ed lee. los angeles also passed a similar resolution on april 15. the mayors and lost angeles are on record as asking the u.s. congress to bring the war dollars, and san francisco is not. please fix that. please pass the resolution. thank you very much. >> good morning. my name is paul lowe rodriguez. -- pablo rodriguez. and we are one of the largest institutions, not only in the state of california but in the whole country. madam we have 110,000 engines and over 2000 members. -- we have a 110,000 students and over 2000 members. that is the voice of concern.

and it is very alarming that due to the cuts and the priorities, we're losing hundreds of thousands of students. supervisor avalos, i am very proud of you for bringing this resolution. i am also proud of being in your district. you are my supervisor, and i am very happy you are here. just a few days ago we have this little meeting with some of the veterans, and one of them came and talked to us and said do not talk to me because i am all war veteran. i feel that what we did was just destruction. we destroyed the lives of thousands of people. now i am here, and i am going to work against the war machine. ithis is costing all of us $1

million to keep one soldier in afghanistan. do you know what we can do with that money in our own city? we have a budget the opposite for $14 million. we're going to lose hundreds of thousands of students and classis. and that is why when we met with our union leaders and students, that is the word we are bringing here. let's help our own people in the united states of america. let's bring the money home and at sto stop. we are the richest nation in the whole planet. instead of building bombs -- >> next speaker, please.

>> my name is amber rose. i am a veteran. i served in army for 6.5 years in active duty. thank you, supervisors, for introducing this resolution. i support this resolution, and here are a couple of reasons why. 6323 service members have been killed. 20%-50% of service members suffer from post traumatic stress disorder. that equals 2 350,000 to 900,000 service members suffering from a debilitating disorder. every day 32 veterans attempt suicide, and it -- and 18

succeed. the estimated cost of care is approximately $600 billion. i implore everyone you can hear my voice to do everything they can to bring the troops home and redistribute the money. passing this resolution is a step in the right direction. i really appreciate it. >> good morning. i am a member of the san francisco veterans affairs commission. i am a veteran. i support the resolution because veterans care is severely lacking. and while we're spending millions of dollars in iraq, we have people up to wait for mental health care. that is unacceptable. we have people waiting months

for doctors' appointments for simple injuries. the funds can be used to create jobs, because as of right now the veterans and a plenary is hovering around 18%. we always get parade for veterans day, but it is just what service. if people want to support us, you will pass the resolution. you will support the people that went to war. thank you. inpu>> good morning. i[inaudible] i have not seen the kind of despair and hopelessness in my nearly 40 years of teaching. obviously i would like to say a

few things that in my view can change things around. the specter of homelessness, rising unemployment, costing educational programs, disappearance of financial aid, and the hearts are filled with despair and hopelessness. all of the country's of the world, they are trying to strengthen their a educational programs. and and the basic amenities they feel their citizens deserve. we in this country are busy dismantling what ever we had. i always thought the purpose of military was the defense of our

country. if that is so, what are we doing with troops and more than 140 countries? we're in 63 countries. that is the abuse of our young men and women in uniform. it is being done at a cost of our needs and thus country. and i would just like to share with you a quotation from the famous irish playwright. i want to share this with you for a reason. he said america is the only country in the world that has gone directly from barberry is some to decadence without once stopping in civilization. let's prove him wrong. >> good morning.

i am one of the code-founders of progressive democrats here in san francisco. one of our our reach activities. one of our desires is to reach out to people who do not know we're here today. we gather signatures for various

citizens for -- from the homeless all the way up [inaudible] to really express their desire to follow this campaign. campaign has not been going on long, but it is a combination of many groups working together to know we have a chance to turn this around. for many years people have written letters, faxes, emails to their congress people and to no avail. we're now realizing that this step will make a difference in moving this wonderful campaign for work. thank you very much. >> my name is joan the eisie ei. we have endorsed this resolution. the club members strongly support the principles of the new priorities campaign. the several budget priorities are definitely the business of the boards of supervisors. the cities and states are starving. the trickle-down theory has been proven not to work. instead of benefits trickling

down, they are not there at all. in there have been programs cut -- there have been programs cut at the rec center where i used to take my dog. there was a wonderful challenge there. the coach the kids and provided help with after-school programs. the people there were inspired to organize a holiday gift program for the younger kids. that is all now gone. it is important to spread this movement from the ground up all across the country. get the people in congress to listen to us instead of the big money donors. -- big money investors.

these are actually the war profiteers and polluters. budget priorities say a lot about values and where this country is right now, the values are shameful. >> thank you very much. nick speaker. >> good morning. i am vera hale. you know me because i am with tears speaking about improving services for the disabled. today i would like to mention war does not work. we've seen this in the past 10 years more than any other time. we have seen terrorism still grows, in spite of what we do. we have advanced to the point where it is like joe mccarthy's 1950's when people were being -- were afraid of being called a communist. now people are afraid of being

called a terrorist. nelson mandela was called a terrorist, too. homeland security will still be there, and they are the ones that have made life more difficult for anyone from the middle east who lives in the united states, and other people, too, because they think they are puritae. i think we need to look at how to bring about peace. even nixon knew you did not send the general to end the war in vietnam, especially when you're not winning. you send a diplomat with great skills, and i think we need to do that. i think we need to make sure your resolution gets looked up by congress woman barbirolli who is the only one in congress that has consistently voted to end the war and send no more troops and no more appropriations.

i support your resolution, and hope you will spread it widely. >> thank you. next speaker, please. >> good morning, supervisors. my name is roger scott appeared i. i am also an army veteran. many people join me in tandem -- commending you for bringing this resolution forward, and certainly we hope the majority of the board of supervisors will have your perspective on this issue. small-minded people, including local journalists to mistake cynicism for revolution. my question to those people is, what is more democratic, patriotic and rational than the demand by the people of san

francisco and their elected representatives of the u.s. government and the disastrous undeclared wars and the bloody chaos of the occupation and then redirect billions of dollars in savings to fund education, health care, and other human services? the deficit and helped -- california is comparable to the amount california residents pay in income taxes. and a high percentage of the people of this country and rock the world oppose the wars and occupation. and i feel sadness and outrage when i see people in listing an armed forces because they cannot afford to go to college. when men and women joined reserve units to have a higher standard of living and then are sent to kill or be killed in distant countries, stop the wars and occupation. bring the money home. >> think you.

-- thank you. >> good morning, supervisors. thank you for this resolution. in i am a veteran of the vietnam war, the early part i was in the navy. i am a member of veterans for peace, although i am speaking for myself. we all know the " from eisenhower that the military industrial complex represents those that are hungry and it cetera. as i get older i see this more and more. we have 1000 bases around the planet, and it is time to be engaged to empire-building. it is going in the exact opposite direction of what humans need. the kind of corruption we of seen come out of halliburton is

outstanding. when i was in the navy i washed my own clothes. 60 minutes reported that we taxpayers are paying $100 every time a load of clothes is washed in the middle east. this is insanity. this is the kind of waste that cut of the various description of where the services are being cut that you've been hearing this morning. i ride the buses and see the homeless, but i do not see the homeless anymore, i see the number one third. the suicide rate has been pointed out as increasing. i have been spending more and more time working on the front lines, seeing how the veterans have long waiting times. not enough services. as a senior myself i realize seniors are treated very poorly by comparison to the way they

are in europe. and i think we can get there. occupy people are taking care of the hungry. why is that? there is not enough money in the public sector. we need to bring the war dollars home, and i hope to see a commitment from the public sector to see the commitment with occupy people are. >> thank you. the speaker, please. -- next speaker, please. >> my name is tony bellway. i appreciate the resolution of the board, however, i must say i am disappointed that this is a fairly toothless resolution. i would prefer to see one that held phones nancy pelosi accountable for their actions in these wars. i would prefer resolution of condemnation of those women them to appear before this board and

be answerable for their actions. a resolution aimed at generally of the federal government knows -- goes nowhere because we are so small, but those women live in this town. they are our elected representatives. we should pay heat on them to end this war. they are two of the most powerful people in washington. hothis resolution does nothing o mention either one. please reconsider and put more teeth in this. thank you. >> thank you. next speaker, please. >> good morning. my name is sandra schwartz. i serve on the steering committee for the new priorities campaign, and i would like to thank all of you for bringing this resolution. i look forward to a passing. so much has already been said.

i would like to offer this, because i think a picture says 1000 words. here we have the discretionary budget, and those of you better here for the parks see there is 1%. those of you that are here for the park, 1% of the discretionary budget goes for the environment parks, 1% for the department of interior, and go through all of the things we care about until you get to the military budget, which goes on and on. the 2012 budget is now projected to be 60% of discretionary spending. at the same time we are experiencing deep and painful cuts that are experiencing so many hard chips. -- so many hardships.

this issue is not simply a lack of money. as we said, it is an issue of how we're spending money. right now the u.s. is spending 1.9 $8 million every minute. that is nearly $2 million every minute of every day on systems devoted to violence, aggression and military might. to my mind this is shameful and must be stopped. we're spending $2 million in wars while letting our children go hungry, cutting essential home health services for people. this is not acceptable, and it is everyone's responsibility to say so. if any elected official and any level, it is even more critical for you to stand up and say no. we need to demand military and budget cuts and redirect the savings to take care of the people at home. i have a lot of copies of this if people would like.

supervisor avalos: 3 cards left. anyone else that like to speak, please come forward. >> hello, and good morning. thank you again for having these hearings. it is really an opportune moment in our history when it looks like the u.s. people are searching for transformational change. hence the cry, attacks the 1%, their taxes on corporations. we would integrate those messages with, bring the war dollars home. there is lots of talk about the deficit reduction in military spending, and the plan is in 2013 to do 50% reductions in military spending, as well as social needs, which is very

unfortunate. the truth is the scholars to do research on military spending say we're not talking about real money in the pentagon until we get to 50 billion. 50 billion would be what is cut in 2013 if it the opposite plans go through. remember, barney frank and ron paul did a bipartisan commission on military spending in 2010. they found this -- that one trillion dollars in pentagon waste could be saved over a 10- year time. we're now talking about 100 billion that could be cut every year. that is real money. this summer the congressional progressive caucus did an anti- austerity budget, and they came up with 2.3 trillion savings in

military spending. that would be an incredible -- coupled with taxing the wealthy and corporations, that would be a real important step forward for our people. we hope you will. representative nancy pelosi does talk about saving entitlement programs, but it is very contradictory, because she has voted for every single war spending measure. it would be great if you could speak to her when you have time. thank you very much. supervisor avalos: thank you. next speaker, please. >> my name is lori readerman. every year the board of supervisors struggles with the budget. we argue over the relative to imports of health care, education, senior programs,

parks and recreation, transportation, infrastructure, and so on. the federal funds - 4 and wars and weaponry would go along with desorbing -- solving the shortfalls. it is therefore totally appropriate for the board of supervisors to insist on this resolution. the fact of the u.s. congress and mainstream media treat this as sacrifice it must be challenged in every available public platform. this is what democracy looks like. thank you for sponsoring this resolution. thank you. supervisor avalos: 6 speaker, and anyone else that would like to comment on this item, please come forward. >> thank you for submitting this resolution. i happen to agree it should take on the of the policy and feinstein. a couple of points, i think this idea that in our locality we cannot deal with these issues at our level is a form of cowardice

politically, because what it really says is we will let the 1% direct every aspect of our economy, direct everything going on in the country, and when local people say what are you doing with our tax dollars, what are you doing -- doing killing but millions of people, they say it is a local issue. it is cowardice and political cowardice. i agree with the speaker earlier that said he believes all 11 supervisor should support this. what we have to see is a 1 percent occupied the entire country in every aspect of our lives, and occupied most parts of the world, and it is time that the people who really occupy the world have a real control. it has to start locally at every locality, and we need to push back. i can recall when i was in law

school, i basically gave that up because the war in vietnam was going on, and people did not know about it. i spent all of my time talking to people about the war. we helped build an anti-war movement that helped stop the war. i think what is really important is the push back. this is part of that. thank you very much. supervisor avalos: thank you. >> go ahead and cut the budget. go ahead and cheap a friend. -- cheat a friend. there will not be any trumpets blowing on the budget day. when you bring it back, the budget for the military and bring the budget back today. [applause]

supervisor avalos: i am not sure we need another speaker after that. seeing no one else come forward, we will close public comment. colleagues, we have this item before us. i want to thank the new priorities campaign for there's work on the resolution coming forward. labor and faith and community groups that are here today and in touch with constituencies around the city and in the bay area. thank you for your work. this is a small resolution with the big message that is clear. we are going in a direction that is leading us to a future that is very bleak. if we cannot look at our future generations and take care of veterans and continue to cause damage around the world with our

military spending, we are heading off a cliff. this is a voice in the other direction that i support. i want to thank my colleagues for supporting this resolution as well. supervisor marc, thank you. that would like to motion we move this forward with recommendations. -- supervisor mar, thank you. >> on the motion to forward item six to the full board with a recommendation, supervisor mar? mar aye. elsbernd, no. avalos, aye. there are two ayes, and one no. i will go to the full board with recommendation. one more item before us. it will be the longest one of

the day. i do need to take a five minute break before that. we will return 1/4 to 12. i appreciate you colleagues. supervisor avalos: are back. if you could please call item no. 8. >> item #8 to require the recreation and park department to offer long-term management agreement to the national park service for certain property under the jurisdiction of the recreation and park commission located in san mateo county that is within the golden gate national park area legislative boundary sharp park and making environmental and other findings. findings. supervisor avalos: think you,