raise your hand and the recognized. [applause] thank you again so much. our next speaker is a fascinating guy, a local guy who has finally come home. he is a graduate of uc-davis, where he played basketball and varsity football. i want you to remember he played varsity football. he is heavy into sports marketing. he started out as the chief of special events for a marketing company, and then the co-founder of mind spring. he is now the chief operating officer of the america's cup events authority. his mandate is to employ a sports marketing and know how at the america's cup, this great sailing race, to bring attention to the oceans of the world. what better place to do it then here at the bay, where for the last 40 years we have worked hard to bring environmental protection, education, and restoration to our bay?

it is a perfect location for the world's best sailing race. please join me in welcoming tom houston, co 0, america's cup event authority. he played football. >> that was a long, long time ago. we are extremely happy and proud to be here today. i have heard this project is almost 20 years in the making. we are proud the america's cup has been the catalyst necessary to get over the hump, to the point of becoming a real project. we are excited for everybody who has been involved in that process. we share your joy and congratulate you on the success. this is a sign of the economic impact to the greater bay area. this is the first of many, as the mayor referenced. it is a benefit of posting the major international sporting

event. it helps legacy project get off the ground. i would like to thank our partners, and particularly the planning department, over the long eir process. it has been a tremendous team effort to get to where we are today. thank you for that. i want to point out we are committed as a team to making this the most spectacular event anyone has ever seen, in particular for this area of the city. people do not realize in 2013 there are no other major international sporting events. all eyes will be on san francisco. the olympics and world cup are in off seasons. the eyes of the planet will be on san francisco and the work we achieved together. we would like to think through this process mayor lee and his staff, the board of supervisors, the port, and our america's cup organizing committee, for the

teamwork and partnership with continue to share on a daily basis to make this a reality. with that said, we look forward to the next phase of the process. we have 18 months ago. thank you for allowing this to be wonderful location for our event. thank you. >> we are honored to welcome you and look forward to having those vessels running by here quickly, in a very short six months. our next guy is a local guy, a graduate of the university of san francisco. he is a vietnam veteran. he was the first director of the economic development department , and is perfect for this project. he is the chair of everything, as far as i can tell. he is the chair of the recreation and park commission, the international park conservancy, the chez pannise

foundation, and apparently is an advocate for art as an investment. he was heckling me earlier. currently, he is the volunteer chair of the america's cup organizing committee, and our partner in this fabulous event, for which we will all be eternally grateful. please join me in welcoming our local guy. [applause] >> thank you very much. there is an old saying. victory has many parents, but defeat is an orphan. in many parents of this victory are here today. when i got involved in the negotiating side of trying to get the cut here, gavin newsom could not have been a better advocate. i want to thank him. mayor lee is the best thing

that happened to san francisco. i want to thank him for the leadership he provided. david chiu steered this through the board of supervisors. we did strike a deal that i would raise the money, so we got a unanimous vote out of the board. but i want to thank david for everything he did. it was very important. when city employees get a bum rap -- how hard do they work? i have never seen a group of more professional people put this bid together and get us through the process. under monique's leadership, the planning department -- i do not know whether mike is here or not. he has been doing a great job. i still carry from the city. the analysis is it is going to bring $1.20 billion to the

economy of san francisco, over 8000 jobs, and will give us a world class ability to attract people to angel island. you name it. it has never been seen from the shore since 150 years ago. this is the first time ever there will be a bay area wide event that has to be coordinated. i want to acknowledge the coast guard. they are doing a heck of a job for us. the captain is somewhere here. thank you for being here today. we were in washington, d.c. and when nancy pelosi was there. we were celebrating that we needed an act of congress. there were representatives from dianne feinstein and barbara boxer. it takes a village. we are going to make it happen.

we have the job of raising money to make it happen. nothing will incentivize sponsors or donors more than seeing the visuals you are about to see when i shut up. we will move from a promise to a reality. thank you very much. >> thank you, mr. chairman. our last speaker is a very patient man, and a native son of san francisco, a graduate of balboa high school. he is a second-generation longshoremen. he has handled every type of cargo, including passengers. he is the newly elected president of the local union. please welcome him. [applause] >> hello. i just wanted to thank mayor lee, the port commission, for

directors, and board of supervisors. it is an honor to stand here today with you to honor our second international president, jimmy herman. we thank you for your leadership and the hard work that has moved us at last to start the construction. i just wanted to thank you for that. we waited 20 years to get this going. i also wanted to think staff, and behind-the-scenes people who have helped to progress this. everybody has moved this. jimmy was a seaman and a cook on cruise ships. he came a short and became a local 34 clerk. when the legendary harry bridges retired in 1977, jimmy became the second international president of our association.

he served 14 years. then he became a court commissioner for 15 years. i heard a comment earlier about ladies on the port commission. maybe you could have a member on the port commission again. jimmy was passionate about preserving maritime jobs for the working men and women of the waterfront. jimmy was a visionary. he understood the future potential of the cruise ship terminal, which would create more jobs for the men and women of the area. today, there are apple you were locals. -- today, there are four locals the work this terminal. with the completion of this terminal, which is coming, the boon for our city cruise ship business will continue. this means more jobs, more good-

paying jobs. good-paying jobs for the community of san francisco and the bay area. need this first-class terminal, named after our past president, for a first-class city, to show off what we need to offer for the world. thank you very much for naming the terminal for brother herman. solidarity to all. long live the jimmy herman cruise ship terminal. thank you very much. >> as you know from my remarks, there are a bunch of people working on this project who are both local and water affiliates and aficionado's. that is what this project needed. that is why the project will be inviting you back to the completion date. at long last, it is time.

>> on behalf of the city, the port, america's cup, and all the communities and our labor union, in dpw parlance, let it rip.

>> before i takeçç roll, and i could remind everyone to turn off or silence your cell phones and any other electronic device thatç may sound off during the meeting. ç[roll call] çcommissioner gordon -- bordens

expected. president miguel: beforeç you continue, and like to take the opportunity to formally welcome and introduceñr cindy wu to the dais here. çççshe is presently the commy planning manager at aç chinaton -- at a chinatown community developmentñr center, and she hs çbeen there about four and a hf years, focusing primarily on participatory planning in land use, transportation, open space, and affordable housing. she has a master's in city planning from mit, concentration of housing, community, and economic development. she graduated with honors from uc-berkeley in architecture. prior to being in chinatown, she worked inç housing in the tenderloin.

çshe has served on the board of directors of spurt and the county transportation authority çcacçç -- served on the boarf directors of spur. çwith all that, obviously eminently qualified to join us. commissioner wu:ç thank you, ad thank you to all the commissioners for welcoming me. i am very happyç to serve, very happy to bring technical çtraining and experience, and i hope to be able to contribute to this commission. president miguel: thank you. >> thank you, and welcome. commissioners, the first items on your calendar are items proposed for continuance. at theç time of the planning of this calendar, there were none. as of today, i have received one request for continuance forç im 10, i believe. yes, itemçç 10, for 1921 vall

street. the project sponsor does not agree with the request for continuance, and staff is prepared to move forward today. because of all those things, i recommend that you not take up this requestç at this time. with that, i'm not aware of any other item on your calendar being proposed for continuance. presidentñr miguel: is there any public comment on the continuance matter? ifç not, public comment is clod -- if there is, please come to theç podium. ñr>> [inaudible] ç>> just a moment. let me turn on the microphone for you. go ahead. >> and the owner of 1921

vallejo,çç and that wouldç be anxious for the hearing to go forwardçç -- i am the owner. i did not realize untilç the second -- until this second that a continuance had been requested, and we have already put aside time and waited six months to be heard. president miguel: thank you. weççç will consider the requt the time the item is on the agenda. is there any other public comment on the continuance calendar? if not, public comment is closed. >>ç thank you. commissioners, you are now on çyour consent calendar. item one makes that the consent calendar this week. it is considered to be routine and will be acted upon by a single roll call vote. there will be noxd separate discussion of the item unless a member of this commission, the çpublic, or staff so requests. in that instance, the matter would be removed from consent

and considered as a separate item at this or a future hearing. çitem onet( is case 2011.1172cç ç626 clement street, to modify the conditions of aç prior conditional use authorization to allow the expansion of a full- service restaurant within at approximately 1800 sq. ft. karaoke lounge on the ground floorç ofç añr two-story mixee buildingç. commissioners, following public comment, wh automatically remove this item from the consent calendar, this item is before you for consideration. president miguel: is their public comment on the item on the consent calendar? if not, public comment is closed. commissionerçç moore: move to approve. >> commissioners, the motion before you is for approval as it

has been proposed. commissioner antonini: aye. ççç>> commissioner borden is absent. commissionerç borden: i am her. >> are you prepared? commissioner borden: aye. commissioner fong: aye. commissioner sugaya: aye. çcommissioner wu: aye. çpresident miguel: aye. ç>>ç thankç you, commissione. the item has been approved. ççcommissioner antonini: i wad to comment on what i thought was an excellent piece in the "çç examiner" on sunday by supervisorç weiner,ç and it ss about an issue we have discussed at greatç length, and that ist having a very large middle- income population in san çfrancisco. he goes uhrough a very good analysis, showing that that growth has shrunk significantly çfrom 1990 through 2010, and it was not even that large in 1990. çofáqthis is the core of

most cities where you have families with children, and those who become most involved becauseok they care for their ççchildren, and, you know, thy build from generation to generation. you certainlyi] see a big shift from the san francisco of the 1950's when we had a huge middle-ççclass and would not y more. ççwhether you define that as e 80thñr percentileç toç 120th,s small no matter how you cut it. that whole income group is not there. what he didç that was quite god -- he looked at this. sp]his is a chicken and egg question often. what comes first is that we do çnot have a middle-class and therefore we do not have jobs for the middleç class, or is it that theñr jobs are not here and thereç forçç do not have a m- class -- there for --ç therefo, we do not have a middle-class?

group need these jobs. many businesses, when surveyed about why they moved out of san franciscoçç, have said that te populationç mostly lived in otr places. typically, people who would service these so-called back- office operations -- operations that typically offer and are considered white-collar and whatever definition you óaot to use -- have toç have housing tt is appropriate for their needs. the price is always something that people look at, but what is also important is accessedñr to neighborhood schools -- access to neighborhood schools, and that is something that has been discussed a lot. also the size of the home. people with families are often looking for individual homesç with enough veterans and the parking for the cars that they inevitably will haveñr -- with enough bedroomsñr and parking fr the cars that they inevitably

will have. i think the supervisor is right on target when he says that if we build this kind of housing or acquire existing housing that suits their needs, then we will çattract this group back to san francisco. it was a very good editorial. with that in mind, i took a write-down to brisbane -- a ride down to brisbane yesterday and saw somebody who is doing it right. they builtñrç individualçççd homes, with clearly single- family homes with side by side parking. very pleasant, and where possible, i think that is something we have to look at in san francisco. where we will find the land is the question, but i think there might be sites where this is çpossible, andñr we have to encourageçç production of this kind ot housing wherever possible, so i appreciated that

editorial or op-ed pieceç that the supervisor had done. he is involved with a group that is studying this. there was a hearing on monday which $xregrettably was not able to attend, but i think it isça subject we need toç focus on because the core of any city is its middle income families, and we have to find a way to be able to address that shortage. thank you. commissionerç borden:ç i wanto be=)ç the first among the ch'' to welcomeç our new commission. we are excited to serve with you and have a full commission again. çi know there will be a lot of fun times ahead. i know people think it is crazy to say it is fun, but we would not serve on thisçç commission that we did not believe it. i was fortunate along with commissioner wu last night to çattend the green connection çkickoff, funded through a grat partnership among various city agencies and partners to connect people to greenç spacesçit sht

this northeastern part of the cityç. it is an initiative to look at the existing green spaces, how we look at it, and how we connect people and how we connectçç people. çñrçthereçç were maps and pe people could make suggestions. i'm really excited about the initiative because there will be a lot of unconditional workshops with walking tours and biking tours to kind of explore these areas. i think itç is very exciting tt we have an opportunity to look at something. ççñrleading ahead in a way wen

do not have funding to do these çthings. i want to say congratulations to the partners of that. commissioner sugaya: i cannot remember where i got this, but i did send a copy to staff, butçt is a workshop being held in emeryville on cell towers from march 8 -- on march 8 from 7:00 to 9:00 in the evening. çthe topics seemed to be the kd ofç things that we seem to be facing every time we had cell çantennas on our agenda. i know nothing about the center for municipal solutionsç. i'm not sure if it is with anybody going like staff or not, but anyway, i will pass this along. they have some fairly enticing questions on yourççç -- on h.

comm for those who were not able to make it tuesday, city hall looked spectacular. ñrwhoever organized it should gt big kudos. it looked fantastic. in today's "new yorkç times," there is an article which i strongly recommend for everybody to read. we have beenç asking ourselves about the impactç of foreclosus in said francisco, which is an issue difficult to put your finger on. the article squaks about extensive foreclosures, defining san francisco, officials suggest how pervasive irregularities may be across the nation, that it actually speaks about the study that was done the discovered large amounts of ñrirregularities in this city ad county. i suggest everybody read it. it says a lot, and there is

actually quite a bit to be concerned about. president miguel: some of that article was in today's "examiner"ç as wellç. other than that, i have been having a few meetingsç with people regarding the masonic auditorium issue, and there may even be hope of a solution. we will see. çcommissioner antonini: i also had some meetings. i would like to, of course, welcome commissionerç wu aboar. but crest mott court neighborhood association -- that may not be the correct term, but i did meet there with -- there is a project coming up in that area,ç and in that with about 0 neighbors there on monday night. it was very interesting. we will be hearing about that as we look forward. also, i talked about the mayor's office and the projectç sponsos in regards to california

pacific and became a price of where we are on that. i'm trying to be proactive on that one as well as anything else when looking at our future calendar. -- becameç uprisedç -- became apprised of where we are on that. >> commissioners, thank you. we can move on to directors reportç, directors announcemen. ç>> thank you, linda. i would also like to on behalf of the department welcome commissionerççç wuç. weç look forward to workingç h you very much. i did want to report quickly on theçç meeting last night that commissioner borden mentioned. itç was a veryç interesting e. because of the location on market street, i think, and the timing of the eveable to come immediately after work, and a lot of people who came were

people i did not recognize from previous events, so it was a nice variety of people. in a nutshell, the green connections study is funded by the strategic growth counsel at the state, which is a consortium çof state departments. çit is a two-year grant. the first is meant to look at a city wide network of green pen spacesççç and the city's water.and not only for people to use, but for wildlife. the second phase of the grant will be to take six corridors in six underserved neighborhoods, which are generally in the southeast quadrant of the city, and design those to a higher level of detail so that we can then seek funding to actually make imprthey are not exclusivet primarily city streets. the idea is to pick the most logical ones and the most billable ones, if you will, to turn into these kinds of green corridors.

it is an interesting process, and we are fortunate to get this grant, and it is something that grew out of the open space element workedç and was identified as a next phase of work for city-wide open space. i did want to mention briefly that regarding the sell tower issue, we have been in discussions with the department of public health and the department of technology. they are not being cooperative in helping us think through their sides of this issue, namely the public health issues and the capacity and coverage ççissues and we are continuino work with them on beefing up that side of the process, if you will. so that they can do the same kind of analysisç. we will