you do not have the letter yet, right, gail? >> start over. i will start over. supervisor avalos: the chair will let you start over. i apologize. part of my gamesmanship required by responding to nature. >> not a problem. shall i start over? supervisor avalos: we will restart the clock. i apologize. >> that afternoon, supervisors. i have a pacifica lived in -- i have lived in pacifica since

1977. i am in favor of the legislature. i want to thank you for your plan. today we have the opportunity to restore and protect the beautiful, natural wetlands. part of a very small, elite group of lagoons. there are less than 10% of them in california. it has consistently survived, despite being an offshoot of its natural environment. if the legislature is passed, we would have a beautiful, spacious, open coastal wetlands minutes from san francisco, where people of all ages could go, getting away from the world as they get smaller and more crowded. they would be able to enjoy themselves, gathering, hiking,

running were sitting, relaxing and recharging outdoors while the tensions of daily life melt away. we will be thinking the endangered species of specialists of the national parks service for restoring the garter snake and the red legged frogs back to a healthy and flourishing lifestyle. this is a world that we need to have available to all. not just for golfers. please close sharp park so that the national parks service can restore it to national wetlands. thank you. supervisor avalos: thank you. next speaker, please. >> good afternoon, supervisors. i am a former city employee, retired from the parks department.

retired as the golf course maintenance supervisor. without a prepared statement, i would hope that i could shed some light on the situation. what i do not think has been brought to the front enough, and i was glad to hear a bit of it today, the fact that the recreation park department has been operating there department, plus the golf course maintenance operations, pesticide-free, for over 10 years, since 1997. they were using non-synthetic fertilizers, link -- bringing in new technology and micro- organisms. this is the technique.

these cultural practices are what we shall be striving for. playing in conjunction with these endangered species. this is where we should all be striving to get. 7 billion people in the world. 4.5 million in the bay area. about 4000 in san francisco rubbing elbows with these species. we need to learn to work and live together. what the parks department has done is progressive and four were bleeding. we are leading the way i am learning to deal with this situation. to move away from that would be a terrible mistake. i would ask you to deny this legislation. i would also ask the environmental community here, you should be supporting what the recreation and parks department is doing.

these species are proliferating. we are on the right track. supervisor avalos: thank you very much. [applause] next speaker, please. [reads names] >> hello, supervisors. thank you for hearing us. my name is sam. i am a resident of san francisco. i am a graduate student in biology. i am arguing as a part of the legislation. sharp park, as it exists currently, is a habitat. it is a costly, wasteful, an impoverished habitat for animals and plants. it has potential to be so much better. i visited sharp park on a couple of occasions. i found it to be surrounded by

litter and other debris of heavy use. so, the limited habitat is degraded. around the world and around america, around world, habitat loss and degradation is the number one threat to buy a- diversity. as these habitats are debated and fragmented, species are forced to leave or go extinct. restoring it into a more complex environment, there will be increased habitat area, better quality, and internal support of wildlife. people have been talking about the endangered snakes. as they currently exist, they are isolated in a handful of bodies of water, surrounded by heavily attended golfing areas.

by improving the quality, restoring sharp park will benefit the wildlife, particularly those with smaller home ranges. every square meter of habitat will pay extra benefits towards these animals. let's maximize our legacy to various wildlife and various costs of subsidizing golf courses. thank you. supervisor avalos: thank you very much. next speaker, please. >> good afternoon. my name is roddy. i retired from the state of california after serving 62 years as an employee.

i want to come before you today to talk about sharp park. which has a great history. a lot of golfers have come out of their. it is a place where they can go and walk. there are no hills or anything. they prefer to walk, they can walk. the fare is much readable compared to other golf courses in san francisco -- reasonable, compared to other golf courses. and i have been a resident for over 80 years. i think that a lot of the juniors, a high school kids, they go there. for years, over 20 years, of i

have been part of a senior group that gets together at sharp park. we still go over there. once per year, we have a regular tournament there. everyone enjoys themselves. the food is a well-kept secret. it is the best food that you can go down and eat. some of us should try prime rib, play golf, and enjoy ourselves. thank you very much. supervisor avalos: thank you. next speaker, please. >> my name is willie. born and raised in san francisco. unlike some of these other people that live in pacifica, i am still a resident of san francisco. i live in district 1. i am disappointed that eric mar

is not here. i play golf. i play golf in sharp park. i have proof. i only started playing golf eight years ago. do i have written motorcycle all over the country. my friends and loved ones tell me it is too dangerous. so, i decided to take up golf. it was expensive. so, i played at harding park. but now i play at sharp park. i find it affordable. when i go out there, i mean lots of people. african-americans, jeff again -- japanese americans, chinese americans. people of all ages. young people. senior citizens. this is a wonderful place for us to take off.

for someone to come out here and try to take this away for all of us, i think that that is abominable. i used to work in silicon valley. i made some good money. the economy there is bad. i have not worked in 10 years. i find myself playing golf. i like playing golf. i am not too bad added. i would hope that you would save the park for those of us that like to play. we are a very diverse community. we like to play golf. one thing that i find ironic. city of san francisco supervisors tend to talk to the u.s. government about getting out of here and there. i find it ironic that we are advising the federal government about the golden gate national park --

supervisor avalos: for everyone else's sake, we need to move on. next speaker, please. >> good afternoon, supervisors. i am here on behalf of the san francisco public golf alliance. i am here to submit handwritten, original letters to you from concerned residents of seven cisco. i have been compiling these since june of 2011 -- residents of san francisco. i have been compiling these since june of 2011. these letters are mostly in britain. they are old-fashioned letters that come from the heart of bay area golfers. people that want affordable gulf in san francisco and in the bay area.

i want to share one story that comes from compiling these letters that gets to the heart of what sharp park is about. i went there with organizers to get these signatures from the men's club. who were there? two girls from the sunnyvale neighborhood, with their mom, ready to collect signatures to keep the golf course open. why were they there? they needed affordable golf courses. they used this golf course as one of the many means to keep off the streets. one thing that i think will be lost is that if sharp park is closed, somehow affordable gulf and other ad rescue programs will be brought up. well, you are forgetting about these children that will lose their golf course. you heard from mr. smith earlier. i have worked with terra nova,

sacred heart, and the other public high-school to present these letters to you on behalf of the students and younger generation but i think are being missed here today. one of the reasons they are being missed is because they are a school. the other point, we have had many san francisco public all alliance members in the crowd today. because of the way that this meeting has gone on, we have lost some of our support. i am submitting these 800 letters. thank you so much. supervisor avalos: next speaker, please. >> good afternoon, supervisors. my name is o'brien. thank you for allowing me a turn to speak. a couple of things i wanted to weigh in on. one, the personal experience. when i came to san francisco, i

came here without knowing anyone. i did not come here because i had a brother or sister, an aunt or an uncle. i just came totally on my own, setting up routes without knowing anyone. i enjoyed playing golf, occasionally. when i looked to find a golf course that was available for anyone that was not a member of a private club, or anything like that, i appreciated being able to play on a course that was open to the public. while there might be other alternative public courses, every course taken away takes away that opportunity. secondly, for the environmentalists who say that this is an opportunity to shine to the world san francisco's true loyalty to nature and preserving the environment, i think it is equally an opportunity for the bay area to show the world how they can

cohabitate and work together and share this planet together with their different ideological views of the environment. i think that we could spend some more time investigating the possibility of allowing both worlds to coexist. i feel very concerned that a branch of the government's, as in and it is a clean sweep, knocking away a public facility -- branch of the government comes in and it is a clean sweep, knocking away at public facility. it would be a shame to do that. not a good thing for government to do. as a father with two kids, every weekend i can go somewhere different and i can take them someplace new each time. thank you very much. supervisor avalos: next speaker, please. >> thank you very much for

giving me the opportunity to speak today. thank you, supervisor, for putting this legislation on the table. my name is danielle. i am a 10 year resident of san francisco. a concerned resident. a few points, so i will make it quick. it makes economic and environmental sense to restore sharp park. the legislation would transfer jobs from sharp park to other parks in san francisco. it does not make sense to partner withsah san mateo. environmental problems are sure to continue. closing sharp park will follow revenue to other golf courses. lastly, there are many golfers who choose not to play there because of the poor conditions. it is in a wetland station.

we need to think long term. i urge supervisors to support this legislation. supervisor avalos: thank you. next speaker, please. >> hello. my name is marilyn. for the last five years, as a family, my daughter, son-in-law, granddaughter and die, have volunteered twice per month, along with other home schooling families. we explore the wetlands, learn about environmental issues, and participate in habitat restoration efforts. for the endangered species, specifically the red legged frog and a garter snake, birds and other wildlife, we have seen the effects. a sharp park wetlands are owned by the city of san francisco, but located in san mateo

county. the city continues to support this expensive drainage, year round, of this sensitive, coastal wetlands, harming and threatening to read legged frog, putting the community at risk with floods, all for a golf course for a few. and i urge the board of supervisors and the city to take the lead in an environmental conservation, becoming the voice to protect the san francisco garter snake and bread frog, by voting to close at sharp park golf course, negotiating a long- term agreement with the national parks service for a new sharp park, providing recreational opportunities that everyone can enjoy. thank you.

supervisor avalos: thank you very much. >> thank you, supervisors. i am a student at uc-berkeley. this will save hundreds of thousands of dollars paid by taxpayers, and also save two federally listed endangered species. it will create protection of wildlife, offering jobs within the parks system to all who seek recreation from parks employees. the continued training and so sharp part will bring money back to the use of other welfare programs, but also destroy the habitat of these endangered species. with that the survival of two wildlife species that place, shutting down the over-supply

the golf course and turning it to a public park would give back the homes of the endangered wildlife. people have many opportunities to play other sports, try other recreational activities, and have other things to play. these animals only have one home. please support the legislation. thank you. >> my name is jason. i am a golf course architect. i wanted to let the board of supervisors know that while all the circumstances at sharp park are unique, the idea of golf courses and protected species coexisting is not a unique idea. this is something we have dealt with for a long time. i will also like to point out that this particular golf course is unique and work -- worth the effort of having both uses

coexisting. it has been noted that the golf course was designed by alistair mackenzie, a personal hero of mine. this is the only one that he designed on the ocean. the significance of that relates to the history of golfing and why many golfers seek to play there. it is also unique in terms of who chooses to play there today. it should be noted that protecting the species and saving the golf course are not mutually exclusive. we studied all the experts that were there today. there are opportunities for protecting the species and saving the golf course. thank you so much. supervisor avalos: thank you. next speaker, please. >> my name is bob. i was born in san francisco. i have lived in pacifica for 54

years. in response to an e-mail that i got from amanda at the sierra club, i answered by e-mail. this pretty much tells you how i feel. amanda, thank you for this e- mail. it gives you the opportunity to hear why i am no longer renewing by sierra club membership for 25 -- membership. i have been playing golf at sharp park for 60 years. i have never seen a snake and heard frogs only occasionally. and i have been in the rough many times. pacifica has only one golf course. if the sea wall had not been built, there would be no fresh water for these frogs and snakes to provide. san francisco is doing its best to support the habitat. i support this, but it makes the

course unsupportable in the winter. by concede that, by vigorously -- i can see that, but i vigorously oppose closing the course. there are multiple creditors on a course. if the area is made part of the golden gate national recreation area, house snake -- how safe are the dogs and snakes -- how safe are the frogs and snakes from the dogs and other animals? a fervor that i admire and support -- ok -- the frogs, snakes, and golfers have coexisted for over 80 years. they should be allowed to continue to do so. i spoke to many golfers about this. none of them are anti- environment. they just want to preserve the course. thank you.

[applause] >> my name is virginia marshall. i would really like to thank parks park and rec -- -- park and rec. the sequoia audubon mission is to educate the community whenever possible into the wonders of nature. we feel that is important to take a stand in this situation. supporting turning this into a watershed area. -- we support turning this into a watershed area, returning it to its original configuration.

thank you so much. >> my name is laurie. i lived in south san francisco. it means nothing in regards to this. i am a bird watcher. i have seen the restoration have a positive affect on bird life and animal life. many people do not know that the california thrasher is breeding there after four years. i think that a lot of people are ignoring the fact that the sea wall is pretty much unsustainable in the future. i do not see why we cannot do something right now to restore the park before it becomes necessary. i wanted to mention, an

instructor at the city college of san francisco cannot be here today. the park has been home to numerous migratory bird species, such as [reads a list of birds] an endangered species that was on the golf course for at least two weeks, as seen by myself and other people, as the reports flooded from the winter rains. i am completely in favor of this legislation. thank you. supervisor avalos: next speaker, please. >> good afternoon, supervisors. my name is jonathan evans. i want to thank the supervisor

for introducing this legislation and taking a step in advance for san francisco that is positive for budget and recreation opportunities. these are critically imperiled species. we need to take every step possible, as environmental stewards, to restore the species to its native condition. the california red legged frog is a critical species that will be using sharp park, regardless of the activities conducted there. steps that can be taken by the steady -- by the city to foster a habitat, under the authority of the golden gate national recreation movement, currently subjected due to the endangered species act. it is good government to think

about the fiscally responsible actions that benefit society and wildlife. thank you very much. next -- supervisor avalos: next speaker, please. [read list of names] >> good afternoon, supervisors. i have lived in san francisco for many years. this has been called the poor people's pebble beach. it is affordable to us.