to add to what manuella said. i am glad you got the valentines. there is a lot of love that is coming through from the youths. it was done after school, and it was not do not go to school and we will have this action. spreading the message that we love muni, and we hope you appreciate the valentines, and we want to encourage you to make this an item for the hearing on march 6, and we are asking for the 6th said you can come. that meeting is scheduled for 4:30, but we want them to be present here. chairman nolan: thank you. >> [speaking foreign language]

>> my name is -- i am a member of power, and i have been doing outreach and talking to families, and the reason that muni is important to me is that i depend honoraria and it is very difficult to pay for the pass.

it is difficult to even provide a fast pass. i want to thank the board and director reiskin, and i would like to ask that to make the vote as soon as possible. chairman nolan: thank you. next? secretary boomer: [reading names] chairman nolan: that afternoon, mr. gilbert. >> good afternoon, director nolan. i wanted to have a much to discuss some concerns about the permit medallion program in san francisco, and after the taxi

advisor in council finished its discussions, staff, in the persons of deputy director hayashi, this would over time give one-third of the service from the tax services, and i think this would have a devastating effect on drivers, taxi drivers, and their careers and their futures in the industry, even with the implementation of the medallion sales program, which i had opposed. these would still be able to go into driver's.

they would have this opportunity, and now, one-third of the medallions are going to be taken off the table and given to a cab companies, and given to cap companies on what basis? this agency is going to pick the winners and losers in this industry, and by awarding them permits, is going to decide which survive, which struggle to survive, and which are simply going to die. we have much more to say about it. chairman nolan: next speaker. secretary boomer: [reading names] chairman nolan: good afternoon. >> good afternoon. my name is barry pearl, i ride

muni, i have been working here for 28 years. one of the most infuriating and exasperated experiences with the muni in all of the years that i have ridden the system, dealing with wage works and the credit card that is assigned to city employees. we used to deal with a computer check, which was. i purchased a pass and had a total of $68 on the credit card. i needed for additional dollars in order to buy the past. -- pass. i started by contacting one group, and they had no clue as to how i could take this credit card and take $4 in cash in order to load onto the clipper

card. i then called 311. they had no clue. finally, i ended up contacting the clipper card people, and they directed me to the embarcadero station, where i could actually deal with a human being and present a credit card and cash to solve the situation. it was so infuriated. then, wage works sends me an on- line service, and that was equally infuriated because it had a 250 character limit in the comment i could make. and then they do not have a phone number. you cannot call them, and they do not allow public input. they did ultimately respond to my survey, and they did get back to me, and i give them credit for that, but you need to deal with your fare machine.

all they say is "you contact your bank." is nonspecific. it was an infuriating process. chairman nolan: thank you. next. secretary boomer: [reading names] herbert wiener. >> [speaking foreign language] >> good afternoon, my name is -- with power, and i am here for the free nuni for youth campaign. >> [speaking foreign language]

>> i am fighting for my kids. i am fighting for young people, so that they have one less worry, so that they do not have to worry about the money to get on the bus, so they can focus on their schooling. i am also thinking in the poorest neighborhoods, the youth risk hitting on the back when they do not have the money to get on the bus. >> [speaking foreign language] >> san francisco is one of the most beautiful cities, and at the same time, there is a lot of

really low-income families that live here that are just trying to survive on a day-to-day basis, single mothers that are just trying to make it. >> [speaking foreign language] >> and i just want to ask you can make this decision and vote in support of this program as soon as possible in this month of march to come. thank you. chairman nolan: thank you. next speaker. secretary boomer: [reading names] >> good afternoon. on behalf of the 17 youths commissioners, i want to thank you for meeting with us. you have heard of a lot of compelling stories from young people directly, not for me, right? that 16-year-old from the heart

of the fillmore who had to walk from edie to steiner street. another commissioner who i think articulate why the three fast pass is so important for undocumented young people and the stigma that a free, reduced lunch qualification means for people. that upper-middle-class commissioner who goes to st. ignatius and what a free press is so compelling in bridging a really significant -- why a free press -- free pass is so compelling. and the office of supervisor campos, to schedule of vote as soon as possible, ideally march 20. we have been extremely grateful to work with so much staff in

such an honest and helpful way, and we really hope that given how much of this funding depends on the votes at other outside agencies that this could happen as soon as possible. i conclude by just saying that at the youth commission, i get calls every day from front-line staff at community organizations, case managers at homeless shelters, afterschool workers at big organizations like the ymca, catholic charities, and they keep asking about the youth lifeline program that this board had two years ago, so we really hope we can move forward with something, especially for the low-income people, as soon as possible. [bell] secretary boomer: [names] herbert. >> i am having difficulty on one

california mine. last week, they had to turn back and not get to their terminal destination. on one occasion, i had to wait 15 minutes for the bus that was turned back. on the second occasion, i asked the driver why the bus had to be turned back. she has replied, "because my supervisor told me to." i was not given a full explanation. i would like an explanation why these buses are being turned back. i want an explanation as to why these buses get bunched up. sometimes there are three or four buses that are bunched together, and this has been happening for the last six months. also, there is the number of the signs with the destination and the arrival of buses. sometimes, i will see a sign that the bus is going to come 45

to 60 minutes from now, and the bus is going to, a lot sooner, and actually, i got furious about two things. now, i realize that there is no free lunch. i hate to be in the lunch. -- being the lunch. and secondly, you are here to serve the people and not serve yourself. these are my complaints, and i hope that the motto of muni is not "every rider left behind." chairman nolan: thank you. secretary boomer: [reading names] >> i am a community organizer at a center. there is a group of high school leaders that have been working on this issue for about one year, 1.5 years, and i am also

here to urge that this matter be brought to a vote as soon as possible, that it be placed on notice and that we can have a vote on march 20 so we can move this forward. i just wanted to echo that. when we came to you guys, one of the things that came out was this idea that they're going to be more youths on the buses and that there needed to be education, so i along with the school district have been meeting with the coalition of folks, the bicycle coalition, jamestown, power, school district officials, as well as the mayor's youth commission and other groups to have been meeting to figure out what it will mean to roll out an educational campaign along with the free muni for youth. we met twice at the school district, which -- once with one

group. we were trying to address where there was rider safety, a res ponsible muni rider, where we create long-term muni riders. starting next year, you are going to see a rise in youths getting to school. what that means and how they are going to address and deal with the issues of more youths being on the buses and being on muni. to get this done. thank you. chairman nolan: thank you. david. [reading names]

>> i tried to be addressed today. first, on the operating structural deficit, it did not take public comment, so i am providing it to you now. one was expenditure reductions with a note that these had been when contract negotiations. i am not sure that that is the case, that $30 million in expenditure reductions have been achieved in that way. if that is true, i think it would be good to detail those savings and to tell that story, because i think people here, -- hear frequently that there is a structural imbalance and that we need to fix it. we need to talk about that more. really tell that.

the other thing i am finding really in congress -- incongruent is that we and actually increase servant -- service on several lines, the n judah, the 14. there may be others. it seems inconsistent to me on the one hand to say the we need more revenue to continue our baseline when we are adding service that furthers that deficit, so i am not going to talk about the youth pass issued today, but i think we need to reconcile eight the story if we need more revenue, but at the same time, we are taking this policy actions that tend to make things worse. chairman nolan: thank you. next speaker. secretary boomer: [reading

names] >> barry. blondest hardest -- good afternoon. not a happy valentine's day. it was not a love affair on valentine's day with the taxi industry. we get this proposal. the town hall meetings went well, but the attendance was horrible, which segues into another issue. first, chris hayashi did a great report on the busting of the illegal taxicabs and limousines, and i think you should look at the video that was on the television station channel 5. i can send you the link if you give me your email address. it is a great story. she did a great job. in terms of letting people know

about these town hall meetings, it has been horrible. horrible. i am sorry to say it so loud, but how can people attend if you do not do widespread posting, at the airport, insisted that it is posted at the cab companies, it did the emails out. please schedule another town hall meeting in the future before this goes before you, or you are wasting everyone's time, or you will be having hundreds of cabdrivers here on the 6th or the 20th. do you want to that? the other thing is, why are you still looking at this under this category? you are still looking at this as money generated. chris hayashi's staff, you are making it difficult. your website still stings in terms of taxicab information.

i am sorry. give us a hand and made -- make chris hayashi directly under director reiskin. chairman nolan: thank you. secretary boomer: [reading names] chairman nolan: good afternoon. >> hello, i am -- as you look at reforms coming up here shortly, there is no way you are going to be avoiding a lot of drivers and stakeholders here. i want to remind you folks about what the key for the industry has been. i purchased desoto cab company last year. i had a very i opening experience in san francisco, and i want to highlight some things that i think are seriously

accepted as problems in the industry as you try to address them in the weeks and months. first, there is not enough taxis in san francisco, and the taxis that we are using, more than half of the 1500 plus taxicab's we have are not picking up any neighborhood calls, paratransit, disabled communities, some of those we currently have in service, less than half are actually serving the neighborhoods and the public. the rest are at the airport and taking -- that is one of the serious problems we have in terms of availability. second, there is no accountability in taxi drivers and taxi companies. in other words, there is an all- time high of taxi drivers to do not even have a taxi driver's license. they are leasing from another driver or from a cab company, and this is a serious problem. number three, brokers. these are individuals and not

cap companies, not tax medallion holders that have gotten in the industry and are operating the medallions for a cab company, or a medallion holder, and they have taken over the industry. they are exploiting taxi drivers, putting unlicensed drivers beyond -- behind the wheel, forcing them to drive beyond the times, and i am sorry, i thought i had more time, and i will leave it at that. hopefully, i can speak with you again soon. chairman nolan: thank you. next speaker. secretary boomer: [reading names] >> i am -- a huge organizer from chinatown. the kids have to commute up to sunset. their lifelong situation of being muni riders. talking about the proposal, i

think it goes undisputed that the youth are passionate about this issue, but it is something needed, not just something they are passionate and excited about. we are healing -- hearing about how families have to piece things together. to hop on the bus, and last week, we had a valentine's day action. i see you guys got the valentines. we are urging you to make the vote happen soon but to also calendar it during an after- school time in march so that they can put faces behind those valentine's and start talking about how we can make this happen. thank you. chairman nolan: thank you. next speaker. secretary boomer: [reading names]

and these are the last two speaker cards that we have. >> i have been working for about five years here, but this is by far the most sophisticated and well thought out effort, advocacy campaign that i have been around in san francisco and with other work around the country. folks had a proposal. they were tasked, and i think they have done it at the city level, the county level, with a degree of sophistication, learning what funding pots are available and going out to advocate for those and working really well with the city family, so i want to give everyone an acknowledgement on that, but unless we go forward soon, i think we risk the momentum we have built up. also, building a movement, a broad enough base movement that will support this agency in the future for the funds we know that are necessary, but we need

the folks who are transit dependent to be on board for any kind of future measure that is going to require for them to look deeper. it is really important to do steps to build a movement going forward. those who have the fun of going -- the fun of going to washington, d.c., this is a disaster. this conversation has a really pernicious effect in terms of what public agencies can do. aside from delivering concrete benefits in san francisco, building a base of future muni writers, this has the potential to push back on the notion that public agencies in difficult times can do things to make things better. we can do what austerity and plug the holes that are the worst. this is an opportunity to do something positive to really change the way i think folks feel about muni and to deliver concrete benefits. we look forward to working with

you. thank you. chairman nolan: thank you. next speaker. secretary boomer: our last speaker. [reading name] >> the situation here has been getting worse and worse. i have been away intention. what has been going on, mr. ford, he arranged from town hall meetings, and they came in big numbers, and whenever they explained, none of them they want to employment. what they did is brought people, and a lot of the people are fake, who do not represent the industry. the electronic waybill and blah, blah, blah. day, i am delivering a message. the protests will be right in

front of city hall, and they are big. in these town hall meetings from a few weeks ago, they were called names by the taxi drivers. even somebody had been sent an email, and i sent a copy one time to mr. reiskin. "you are a piece of [beep]" we are ready to talk, but i do not have time here. five minutes. to solve that issue. they said, ok, let's do it online. the person, the medallion holder, and he is holding a card for 18 months, you do not get it for 18 months. before that, we used to come to city hall.

there is a lot of trouble. i amthank you for having the meeting. >> anyone else? seeing no one. >> moving on to your consent calendar. >> the item was considered separately. we received the item in a request. items 10.4 and 10.5 are to be severed. >> the consent calendar, as it remains? 10.1 through 10.3, right? >> motion to approve. >> seconded. >> those in favor? >> aye. >> 10.4, the transportation code to increase the penalty of the amount of traffic for riding bicycles on sidewalks.

-- 3 02 and 3 03, to increase the penalty amount for obstructing traffic, double parking, and riding bicycles on sidewalks. >> good afternoon. my name is barry toronto. i understand that you are raising their rates, the fines to be in line with other finds. and however, the question, as jerry lee had mentioned, why continue to raise these if there is no enforcement? it is important to look at, for example, yesterday was a holiday and the only enforcement were the meters. i think it is important to find out how many meter tickets they give out yesterday. many people were surprised. holiday, a parking enforcement.