and media website. it has a lot of great information for families about cyber bling -- bullying and social media. just a shout out to be imagine bus project. they held a fund-raiser on november 3. they do work with the students, the juvenile justice center, malcolm x, bringing art to those classrooms. we appreciate their efforts in supporting our students. finally, this friday the friends of the mission campus are having a celebration with sylvia mendez. there will be a reception at that campus of city college from 5:30 to 7:30. i did not know this history

about mendez being a six year old in an orange county public school who was denied admission before the brown vs. board of education decision. has the sense left a legacy of desegregation throughout the country. there was a resolution that mary hernandez, when she was serving on this board, get together on the anniversary of the court victory. commissioner fewer: i also wanted to let the public know that tomorrow night, aim high summer program will be celebrating 25 years. we wish them much success. thank you for partnering with us.

also, i had the pleasure to go to el dorado school and is sought children making day of the dead alters about the memory of their very close family members. and had the pleasure of going into room 9 and enjoyed a great day. >> i have a couple of things. this last week i attended the equity summit. crosshead. -- go ahead. >> i am hoping to lead a campaign in san francisco with a

nonprofit organization. it is trite to bring peace to the congo and we are urging " vote to appoint a special envoy to the congo before the next election -- pogresident obama to appoint a special envoy to the condo before the next election. the picture would be e-mailed to you. on human rights day, december 10, there will be a common wall in san francisco. i can tell you guys that if you want to know. you put out your picture and you put your face is side-by-side. december 10 at 6:00 p.m. >> i attended the equity summit in detroit, michigan.

it was interesting. it was focused on poverty and community development. we have been trying to add the element of education in to those conversations. i want to congratulate the bay area fine -- science festival. it was fantastic and putting that together. they had their final -- 20,000 kids and their families at at&t park. i wanted to congratulate you speakers who celebrated their anniversary. a partner with us as well. and richard, one of our teachers. he has the coral collaborative project which is our public schools and private schools, they have a chorus. they were invited to sing at the tree lighting ceremony in washington, d.c. they will be going to d.c. next

month. we are fundraising for them. any other? commissioner yee: i wanted to congratulate all of the schools and communities that participated in the student enrollment fair. it was attended by thousands of people. it was packed. >> that was a terrific event. i know that all of the teachers and parents came out on a saturday. i also wanted to point out there was a packet put together for you. thank you for making this

effort to ensure that our families and know that john o'connell is one of our high schools. and the great things that going on over there. he has distributed quite a few disks to the eighth grade families. we have teachers they have redesigned call the o.c., which are really cute. thank you for all of the efforts you're putting in to promote it john o'connell. we are also going to have a ceremony, a brooding cutting for the new facility -- ribbon cutting for the new facility. they will be training and apprentice ship programs. thank you for that. any other comments? >> thank you for these teachers.

i want to mention that our student delegates would love one. could i get a small ind? [laughter] >> if there are no other reports, item t is a closed session action. do you want me to do november 1 quarter to want to recess tx should we recessed? we have some -- we have one more agenda item on our closed session. we're going to recess and the board meeting now. we're going to finish are closed session and we will come back to report on our items and then adjourn the meeting. at this time i would like to

recess this board meeting temporarily. we will be back and probably 20 mi

>> call their role. commissioner buell. commissioner harrison commissioner arata. commissioner bonilla. commissioner caen lee. commissioner martin . commissionerlevitan is on her way. a couple announcements. first announcement is to let

everyone know that item number 8, the donor recognition program, has been removed from the calendar, so that will not be heard today. also, just as a reminder, please turn off any electronic sounding devices. any said in their conversations, please take them outside. we would appreciate that. if you would like to speak today, we ask that you fill out a blue card. unless announced by the president, everyone wishing to speak will have three minutes on each item. please address your comments to the item being heard. if you like to speak under general public comment, that is item number four, and continue to get item number nine. last, please address your comments to the commissioner in public comment on items in order to allow equal time for all. neither the commission nor staff will respond to any questions during public comment, but the commission may ask questions

after public comment is closed. with that, we're on item number two, which is the president's report. commissioner buell: thank you. let me be brief. two items to note. one, we had a very nice time celebrating the restoration of the bridge and the teahouse of the japanese tea garden. i recommended to everybody. it is beautifully done, on thin stick -- authentic, and it looks terrific. congratulations to staff. the schwab cup was a huge excess -- success. another cuda's to staff. one professional golfers tell you that the course is in pristine condition, you can take that to the bank. for municipal course, that is a real plus. so congratulations to staff and everybody involved. as many of you know, the last year, we had a reorganization

of the san francisco park council, park trust, and park alliance. we're honored to have two new and distinguished staff and board member to that organization here. i would like to give them a chance to say a few words to the right thing this is a significant step forward in trying to coordinate the assistance that the parks need to desperately now with volunteer and philanthropic support. those organizations have a long history of accomplishment, and i think the move to consolidate is one that will enhance both their missions into one. with that, i want to introduce matt o'grady. i have a long list of accomplishments the most recently, he served as vice president for national expansion of the taproot of finance and between 2004 and 2010, where he

guided the revenue strategy's from the startup phase, little revenue, to a $4 million budget and over $20 million worth of them back annually. i expect he will do the same for the san francisco park alliance. it is a long history of long profit were, both professionally and as a volunteer. matt, we welcome you. can you come up and say a few words? >> thank you. i am already on the spot. i will do my best peter thank you very much. there's absolutely thrilled to be taking on this position and to be joining the family of people who have such passion and focus on our parks and open space in san francisco. it is a tremendous resource for the city, a resource that i personally have been enjoying as a resident for many years. i very much look forward to working with phil, mark, a and

all of you and everyone else who is a park fanatic in san francisco, to make the most of this resource for the people of san francisco in the coming years. thank you very much. commissioner buell: thank you. we're also joined by rosemary cameron, who joins the park alliance as its first board president. she is assistant general manager for public affairs for the east bay park distributor should his return the public sector with management experience and regional and municipal parks and recreation, city management, and legislative affairs. she served as executive director -- director of the original park foundation with a full range of boehner activities, rising more than $20 million from 1993 to 2010. she retired from that, and we were lucky enough that somebody convinced her to come in as board chair. rosemary, welcome, and police say a few words.

>> thank you very much. it is might very late -- great pleasure to be here and to be able to meet you all as a group and looking forward to meeting all of you in person i want to say that on behalf of the entire 25-member board of the san francisco parks alliance, i want to let you know that we're truly committed to a full partnership that will really build on what president buell said about the wonderful attributes of the two predecessor organizations. we're very excited. everybody is very committed. i think we are going to have a very successful future here. partnering with san francisco recreation and parks to really make the system even more remarkable than it already is. commissioner buell: thank you very much. >> if you do not mind, one other thing i wanted to mention is the predecessor organization that hold together this new

organization in many very interesting things. one of which was to intentionally refrained from engaging in major planning for the future of the organization. rosemary and i stepped in on october 4 with no plan in place for the future. and that was intentional in order to allow the new leadership to take a lead role in designing the plan for the future the organization. we're getting under way in network map. the initial part will involve members of the board and me connecting individual and every is with each of you together your input around the ideal partnership between recreation and parks department and commission and the san francisco parks alliance. we look forward to meeting with you individually over the next several weeks to gather input and map out our plan for the future. commissioner buell: great. i should also knowledge that the organization, i thought, did the

right thing and keeping the advocacy role a prominent place, and we have the head of the advocacy part here which is so important to that effort. nice to see you continue in that. that concludes my report. >> is there any public comment on the president's report? in be in none, public comment is closed. item number 3, the general managers' report. >> good morning, commissioners. i want to begin with an america's cup update. the city has been drafting a series of operation plans concerning transportation, wis management, security, and other issues for the final eir for the america's cup event in 2012 and 2013. included in the plants is a document which is currently being drafted, and it covers all park areas that will be used as even being -- event venues.

it has federline, state park land, and city park land. it also includes the civic center in union square. the section of this document that pertains to a city park land is being drafted primarily by liv, from our staff, and working closely with the mayor's office of economic and workforce development. and in close cooperation with our own operations staff, which has been providing regular feedback into the document. liv is down in san diego with the entire americas cup team to learn from the world series exhibition races in meeting with the city of santiago representatives for a better understanding of the event. i will be joining him for the day tomorrow to attend a series of meetings as well. the goal of the document is to list all of the recreational resources that can conceivably

impacted by america's cup events. and to this action that can be taken to preempt problems before and during the event, and to expeditiously mitigate this. the event has not yet been approved in the location and structure is not finalized, so the actual protective measures are not delineated in the document. it is mayor lee discussion. the events are currently undergoing review. and the mayor's office of economic and workforce development is said to finalize a in early to be wary. there will be responses to commons in early december, and there will be a draft on the website to begin a dialogue with stakeholders. we want to publish it and bring it back to the commission for your input and review. last month, staff retirements -- last month, we did it fond fare wrote to three of our long-term

employees. . kerwin, it gardner after 29 years of service. chelan, a gardener with nearly 20 years of service, and elizabeth, a custodian with 19 years of service. i want to thank them and wish them the best in their retirement. last night, the department had the pleasure of attending the 2011 awards hosted by the city's neighborhood of power it -- empowerment network. the award for outstanding park volunteer group to the visitation of valley greenway project, which oversees and helped start a series of six small parcels of land and of his attention -- visitation valley neighborhood, which is needed resources and investment. the parcels a credit credible open space for residents to enjoy the outdoors and engaging gardening and urban agriculture, and also opportunities for kids to learn about plans. it has been an invaluable

experience at all to congratulate the visitation valley greenway project, headed by fran martin. and i want to thank all the volunteers in our entire park system who dedicate more than 140,000 hours of time each year to better our parks and programs. from the fine arts museums to public works of art commission by the san francisco arts commission to the fun and creative programs our staff provides to the public on a daily basis, the relationship between the arts community and our city parks is profound. each year, the san francisco artist guild represents over 75 free outdoor park shows every year, including marina green, washington's are coming union square, and huntington park. this has been at long-planned, but it gives me great pleasure to invite carol and beverly from

the san francisco art guild to talk about the relationship. >> hello, and thank you for your time today. great to be able to meet you all in person. i am carroll, the president of the board of san francisco artist guild. we are a 50-year-old organization that has been working in conjunction and collaboration with the rec and park system of san francisco this entire time to bring not only art to the people and professional fine artists to the people, but everyone gets to interact and get excited about the arts, sea works -- see works, and find out how they can be artists if they so wish. also, to help emerging artists become, not only to be able to continue their creative endeavors, but also to be viable business people in san francisco. as artists, that is not the easiest thing.

it is very exciting to be able to work with the rec and park, with all of you, for all of this time, and to continue to bring all of this to the people. just a quick anecdote, i am out at an art show almost every week, sometimes twice a week, in one of the san francisco parks. every single week when i am out there, i have many people talking to me. more exciting for me, because i have a child and use the park system so much, i interact with kids who are amazingly interested. they come out and they kind of sick, what is the texture used here, and how did you do that? real kids, people, new artists, always get excited and interested to get answers. it has been an absolute pleasure to work with bill ginsberg and all of you in the rec and park department -- to work with phil ginsburg. beverly is our new managing director.

we are expanding and becoming more of a force in the city. we have hired beverly. >> thank you. nice to meet you all, commissioners and staff. i have been hired by them for a nominal fee, i might add, to hurt the pact, if you will. the artist guild is near and dear to my heart. i moved here seven years ago and became involved with many members of the proceeded to open three galleries in the city for different entrepreneurs. individually, each artist indeed is a business. that is what i am trying to help them with some other business of being an artist and working in conjunction with rec and park. i have come to be the point person. their two other guilds or organizations also. now i will be point person for all three. i have met with the other two members. it is to ease and to streamline

our process with rec and park. because you are doing things that are huge. we are a small part. but as your nurturing flowers, i am nurturing and helping our wonderful creative participants in the city. thank you for seeing me. he will see our presence at artist guild sf website. thank you a guinta rec and park for your support over the years. >> thank you. we're expecting the release of the 2010-2011 annual report, prepared by the city services auditor. while i do not want to steal their thunder, we will be back a month from now with analysis on the report. we're very pleased with the findings. we're holding steady our overall scores, and they dropped about 1% this year. the last two years have been the two highest years of scores the we have had since the study began.

we saw improvements in some critical areas of focus for step, which is restrooms, athletics, sports, and playgrounds. we have seen an increase in scores in one of our historically low performing park service areas. we're pleased. the report is expected to be finalized this week, and we will be back in december with a more thorough analysis. speaking about standing park maintenance work, and i have the distinct pleasure of announcing that, i take it was monday, we were given the news that steve castillo, our golf and turf manager has won an award of excellence. as the manager of operations, he leads olecranon mccoll practices for our golf courses. the president noted that when the world's greatest golfers

call the course conditions perfect. in addition to the golf courses, he oversees three municipal stadiums, including candlestick park, home to one of the most highly regarded turfs in the nfl. and city-wide functions the support 220 parks throughout san francisco neighborhoods. and there is the family camp in the high sierras. he is responsible for field conditions at some of our premier sporting facilities and in every quarter of the neighborhood. he has incredible integrity, ingenuity, creativity, and leadership. they have been invaluable to his colleagues. he is joined by some of his supervisors, one who oversees candlestick, mike, and kevin coming off of some work at harding park. they're here to support