>> for those projects that are in the higher range, we have those four products that are time sensitive. >> i understand. maybe i am misreading this. >> i do not think you're misreading it. the contract allows us to have the ability to draw down on that contract. we are not awarding all $3 million worth of contracts at the same time. sometimes, we will find one contractor whose specialty for that year, the types of products they are doing, matches really well. we will spend up to $1 million there for a fall contract. another contractor, we might decide that the jobs do not line up as well or their

availability conflicts. that is how it works. >> thank you. president moran: -- president buell: seeing no further questions, shall we entertain public comment? >> is there any public comment on this item? at the very beginning, this was sold to us as an easy, fast, not inexpensive and cost- efficient, and ineffective process of doing smaller contracts. sunnyside park is a perfect example. ours was $150,000 plus renovation. before we knew it, we were down almost $69,000 and nobody could account for it. we were down to the current $81,000 and we have nothing to show for it.

what we do have is such inferior work that it is going after be done again. i do not know how these contractors are qualified. i do not know how you become an a because our contractor was an a and he did not get work going until the contract was due to expire. things undone, doors that do not have frames, things that now have to be done again. if you look at the chart that they gave you for this, the money is gone it i do not know where this money is coming from. they talked about our kitchenette that we got our money through the contingency. from what i am being told, that work is not done by the budget manager. they do not do the design work, the layout. they depend on the contractors to do it. contractors are not designers. they should not be doing this

work. how do we know what things really cost? everything we know of is three or four times what we -- what we would consider a high, normal cost. the contractors are naming a price. i could go to home depot and get a " for $200,000 max. it will cost me twice that to get it through this process. i think that you have reason to be concerned. there are a lot of holes in this. not a lot of accountability. no way of knowing that the product is being done. in the community, we do not know what is going into our project. we have to negotiate, negotiate, negotiate. this is completely and unacceptable process. where do we go now? what do we do now? you talk about single contract bidding. that is what this is. i approve you, i like you, and i will let you do this project. this is ridiculous. they want to give you a report.

reports are what they want to tell you. if they are not telling us what is going on, then i do not expect there will tell you much more. if they do, why don't they just bring it out in the open from the very beginning and say, we are going to do this for this amount of dollars. we want the commissioners and the community to know about it and we all want to agree with the contractor. >> is there any other public comment on this item? president buell: i would like to mention something you just mentioned, commissioner bonilla. about the lengthy rfp process. in terms of transparency, i think that -- and i hope to make later this point that the commission is isolated, that we need time to find out what would

be a good fit. we need these lengthy processes. all a sudden, a 10-year lease? i do not think that is the way to do things. secondly, the appellate process, not only is it constitutional but it is a little more human. we need a chance to say, i do not think him and his hot dogs belong. we need a chance to get in there and fight for it. remember, we are the ones bringing our children and our dogs to your parts. thank you. >> is there any other public comment on this item? seeing none, public comment is closed. >> i do have one observation. we are talking about construction contracts and expediting it to save taxpayer'' money. not rfp's for the use of facilities. we are mixing apples and oranges

if we were to perceive it that way. seeing no other comments, i would like to entertain a momentary we opted to item eight and nine separately so we will go on item eight. >> moved and seconded. all those in favor? opposed? hearing none, it is unanimous. item nine, can i entertain a motion? moved and seconded. all those in favor? opposed? none. it is unanimous. >> we are now on item 11. " our -- coit tower, selection of operator for concessions. >> good morning, commissioners.

i am pleased to be before you to present the recommended selection of c theoit tower vendor. -- the coit tower vendor. built in 1933, it is one of the city's most iconic and historic properties. the building and it's beautiful and unique wpa murals is san francisco landmark number 165 and is listed on the national register of historic places. together with the arts commission, the department is honored to preserve this beloved landmark. the department strives to offer a quality experience and looks forward to implementing changes in the concessions to reflect the dignity of this landmark. through its concessionaire, the department wishes to provide friendly and helpful service to the public, respect and honor the historic nature of the building and its murals, and

respect and work with the surrounding community to be a good neighbor. i wanted to give you some background on history. since 1992, the department has least the tower to the current vendor to provide amenities and elevator service to the observation deck. they have continue to operate on a month-to-month basis since 2002, when their lease expired. the department issued 4 rfp's since that time. 2006, 2010, and 2011, last october. there has been quite an extensive community process associated with these rfp's. since 2006, the department collaborated with surrounding neighborhood groups, including the telegraph hill dwellers to develop guidelines.

this collaboration included numerous public meetings with interested stakeholders. in 2008, they submitted a principles document which is in your packet. the document outlined a number of guidelines for the department to adhere to an operating a coit tower concession to rid the majority of goals were incorporated into the 2010 and 2011 rfp's. among those goals are high quality food and beverages to be operated from a cart outside of the tower. no commercial advertising and no amplified sound. and they should sell high- quality items that relate directly to the tower and the history of san francisco. we are also requiring the concessionaire to update the merchandize and traffic flow within earshot. very important, the vendor to

provide a mural protection plan with their proposal. they are encouraged to get to the guests -- to encourage their guests to get to this tower in a bus or private cars. the last rfp was issued last october. prior to issue a -- prior to issuance, the department reached out to the surrounding community. they also contacted over 5000 businesses and every single merchant organization listed as a small business. we received three timely responses. the current vendor did not submit a proposal. the key terms associated with this or that the respondent would pay a minimum annual guarantee or the percentage of

gross revenue, whichever was higher. no less than $540,000 per year. the percentage of rent on each revenue stream -- extreme, with the exception of the elevator, which the department has the 90% gross revenue of. the lease term should be no longer than five years in length with a three-year option to extend. the minimum qualifications associated with this are that the respondent had to have five years of experience in fully managing a business of this nature. sufficient financial capacity to undertake the concession capacity, including the ability to upgrade the gift shop and deal effectively with community issues and act as a -- as an effective caretaker of this iconic landmark. as with all our opportunities, we had a lengthy selection

process. as i mentioned, we received three timely responses. the department convened a neutral selection panel to evaluate and score the proposal based on the criteria stated in rfp's. we carefully assembled a panel to honor and respect the variety and diversity of uses at the tower. we wanted a local community member, a representative of the north beach merchant community, a capital planner, and a knowledgeable public art professional as a member of the panel. here you have the details on the panel. diaz was a community representative. she is a founder and acting member in the friends of joe dimaggio playground. she is a small business owner in san francisco, owning north beach marine campus. she is also active in the north

beach boys and girls club and treasurer of s.f. bay. we also have the co-president of the north beach chamber of commerce. he is a business corridor member of the mayor's center for economic development. allyson is a senior registrar for the entire city art collection and public art program with the san francisco arts commission. tom is a property manager with the department. we also had another member as the capital planner. he is also the planner who is going to be managing the $1.5 million deferred maintenance program at the tower as part of the high-level needs identified issued in the recent report. the selection panel

recommendation was for terry grimm to operate concessions. as you can see, he well outscored the other panelists, receiving 88% of possible points. i wanted to give you a little bit of background on terry n.y. the selection panel thought he was most qualified for the opportunity for it since 1977, him and his wife has operated the oyster bar, a friendly neighborhood restaurant with a loyal following. they received a number of accolades and recognition from distinguish publications such as zagat's and the michlin guide. they also maintain a four-star rating on yelp. as a general contractor, terry

grimm designed, built, and operated a spa until they sold it in 2006. kenwood inn and spa has received an award of merit from the sonoma county historical society, which honored the rehab of an existing building. currently, he operates sorrento imports, a vintage motor scooter company in sonoma. they also have a coffee concession on site that serves high-quality food and beverage to the public on a daily basis. very important was a mural protection plan. the arts commission is currently developing guidelines to best protect the murals. any future concessionaire or visitor or user of the tower

will be required to follow those guidelines. in addition, the department will dedicate 1% of revenues from the concessions to the arts commissions for merrill maintenance and protection. this is in addition to the recently allocated $250,000 that the department gave to the arts commission for mural recommend it -- for mural restoration. in addition, mr. gramm proposes to implement a program to complement the current city walking towards which are every wednesday and saturday. as soon as i was assigned this project, i took it and learned a lot about the murals and had a whole new sense of appreciation for them. if you can, get out there and take a tour. in addition, he will install signed an rules in place to preserve them.

i wanted to give you a proposal summary. all terms and all items propose are just a proposal. that will still have to go into negotiations to iron out the details. consistent with the tower principles and goals document, mr. grim proposes to sell high- quality items. he will install department- approved custom shelving to better utilize the space and enhance the visitor experience. and he will work with his wife to custom build a department- approved food and beverage cart. the oyster bar will provide the food and beverages on a daily basis. they planned offer a variety of fresh food and many of their ingredients are purchased from local and sustainable vendors, such as hog island oyster

company, calif. shellfish, and panorama bakery. he will work with the department and his staff -- and supply his staff with knowledge and facts about the tower and the surrounding neighborhood to make the visitor experience more enjoyable and informative. he also proposes to increase the daily cleaning schedule to better honor and present the tower to the public. in addition, he would require that all employees dress and interact with the public in a professional manner. again, with these proposed financial terms, they are not final. the minimum annual guaranteed for this opportunity was $540,000. i just wanted to give you a comparison -- in 1992, it was a bit over $89,000. the proposed percentage -- i mentioned earlier that the elevator was determined to be a 90% remittance to the department. the respondent proposed to

supply the department with 20% of gross revenue on the gift shop, 15% on food and beverage, 30% on special events, and 30% on binoculars revenue. projected rent to the department, a little over $677,000. that is compared to the last five years, a little over $638,000. in addition to the community outreach, i will note that there has also been a fair amount of press. i am sure you have been reading on this subject in the chronicle, the examiner, the business times, the new york times, the l.a. times, and various new stations. another opportunity for us to spread the word about this process. i will not go through all of the names listed in this line. we did in form number of groups

and individuals about not only the opportunity, but about the full commission meeting considering this recommendation today. the slide shows the merchant outreach that was conducted. i should note that the department determined there is not just one best way. we take the approach of having a broad spectrum of outreach. including hand-delivering materials to various merchants. i mentioned this earlier, but every single merchant organization listed was also contacted and their presidents were encouraged to give information to all of their members for writ we informed san francisco travel, the sentences the chamber of commerce, the union square bid, the golden gate restaurant association, the twitter feed and newsletter, current vendors with the

department, and all entities registered at anlbe with the human rights commission called local catering groups, local special event providers. coffeeshops, local museum stores and vendors with the golden gate national recreation area will all contacted. community feedback thus far -- the support that has been communicated for the selection, specifically of terry grimm, has been from the selection panel. sonoma valley chamber of commerce, the mason center, golden gate restaurant association, san and cisco chamber of commerce, ken bailey, julie christensen, john franklin, john hirsch berger, ryan hubert. the opposition has been from

stephen worsley and generally from john gollinger, and otehrs. -- and others. continuing public process, there will be no less than eight public meetings on this topic, including this meeting and the previous operations committee. all opportunities for the public to weigh in on the process for it should the commission select terry grimm, staff will do the following -- hold a meeting in the community to introduce him. in addition, after a successful lease negotiation, we will go back to the city to present the negotiated terms before we come back to the commission for recommendation to approve those terms. we will then come to the operation committee to consider

recommending to the board of supervisors. we will then go to the budget finance committee, the full board of supervisors, and the mayor will have the offer -- the ultimate decision. that concludes my part of the presentation. i would like to have terry grimm come up and introduce himself. i am more than happy to answer any questions you may have. thank you very much. >> thank you. >> good morning, commissioners. i am really thankful and humble just to be considered for this. i have been doing a lot of research on coit tower. its story past has always been filled with controversy. i do want people to know that i

understand that as iconic as the tower is, that telegraph hill is just as important. i want to work with the group. i have been in touch with sander costello daily since this was announced and she assured me that she is open to public opinion and getting this right. i understand what an icon coit tower is and how important this art work is. it is a collection that cannot be repeated anywhere. it is a wonderful collection. i would like to make this, the visitors' experience, authentic and knowledgeable, have them walk away with an appreciation that they probably did not have before they visited. i think we can do this with

passionate employees, trying to create a program where we can get college students to come and work. i just wanted tell everyone i appreciate being in this position, i take it seriously, and i will try to make this a project that everyone would be proud of. i understand just how important the tower is. thank you. >> thank you. >> we do have public comment. todd, steven, anne. >> good morning, commissioner spirit i have worked for roseanne and terry since 1988. i work full time from 1988 through 2002, when i went to the university of notre dame to get

a ph.d. in english, which are almost half. there are great to work for. i still work for them during the summer when i come back. i love being at the oyster bar. it is an asset to the community. i was a support volunteer for the ishaqi project for five years. during that time, there was tremendous support. donations, gift certificates, time off for training. they have integrated themselves into the community in very positive ways. the oyster bar itself, it you look at the outside of it from 1977, when it opened, just a storefront window. there are very attentive to the spaces they create. i watch them turn it into the internationally-renowned place that it is now. a fairly ramshackle antique shop, to put it gently.

again, they create value and respect the spaces they are in. as far as the quality of the food, i do not wanted to my own horn, but i think the oyster bar is great. any food that comes from there is going to be top-flight. in my capacity as an academic, i am helping him develop a program. i e-mails several of my colleagues about this. there are so many local colleges, berkeley, stanford, the art institute, that have undergraduate students that would be hungry to do research projects. the question is how to give them the credit they are going to want. everybody in academics was that extra line. if we could find a way to make that work for people, that would be great. i will keep my comments short, but i strongly recommend terry

as an operator. thank you. >> hello. the people, from what you hear from the media all around the country, what the tower to be a heritage museum. simple as that. of all the things rec and park does so well, i believe that fine art is be on your stove. for example, i applaud his work. the idea of young kids this week. what about somebody who lived through the great depression? i read this thing called coit forum. out of all the people, 100% of the people thought that the art

collection was poorly managed. they supported the idea of museum status. museum status, unfortunately, would take control away from you. it would make it a museum. coit is art-driven. those fresoces are majorly significant to what it means to be an american. having a restaurateur or a hot dog guide, those things are unnecessary, unwanted, and long, let alone tacky. that is objective. we will not go there. i stood out there in front of the tower for an entire day of my life and interviewed everybody from all over the world. locals, natives, voters, everybody. they all thank you for giving them a free tour. the message in this art work is very hidden.