there is an enormous amount of support in the community for this. the milk family supports it. harvey milk's family supports doing this. his former legislative aide, cronin berger, supports this. many lgbt veterans support it. some of them came to committee, including bob [unintelligible] , an extraordinary leader, who served as president of the harvey milk lgbt democratic club. the veterans affairs commission supported it, including its out president, john caldera, as well as the american legion alexander hamilton post 448. i want to note how inspirational it will be for young lgbt sailors at to see harvey milk's name on the side of a neat -- military vessel. harvey used to talk about the kid from altoona, pa., and

inspiring young lgbt people to have hope and know that they can succeed in life. many of us oppose war. many of us chose not to pursue military careers. many lgbt people have made the choice to serve in the military, even when it was illegal and dangerous to do so. i can think of no better way to support those people, to support our community and the many more lgbt young people who will follow in their footsteps than to support the naming of this ship as the u.s.s.r. the milk. thank you. >> thank you. -- supervisor chiu: thank you. supervisor avalos? supervisor avalos: like many of us, i have been trying to figure out what harvey milk would have wanted. we decided to do something unique in my office. we got out a week keyboard. -- a oiuiji board.

[laughter] it's spelled out a series of letters. harvey gave us those letters. good riddance, do not ask, do not help. that was quite clear, harvey milk would have been opposed to don't ask, don't tell. i can honestly say that that is one aspect of this resolution that is really valid. the recent experience that gays and lesbians have had in the military is one that is still trouble. there is a person who is in the brig waiting for a trial for treason, bradley manning, who has been a questioning individual of his sexual orientation -- actually, his gender. he is gay.

he is one whose experience tells us that we have a lot to do to make the military a better place for people who are gay to serve. to me, naming a naval vessel after harvey milk can help in that way. can help to get to the point where people who are in the military who are gay are going to be able to serve as the military grapples with how to program what is about making people comfortable with sexual orientation. i actually believe, this is actually a reasonable thing to do, not knowing what he would have wanted, but knowing that we have to move the lever higher for it, in making sure that gays and lesbians can have greater acceptance in the military. i will be supporting this resolution.

you know, i think it is also important that from time to time, we engage in these resolutions to discuss matters outside the purview of the board of supervisors, because they have an impact on every day san franciscans. i want to thank scout leader for bringing this forward. colleagues, i hope that you can support it as well. supervisor chiu: supervisor olague? supervisor olague: i needed to comment on why i will not support this resolution today, to clarify where i am coming from on this. it was challenging to me, because many people that i respect in the community are in favor of this. colleagues on the board. mr. dokendorf. people in the milk family, who felt that he will also be

supportive of this type of an honor. at the end of the day, i do believe that there are more appropriate ways to honor someone who, in the last days of their lives, was opposed to war. and, so, i also have my entire life span against the military industrial complex. i have my own values that i feel are definitely weighing on my decision today. and, so, that being said, ultimately it is a combination of my own values. and how i feel someone like harvey milk should ultimately be honored. i think that sometimes it might be very empowering, because

apparently anyone who will be on this ship would be required, obviously, to where it shirt emblazoned uss harvey milk. i thought -- wear a shirt emblazoned uss harvey milk. i thought that that would be interesting for people who question lgbt folks to where this shirt from this ship that is named after harvey milk. i can see some of the positive affects that this naming could have, but ultimately, my own values, and i believe the values that harvey milk subscribed to towards the end of his life do not allow me to really ultimately endorse this honor. again, i respect a lot of people and i understand what folks feel it is a necessary thing. i think that, ultimately, harvey

milk, it brings up to a lot of lgbt people internationally -- brings hope to a lot about gdp -- to a lot of lgbt people internationally. in instances where other pacifists were named after ships, i am not sure i would have supported any of those others having a military ship chris and after them. as i mentioned, it is a combination of my own personal values and how i feel and what i feel is the most appropriate way to remember harvey milk. >> supervisor compost? >> thank you very much, mr. president. i want to thank -- supervisor chiu: supervisor, campos?

supervisor campos: irrespective of where people fall on the issue, it leads to a discussion. thank you. i want to respect the opinions conveyed by my colleagues that. a lot of excellent points have been made. one of the things i have found interesting about people's reaction to this resolution is that they have very strong feelings and i do think it is one of those things where reasonable minds can disagree. but one thing that i hope does not happen with respect to this resolution is that we draw a line in the sand. i actually think that it is completely acceptable that there would be different perspectives on something like this. i withdrew my name as a co- sponsor because i heard from a number of people who have said to me that harvey milk, as a

pacifist, someone who was very much against war, including the vietnam war, would not have some -- wanted something like this. the reality is that there are different perspectives on that, because i heard from people who indicated that they think that not so much that harvey would have wanted it, but he would have been, he would have recognized the symbolism behind this. i actually think that while there is some symbolism here, i have always felt that the most important way to honor harvey milk's legacy is not so much their holidays, not so much through the naming of a ship or any other action, but through an individual commitment to social justice, because of the end of the day to me that is what he was about. i think that the best thing that we can do, today, on his

birthday, is to dedicate ourselves to fighting for social justice. not just for the lgbt community, but for all oppressed communities, because at the end of the day that is what he was about. folks whose voices were not being heard had an opportunity to be heard by the powers that be. i am going to vote for this resolution. i am not sure what the right answer is in terms of whether harvey would want it or not, but i do think that at the end of the day, the question is, what does this mean to some members of our community? i have heard from many lgbt members of the military who have chosen to serve the country, dedicate themselves, but their lives on the line, and having the symbolism of this ship being named after harvey milk would

mean a lot of them. it is about what it means to people all over the world. when i worked on the sister city relationship with marcello not, i saw firsthand the power that harvey milk has abroad. the idea that a navy vessel could traveled the world and through its name send a powerful message, i hope that between now and the time this issue is resolved, we will have an opportunity to have an impact -- some input on the type of vessel. a navy vessel can be a vessel that is not a warship. quite frankly, i do not know what the navy will do. i would be surprised, to be

honest, if the navy proceeded to name a ship after harvey milk, because i do not believe we have, as far as we have come in terms of where we are nationally. verses where we are in san francisco. at times, it seems, when it comes to the military, i hope we have moved farther along. i think that i am thinking and talking about harvey milk, let's remember the substance of what he was about, social justice and the dedication to the fight for social justice is the greatest honor that weekend bestow on him. supervisor chiu: supervisor meaner? supervisor wiener: thank you for all your thoughts. one thing that i forgot to mention, but this was not planned, today is harvey milk's

birthday. thanks to the senate in the state, it is a holiday in california. at the harvey milk day. supervisor chiu: supervisor kim? supervisor kim: i have heard from multiple parties on this issue as well and i have to express my honesty, i feel very conflicted on this issue. i do not really want to have a voice on whether the battleship should be named in the name of harvey milk. it is not clear to me, what he would have wanted. it is a tough call. i am glad to see that there is a healthy discussion. i really appreciate this argument that many of our lgbt community members who served in the military in the closet, the experience that they had, they know how important it is to have a battleship named after a

prominent gay teacher in the lgbt community. i've heard from those who are strongly opposed, speaking out for peace, being that it is on a battleship used in more -- more than anything, it is not that i support or oppose this, i just feel very uncomfortable taking an issue position. my preference would be to abstain. i will not be voting for it today. not because i think it is something that should not happen, but i think that i feel uncomfortable taking a position on this issue without knowing his personal position on what he would have wanted. but i do appreciate the dialogue that has happened around this issue. i do feel very divided. i am very appreciative of what this will mean to a number of

members of the lgbt community as well. supervisor chiu: supervisor olague? supervisor olague: i wanted to close with the following -- i look forward to the day when military vessels will not be traveling around the world. given the violent nature with which he -- we lost them, that is and also at the core of why i cannot support this. it is to that end, not living in a world where military vessels are propagating the ocean. supervisor chiu: any further discussion? let's take a roll call vote. >> item number 17, roll-call vote. [roll-call vote]

there are nine ayes, two nos. supervisor chiu: the resolution is adopted. please call items 18 and 19. >> item 18. ordinance amending the san francisco transportation code, division i, article 7 by: 1) amending section 7.2.27 to remove the restriction on the use of white zones by commercial vehicles and clarify that this section does not apply to stands established under division ii of the code and designated for the use of tour buses; 2) amending section 7.2.38 to establish violations for vehicles other than authorized tour buses parking or stopping in restricted tour bus stands and for tour buses that exceed posted time limits in such stands; 3) amending section 7.2.80 to exclude tour bus stands from otherwise applicable parking restrictions imposed in specified use districts on vehicles required to register with the california public utilities commission; and 4) making environmental findings. item 19. ordinance amending san francisco police code sections 46, 2901, 2916, and 2922, and adding section 2913, to: 1) clarify that the definition of "sound truck" in section 46 does not include unenclosed tour buses; 2) clarify that the noise restrictions imposed by article 29 do not apply to the city and county of san francisco; 3) prohibit the use of amplified sound systems on unenclosed tour buses unless such systems have been certified by the san francisco department of public health as not being audible from a distance of 50 or more feet from the vehicle or contain volume limiting electronics to meet that requirement; 4) adding a reporting requirement for the department of public health; 5) adding fees for the department of public health approval and issuance of a certificate of authorization to operate electronically amplified sound on unenclosed tour bus; 6) authorize the department of

public health and the police department to enforce the requirements of section 2913; 7) clarify that article 29 should not be construed to conflict with federal or state laws; and 8) adopt findings, including environmental findings. supervisor chiu: i have received countless complaints of residents who live in districts that are the focus of tourism. i know that some of you have as well, that you have heard about the issues created by tour buses with regards to parking, loading, idling, and noise. these ordinances are to help to address the situation in these neighborhoods. item 18 helps to legislate the aspects of the transportation code that need to change in the mta's draft tour bus policy. item number 19 held to address the fact that when you have open airbuses with amplified sounds, we need some level of regulation to make sure the volume on those bosses are kept to respect to levels. with that, colleagues, i would like to ask for your support. >> items 18 and 19, roll call

vote. [roll-call vote] there are 11 ayes. supervisor chiu: the items are approved. i want to welcome back to the board chamber, former supervisor harry writ. if we could now move to item number 20. >> item number 20.

resolution: 1) granting revocable permission to the public utilities commission to occupy a portion of the public right-of-way on redwood street, approximately 150 feet west of polk street to construct and maintain an outdoor play area accessible to a child care facility within the new building at 525 golden gate avenue (assessor's block no. 0766, lot no. 001); and 2) making environmental findings and findings of consistency with the general plan and the priority policies of planning code section 101.1. supervisor chiu: can we do this item same house, same call? without objection, the resolution is adopted. let's skip our 3:00 p.m. special order. i understand that our 4:00 p.m. special order will be reconsidered. let's start with item 27. >> it was divided and forwarded as two separate committee reports. the first is file no. 120486, motion to consider appointing ten members, terms ending april 27, 2013, and april 27, 2014, to the sunshine ordinance task force. [reads names] terms ending april 27, 2013.

mr. president, would you like me to read the second file as well? 120553, motion considering one member to the sunshine ordinance task force to receive a term ending 2014. supervisor chiu: thank you. to clarify, we have two items that came out of the rules committee based on the consideration for the sunshine ordinance task force. the first item is one to 4.86 involving those individuals that were agreed upon by them rules committee -- by the rules committee. item 1553 is an item that would reappoint seat eight. >> -- supervisor kim: we had 21

really interested in dedicated individuals who applied. i want to thank the applicants that came before the rules committee. it is interesting to see the plethora of residents interested in serving on a board that we know is incredibly time- consuming and requires a great deal of dedication to transparency and oversight in the city government's. i want to speak in favor of the six individuals for routed out of the rules committee on thursday. [reid' reads names] it was, by no means, an easy decision. there were a number of applicants that could have failed before us today. it was unfortunate, but a number of our uncommon numbers put in

-- incumbent members who put in a great time are not continuing. they had done a great job on the task force and i was sorry that they did not continue on, but i am happy to see that bruce is now the chair of the sunshine task force. it is important to have that level of consistency as you continue on with a lot of new membership for the task force. something that i am really proud of is that we have a very diverse group of individuals coming before us. i do not think that we had an african-american serving on the previous composition of the sunshine task force and we have two being forwarded to dave. two lgbt individuals as well. i was sorry that we were not able to forward an asian- american or latino candidate, but since there are

organizational member is looking to the diversity of membership to really bring forward some other candidates, i think that diversity is incredibly important and i appreciate that we have such a large response, but i really think that these individuals will serve us well and i look forward to working with them as we figure out how to also make our meetings more efficient to maintain a quorum at these meetings. thank you. supervisor chiu: supervisor wiener? but supervisor wiener: -- winner? -- supervisor wiener? supervisor wiener: first, i want to thank the rules committee for making the recommendations to the full block -- the full board. with one exception, they did an exceptional job. the sunshine ordinance, transparency in government in general, is incredibly important.

it is equally important that we have a sunshine ordinance have scores that has the credibility -- task force that has the credibility to administer this ordinance in a way that improves transparency in our government and improved accountability. -- and improved accountability. unfortunately, the current task force -- and improves accountability. unfortunately, the current task force has undermined faith in current government in several ways. if you look at the reaction to the audit that i had requested the budget analyst to do, it was just an extraordinary response. instead of the knowledge and that the task force, like every other body in government, is subject to the suburbs -- sunshine ordinance, scrutiny,

and audits like every other department, the response was -- how dare you shine some light on us. the sunshine or dance task force is subject to sunshine like anyone else. that reaction is so telling about the this functionality of the current composition of the task force. but it goes deeper than that. this task force purported to exempt itself from the san francisco charter. our charter is very clear. anybody in this city, the board of supervisors, the planning commission, the sunshine ordinance task force, when you vote, to take action u.s. have a majority of all members of the body vote in favor, not the majority of those present. they amended their bylaws to state that they were exempting themselves from that

requirement and that going forward, only a majority of those present would have to vote. think, for a second, if we adopted a rule and started voting based on those present, even if it was not the majority of the whole body, guess what? someone would file a sunshine request with the sunshine task force, and the task force would conclude that we had committed official misconduct and would make a referral. that is exactly what the sunshine or dance task force did. -- sunshine ordinance task force did. the audit that the budget analysts conducted also had an extraordinary finding. a finding that, on average, city employees had to spend 1.9 task force hearings to get complaints

against them adjudicated. on average, city employees had to go approximately twice to the task force. they could not go the first time to get it done. there were times when they were going more than two times. that is the average. that is not acceptable. it creates enormous inefficiencies. the task force needs to be able to manage its calendar, which it has not done. i think that the rules committee did a very good job in terms of selecting smart, good, hard- working people who can come to give a fresh perspective to resuscitate this task force. there was one recommendation of the rules committee with which i do not agree, which is the recommendation to reappoint bruce wolfe to seat 8. i believe that a change should be made in that seat as well. i think they need a fresh start.

i move to amend the recommendations for a8seat 8 to remove bruce wolfe and add another applicant, todd david pirie supervisor chiu: -- todd david. supervisor chiu: is there a second? seconded by supervisor farrell. any further discussion? supervisor campos? up supervisor campos: first of all, i want to thank all of the people who put their names forward to serve on this task force. any time that someone is willing to serve the city and county of san francisco, i think that we have to appreciate their willingness to do that. i think that a lot has been said. the couple of points that i want to make, one, while i do not

agree with everything that has come out of the sunshine task force, i think it is important for us to understand that in making these elections -- selections the rules committee made, as we tried to have a balanced approach, i certainly did not end up getting everything that wanted. there were some individuals that i wish had been reappointed, were appointed, that did not go through, but i think the candidates that came forward reflect the diversity of perspective. i think that the rules committee of did a good job taking into account the very different perspectives. with respect to bruce wolfe, i think it would be a mistake for us not to reappoint him. i think that mr.ol