even though we're not on the sexy side of town where a lot of important things are happening we do have needs out here and i appreciate you making sure that you pay attention to the washington, d.c. i want to thank all of you for what you do and hopefully we will get a new class into the academy soon so we can start beefing up the police force because a lot of these guys sitting in front of you aren't going to be here in three years.

>> thanks very much. if you pass on the message that we'd like some state funding i you would greatly appreciate it. while you're here? any further public comment? hearing no further public comment, public comment is now close. >> i just want to say anytime i come to a community meeting and someone doesn't show up to complain about an incident involving the police, i just want to say congratulations. i have gone to meetings where they've been lined up. there have been fewer but if they really feel like it they'll come to a community meeting because they know we're here, so congratulations. >> thank you. i feel compelled after we gave out that award at the beginning of the ceremony. we hear about a sacred heart recipient who tackled someone.

then we heard from a police captain who said it was a little hard to catch people. sorry, captain. i could tell. anyway, thank you very much, everybody. at this point we'll move towards adjournment. again, thank you very much for having us here tonight and i would like to see a bigger crowd next time but thank you, everybody. you should come see us every wednesday nuth. >> do we have a motion for ajoufment? >> a motion to adjourn. >> we have a motion to adjourn? >> thank you.

>> take any outside conversations outside. if you like to speak on an item today, please fill out a blue card. if you do want to speak. last, please address your comments to the commission during public comment in order to allow equal time. the commission may ask questions of staff after public comment is closed. would you like to start? >> sure.

>> we are on item two, the president's report. >commissioner buell: two quick items. i want to wish commissioner erraarata a happy birthday and e have a certificate of appreciation for mr. ben ito. he was a standout volunteer, due to his ability to blend in to the day to day life style. he walked to the lake daily, sometimes twice a day. he noticed a need for improvement. instead of complaining, he just took care of it. ben picked up trash around the lake daily without worry or

concern of the why or who. ben's extraordinary work was brought to our attention by another civic-minded friend, john draco. john share the story of how ben was in the late one day just to reach a loose plastic bag. if ben walked in the same direction, he would take time for small talk. if he was walking in the opposite direction, he would kindly nod. sadly, he passed away this past june. however, his honor will always be shared with the community of stone lake by a single cherry tree that was planted with his family on june 1, 2011. on behalf of all his civic

stewardship, we honor anhim. [applause] i want to present this to mrs. ito. [applause] >> we feel so honored to accept

this for ben ito. wonderful job. thank you. [applause] >> i will say just one thing. he told me a long time ago that one day he would be recognized by the city for something. i kind of thought it was a joke at the time, but it came through. thank you. [applause] >> thank you. >> commissioner lee. commissioner lee: thank you. september 4 and 5 rec and park and the table tennis association are preparing for a two-day ping-pong tournament at richmond recreation center on september 4 and september 5. i understand there will be cash

prizes. one of the top prizes is a $500 price in the adult category, but all ages are welcome. you can find out more information about this on our web site. september 4 and september 5. for those of you who have ping- pong in your hearts, come out and give it a try. commissioner buell: thank you. that concludes my report. >> is there any public comment? seeing none, public comment is close. we are on item 3. >> thank you, commissioners. we have a number of items today. i will try to move as quickly as i can. we completed another successful summer at the recreation and parks department. we had over 60 summer camps that included both before care and

aftercare programming and they ranged from our traditional camps to our new adventure camps, which included surfing, mountain biking, and skateboarding. the summer program is becoming a great success. we have received a lot of positive feedback. our camps are extremely affordable. the scholarship program is thriving. wheat served 16,000 registrants overall. fall registration is going on now. you can sign up onliine, at any of the nine major rec centers, or mclaren lodge. we registered over 4000 people for our program in the first three hours. it was a new record for the department. next week i will be joining

several members of my staff, the juvenile probation department, the san francisco police department, and brothers against guns, the chinatown youth center, and mission neighborhood center in bringing 54 boys and girls to camp made thether. it has traditionally been a family camp and a senior camp. for the first time ever, we are bringing children from our neighborhoods who have never seen camp mather and never experienced the high sierras. the kids will be there next thursday, friday, and saturday. they will be returning sunday. the four-sunday will have hiking, swimming, sports, navigation exercises, and a talent show. this is a great example of the city family coming together. i want to give credit to mayor ed lee, who has also been a

leader in making sure this event happened. we're very veryit. -- we are very excited about it. i want to turn to our regular feature, our monthly gm video of what is happening in our parks. >> cue the monitor.

♪ ♪ >> ♪ some sweet words in my ear ♪ [laughter] >> we got rides, activities, kids, food, fun. ♪ ♪

>> ♪ can't stand it no longer ♪ ♪ ♪

>> ♪ love me so hard i can't stand up ♪ ♪ ♪ >> ♪ some sweet words in my ear ♪ ♪ ♪ >> ♪ me sogive me some give me some ♪

♪ ♪ >> ♪ oh, lord don't keep me waiting ♪ >> believe it or not, that was just august. [laughter] thank you to jaime hopper.

that was me in a dunk tank. the first few shots of that video was outsideland. it was headlined by phish, arctic fire, and muse. it was a complete sellout. the festival has received nothing but rave reviews from the media, with everyone from the huffington's post to " rolling stone." this was the first appearance by a sitting mayor, showing how much outsidelands has become such a part of the city of fabric. it has become a celebration san francisco's san food culture. more than 3000 local vineyards were featured in the winelands

tent. almost 14,000 people were from the four zip codes that bordered the park, showing the appeal is not only for out-of-towners, but for our part neighbors. the economic impact on the city has grown. this year the event created an estimated 4500 jobs with 75% of all attendees from outside of the city, hotels and other businesses saw an uptick from the event. recreation and parks department staff, and the mayor's department, and many other agencies worked extremely close together. this work began immediately after last year's event and continued through the day yesterday as crews finish clearing the field. with all but the last few pieces of equipment removed from the park, the area is once again open for park users.

as in years past, there was a community out line for presidepeople to call in commen. we did see a decrease in some complaints. notably, responding to community complaints, sound technicians made real changes to the sound system. the results are best seen in the reduction of complaints on sunday, where there were only 47 calls, compared to 143 the day before. this, despite the fact that sunday was the night before the first day of school -- a schedule that was unfortunate, but created after outsidelands had been scheduled. lastly, commissioners, before i bring up alan scott from another planet to offer his perspective on the event, i want to share with you what perhaps is the best news of the festival, certainly if you are the recreation and parks department.

this year marks the first occasion that it will pay the department outside rent and the department will be receiving over $1 million this year. it's over $400,000 more than the minimal rent. additionally, another planet dedicated ticket sales from sunday night's show at the independent, a venue they own, to the department, and they are donating an additional $20,000 of funding from that event. i want to thank my staff, who worked tirelessly with another planet to ensure that the event was successful and that are park is well supported. i also want to think another planet. they have been a terrific partner. they have gone above and beyond the call of duty. one example is their investment in maps and platforms all around

the field this year to help preserve the fields for soccer season and they have made a tremendous difference in the condition of the venue. without further ado, i would like to welcome up alan scott, who wants to make a few brief remarks. sharon, are you coming up? ok. >> thank you commissioners. i think phil has said it all. we are very thrilled at another planet. it's very difficult and it takes time to build an event of this caliber that's not only a local festival but internationally renowned. this year, in our fourth year,

we feel it has been a watershed year. we have hit our stride, especially after the last couple of years with the economic downturn and attendance and that was less than ideal for us. it is important to note that when we started this festival in 2008, there were five north american festivals that began that year. one in denver, michigan, new york city, british columbia, and i'm forgetting the other one. we are the only one that still stands at this time. it's very difficult to put a festival on of this caliber. working with rec and park and the city has been -- ajoy might be too strong of word, but it has been a great partnership. san francisco's outside lands is

not just a music festival, but it is a celebration of san francisco and northern california. the music has always been a rich part of san francisco's history. 25% of the bands that performs at the festival are local bands. the other 75% of artists are internationally renowned dance. this year we had phish, muse, john fogarty from credence clearwater revival, and badu. we also celebrate san francisco's food culture. we are probably one of the only festivals in the country and maybe the world that all of the food vendors except for one our

local restaurants. it is really showing the diversity and the excellence of our food culture here in san francisco. in addition, we have over 30 wineries from northern california. wine is an integral part of the fabric of northern california and we celebrate that with our linwine lands. we added mclaren pass this year, where we had food trucks. we added a whole area with chocolate confections. i'm not sure how to say that. we just want to say thank you very much to the city and to rec and park. we are thrilled and we are honored to be able to give $1.4

million to san francisco's rec and park this year. thank you. commissioner buell: thank you. commissioner lee? commissioner lee: i have a question. i have heard from a number of members from the advisory board and i have made our general manager aware of some of the e- mails and phone calls i've received. with regards to the hot line that you have set up, a number of members complained about calling the hot line and not getting through, or talking with a representative of the hot line and not getting any kind of response in terms of the noise level. i'm just wondering. when you receive calls to the hot line, how are those calls recorded? how do you respond to them? >> when people call into the hot

line -- we are bilingual, as well, so that we can answer questions from non english speakers. we take everyone's phone number down. we take their name and their address. we record their complaint or their comment. some people are asking for directions or asking questions. if it is the parking issue, we direct that to a parking patrol officer. we have officers on two sides of the park. in terms of sound, we log where they are. we send a ranger into the neighborhoods, which record the dismal level. after saturday evening, we get

together and locate where these complaints are coming in and see if they are a concentrated area. at that point, we will go out into the neighborhoods and take a listen. then we will make adjustments to the sound, to the speaker's that are on the stages. in advance, it's difficult to tell. different weather conditions given different variable conditions on housand houshow sl travel. we did it on saturday morning and saturday evening. as he noted, the calls were significantly different. >> park patrol was in operation. alan has described our response exactly right. in 2008, we took ambient sound level readings in many sites

around the northern and southern printers of the park to have an ambient reading for comparison of what the normal sound level is in those areas. we were able to compare that, as well. we will be looking at that in the future, as well. it is an art rather than a science in terms of sound in an open-air environment. commissioner lee: my question is really about the response. when people call in, do they get some sort of response? >> of course. we are diligent in advertising this number. as you know, we advertise in "richmond review" and others. we do a resident mailer to 18,000 people in the richmond and sunset district. we also have information on our web site in multiple languages. commissioner lee: that said, i do commend you on the festival.

i'm glad you added friday. last year, we did not have friday. from what i observed, it went well, particularly on sunday. i did notice it was quieter. i lived not far from the festival site. i did note the difference in the sound level. i would urge you next year, as we move forward, perhaps expand the hot line to also include a twitter application. i have heard from a number of people that when they report the sound, you know, it's usually within a set. they want to be able to capture where the problem occurred. that may be helpful for next

year. >> thank you. >> we will use all of the data and all of the neighborhood concerns and complaints about when the complaint came in and at what stage is it is in for the planning for next year. commissioner buell: thank you. >> my last item, mr. president, if you would indulge me, was a little bit of a recap. it will be brief. we are now two months into fiscal year 2011-2012 and i did want to put a bow on fiscal year 2010-2011 and revisit the seven goals of our department and what we did to meet those goals. are you cued up there? monitor, please. just a reminder of our mission st