that pre-existing, and we really want to maintain that in the best way possible. i also want to point out to you one other thing. we have a very serious concern about our neighbor and right now, and that is on palometa. there is flooding every winter, and every winter, that keeps getting worse. why? there is a large storm drain, and as a result of no longer maintaining that, we have seen the silt and the reeds take over. i really want you to consider all these factors and consider that the city of basra but that is absolutely opposed to turning this into something other than a golf course. thank you. supervisor avalos: thank you very much. >> good afternoon, supervisors. thank you for serving the city

and county of san francisco. this is an amusing one and a tough one, but somebody has to make a decision, and it falls on your plate. you are the elected beneficiaries of this issue today, and you are going to have to make a decision. i am in total agreement with everything that has been said here. there are several issues on two different sides of a golf course, if you will, but you, again, have to make that decision. many oppose this legislation on the terms of, i think they are passing the buck. this is something that we, the people of san francisco, should need to resolve. this is the greatest city in the united states of america, and you represent us. we have got a lot of smart people and resources. figure it out. our current mayor, i remember

one of the statements was get the job done. why shine of the responsibility and pass the buck to the b -- ggnra? figure it out. you guys are smart. figure it out. recreation and park, it has been dysfunctional. there have been a lot of leadership changes. you have a tough job, but keeping an house. do not pass it off. thank you. supervisor avalos: thank you. next speaker, please. >> hi, i have three letters for your board. i am with an alliance. i have a letter of december 5, today. [inaudible]

[no audio] supervisor avalos: now. >> thanks. i have a major procedural point here, which is that there has been no environmental impact report on this.

your vision on the legislation seems designed to avoid the necessity for an environmental impact report, but even your revised legislation directs the city to negotiate with an entity that is on the record on september 15 that it will not do anything other than close the golf course, so when you are directing your agency to negotiate on the record, and their official position is that they will not do anything other than close the golf course, that is an action under ceqa, because that is the only place it can go. we have been here for five hours. you bet that no one here from the ggnra is said they were reconsidering it or did not

mean that or taking it back. that is the point. the notion that you're going to spend six months or are thinking about it is an avoidance of the requirement for environmental impact study. what are you afraid of? it is like the other gentleman said earlier. bring in on. get the environmental statement. the issue is not only a historic a golf course. you have very substantial scientists on the record. can i have a number minute? i represent a very large number of people. supervisor avalos: no, that is your time, mr. harris. it is the same as everyone else's. >> documentation. supervisor avalos: thank you.

>> good afternoon, supervisors. my name is drenched. i am a director. i fully support this ordinance because it was a san francisco money and help us save two of the most in peril species in the bay area. if the ceqa process says so, a public park that everyone can enjoy, not just golfers. i want to talk about the legal issues. i am also an attorney. one is about whether the california act needs to apply now or if it can happen sometime later when a project has actually been proposed, and this is important for a reason has to do with the long history of this issue. the city of san francisco has produced a draft environmental impact report for -- sharp park

and others. many submitted a large body of evidence and said you should include an alternative that would partner with the other area, and even considering that alternative, the city rejected it without consideration and refused to even presented in the eir said that public bodies like yourself could evaluate it. this fixes the problem. this was a fundamental problem with that existing ceqa document, which makes it fundamentally liable in court. ask the ggnra if they would partner with you. put it together, and we would consider alternatives would san mateo county and others, and pick the best alternative at the end of the day. what this does is good government. it gives the policymakers of the city the ability to see the

alternatives in the light of day and not have it precluded in backroom deals before the decision makers ever get a chance. we are also involved in litigation with sharp part. we will go to trial this summer, and we will prevail, and we will get an injunction, and i think you for my time. supervisor avalos: thank you very much. [applause] next speaker, please. >> i am here to support this legislation with sharp park. as a goal for myself, i feel that the restoration of the park would be the best thing to do. we are pumping water out to see every day -- sea every day.

it goes against the endangered species act. i think turning it into a national park would be the best way. it would open it up to use to anybody regardless of personal interest or economic class. it would be saving millions of dollars as taxpayers. we would be saving a lot of water that we used to irrigate the place. thank you for taking the time to hear what i have to say. thank you. >> thank you. >> i am from san bruno. focusing the discussion only on golf is a mistake. the berm with beach activities and running are equally imperiled by the ordinance. this is a land use discussion about sharp park is open for health and well-being or is a new frog inclosure the confines

people to narrow trails. modern recreation is a dishonest code for people out. supervisor avalos, you got it right when he said to take it back. the national park service continues to reneg on its promises to keep recreation in place. the chief biologist crystallized the extremist thinking on recreation in 2005 when she said that ocean beach without people is an incredible habitat. people think of it as a sandbox with their backyards. the people of san francisco reserve officials who listen and promote local health and well- being. in listening to the discussion earlier today on ordinance seven talking about the federal government and how they are not

listening to the people and how the fans are out of sync with san francisco and how money used for other things takes away from san francisco, to me that totally applies to this. ggr runs about 80,000 acres of san francisco park. any money spent on the massive restoration is taking it away from other places where there is not even an adequate bathrooms. i encourage you to take more time. do not push this through to the board of supervisors before people have a chance to look at it. thank you. >> thank you. next speaker. >> thank you for taking the time to listen to all of us. we have produced a lot of testimony for you to digest. i work for the san francisco bay chapter of the sierra club. we represent 30,000 members in

the counties closest to the bay. this was a habitat's campaign, the idea of the sierra club believe we can practice and more managed natural retreat of the coast line to protect the habitat for species and people. there are people that lived behind the golf course. eventually, the sea will rise and we will have to do with the way to protect them. in natural system will create dunes. the berm will erode. we can create the back area berm to protect the area. i am glad the mayor from pacifica is here to hear that. the natural shoreline is the best protection for those people. if you invest a lot of resources into a golf course including the current proposal to dredge the lagoon, you are only just to

find a further need to protect the resources the city and county invested by building a sea wall. there are few places where you have a natural shoreline. this happens to be one of them. it is rare treasure for that and the lagoon's system that is fresh water. you can read more about it in the study produced by the esa and pwa. it was not considered when the department was creating their proposal to maintain 18 holes of golf. i am submitting it for the record. i would also like to mention that they did not seem to be aware that there is a clause in the audience -- ordinance to maintain their jobs. if it is approved and the golf course is closed, they will

offer positions to all employees consistent with civil service rules and collective bargaining agreements. [tone!] i am also submitting a, for someone who was not able to be here. -- a comment for someone who was not able to be here. i want to submit 1000 petitions and would rather see it used as trios instead of a golf course. you have already received countless similar petitions. thank you. [applause] >> good afternoon. i am here representing the san francisco green party and the local grassroots organization our city. a few speakers were in strong support of the avalos legislation to restore it as a

habitat. a few people have touched on the big picture, climate change and other human impacts to habitats. i want to bring that into sharp focus. i want to remind people that last week, climate scientists said human beings have five years to get our act together on the climate crisis or we are facing a serious disaster. any scientist you talk to will tell you the human species and its impact on the climate have become the equivalent of emir of striking the planet similar to the one that wiped out the dinosaurs. any biologist will tell you we are already on the way to losing massive numbers of species on the planet.

you can see it happening all around us. that brings us to key species. these are threatened and endangered species because they are hanging on by their toenails. they are not thriving. [tone!] with the global warming problems coming into the coast line especially with a berm artificially holding seawater in when it floods, the golf course is an anvil. the species are on that. the climate humans and induced are the hammer striking and will. we should restore it to the natural habitat without a golf course. -- striking the anvil.

>> are there any other members of the public who would like to comment? now is the time. see no one come forward, i will close public comment. i would like to thank all of them members of the public on all sides of the issue for being here and spending most of your day to be here. clearly we have a piece of legislation that there is a lot of passion about on both sides. i do believe there are good intentions on both sides of the issue. the environment to one is one that i happen to side with. -- the environmental one is the one that i happen to side with an think is critical. it is not just saving money for the city and county. it is about having the best method of protecting species.

that is why i am supporting and came forward with the legislation. i want to thank all of the committee groups that came forward, especially the sierra club, the wild equity institute, for their work on the legislation. the legislation in its current form is not without controversy. i believe with an amendment that we are moving forward with a process -- an ordinance that is not a project and does not require ceqa before its passage. that can hold out until tomorrow to move forward if we can move this out of committee without recommendations to the full board as a committee report for tomorrow, i think that would be

one method i would appreciate. appreciate supervisor elsbernd 's support in that knowing he will not ultimately support the legislation. that seems to be where we're at right now. the meeting has gone long. our other committee on a colleague -- our other colleagues on the committee is in the land use committee, supervisor mar:, does not have the ability to be here. supervisor elsbernd: has agreed to set the motion to move forward as a committee report without recommendations to tomorrows full board meeting. we can take out without objection. so be it. we will do that tomorrow. ok. madam clerk, after an hour-long

discussion on this item, which i am sure will continue again tomorrow, we will adjourn this meeting. thank you for your time. >> yes, mr. chairman. ♪

there are so many ways that the internet provides real access to real people and resources and that's what we're try to go accomplish. >> i was interested in technology like video production. it's interesting, you get to create your own work and it reflects what you feel about saying things so it gives perspective on issues. >> we work really hard to develop very in depth content, but if they don't have a venue, they do not have a way to show us, then this work is only staying here inside and nobody knows the brilliance and the amazing work that the students are doing. >> the term has changed over time from a very basic who has a computer and who doesn't have a computer to now who has

access to the internet, especially high speed internet, as well as the skills and the knowledge to use those tools effectively. . >> the city is charged with coming up with digital inclusion. the department of telecommunications put together a 15 member san francisco tech connect task force. we want the digital inclusion program to make sure we address the needs of underserved vulnerable communities, not communities that are already very tech savvy. we are here to provide a, b and c to the seniors. a stands for access. b stands for basic skills and c stands for content. and unless we have all three, the monolingual chinese seniors are never going to be able to use the computer or the internet. >> a lot of the barrier is knowledge. people don't know that these computers are available to

them, plus they don't know what is useful. >> there are so many businesses in the bay area that are constantly retiring their computer equipment that's perfectly good for home use. computers and internet access are helping everybody in the community and people who don't have it can come to us to help with that. one of the biggest problems we see isn't whether people can get computers through programs like ours, but whether they can understand why they need a computer. really the biggest issue we are facing today is helping people understand the value of having a computer. >> immediately they would say can i afford a computer? i don't speak any english. how do i use it. then they will start to learn how to do email or how to go back to chinese newspaper to read all the chinese newspaper. >> a lot of the barrier still is around lack of knowledge or confusion or intimidation and not having people in their peer network who use computers in their lives. >> the important thing i

learned from caminos was to improve myself personally. when i first came to caminos, i didn't know anything about computers. the second thing is i have become -- i have made some great achievements as an individual in my family and in things of the world. >> it's a real issue of self-empowerment where new immigrant families are able to communicate with their families at home, able to receive news and information in their own home language, really become more and more connected with the world as well as connected even inside their local communities. >> if we value the diversity of our city and we value our diverse neighborhoods in the city, we need to ensure that they remain economically viable. equiping them and equiping residents in those areas with jobs that will enable them to stay in san francisco is critical to that. >> the important thing that i

see here at caminos is it helps the low income community, it helps the women who wouldn't have this opportunity otherwise. >> the workers with more education in san francisco are more likely to be able to working that knowledge sector. where they are going to need that familiarity with the internet, they are going to find value with it and use it and be productive with it every day. and half of the city's population that's in the other boat is disconnected from all that potential prosperity. >> we really need to promote content and provide applications that are really relevant to people's lives here. so a lot of the inspiration, especially among the immigrant community, we see is communications with people from their home country but we as much want to use the internet as a tool for people to connect within the local san francisco community. >> i think it's our job as public educators to give them this access and give them this opportunity to see that their efforts are being appreciated

beyond their immediate reach. >> you have to blend this idea of community network with computer equipment with training and with support. we can pull all that together, then we've got it. >> it's as much about social and economic justice -- in fact it's more about social and economic justice than justst

>> sanrio famous for the designs for hello kitty. i thought i would try to make it as cute as possible. that way people might want to read the stories. then people might be open to learn about the deities and the culture. ♪ they reached out to make about five or six years ago because of the book published. they appreciated that my work was clearly driven from my research and investigation. after i contributed my artwork, the museum was really beside themselves.

they really took to it. the museum reached out to me to see if i would be interested in my own space inside the museum. i tell them that would be a dream come true. it is the classical, beautiful indian mythology through the lens of modern design and illustration and storytelling. they're all of these great sketch as i did for the maharajah exhibition. i get a lot of feedback on my artwork and books. they complement. they say how original the work is. i am the first person to say that this is so derived from all of this great artwork and storytelling of the past. the research i put into all of my books and work is a product of how we do things that a-- at pixar.

sometimes you will see him depicted monkey-like or as superman. i wanted to honor his monkey coloring. i decided to paint him white with a darker face. it is nice to breathe new life into it in a way that is reverent and honors the past but also lets them breathe and have fun. it is almost a european notion to bring these symbols and icons from southeast asia. they decorate their deities. it was a god they interacted with every day in a human way. the most important thing has been to create work that is appealing to me. i want to see