strictly bluegrass festivals i have been too. my name is michael pedro. i have lived in the bay area all my life. i am here to urge the commission to keep live music in golden gate park and continue the legacy in the city. if i am not mistaken, harley strictly bluegrass was in doubt for 15 years. i have been fortunate enough to attend all 11 festivals. after the first one, i e-mail warren to thank you for the generosity and suggested he bring back more in the second year. i got another e-mail in five minutes. i told other people that i have received an e-mail from a billionaire. i thought myself -- this is a special man. whenever i am not dancing, surrounded by smiling music

fans, even the police are smiling. like the late hazel dickens. i have to speed up? supervisor mar: there is a light beat that gives you 30 seconds. >> my goodness. they put on, without a doubt, one of the best musicals on the planet. the sound system, the scheduling, the food and the service, it is all free to the public. the greatest city in the world, the most beautiful park needs this festival. it brings revenue to the city and involves the kids. after a unanimous vote to rename the speedway last year, it makes no sense to deny this music to be played there. supervisor mar: thank you so much. please come forward.

if your names have been called, just please come forward. thank you. >> hello, supervisors. thank you for meeting with us. my name is terry, one of the supervisors at the festival. it was founded with the principle of giving something back to the community. when we were approached with the idea of starting a music festival, one of the driving forces behind it was his desire to thank the people of san francisco for all of the good fortune that he and his family have experienced being a part of this city. over the years have come increased communication with local civic leaders, police and fire departments, and city agencies. we have stepped up our service each year. our staff feels the have the unique opportunity to work there each year. they embrace it with the realization that they're able to be outdoors and have respect for it.

we ensure that any disruption to the activities is minimized. we even work with rates organizers. when they brought the concerns over proximity to staging to our attention, it was addressed. we understand that the park needs to be left in better condition than when we find it. audial levels have always been a huge consideration for us. we are fortunate that the majority of our acts are sophisticated in nature. we monitor neighborhood levels voluntarily with a meter. we feel part of an extended family with our artists and we touch high production values with little to no infrastructure. it is amazing how well behaved

the crowds are, despite the volume of attendees. they can interact with the public and have an opportunity with other locations around the world. [tone] supervisor mar: thank you so much. i will call a few more names. [reads names] >> the other thing is i have copies of the nations that wanted to leave that you could take a look at. supervisor mar: one of -- one of them was a significant restoration to the polo field? >> money for irrigation and different items discussed throughout the department. supervisor mar: thank you. >> thank you, supervisor mar. >> hello, my name is elliott, and i work with data breakers marathon. i am going to focus on hardly

strictly today. i would like to touch on the fact that as far as reaching out to the community, we have done weeks and bounds with that, doing outreach to the community and we currently meet with par and prozac, building a better and stronger event the -- event. i am also a richmond district neighbor. while i am not working on the other events in the park, i get to experience them from my apartment. which i consider a benefit. touching back on hardly strictly, we have through our neighborhood outreach increased our sign image and printed sign it on just about all of the entrances to the park about two weeks before my load in date.

it is usually built -- about one week before the event goes on. those signs talk about closures, road closures that are happening so that neighbors can be alerted. people that drive through the area, about one week before the event they put up signs, digital signs that lets the 19th avenue traffic know as well. another important thing to talk about is controlling traffic. we have increased the muni on the north and south side of the park over the years, as well as increasing our bike parking. many people have seen the videos of how many bikes actually come and we have just about every bicycle off of a tree that was on a tree. [tone] supervisor mar: thank you so much. next speaker, please come forward. allan scott. >> thank you for the hearing

today, and for hearing everyone out and hearing the concerns that the community may have. first the wanted to say how proud i was outside of all of the events in the park. in terms of the cultural and fiscal impact in these events that they bring to the city, it is a unique city and we do or best to celebrate that uniqueness with our festival. we came here 6.5 years ago to introduce this idea of a world- class music festival. we always envisioned this as having a very similar cultural and financial impact to the city. something that is a great source of local pride, with people coming from throughout the bay area and the country to this

event. i also want to add that since day one, it has been a very collaborative effort with the rec and park and all of the local agencies. sf pd, muni, fire, again reconed park. i could get -- rec and park. i could go on. many of the ways that we mitigate the impact of the event in the park came from these conversations with the neighborhoods. supervisor mar: thank you, mr. scott. thank you. i will call several more names. [ reid' reads names]

>> hello. i wanted to say that hardly strictly is an event that i look forward to every year, amongst the community of musicians that i know from around the country. these festivals are something that everyone inspired -- aspires to be a part of. i think that the city and festival organizers do a commendable job of neighborhood outreach and mitigating inconveniences that the festival's macaws. thank you. supervisor mar: thank you. alex rosenthal? >> thank you, represent festival producers, event promoters, entertainers, and fans. i am here to emphasize the importance of the outdoor

festival to the san francisco music festival. as the supervisor noted, they are an essential part of the local economy. i believe the referenced the study that came out, which we also support. today you will be hearing from san franciscans from all over the city that love these outdoor festivals because of their importance. many of these folks are from the richmond and sunset neighborhoods. you will hear from san franciscans whose livelihood depends on these festivals. carpenters, state workers, a restaurant workers, convenience store owners, and performers. they will tell you that golden gate park is for everyone, not just the neighbors that live around it. i would like to ask the folks in the room if you are in support of the upper festival. a pretty powerful statement, there. thank you very much.

we have at least 45 folks in the overflow room. we know that these festivals affect nearby neighborhoods and that the city works hard to coordinate and minimize the impact on neighborhoods. it is a tough job, but our city departments to this as well as anyone in the country. we want to make sure that real impacts are addressed, but please do not consider any measures that would restrict the ability of the 99% of us that would benefit from using golden gate park in the manner in which it was intended. we circulated a petition over the last couple of days and received over 1100 signatures for each of you. i urge you to read the comments, which are attached here. [tone] they are very moving. supervisor mar: thank you, mr. rosenthal. supervisor cohen: thank you, your comments helped me to jog my memory. promoters are in the room, as

well as representatives from rec and park. i wanted to call your attention to the lovely park called mclaren park. the second largest in this beautiful amphitheater. it is also publicly excess will through transportation. maybe one of the things that they do is they can begin to look at a more equitable way to distribute the outside festival- type music, really utilizing all the resources that the city has to help to relax some of the bergen beckham fall on the sunset neighborhood. i will put that out there. would love to have you on the southeast. supervisor mar: next speaker, but i know that there is jerry garcia day and another event that his formal? supervisor cohen: it is on the

side. supervisor mar: can we have the small business commissioner? janet clyde? >> good afternoon, supervisors. thank you very much. first, as a small-business owner, i have a small business in north beach. i can tell you that our business improves from the wednesday and thursday before these large festivals, and does not stop until the monday and tuesday after. we have a significant, city-wide small business tourism impact that is felt because of these multiple festivals. that is my small business commissioner have that i would like to speak out as a parent. i have an 18-year-old daughter that grew up on power to the people. is where she learned her skills, her social skills with her peers and where she learned to behave out in large club -- large crowds and in public. she and her friends are all

college students now. her friends are in montreal and hong kong, where 18-year-old are legally recognized as adults. her experiences attending these festivals were so important to her growing up. you know that there are limited recreational opportunities for young teenagers in that adult time. these festivals were just very important to our young people's social and cultural development. it opens their minds. that being said, i would just really caution new not to make things not accessible to our younger people. the other thing that i would like to say is that there is a year round effect to these festivals. i do not believe that san francisco's life would be nearly as vibrant without hardly strictly bluegrass.

it is a major, year-round industry that really needed help. [tone] supervisor mar: thank you. next speaker. >> my name is robert. i am a five-year sunset resident at the height of the festival and the former director of the northeast jazz festival. the first thing that i want to mention is that i do a lot of traveling and i go to a lot of festivals around the country. some of the older ones have been in different communities longer. they deal with these issues over a long period of time. primarily the main issue that comes up is -- can i park in front of my house in my neighborhood? i am surprised we have not heard from anyone on that today. i think it is one of the biggest issues for neighbors. they want to park in their neighborhood. in new orleans, residents deal with it by cutting trash cans in

front of their house. eventually, new orleans develop a specific neighborhood parking exclusion the zone for the areas around the fair grounds so that neighbors could only park in those areas on those dates. everyone worked around it. this is something that we need to consider for the dates of these festivals. specific parking for residents in those areas. the other thing that i would mention in the travels is how little impact i saw from these festivals. as someone who lived at 41st and lincoln, i had an easier time getting downtown than i did during the construction on lincoln ave. these festivals are enormous the well organized into a great job of mitigating neighborhood impact. if you need take them to death, you could probably squeeze more money out of them, perhaps. putting midsized festivals of

the business entirely. my recommendation is that we leave them alone and attempts actually help them. thank you. [tone] supervisor mar: thank you. i will call a few more names. the entertainment commissioner, glenda -- [reads names]

supervisor mar: supervisor ma next speaker. >> i wanted to speak from the perspective of the local artistic community. one of the things that the bay area festivals in particular have been incredibly great at is creating a sustainable environment, a sustainable festival, not just economically, as we have heard people say. also, artistically, no one has mentioned that yet. at a time when the bay area work force and artistic community has been struggling, we have seen a

mass exodus of artists leaving town in leaving the area. particularly outside lands has provided a world stage for local artists of the past year, including 25% of its lineup being reserved for local artists. i have played every festival in america, and i do not think i have seen that yet. it is very important to note. i am a proud, lifelong citizen of the bay area. i just want to say that being able to play power to the peaceful, being able to play outside plans for the other festivals in golden gate park has given us a unique perspective and a global platform, transforming my platform and putting on a

totally different trajectory. going from a homegrown local talent to win international recording and touring artist. the fact of the matter is that these festivals launch careers and create bay area's success stories. like as said, i have performed at hundreds of festive group -- festivals worldwide. i can tell you that very few have espoused -- [tone] supervisor mar: thank you. i am a big fan of that as well. thank you for speaking of it. kathy howard? >> good afternoon, commissioners. supervisors, sorry. wrong meeting. i am part of the golden gate park preservation alliance. we have done site visits for the major festivals over the last five years.

these are available through our web site, golden gate park preservation. our main concern has been the health of the trees and vegetation. there has been progress, but there is still room for improvement. why is the part so popular for festivals? because it is a beautiful place. the beauty is because of the trees. how are trees impacted by festivals, many festivals this large them out tree roots spread from 1.5 to two times the height of the tree during in the essential mass is in the drip line. 85% of the tree's roots are in the top 18 inches of soil. compaction of this soil is the result of poor tree health, or

death. this is a photograph from the heart be strictly bluegrass festival this year. a cyprus at the eastern end of helmand hollow. this area is typically used as a pathway for traffic, car traffic, truck traffic, to make it accessible for people. it also refers to the tradition of the tree when it dies, hollow. one final question, how long does it take to replace a tree like this? a trick question, of course. the answer is 60 to 80 years. if we value the part in setting for these festivals, we must value the trees. thank you. [tone] supervisor mar: thank you. next speaker? >> good afternoon, supervisors. my name is gene garish.

my family and i have lived in that same house for 15 years. i am here on my own behalf, as well as the behalf of a large number of members who have spoken to me. there are two things i want to talk about. some things that you have already heard that i would like to emphasize. then a comment about these proceedings in general. three issues that we are concerned about. first, community outreach. my understanding is that contrary to what has been stated, there were not nearly enough community outreach efforts this year, which needs to be carefully looked into. asking for information about community outreach efforts, so far i have not gotten a satisfactory answer. particularly parking, traffic,

noise, illegal camping, trash, illegal activity, drug use and drug sales, and complaints about petition response from the department of public parts in general. that there'd issue has feet -- the third issue has to do with compliance. some of it is documented in material i will leave with you. we want to be heard. those of us in the neighborhood want to be heard. you have heard from the police, muni, ddt, but not much from the neighbors. it is unfortunate that we are given only two minutes in this room for over one hour. we feel that we can have a positive effect on these events. we are trying to minimize tons of trash, drug dealing in

doorways, traffic and parking nightmares, and so on. looking for the city, local merchants, music lovers -- i include myself in that -- for all neighbors to come together and work this out. the last thing that i want is to divide the neighborhood. i want to underline that. other people i have spoken to say the same thing. it is too bad that this has become an us forces them situation. going forward, i hope that we can all come together to do events that do as little harm as possible. thank you for your attention. supervisor mar: thank you. next speaker? i will call a few more. [reads names]

>> hello, my name is brecht. in a strong supporter of live music in seven cisco and in the surrounding areas. i wanted to speak to a few things in san francisco. the inheritance of music as a pillar of this community is uncontested. this acknowledgement on an international level and anyone that it tends heartbeat strictly bluegrass can feel this when they are in attendance. it has long played an important role as a vessel in the community. a great partner in steward in maintaining the musical heritage of golden gate park on a cultural and physical level. i think it is a wonderful thing. there will always been a few things that can be approved.

both of these groups are obviously proactive about this. simply put, the people of san francisco enjoy what they provide. thank you. supervisor mar: thank you. next speaker? >> i will be speaking to you on four different levels. thank you for your time. what rate support that showed up during your time. i have lived in the sunset district for my entire life. particularly in glen park. i have grown up in joining these events. living in the neighborhood, i have no negative impact that i can share. the festival is two blocks from

my house and it is great to see outlying neighborhoods in the sunset district. the second level but i want to talk to you about, in a small- business owner. we produce all with local artists. this is the biggest weekend of the year. we have support from san jose to oakland. they have nothing but did things to say about it. leading up to this event, all families are excited about it. it is worthy small on our level, something for three-five-year- old, they can take part in this safe environment.

as a longtime surfer, the outside provided the beach clean up every morning. trying to make sure their support extends beyond bowling gate park. [tone] supervisor mar: thank you. >> i am a manager of a local rock'n'roll group called the stone foxes. the perspective of the local music community, many of these bands are small businesses in their own right.