addressed in the next few months. i am concerned about the north side of market street. you touched on this briefly in terms of all of the breakups and notes that pedestrians have when they walk down the north side of market street. pedestrian safety is very important. i want to see if there's a way to make the pedestrian experience of a more seamless. i also appreciated your point about streetwise. i think seating is very important. we have a lot of seniors in the area and they often plan they're walking routes based on where there are benches because if they get tired, they can plan their routes around where they know there will be benches. a lot of workers go out there and sit and eat lunch. i think that is great.

i think that activates the street. i do not think that is a negative aspect of the market. another public area that i have a lot of concerns about is the un plaza fountain. a number of other folks have brought that up as well. it is just kind of a mess. i do not have a suggestion for that, but i hope we can talk about that aspect as well. i brought up the bike lane being and i understand that it is probably easier sharing with transit, but i think that muni is very intimidating for a lot of bikers. they have a history of hitting people and bikers. if we can have them separated, that would be my plate -- my preference as well. >> if i could just touch briefly on the last line, which is the public out reached coming up in july. i want to mention we have to go public workshops coming out, one on a tuesday evening and one on

a saturday morning. and we will be conducting a webinar on thursday, the 19th, 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. we encourage you to come out. thanks. >> thank you. thank you for your presentation. why don't we go on to public comment? members of the public who would like to comment, please come forward. >> i want to thank the team for a tremendous amount of work on this. i echo supervisor kim's concerns about the overall time lines. it has been about a year since the community had last been engaged in to these meetings. i would love to have all of your attention. i do not not on public works and citywide resources. -- i am not knocking on public works and abused -- city-wide resources. many of you got to hear gil

speak at public works a few years ago. if we want to create a street where people feel comfortable biking and walking, san francisco must show the way and be that comfortable bicycle way for everyone. >> thank you. seeing no other member of the public coming forward, we will close public comment. this was an information item. why don't we go live to our next item, which is item number 12. >> new information item. >> public comment? we will close public comment. item number 13. >> public comment. >> this is a time for any member of the public to comment on items that are not on the agenda.

zeno -- seeing none, public comment is closed. item 14. >> adjournment. >> we are adjourned. thank you very much. >> i tried to think about this room as the dream room, where we dream and bring some of those dreams to life. i feel very blessed that i have been able to spend the last 31 years of my life doing it my way, thinking about things better interesting to me, and then pursuing them.

there are a lot of different artists that come here to work, mostly doing aerial work. kindred spirits, so to speak. there is a circus company that i have been fortunate enough to work with the last couple of years. i use elements of dance and choreography and combine that with theater techniques. a lot of the work is content- based, has a strong narrative. the dancers have more of a theatrical feel. i think we are best known for our specific work. in the last 15 years, spending a lot of time focusing on issues that affect us and are related to the african-american experience, here in the united states.

i had heard of marcus shelby and had been in join his work but never had the opportunity to meet him. we were brought together by the equal justice society specifically for this project. we were charged with beginning work. marquez and i spent a lot of time addressing our own position on the death penalty, our experiences with people who had been incarcerated, family members, friends of friends. pulling our information. beyond that, we did our own research. to create a picture that resonated with humanity. it is the shape of a house. in this context, it is also

small and acts like a cell. i thought that was an interesting play on how these people make these adjustments, half to create home. what is home for these people? the home is their cell. people talk a lot about noise -- very noisy in prisons. that is interesting to me. looking at the communication level, the rise of frustration of being caged, wondering, where does redemption fit into the equation here? [singing]

i think both of us really believe the death penalty is wrong, and is flawed for many reasons. the list is as long as my arm -- about several others. we feel this is important for both of us, personally, to participate in the debate of this issue in a way that we can help people frame it for a conversation.

>> let me thank the marine corps

division band and the color guard for joining us and making this such a very special occasion. let me welcome each and every one of you on behalf of the war memorial opera house board, last that i come for dissipate, and they extend an invitation to each one of you to for this update because this retired member of the united states marine corps, a veteran and his wonderful wife, george n. charles schulz -- george and charlotte shultz. this afternoon, we are doing something that, frankly, should have been done a long time ago. in this city, when the concept of a memorial for veterans what

spurs done, they said it would be right here. of course, we have finally, after many, many tries, got this right. in 1936, the construction produced it, and then there was six or seven additional times from the original time, and it does not to work, but finally, about two or three years ago, we got it right. the board of trustees decided in their wisdom to say thank-you to two incredible san franciscans in making the horseshoe circle named in their honor. all of you have come for this occasion. the man who presides over this city, for purposes of everything, is, of course, the mayor. directly across the street is

where he journeys from on this occasion. ladies and gentlemen, let me present to you, the mayor of the city and county of san francisco, would just celebrated his 60th birthday, mayor ed lee. mayor lee: thank you, and they are brown, and thank you, everybody, for coming. -- thank you, mayor brown, and thank you, everybody, for coming. the years that followed the san francisco earthquake were filled with grandiose plans to rebuild our city. perhaps the best realize is the san francisco memorial -- war memorial and performing arts center. the ground was broken to build the war memorial in honor of san franciscans who had served during world war i. in addition to honoring those

veterans, the memorial gave a permanent residence to the opera, the symphony, and eventually, the ballet. the war memorial and performing arts center has great historic significance, including housing, the signing ceremony of our united nations charter in 1945. today, we are making history erosity and support of mr. and mrs. stephen bechtel. with a grant of $1.5 million -- [applause] from there foundation and in honoring charlotte and george shultz, we are that much closer to fulfilling the original vision of the war memorial complex, which was to include a moral right in his courtyard. as a small token of our city's

appreciation, i am pleased to present to you a certificate of honor. i know it is not worth $1.5 million, but maybe the personality of me added with willie brown comes close. if i may present to you, on behalf of the city, our great certificate of honor and a gracious personal thanks for your contribution. [applause] >> it is very kind of you. >> thank you. mayor lee: the bechtels generously gave their contribution, and together with that gift, it is only appropriate that the war memorial trustees also decided to recognize charlotte and george by renaming this carriage drive in their honor. charlotte and george, for your dedication to both veterans and

the arts, embody the war memorial's founding purpose as a cultural center and a lasting dedication to the men and women of san francisco who served our country. it is my pleasure to join the bechtels and the war memorial today by declaring today, may 10, 2012, charlotte and george shultz day in san francisco. [applause] but you cannot park that carriage freely in our city. [laughter] [applause] >> mayor lee, thank you, very, very much. it was just slide of two years ago -- i should say just north

of two years ago, from the board on which charlotte served and the great inspiration was from a real veteran, a man who carries the title of general. he announced the arrival of the carriage just earlier, but more importantly, he cobbled together a real idea that the veterans beautiful memorial must be complete and must be done. mayor lee, not only did the bechtels generously give of their own to this effort, but they did what we politicians love to do, and that is scilicet it from our friends, additional help. this project received the benefit of that great mailing list.

i wish i could get my hands on it because it produced almost as much as they had given, completed the payment, and made the good general very, very happy as well as his board. ladies and gentlemen, words from steven that bill -- bechtel. [applause] thank you. we still call you meier, don't we? >> you can, if he does not mind. -- we still call you mayor. >> thank you, mayor willie brown. it is an honor to be with you on this occasion. it is very appropriate to name a facility after george and charlotte. san francisco is home for many important people, but none made

as great a contribution to our country as george shultz. charlotte has given great service to our city and our state. i believe all year extend a great thanks to them for their great services to our country, to california, and to san francisco. i would like to complement our city for recognizing at them in this manner -- i would like to compliment our city for recognizing the - manner. thank you very much. [applause] that of mayor -- >> mayor lee, the time has come. join me and proceed to do the dedication of horseshoe drive, which has been dedicated by the opera house board in honor of george and charlotte schulz.

mayor lee: it is my pleasure joining all of you to announce this dedication on behalf of our city, on behalf of the war memorial, dedicating this carriageway to be charlotte and george shultz way of san francisco. [applause] horseshoe drive. [applause] ♪ ♪

>> ladies and gentlemen, secretary george shultz and chief of protocol, charlotte schulz, the honorees. [applause] >> thank you, distinguished guests, my fellow board members. nancy and i would call this a wow day, and it is a wonderful day. i was sitting here thinking that from my home town, mineola, texas, for willie, and board of texas, for me, i do not know whether they would have named a street for us there or not, but there would have been a problem because in both of those towns, there is only one street, and it has already been named main street. it is breathtaking to think

that a street here is named for george and myself. coming in on the carriage, i rather like that. the surprise is i guess that they are giving us the carriage and horses? i cannot wait to arrive at the opera. mayor, do you think we should get some permits for the horse and carriage on russian hill? i don't know. seriously, everybody knows that has ever talk to me more than a few minutes that i am passionate about these buildings. i have had the opportunity of being involved with the bond issues for the symphony hall, the restoration of the opera house, and, of course, the city hall, may gift -- helping mayer brown with that a bit -- helping mayor brown. it was said that the only thing that was not done when these buildings were built is the

memorial for veterans because we ran out of money. have you all heard about that before? what happened is that writing in not on a carriage but on a charger was mike and wilkes little group because they came in leading the charge to raise the money for this memorial, so they are certainly to be commended. and then to go out and get their army of people for money and, most particularly [no audio] and by the way, happy birthday, steve. it is his birthday today. [applause] it is a great honor to know that that memorial that will be here and this horseshoe drive will put its arms around a wonderful memorial for veterans who i know

that we respect so much and admire so much, and this is a long-awaited, and we are so happy to be part of it. so, may i present my veterans, my marine, my secretary, george shultz. [applause] >> i want to second of all of the banks that charlotte has talked about. -- the thanks that charlotte has talked about. most importantly, my great friend, steve. we have been pals for a long, long time, and i cannot tell you anybody i respect more and look to as a genuine friend. . [applause] i'm wearing a tie that ronald reagan gave me back in the primary days in 1979-1980, and it has a nonpartisan cinnamon on it.

it says, "democracy is not a spectator sport." -- it has a non partisan sentiment on it. so get in. i have always felt that public service is a great privilege and a great opportunity, but no one serves more than the veterans served in the armed forces. particularly veterans who served in combat. so i think it is so necessary and so inappropriate to finally have this special memorial here in this place. in northern california area, there are more veterans than in 48 of the 50 states. so this is hallowed ground for veterans, right around here, and i think that adds to the appropriateness of this place.

but look at the setting. city hall. symbolizes the idea of government by free people. government representing, giving us governance on the basis of that representation. that is the idea we go out and fight for. and the veterans building there. and then in this setting where if you listen closely, you can hear the wonderful, soaring music of the symphony. you can hear the arias and the opera and the grace and beauty of our ballet. in this wonderful performing arts, it gives us the soul of the treaty to the veterans, and it says that we respect you.

we love you, and we thank you, so as a veteran myself, particularly if you have been in combat, you know how close you are, i want to say on my own behalf, thank you. [applause] >> there are two or three people that we need to identify, george and charlotte, because they are here as part of the honor group, but they hold title. sheriff hennesey, just appointed by the mayor to run the department, she is here, first female sheriff of our city. greg sur, the police chief.

as supervisor eric mar, who comes from the second super of the soil district -- no, first supervisial --supervisorial district. i want to thank each and every one of you on behalf of the board of trustees of the war memorial opera house board, and, of course, on behalf of the mayor of the city. all of you taking part in the ceremony, it is really important to say job well done to two very important people. now, we invite you to join charlotte and george in the lobby of the opera house. we will continue the drinking that started at 4:30 this afternoon. [laughter] the reception is inside. please join us in the opera

house for a reception honoring and celebrating this momentous occasion. thank you very much for coming. [applause]