>> when stephen de staebler died, he was working on one of the biggest shows of his career, matter and spirit. it is a retrospective look at the many faces and faces of the life of an innovative artist from the california clay movement. stephen de staebler's developed in an area dominated by abstract expression. even his peers saw his form. >> he was able to find a middle ground in which he balanced the ideas of human figuration and representation with abstraction and found it even more

meaningful to negotiate that duality. >> another challenge was to create art from a meeting that was typically viewed as kraft material. his transforming moment was an accident in the studio. an oversized vertical sculpture began to collapse under its own weight and spread onto the floor. he sought a new tradition before him, landscape sculpture. >> you feel this extended human form underneath the surface of the earth struggling to emerge. eventually, it does. it articulates his idea that the earth is like flesh, and the archaeology and geology in the earth are like the bones, the structure of the earth. this tied in with his idea of mother earth, with the sense that we are all tied to nature and the earth. >> a half dozen bay area museums and private collectors loan the

massive sculptures to the museum for its matter and spirit retrospective. but the most unusual contributions came from stephen himself. a wall of autobiographical masks and hence from the early decades of his private study. >> he had one of the most beautiful studios i have ever been in. when you walk in, your first impression is of these monumental figures that you see in the exhibition, but if you went into the back corner of his studio, there was a series of shells with these diminutive figures. he told me, these are the heart of my studio. these little, and held intimate study is that he referred to as his sketchbook. a painter might make drawings. stephen de staebler made miniature sculptures. >> during the 1970's, he was inspired by the monuments of egypt. he assembled a large rocks of clay into figures that resembled

the ancient kings and queens. he credited a weathered appearance by rubbing glazes' into the clay while still wet. the misfires from his killed were brought in his backyard in his berkeley home. he called it his boneyard. in the last year of his life, he dug up the artifacts from his own history, and the bones were rearranged, in the were slimmer figures with wings. >> even if you knew nothing about his life or career, you sensed there was an artist dealing with this fundamental issue of life and death, the cake, netting back together, and you feel there is an attempt to deal with mortality and immortality. there is a seeking of spiritual meaning in an existential stage. >> during his 50-year career, stephen de staebler worked to form and out of the clay of the ground and give it a breath of life. matter and spirit gathers the

many expressions of his meditations. and gives the viewer and insight into the artist's life. learn more about the retrospective on line at

>> there has been an acknowledgement of the special places around san francisco bay. well, there is something sort of innate in human beings, i think, that tend to recognize a good spot when you see it, a spot that takes your breath away. this is one of them. >> an icon of the new deal. >> we stood here a week ago and we heard all of these dignitaries talk about the

symbol that coit tower is for san francisco. it's interesting for those of us in the pioneer park project is trying to make the point that not only the tower, not only this man-built edifice here is a symbol of the city but also the green space on which it sits and the hill to which is rests. to understand them, you have to understand the topography of san francisco. early days of the city, the city grows up in what is the financial district on the edge of chinatown. everything they rely on for existence is the golden gate. it's of massive importance to the people what comes in and out of san francisco bay. they can't see it where they are. they get the idea to build a giant wooden structure. the years that it was up here, it gave the name telegraph hill. it survived although the structure is long gone. come to the 1870's and the city has growed up remarkably.

it's fueled with money from the nevada silver mines and the gold rush. it's trying to be the paris of the west. now the beach is the suburbs, the we will their people lived on the bottom and the poorest people lived on the top because it was very hard getting to the top of telegraph hill. it was mostly lean-to sharks and bits of pieces of houses up here in the beginning. and a group of 20 businessmen decided that it would be better if the top of the hill remained for the public. so they put their money down and they bought four lots at the top of the hill and they gave them to the city. lily hitchcock coit died without leaving a specific use for her bequest. she left a third of her estate for the beautify indication of the city. arthur brown, noted architect in the city, wanted for a while to build a tower. he had become very interested in persian towers. it was the 1930's.

it was all about machinery and sort of this amazing architecture, very powerful architecture. he convinced the rec park commission that building a tower in her memory would be the thing to do with her money. >> it was going to be a wonderful observation place because it was one of the highest hills in the city anywhere and that that was the whole reason why it was built that high and had the elevator access immediately from the beginning as part of its features. >> my fear's studio was just down the street steps. we were in a very small apartment and that was our backyard. when they were preparing the site for the coit tower, there was always a lot of harping and griping about how awful progress was and why they would choose this beautiful pristine area to do them in was a big

question. as soon as the coit tower was getting finished and someone put in the idea that it should be used for art, then, all of a sudden, he was excited about the coit tower. it became almost like a daily destination for him to enjoy the atmosphere no matter what the politics, that wasn't the point. as long as they fit in and did their work and did their own creative expression, that was all that was required. they turned in their drawings. the drawings were accepted. if they snuck something in, well, there weren't going to be any stoolies around. they made such careful little diagrams of every possible little thing about it as though

that was just so important and that they were just the big frog. and, actually, no one ever felt that way about them and they weren't considered something like that. in later life when people would approach me and say, well, what did you know about it? we were with him almost every day and his children, we grew up together and we didn't think of him as a commie and also the same with the other. he was just a family man doing normal things. no one thought anything of what he was doing. some of them were much more highly trained. it shows, in my estimation, in the murals. this was one of the masterpieces. families at home was a lot more

close to the life that i can remember that we lived. murals on the upper floors like the children playing on the swings and i think the little deer in the forest where you could come and see them in the woods and the sports that were always available, i think it did express the best part of our lives. things that weren't costing money to do, you would go to a picnic on the beach or you would do something in the woods. my favorite of all is in the staircase. it's almost a miracle masterpiece how he could manage to not only fit everyone, of course, a lot of them i recognized from my childhood -- it's how he juxtaposed and managed to kind of climb up that stairway on either side very much like you are walking

down a street. it was incredible to do that and to me, that is what depicted the life of the times in san francisco. i even like the ones that show the industrial areas, the once with the workers showing them in the cannery and i can remember going in there and seeing these women with the caps, with the nets shuffling these cans through. my parents had a ranch in santa rosa and we went there all summer. i could see these people leaning over and checking. it looked exactly like the beautiful things about the ranch. i think he was pretty much in the never look back philosophy about the coit. i don't think he ever went to visit again after we moved from telegraph hill, which was only

five or six years later. i don't think he ever had to see it when the initials are scratched into everything and people had literally destroyed the lower half of everything. >> well, in my view, the tower had been pretty much neglected from the 1930's up until the 1980's. it wasn't until then that really enough people began to be alarmed about the condition of the murals, the tower was leaking. some of the murals suffered wear damage. we really began to organize getting funding through the arts commission and various other sources to restore the murals. they don't have that connection or thread or maintain that connection to your history and your past, what do you have? that's one of the major elements of what makes quality of life in san francisco so incredible.

when people ask me, and they ask me all the time, how do you get to coit tower, i say you walk. that's the best way to experience the gradual elevation coming up above the hustle and bustle of the city and finding this sort of oasis, if you will, at the top of the hill. when i walk through this park, i look at these brick walls and this lawn, i look at the railings around the murals. i look at the restoration and i think, yeah, i had something to do with that. learning the lessons, thank you, landmarks meet landmarks. the current situation at pioneer park and coit tower is really based in public and private partnership. it was the citizens who came together to buy the land to keep it from being developed.

it was lily hitchcock coit to give money to the city to beautify the city she loved of the park project worked to develop this south side and still that's the basis of our future project to address the north side.

[unintelligible] president chiu: could you please turn me in the pledge of allegiance? "i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." colleagues, we have copies of the minutes.

could we have a motion to approve? without objection, this meeting minutes are approved. are there any communications? >> i have no communications. president chiu: if you could read the consent agenda. >> these items will be acted upon by a single roll call vote. if a member -- requests discussion it shall be removed and considered separately. president chiu: would anyone like to sever any of these items? will call? >> supervisor olague, aye. supervisor avalos, aye. it supervisor campos, aye. president chiu, aye. supervisor elsbernd, aye. supervisor farrell, aye. supervisor kim, aye. supervisor mar, aye. president chiu: those ordinances

are passed and adopted. item five. >> amending the city code to establish city count -- city participation in federal counterterrorism activities. supervisor kim: i would like to continue to this -- to the full board next tuesday to allow discussions with a police department at the mayor's office. also we do not have the full board today. i thought it would be more appropriate to continue to next week. president chiu: seconded by supervisor olague, can we take this to continue without objection? without objection, that shall be the case. >> item 6. >> appropriating $1 million for the small business revolving loan fund program for fiscal year 2011 and 2012, placing $500,000 on budget and finance committee reserve pending an update.

president chiu: roll-call vote. >> supervisor olague, aye. supervisor avalos, aye. supervisor chiu, aye. supervisor elsbernd, aye. supervisor farrell, aye. supervisor kim, aye. supervisor mark, aye. there are eight ayes. president chiu: next item. >> authorizing the department of public health to accept and expend a federal pass-through state grant for the department of public health to participate in nurse family partnership. president chiu: same house, same call? this item is adopted. next item. >> resolution authorizing the san francisco department of public health to accept and expend a state grant from the

department of rehabilitation to participate in a program entitled state -- state vocational rehab services program. president chiu: same house, same call? next item. item nine. >> retroactively authorizing the department of emergency management to enter into the ninth amendment of an agreement between the city and county of san francisco. president chiu: same house, same call? item is adopted. next item. >> authorizing the recreation and parks department to accept and expend an urban ingraining grant. president chiu: same house, same call? this item is adopted. item 11. >> granting revocable permission to the golden gate bridge highway and transportation district to occupation -- occupy portions of the public right of way to exist -- replace

existing bus stop signs and install and maintain new bus stop signs. president chiu: same house, same call? as accepted. we do not have any 3:30 p.m. special orders. if we could go now to roll call. >> supervisor olague, your first for introductions. supervisor olague: i have a request. expanding the policy for state and public employees statewide. the assembly bill would authorize a local agency to consider an applicant's criminal history after the qualifications have been screened and the agency has determined the applicant meets the minimum employment requirements. traditionally, we see that people of color are disproportionately impacted by criminal background checks in employment. the bill requires a strong nexus

between an applicant's criminal history and the specific duties and responsibilities of a given position. this bill will help eliminate barriers to employment in the public sector for people with criminal backgrounds and is in line with current policies practiced by the city and county with -- of san francisco. two, a resolution urging the mayor and city departments to prioritize youth employment during business negotiations. with the job rate at its lowest point in more than 60 years, and 33% of the city's youth being officially unemployed, the youth commission like many other cities and community stakeholders has been focusing on youth employment. for example, the youth commission has worked with my colleagues, supervisor elsbernd on legislation and on march 5, 2012, the youth commission adopt a resolution calling and city leaders to prioritize youth

employment in future business or been negotiation. like the america's cup, and/or the tenderloin payroll tax exclusion or twitter tax break as it is commonly known. by having city departments include user involvement plans -- youth involvement plans like that of the america's cup. i am introducing a similar resolution that calls on the mayor and city departments to include substandard of u.s. involvement plans with -- youth involvement plans and negotiation in which the city is involved. finally, it has been requested by members of the community that we hold a hearing to request presentations from the department of public works regarding impact of trash and recycle bin scavenging and the solutions to prevent a situation in both residential and commercial neighborhoods.

the gold dust, i am planning -- working with the planning department and other interested parties. i should have something to offer regarding this. for those members of the public who were wondering, it is not a closed issue here. we're still in conversation with those parties that are affected. >> thank you. supervisor elsbernd. supervisor campos. supervisor campos: thank you. i have one item. i want to thank supervisor is a lobby and -- olague and kim. in recognizing international -- an international day and lowering the flags. the rest i submit. >> supervisor avalos.

supervisor avalos: a couple of items for introduction. one is an item for our imperative agenda. that is declaring march professional social work month. and i bring it forward as a still practicing social worker. i got my social work degree, my ms w from san francisco state university and i have used it in different community settings and i have relationships with other social workers across the bay area who are engaged in and doing a lot of work, one on work 0-- one work. it is important we honor our very difficult profession that faces many challenges in terms of how we keep ourselves in good spirits, often facing people

with very troubling lives, very troubled lives, helping to make good choices with their lives. i want to make sure we can honor the work of the social workers with our resolution today on the imperative agenda. i also have a resolution i am submitting with several co- sponsors including supervisors olague, kim, campos, president chiu. the resolution is urging the mayor to direct our city lobbyist to support the california homeowner bill of rights, also supporting the call for the suspension of foreclosures of loans controlled by fannie mae and freddie mac and to provide for a principal reduction to keep families in their homes. a resolution also urges all city and county officials and departments to work proactively to insure that san francisco residents do not fall victim to

unlawful foreclosure practices and most importantly, is calling on banks, especially wells fargo, to suspend foreclosure activities until such time the state and federal measures are in place to protect homeowners from unfair and unlawful practices. i come to this -- work on this legislation with many community groups from across san francisco. there is the california air with reinvestment coalition, residents from our different districts, and we are facing a crisis even here in san francisco. it has now -- not always been recognized we have a foreclosure crisis. often in california we talk about the central valley as having a crisis in foreclosures but there aretwo but -- there are to be together district and neighborhoods that have a high level of foreclosures, district 10 in district 11. we also have lots of foreclosures that happened throughout our city. there is the occupy movement

responding to many closures in bernal, condo owners are facing foreclosures. we have had many reports from community groups and government agencies that have documented real concerns and real troubles with banks and their predatory practices, banks have not been doing their due diligence to help homeowners and households to modify their loans to prevent foreclosures. often we see practices called dual tracking where bank is engaged in helping a household to modify a mortgage loan and at the same time, moving forward with foreclosure proceedings that get done without the household, homeowner knowing about it until it is too late. we have issues of predatory lending, practices where paperwork is automatically