>> good morning, commissioners here again i represent friends of the waterfront playground, as well as i am a board member and also speaking today on behalf of the president of the neighborhood association. bill is also a founding in managing member of friends of the waterfront playground. there is in fact tremendous widespread community support for a playground. we have letters support from over 15 organizations representing hundreds of families come of thousands of residents, grandparents, seniors, homeowners associations, tenants, businesses such as the ferry building, the ymca, the golden gate tennis and swim club. all in support of a playground. as the commissioner noted, there

were dozens of families that up appeared before the operations committee on november 3 that can passionately testify for the strong need for a playground along the waterfront of these communities. the lack of safe and convenient place for our children to play. in addition, the board of supervisors land use commanded -- committee will approve the legislation that will go before the full board of supervisors. a playground is not just a safe and convenient place for children to play, but a really important community asset. as many of you know, san francisco has a big problem with family flight. a playground will bring a list together and serve as a gathering place in strength and community ties, and hopefully help to reverse the trend in the city.

we are actively working collaborative league with all of the different constituent surrounding the park. we are listening to everyone's concerns, and we are doing our best to work to find a suitable location. we will never achieve it unanimous agreement on a location, but i am very confident we will come up with a location that will have overwhelming support from the committee. thank you for your time, and i urge you to support the legislation and help us to bring a playground to the community. >> think you. to go--- thank you. >> we know through our work that the city should be adopting in january that there is an absence of playground's a long waterfront. the planning department draws a circle around each playground

for a quarter mile in calls that the service territory. the entire waterfront is missing service territory within the playground. when you add things like busy streets, the challenges of hills, the distance of family can travel to a playground becomes even shorter. we are very much in support of creating opportunities in our part that provide amenities that serve demographics of our currently using the parks. we have to recognize as our city continues to increase in density, and as time goes on the demographics of each neighborhood change, and we need to provide access to help the recreation. so we're very much in support in finding location for a playground on the waterfront, and also acting as the fiscal sponsor to the friends of waterfront playground. we ask you recommend to the board of supervisors that we allow the potential for a playground, and that we can move forward with a committed a conversation about the west way -- best way to configure the opportunity.

our role will be to provide subsequent fund-raising and work with the department and the developing of the playground. the you in advance. -- thank you. >> good morning, commissioners i had prepared remarks, but from what i have heard so far, my remarks would be rendered super full list. my argument basically was that we need a playground in suberie berin park.

i will praise the recreation and parks department for what they have done for 202. i think the greatest thing was to get rid of the awful looking gazebo. when they got rid of that, that opened up this. green open space is such an important metric when you measure the quality of life in the metropolitan area, and that is why some of us are so adamant about seeing the green open space reserved. i did not have anything more to say other than i did get rid of what i have prepared to say. i will leave you with us thought that i invite you to look at the area. go visit 202. go visit 203. you might take a look at the abraham lincoln memorial that is located a few steps away.

the reason i think that is pertinent as i have been to several of these meetings, and the slippery slope argument has been surfaced several times initially ridiculed as silly. and i do not think it is silly. i think it is a serious issue. they wanted that memorial in lot 202. if it were not for opposition from the neighborhood, it would be there instead of where it is currently. look at 200 to, and 203 come and go look at the abraham lincoln memorial parkway ibrigade. thank you. >> richard. >> good morning, commissioners. i have gone and taken the trip

there. i have taken a walk through. and i have always noted the hides of the harbor when i go to look around at the sea wall. have you ever looked at the sea wall? it is underneath those rocks. i went there and took a look around. i tried to stay open minded. my big question has to do with, is it going to be a man at playground? -- manned playground? that was a big decision. when i look at it and is so small and does not have enough room, then i look at what can we do.

can we get the golden gate area? if we had gone bad or if we can, the tennis court and swimming pool, there would be a club house and that type of scenario are ready. if it is not going to be a large place, whether it is adult supervision present, there is a lot of current problems. yesterday when i went there there was a police dog where the policeman was there, and there was somebody there. he is sitting up on the high amount. i had a short visit again just yesterday. there is a real nice building

there on the corner. it has parking available. if you ever grab up that entire area, you can use the parking. we looked at that type of location. that one was a pretty nice place. people go to dog play areas in the morning and evenings. if you had to transport your own children, you can't go there in the evening -- you can go there in the evening. . thank you. >> irene and then maryland, please. -- marilyn. >> first of all, -- thank you.

first of all, i wanted to thank the recreation and parks department for the lovely job you did on refurbishing parcel 202. it really is a pleasure to what they're now, and i, and i think a great many people in the neighborhood, really appreciate what you did. i readily was very much against placing a playground first in the park, because the only place being discussed was lost 202, and it would seem to me a terrible affront to the work you did refurbishing the place to again that dig it up and put a playground in there. there is a shortage of green space in the area, now that it

picks that up, it would be a shame to destroy it. however, i realize that there is a need for a playground in the area, and so i have looked carefully at the park, and as many others who have spoken, i would be agreeable, as would many might -- many of my neighbors, to placing a playground in a lot to hundred three. so i just came to offer the idea of the alternative site. i just say that i agree to it. thank you. >> good morning, commissioners.

and it seems to be that may seey theme for the commission ty is lining up with numbers. i completely challenge the number of that there are 1000 children within the neighborhood, unless you are including chinatown, which has its own playgrounds. i live in the golden gateway center. there are no more than 50 children in the entire center. i have worked in a couple of those downtown preschools run by bright horizons. all of the children and those preschools go there because their parents work downtown. they do not live the downtown. the same is true of many of the children who go to the golden gate way tennis and swim clubs.

so we are not dealing with 1000 children. typical -- i do not know where she came up with those numbers. , but i doubt she can. and i also the think -- i also think you are not familiar with the neighborhood if you think it is a safe one for children to play an unsupervised. >> anyone else that would like to make public comment on this item? seeing none , public comment is closed. >> questions? >> i move we moved staff recommendation. take a moved and seconded. all those in favor? it is unanimous. >> we are now on item number

nine, a general public comment continued. if there is anyone who did not comment on item 4 and would like to meet general public comment, if you could come forward now, please. general public comment item number nine is closed. we are on the item number 10, public comment on all matters pertaining to the closed session. one is the conference with legal counsel in regard to existing litigation, and the second is public employee performance evaluation. i have one card, which is nancy. if you could come forward after we're done with that. >> good morning.

today he will evaluate performance of the general manager. well you consider all that he has done to reorganize the department and raise new revenue, i would like you to also add that way the way he has done his job and the cost to the reputation of the department by his actions. every city department has financial challenges, but the unfortunate decisions he has made to solve these problems really did an unprecedented backlash from the very people you are meant to serve. his unwillingness to work with all of the various constituents to achieve compromises and his secretive, deceptive practices have led to the following actions during his tenure. four lawsuits to the city. sharp park endangered species issue, and the promise of a lawsuit over the l.a. soccer field if no compromise is achieved.

two actions brought by the board of supervisors in reaction to his poor management decisions. one that attempted to change the commission, and another that had a ballot measure. a decision by the sunshine or dance task force that found he was guilty of willful failure and official misconduct for withholding public records and referral of this case to the ethics commission. the weakening of the public to the unwanted commercialization of our parks that has resulted in new protest groups forming like take back our parks, keep the arboretum 3, and a new group at dolores park. -- keep the arboretum free. this list is not exhausted, but

it portrays a pattern of the public reaction to his offensive management style and bad judgment. the general manager refuses to listen to people. we feel like his philosophy is my way or the highway. please address these deficiencies during his evaluation and instruct him that improvement is needed. we deserve better treatment and full respect from the general manager. thank you. >> thank you. suzanne dumont. marilyn cone. sandy weil. >> you can fool some of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time. three sunshine ordinance violates in -- violations have proved positive in his desire to deceive the public whenever he can.

he should look at the violations if you have it. i want to say the whole park thing, what a joke. let's have some real management. beyond deception, heavy metal late -- heavy-metal lead paint contamination, even after park advocates told him again and again it was there. proposal after proposal that he ignores and says he will protect the environment, but then it ignores the environment in the community. this is not revitalization. you do not want to be part of this. this is wholesale privatization for political gain. fire him. >> president chiu and

commissioners, my name is oscar frick. i am opposed to continuing him as general manager. he proposed increasing the soccer field at the west and edge of the golden gate park. the mcclellan family built the boat house 65 years ago and ran a concession ever since. for the past five years he gave him only a month-to-month lease. he did not put much money into magnets. when it out -- went out for a new lease, the staff took a mexico serve in your company to

advise him to employ a a well- connected service lobbyists. it was a rigged a bid. he paid no attention to 3000 signature petitions to keep the old boathouse. the city is now stuck with a cafe and souvenir shop instead of a working boathouse. therefore i strongly opposed retaining mr. ginsberg as general manager. >> maryland and and sandy. - marilyn and then sandy. >> it really is a funny kind of masth to burn $400,000 and in

use 1.9 million to cover up the destruction. he does not just withhold information from you, he is also extremely deceptive when he appears before the board of supervisors. he much wanted non-resident fees for the arboretum, botanical garden has been generating very little income. so when the board of supervisors review the matter, he claims there are statistics, and they show that's the attendance is down by half, even san franciscans who do not to pay will not go there, because it has become a commercialized

center. i have heard young mothers did up before the board of supervisors and complain that striding has become a ghost town. mr. ginsberg, oh,, well, a lot of people still go there. direct quote. you should be aware this is not an honest man. he does not come from california, and i think he has no notion of california or san francisco ethics. >> i just want to make sure that if you base any of your job performance of mr. ginsberg on

the neighborhood parks council survey that was taken within the past year, i would suggest you ask the neighborhood parks council for the survey's prior to them compiling their survey, because they gave those surveys, my understanding, to mr. ginsburg for time to review, respond to, and probably more than likely for time to edit. that was before the report was released to the public. to me, it seems there need to be a separation of non-profit survey reviews, and the department they are reviewing it the survey is to be objective. i want to add there is a lot of great work. i see that gardeners working hard on a daily basis making ever park pretty, which i

totally appreciate, is that a ways give thanks to the hard working janitors who keep the bathrooms clean. on the other hand, many of the top management under the supervision of mr. ginsberg, i believe has behaved in an irresponsible, and i believe unethical behavior has taken place, especially with my experience in the past two years in regard to boathouse contracts of which our group pointed out a lot of errors. as mentioned, it has been reported now that lying has taken place about emails in regards to commonwealth club meeting, that the sunshine commission has reported there has been unethical behavior on that. i request that you as a commission really look extremely carefully under the very pretty

smile of mr. ginsberg -- i am serious, he is very charming. you are very charming. yet i think there's an underlying deceitful way of him and his top management. not all of the top management, but a lot of the top management i have met. the last thing is about public meetings. a lot of the decisions are made prior to public input, and that is backwards in my opinion. thank you. >> anyone else that would like to make public comment on those items in closed session? cnn, public comment is closed. we do need a boat as because of the litigation matter. -- seeing none, public comment

is closed. >> motion to go into closed session. >> so moved. >> moved and seconded. we will go into executive session. take a can i please ask everyone to leave the room.