pay so they can get adequate support to their families. especially older people who do not have the energy to come forward. i stand before you today, and my intellect is just as firm as it was years ago. my trade was being a cabinet maker. there is no type of machinery that i cannot work. however, i am turned away by certain people.

that is the big difference. i was not hear from the beginning of the proposal. whatever it is, i give my wholehearted support. supervisor chu: thank you. are there other members of the public that wish to speak on item 11? seeing none, public comment is closed. colleagues, this item is before us and there is an amendment before us as well. supervisor weener, did you have any closing comments? supervisor kim? supervisor wiener: yes, thank you for those of you came out today, supporting those, i

made earlier, as well as earlier legislation. there is always give and take. i appreciate on all sides, labor, departments, nonprofit, there has been give-and-take on this, and i appreciate that. i think with these amendments, this is strong legislation, and i hope we can move forward with a positive recommendation. i do want to note, with respect to landscaping services, the issue raised by local 261, my office had previously indicated my commitment to work with them, to work on drilling legislation, related to landscaping services. i think there is work to be done there. however, we also agreed we need to do more iresearch to see what

contracts were at issue, what the issues were, etc. we want to make sure, when the talk about prevailing wage legislation, potentially expanding the contracts covered, that we are doing so based on precise information, what is covered, what is not covered, where we want to go, where we do not want to go. i appreciate the work that was done on the city amendments. we will take a look at them. i am sure we will be meeting and talking about trailing legislation. for now, i would request the city adopt the amendments offered at the beginning of the hearing, and i hope, moved forward to the full board with positive recommendation. supervisor chu: thank you. supervisor mirkarimi? supervisor mirkarimi: thank you. sorry i was late. i was at the demolition of our jail no. 3, which was quite a

milestone, since it has taken several decades to get the wrecking ball in place. that was an important event for the city and county of san francisco, and our sheriff's department. my decision remains the same, as i indicated before. it has my full support. i am aware of the amendments proffered by supervisor wiener. i wanted to come back and take part in my last participating role here on the budget committee. more than happy to make a motion to accept the amendments and move forward with recommendations. supervisor chu: thank you, supervisor mirkarimi. supervisor kim? supervisor kim: i want to support the recommendation to move forward. i want to thank supervisor wiener's office for their

work. i also appreciate the cleanup around this law, especially around establishing the prevailing wage, and i appreciate the amendment around ensuring prevailing wage for all the workers here with city contracts, and also providing a logger employment transition period. when these contracts have been, they have huge impact on employees and their families. six months is a more humane amount of time to give to folks in order to find new jobs, even in an economy as difficult as today. i want to thank supervisor wiener;s's office. supervisor chu: thank you for being here. supervisor mirkarimi, thank you

for participating in your last board hearing here. [applause] of course, also the last budget meeting in particular. we want to thank you and wish you the best as sheriff of the city. i do want to articulate a few points. when this item came before us previously, there was a lot of concern in my mind about it because there are a lot of components that conflict with some of the things i believe in. for example, eliminating the small business exemption was something i was concerned with. i have been a purported to make sure we provide opportunities for small businesses. having an exemption seemed to make sense. one of the big concern for me on the small business component was to say, do we have the same level playing field at small businesses would have for participating, bidding in work for the city? that is why i appreciate the

amendment made through the help of ms. kelly and supervisor wiener to make sure we are providing the cost estimates, so that they are more in line of what i have been supportive of. i do appreciate that amendment. the other component that was problematic, not necessarily the concept, but how it would apply. this is the issue of the retention going from 90 to 180 days. while i agree it makes it easier for families to figure out what to do next to be able to survive with a 180-day window, as opposed to 90, i appreciate the fact that there are obstacles with keeping individuals for that long, if there are individual -- issues that come up. i want to thank the labor union

as well as supervisors for having the foresight to include exceptions when there is a layoff of some of the new employees. i think that is a strong provision of it. if there are issues of performance, making sure this does not apply when the contract is supposed be one time in nature. this makes sense and helps to ease my mind with regards to the retention time. i want to thank the labor union for agree to that, supervisor for adding that component. the third area where it was problematic for me, in terms of legislation, the issue about the nonprofit exemption issue. as we start to take a look at our budget and we look at what the impact on our departments will be, it is a potentially large impact, if there were certain nonprofits included in it. as some of the departments have articulated, our largest

contractors departments go out with millions and millions of dollars for lots of services that we sometimes do not think of, but have ancillary services that include janitorial. if this would apply to all those contracts as well, the impact financially on the city would be a much larger one that we would have expected. whenever we ask these departments to cut even a million dollars from their budget, it is painful. to see how these amendments would actually play out, proposals, is something that we would not anticipate just yet. i want to appreciate very much supervisor wiener's two amendments, which would include janitorial services, disabled individuals. i also want to appreciate the clarification language that you are including. the intent of this was never to

include organizations like larkin, homeless shelters, where we are providing residential service, contracting for residential service, whatever service it might be, mental health facilities. but there is an ancillary component that was janitorial. it was never meant to apply to that, but that was the intention of the law. i appreciate the clarification. i know our office will certainly work with you, supervisor, to make sure that the language included is tight, and i hope that the departments will help us make sure there is nothing we have overlooked in that regard. finally, the last component that was not clear in my mind was the issue about the definition of the employees. as i stated, the intent was to make sure individuals who were working were getting paid a prevailing wage. not necessarily which relationship is better, but the fact that they're getting paid

that amount. it sounds like there are many reasons why we do have to indicate it is an employee relationship, as opposed to independent contractor. at this time, i am comfortable moving forward with the legislation as amended, but i do hope that we can work in the ensuing week to clarify the employee-employer relationship, so i can better understand the issue. i think it is incumbent upon us to see whether this is the best approach. many small businesses, minority individuals work through an independent contractor relationship. that is the crux of why i am concerned about it. who gets left out of the employment opportunities and who does not? i really want to understand that component. based on those comments, comments of my colleagues, why don't we go forward with the motion.

there is a motion to accept the amendments that supervisor wiener move forward, recommendation to move to the full board. again, with the caveat that the employer works with the office to make sure that the languages all something that we intend. without objection. [applause] thank you again, supervisor mirkarimi. i wish everyone a happy new year. we have no other items before us. we are adjourned.

>> i have 2 job titles. i'm manager of the tour program as well as i am the historyian of city hall. this building is multifaceted to say the very least it's a municipal building that operates the city and county of san francisco. this building was a dream that became a reality of a man by the name of james junior elected mayor of san francisco in 1912. he didn't have a city hall because it was destroyed in the

earth wake of 1906. construction began in april of 1913. in december 1915, the building was complete. it opened it's doors in january 1916. >> it's a wonderful experience to come to a building built like this. the building is built as a palace. not for a king or queen. it's built for all people. this building is beautiful art. those are architecture at the time when city hall was built, san francisco had an enormous french population. therefore building a palace in the art tradition is not unusual. >> jimmie was an incredible

individual he knew that san francisco had to regain it's place in the world. he decided to have the tallest dome built in the united states. it's now stands 307 feet 6 inches from the ground 40 feet taller than the united states capital. >> you could spend days going around the building and finding something new. the embellishment, the carvings, it represents commerce, navigation, all of the things that san francisco is famous for. >> the wood you see in the board of supervisor's chambers

is oak and all hand carved on site. interesting thing about the oak is there isn't anymore in the entire world. the floors in china was cleard and never replanted. if you look up at the seceiling you would believe that's hand kof carved out of wood and it is a cast plaster sealing and the only spanish design in an arts building. there are no records about how many people worked on this building. the workman who worked on this building did not all speak the same language. and what happened was the person working next to the other person

respected a skill a skill that was so wonderful that we have this masterpiece to show the world today.

>> just a few steps away from union square is a quiet corner stone of san francisco's our community to the meridian gallery has a 20-year history of supporting visual arts. experimental music concert, and also readings. >> give us this day our daily bread at least three times a day. and lead us not into temptation to often on weekdays. [laughter] >> meridians' stands apart from the commercial galleries around union square, and it is because of their core mission, to increase social, philosophical, and spiritual change my isolated individuals and communities.

>> it gives a statement, the idea that a significant art of any kind, in any discipline, creates change. >> it is philosophy that attracted david linger to mount a show at meridian. >> you want to feel like your work this summer that it can do some good. i felt like at meridian, it could do some good. we did not even talk about price until the day before the show. of course, meridian needs to support itself and support the community. but that was not the first consideration, so that made me very happy. >> his work is printed porcelain. he transfers images onto and spoils the surface a fragile shes of clay. each one, only one-tenth of an inch thick. >> it took about two years to get it down. i would say i lose 30% of the pieces that i made. something happens to them. they cracked, the break during the process.

it is very complex. they fall apart. but it is worth it to me. there are photographs i took 1 hours 99 the former soviet union. these are blown up to a gigantic images. they lose resolution. i do not mind that, because my images are about the images, but they're also about the idea, which is why there is text all over the entire surface. >> marie in moved into the mansion on powell street just five years ago. its galleries are housed in one of the very rare single family residences around union square. for the 100th anniversary of the mansion, meridian hosted a series of special events, including a world premiere reading by lawrence ferlinghetti. >> the birth of an american corporate fascism, the next to last free states radio, the next-to-last independent

newspaper raising hell, the next-to-last independent bookstore with a mind of its own, the next to last leftie looking for obama nirvana. [laughter] the first day of the wall street occupation set forth upon this continent a new revolutionary nation. [applause] >> in addition to its own programming as -- of artist talks, meridian has been a downtown host for san francisco states well-known port trees center. recent luminaries have included david meltzer, steve dixon, and jack hirsch man. >> you can black as out of the press, blog and arrest us, tear gas, mace, and shoot us, as we know very well, you will, but this time we're not turning

back. we know you are finished. desperate, near the end. hysterical in your flabbergastlyness. amen. >> after the readings, the crowd headed to a reception upstairs by wandering through the other gallery rooms in the historic home. the third floor is not usually reserved for just parties, however. it is the stage for live performances. ♪ under the guidance of musical curators, these three, meridian has maintained a strong commitment to new music, compositions that are innovative, experimental, and

sometimes challenging. sound art is an artistic and event that usually receives short shrift from most galleries because san francisco is musicians have responded by showing strong support for the programming. ♪ looking into meridian's future, she says she wants to keep doing the same thing that she has been doing since 1989. to enlighten and disturbed. >> i really believe that all the arts have a serious function and that it helps us find out who we are in a much wider sense than we were before we experienced that work of art. ♪

>> i tried to think about this room as the dream room, where we dream and bring some of those dreams to life. i feel very blessed that i have been able to spend the last 31 years of my life doing it my way, thinking about things better interesting to me, and then pursuing them. there are a lot of different artists that come here to work, mostly doing aerial work. kindred spirits, so to speak. there is a circus company that i have been fortunate enough to work with the last couple of

years. i use elements of dance and choreography and combine that with theater techniques. a lot of the work is content- based, has a strong narrative. the dancers have more of a theatrical feel. i think we are best known for our specific work. in the last 15 years, spending a lot of time focusing on issues that affect us and are related to the african-american experience, here in the united states. i had heard of marcus shelby and had been in join his work but never had the opportunity to meet him. we were brought together by the equal justice society specifically for this project. we were charged with beginning work.

marquez and i spent a lot of time addressing our own position on the death penalty, our experiences with people who had been incarcerated, family members, friends of friends. pulling our information. beyond that, we did our own research. to create a picture that resonated with humanity. it is the shape of a house. in this context, it is also small and acts like a cell. i thought that was an interesting play on how these people make these adjustments, half to create home. what is home for these people? the home is their cell.

people talk a lot about noise -- very noisy in prisons. that is interesting to me. looking at the communication level, the rise of frustration of being caged, wondering, where does redemption fit into the equation here? [singing] i think both of us really believe the death penalty is wrong, and is flawed for many reasons. the list is as long as my arm -- about several others.

we feel this is important for both of us, personally, to participate in the debate of this issue in a way that we can help people frame it for a conversation. >> hello. you're watching the show that explores san francisco's love

affair with food. there are at least 18 farmers markets in san francisco alone, providing fresh and affordable to year-round. this is a great resource that does not break the bank. to show just how easy it can be to do just that, we have come up with something called the farmers' market challenge. we find someone who loves to cook, give them $20, and challenge them to create a delicious meal from ingredients found right here in the farmer's market. who did we find for today's challenge?