pertaining to. freedom from theft, safety of the person blocking the bike up, but what about the safety of the bite from being damaged? every two days this has somehow been manipulated and i have lost taillights -- and my question is, does this legislation require the building manager to put in locks -- that allow the bike to rest by itself, not crammed up with other bikes. thank you. >> if there is space in the building, that does not require the kind of structure to hold a bike, -- >> this is something we can look at in the future, or prescribe different ways that blacks can be prevented from being damaged, and actually a problem we have downstairs, that we have

in the building, sometimes the blacks get knocked over. i have actually misplaced my bike lights, on occasion, even in city hall storage area. somehow they were misplaced. i am being very polite. thank you for your comments. >> and other any other members of the public who wish to comment? we will close public comment. i do have today an amendment, that has a couple of clarifications on the legislation, one of them is on the effective date of the legislation -- this said january 1, 2012, we will have the operative date of this legislation be 30 days with the final passage, and this will be

prospective, not looking back to january 1, which i think it provide confusion to some people. and instead of referring to cyclists -- we are referring to the tenants who would be subject to this legislation. making certain there is access in the building owners and managers. this creates less confusion. there would be a more clear discussion between the tents of the building and the people who are responsible for the overall building space. and just a question for the deputy attorney, there would not be substantive changes? >> you could move forward to peace -- with these today. >> i would like to make that amendment, and -- we are going to move this forward with recommendations to the full board of supervisors.

>> so moved. >> without objection -- that takes care of the one item for the day. madam clark, thank you for your work. >> i am the director of visual

arts programming at intersection for the arts. intersection for the arts is based in san francisco and has always been an organization that looks at larger social political issues through the lens of practice, and we are here today at our exhibition of "chico and chang." the original inspiration was drawn from a restaurant chain in new york city. half of their menu is -- what struck me was the graphic pictures and a man in a hat on a rig truck carrying take that time is containers and in the black sea to representation of a mexican guy wearing a sombrero and caring a somali horn. it struck me that these two large, very subversive complex

cultures could be boiled down to such simple representations. chico and chang primarily looks at four topic areas. one of the man was is whose stories are being told and how. one of the artisans in the show has created an amazing body of work working with young adults calling themselves the dreamers. another piece of the exhibition talks about whose stories of exhibition are actually being told. one artist created a magnificent sculpture that sits right in the center of the exhibition. >> these pieces are the physical manifestation of a narrative of a child in memory. an important family friend give us a dining table, very important, and we are excited about it. my little brother and i were 11, 14. we were realizing that they were

kind of hand prints everywhere on the bottom where no one would really see, and it became this kind of a weakening of what child labor is. it was almost like an exercise to show a stranger that feeling we had at that moment. >> the second thing the exhibition covers is how the allocation is defined, a great example on the theme, sculpture called mexicali culture. another bay area artist who has done residencies in china and also to what, mexico. where immigrant communities really helped define how businesses look of a business' sign age and interior decoration, her sculptural piece

kind of mismatches the two communities together, creating this wonderful, fantastical future look at what the present is today. first topic is where we can see where the two communities are intersecting and where they start colliding. teresa fernandez did a sculptural installation, utilizing the ubiquitous blue, white, and read patterns of a rayon bag that many communities used to transport laundry and laundromats to buy groceries and such. she created a little installation kind of mucking up the interior of a household, covering up as many objects that are familiar to the i and the fabric. fourth area of investigation that the exhibition looks at is the larger concerns of the asian and latin communities intersecting with popular cultur one best example -- when he's exemplified is what you see when

you enter into the culture. >> this piece refers to restaurants in tijuana. when you are driving, to speak chinese and you read chinese characters. you see these signs. i was trying to play with the idea of what you see and the direction you read. when you start mixing these different groups of people, different cultures, i like the idea. you can comment on somebody else's culture or someone else's understanding about culture. >> one of the hopes we have for visitors is that they go away taking a better understanding

with the broadest and the breadth of issues impacting both the asian and latin communities here in california and how they spell out into the larger fabric of the communities we live and work in. >> hello. welcome to "culturewire." we are here today with bay area artist jody chanel, and we are here to see the plaza where your piece has just been installed. >> i have been doing large-scale paintings in the galleries and museums, and the idea that in the future, i could do something that would hang out a little bit longer than the duration of the installation the kind of appeal to me. i quickly found out about the san francisco arts commission school and realized there was a

pre-qualified school you had to apply to, so i applied to the. >> how long did it take you to develop this work for the plaza? >> this was a fast track project. design development was about a month. >> let's look at the beautiful mural. i have never seen a mural created on asphalt. >> the heat of the asphalt, a new layer of asphalt. then, these wire rope templates that were fabricated for the line work get laid down and literally stamped into the asphalt, and then everything was hand-painted. >> maybe you could talk about some of the symbolism, maybe starting in the middle and working out.

>> [inaudible] the flower of industry. >> it is like a compass. there's an arrow pointing north. >> within the great bear consolation, there are two pointed stars here. they typically lead one to the northstar, otherwise known as polaris. so i thought it has a layer of theme. >> let's talk about some of the other elements in the peace. we are walking along, and there is a weather vane. there's a sweet little bird hanging on the side. what kind of bird is that? >> [inaudible] the smallest of the gulf species, and it lives around the bay area. >> you want to talk about the types of flour patterns that you send? >> [inaudible] around 1926 or so by the dahlia

society. >> what is this bird here? >> that is the california quail. >> coming up here, we had a little blustery theme. what is this area here? >> this is supposed to be the side view, the expense of the golden gate bridge. >> there it is. >> there are really beautiful elements of architecture still around, i would say that it gives that feeling over to the work. >> what are your hopes for it? >> that in a way it just becomes part of the area. i think it is starting to have that feeling. people utilize it. they sit and, and have their lunch and play on -- they sit

and, and have their lunch and play on that -- they sit and come and have their lunch and play on it. just for it to be part of the neighborhood. that is my hope. >> is such a beautiful addition to our public art in san francisco. thank you for joining us. it was nice to meet you. and thank you for telling us about your beautiful mural. thanks for watching "culturewire." >> good morning. today is wednesday, february 15, 2012. this is the regular meeting of

the building inspection commission. i'd like to ask everyone to please turn off all electronic devices. the first item on the agenda is roll call. commissioner hechanova: here. commissioner mar: here. commissioner clinch: here. commissioner lee: here. commissioner murphy: here. commissioner melgar: here. >> commissioner walker is excused. we have a quorum. next item on the agenda is president's announcements. commissioner hechanova: good morning. those in chambers, welcome to the february meeting. we would like to also start out by giving some thank you -- tahnk -- thank-yous to staff.

[reading names] where there has been the category of expressed appreciation from the public that you have served, to say thank you very much for the service you have rendered them in a most professional way and expeditious manner. also, from steve, the complimentary letter from bruce murphy, thanking senior plumbing inspector alex corn. for that, thank you very much for maintaining the high level of service and along with that, the continued service you will provide the city and building department. >> if anyone has their cell phone on them, if you could turn it off, not on vibrate because it will still make feedback. >> could have been made. [laughter]

-- commissioner hechanova: could have been me. [laughter] also, i want to welcome marlin melgar -- commissioner melgar: myrna. commissioner hechanova: myrna. the group of commissioners view will be serving during your tour -- term will be well appreciated not only by this city but also by the staff. the category of serving this great city is also a great honor, so thank you very much. commissioner melgar: thank you. i'm glad to be here. commissioner hechanova: i would also like to express not only my thanks, but also from the other commissioners, and adding the thank you to chris romero who

has provided his valuable time and along with that his expertise in some of the issues that have come before the bic. thank you very much. looking forward to seeing you here in the city and also having coffee or some other beverage of choice in the near term. would also like to express that a couple of items -- there are some hong kong building officials that are here in the city that have undertaken to know more about how the best service for electrical and mechanical systems that the city has provided -- our fair city, with the help of that, they will be arranging sometime in march a briefing for how we do it our

way and how they would like to do it our way also. last but not least, i would also like to express my thanks for the opportunity to have served the commission, as i will be stepping aside to undertake the category of the next step be on the commission. for years of service here has been wonderful and the opportunity has also been as great. i would like to also say that the achievements of the commission during my participation here has been from the permit tracking system and

the cash program that is so instrumental in making our city more seismically safe, if not also performance and response and the recovery category, and the crowning point here is also the award to san francisco for the green building policy that was awarded last fall in south africa that we passed almost two years ago. from that green building policy, san francisco was awarded by the world green building counsel at a meeting in south africa as the best green building city in its policy in the world. i would also like to extend a tremendous thank you to the fellow commissioners and city administration, dbi staff, who

have helped make these achievements achievable, and also to get into the category of not resting on our laurels, but to continue forward to carry the mantle that pass on -- that i pass on the baton to the commissioners and staff, that this is a great city, and that one of my objectives was to also help make this great city even better, but not rest on our laurels and continue to make this great city of san francisco even better. aside from that, are there other opinions or comments the other commissioners would like to do during my present statement here? commissioner murphy: i would like to make a few comments. i have had a wonderful six years on this commission.

parting can be such a sweet sorrow. two years as president, and long before i was appointed as a dbi commissioner, my business took me to the building department very often, and i always felt like i too was very comfortable. it was like being around family, and i knew everybody. notwithstanding, i had many ups and downs and many ros -- rows. becoming a commissioner was exciting, and i was delighted to serve. so many dbi they that easy for me.

i want to pay special tribute to ed sweeney, who has always stepped up when asked to. -- so many in dbi made that easy for me. joe duffy, tom huey, niel free -- neil freeman. they've contributed so much to making changes that make it easy or easier for the stakeholders to do business. when i started, i had this notion that i would get things done quickly. little did i know that what i

considered a six-month project would take six years and had been in the pipeline for, i believe -- one public speaker used to come in here early on when i was first commissioner, and he would say, "we started this conversation when i was 63. i am now 73." if you do that math, we are talking about 16, 17 years. now, i know for sure that the wheels turn slowly, but when they do, they grind. the commission secretaries' managed to buck that trend, and i would like to thank ann, now retired, and sony up for their tireless work and keeping the officially connected -- and

sonya for their tireless work and keeping me connected. frank was here when i got here. he was just a wonderful commissioner, wonderful friend, and also reuben. reuben was my vice-president for a couple of years, and i enjoyed working with him. kevin. enjoyed working with him. also warren mar. i have a lot of great memories. i remember when president who was president -- he was on the commission for two or three years, and when he left -- i remember him saying to me, "i have been on this commission for four years, and you know what? i feel like i have not achieved a god-damned thing."

i could not relate to that kind of statement. i think we have made some remarkable achievements. commissioner walker deserves a special mention because we were at loggerheads so often. however, as you all know, i prefer to look them in the eye. if i had anything to say -- she is not here today, so i will leave that alone. the sweetness in parting is the extra time i will have to be with my wife, my daughter and my new chocolate lab. there are no shortcuts to any place worth going. you make a difference. i want to thank you all so much.

commissioner hechanova: thank you, commissioner murphy. commissioner lee commissioner lee: -- commissioner lee. commissioner lee: i want to comment on something commissioner murphy just said. please do not feel things have not been accomplished. we have accomplished a lot since you joined us. in and out probably the longest continuing survey member. commissioner walker may have more time based on her prior service, but when i got here, i was working with commissioner rivera -- romero. i want to thank him for his service in this commission. at that time, when i joined -- we will just say there were issues with the department, with the commission.

we saw what it should be like. we knew what good government should be. we are good government people. we like to keep things transparent, open, have proper debate without intimidation, without any negativity, that sort of thing. we started it, and it really got going when you, commissioner murphy, got on board. we now have the department working properly. we have things like incompatible activities for our employees to follow. we have rules that our commission should follow. what is compatible with us, what we should not be doing and so on and so forth. things are a lot better since six years ago. we are trying to move things

forward now. we are trying to implement a permit tracking system. i know they do think -- they do seem like they are taking a long time, but we are trying to move forward to a better situation. i want to thank you, everybody, for doing a good job. commissioner mar: i was before commissioner melgar the newest commissioner in this body. i wanted to just bank commissioner murphy -- sank commissioner murphy and -- thank commissioner murphy and hechanova for briefing me on

what it would be like to sit on this commission. it is important for everyone to understand we are a citizen commission. some of us come from different places. some of us were landlords. some of us were in the professions, whether architecture, engineering, and construction, and we bring some of those experiences with us, but it is different when you are up here. it is not your projectit is not. it is other people's projects. what commissioner lee said is a very important. we want to keep things open. i want to think three commissioners. romero, murphy, and hechanova. i think we have moved forward, because we have kept political debate open and honest. while we have not always agree, i rely