specifically ordered by rec and park department for the boathouse at taxpayers' expense. this report detected a lead hazard, and it was kept secret from the public since 2007. the rec and park director has an entire industrial hygiene division under his management. even with this highly paid, licensed staff to take care of just these types of issues, and multiple warnings from the community about the presence of lead in the 68-year-old structure, mr. ginsberg allows the contamination of golden gate park to occur. it will impact the environment for years to come. the work area of the boathouse was never cordoned off. there were no signs of warning. let alone persons with respiratory or fertility problems about the presence of floating lead particular attention of speed up babies and

children who are most vulnerable were not kept away from the area. there were no restrictions for anyone. dozens of gardeners were brought in to lanes get the area surrounding the boathouse at the same time the painting work occurred. how many to come the particulates on their clothing, hair, and skin to their children? for a few hundred dollars, standard protective netting and plastic sheeting could've easily avoided this contamination. as with so many park issues under the ginsberg ring, it is the committee taking the appropriate steps to protect our health and safety from his so- called revitalization of our parks. all while we pay enormous salaries and benefits for ginsberg's ever-growing army of public relations step that intimidate any journalist who dared tell the truth about his mismanagement ask ginsberg's

public affairs chief, sarah ballard, in her role in the layoff of a beloved reporter in the sf weekly a week after he was part of a cover story. will you, parents and grandparents, let him get away with poisoning our parks? it is your responsibility, along with the mayor, to clean up the contamination of stow lake and the toxic behavior sign rec and park management. thank you. >> good morning. my name is ernestine. i am going to complain, too, about corruption. people want very part restored. we cannot put up with corrupt dirty politics. that has to go. your job is to serve the people

first and foremost. that is what your job is all about. you promised me mark -- hello. you promised me, mark, make me believe with the. we're not the only ones that have complained. we gave you a petition to do it. you ignore us. we're fed up with it. put the name back. the people hate the sign that there, sue bierman park. you do it against our will, and you're not doing good public relations. please get rid of the illegal name of sue bierman park, which did not test the board of supervisors due to its illegal contents in the ordinance. get with it. start action. i read more and more articles about rec and park not responding to the people. get with it. thank you. >> next.

>> good morning, commissioners. as someone who lives near sue bierman park, i am sure you all remember when peter pan came to sue bierman park, and the department made some thousands of dollars. i doubt you are ever informed that in order to make room for the tenths of peter pan, 20 mature cherry trees were cut down and destroyed.

it is a great thing for our park commission to do. it destroyed the cherry trees. bring in the back doors. and now what do we have left? a few ginkgos saplings. the place has been landscaped over again. and it looks it. cherry trees take at least 20 years to mature. so i am not surprised they have been replaced. they just threw in something else. if you are familiar with that park, you would know that in the spring, while life was really attracted to those cherry trees. the wild parrots of telegraph hill love to each individual buds. so did a lot of native sparrows. ah, their environment has been destroyed. big deal. this is just the parks department. but as usual, i do not think any

of you know that peter because there is a lot of lying by omission that goes on. and i do not think you were informed. thank you. >> ok, we actually have time for one more. if there is anyone in the public that did not fill out a blue card, please come forward. then we will continue this again at item nine. would you prefer the other microphone? >> good morning. not to bitch and moan, it is true, i do not have any complaints yet with you. just here to wish a happy season, i say, commissioner ginsberg, and the rest. once again, we will be in union square, it is true.

hopefully we will get it right from the beginning. just here to say, a happy season, by the way. and see you all in the square next week. >> ok, we're out of time for public comment, so public comment is closed. we on item number five, consent calendar. is there anyone who would like to make public comment on the consent calendar? seeing none, public comment is closed. commissioners? commissioner buell: entertain a motion. >> so moved. >> second. >> all those in favor? unanimous. >> we are now on item 6, san francisco zoo. >> good morning. i am with the san francisco zoo. we had a good month for october. we exceeded our projections by 11,000 visitors.

we have reindeer a writing this saturday, and our brazilian penguins, which is rescue, are doing well. we had a good month. i thought i would take advantage of showing a priest -- a brief overview of what we're doing at the zoo. not quite as exciting as phil's, but close. ♪ >> oh, cute. [laughs] ♪

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>> on behalf of the entire zoo, we want to thank you. a lot of those for new acquisitions. the hippo, the tiger. without you, we cannot have done that. thank you for your patience and support. any questions? commissioner harrison: just a

compliment, and thank you. my granddaughter, who just turned 3 if you months ago, had a birthday party out there with a lot of family, friends, and relatives. and it was absolutely wonderful. thank you. everything was perfect. we rode the train. it was absolutely great. i wanted to thank you in complement you and the staff out there. >> thank you commissioner. i know it has been a tough three years. thank you for your patience and support. >> is there any public comment on this item? seeing none, public comment is closed. we're on item number seven, sue bierman park.

>> the afternoon, commissioners. this would director for the recreation and parks department. i am here for the discussion and possible action to recommend that the board of supervisors approved legislation introduced by president to to allow for the placement of a playground in sue bierman park. playgrounds are critical for a child's healthy development. they have saved age appropriate places for free play and they help with development. they serve as an indelible commended the asset. family-friendly neighborhoods attract and retain young families in sentences go and bring families together and strengthen communities ties. in the embarcadero area, there are over 1000 children living there. child care centers serve over 4 00 children daily. the embarcadero ymca service 280 children daily. the golden gate swim club has

over 700 campers. their 8000 visitors to the ferry building. 25,000 on saturday speed and get, they're no public playgrounds without -- lynnette -- within a half mile of this area with which children can play. in response to the two waterfront neighborhood, the barbary coast that association, and the ring, and hill neighborhood association, comprising over 12,000 never hints and growing to over 20,000 residents have joined forces to spare the development of a public playground in partnership with the san francisco recreation and parks department. it was determined that an appropriate location to place a park in the embarcadero area of sue bierman park spending two city blocks. it is bordered by washington street, davis st., any park hadera. 5.3 acres for 230,000 square

feet. in 2004, the department of the community-based master planning process for sue bierman park with a two-phased master plan. the first phase had new pathways, planting, irrigation, trees, and boulders. while the committee discussed the inclusion of a playground as part of the planning process, at that time, relatively new legislation prohibited structures, including playgrounds, in sue bierman park. given the introduction of legislation to amend the ordinance prohibiting playgrounds in sue bierman park, the prominent community are reviewing a number of areas for a playground in the park. you will seek the park is comprised of what 202, as well as lot 203. these are the areas being reviewed right now. there were a few other locations were considered, yet determined

not ideal for playground. one was the sea wall lot. a committee vision for the northeast neighborhood waterfront, a development plan being developed through a coalition of community groups in 2011. it stresses the critical need for playgrounds along the northeast corridor of the embarcadero. unfortunately, the sea wall lots will need to release from the port authority. annual lease payments range from $40,000 per year to $115,000 per year. the area adjacent to the bocci ball court was also suggested that determined not ideal because of a street car turnaround. it is adjacent to a highly trafficked area. i should also note that because it is mostly a commercial area, there would be no eyes on the

park, critical to park safety in the evenings. the design of the playground is supposed to be the following. this is rough and we will bring back a conceptual design for approval in the beginning of 2012. the proposed playground when the 5000 square feet to 7000 square feet, up to 3% of the total park area. designed for children two to 12 years of age, with a mix of equipment for both the younger children and older children. the area will be fully ada compliant and will have a rubber surface and vengeance. safety features such as fencing, and landscaping, and the entrance on the interior of the park will be implemented. and the conceptual sign will be brought back. friends of the waterfront playground, spearheading the initiative, has acquired fiscal sponsorship through the park alliance. the fund-raising campaign will target local residents and

businesses and community donations expected to fully fund the project. design and construction will be a gift in place of the city. the playground will include a donor recognition playground as part of the fund-raising campaign. that will also be brought back in the conceptual plan in the beginning of 2012. the playground has done quite a bit of outreach are around this initiative. earlier in the year, they held four community meetings. one in april, two in may, and one in june. printed fliers were distributed and put on the street, on light poles, in building lobbies, residential buildings, and put in current in boxes and posted on bulletin boards in nearby child care centers. they also notified all of the residential high-rise buildings in the area. and the parent groups in the area. also, citywide parent groups.

they had a public web page up since october 2010. more recently, october 24, they held a community meeting in partnership with the department. over 20 prominent committee neighborhood and organizations were notified, and they're listed on this slide and in your packet. in addition, we mailed a notice of the meeting to all residents within a 300 foot radius of the proposed site. last, all of the organizations and individuals noted were notified of the november 3 operations committee meeting. there were also notified by the board of supervisors land use committee meeting earlier this week. approximately 50 individuals attended the october 24 meeting, including many families with children. all in attendance expressed strong support for playground in the general vicinity, and a majority those there were satisfied with the location of

sue bierman park. sample, support of the site or following -- the committee the demographics need to change. you can create a playground without opening the floodgates. families and youth are missing from the neighborhood, and we need them to have a vibrant community. regarding developments in the area and opening the floodgates, the playground is not the same as a building. a playground might be the best defense against proposed future appropriate uses. there no playgrounds in easy walking distance. by the time we walk to the closest one, we are exhausted. it is difficult to raise a child in san francisco due to the high cost of living and education. families are being forced out. sample, opposition to this site included an amending the ordinance and proper use of the legislation process. the location seems unsafe given the traffic on nearby streets. changing the legislation would

open the floodgate to other uses. the bocci ball courts are a better location for a playground. and the master plan included a number of proposed playgrounds, and this one was not suggested. the following organizations or representing thousands of area represent -- businesses and people. supervisor david chiu, the barbary coast neighborhood association, barbara coast news, golden gate way parent group, friends of john amash g.o. legrand, golden gateway, embarcadero ymca, the tennis and swim club, the tennis association, 733 front homeowners. object centcom komen -- homeowners, rincon hill and tenants' association. there's some known opposition.

some of it was to a specific proposed area in 202, and some of these folks are now open to the idea of the investigation of the lots. 203 is an option. next steps of the following, in november, we are considering this recommendation to the board of supervisors, and the land use committee on monday recommended unanimously that this be approved by the full board of supervisors. there will be considering this later on this month. in march -- by march 2012, we will bring the concept design, did donor recognition program, and the mou for approval. we will have reviews. between april and october, we will get documentation development and reviews. we hope to break ground in november 2012. that is it. before we go to public comment,

i want to make a comment to everyone. this would allow a playground for blocks 202 or 203. this is not a site-specific recommendation. i ask the fund raising plan be withdrawn and from the agenda. i think because is better served by having a specific plan before we adopt that aspect of it. having said that, i want to mention at the capitol committee operations committee, many people came out to testify for this, and they are working families and children, and they have been to the board of supervisors as well. in the interests of not taking a lot of time, we ask a few of the key proponents to come and testify.

we asked all of the opponents to come and testify. >> we do have a public comment. dave burt nebernet. meredith thomas. warner lee. richard fong. in that order, please. go ahead and get started. >> according. good morning. dave bernett. as the president indicated, the initial concern from the people that objected to the process, was the stops election issue. basically park's death what -- staff and went and picked a spot that was right between the

area which is the meadow and washington street. there was a fair amount of concern on the group of us that were involved in the original creation of this park. the park has very different personas. block 202 persona is quite normal, and is a result of the $1.9 million expenditure you guys made to upgrade the place. it has a nice cohesive feel to it. block 203 is the brainchild of one of the gardners that was on the original staff and had no funding money and basically when the freeway came down picked up my machine and the rhododendrons and the other thing in the park for all barred from golden gate park as a result of upgrades that were done. it has a very natural sort of

feel to it. the point i would like to make basically is i think it would be a mistake to go in and make modifications to block 202 that were not harmonious with the decide which you have now. it would have been ideal obviously if we had a playground authorized as part of the original design, because it would have had a chance to integrate into this instead of just dropped in. what is happening now is the neighborhood associations have realize this, and we are all drifting toward some sort of consensus, and we look forward to getting back with you with that is achieved. >> thank you. >> good morning, again. i was the original creator at very park -- ferry park where it

was developed. andth the deyoung i convinced to stay in the park, and they think the other whites. we cannot tolerate everyone's wishes. it is not golden gate park. that is why i put a no bill clause in there. it is pretty clear. if you are going to open up the flood klebs -- floodgates to everyone -- you cannot do this to everybody. there is a a group of people i chased out there. it will come back and say what about us? rightly so. you have to be fair about this. i am sorry i did not bring the

picture of the landscape. 202 is surrounded by trees and dumber roc rocks that take up s it is not 5000 square feet of space available. that is altogether misleading. let's get real. there is really the place. reaching -- there is really. -- there is really no space. we need to protect the open space. and the plaza south is still my preferred location, and it is not unsafe due to the railway. i travel there every day when i come back from lunch. we have to not give in to political interests. that has to stop, because it is

ruining the city. political stuff has to go. we have to listen to the people that live there. there are 1000 people going to golden gate. that is a small group of people. i represent the majority. they did not want anything on that park. the reason why plaid the south is good, is it -- it is because it protected by concrete wall all around it. -- plaza south is good is it because it protected by a concrete wall around it. which would you rather have, the occupied people there and every other case the group going in there? this is the park property. you have the ability to stop it by doing created developments. >> ha