any hotels over the waterfront. there is property on the embarcadero for that. >> somebody told me there were 11 different agencies, probably more that regulate the use of the space. >> it is the city and town of santa cisco, the port, -- of san francisco, the port, the army corps of engineers, fish and game, boating and wildlife. >> every time somebody wants to do something, and has to go through all of these review agencies. >> it makes it very interesting. >> the port is really a separate administrative jurisdiction. the ferry boat we are not on the -- a theory but we are on is not regulated by them. at the port has its own authority granted by state law, state charter which says they have their own building department, they issue their own permit, planning department.

it is a separate government organization. >> the primary mission as described by state land, number one, to provide for maritime commerce, navigation. no. 2, it is to protect natural resources. third, it provides facilities that attract people to the waterfront. that is what the state land commission is. the port does not share a budget with the city. they cannot collect any tax revenue. they do not have any taxing authority. the port lives and dies by the revenue it generates on the port property. >> how is the ferry building doing in terms of creating revenue? >> it has been phenomenally successful. we are fully leased. the active merchants are incredibly happy to be part of the vibrant community. >> this is one of the most see

places in san francisco. anybody who comes here from out of town, you have to walk through the ferry building. >> there are a lot of visitors here. definitely a lot of locals, too, who feel strongly about the connection to the marketplace. >> you were mentioning that this is pierre -- pier 14. >> first, it was a brick water for the downtown ferry terminal, constructed in 2001. after that, we added public access on top of it and connected it to the land side. now is eight 637-foot-long public access pier to enjoy the day, watched the very activity. there is a little bit of art on top of it. there are swivel chairs on a it

and there are little sea >> can you t about proposition a that may affect this waterfront parks -- that may affect the waterfront? >> of the voters approved proposition 8. >> which was how much? >> the total bond was $135 million. it will improve about 6 open spaces on the waterfront. it 11 years ago, the port developed its first ever land use plan, and part of that list policy for continuous open waterfront of 7 1/2 miles of the port of san francisco waterfront and in public spaces every five-seven minute walking intervals. over the last 10, 11 years, we have been implementing that. now, proposition a, that will

allow us to add about six more. >> this is part of a bay trail? >> not the sand and cisco bay trail, which goes all the way around the bay -- the sand and cisco bay trail, which goes for all the way around the bay. >>. walking trail or bicycle? >> it is both. >> ok, dan has to go. thank you very much. >> thank you, enjoy the water. >> ok, we're going to go around to the front door and look at this. the ferry building was originally built on woodpiles. that were driven down into the mud. not the bad rock. it is almost impossible to find bad rap here -- it is almost impossible to find that rocked

-- bedrock. they brought this so they could build the ventilation shaft, and the construction materials were brought here. the same thing is true if you go up to camp mather. a lot of what you see at camp mather was built, part of the construction shack and places for people to lift when they build the dam. the same thing is true here. this is the bart ventilation shaft and the ferry. the average water depth isz about 40 feet, and that is about right. on this side of the bay, we have average depths better 35, 40, 50 feet. the east side of the bay is very

shallow. then the larger ships that come through need to have at least 40 feet. they actually have to dredge up some of it. there is a very limited channel through the bed. in a sailboat, you cannot turn and get out of the way. next, we're going to walk across the plaza and into the ferry building. we will have over and stop at this store, and we have not all of these phenomenal mushrooms. -- and we have all of these phenomena mushrooms. >> they have an official title and placard. he is one of our tenants. ihe started out as a beat cop in san francisco, helping out at the farmers' market. he had grown up at a farm. he started getting interested in

mushrooms, and it has grown into this incredible business. >> are any of these local? >> their family farm is at moth landing. they also going to the forest, and they did not tell anybody where they're going because there are very particular. you will see a forger walking through a building with a mushroom that the found after a big rainstorm and probably bring it in here. them excellent. i have never seen some of these before. the lion's mane mushroom? some of these are great. >> i love mushrooms. i am a big portobello fan. they are phenomenal. >> and the prices are the same

as they are anyplace else, very reasonable. >> very reasonable, and it is going right to the grower. this is an organic meat company. since 1968, there has been no foreign cows or cattle and there. as a very pristine, beautiful meet. could i have you explain the dates? >> sure. the tag number is right on the label. that allows us to trace the steer back to its mother, it's mother's mother, how they were raised, how they lived. >> what is on sale today, what

is the special day? >> >> everything is special. >> the caveman pork chop. >> fascinating. bone in. wow. >> that is something you do not see very often. the belly is attached. >> bacon and the loin, if you so desire. thank you very much. >> in 1999, we put out a rfp to restore the building. they decided to restore this in the middle of the building and opened up this cut out to connect the bottom floor with this area that was traditionally storage for luggage, trunks and supplies for the ferries. the connected the bottom floor

with the skylight and really open up the building. >> is still open? >> it was still open it, and the second floor was the original waiting room. the port was very intrigued by the local business uses that would be down here. it took about four years to restore the building, and it took close to two years to lease it because we started early in the redevelopment of the building. we are fully leased. lots of wonderful partisans -- lots of wonderful artisans. >> unqualified success. >> in the 1950's, after the bridges were built, the port and the ferries stopped in the late 1950's. at the port was looking for new ways to build revenue. that is when they started to chop up the building on the second and third floor into small offices.

that brought revenue, but also took away a lot of the historic elements. it was mostly restaurants beneath. then in 1972, the ferry started. in 1989, we had the earthquake that rendered the double decker freeway on safe. -- unsafe. >> in 1989, the ferry building was a symbol of the earthquake because the clock stopped and the flagpole on the top was tipped over at 10 degrees. this became a symbol of the earthquake. this is sort of the end product of finally taking care of all the damage that was brought by the earthquake. >> when the freeway was taken down, it provided this visual corridor and reconnected the city to the building and that opened up the dialogue. the original urban planning of san francisco, always wanted the

ferry building to anchor bourbon st. it is amazing that the freeway up there has been changed around to see the visual connection, literally all the way up market street to the ferry building. it it feels like the heart of san francisco. >> what shop is this? >> a chocolate shop. this is one of our original farmers market food are lessons -- food artisans. he uses a lot of wonderful local ingredients, lavender, and also incredible lime that he then dips in key lime juice and then they are dried. then they are dipped into a beautiful artisan chocolate, and it to me epitomizes what it is all about, local ingredients, very traditional french techniques when it works with

the chocolate. i want you guys to try it. it is super, super good. >> yes, i will take a piece here. enjoy. enjoy. take one and pass it around. san francisco has become a chocolate center. >> dear deli, they realize they're not going to make money with gold, one back to france and brought back chocolate equipment. and longtime chocolate tradition. >> i was reading house so many people came here for the6ñ and some of the smart people stay here because they said these people are going to need services, food, places to stay,

entertainment. people bought land and made buildings. some people made their fortunes in the gold fields, but a lot of people who started their companies after the gold rush made it really big. some of them are still here, historic buildings, is sort restaurants -- historic restaurants, and we're trying very hard to preserve not just the physical brick and mortar of san francisco boat -- san francisco history, but there is also a real push to preserve the cultural, meaningful institutions, businesses, restaurants, other services. i encourage you all to support san francisco businesses. there are so many old restaurants. this is some serious chocolate. >> it is really good. q%?>> our groves were planted r

100 years ago. it is called the silver ridge ranch, and it is all spanish olives, extra virgin, less than 0.8% at the city. -- acidity. we offer a house plant, which is a nifty blend of five types of spanish olives, which incorporates this into that. we also offer a tangerine olive oil, a new product, fresh tangerines. you taste possessed from the appeal of the tangerine. -- you taste the zest from the peel. >> emerge very well. excellent.

they sell different types of salt here which are a big thing in it killing our world. i have found at home that it makes a big difference the texture of the salt, not word is from -- where it is from. where is this from? >> it is from france, the top layer of of salt, a very fine salt. for every 80 pounds of the great salt, 1 pound of this is made. >> we did not really talk about the clock tower yet. at 230 feet tall, this is built as a replica of of the clock tower in spain. this was electrically i polite. electrically operated? >> correct, but it still can be run mechanically.

ithe clock master comes in at te time that it is changing. we also have clock watchers across the street who tell us if it is off by a second, so he is very attached to the clock. >> we have a clock master. and look at this, the hands of the clock. look how big they are. the holy mackerel. nobody is up here. but this. it the great seal of the state of california. this is a wonderful mosaic. >> it is wonderful. it was original to the building. tens of thousands of people cross by every day. this is the waiting area. the larger alcoves or for storage. and the big plants that would go out to meet the ferries. people would come out to meet the ferries.

and then go to the trolley cars. the family of the original artisan still lives in the bay area and they come by every so often to make sure that it is in tact and being taken care of. furry little repair to it. this is the before and after, 1910 to 1960's, 1970's. this is what the building looked like during that time. it was under plywood and carpeting for about 30 years. this was amazingly preserved underneath all of that when it pulled up. >> how to the ventilate this? are these operable? h[ph>> they are not. we have a cool air intake from the bay. because of the atrium, it would be nearly impossible for any air conditioning, so we have cool air intake on the bayside. that cools the building down.

when i first artwork in here, i was fascinated with all the arches, the repetitive arches. the original architect used it as a symbol of the talks in rome, a symbol of how important the water and the waterways are to us city. -- to the city. it looks like an aqueduct structure. >> what are the uses of this floor and above? >> we have about 10 it office spaces, private businesses, law firm, financial management, lobbying firms. there are all local businesses. -- they are all local businesses, very supportive of the marketplace. >> i know that some part of this building, the water goes underneath, the bay water is under there? >> yes. >> is it under the whole

building? >> there is a sea wall, probably right under where you are standing. a lot of it is on the pilings. >> i have seen a guy on a little boat that goes under there and make repairs. >> and also, the coast guard comes, anytime there are logs floating in the water, we have to call the coast guard. acting get hung up underneath the pipes. >> i want to thank you all for coming. thank you so much for your great information. i hope to see you all again next month for our next program. thank you very much.

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 just

i feel like all of us are starng to see what the problems in this country are. i think plenty of people are opinionated. i don't think there's many forums where you can really express yourself or try to make a difference or anything. i mean...wha'...whatdo... what do i do, ya' know? the only people that i'm able to affect are the people who care about what i have to say. there is something you can do,

but i'm sure it wouldn't be, uh...easy. different man: i get angry about it, but it's like... ya' know, in my own apartment. [laughs]

supervisor avalos: good morning, and welcome to the city operations and neighborhood services committee. my name is supervisor mar avalos, the chair. i am joined by supervisor elsbernd. we will be joined shortly by supervisor mar. the committee clerk is ms. gail johnson. >> all persons attending this meeting are requested to turn off all cell phones and pagers. if you submit copies of materials to the members of the committee, please submit an extra copy to the file. if you wish to hand in speaker cards, please put them in the container by the rail in front of you, to your left. supervisor avalos: ok, thank you. please call the first item. >> hearing on the city's response to the surge in homelessness, and families and for various city agencies, including the her --