president chiu: good afternoon. welcome to the board of supervisors meeting. please call the roll. supervisor avalos: orese -- present. supervisor campos: present. supervisor chu: present. supervisor cohen: present. supervisor farrell: present.

supervisor kim: here. supervisor mar: present. supervisor mirkarimi: present. supervisor weiner: present. >> all members are present. president chiu: please join me in the pledge of allegiance. [pledge of allegiance] >> i have no communications. items one through seven comprise the consent agenda. these items will be acted upon by a single roll call vote, unless a member requests a matter be considered separately. president chiu: if not, roll call vote. supervisor weiner: aye. supervisor avalos: aye. supervisor campos: aye.

president chiu: aye. supervisor chu: aye. supervisor cohen: aye. supervisor elsbernd: aye. supervisor farrell: aye. supervisor kim: aye. supervisor mar: aye. supervisor mirkarimi: aye. president chiu: those ordinances are finally passed. item eight. >> ordinance amending the administrative code, limiting the hours of overtime work to 20% by any -- to 25% of regularly scheduled hours during a fiscal year. supervisor weiner: aye. supervisor avalos: no. supervisor campos: aye. president chiu: aye. supervisor chu: aye. supervisor cohen: aye. supervisor elsbernd: aye. supervisor farrell: aye. supervisor kim: aye. supervisor mar: aye.

supervisor mirkarimi: aye. >> there are 10 ayes, 1 no. items nine through 13 are from the budget and finance committee without recommendation, the ordinance's implementing various changes to the memorandum of understanding between the city and the following organizations -- the firefighters local 798, the city police officers association, the municipal executives association, fire, and the city and police officers association. and one more between the city and the municipal executives association, police. president chiu: roll-call vote. supervisor weiner: aye. supervisor avalos: aye.

supervisor campos: aye. president chiu: aye. supervisor chu: aye. supervisor cohen: aye. supervisor elsbernd: aye. supervisor farrell: aye. supervisor kim: aye. supervisor mar: aye. supervisor mirkarimi: aye. >> there are 11 ayes. item 14 is an ordinance adopting and implementing amendment 5, a memorandum of understanding between the city and the firefighters of local 798, unit 1, extending the mou. president chiu: could we have a motion to excuse supervisor chu? roll-call vote. supervisor weiner: aye. supervisor avalos: aye. supervisor campos: aye. president chiu: aye.

supervisor cohen: aye. supervisor elsbernd: aye. supervisor farrell: aye. supervisor kim: aye. supervisor mar: aye. supervisor mirkarimi: aye. >> there are 10 ayes. item 15, ordinance amending the administrative code to create a recreation and parks give fund, update the mayor's earthquake emergency relief fund to broaden its purpose as a general disaster recovery fund, and edmund -- and amend the mayors' fund for the homeless to change the administering agency. supervisor weiner: aye. supervisor avalos: aye. supervisor campos: aye. president chiu: aye. supervisor cohen: aye. supervisor chu: aye. supervisor elsbernd: aye. supervisor farrell: aye. supervisor kim: aye. supervisor mar: aye. supervisor mirkarimi: aye.

>> there are 11 ayes. president chiu: the ordinance is passed on first reading. >> item 16, approving and authoress in the execution of modification number one of the lease and use agreement with cathay pacific airways for lounge space in the international terminal of the airport. president chiu: without objection. >> item 17 authorizes the release of 1316 mission st., suite 401, for the department of public health. supervisor kim: i would like to make a technical amendment on behalf of the real-estate department to note the landlord's name in the title of the resolution. i have passed out copies of the amendment. president chiu: seconded by supervisor chu. without objection.

if we can take the underlying resolution as amended, same house, same call. without objection. >> item 18, authorizing an increase in the assessor- recorder picked base fee for recording and indexing the first page of every instrument or notice from $4 to $10. president chiu: adopted. >> item 19, approving the amendment of a lease between the city and proxy development for the property on the northeast corner of octavia boulevard and fell street. item 20, approving the amendment of the sublease of a property with san francisco and proxy development, extending the term from three years to five years. president chiu: these are

adopted. >> item 21, the amending the administrative code by adding 3.17 to require separate over time items in the budget for the airport, emergency management, fire, police, public health, public utilities, public works, recreation and park, and the sheriff's office. supervisor campos: i want to thank supervisor farrell, who is the co-author of this piece of legislation. this is common sense and good government legislation that simply says that if the department is to go above the overtime amount that it is budgeted for a fiscal year that it simply need to come back to this board of supervisors and seek approval of that. it mainly means that there will be more transparency in terms of how overtime is spent in the city and county of san

francisco. we recognize overtime is appropriate in some circumstances, but we want to send a clear message that we are trying to live within our means. i believe this is a step in that direction. again, i want to think supervisor -- thanks supervisor -- thanks supervisor farrell. president chiu: same house, col. >> item 2, establishing standards for bird-shaped buildings. supervisor mar: one of the greatest man-made killers of birds is collisions with buildings. it is estimated that 300,000 to 1 million birds die each year from collisions with offices and homes. this will prevent hundreds of thousands of needless bird deaths, and make san francisco a leader in the global effort to decrease the bird fatality

causing our populations to decline. this ordinance has strong support of the american bird conservancy, the golden gate audubon society, and the mayor's office. the legislation would not have come about without the hard work of the city planning department. i would like to think erica l. lovejoy it and embroiders for developing the legislation and shepherding this to this point. -- i would like to think erica lovejoy and others for developing the legislation and separating -- and shepherding it to this point. president chiu: same house, same call? this ordinance is passed on the first reading. if you could call items 23 through 25 around the eastern neighborhoods. >> amending various sections of the planning code around the eastern neighborhoods plan,

amending the administrative code to improve the controller's assessment to improve the city ability to implement the goals and policies, and amending zoning map sheets to correct technical errors. president chiu: can we take these items same house, callbacks passed on the first reading. >> item 26, adopting findings under the california environmental quality act, including a mitigation and reporting program related to the rehabilitation of the san joaquin pipelines project. president chiu: this is adopted. >> item 27, amending the planning code to establish a special use district at lombard and scott street. president chiu: i am asking

supervisor campos to chair this item. i would ask that we continue this to coincide with the ceqa appeals related to the project. i want to thank the various stakeholders who have been meeting to try to resolve issues we have. a motion to continue to october 4. supervisor campos: seconded by supervisor farrell. . we take that without objection. president chiu: we can now go to item 28. >> items 28 through 29? president chiu: you are right. >> they were reviewed by a rules -- by the rules committee at a regular meeting. item 28 authorizes the mayor to cast ballots in the affirmative on behalf of the city as owner of two parcels of real property where the board has

jurisdiction, where the parcels would be subject to assessment in the proposed business improvement district to be named the westport community benefit district. president chiu: this resolution is adopted. >> item 29 approves the mayor's nomination for reappointment of audrey joseph to the entertainment commission, for the term ending july 1, 2015. supervisor weiner: we will tag team today, me a supervisor cohen. i want to speak in favor of commissioner audrey joseph. when you think of the entertainment commission and the positive for it has done, you cannot help but think of audrey. she has one -- she has done a tremendous job on the commission and in the community generally, advocating for having a terrific

entertainment and nightlife scene in the city. she also understands the importance of safety and responsible streets. i am enthusiastically supporting the reappointment. i want to thank mayor lee for reappointing commissioner joseph. supervisor kim: i want to add my words of support, and also to thank you for your service, for the many years on behalf of the night life industry. as you know, we have many entertainment venues in district 6. commissioner joseph has addressed a multitude of issues dealing with constituents and the new owners. -- and of the new owners. some of the owners say audrey will call -- and venue owners. some of the owners say audrey will call when there are problems. i really appreciate the passion.

supervisor campos: to add my voice to what has been said, one thing i especially appreciate about commissioner joseph is her efforts to bridge the gap between the entertainment industry, the independent commission, and the police department, making sure there is a collaborative working relationship. i encourage you to continue on those efforts. again, thank you for your services. president chiu: i think we can take this item same house, same call. this motion is approved. >> item 30 was considered by the rules committee at a special meeting on september 19, and was referred to the board without recommendation. it is an ordinance amending the campaign and government conduct code section 1.144 to cap the amount of public matching funds referred to the board.

president chiu: before we continue, i want to acknowledge we have in the audience the special counsel to us on this issue. given that the city attorney is in the mayor's race, i want to welcome him, as well as the head of our ethics department. with that, i would like to acknowledge supervisor farrell. supervisor farrell: this has to do with arizonas public financing laws and the recent supreme court decision. i want to thank commissioner elsbernd for sponsoring this legislation with me. our public finance system in san francisco has many parts, as we all know, many of which are also in districts throughout the country. arizona had a virtually identical provision in their

public finance code, which provided that in elections where publicly-financed candidates had expenditure ceilings that if the combination of these expenditures in independent expenditures spent on behalf of a single candidate exceeded the spending cap, the spending caps of all additional candidates would be raised and additional dollars provided. san francisco, they become available on a matching basis. in june, the u.s. supreme court struck down this portion of financing laws and a little bit unconstitutional, in that it violated the first amendment. this brings to our laws in line with the recent supreme court decision. the purpose of introduction is twofold. i believe our laws should not violate supreme court decisions. as of this june, the conflict.

second, earlier this summer wheat settled and expensive lawsuits regarding certain provisions of public financing programs in prior years, which cost san francisco taxpayers close to half a million dollars. we need to avoid another expensive lawsuit that will cost our taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars and fund the san francisco bar. this is about bringing our laws into compliance with the supreme court and saving tax dollars. given that this is amending a proposition, it will require a supermajority vote. the ethics commission voted in favor of this legislation. i strongly urge us to do the same. supervisor kim: i do want to thank our co-sponsors for bringing this legislation to us. their vigilance in looking out for potential litigation on behalf of our city. i would like to make a motion

for a closed session, which would continue this to the following week. i know we are pushing the timeline in terms of the passage of this legislation impacting the mayoral race. however, we know years of work went into putting together public finance campaign laws, to protect the integrity of our elections and encourage a diversity of candidates to be able to run for office. that is something many of us support. i think this issue is important enough that it deserves further conversation in closed session with our attorneys as we face potential litigation. the do want to say our case is slightly different, in that we are a partial public financing system, and the amount of chilling to free speech is less than the arizona case. i think it is important for us as a body to consider that. the moral argument behind public financing is something that is

central to many of us. reducing the negative influence of large contribution on candidates and our public policy, freeing candidates from the time pressures of fundraising so they can increase the time they have to discuss public issues with voters, and increasing the number and diversity of political candidates. i think this deserves further discussion. i have a number of questions on what potential options are in front of us so that we can both look at our potential litigation and protect the integrity of our elections. president chiu: supervisor kim has made a motion to continue, separate -- seconded by supervisor campos. supervisor campos: let me begin by thanking supervisors farrell and elsbernd for bringing this forward. anybody who read the decision by

the supreme court knows we need to amend our existing law. the question is not whether to do that, but how to best do that. i think that requires as much deliberation as possible. i do think the importance of public financing is such that we need to be careful about how to proceed. i know we have outside counsel. we have the open city attorney representing us on this matter. i know i certainly have a number of questions about how our law differs from the arizona law. i know there are many similarities. supervisor farrell pointed to a number of them. but there are differences, and having a detailed discussion in terms of options going forward is something we need to do. i think taking additional time to go into closed session and

having that discussion is something that can be useful, is respected of how you feel from a public policy -- irrespective of how you feel from a public policy perspective about public financing. i think we do need a thorough discussion with our counsel on this issue. i look forward to having that opportunity. supervisor farrell: just 2 below points to my colleagues. i will be happy to support the motion to go into closed section -- session next week. this is not public policy. this is about a supreme court decision. it is not a public policy debate about our system. i caution my colleagues that timing is of the essence. people are thinking about the implications on elections going forward this year. i am skeptical whether this would apply to this year's mayor's race, given the way

fund-raising has gone so far. let us go into closed session, but let us not delay and make this a political effort. i do not want to cost our city hundreds of thousands of dollars again. i know people are lining up in the wings to file this lawsuit. they are eager, and my a -- and in my opinion confident of their potential outcomes. i will support the motion, but with a caution that we move this expeditiously and it does not become a public policy debate. supervisor elsbernd: are you thank you very much. when you do come next week, if you can between now and then -- i understand yesterday in new york city there was a lawsuit filed on the public financing laws, where they had a similar trigger. just yesterday, the trial court issued a ruling specifically on this point. if you could take a look at that and maybe help brief us next week? thank you.

>> i would be happy to. president chiu: i will just add that from my perspective i certainly, while i absolutely disagree with the supreme court ruling, think the ruling was clear. that being said, i also would support this motion for a week for us to have a conversation with our city attorney in closed session, to understand any issues we are missing. with that, we need a roll-call vote on this motion to continue. yes? no. without objection, this will be continued for one week, with emotion that we go into closed session -- with a motion that we go into closed session to consider this with our outside counsel. >> item 31 was considered by the land use and economic development committee at a regular meeting and was amended with the same title and referred

as a committee report without recommendation. it amends the planning code and zoning map establishing the city center special sign district. supervisor farrell: this legislation establishes the city center special signed a strict -- signed district, to modify existing controls on signs at the corner of lyon and geary, the old sears roebuck store which has seen better days. target anticipates opening a site in 2013, and smaller tenants are coming in. this will bring hundreds of jobs to san francisco. i want to thank the target team, which was put a lot of thought into reinvigorating the property, along with property developers, developing signs that will we direct people to the right parking lots. i think the team for reaching out to surrounding community

groups in my district and district 1. it has unanimous support from the local neighborhood groups. i also want to thank members of our planning department, in particular sophie hayward and adam miller, who represents the building owner. this anticipates creating hundreds of jobs in the city. supervisor weiner: i want to thank the supervisor for his work on this. i think it is commonly known that target in the last year or so has had a pretty strained relationship with the lgbt community, based on some things that happened. there has been a lot of discussion and a fair amount of out reached by a target. -- out reach by target.

i think a lot of us thought the entitlement of this project would be a major fight. i anticipated -- i hope i did not say anything -- supervisor campos: he likes target. supervisor weiner: i had always assumed the conditional use would be appealed to the board. at the planning commission, there was almost no opposition from anybody, including the concerns of the lgbt community. there was a unanimous vote at the planning commission. there was no appeal to this board. the time to do so has since collapsed. this is now an untitled project. supervisor campos and i have met with target to discuss what they can do in the community to have

a positive relationship. at this point, target is happening. this is a question of whether we have them with good signs or bad signs. i think we should have them with good signs. i will be supporting us today, particularly in light of the complete deafening silence and lack of opposition to this project. supervisor campos: i want to join supervisor weiner in noting the issue that has been of great concern to the lgbt community not only in san francisco but to let the country, in terms of some of the actions taken by target, a corporation which has benefited from the patronage of the lgbt community. this boat is not about target today. -- this vote is not about target today. it is