i spoke to dana and nick, so we have a good sense of what kinds of things can go on and what can be expected. since most of the event takes place in marina green, the focus is on marina green, but there is a bit at the end where we talk about other parts that will be affected. they are thinking of putting large video screens of in union square and civic center plaza. then, there's other parks that just may be affected by people wanting to come and see the race from of on high, since we have such wonderful typography -- wonderful topography. primarily, we are looking at the program spaces in the park, but we want to make sure we have a full breadth of everything. so what are the next steps? this document is just a draft.

you all have it in your package, and you can see certain sections are more fleshed out than others. partially that is because ggnra is in the process of going through nepa, and their timeline is different than ours. the ceqa document is going for appropriation today. the nepa process will stretch out into the spring. but we posted this document on december 1, and we are looking to get public input over the next month so that we can incorporate anything we may have missed or different perspectives from the community. we would also, of course, love to have input from the commission. ultimately, we will come back and present a final plan to you. also, it is important to note that drafting this document in some respects served as a wonderful preparation exercise for us. we will be drafting parks special event permits both for

the 2012 event and the 2013 events. this helps us get our head around what will be included in that period that will come back later because we will need much more detail, so we anticipate coming back with that later in the spring. and i think that is it. any questions you might have, i'm happy to answer. commissioner lee: does this come back to us as a permit application? >> yes. as i said, we will be drafting special even permits both for the 2012 and 2013 events, and it will be coming back to you guys for that. commissioner lee: what happens to soccer? >> we will not be able to have soccer on the marina green, obviously, during the life of the 2012 event, and plans are in place actually to accommodate the teams also.

>> i think it is a good report. i know you are paying close attention to keeping costs down, since some poor soul has to raise the money to pay for it. >> and he is keeping very close tabs on rec and park's costs. >> it does exactly what you said, gives us a chance to get our hands around what is coming. as you know, final plans are not yet in place. it gives a framework within which things will happen. congratulations. >> is there any public comment on this item? seeing none, public comment is closed, and we are on item 3, the general managers' report. >> i will be brief, commissioners. just a few short -- in the words of warren hellman, hot dog. katie is going to give you a

budget update. we are heading into the budget season. and to end our meeting and commence our holiday celebration, we have a short video here it quickly, volunteer program updates -- our stewardship program is in full swing. another positive example of our ongoing relationship with our city schools. by working with teachers to develop curriculum using our parks as an outdoor classroom as well as other traditional programming, ysp is working with the port authority and literacy for environmental justice to increase programming. volunteer program staff spent a day last week volunteering for the ggnra to get a better understanding of the volunteers point of view and provide better service. it is a very exciting program. the petition program celebrates its one-year anniversary, one of

the best choice to come out of the last year and something that definitely contributed to our park maintenance source as strong as they are. just yesterday, we had the pleasure of celebrating the program's first-year anniversary. the mayor has been supportive of the program, as have all of you, and in one year, the program helped keep our parks clean and beautiful. under the supervision of the coordinator, nine men and women have completed dozens of projects in 22 city parks, including printing and planting of the concourse, trail building at the interior greenbelt, restoring the baseball diamond, and obviously, there incredible work at harding in anticipation of the schwab cup. i want to thank a congratulate everyone who had a hand in launching this program. helen diller playground update.

i am very happy to report that in the center of banks in our park system, the construction is now 52% done. the contractors completing with concrete work and irrigation water lines are being installed. we anticipate the delivery of the bridge, the very iconic bridge that will be part of the playground in mid-january, with new play equipment arriving shortly after. we have got lucky with the weather, and i think some of the delays we could have experienced if we had gotten bad weather we have passed, so we are very optimistic. all this means we are moving ahead. the new playground will open to the public in spring 2012. the project represents a remarkable partnership model, and we are very excited about the prospect of opening this new playground in just a few short months. to set up to bid on construction, members of the public can log on to our web site and click our capital improvements have, where they

can find updated information on all of our capital products. winter registration begins this saturday online and at 13 sites across the city. this season with the new year coming up and plenty of resolutions being made to get in shape, we're offering a wide variety of classes and programs, including movement glasses for talks, sports leagues for youth, fitness class is for moms and dads, and dance class is for seniors. one program i want to highlight is a brand new partnership with san francisco unified school district where we are piloting -- we are bringing a basketball program to several of our public elementary schools for third- grade boys and girls. we bring the program to the district. practices are at district sites with games at district sites on the weekends. first time we have ever done this. i want to thank the superintendent. and as a testament to our growing and strengthening partnership. browse our programs and learn

how to register. also because the sunset recreation center is being renovated, registration will happen this saturday. i do want to recognize marty hackett, one of our partners who retired in november after almost 30 years. we thank him very much for his service. i want to bring up katie very quickly to give you just a preview of the budget instructions and some of the budget challenges which are better, but that we will nonetheless be facing in the coming months. >> good afternoon, commissioners. it is that time of the year. the mayor's office issued budget instruction to all departments last tuesday, december 6. for the coming two fiscal years, in fact, because the city is about to enter into two-year budget cycles.

they have asked us -- they have given us general fund reduction targets both for fiscal year 2012-2013 as well as for fiscal years 2013-2014. the budget office currently projects a general fund shortfall for the coming fiscal year in the amount of $263 million, which, oddly enough, is actually good news, compared to what they had originally projected and certainly what we have seen in the past number of years. the budget instructions for general fund departments this year come in four parts. the first is that we have been requested to submit a base budget reduction equal to 5% of our general fund support, which is equal to a little less than $1.6 million. we have been asked to submit a

contingency proposal for 2012- 2013, equal to 2.5% of our general fund support for an additional $796,000. then we have been asked to submit a base budget reduction for 2013-2014, equal to another 5% of our general fund support. again, $1.6 million. we have also been asked to reduce our budgeted and funded general fund fte by 1% in both years. it is still unclear in talking to the mayor's office exactly what they mean by this instruction, but i'm sure more information will be forthcoming in the next several months. the mayor asked departments to prioritize core operating functions, minimize service impact, and pursue solutions such as revenue options, administrative efficiencies, and program or function consolidation.

he is strongly encouraging the department to foster community engagement during the budget development which, for the recreation and park department, will not be a challenge at all. we make a really significant effort to interact with the community, our staff stakeholders when developing our budget. the budget assumption that the mayor's office is working with are likely to change over the next six months as we see the results of the state and federal budget processes. all but two of the city's labor contracts are open for negotiation this spring, so there are 27 collective bargaining agreements, and the outcome of those negotiations will have a significant impact one way or another on the $263 million budget deficit.

our budget is due on february 21 to the mayor's office, and we will begin to meet with staff, stakeholders, the community in january to solicit input on our budget proposals. we will be in front of this commission on january 19 and again twice in february to make the budget presentation, and then we will ask for your approval of our budget's mission at the second full commission meeting in february. i am more than happy to answer questions. >> is there any public comment on this? commissioner buell: margaret, we're not quite done. we have a video. a product of our work force by one, started out in our san francisco state internships. she has done an amazing job.

she put together about 60 in the last two years. we have a great partnership now with sfgovtv where a lot of events and activities are being shown. it is another great way to push out all of the fantastic things we do. let it rip. >> thank you. >> when this project is done, you will see the sports park that is going to be renovated, the great landscaping improvements.

>> 5 4 3 2 1 ! happy holidays, everybody! >> i'm not sure why, but it is freezing for some reason. >> you are welcome. >> commissioners, on behalf of our staff, we want to wish you

all a very happy holiday and joy is an exciting new year and thank you for all your support. commissioner buell: the same to you and all the staff. please convey that. public comment, go ahead. >> is there any public comment on this item? seeing none, public comment is closed. we are now on item 12, general public comment continued. is there anyone who wishes to make general public comments? seeing none, and 12 is close. we're on item 13, commissioner matters. >> can i say one thing? i just want to say that i went to the tree lighting briefly -- i could not stay for the actual writing of the tree, but i can only imagine the amount of staff time it took to put that together. if you remember on the roof of the emporium at christmas time, you see rights, and i had that same sense at maclaren lodge.

what made me so happy was to see so many children and families, and those are our kids, our families, san franciscans who are raising their kids here, and we do that for them. i just want to commend you, and i want to thank you very much. commissioner lee: i want to echo what commissioner levitan said. tom harrison also went to the employee holiday party earlier this week and had a great time, and it was very rewarding to talk to the employees and how excited they are, particularly under the general managers leadership, all the praise is that his employees keep upon him at this very happy event.

i have one item for commissioners matters to consider. a number of people in chinatown come to me about an idea to build a stage. maybe the general manager has heard about this. at the portsmouth square mezzanine area. they often have events there, and each time, organizers have to actually read a stage to be put in. the idea would be perhaps to build a stage akin to what the japanese tea garden has done. where it would be a permanent structure, fixture in the plaza, and that when events happen, they can use that stage, as opposed to constructing it every single time. anyway, i would offer that up

for future consideration. commissioner buell: thank you. >> is there any public comment on this item? seeing none, public comment is closed. we are on item 14, new business agenda setting. is there any public comment? public comment is closed. item 15, communication. is there any public comment? public comment is closed. item 16 is adjournment. commissioner buell: all those in favor? >> aye. commissioner buell: happy holidays, everybody.

>> good afternoon. are you ready to go? i am the transportation director for san francisco. we have a little feedback. a little high? back off a little bit? thank you all for coming out today. we're here to talk about the intersection of two things in san francisco at a very important. one is partnering and the other -- one is parking in the other is technology. parking is important in san francisco.

there is a lot of competition for the public rights of way. parking is something that people in san francisco care about. it is something that we at the sfmta have to manage to make it work, to enable transit to flow in keeping with the city transit first policy. parking is important. to manage it, we create rules and regulations. a lot of people may not like them, but it is what we need to do to make parking and transit work. the purpose of the rules and regulations are not to get people caught up in them, but to make transit work and make transportation work in san francisco. that leads us to technology. technology is important because it helps us to be able to do things more efficiently and

effectively. most san franciscans like and have technology. we are bringing technology to where people are. most people have cell phones come smartphones. we are adopting our systems to work with what people have in their day-to-day lives. i am joined by a great group of people behind me. they will talk about an exciting initiative we are launching today that will be one of the most significant things to hit parking in san francisco in generations. i am honored to have a man for whom this technology is not very important. that is our majoyor ed lee. the reason it is not important is because someone else has to

worry about parking, it is because of something i learned about him a couple of months ago. it did not come out in the campaign or media. it turns out that ed lee has parking karma. he does not need it. but for the rest of us who do not have parking karma, we're here to talk about something that is really exciting for san francisco. without further ado, our mayor, ed lee. [applause] >> i never thought we would give the parking meters so much attention in this city. i want to thank ed for his leadership at sfmta, the leadership of the board, supervisors got leaner -- scott wiener. this is a great launch for the

pay by phone program we are announcing today. earlier this year, i have the privilege of announcing sf park. there was a great deal of interest. we rolled that out to the delight of many people who started using that application to lessen the congestion when they were looking for parking. we are starting today in our castor district to want the pay by phone program that will allow you to use your smartphone and be able to pay a parking meter. then you have an electronic reminders sent to your cell phone while you are eating or shopping to remind you that the parking meter needs to be replenished so you do not suffer

the consequences of a ticket. it is not to say we are decreasing revenue for muni, but ed and the board have decided these are conveniences' the public need to have to allow the traffic congestion to be lessened and make its smarter the way we do things. i get to announce with our partner here today with the pay by phone application and suggest to the rest of the conference of mayors that we are an even cooler city. we are one of the first in the country to do this. we think it will work and will be very exciting. who would not want to have

this at their fingers and prevent a parking ticket? we can also use technology and blended the right way. i am excited we're doing this. these are the updated meters we have been able to install on 18th and 19th. we will begin right here. we will roll it out to areas across the city including glen park, the sunset-richmond, downtown, and all the sf park areas we have been announcing. we have to change out the old leaders quickly. we have to get the smart meter technology available. the application will be available today on these streets. you will be able to see it in action. it is exciting. it is one of the things i promised that we will be able to introduce the use of technology

and make it easy and family for everybody. for our shoppers to come here during the holidays for the castro area, they will be able to see it and experiment with it right away. the pay by phone launch is here. it is a great and cool thing to use. we will be able to use its soon all over the city. thank you to our partners in the technology world for our pay by phone technology, to our board, and our supervisor for allowing us to introduce it right here. we will see a lot of shopping and convenience, a lot of applications where there are no tickets. that can be prevented by doing this. thank you very much. [applause] >> the mayor mentioned the castro. part of managing parking is making it work for neighborhoods and commercial

districts to keep the turnover moving, to make it convenient. if you are sitting in a restaurant or shopping, you do not have to run out. it is important to neighborhood businesses and residents. this neighborhood is lucky to be represented by supervisor wiener who has been a strong advocate for smart transportation policy. he also is one of our representatives on the metropolitan transportation commission. he is doing great things for san francisco in terms of transportation. we're happy and grateful to him for hosting us today. supervisors go scott wiener. [applause] >> not for tall people. thank you. one of our goals in having

smart parking policies is to make it as easy as possible for people to pay for the street parking. i think we have seen that when we make it easy for people to pay, the number of parking tickets goes down and revenue goes up. that is how it should be. people paying for parking and not being penalized and coming away with a terrible feeling. we're lucky in this area. this is one of the areas to get credit card meters first. we're thrilled that the castro is the first neighborhood to get paid by phone. we are really doing innovative work that will be a model for other cities and counties in the area and across the country. i am thrilled that we're doing this. thank you very much. [applause] >> the voters in 1999 created

the mta and established a board to create policies such as this. to put policies in place like sf park better groundbreaking, we now have new york city following our lead in terms of some of the technology we're doing. it is ground-breaking and bold step for the m -- stuff for the mta. that leadership is exemplified by the chairman of the board, mr. tom nolan. >> thank you and good morning. the board has been looking for ways to be as creative as possible in using technology to assist our customers. we think the flexibility and convenience are really important. theyre