to keep at the high level. in the middle of the craft area, you see the dips, for example, on june 21. that is, to borrow a phrase, a day that will live in infamy for us. our sander host incident, long delay on the system. some of you have the opportunity to make suggestions as to how we might improve our communications as a result of your experience that day. again, it is very important that we have continuing to make incremental improvements. i would submit to you we are never going to be at 100% because we are coming in off the street into the system. again, there are some things -- this is why i stressed the first of other projects to continue to bring before you to improve the performance of the train control system. first phase of this project -- by the way, this is a project that will be just over $900,000

to be completed. first phase is under way. we are doing it with our own in- house forces fear they have been working in the subway at night. what they are doing is the preparation work to go through. the cable sits on a set of struts. they are replacing all the struts, building in new ones. by the end of the month, we expect the first phase to be completed. next week, on september 28, we will have engineers from the manufacturer of the system here who will over two or three nights go through the system, set up a testing plan. what they will do is walk through the system with something that looks like a divining rod that you look for water. as he will test the integrity of the cable. what they are looking for is any kind of splices and background noise that comes as a result of

the slices in the cable. what they will then do is give us a baseline report. it is our intention because of the nature and importance of this to -- the project approach to replace the cable with the splices. there is no need -- the splices have occurred in certain areas or segments of the line, so we will focus on cleaning up the segments. the work next week will give us a sense of a preparation plant and what we need to do to get ready for the third phase of the project. they will prepare this baseline and proof of concept plan. then, what we will do is prepare with their oversight -- they will play a role in this because of the significance of the signal cable. we expect some time later in the beginning of november to begin the work. we will work within the time

windows that we have at night that works once we have our baseline. we identify where the areas are that we have to replace. we will do that -- each time we replace cable, obviously, given the function of it, we have to test it immediately. we will have test trains in to test every section of cable that we go through. this will take place over approximately four months so that we should be done sometime in late spring, pushing towards mid-2012, four or five months. excuse me. what will we have when we're done? again, an improvement. in service reliability. it also positions us for the radio replacement project, which is coming down the road. there are probably three or four other train control projects in the queue that we will be bringing forward to you to keep

the system in a state of good repair. splices remain the weak spot in the cable, in the sense that we want them to be absolutely as reliable as we can. striving to keep all of the signal system in a state of good repair. we thought it was important to brief you on this project that is ongoing right now. given the importance of this project to the subway and the subway, of course, to our entire transportation operation. director nolan: thank you. excellent presentation. very thorough. members of the board, questions or comments? director heinicke: i have what i am sure is an easily answerable and dumb question, but the wire system -- is it rubber or plastic? what is the coaching? -- coating? >> it is plastic coating.

director heinicke: we have seen antennas and sander hoses and things splice it. should we in case it in something else or something more so that that does not happen or does that just make it too hard to get it to wire or repair and that sort of thing? can we not put some sort of kryptonite around it so it does not happen? [laughter] >> given the market value of kryptonite, from what i understand, it may blow our budget, but your idea is a sound one, and we are looking at how to protect perhaps the shield both as the top of the cable -- we are looking at a couple of things to do to protect it, yes. as well as to get at the source of the -- >> obviously, retrofitting the sounder hose is one thing, but the reality is a lot of these problems we do not know until they happen. retrofits are hard. it seems if we could protect the

cable and prevent the problem, that is two ways to go about it comes to protecting the cable makes sense to me. director nolan: other members of the board? members of the public? thank you. >> item 15, discussion and vote as to whether to conduct closed session. director nolan: is there such a motion? second? all in favor? we will >> bod discussed anticipated legislation but took no action. >> we are adjourned. thank you very much. good work, everybody. >> you even that the board running on time.

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