the people, cannot shed light on cases that are important. and not a wimper, not a wimper from the board of supervisors. you represent the 12 -- 11 districts in san francisco. and one among you all -- because you do not allow, you know, to mention the board of supervisors name during public comment -- one among you all was instrumental in shutting down the sunshine task force because of a candidate who was physically challenged, mandatory that on this board, there be a

person that is physically challenged. and so this fair city talks a lot about mandates, talks a lot about transparency, talks a lot about accountability, but when it comes to doing the right thing, i ask you so-called representatives, have you taken a stand to do the right thing. have you taken a stand to do the right thing. come friday -- >> president chiu: thank you very much. >> no. no. that was the first bell. this is the second time you've done it to me. that was the first bell. this is the second time you've done it to me. i need 20 seconds.

>> president chiu: actually, that was the second bell as the clerk has told me. >> that was the first bell. >> president chiu: that was the second bell. >> let me conclude. i know. let me conclude. >> president chiu: thank you very much. >> i make one statement. >> president chiu: thank you very much. >> thank you for being unfair. >> president chiu: are there any other members -- are there any other members of the public that wish to speak in general public comment? sir? the mic to your right. >> i just got here, don't have time to fill out the form. if i may take a moment. it's too hard to pick it up. it's too heavy to pick it up but its full of customer surveys, taxi customer surveys,

san francisco taxi driver, peter witt, san francisco driver for 24 years. i conduct these surveys just out of the about of good government and for the greater good of the city. being a native san franciscan i drive the taxi and walk the streets of sidewalk. i'm concerned primarily because mta is a bunch of bs, okay. i've been submitting these taxi surveys, 1,000, with a 93% return rate, by the way, which is phenomenal, if i do say so myself, an expert will guide you if you need guiding. but this is what it looks like when i process it. this is the very first one i did. i did 500 but i didn't think it was an adequate sample number. it didn't include enough visitors. by the way then i submitted them to mta for the last four years, just the other day, i did --

submitted one. excuse me, i'm out of breath. these are heavy. stack is about this big. mind you, there's three surveys on each piece of paper, there's like 300 some odd surveys -- pieces of paper here, rather. 93% return rate again is a phenomenal amount. it's not the 99 percenters out there but the 93 percenters of my customers, including visitors. the current survey they're doing right now. but they're jumping the gun. and they're jumping the gun because they're proving 200 more cabs right now as i speak and they have no data. but they do have data. and most of my customers, they say i'm biased. most of my customers want more cabs but they also give a reason why exactly. >> president chiu: thank you very much.

are there any other members of the public that wish to speak in general public comment? seeing none, general public comment is closed. madam clerk, could you go to the adoption calendar. we have one item there. >> the clerk: yes. the single item on the adoption without reference to committee calendar item is item 26, a resolution finding that the city through its office of labor standards and enforcement has established and will enforce a project specific labor compliance program in accordance with the requirements of the labor code for all public works projects funded in any park from proposition 84. >> president chiu: colleagues, roll call on this item. >> the clerk: on item 26, supervisor mar, aye. supervisor olague, aye. supervisor wiener, aye. supervisor avalos, aye. supervisor campos, aye. president chiu, aye. supervisor chu, aye. supervisor cohen, aye.

supervisor elsbernd, aye. supervisor kim, aye. there are 11 ayes. >> president chiu: resolution is adopted. at this time why don't we go to our 3 pm order related to washington. >> the clerk: 22 and 23 comprise the board of supervisors sitting as a committee of the whole for persons interested in repealing file, an ordinance regarding the zoning map amendment for the eight washington street project. item 23 is the referendum reconsideration of the zoning map amendment for eight washington street project. >> president chiu: colleagues, as you know, we have a hearing today on the zoning map and then related to the washington street project. before we begin the public comment, i first want to welcome our new deputy city attorney, john given ner and give him opportunity to explain the procedural nature of this hearing and the specific vote that we will be asked to take at the end of the this hearing.

mr. givner. >> thank you. john givner, his deputy city attorney. as the agenda suggests the board will be considering whether to repeal the ordinance that you adopted in june. a yes vote, when this question is called, will be a vote to repeal. a no vote is a vote not to repeal the ordinance, and to instead send the ordinance to the voters for their consideration. if there are six no votes, the clerk will advise the department of elections to place the ordinance on the ballot at the next general municipal or statewide election after november 2012 or a special municipal election called by this board. >> president chiu: thank you, mr. givner. colleagues, unless there are any questions either of the city attorney's office or i know the planning department is represented by mr. kevin guy, why don't we open it up to public comment. i have a number of speaker cards and i will read those cards and if i could ask those individuals if you could please step up to the podium and if there are any

members of the public that wish to make public comment, if you could please line up after these individuals, let me first recognize our former city attorney, louise renne, lee radner and janet and other members of the public that wish to speak if you could please line up after those individuals, and why don't we first hear from former city attorney ms. renne. actually have a number of other cards that just been submitted. kerry biels, sarah duran, benjamin damran, cie archleti, gene ross and roger won. first speaker please.

>> supervisors, my name is louise renne on behalf of 31,000 san franciscans who ask you to repeal the ordinances, who oppose the eight washington street project. 31,000 people from every district throughout the city ask you to reverse the decision, and to avoid a costly election. should this be an election? we think we will win. and we think so based on what we have found as we went about the city. when people find out about this project, they are opposed to it. san franciscans don't want a project that's higher than the embarcadero freeway was, they don't want a mammoth project the size of a football field, they don't want a wall in the waterfront that's going to obstruct the views of coit tower, and hills as you walk along. this project has been painted as being opposed by only a few

neighbors, disgruntles neighbors who live next door or have their views obstructed. i can assure you, supervisors, that isn't at all true. throughout the city, and i mean every, every district, 31,000 people, in only 29 days spoke up. should there be an election, we will hear from the rest. but we're here today in the hope that common sense will reveil and this project will be sent back to the drawing boards now. we hope that this board, and only this board can, now, head off an election and save the city the time and effort and cost involved in election. we understand that a number of you originally voted for this project because there are jobs involved. we believe jobs can be created

from good projects, and this is not a good project. we understand that some of you voted for this because the port needs money. we believe the port can get money for good projects, and this is not a good project. so standing behind me are not only some of the 31,000, but throughout this great city, 31,000 and more, who are opposed to this project. we ask you today to please repeal the ordinances, stop the costly election, let's all go back to the drawing boards, and get a sensible, sensible project that leaves a waterfront for all of us, and not just a few. thank you. >> president chiu: thank you. if i could just remind members of the public we do have a rule in the board chamber, asking the

public not to express either with awe place or with hissing or other signs of opposition to various comments that are made and ask for you to follow that board rule. thank you. next speaker. >> president chiu, members of the board of supervisors, my name is eric math. i have opposed development of the golden gateway tennis and swim club for many, many years. this is just the latest project. as we have seen the development of the shenanigans that have gone on to try to get this project done, it has become more evident to me that, if this project were to stand, you would eventually have donald trump, you would have a lot of other developers coming to you, asking for exceptions for their parcels. pretty soon, i would visualize this waterfront being looking

like waikiki. i don't think any of us want that. the people have spoke in the referendum. if necessary they will speak again. and i feel confident that we will approve the dismissal of this -- the reversal of this ordinance. please don't put us through that agony. let's go back to the drawing board, and attempt to put a good project in place here. the workers of san francisco and the construction workers need work. let's get a good project in place, instead of this project. thank you. >> president chiu: thank you. next speaker. >> in 27 days, over 31,000

voters from all over san francisco signed a referendum petition to protest against the height zone increase ordinance for eight washington. i personally obtained over 100 signatures in less than a week. the signers live in the financial district, pacific heights, his russian hill, north waterfront, glen park, bernal heights, and bayview. they believe, as i do, that such a spot zoning height increase is the beginning of the end of our beautiful waterfront. so, today, his you have a chance to do what san franciscans want you to do. they want to preserve the waterfront. we ask you to do this by repealing the eight washington waterfront increase ordinance. thank you.

>> president chiu: next speaker. >> mr. president, members of the board of supervisors, my name is lee radner, friends of golden gateway. you heard the first speakers talk about 31,000 plus voters who signed the petition to put the referendum on the ballot. you're looking at -- you're looking at the wall on the waterfront. this is not our concoction. this is the developer's. right along the embarcadero. you have the opportunity, today, to stop this kind of construction along the waterfront, where we will have to go to the ballot, which i don't think many of us would like to see happen. we'd like to have you change your mind today.

also, a recent poll found that voters across the city overwhelmingly oppose the eight washington waterfront project, and the height limit increase by over 30 percentage points. we ask that you take this to heart. please listen to your constituents, and vote properly today, and let's all get on with doing a better project than what we see on your screen right now. thank you very much. >> president chiu: thank you very much. next speaker. >> members of the board of supervisors, ray harts, san francisco open government. i was here when you passed this originally, and i think i can sum it all up in what your board president said at the time. the deals are in and there's really no sense in talking more to you because you've all made your decisions. a lot of decisions in these

types of deals are made out of sight of the public. they're deals that sometimes have absolutely nothing to do with the actual item that is something given to someone to get them to go along with the deal. in this particular case, what i'm asking you to do is say, look, over 30,000 citizens of this city have said they don't agree with this. respect that. don't usurp the citizens right to make the the determination as to how their government will run. in the case of ross mirkarimi, we're using a rube goldberg process to remove a -- an elected official, and thwart the will of the people of san francisco. in this case we have another deal which some of us may not

have any idea, and in my experience i've gone through and looked at some of these documents or have tried to and had members of the city government evade their responsibility under the california public records act, the brown act and sunshine ordinance to withhold public records so that some of these specific issues cannot be addressed. this was a bad deal when it was put forward. your board president said it was subject to other deals that were made out of sight of the public. you now have many citizens telling you how much they object. respect the citizens who elect you today, or expect what they give you in november. >> president chiu: thank you. next speaker. >> good afternoon. my name is janet lottenberger, i live about three blocks from the site of the proposed eighth washington project.

i've been very active in the fight against this project. i think it's a bad idea for the neighborhood and a horrible idea for the city. i stood before you took the initial vote on the eight washington project and i have to say looking back i was so naive. i think we stood here and thought that what we said and what the people of this city said mattered to you and it was terribly disappointing, the outcome of that vote. it was really disappointing. it took a while to recover because i live in that neighborhood and love it but i got very evolved and walked out of the port meeting where we said nobody is listening to us so we're going to take action. so we got together. we got 31,000 signatures from all over the city. i collected those signatures. and when i told people what was going on, they were blown away. everybody could not believe it. and while the height limit is just one egregious violation of what should happen in that area, a 400 parkin parking garage, soy

things going wrong. i stand here optimistic but asking you to do what is right for your constituents in your neighborhood and what's right for the city and repeal this. thank you. >> president chiu: thank you. next speaker. >> good afternoon again. my name is deborah benedict. i live at 75 dora street. i am here as a representative of senior disability action, which is the former senior action network, and planning for elders joined together. the organization i speak for vehemently opposes this project for a variety of reasons, not visuals of a large portion of the city, and air to that portion of the city, but mainly because this project does not suit what this city needs. the housing that this city needs is affordable housing for

seniors, disabled, and working people. we have the largest population of seniors in the entire state of california. those statistics are not mine. why this board would approve something for the .5 -- .05% of the population in a location that has been objected to vehemently by loads, obviously 31,000 people, is beyond me. but one thing for sure is we will remember who voted which direction regardless of the behind the screen screens. we know who is the progressive and who is thinking about the needs of the real people of san francisco and who is not. thank you. >> president chiu: thank you. next speaker. >> board public chiu, board of supervisors, my name is joe butler, a candidate for district 3 supervisor.

marian hinman and nancy katz are rolling over in their graves. they instituted a 40 foot height limit when the fontana towers were approved way long time ago. people look at those towers and imagine the other 10 that were slated to be constructed and thank marian and nancy. the board rules were mentioned earlier. no applause, no derition. that's fine, that's good. but i know another one where the supervisor in whose district the project is located is deferred to environmental review appeals they did that with 135ored, for you mark farrell for 1269 -- mark farrell for 1269 lombard street. how come eight of you can't do that for the board president now. the board defers on those items, and i've suffered zero to 11 votes.

i don't understand how we got to 8-3 but let me see if i can't find a few more votes. mark and scott should be with david. and i think that eric and carmen should be with david as well, because their committees, after all, passed this up through, and they are dependent upon him for their chairs. 31,000 people gave us the opportunity to speak here today. and i thank them. our campaign wants to be about neighborhoods up, taking the will and the voice of the constituents of a district, and bringing it to city hall, and making it reality. that is what our campaign stands for, and that's what we'd like to see in this case, 31,000 people versus simon snelgrove. it should be clear. thank you for your votes today. >> president chiu: next speaker. >> good afternoon, president

chiu, members of the board of supervisors. my name is carey vials. and i am here today to support you, as diligent and thoughtful stewards of our city. and to defend your previous decision to approve the zoning map amendment that would allow eight washington to move forward. the current attempts to reverse the approval of the project are a destructive precedent for the future of our city, and gravely disrespectful of the commitment, careful consideration and great number of hours that members of the city, the port, the planning department, you, the board of supervisors, special interest groups, hundreds of meetings with the neighborhood groups, design professionals, engineers, environmental consultants, as well as specific waterfront properties have dedicated to this project over seven years. and i ask why would anyone ever want to contribute their time,

effort, and passion to improving the fabric of our city to create new homes, both market rate and affordable parks, cafes, bicycle and pedestrian paths ever again. if they knew that after so many years of dedication, input, consensus, and formal approvals, a handful of individuals could cause this rigorous inclusive process to be ignored and be disparaged. if this initiative becomes a precedent we will no longer have a democratic process and all future projects in san francisco will likely fall victim to the same attacks. we will never achieve our collective goals for a walkable sustainable city, healthy economic growth and homes for our families and our workforce. thank you. >> president chiu: thank you. next speaker. >> good afternoon, president chiu, and board members, sarah dorren and i am in support of this project. not only is eight washington an

elegant addition to the embarcadero, the developer, san francisco waterfront partners has generously dedicated half of the site to recreation and public open space, retaining and improving its current recreational club. they are a local developer who has shown its dedication to the city with seven years of planning and entitlements. the project team has held over 100 public meetings which included an 18 month planning process led by the planning department requested by david chiu. it was during that process the project went through a complete redesign to address all of the public's concerns, and lowered the heights to be a third of the height of the nearest residential building. the public was given ample time to voice concerns and all the parties involved, from the developer, design consultants, special interest groans, neighborhood groups, engineers, planning department, board of supervisors, worked so carefully to plan a project that would be a great asset to our city it

shocks me we are here determining the areversal. if that vote is not final, why do we even bother to continue the democratic process, and what trust do we place in our elected officials. i ask you to show integrity and remain true to your original vote in support of the eight washington project. thank you. >> president chiu: thanks. next speaker. >> my name is danielle mcguire. good afternoon. i'm a resident of san francisco and the ex-sellsior and here to support the project. like the two speakers before my i'm well aware of the rigor the project went through and outraged by the fact people can get signatures and turn over your good work. i was approached to sign this petition no less than three times and they did not present it as being about eight washington.

the presentation was wouldn't you like to support a petition to support the public's right to due process. of course we would but that has nothing to do with eight washington because the public had a right to participate in this process. i support the project and oppose the initiative. >> president chiu: thank you. next speaker. >> good afternoon, board of supervisors, president. my name is benjamin -- from district eight. my statement is more of an observation of the peculiar nature by which the signatures were acquired. on two occasions i was approached by a gentleman soliciting for signatures. on the first i was downtown, five blocks from the site. he asked if i was a san franciscan voter and requested i sign this petition. when asked what it was about he stated it was about a building down the street. i asked for more information and he could not ela erate. on the second occasion i spoafd

specified the location. the gentleman was requesting signatures from anyone who would listen. i don't actually remember him asking if the people were san francisco voters. i asked about the project and he stated he didn't know much about it and was just trying to get a paycheck. on both occasions from the reaction of those signing the petition their signature was not saying i oppose the project as much as if i sign this will you stop bothering me. thank you. >> president chiu: next speaker. >> good afternoon, president chiu and board members. my name is -- archleta and i'm reading a letter of residents of 101 lombard street. we are sorry t to miss this important meeting. after all these years of sincere community outreach intended to apiece the neighbors it is dishartenning to find out the eight washington project