in voter education and accessibility at polling places. i have prepared a written report which i will -- ken will hand out large print paper copies at the end of your meeting and i will get to him for his sdrib distribution on monday electronically. i also have some other materials here for the public. at the department of elections we strive to help every eligible san franciscoan be a voter on november 6 and that includes people with disabilities. to do that, we started out several months ago -- well, this has been an on-going process as you know better than i do. but we started out several months ago

meeting with the disability rights california organization who educated our staff on both respect and etiquette for working with people with disabilities. our outreach staff then provides this information in all of our presentations. we have done almost 300 public presentations this election season and all of that information, accessibility information, is in our presentation. our trainers who are also trained by the disability rights california organization, they trained 3,000 poll workers on voter rights and respect. so it's kind of dropping a pebble into a like. we get a little information and then it spreads out to a lot of people. our poll worker hiring is inclusive. when the letter goes out recruiting poll

workers, people with disabilities are included in the availability letter and we provide wheelchair seating and large print materials and printed copies of spoken information and space for a guide or service animal and other requests for poll worker with disabilities. then all poll workers are, their mission includes accessibility goals to protect voter rights and serve voters with respect. it's a major part of the voter -- poll worker training and also in their poll worker manual. they are taught how to set up accessible stations and keeping the polling places safe and setting up the edge accessible voting machine, and there is a video that they view in class and that is available to the public on how it use the edge

machine on you tube.com/sfelections. and they get hands on training how to set up these machines as well. in your written materials will be experiments from their training manual so you will be able to read exactly what they read and learn. accessibility in voter outreach and education, which is more my wheelhouse, we have materials that we provide to the public, large print election flyers, i have some samples here today, and we provide those in english, chinese, spanish and russian. we have options presented in all the presentations that we do. we have an accessible web site with screen reader capability and we have a large

print voter information pamphlet. we advertise that we have this in our outreach, we take requests and we make it available in english, chinese and spanish in large print and in audio format in english, cantonese, mandarin and spanish. we did get a number of requests and this year we produced a total of 120 audio formats of our voter information pamphlet and 130 large print in various languages. we have some in the office at room 48 of city hall if anyone would like one and did not request one earlier. they can contact us and we can get one to anyone who needs one. we also have some at the

lighthouse for the blind. and also in your printed material are excerpts from the voter information pamphlet which provides general -- that's in every copy of the voter information pamphlet that provides information about accessibility in voting for everyone. one of the other things that we've done in outreach this year, and this is fairly new for us, is we've developed a community network of organizations. in total we have between -- around 350 organizations that we outreach to that then outreach to the community, all of the community that we serve, but specifically we have 47 organizations that have self-identified as serving community of people with disabilities so we work with those organizations that again work with the community. so i

think that's a really positive step in building coalitions between elections and the people we want to serve. and, finally, accessibility at the polling places is also we're making great strides there. we looked up at some statistics and going back to march 2004 election we had 550 polling places in san francisco, 211 of them were not accessible. in november 2012 we have 573 polling places in san francisco and only 29 are inaccessible, so we think that is a very positive statistic

for all of us. and by accessibility at the polling places it's not just getting there, it's also being able to vote once you're there. when you receive your voter information pamphlet, when every voter receives one, on the back of that pamphlet it is listed whether or not your polling place is accessible or not. if it's not, you are instructed to call or email the department of elections and we will make arrangements. every polling place that is accessible has signs at the entrance. this time a doorbell where someone will be able to call for assistance to inside the polls place. of course we hope we will have a welcoming poll worker staff and then there's some practical things like a pen grip and a page

magnifier, large print instructions, accessible voting booth and, of course, our accessible voting machine with a touch screen, audio ballot in english, cantonese, mandarin or spanish. this is the same edge machine that's been in use in san francisco since the february, 2008 election so people are probably fairly familiar with it. but there are instructions on the edge machine in braille and of course the poll workers have been taught how to use the machine. we also have curb side voting available if people cannot get into the polling space and poll workers understand that two assistants to help people who need to use curb side voting to mark their ballot. for everyone, the last day to register to vote is october

22nd, the last day to request to vote by mail is october 30th. you can vote early at city hall monday through friday and the last two weekends before the election and of course on behalf of the department of elections, we encourage you to be a voter november 6th. if you have any questions i'm happy to answer them. thank you. >> through the chair, could i ask a question? >> if no one else has a question, we will allow miss carter-johnson to ask a question. go ahead. >> it's just a very short question. thank you for your presentation. if a voter encounters difficulty on the day of the election is there a number, a hotline number, that you would like to advertise for people to call to get assistance? >> yes, thank you for asking. our voter assistance hotline and it is, it's actually live

now and it will be available on election day in english is 554-4375. in chinese, 554-4367. and in spanish, 554-4366. if you need another language, call the english number, 554-4375, and people will help you. >> and just one more quick question. >> okay. >> i don't know if i heard you mention that people can vote early also here in city hall, which is fully accessible. did you mention that? >> i did mention that, but it is fully accessible here and we are open monday through friday from 8:00 to 5:00 for voting and the last two week ends before the election from 10:00

to 4:00. >> that's lael good. i also would encourage people to vote but it's a little late now. is it too late to call for the vote by mail? >> no, it's not. you can apply to vote by mail until october 30th. >> october 30th. so, so that gives us plenty of time. so they can call the 4375 number, right? >> yes, or they can go to sfelections.org and get instructions there. >> all right, thank you. any other questions? public comment? none? ken. >> yes, speaking for staff, i'd like to apologize that you had to wait so long. i thank you and natalia for coming, but the good news, the upside, is that you now and we have a very good and very accessible web link directly to this item that is realtime captioned and sign

language interpreted about accessible services provided by the san francisco department of elections. so we go on from here with that and i thank very much for your presentation. >> thank you. one of our goals is working with our civic family, so i'm very happy to be here. thank you. >> thank you so much for your information. moving on to our next item, no. 11, sfmta multi modal accessibility advisory committee update. presentation by mdc council member roland wong. >> thank you very much. i will start off, san francisco has one of the longest standing committees to advise san francisco

metropolitan transportation agency. the sfmta maac multi modal accessibility advisory committee, a 21-member strong voice of seniors and people with disabilities. a few projects we have accomplished is the big project like st. francis circle, like when they have, we've done the rails and made the pathways, way finding ramps, everything much more accessible. like minor enhancements like a (inaudible) station by installing automatic push button for better access to the station. we're working

in progress weigh in concerns with bikes and pedestrian safety. another thing that we are trying to work on is better access to bart and access busses. many busses are blocked by vehicles that interfere, a path in order to enter or exit a bus like the 1846 avenue and 31 balboa bus line. there are many muni lines that need improvements, just to name a few. the public and members of the mayor's disability staff and council members are welcome it ascend sfmta maac meetings at

the sfmta headquarters every third thursday of the month from 1:00 to 3:00 pm located at 1 south van ness avenue, 7th floor, union square conference room. the next maac meeting is scheduled for thursday, november 15th. the phone number is sfmta accessible service is 415-701-4485. for further information you can go to www.sfmta/maac thank you very much. >> thank you, roland. any public comment? council

members, any comments? no, okay, we'll move on to item no. 13, correspondence. do we have any correspondence? >> the only letter we got this month was from howard chadner that he read you earlier today. thank you, howard. >> okay, moving on to no. 14, council member comments and announcements. the only announcement i would have would be our next meeting. where is that in my notes? oh, thank you. thank you, denise. our next meeting for the mdc will be friday, november 16th here at city hall from 1:00 to 4:00, room 400, as usual.

all right? anything else we need to announce? public comment? seeing none, we could adjourn early. or do we have someone on the bridge line? >> okay, here you go. >> so sorry that i am not there, but i have been there the whole time. all the speakers were wonderful and i just want to thank john paul scott. i am going to be sad to see -- that name i love. this is idele i wanted to public comment about prop 63, the mental health service act, and

tell people facts about it while your public, information about it, i don't know all the information but if you google prop 63, mental health service act, that's funding that's available here in san francisco with the right assistance. but ask about it, get information, get involved. that's something that's here for our city. thank you guys, awesome meeting today. >> thank you so much. okay, i move to adjourn the meeting. all in favor say aye. okay, we adjourn the meeting. thank you very much.

(meeting adjourned).

>> just a few steps away from union square is a quiet corner stone of san francisco's our community to the meridian gallery has a 20-year history of supporting visual arts. experimental music concert, and also readings. >> give us this day our daily

bread at least three times a day. and lead us not into temptation to often on weekdays. [laughter] >> meridians' stands apart from the commercial galleries around union square, and it is because of their core mission, to increase social, philosophical, and spiritual change my isolated individuals and communities. >> it gives a statement, the idea that a significant art of any kind, in any discipline, creates change. >> it is philosophy that attracted david linger to mount a show at meridian. >> you want to feel like your work this summer that it can do some good. i felt like at meridian, it could do some good. we did not even talk about price until the day before the show. of course, meridian needs to support itself and support the community. but that was not the first

consideration, so that made me very happy. >> his work is printed porcelain. he transfers images onto and spoils the surface a fragile shes of clay. each one, only one-tenth of an inch thick. >> it took about two years to get it down. i would say i lose 30% of the pieces that i made. something happens to them. they cracked, the break during the process. it is very complex. they fall apart. but it is worth it to me. there are photographs i took 1 hours 99 the former soviet union. these are blown up to a gigantic images. they lose resolution. i do not mind that, because my images are about the images, but they're also about the idea, which is why there is text all over the entire surface. >> marie in moved into the mansion on powell street just five years ago. its galleries are housed in one of the very rare single family

residences around union square. for the 100th anniversary of the mansion, meridian hosted a series of special events, including a world premiere reading by lawrence ferlinghetti. >> the birth of an american corporate fascism, the next to last free states radio, the next-to-last independent newspaper raising hell, the next-to-last independent bookstore with a mind of its own, the next to last leftie looking for obama nirvana. [laughter] the first day of the wall street occupation set forth upon this continent a new revolutionary nation. [applause] >> in addition to its own

programming as -- of artist talks, meridian has been a downtown host for san francisco states well-known port trees center. recent luminaries have included david meltzer, steve dixon, and jack hirsch man. >> you can black as out of the press, blog and arrest us, tear gas, mace, and shoot us, as we know very well, you will, but this time we're not turning back. we know you are finished. desperate, near the end. hysterical in your flabbergastlyness. amen. >> after the readings, the crowd headed to a reception upstairs by wandering through the other gallery rooms in the historic home. the third floor is not usually reserved for just parties, however. it is the stage for live performances. ♪

under the guidance of musical curators, these three, meridian has maintained a strong commitment to new music, compositions that are innovative, experimental, and sometimes challenging. sound art is an artistic and event that usually receives short shrift from most galleries because san francisco is musicians have responded by showing strong support for the programming. ♪ looking into meridian's future, she says she wants to keep doing the same thing that she has been doing since 1989. to enlighten and disturbed.

>> i really believe that all the arts have a serious function and that it helps us find out who we are in a much wider sense than we were before we experienced that work of art. ♪ >> it was an exciting event for those who wanted some long needed improvements. >> they saw it and they took care of it. >> the project is expected to open in spring, 2013. for more on the playground,

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