welcoming the conference back to their school, and it is a fabulous location to have been in. i think next year, they might outgrow that location, quite frankly, just because of the amount of people that game, and i also like to mention that they are not only educating our teacher or our staff or people interested in education and san francisco but those in sacramento and davis, coming very far to attend this. commissioner: commissioner fewer, many come from across the country to that conference, and they have an amazing history of attracting educators on the cutting edge of what is in education, and i just want to hear more about what happened, and i will talk to you. congratulations. president mendoza: superintendents?

superintendent: we are hosting an event that is actually sold out. we have about 670 people registered for it, and we were planning for less than 500, but the organization is, you know, tenfold in a very, very short time period. it should be great. we have people from all over the country here. they are working with ell students, everywhere in the country. it should be very exciting and very worthwhile. president mendoza: thank you, i want to thank warren again for the bluegrass festival, which was fabulous, and he again retreated our middle schoolers with respect and brought out lots of fun people, including m.c. hammer, and i also want to

thank the marshall middle school -- the middle school, and we have a lot of folks come out, and we have a lot of folks participate on walk to school day. it was an exciting. and the other announcements? item t is a report of a closed session action, with by a vote of 6 ayes, the approve the expulsion of six students. they also approve the stipulated expulsion agreements for three high school students. item u is one informational item. may i announced in first? i would get to you when i am done. ok, item u are in for mensural items -- are informational

items. one is the acceptance of gifts for the month of july and august. we had one speaker, but she has left. commissioner norton? commissioner norton: there are a number of special ed para's that have been added, so why that was. president mendoza: great. this meeting is adjourned.

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$40,000 of this will go to 20 existing businesses. it's this is like a dragon house. -- businesses like dragon house.

[applause] others that have been identified. i want to thank ellen and debt been played -- that the little. that is right. al harris and others that have worked in the exocet ashcelsiorn group for so long so that we can make a difference. we want these grievance to make a ground level difference. that is why paying attention to everyone here. it is a struggle of a lot of our commercial corridors right now, so that is why the work we have been doing in mid-market, the experience we are bringing out there with the arts programs and business loans we want to do right here to help out as well. i also want to thank mary and flemings from family connections.

thank you for being here. -- maryann flemings. i also want to thank beth rubenstein from out of sight. thank you. you are in our collaboration. you also know as well as we do before we do anything, we have to work with existing business in people already out here. that is why you have been such an instrumental part, because if we do things right it is because we listen first. they did not want us here to invest $50,000 in one shop that may not make a difference. we spread that out to everybody. everybody feels the city is paying attention. i think that is why we're doing it well here. i also want to think marcihank . the corporations out here guide us as to what we can do better. i know you've been out here with

the community challenge grant doing all of the small business improvement stuff. we're just the beginning. $40,000 in the grants and for the businesses will help go along way. we're making our business mark with llamas cafmama's cafe. they have been successful in mid-market on clemens. and irving streets and all around. when you create these park? klets people come out and use the sidewalk and a more productive way. using our sidewalks in the most creative way, that is how we get more positive attention on to these areas. i am gl's cafe

create a more exciting sidewalk in these areas. these are things we can do in all of our commercial corridors so the businesses cannot only sustain themselves, they can create local jobs to sustain all of our neighborhoods, and that is how we are creating my vision for the rest of the city. we have to work to revitalize every part of our neighborhood. that is how we work together, and i am one to continue doing that and bringing out the expertise we have at city hall. get them out to neighborhood out here. we will walk these corridors with each of the elected officials so they know we're working together, and we're going to keep city hall in communicating with every one of our neighbors. thank you very much. amy, think you for your great work out here, and thank you for everyone joining us together. -- thank you for your great work out here. >> thank you. gardner speaker iour next speaka

gilete. it is through the mayor's office, the cities targeted effort to improve commercial districts, particularly in this more struggling area. the idea of the door front cleaning project, the beautification project is really just additional go on a lot of projects that have been done over the years, really exciting ones, including the good will tower, which you can see it. that was restoration that was a partnership between our office and the excelsior action group. >> hi, i am a member of excelsior active group's steering committee, co-chaired fort excelsior beautification. of the excelsior action group

mission is to revitalize excelsior corridor. these funds, which support the local merchants, will go along way to enhancing the vitality and appearance of the excelsior corridor. we welcome the opportunity to partner with local merchants on behalf of the excelsior. with those of you -- for those of you not familiar, we are a community action group that was founded in 2002. one event we sponsor each year is that the excelsior music and arts festival. we celebrated our ninth anniversary last sunday, and we had a great festival. it was a great community event that celebrated diversity through music, art, and food. excelsior action groups to support local merchants. this past year excelsior action group completed 10 murals, partnering with local merchants and artists that were installed

with lighting. it does not only beautified the corridor, but also serve to make it safe at night. we are also engaged in a community process to recondition the overpass near roll over 2mu. excelsior action group will continue to work together with our community to identify ways we can support local merchants, attract new businesses coming in beautify the corridor. we know this funding will help leverage other much-needed resources and support for the excelsior. we would also like to thinake this opportunity to thank supervisor avalos. we would be remiss in not acknowledging our all outgoing

director, ellen googvenele. , who has demonstrated a real investment in making sure the project led by excelsior action group has the input of excelsior residence. we look forward to partnering with out of sight on the project, and we know this public space will benefit all. i would like to take this opportunity to introduce the new manager of excelsior action group, nicole. [applause] nicole is a san francisco native and a native of the excelsior district. she graduated from ucla with a degree in international development and in our mental systems. she has worked with multiple bay area's small businesses on environmental business development, as well as construction management. her dedication to the community where she grew up will be the heart of her upcoming effort

with the excelsior action group, and thank you so very much. [laughter] [applause] [applause] >> next, we would hear from the owner of the business hosted the event, jong lo. >> hello, everyone. first of all, thank you to everyone for showing up. thank you for the mayor being here. it kills your action group are fantastic. dragon house has been in san francisco for over 15 years. we've been located in excelsior my fourth year. anall of these nice gardens basically put down by the excelsior action group. they are awesome. i am hoping to see them keeping the funding from the city, keep doing great things for the neighborhood. all the neighborhood people will keep the teenagers coming down

here and keeping them out of the street, keeping them say. for the past four years i have seen this neighborhood changing dramatically. people are nicer. nighttime is much safer, and is much greener on every corner. i would like to see the excelsior action group doing the the great work and keep being funded. thank you for coming down every day. thank you. [applause] >> we have one more speaker from mama art cafe. the number one thing people said many years ago was we need a gathering place, at cafe, a place that people really want to come. it has become more and more of an opportunity for people to gather, and i think the parklet will really add to

that. [applause] >> i have to tell you i am very nervous because the mayor is next to me, and i would like to tell you i am very proud to be the owner of the mama art cafe. i would also like to say thank you to beth for making the youth so eager to work to create the parklet. i also would like to say thank you to all of the businesses -- most of them i know. i really feel inspired to be part of the community of its ulcer. and i am very proud to continue to create businesses. i would also like to say my mother is not here right now, because she is making the best coffee, and i really hope all of

you come and see her, because she is a beautiful smile and shake it tugs for free. thank you so much. [applause] >> i think that wraps up our speakers. i think that there is time to walk down to the cafe, if that is okay? that has been proposed. in

>> the next time you take a muni bus or train, there could be new technology that could make it easier to get to your destination.

many are taking a position of next bus technology now in use around the city. updated at regular intervals from the comfort of their home or workplace. next bus uses satellite technology and advanced computer modeling to track buses and trains, estimating are bought stocks with a high degree of accuracy. the bus and train our arrival information can be accessed from your computer and even on your cellular phone or personal digital assistant. knowing their arrival time of the bus allows riders the choice of waiting for it or perhaps doing some shopping locally or getting a cup of coffee. it also gives a greater sense that they can count on you to get to their destination on time. the next bus our arrival information is also transmitted to bus shelters around the city equipped with the next bus sign. riders are updated strictly about arrival times.

to make this information available, muni has tested push to talk buttons at trial shelters. rider when pushes the button, the text is displayed -- when a rider pushes the button. >> the success of these tests led to the expansion of the program to all stations on the light rail and is part of the new shelter contract, push to talk will be installed. check out the new technology making your right easier every day>> hello.

9 judge terri l. jackson. the court is now recruiting prospective civil grand jurors. our goal is to develop a pool of candidates that is inclusive of all segments of our city's population. >> the jury conducts investigations and publishes findings and recommendations. these reports them become a key part of the civic dialog on how we can make san francisco a better place to live and work. >> i want to encourage anyone that is on the fence, is considering participating as a grand jury member, to do so. >> so if you are interested in our local city government and would like to work with 18 other enthusiastic citizens committed to improving its operations, i encourage you to consider applying for service on the civil grand jury. >> for more information, visit the civil grand jury website at sfgov.org/courts or call

>> i am the director of visual arts programming at intersection for the arts. intersection for the arts is based in san francisco and has always been an organization that looks at larger social political

issues through the lens of practice, and we are here today at our exhibition of "chico and chang." the original inspiration was drawn from a restaurant chain in new york city. half of their menu is -- what struck me was the graphic pictures and a man in a hat on a rig truck carrying take that time is containers and in the black sea to representation of a mexican guy wearing a sombrero and caring a somali horn. it struck me that these two large, very subversive complex cultures could be boiled down to such simple representations. chico and chang primarily looks at four topic areas. one of the man was is whose stories are being told and how.

one of the artisans in the show has created an amazing body of work working with young adults calling themselves the dreamers. another piece of the exhibition talks about whose stories of exhibition are actually being told. one artist created a magnificent sculpture that sits right in the center of the exhibition. >> these pieces are the physical manifestation of a narrative of a child in memory. an important family friend give us a dining table, very important, and we are excited about it. my little brother and i were 11, 14. we were realizing that they were kind of hand prints everywhere on the bottom where no one would really see, and it became this kind of a weakening of what child labor is.

it was almost like an exercise to show a stranger that feeling we had at that moment. >> the second thing the exhibition covers is how the allocation is defined, a great example on the theme, sculpture called mexicali culture. another bay area artist who has done residencies in china and also to what, mexico. where immigrant communities really helped define how businesses look of a business' sign age and interior decoration, her sculptural piece kind of mismatches the two communities together, creating this wonderful, fantastical future look at what the present is today. first topic is where we can see where the two communities are

intersecting and where they start colliding. teresa fernandez did a sculptural installation, utilizing the ubiquitous blue, white, and read patterns of a rayon bag that many communities used to transport laundry and laundromats to buy groceries and such. she created a little installation kind of mucking up the interior of a household, covering up as many objects that are familiar to the i and the fabric. fourth area of investigation that the exhibition looks at is the larger concerns of the asian and latin communities intersecting with popular cultur one best example -- when he's exemplified is what you see when you enter into the culture.

>> this piece refers to restaurants in tijuana. when you are driving, to speak chinese and you read chinese characters. you see these signs. i was trying to play with the idea of what you see and the direction you read. when you start mixing these different groups of people, different cultures, i like the idea. you can comment on somebody else's culture or someone else's understanding about culture. >> one of the hopes we have for visitors is that they go away taking a better understanding with the broadest and the breadth of issues impacting both the asian and latin communities here in california and how they spell out into the larger fabric of the communities we live and wor.