commissioner campos: good morning and welcome to tuesday january 31, 2012 meeting of the san francisco counterattacked his majority. my name is david compost. i am the acting chair of today's meeting. the clerk of the committee is erika cheng. please call item one. >> roll call.

we have a quorum. commissioner campos: please call item no. 2. >> approval of minutes of december 13, 2011 meeting. this is an action item. >commissioner campos: before we take any action, do we have any public comment? seeing none, public comment is closed. we have a motion by david chiu, seconded by commissioner farrell. without objection? please call item 3. >> chairs report. this is an information item. commissioner campos: we do not presently have a permanent chair. unless there is an objection, we are going to skip the item. is there anyone from the public that would like to comment on this item? seeing none, public comment is closed. please call item four.

>> the executive director's report. this is an information item. >> good morning. i have a fairly extensive annual report that i need to make later in the agenda. so in deference of your time, i will skip making a separate report. the only thing i would like to do in place of that report is to offer a warm welcome to commissioner christine al-awlaki as a new member of the board. -- a olaguolague to the transpon board. >commissioner campos: i would also like to welcome you to the board. is there any public comment? seeing none, public comment is closed. please call item 5. >> election of chair and vice chair. commissioner campos: this is an action item where we allowed the

chair and vice chair. we are having technical difficulties the system right now, so we are unable to see who is requesting to speak. in light of that, if you would like to make a nomination, please raise your hand so we can proceed with the meeting. commissioner jane kim? commissioner kim: thank you. today, i want to nominate our vice chair for the chair ship for the transportation authority body. i have had the pleasure of working with you but also know your incredible commitment to public transit here in san francisco and also to creating more equity among its many different communities that do not have access to transportation. you have been truly committed and have made this a priority in your agenda and that usurped as our representative for the board of supervisors for the mtc. i think it would bring a lot of good connections to the

regional work if you also chaired our transportation committee. i am nominating vice chairman david campos for the chair ship. commissioner campos: if i could ask commissioner farrell to chair this portion of the meeting. commissioner farrell: colleagues, do we have any other nominations? commisioner wiener: i just wanted to speak in support of commissioner kim's nomination of commissioner campos. he and i have worked closely together over the past year on many transportation issues, particularly at the mtc, but elsewhere as well. although we do not always agree on everything, we have developed a close working relationship on these issues and will be supporting the nomination. commissioner farrell: thank you. commissioner cohen? commissioner cohen: i would like to nominate commissioner wiener

for vice chair. commissioner farrell: i think will hold off on my chair until we finish the chair voting process. commissioner avalos: i just wanted to speak in favor of commissioner campos' nomination to chair the transportation authority. i am a firm believer in his integrity and his great work, working in regional bodies, working with the mtc, golden gate, bridge authority. i think he will bring a great deal of knowledge to the transportation authority. we all work well collaborative lee with supervisor campos. his work on the fast pass has been instrumental in moving an agenda that is really about transit justice in san

francisco. having a person with his perspective on the transportation authority chair role will be extremely important. i give him my firm support. commissioner farrell: thank you, commissioner avalos. commissioner chiu? commissioner chiu: i want to echo the comments of my colleagues. i have been very pleased to have had the opportunity to work with him over the years over many years on transit justice, making sure that, particularly, low income communities, communities that need good transit but does not have access to it, gets that. happy to support him for that. i know it is slightly premature, but i also echo what supervisor cohen will say, having the second member of our party be a part of this conference.

supervisor wiener has also worked hard here at the ta, and makes sense. commissioner farrell: any further nominations? with that, nominations are closed. we are going to take public comment. is there anyone from the public that would like to comment on this item? >> i approve the nomination of the chair david campos. as some of you supervisors have alluded to, he has stepped forward to do the right thing for those segments of our

population that need help, whether they are the physically challenged, or students. i do not approve your nomination for vice chair, but that is your prerogative. as somebody who has been following transportation issues for a long time, i do not approve the nomination for vice chair. i do not know what basis it is. some flimsy reason that somebody has worked with somebody for a year. that is not how i would adjudicate such a serious position. as most of you know, you are on

the board of supervisors, but here you are commissioners, so you are given added responsibility. we need the vice chair -- commissioner farrell: we will have public comment on the vice chair nominations after the chair. >> ok. i will stop talking about so and so and move on to the chair. i have known david campos for a long time, have seen him in action. i can give you some examples. not too long ago, we had an area of san bruno ave that needed some fixing. the minute i brought it to his attention, we worked together to fix it. those are the types of actions that they're well to our chair.

what i want to say is, let's not appoint people just because we feel they need to be appointed for reasons that are not practical. good leaders know the way and show the way. it so happens david campos belongs to my district, district 9. i would advise him, as somebody that is older than he is, that he be fair to all san franciscans. commissioner farrell: are there any other members of the public and wish to comment? seeing none, public comment is closed. madam clerk, could we call for a vote? >> on electing commissioner david campos to the chair.

[roll call] the item passes. commissioner campos: colleagues, thank you very much for the nomination, election, and the kind words said today. i will not be later my remarks. i simply want to know i look forward to working with each and everyone of you to make sure, not only we move for the major projects this agency is overseeing, but that we also do our best to make this agency even more relevant to what is happening in our individual districts. one of the things i have asked and the executive director to do, going forward with these meetings, at every meeting, we

get specific reports focusing on individual districts, with the transportation authority is doing in terms of work happening in these neighborhoods. it is important for us to recognize, at the end of the day, the major projects, as important as they are, it is the things happening on the ground but also make a big difference in the lives of people. that is one thing we will be focusing on and working on. to the extent the brown act allows, i will be having individual meetings with members of this commission to make sure your priorities in your districts and neighborhoods are being taken care of. i look forward to those conversations. i also want to highlight that we need to continue to focus on the collaboration between the various city agencies that work on the area of transportation with the mta, certainly, but with regional bodies. with that, i will do my best to

make sure i am a chair that represents each and everyone of you, and the interest of the entire city. thank you very much again for your support. i look forward to working with you. we now move to the nomination for vice chair. if we can have -- are there any nominations? commissioner cohen? commissioner cohen: thank you. congratulations to you. i want to nominate commissioner scott wiener to vice chair of the transportation authority. commissioner campos: is there any other nomination? seeing none, nominations are closed. any comments, colleagues? commissioner kim. commissioner kim: i think it is important we have supervises

that have made transit their priorities other legislative agenda. i know supervisor wiener has taken an incredible amount of time and commitment to these issues. it is also a representative of the mtc for the mayor. i think these leadership appointments are prepared for these two individuals and am excited to support both of you. commissioner campos: comments? let's open this up to public comment. >> commissioners, let me allude a little bit to what i think a good care and by chair should stand for -- chair and the vice chair stooshould stand for. from time to time, i attend these meetings. from what i have seen over a

long period of time from the vice chair, he may mean well by putting forward legislation, ever since the six -- in section, but he seems to target the most vulnerable. whether it is the homeless, the lgbt community, youth in the open space. area. any human being can make a change. that is why i am speaking to this point. because of the dire economic situation that san francisco is in, even though we have 60 billionaires', we have a lot of poor people that take public transportation. this commission has to have a benchmark.

and let it not be a cozy relationship where you come together to make policies or frame legislation. as the chair alluded to, he wants to make some practical changes, he wants to go to ground zero and see things, as he has done before. so if the vice chair has a change of heart and follows in the steps of the chair -- because i will be coming to meetings to point it out. when i say i will do something, i will do something. one of the reasons i come here is not to waste my time. is to see what you are saying, and then i can use it in my blog. the website helps to document --

it is a kind of empirical data. you are going to have your elections. it kind of sounds like you have made up your mind before you came here to make it smooth and easy. that may be so. you are a good human being, if you are a decent human being, give us good representation. thank you. commissioner campos: is there anyone from the public that would like to comment on this item? seeing none, public comment is closed. colleagues, is there any member of the commission that would like to add anything else? if i may, i simply want to echo the comments from commissioner kim. i think commissioner wiener has demonstrated, in his short tenure on the board, his commitment to public transportation. i think his leadership on that issue is one that has clearly been noticed, at a leadership that recognizes the importance of focusing on individual

districts and looking at the whole city. i am very proud of the fact that he and i have a very good working relationship, and i think he will serve this agency and city well. i am very proud to support him. unless there are any other comments, madame clerk, please take a roll-call. >> on the motion to elect commissioner wiener to vice chair. [roll call] the item passes. commissioner campos: congratulations. mr. vice chair, would you like to add any words? commisioner wiener: thank you for your confidence.

i look forward to working with all of you. we have so many challenges in our transportation system, making sure we have adequate funding for muni, implementing the transit affected this project, that we are working with local communities on pedestrian safety improvements, safe routes to school, and other important projects that we take on, and we also have to keep on working regionally to make sure high-speed rail to the transbay terminal it becomes a reality. i am very excited to take on this additional responsibility and i look forward to working together. thank you. commissioner campos: please, item six. >> item 6. allocate $14,869,901 in prop k funds, with conditions, to the san francisco municipal transportation agency for the central control and communications integrated systems replacement phase 1 project, subject to the attached fiscal year cash flow distribution schedule, and amend the guideways 5-year prioritization program. this is an action item.

commissioner campos: this is an item that comes from the plans and programs committee. if i could not turn it over to the staff -- now turn it over to the staff. no presentation. before we take action on this, is there anyone from the public that would like to comment on this item? please come forward. >> commissioners, this is $15 million that you are going to spend on a technology that is supposed to improve our light rail and other systems work. i was surprised, even though this was discussed at the plans and programs, nothing much was said. i suppose everything is in place and that san francisco, in

the year 2012, and the mta, have a state-of-the-art communications -- that you are all looking forward to a broadband width that helps facilitate and eliminate a lot of the accidents that have taken place in the past. you commissioners should know, part of the system has some sound communications. part of the system is still manually operated in the year 2012. the maintenance facility came on board some three years ago. if you commissioners know about

it. three years later, this $15 million that was supposed to address the technology, to bring everything on power. i just want to wish mta -- because i know one thing that is good about the mta today is we have a good director in ed reiskin. i hope that he takes us to a better place with this $15 million. thank you very much. commissioner campos: is there any other member of the public that would like to speak on this item? seeing none, public comment is closed. madam clerk. roll-call. >> [roll call]

the item passes. commissioner campos: thank you. unless there is an objection, i would like to call item eight, out of order. >> item 8. reprogram $4.846 million in 2010 congestion management agency block grant funds from the department of public works' second street streetscape project to the cesar chavez streetscape project, the second street sfgo signal upgrades project and the market/haight street transit and pedestrian improvements project. this is an action item. commissioner campos: colleagues, this is an unusual item coming before the commission without having gone to committee. normally, i do not believe in making that practice, but as i understand it, we have a very short deadline that has to be taken into consideration. unless that deadline is met, there is a possibility of losing that funding. nevertheless, i do have comes --

some concerns. we are talking about an action that involve millions of dollars being taken. i know, at some point, we will hear from commissioner jane kim, because this is happening in her district. before we do that, i want to turn it over to mr. milosevic to briefly -- milosevic -- moscovich to briefly tell us by the item did not go through the committee process and what community involvement there has been around this item. >> thank you, commissioners. jose moscovich. in june 2010, the authority board approved the recommended programming of $4.8 million in federal surface transportation funds to the department of public works for the project on second street, which was under

the second street streetscape project. this was included as part of the management agency block grant program, a new program created by mtc in the last year and half. the scope of the project involves improvements to second street from market all the way to king street. this includes street resurfacing, bike lanes, traffic infrastructure improvements, trees, and pedestrian safety improvements that are very much being asked for, particularly between bryant street and king streets. i should clarify, the bike lane portion of the project was something that raised a level

of community controversy. in fact, when the mta board approved the environmental report, this was the only project that was not approved by the board. we fully expected the project was moving forward, but recently, we were approached by the department of public works with a piece of additional intermission, that due to community opposition, the project would not proceed in its current form. the glitch is these federal funds have a timely use requirement that needs to be met, or we may jeopardize the use of the funds in san francisco, essentially losing

them. the bind we are in right now, the department of public works, in partnership with the mta, have come to us with suggestions for three projects for which this money could be reprogrammed. of course, when we are talking about reprogramming money to safeguard it, we are talking about projects that are designed, environmentally cleared, and can absorb the money in some fashion. the project's proposed to receive the money include the cesar job as streetscape project. the second street sfgo signal project and the market/haight district improvement process. essentially, we have assurances from both the parliament that those departments can observe

the money within the time like we have. the time lines are a bit extreme right now. the main report we have is that these federal funds need to be certified for obligation -- the technical term for the funds -- by caltrans. the deadline for having the fall design packet is february 1. in other words, tomorrow. believe me, this is not the kind of the item that i enjoyed bringing to the board. this should have been an item that was caught many months ago and brought to them normal committee process so we are not putting you in a position to essentially take action on this under these circumstances. caltrans, however, needs to ensure funds are obligated by april 30. to get from