contributions. we expect the usual time out in terms of percentages and numbers of candidates. they did seem to be in a bit of a late start. part of them maybe there were moving the application times to a little bit later. i did not want to leave the impression that there is no interest. in the program. i will take any questions you have after prieta >> any questions? -- i will take any questions you have afterward. >> any questions? public comment? the reports are always target- rich documents. every item deserves a full three minute public comment. our focus on no. 2 today, the investigation and enforcement program, part 2 of

the sunshine ordinance category. he is off his game. by now, each of those nine complaints should have been dismissed without a hearing before the ethics commission. the one and only hearing this body has given to any sunshine ordinance task force referral was at the time of the grand jury report when it was issued and the report said you have never conducted a hearing. i would have a really hard time justifying the fact that in all of the hundreds of hearings, and a few dozen that were referred to this ethics commission, just one was even considered by the commissioners. in open government matters, you have effectively sided with the city and against the citizens in every single case. you can use species ways of dismissing but realistically, can you say that hundreds of citizens who filed the

complaints, it gets winnowed down by the task force to a few dozen and referred to you for enforcement and yet, you cannot even bother to consider them? elect a staff dismiss them, and you simply accept it bluntly. -- you simply dismiss them, and discipline except it. -- you simply acceoppt it. you can say, we are try to work on this but justice delayed is justice denied and have dozens of cases that have been referred to this task force which just got dismissed about -- without anybody on the commission bothering to listen to the complainant. and you decided the city was

right in the citizen was wrong. it is a denial of due process and i think that you cannot justify not here in one single complaint other than that one. it looks bad for you and it is bad given the mirkarimi situation because the only case you have ever heard was against jewell gomez. you voted to recommend that should be removed. the mayor ignored that. how is it going to look when you make a recommendation to the mayor and he chooses to act upon it? the first time you heard a case about official misconduct, other than a politically motivated one. >> the next item is items for future meetings.

>> this goes back to the first or second commission meeting that i ever sat on was this issue of the findings that the commission had made about the chairman of the library. the letter that was sent to the mayor and i do not remember which of the commissioners suggested that maybe an agenda item should be a follow-up to that finding. to the mayor to demonstrate we do not necessarily what it drops in a black hole.

[inaudible] if this commission should take some further action. >> i was going to follow up that item as well but i have a slightly different way of coming at it. i would be -- my suggestion would be that we ask the mayor for his response, ask the mayor to tell us how he has handled the letter that we sent. and i think that maybe something that does not need to await for a future meeting. my question would be, could the commissioners -- the chair sent a letter to the mayor asking that on our behalf so that we

can move more expeditiously, or would it be more prudent to have us look at such a letter at a future meeting? >> you cannot authorize the chair to send the letter in this agenda item. because it is only for -- >> it was not on our agenda for tonight. i would agree with commissioner renne, as i told you. i think we should have some follow-up on that matter.>> any? >> i will discuss it with the city attorney after the meeting. it may be that it is within the authority of the chair to do something like that. >> ok. i have no objection to having it put on the agenda for a future meeting. to request follow-up from the mayor. any other items?

commissioner studley: i am interested in the report from the analyst and i am interested to put discussion of that report on our agenda. at that point, it might be useful companion for the executive director to tell us how he and his staff coordinate with the other cities in california with substantial ethics functions and related roles. he has told us on specific items a number of times about how those -- how the ethics officials and agencies for several california cities take advantage of each other's experience or expertise, share ideas, compare and contrast. i think this seems like something that will be a useful document for us to review and at

the same time, to understand what other comparative activities: because sometimes we have already been the beneficiaries of this. -- beneficiaries of this insights and experiences, and sometimes we have jointly developed solutions to technical or policy issues. >> commissioner hayon: do we want to hear from mr. st. croix? or do we want to read it and see what would be useful? >> it is a good idea. this budget analyst is here in

san francisco. >> he is a private contractor contract by the board. >> ok. i would be happy to invite him. i am not sure what half the budget to pay for his time is what would be -- we have the budget to pay for his time is what would be required. >> who signed this? ok, that is his signature? ok. it is not likely have to pay him to come and talk about the analysis. i would reconsider. if it is possible, i certainly would like to hear from him directly. >> i like that idea. any other agenda items for future meetings? >> i meant to say this earlier. in the various draft minutes related to the special meetings

we have been having, there is a systematic misspelling of sheriff. somebody needs to go through and correct. left out that we knew how to do it. there is a certain list in which is appears that way. i am sorry but better to [inaudible] >> ok. public comment. >> i would think both the commissioners for -- thank both the commissioners for making the motion to put this on a future agenda for the referral regarding jewel gomez. a lot of people have felt it is

kind of not good for your purchase -- your disposition if you make a recommendation and it disappears and that is the end of it. if the mayor wrote a letter and said, i considered to recommendation and decided no, fine. if he writes a letter and take some action, find. but simply to have nothing is not acceptable. i think it is an insult to the commission and i think it puts them in the awkward position of saying we make recommendations and they sometimes just disappear and we do not know what happens to them because occasionally, as has happened a number of times in jewel gomez's case, people will say what happened and your answer is -- that does not reflect well. i did not come here to cause problems, but i do come here to point out areas where i think things are not being handled properly. when i go to other public

meetings, i tell them, my two main concerns here are to ensure that members of the public are free to make meaningful public comment and they're given access to public records which in most cases you need access in order to form a format. a friend went with me to an arts commission meeting and after he recommended they might get some sunshine ordinance training, one of the commissioner said, and my allowed to comment to him? which if they knew the ordinance which he signed he have known td to respond and he said to the man, mr. whatever your name is, i do not know who the hell you think you are but that is a bunch of bullshit and i do not appreciate coming here and being lectured by someone like you. if that is the response by the board commissioner to public

comment, especially of legitimate public comment, it is disgraceful. people have a hard enough time public speaking. it is one of the things people fear most in their life and it is hard enough for citizens of the city to come to a board or commission when they are concerned about an item then address those boards and commissions and to be aware of the fact that members in the auditorium and members on sfgtv are also watching them. to have someone showed a total animosity not only says that message to that individual but it sends a message to every other person in the chamber and every person watching on government television. it's as we did not want your comments, we did not appreciate them, and if you see the wrong thing to us, we will attack you. our response is ok, the ordinance clearly says members

are free to express their opinions, to respond, and i want to thank you for the responses i have gone although i may have not agreed with each one. i respect the fact there were given and it is that give-and- take that really encourages people to participate in government. i think one of the things that i see separately is the fact that many people to not go to boards and commissions because they really do not feel that the board and commissions care about what they say. i have heard them do it. one time in a police commission meeting, they went to item no. 2 and covered a and b and went into closed session for four hours, it made everyone leave the chamber. there were 15 people that came to talk about item number two. after the four hours, they came back, covered agenda item 2c, and asked for public comment and

i was the only one that was left and i said that was not right. i was told by the vice- president, you cannot talk about that. it can only address the substance of the item, you cannot address -- you cannot address how you handle that. i respect the constitution and whenever i see people who are not allowed to comment freely without being discouraged, i will speak out. >> the last item on the agenda is public comment on matters appearing or not appearing on the agenda within the jurisdiction of the ethics commission. >> when i joined the navy, i

took an oath to support and defend the constitution of the united states against all enemies, foreign and domestic, to bear true faith -- true faith and allegiance. one of the interesting things about that later when i left the armed forces examining station, i realized i had lived 20 years of my life, had these liberties granted to me by the constitution, not only in this case of the u.s. but in california, and i had never had to do anything in return. i also realized at that point i was never going to be able to and accountants to put the burden down. polehinke no me by my appearances here and i am not too shy about -- i think you know me by my parents is here and i am not too sure about my parents is. it is my right to do so and i feel it is my right to do so,

petitioning government for redress of grievances. when i see of their careers of the public and they're not given an opportunity to speak, or their comments are disparaged or whatever, i find that totally unacceptable. primarily because in many of those meetings, every member of the commission or board is taken -- has taken an oath to support the constitution of the ninth seat in california. by denying people those rights, they are violating that both in my mind. it is critical that people participate in government. one of the things i have learned in life, none of us is smart as all of us. one of the raises the bay area is such a magnet and such a vibrant and dynamic area is because we have people here who've come, who are free to express themselves, whether it is the technology field or any other field and i think that

shows well. government benefits at all times by being open and not just accepting public comment. so let's have a public comment. we're not just going to allow you to speak, why it to speak. thank you. >> is there a motion to adjourn >> all in favor? opposed? the motion passes. the meeting is adjourned.

>> what if you could make a memorial that is more about information and you are never fixed and it can go wherever it wants to go? everyone who has donated to it could use it, host it, share it. >> for quite a great deal of team she was hired in 2005, she struggled with finding the correct and appropriate visual expression. >> it was a bench at one point. it was a darkened room at another point.

but the theme always was a theme of how do we call people's attention to the issue of speci species extinction. >> many exhibits do make long detailed explanations about species decline and biology of birds and that is very useful for lots of purposes. but i think it is also important to try to pull at the strings inside people. >> missing is not just about specific extinct or endangered species. it is about absence and a more fundamental level of not knowing what we are losing and we need to link species loss to habitat loss and really focuses much on the habitat. >> of course the overall mission of the academy has to do with two really fundamental and important questions.

one of which is the nature of life. how did we get here? the second is the challenge of sustainability. if we are here how are we going to find a way to stay? these questions resonated very strongly with maya. >> on average a species disappears every 20 minutes. this is the only media work that i have done. i might never do another one because i'm not a media artist per se but i have used the medium because it seemed to be the one that could allow me to convey the sounds and images here. memorials to me are different from artworks. they are artistic, but memorials have a function. >> it is a beautiful scupltural

objective made with bronze and lined with red wood from water tanks in clear lake. that is the scupltural form that gives expression to maya's project. if you think about a cone or a bull horn, they are used to get the attention of the crowd, often to communicate an important message. this project has a very important message and it is about our earth and what we are losing and what we are missing and what we don't even know is gone. >> so, what is missing is starting with an idea of loss, but in a funny way the shape of this cone is, whether you want to call it like the r.c.a. victor dog, it is listen to the earth and what if we could create a portal that could look at the past, the present and the future? >> you can change what is then missing by changing the software, by changing what is projected and missing. so, missing isn't a static installation. it is an installation that is going to grow and change over

time. and she has worked to bring all of this information together from laboratory after laboratory including, fortunately, our great fwroup of researche e-- g researchers at the california academy. >> this couldn't have been more site specific to this place and we think just visually in terms of its scupltural form it really holds its own against the architectural largest and grandeur of the building. it is an unusual compelling object. we think it will draw people out on the terrace, they will see the big cone and say what is that. then as they approach the cone tell hear these very unusual sounds that were obtained from the cornell orinthology lab. >> we have the largest recording of birds, mammals, frogs and insects and a huge library of videos. so this is an absolutely perfect opportunity for us to team up

with a world renown, very creative inspirational artist and put the sounds and sights of the animals that we study into a brand-new context, a context that really allows people to appreciate an esthetic way of the idea that we might live in the world without these sounds or sites. >> in the scientific realm it is shifting baselines. we get used to less and less, diminished expectations of what it was. >> when i came along lobsters six feet long and oysters 12 inches within they days all the oyster beds in new york, manhattan, the harbor would clean the water. so, just getting people to wake up to what was just literally there 200 years ago, 150 years ago. you see the object and say what is that. you come out and hear these intriguing sounds, sounds like i

have never heard in my life. and then you step closer and you almost have a very intimate experience. >> we could link to different institutions around the globe, maybe one per continent, maybe two or three in this country, then once they are all networked, they begin to communicate with one another and share information. in 2010 the website will launch, but it will be what you would call an informational website and then we are going to try to, by 2011, invite people to add a memory. so in a funny way the member rely grows and there is something organic about how this memorial begins to have legs so to speak. so we don't know quite where it will go but i promise to keep on it 10 years. my goal is to raise awareness and then either protect forests from being cut down or reforest in ways that promote

biodiversity. >> biodiverse city often argued to be important for the world's human populations because all of the medicinal plants and uses that we can put to it and fiber that it gives us and food that it gives us. while these are vital and important and worth literally hundreds of billions of dollars, the part that we also have to be able to communicate is the more spiritual sense of how important it is that we get to live side by side with all of these forms that have three billion years of history behind them and how tragic it would be not commercially and not in a utilitarian way but an emotio l emotional, psychological, spiritual way if we watch them one by one disappear. >> this is sort of a merger between art and science and advocacy in a funny way getting people to wake unand realize what is going on -- wake up and

realize what is going on. so it is a memborial trying to get us to interpret history and look to the past. they have always been about lacking at the past so we proceed forward and maybe don't commit the same mistakes.