we just had a hearing last week, and we are trying to do some work around bedbug enforcement, which is a major issue in the tenderloin and of hill and 63. a hearing will actually be on thursday, april 7, 10:30. we're doing our first hearing on pedestrian safety. i think public safety is a huge concern. it ranges from both low-level crimes to pedestrian safety, and so that is a really important issue to me. we are probably more than double what every other district has. and that are preventable. and we can do better. district 6 is one -- home to one of the most diverse constituencies. we have the poorest residents in san francisco. we have lgbt. we have immigrants, people of color, youth, and a high proportion of seniors in the city as well. we heard that people want to see more jobs, want to see access to more jobs for our residents. we want to see more preventive

instead of just reactive. we want to see after-school programs versus the police picking them up because they are out on the street, which i think our chief agrees with. i actually ran for the board of education in san francisco and got to serve a term on our school board. what really surprised me was how much i enjoyed it. i loved it. i love meeting with families, meeting with youth, meeting with teachers, visiting schools, and getting a deeper understanding of what it means to make our system work better. the one thing i really enjoyed was i got to run within a district instead of citywide, was that i really got to know voters and residents. i actually enjoy campaigning more because i had time to knock on doors and the voters individually. i'd love it. i actually really enjoyed being out on the field.

so i spent a lot of time doing it because i got to really get a deeper understanding of what people care about and what people's concerns are and also what people loved about the district and the city. i was talking with the mayor yesterday. he was very interested in seeing how the good work with our office -- how he could work with our office. i would love to see how we could support small businesses because they are the heart at san francisco. they provide 60% 07% of the jobs in sanford cisco, and they provide it locally, and they are not going to offshore their jobs any time. i am not an opponent of cleaning up the tenderloin. i love the tenderloin. i love what is right now. i recognize we have a diversity of books that live there and people do not want to see open drug dealing. i do not have a problem with people lit think -- people out on the street socializing. i think that is good. that to me is more -- you know, it is part of the character of the neighborhood.

i get to represent one of the most exciting and dynamic districts in the city. it is where change is happening, so i think it is exciting in terms of how we can model what it means to be a smart growth neighborhood, how we can use transit and housing effectively to serve our city and also to do a lot of the new green policies that we have developed over the last 10 years.

>> 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. >> there are kids and families ever were. it is really an extraordinary playground. it has got a little something for everyone. it is aesthetically billion.

it is completely accessible. you can see how excited people are for this playground. it is very special. >> on opening day in the brand- new helen diller playground at north park, children can be seen swinging, gliding, swinging, exploring, digging, hanging, jumping, and even making drumming sounds. this major renovation was possible with the generous donation of more than $1.5 million from the mercer fund in honor of san francisco bay area philanthropist helen diller. together with the clean and safe neighborhood parks fund and the city's general fund. >> 4. 3. 2. 1. [applause] >> the playground is broken into three general areas. one for the preschool set, another for older children, and a sand area designed for kids of

all ages. unlike the old playground, the new one is accessible to people with disabilities. this brand-new playground has several unique and exciting features. two slides, including one 45- foot super slide with an elevation change of nearly 30 feet. climbing ropes and walls, including one made of granite. 88 suspension bridge. recycling, traditional swing, plus a therapeutics win for children with disabilities, and even a sand garden with chines and drums. >> it is a visionary $3.5 million world class playground in the heart of san francisco. this is just really a big, community win and a celebration for us all. >> to learn more about the helen diller playground in dolores park, go to sfrecpark.org.

>> come to the special meeting of the government, and -- audit and oversight committee. my name is supervisor elsbernd. we're joined by david chiu, supervisor mar, and the supervisors got wiener. madam clerk, any announcements? >> please make sure to silence all cell phones electronic

devices. completed speaker cards and copies of any documents to be included as part of the file should be submitted to the clerk. items act upon today will appear on the july 10 board of supervisors agenda, unless otherwise stated. >> i want to think the clerk and members of sfgtv. >> can you call item no. one? >> ordinance calling for on election for san francisco clean and safe neighborhood parks in the amount of $195 million. supervisor elsbernd: think you very much. this was an item continued from last week. is that the only one we are asked to call for word. could you call them together? >> item #2, resolution determining and declaring that

the public interest and this is a demand improving the safety and quality of neighborhood parks. supervisor elsbernd: i will turn it over to supervisor wiener. supervisor wiener: thank you, chairman, and thank you for accommodating the special meeting in giving us time to try to broker the peace so we could put the strongest parks bond possible on the ballot. this park spawned is critical to the future and almost $200 million in funding for mass of capital needs, playground, pools, rec centers, irrigation systems and irrigation to port open space. as with any bond, in needs two- thirds to pass the ballot. any organized opposition could be a threat to a bond. today i am offering an amendment to continue to build support for the bond relating to

a very small aspect of the bond, almost exactly 2% of the funding in the bond, specifically around trail money. urban trails are absolute treasures. they need a ton of work. we have seen amazing work by the recreation and parks department as well as thousands of volunteers. in my district we seen the great work of billy goat hill, one of his deatbiemuena vista. my hat goes off to all of those volunteers in the community that have improved these trails and system. i am offering an amendment to approve the border% contained in the proposed bond in a way that builds the most support for the bond. unfortunately there has been inaccurate information circulating around in recent days that i am somehow proposing

to reduce or eliminate the $4 million into real money. that is 100% inaccurate. that has never even been on the table. the only question is how the money would be allocated. to be clear, if we do not make this change, there will be organized opposition to the bond. it that defeats the bond if it moves it from 70% to 66%, than the trails will get $0 instead of $4 million. i am not taking sides of the debate about the not areas program. the program will probably come to the board next year, and we will have a robust discussion at the time. the goal is to delink the debate from the natural areas program from the bond. i have been working closely in

the past week and a half or two weeks with the department. the department supports this amendment. i have also been working closely with those that have expressed concern about the trail money, and the department has working closely with those who take the opposite view relating to drill work. as i understand, we have achieved what i hope will be broad support around as modified approach to the trail money. the amendment i am proposing will keep the $4 million into real money fully intact, and will dedicate the $4 million to large parts in the city that have significant needs, specifically mclaren park in golden gate park. golden gate park speaks for itself in terms of the needs and importance as a civic treasure in san francisco. mclaren park is huge and a gem of a part in our city that

serves neighborhoods that need more open space. it is also a park that has not received the attention it needs in terms of investment, and that has unending needs, including trail leads. this will increase funding to mclaren park, as well as golden gate park and insure the $4 million into real money stays intact, and i hope we will make the bond even stronger than already is. so the amendment i am offering and have thdistributed is on pae 7 of the bonds ordinance, section f. it said that it will read as follows.

trail's reconstruction, $4 million. the portion of the proceeds of the proposed bond shall be used to repair and reconstruct park nature trails, pathways, and connectivity in golden gate park and john mclaren park. after identification and development of certain projects, and our mental review required will be contemplated. that is the amendment that i am proposing to the bonds ordinance. in addition, there is a technical correction to the bond resolution on page 4. there are dates being added. page four, line to. that would be changed to read as set forth in the general plan referral reports dated may 31, 2012 and june 20, 2012. those states have not been included before. that is a technical correction. colleagues, i hope you will

support the bond and the amendment as well. >> bank you. we have an amendment to item number one and never to that we will consider after public comment. any questions before public comment? -- thank you. seeing none, i would like to open it to the public. any of those wishing to speak to this item, come on up. he will have two minutes to speak. >>-- you will have to minutes to speak. >> my name is robert beck wiake and i missed a word for the park, and recently i code- founded friends of the oak woodlands in golden gate park, and the mission is to support the natural areas program management plan for that area, and to add community resources to this wonderful area and our part.

15 years ago this area of the park was a neglected, trashed area with all kinds of problems. there were lots of homeless transient camping. our native oakland was in danger of being killed of by invasive plants, i'd be and all kinds of stuff. we have managed to pull that back, and the area now is thriving. because of the last park bond, we had a great trail that will start in august. it will go right through the open woodlands of. coca-cola came up with a leveraged $500,000 to add landscape and habitat to the borders of this trail. we are in the middle of restoring the historic horseshoe cords, and we were already gathering money to add more habitat restoration and

landscaped enhancement through we're really happy with the last bond and resources that came through for that. we're looking forward to more of the same kind of thing, and i want to thank supervisor wiener for putting up with our big flurry yesterday in the past few days. i appreciate that. i support the bond. as the amendment says. the natural areas management plan will be discussed later. i hope it will be supported by everybody. thank you. >> i just got a number of speaker cards. ms. stevens. robert bakewell. anita bowman. jeane mckenny. felicia ziser. >> any miss sally stevens and

today i am speaking on behalf of the sentences go forest alliance. i want to thank supervisor wiener for his ability to find this committee. at the last week's meeting, recreation and parks said the trial restoration money, that there was priorities determined in the 2008 bond for which trails would get money from the trail restoration projects, and that they would use the same priorities this time with the 2012 bond as they did in 2008. of course the 2008 bond was only four trails and natural areas, so that was a bit of a red flag for those of us that are concerned about the with the natural areas program has been using trial restoration money for things other than making them safer. i am very much happy to see this line which has been added. without this, we would have had

the same language in 2008, and that would of been a concern to a lot of people. with the new language added, mclaren clearly needs work, in golden gate also. those are two of the major gems in the city. the forest alliance is satisfied with the additional language. we might have hoped for more, but that is the nature of it, and we are satisfied and will not in any way opposed the bond. >> i have a slide. i will to speak to it.

i am arnita bowman, and i want to sit the to the supervisors released -- for listening to the concerns. the natural areas is a very controversial program. they're people barely support it and others of us the top concerns. it is encouraging we're starting to be listened to. i want to say that i agree with rpd and the representation of mount davidson being a signature gem of san francisco. it still needs to be protected. i think that is what we're interested in. there are many of the things that the natural areas are doing that some of us do not think are beneficial to the parks, and preserving those as a treasure of the sentences go. i just want to say i think it is really important that this discussion started sooner than later because in the 2008 bond,

there's been $1 million fund already, and i do not think the majority of san francisco with -- would agree with the way that money is being spent. i hope the supervisors will really start to look at this program. thank you. >> thank you very much. nec's speaker. -- next speaker. >> good afternoon. i frequently visit to-3 parts per day. i live next door to billy joe hill. i am speaking today in support of the amendment. i really thank supervisor wiener for taking the time to create a good, a compromise solution for the concerns that many residents have and the way that the 2008 bonds have been used. a number of the projects, which i have to say i like

improvements, but they're definitely part of the structure of them is about the natural areas program, not about safety. i just want to urge all of the supervisors today to vote in support of the bond as amended, and i want to tahnhank supervisr wiener and complement recreation and park for the hard work they have done. >> good morning. my name is felicia veigor. i have served as a district four rep. i support the 2012 park bond. and i did not support the natural areas program.

i think it is inappropriate to actask taxpayers to pay or voter a program they know nothing about and they object to once they learn about it. i think the natural area program has done some good things and not so very good things. i think it needs to be looked at and probably scaled-back of it. they have had 15 years to explain the program to the public, and they have not done so. that is why i think to ask the voting taxpaying public to vote for something they do not know about and may not like or want is inappropriate. there have been the three surveys in 2004, 2007, 2010 of

what the public wants from the parks, and it is clean and safe parks to relax in, and they have never said take it down 20,000 trees. we want things to look like they were to agree years ago. icing that the public needs to be informed about this program, and it needs to be looked at closely. supervisor elsbernd: thank you very much. i have when the share offer and carolyn johnson. >> i lived on mount davidson. i urge you to add the language to the bond suggested by

supervisor wiener. i support adding the language because it is a needed for step in acknowledging the legitimate public concerns of the activities of the natural areas program and separating constructive park projects from destructive ones. destruction of the forested areas, restricted access and waste of money are issues still to be resolved. i hope the board of supervisors, mayors, recreation and parks department and planning department are willing to work with the members of the community to address these concerns. i wish to express my communication that you listened and heard the concerns of san francisco park users. thank you. >> good morning, supervisors. my name is carolyn johnson, and i live in district 7. i have supported every local bond measure cents a move to san francisco in 1985. i