continued so that is it to report. >> commissioners item 14, out reach committee report. >> we met this month and some of the topics that we discussed were the idea of following through with teaming up with private groups, business groups, on joint ventures we brought up, for example, a number of years ago, did an economic study on the impact of change scores verses independently-owned businesses. so we are going to be actively looking for someone, perhaps, loma to team up with us to do an update. so that is going to be our first project to see if we can get something together on that. we have been kind of looking at possible ways to go about a

long term vacancy legislation which would be to have long term vacancies be required to file some sort of information with the city, it is still pretty much up in the air and we will be continuing forward with bouncing around ideas for that. >> we discussed small business week and decided that we would like to bring some of the full commission the idea that the chair of the small business week would traditionally be the president and that person would have the chance to decide whether or not they wanted to that i can that position or not. and after that, if they decline then it will be open to the entire commission, to elect someone to be the chair of that small business week. >> that is our report. >> okay. >> thank you. >> permitting committee report.

>> item 15. permitting committee? >> yes. we met also this month. and we had some discussion about updates on the antique shops, secondhand permitting process. we will be coming back and reviewing that further. and we will... as we go forward on it, we will report back to the commission. we have also in the as one of our goals is to examine the permitting process and particular trying to stream line it and make it more business-friendly and part of the goal there is we have decided is prioritizing the following permits for the year 2012-2013, towing, commercial

parking, licensing, tour guide, pedaling permit. the committee will look at close-out sales and public out cry and permits put on a lower priority. we also reviewed some of the penalties imposed by the police permits and we think that in some of the cases the penalties might be a little bit over-kill. we are thinking of making recommendations to stream line the penalty and share that most of all permits have an infraction option. one of the things that came out of the discussion today is that it says, some permit penalties are at a misdemeanor level and we are trying to look into having non-criminal administrative fees or fines instead. we also disclosed as mentioned earlier by the director, the arch commission civil grand jury report. and as you may recall, we have delegated that back to the

permitting committee. i did want to just give you a bullet item that i think that you will find interesting. it is a grand jury report which is very detailed, and they made recommendations. and they have... itemized or titled agencis that should respond to recommendations or responses that they have made. we have been asked to respond to two particular recommendations. and i just want to it is very abbreviated but i think that you will find it interesting. recommendations 17 was to move the street artist program to the office of small businesses. and we have been asked to respond to that. so that is one of the items that we are going to be discussing as we prepare a report and recommendation back to the full commission. the other one is, a point, a current or former street artist to whichever commission over sees it and asked to weigh in

as well and comment on it which we will be doing. that is the arts commission grand jury report which we will, as i said get back to you on. >> we also discussed impact fees regarding in particular, school impact fees and how they may be effecting small businesses. we are going to have the focus work on that and see if there is anything that can be done there to make it a better for small businesses and minimizing the impact if there is negative impacts from those fees. and that concludes my report. >> great. next item? >> commissioners, 16 president's report. >> i don't have anything to report at this time other than there is a fund-raiser for the renaissance entrepreneural center. and it is october 2nd at the bently reserve at 5:30. i have been involved with renaissance now, oh, my god,

going on over ten years. and it is an awesome organization and a lot of small businesses got their start to going to the renaissance programs. and if everybody can try to attend that, that would be great. because it would just be showing support to small businesses, especially ones that are just starting out. >> october 2? >> october 2. bently reserve. >> and if i can send an e-mail to all commissioners. do we have a copy of the invitation? >> i would appreciate getting that. >> i think that... if there is... >> if there is not one i would track one down. >> it will be on the website. >> yeah. >> you will send an e-mail. >> i will send an e-mail. >> that will be good. >> next item. >> commissioners, item 17 vice president's report. >> nothing to report.

>> commissioners, 18, commissioner reports. >> do we have any commissioner reports? >> seeing done, next item. >> commissioners, item 19 is general public comment. >> do we have any members of the public that would like to make comment on any future considerations for this commission? >> seeing none, public comment is closed. item 20? >> commissioners, item 20 is new business. >> any new business? >> seeing none, next item. >> commissioners, item 21, is adjournment, is there a motion to adjourn? >> i will motion. >> second. >> all in favor. >> aye. >> aye. >> meeting concluded. >> thank you everyone, >> commissioners, the meeting is adjourned at 7:00 p.m.

>> a great man, is that what you called me? she has to be reminded. -- would you tell that to anita? i congratulate you and thank you for coming to san francisco.

hopefully you also become a disaster --- we would be glad te to open up our minds and communities to receive ideas from across the country, if not the world as to how we can improve it. it never is about what just san francisco is doing. a lot of our ideas are homegrown. the ideas are transplanted and that is the greatness of our city. we're an international city. we want to show what ideas are coming out of the far east, china, malaysia, the philippines, singapore as well as all over from europe. perhaps from africa and south america. we can learn from that just as

we have done with concepts like sunday streets where people take back the streets and start having fun in our urban communities and bringing out the children to enjoy the environment. this is our future generations so we have to have the best ideas. how to keep our environment and our strong. i want to tell you that there are a tremendous amount of enthusiasm for keeping our city grain trade we have at least three different projects that we have been focused on for a number of years. i have had the privilege with working with mohammed and our city engineers to accomplish this. most importantly with our community leaders and volunteers throughout every part of our neighborhoods. i hope that you do you is your time and take advantage of our wonderful weather to go out and

do as many doors as possible of all the -- tours as possible of all the community gardens. we have a committee challenge program, one that i am proud to have headed up when we were at public works but also the city administrator. this program today funds almost $900,000 this year in programs that are all committee pushed. it is attacks checkoff for corporations and individuals. the fund this through the tax system to provide almost $1 million every year and is put into a community-driven process where community leaders will apply on behalf of themselves or their own streets or gardens and they can get grants of up to $100,000 or as small as $5,000.

they could be groups that have never done anything except to start talking to each other about how to increase their neighborhoods's interest in reading and the environment. we have associated ourselves with the parks alliance and the clean city coalition to provide administrative support to any group that forms. as well as those groups that have school -- school themselves and gotten well organized and know what they're doing in their communities and want to increase their gardens. there will be gardens and a small ones, a few hundred square feet to those that are thousands of square feet large. i am taking over -- and taking over alleyways and the median strips, taking over long- abandoned areas and blighted areas. community groups and volunteers will form those alliances most

of the time in concert with either dpw or our public utilities commission or our parks, recreation and parks department and we're open to those kinds of collaborations'. the committee challenge grant is an excellent model. without anybody's knowledge, i still call the director and say what is going on. dpw tried to keep out of their business. now our city [inaudible] i am reaching in to find out, what are those great things the neighbor rwanda to do and i would like to go out there and visit them. i signed off last year in 2011 the urban agriculture " ordinance.

the ordinance for us was another reflection of city policy with the board of supervisors that we wanted to increase the opportunities for folks to grow crops. to grow agriculture, to be able to sell it if they so wish to to so we could have folks that already have that experience, but not necessarily at the corporate level. our urban agriculture is important to us. we have identified a number of abandoned lots all over the city and we would love to again excite volunteers and people who are interested in urban agriculture and the ability to distribute fresh produce to people who are in need. allow that to happen, working with our school district to see what can happen on their lots so the urban agriculture ordinance is something that you might want to take a look at. and finally, with our recreation and park department, the community gardens program, another broad program we have.

taking lots, whether they are a few hundred square feet or thousands of square feet and activating them and hosting volunteers to be able to build community gardens. we now have 35 and growing established community gardens in the city. and again, all run by volunteers. some of them that our individual lots and individuals will grow in them and there are lots that are shared responsibilities and shared neighborhood responsibilities to grow crops and to grow agriculture there for not only eating purposes or flowers or any of the things that individuals wish to have. and they are happening in our golden gate park as well as in our neighborhood parks. we're excited that you hopefully, you can see those as well. those are three small examples

of hopefully things that you can visit while you are here. i understand you are going through my home time, seattle next year -- my home town. seattle next. i was born and raised there. and of course, if that is not enough for you to do while you are here, you should talk to mohammed about getting tickets to the giants, the 49ers, or outside because that is -- outside plans because that is happening this weekend. that is the fun we have in our great city. we are a large city. i get to talk and write about the things we're doing, and i want you to know that the internment -- and permit, our commitment to greening are parts of what we're here to do because of the advocacy that you do

across the country, keep of that work, keep reminding mayors like me and everybody else we have an obligation to take the greening ideas and put them into the urban setting. give our kids the chance to get dirty with their hands, but watch things grow as they grow. this is the only way i know how to run the city. i have worked in this alleyways for many years. worked in the dirtiest smelling streets of our city. i come out loving our people even greater. whenever graffiti we have is our challenge. whenever illegal dumping that goes on. it is the ability to excite and organize our communities around these issues that bring out the best of all of us. the investment in our neighborhoods is one of my number one priorities as the mayor of the city.

and to have example after example of how we can unite more of our neighborhoods to make that investment, too. not just with money but with their skill sets. with their spirit. -- spirit of volunteerism. every other thing we can do to build strong communities. i know the guard association has as its core our own collaboration and education of folks to build that spirit out. and that spirit, the collaboration, that volunteerism will push us in government to do the right policies and open up more government were to the ideas that our neighborhoods have about building strong cities. thank you for being here. i want to thank all the sponsors from the hilton who is hosting as here to all the organizations, to our partners in ecology, the think tanks that help keep us going and give us

better ideas around the country as how we can do it. today, we are 70% recycling, -- 78% recycling, the highest in the nation. i hope we will get 2 1/2% with your help. thank you very much. [applause] stupak tape 55 >> welcome, this is carl. >> great to meet you. >> great to me you, and i want

to thank you for your interest and this is the city's animal shelter. and come in and a lot of people come here to adopt a animal or if they have lost their animal or looking for other animals. and we deal with other animals like birds and rabbits and you name it. this is more to see in this facility and more to see in the community. and i suggest you go with an animal control person and see what they co, whether rescuing animals in distress or hit by a car or dealing with aggressive animals or wildlife or a variety of things. you can only get that flavor with them and doing it first hand. >> i have been with animal

control for about six years, i spent a year in the kennel and then the office came up and i started doing it and it really fit. it's really the job for me. and animals i have to handle and i know what i am doing, i rarely get scared. [whistle]. we do a lot of investigations and most are not as bad as people report but everyone once in a while they are. and i had one and people had moved out and the dog was in the inside and it makes me teary and when the dog is in the backyard, and i can pull an animal out of a horrible

environment and feel good. >> where does this animal go after this? >> they go for the shots and then the kennel. >> and if they just found this, and once we enter everything in the computer and they can track to find out if the dog went back home. we hold them for five days. >> this is a stray dog and it came in today and we immobilize it and then put it in a room with food and water. >> and then evaluate for medical behavior and see if anyone is interested in adopting then. >> we want to be sure that their behavior is good for the average adopter and not

aggression problem, toward people or animals. >> and if they growl and don't bite the hand, she passes that. and good girl, in case she has something in her mouth, we get it out. and one more test, called the startle test and it startled hear but she came to me. and passed the handling test. >> for the mental exam i feel for lumps and bumps. and the ears and see if they are infected and look at the eyes and be sure they are clear and don't have cataracts and look at their teeth and heart. this is the first job that i feel i make a dvrngs.

-- difference. and we may do 40 to 80 animals a day for treatments. and do blood work and skin scrapings and cultures to diagnose different diseases. and x-rays, i can take an animal that would be euthanized at a different shelter and fix it and get it ready for a home. >> we have a partnership and we let a professional groomer run a private business from our facility and in turn grooms our shelter animals. what is the big deal of that? when someone comes to adopt an animal, if it looks good, chances are it will be adopted more. >> and we groom and clean the

ears and the works. >> typically a shelter wouldn't have grooming? >> not at all. and these dogs are treated with the utmot -- utmost care that others can't provide. this is a shampoo to bring out the luster. and i feel satisfied in helping the shelter pets be adopted and to be a part of such a wonderful staff, from the top all the way down. if she passes our evaluation, she will stay until she's adopted. if you are interested in adoption and don't want to put them to sleep, that means at a last resort, we will give you a call before putting to sleep. you are not bound to the dog, and we would give you a call,

and it's an actual adoption and cost $107 and it will be your dog. >> the volunteers to meet are the unsung heroes in this field that take the animals to hope and nurse them to get strong enough to come down and rehome. without volunteers, i would have to be honest to say this wouldn't be much more than a pound. we thank god that we have the number of committed people coming down and helping us out, it makes all the difference in the world. >> when you want to come in and volunteer, you go through a general orientation, about two hours. there is a lot of flexibility. and the various programs available, are baseline dog walking. you can work with the cats.

you can work with tony's kitty rescue, with the small animals and guinea pigs and birds and chickens. >> you always have an appreciative audience. >> do you feel that what you have learned here helped you with your own dogs? >> the training they don't have? yes. and it's things that you learn, we usually outlive our dogs and every time you get a new one, you have skills to teach them. >> one of the programs is training program and it's staffed by a member of the community and one of the programs she has is dog socialization. >> we started this program for

canine socialization. and all the dogs available for adoption get to play for two hours. and it's a time for them to get incredible exercise and play with other dogs and we have remedial socialization. and it's incredible the dogs and they get exercise and run and tumble and when most adopters come to look in the afternoon, they are quiet and settled. >> and i want come and someone sees a dog and loves it, it's quick. and after three weekends, i saw him and he connected and i connected and came back. >> what is your experience of working with the animals? >> unbelievable. from the guy that is came to

the house and everyone here, they are friendly and knowledge believe and -- knowledgeable and they care about the animals. >> and it's a great place to visit and look at the animals and maybe fall in love and take one home. and look at our grooming program and volunteer program and many say, hey, this