are honest with yourself, you know it was designed and built and paid for by our parents and grandparents. in many cases, by our great grandparents. that you have to ask yourself a second question. are we doing right by the next generation, are we paying it forward? will we leave a better standard of living, better environment, and better quality of life? i think you know the answer to that. no. that is why president obama, vice-president biden, and secretary lahood are so energized about high-speed rail. this is how we will lay the foundation for future prosperity in america. so thank you. [applause] >> thank you, mr. secretary. it gives me great pleasure to introduce our last speaker who deserves tremendous credit for bringing us here today. after being appointed by

governor brown to the high-speed rail port, dan richard has made extraordinary progress to make california high speed rail a reality. the skill at building a consensus around high-speed rail and commitment and leadership as chair of the board set a new tone to address serious issues in a transparent and purposeful way. and he got results. results that we have the pleasure of celebrating today. the california high speed rail system will be a wise investment promises to generate long-term trends and economic benefits for california. please join me in welcoming the california high speed rail chairman dan richard. [applause] >> thank you. thank you, maria. that is very kind. i want to take a few moments. i wanted to acknowledge a couple of people here from the california high speed rail authority, first, my colleague, the former mayor of redwood city, a superb board member, a

terrific guy, jim hartnett. [applause] and also we recently appointed a new ceo to the authority. will be his job to get the organization up and running to build this thing. that is jeff morales. [applause] as maria said, the only way we can building in california these days is in a partnership situation, and we have many of our partnership stakeholders with us today. jim from the california transportation commission is here and the california alliance for jobs. he is the guy tried to put these guys to work. randy from the mtc and his boss steve. they are the ones that put the deal together for us for caltrain electrification. the new head of bart has done a spectacular job.

[applause] and from our friends in the central valley who cannot wait for the opportunity to get on a train and leave fresno when it is 112 and come to visit san francisco to visit the chocolate factory, we have henry perea and others from the economic development commission. it is about tying our great state together, and that is what we would do with high-speed rail. for me, watching this process has been an education in leadership. it does not take anything to be a leader when the decisions are easy. believe me. it takes courage and grit when the decisions are hard. our governor, when he came into office, was faced with everyone telling him, this is your opportunity to take the off ramp. do not do high-speed rail. you can walk away. that would have been the easy, expedient, a political thing to

do. we are here today because gov. jerry brown did not take the easy path. he took the path of investing in our future. you, gov.. >> many times, people say to me -- gee, how are you going to build this? i said, let's look at the lineup. they've got their dream? -- they've got their dream. we start with the president of the united states, the vice president of the united states, the secretary of transportation, the governor of california, the speaker, and the mayor of our great city. mayor lee. one other group i want to make sure we do not forget -- our a-

number one congressional leadership delegation. it is very important to understand, this construction level behind you is because of nancy pelosi. san francisco's unknown. she brought the money. she brought the grit. she brought the vision. she has been with us every step of the way on high-speed rail. if you do not believe that, you can talk to congressional leaders about their this -- their conversations with her while they were deciding what to do. i think everybody knows -- they

did not say they should connect san francisco with transkei. what it said was they should connect with the transgendered bay system. and that is what is going to happen. -- with the transbay system. these men and women in hard hats will start building the spine of the high-speed rail tracks. as i pointed out, we should be proud of that. we need to get on with this, right now. five years from now, what will be happening -- these men and women will be completing the electrification of the caltrain line. that is an important part of this process. we will get from san francisco to san jose, faster, more

sustainably, and much cleaner with the caltrain system. 10 years from today, people in los angeles and fresno will be able to move back and forth, and 15 years from today, we will go from the transbay transit center all the way to disneyland, if you want to. that is what we are building. one last thing. it is not just about high-speed rail. this is part of an integrated transportation plan. we are invested in things like grid electrification. improvements to vpa. the blue line in san diego.

this is a 21st century modernization of our rail system. i want to thank all of you. with that, it is time for the bill signing. i would invite all the guests in the front row to, up. you should join us. -- i would invite all the guests in the front row to come up. you should join us. >> down in front. >> alright.

>> we can have one more person up here. [laughter] >> alright. >> whoo! [cheers and applause] >> so, this is the second time i have assigned this. [laughter] >> the questions from the gallery out there -- >> governor, why aren't you in the belly today -- valley

today? >> as you know, it is part of the function here, it is important of the criticisms as well as the success. it will electrify caltrain from san francisco to stand the pain -- to san jose. this is a bold move with many elements that spell jobs and future prosperity. we will have a lot of investment right here in san francisco and along the coast. yes? >> it is still not funded yet. what do you say about getting that kind of -- >> i am working on that one right now. i am working on getting the

started. getting through the fear of fearful men and getting it together. would get stuff going. we have stepped in middlebury. we have stuff in los angeles. let's start with the first phase and the second phase and rapid a lot. them to talk about how we get here. yes? >> governor, the real authority said passengers may have to change trains three times from l.a.? is that true? >> yes. i long ago stopped listening were taking his advice. it will be one train all the way. it will go all little slower in

certain areas. >> governor brown, how concerned are you that californians will not support your tax measure -- >> high speed rail is more popular than i am right now. if i believe that, i would have packed my bags. i have seen many polls. when the people build the water plant. when the people build the golden gate bridge. there were a lot of naysayers'. the world is filled with fear foremen. but the world is also filled with do worse and leaders -- doers and leaders. my concern is to build a california for the future.

we're in a culture of immediate gratification. me, now, ec. -- easy. when people build monasteries, it would start out with one man, then his son, then his son. we will do this in a generation or two. is an investment in the future. a poll here and a pole there, i don't worry about the field polls. [applause] >> in with the abc station in the central valley. what would you want people to know about the signing? >> this made me more to bakersfield and it does to fresno. -- may mean more to bakersfield and it does to fresno. it will stimulate housing.

it will concentrate the range used in a way that will protect agricultural land. it will create the kind of the sustainable communities we will need in a world of climate change. anybody else? that's it? the chronicle was no questions? [laughter] you were listening. you were tweeting the whole time. >> i have to listen to treat. however negotiations going on? >> i would say with the liberals speed. thank you very much. [applause]

>> good afternoon, everyone. this is july 23rd, 2012 meeting of the land use and economic development committee of the san francisco board of supervisors. our clerk today is derek evans and, he is supported by lisa

miller. >> please silence all cell phones and electronic devices appeared document -- and electronic devices. documents should be submitted to the court. >> i would like to thank our sfgtv staff, general furlough, and jesse larsen, for broadcasting as today. -- jennifer lowe and jesse larsen for broadcasting us today. >> item number one, to add limitations on eligibility application deadlines for the receipt of assessor, reporters report. and to reduce the application fees for the mills' agricultural contracts. >> thank you. supervisor wiener.

>> today, we are considering legislation that i am sponsoring to improve access to amend the minister of code by which we enter into mills act contract. this will improve and streamline the process of that we provide incentives to homeowners to maintain their stored properties in san francisco. -- their historic properties in san francisco. i will also be speaking with the san francisco heritage to formulate this legislation. i see that mike piller from heritage is here today to speak. " -- but the planning and other commissions have supported to --

have voted to support the mills act as well. the bills that maintain the property it in an appropriate way by agreeing to a strict, 10- year maintenance plan. each mills act proposed has to go through a rigorous process and each process is to help individual owners to maintain their properties while. this legislation will continue to affirm their commitment to preservation by providing incentives and making it easier to access them.

they contribute to a public good in preserving the heritage of san francisco. other counties, for example, loss angeles, have a very robust mills act program. then diego has 1100 active contracts. oakland, which is a more recent program, has 24 active contracts. san francisco, since creating its program more than 16 years ago, has entered into five contracts. san francisco has not had a robust mills act program. the process is unduly lengthy and expensive and is unpredictable. this amendment does several things to improve the process. it significantly streamline it and makes it more predictable in terms of timetables.

it imposes strict timelines, both for when applications are submitted, synchronizing for the time of the year, and timeline for the city's response. it reduces the fis, which have been, frankly, very high and prohibitive. it also focuses our approach to the mills act on the smaller properties, including single- family homes and multi unit buildings. as opposed to the megaprojects, which have typically been the only ones with resources and perseverance to actually take advantage of the san francisco mills act in the past. and of course, each and every mills act contract will continue to be subject to approval or disapproval by the board of supervisors. mr. chairman, this is a very good piece of legislation.

we formulated in a collaborative way. and colleagues, i ask for your support. i believe we will have the planning commission presenting to us if there are no opening comments. >> good afternoon. as supervisor wiener mentioned, the mills act property contract program was enacted by the state of california in 1976. it was incorporated than as part of our administrative code in 1996, and since that time the city of san francisco has only entered into five mills act contracts. there are other municipalities that have entered into far more

contracts than san francisco hats. we believe this will provide savings and tax reduction to help offset the cost of maintaining those older structures. both the commission and the -- both commissions unanimously approved the modifications. most of the modifications that were incorporated by supervisor wiener and recommended unanimously by both commissions were made by the san francisco architectural heritage. the department also supports those modifications and believes those will reduce processing time and streamline the planning department that not only

streamline the process, by adds more predictability for property owners as well. we're working on revising all of our mills act program location materials to make it easier for project sponsors to apply for the program. and mike johnson from the assessor's office is here to answer any questions on how we are trying to provide more clarity and predictability of specific milestones within the mills act program. that concludes my presentation unless you have any questions. >> colleagues, any questions for planning? >> i just have one. properties without code violations issued by the planning department, or dbi, are not eligible for the act. i know they have to be under the tax assessment value for

buildings as well, but what else is exempted? rex in terms of qualifying buildings, as supervisor wiener pointed out, the building would have to be individually listed, or eight contributor to natural -- national district or in an historic local district. all violations have to be updated before the application can be processed. -- have to be updated before the application can be processed. but there are no other limitations to entering the program. >> i just want to note that the focus is on the smaller properties that the board sought discretion to approve any contracts. i believe the only potential historic district that is actively moving forward right now that i'm aware of is in district 8, which is north of

the park and we have had a lot of a robust discussion and support. one of the concerns that homeowners have pointed out is that when you look at the promotion of the historic districts, it always talks about tax incentives. but in san francisco, because we administer -- the way that we administer it, those tax incentives are illusory because they cannot take advantage of them. i think this will generate more support for presentation -- preservation in the city. >> thank you. is there anyone from the public who would like to speak? please, come forward. we will limit it to two minutes per person. >> ♪ were sergeant pepper's lonely hearts club land

♪ i thought you would like to know ♪ ♪ get back and let the budget grow ♪ ♪ sergeant pepper's lonely ♪ ♪ sergeant pepper's lonely ♪ ♪ sergeant pepper's lonely ♪ ♪ and it's the land ♪ ♪ it's wonderful to be here ♪ ♪ it's certainly at thrilled ♪ ♪ and i would like to see you get all those lovely bills. -- lovely bills ♪ ♪ sergeant pepper's lonely hearts club band ♪ ♪ >> thank you. next speaker. >> i am on the historic preservation commission. but i'm here myself. i can support -- the commission

enthusiastically supported this legislation. i want to thank supervisor wiener for spearheading this and making it possible, especially with all of the negotiations and the complexity of it. he is right. i hope this is just the beginning of exploring incentives for historic preservation. there's already some occupancy, i would like to see some of that. we need to see if there are other ways that we can make that happen if legislated. i would also like to make sure that after a year or two of working this program in its reform state, that we keep looking for more ways to make it more efficient and cost-

effective and easier for the homeowner. i look forward to after seven years it surpassing san diego and los angeles. -- after some years it surpassing san diego and las angeles. >> mike piller with the san francisco architecture heritage. certainly, the mills act reform has been a longstanding priority for san francisco heritage. i would like to applaud the supervisor for spearheading this in a truly collaborative matter -- manner. along with the county assessor's office, as well as incorporating the most recent comments from each pc and the planning commission. we strongly support this legislation. this legislation aims at

extending this benefit to owners of all manner of historic properties, regardless of their value. as noted earlier, san francisco's mills act program, though it has long been in place, it has been illusory and not readily available to property owners. we hope to rectify that by borrowing from other cities that have well-established programs, implementing best practices. and i would like to read knowledge the efforts of the planning department in pulling those cities and serving as an -- surveying them. >> is there anyone else from the public that would fight to speak? public comment is closed. thank you to mr. fry and to revise our winner. -- the and to supervisor wiener. can we move this forward to the