deficit. the revenue deficit. we had suggested that the controller provide a more broad summary of all of the reserves and the set asides when the committee goes to five members. [speaker not understood] the kind of rules and policies regarding all of these reserves. since the financial policies were in effect a couple of years ago, we really have made a tremendous amount of progress in establishing reserves that have been looked upon very favorably by the rating agencies and though more importantly we will have money available in the next downturn that will keep us on a more steady footing in terms of how much money and it will prevent big cuts and layoffs. so, i'm available to answer any additional questions and we will definitely be with you on a weekly basis and provide you

with updates as they occur. >> thank you. colleagues, any further questions? thank you very much, ms. zamuda. and ms. howard, i know you spoke earlier. we asked you about the kind of impact on everything on the budget outlook. is there anything else you wanted to add at this point? >> the thing that i would is add, supervisor, it is early and given the significant, the significant structure issue with the department of public health, that will likely have a more effect on our overal deficit projection than this smaller good news. * overall because that issue is not a -- not only a current year issue. it's an issue that is structural and is embedded in the department's budget. so, i guess i would say it's modest good news but let's not take our eye off the ball. bigger issues at the department

of public health. >> okay, thank you very much. colleagues, any further questions? all right. with that, much appreciated. like to open up item number 11 up to public comment before we continue this. any members of the public wish to comment on item number 11? seeing none, public comment is closed. colleagues, if we could continue item number 11 to the call of the chair. we can do that without opposition. mr. clerk, can you please call item number 12? >> item number 12, hearing to consider and approve proposed board of supervisors budget for fiscal year 2013-2014 and fiscal year 2014-2015. >> thank you. and we have ms. angela [speaker not understood] from our clerk's office. >> thank you, mr. wrung. -- young. [speaker not understood]. i'm here today with deborah landis, the admin deputy, [speaker not understood] youth

commission director and don duran from the sf appeals board. on friday the 30th we presented to the board of supervisors fiscal year 2013-14, 14-15 draft budget based upon the budget instructions this committee provided in december. and today before you is the department's proposed budget which should you approve will be submitted to the mayor and the controller's offices on thursday, february 21st, which will be before you for further consideration in june. since the january 30th hearing, there are no changes to report to our department's budget. as a reminder, the draft budget proposal, the operating budget totals 12.9 million for fiscal year 13-14. i'll put a slide up to show the public watching at home. and for fiscal year 13-14, 13.2 million dollar budget and for fiscal year 14-15, these are compared to a current year budget of 12.4 million and a

base of 13-14 million. we're happy to review the details in-depth. i want to quickly mention one anticipated change for the june presentation. it's been 14 years since we've moved into city hall and naturally we are beginning to see some furnishings and furniture begin to show wear and tear essentially. it should only increase in the next couple of years. operations division provides a deep cleaning service to supervisors when they are moving offices, it does not take care of the wear and tear. [speaker not understood] in city hall will naturally coordinate with building management to understand their plans for maintaining the building's historic standards. but whether it's in their budget or in our budget, the line item mechanism covering these costs and our needs will have to be identified. at this time we're happy to take any questions that you may have.

>> do we have an estimate of what the line item would be for any kind of maintenance like that? >> not at this time, supervisor avalos. certainly as we're working through those issues can provide that to the committee, to all of the supervisors. >> great, thank you. >> you're welcome. >> colleagues, any further questions? okay. at this point like to open up to public comment. are there any members of the public who wish to comment on item number 12? seeing none, public comment is closed. colleagues? >> thank you. we can forward to the mayor's office for consideration for the budget. >> that's correct. >> and i am supportive of actually the youth commission having the full staffing that we haven't had in a number of years. and i think that all of our offices have really benefited from the great work of the youth commission over the past few years and i think having the flexibility with better staffing would be helpful.

>> thank you. >> okay. so, we can make a motion to send this to the mayor's office? >> yes. >> so moved. >> okay. we can do that without opposition. >> thank you. >> thank you very much. mr. clerk, do we have any other items? >> that completes the agenda. >> thank you. we are adjourned. [adjourned]

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>> cents and cisco's buses and trains serve many writers -- san francisco buses and trains serve many riders. the need to be sure they can get off at their intended stop. the digital voice announcement system, which announces upcoming stops, can help these low vision riders know where they are, but only if set properly. >> it is a wonderful piece of technology, but in practice, it is a little bit more tricky. oftentimes, i find that the automatic announcement system is turned off or turned down so low

that i'm unable to hear it, or it is turned up so high that the sound is distorted. >> most of the time, it does not ever seemed to be on. or is it is, it is a really quiet. occasionally, it is so loud that it is distorted. >> driver, may i have california st., please? >> no problem. >> whenever the announcement system does not work properly and a driver does not call out the stops, and i'm totally lost as to where i am. the announcement system calls out the stops, but to help the customer, i caught the destination, transfer points, and requested stops. and it is the law. >> i use the p a system to make sure everyone on the bus here is my announcements. >> i have had both experiences with the loudness and the to stop for the announcements. you are never going to have it

exactly balanced for every trip because your level of noise changes. the announcement system ranges from 1 to 10. 10 would be too loud, a little distorted. eight is a good number. not too loud, but loud enough for everyone to hear and understand what is going on. >> i think bus drivers might not be aware of the fact that if you let a visually impaired person off at the wrong stop, number one, they may be absolutely unfamiliar with the area they are in. >> the driver overshot the stock that i wanted. i decided to get off and find my way back, but it was very disorienting, not exactly understanding how far i was. number 2, it might be a potentially dangerous situation if they do not know the area and are attempting to make crossings that they are unfamiliar with. >> they let me off somewhere else. i had no idea where i was.

i missed the stop, and the bus was gone. then, i look around. i tried to find someone to help me, and i cannot find anybody. i would have no way of knowing where i am at. >> [inaudible] i asked why he did not stop when i asked. we did not panic. we do not know where we are. we do not know what is going on. i get over there, and right away, i almost got killed. >> #3, it's the person in question is trying to get somewhere, it is going to make them late for whatever they are doing. >> i had to find my way to a corner and ask someone where i was going to and how to get there. i eventually made it to my appointment, which was with social security, but i was very late, and they almost did not

see me. >> i was very late former doctor's appointment, and there was concern about whether or not i could be fit in. >> when i get off i stock that is unfamiliar to me, because i have no sight, i cannot just automatically orient myself off to a new environment. it takes a lot of training, a lot of work. there are a lot of skill sets involved when i am first introduced to a new area. to get off at an unfamiliar bus stop for the first time and to do it unintentionally -- it can be a really disorienting experience. >> i think there is a sense that it is ok, that person is going to find their way, and did they do not know where they are, you are potentially putting them in a seriously dangerous situation. >> i always appreciate when the drivers are proactive in asking

questions like, "where do you want to get off?" i appreciate when they help find a seat for me. i also appreciate when everything is working properly as far as the voice announcement system. they make sure that it is turned on, that it is loud enough for everyone to hear, not turned down so low that it helps no one. >> excuse me, driver, what stocks are we at? can you remind me when we get to venice and broadway? thanks. >> what we're talking about here is full participation and inclusion. i want to be able to lead a full life. the only way that i'm able to get from place to place this by using a fully accessible public transit system like meany -- muni. >> the americans with

disabilities act of 1990 is a wide-ranging federal civil- rights law that prohibits discrimination against persons with disabilities. title two of the ada addresses access to public services, including public transportation for persons with disabilities. it requires transit operators to call out stops at transfer points, major intersections, and major destinations, and to announce particular stocks requested by customers with disabilities. stop announcements are especially important for passengers who are blind or have low vision. these individuals cannot travel independently if they are not assured of getting off at their intended destination point.

>> san francisco's buses and trains serve many riders who are blind or how low vision. muni is their lives line to get around. simple act of courtesy can help them access muni services safely. it is not just courtesy. it is the law. >> i used to take the 21 airlock. >> lot of times, when i would be waiting at the bus stop, the door would open and the driver would announce the bus line. >> 71. >> it is easier and preferable

when a driver sees someone who is obviously visually impaired if they stop in front of me and say "this is the 71," "this is the seven." >> our buses are setup to announce the lines when we pull up. when i see a customer with a guide dog or cane, make sure i let them know what line i am. >> every time i get on the bus, i tell the driver where i need to get off, even if i think there digital voice system is going to announce that. just so they know in the event that it is not working. i would say a good amount of the time, i do get acknowledgment, actually. >> good morning. >> morning. is your announcements system working? >> i'm sorry, it is not. >> could you let me know when we get to van ness and sacramento? >> i sure will. >> i have had a number of

drivers be really helpful in terms of getting passengers to move down a few seats so i can sit in the front. >> can somebody give this lady a seat? >> the bus driver was say, "please wait a moment. i want to make sure you have a seat." and i hear him or her announced that he needs a seat for a person with a disability. >> as soon as the person gets on the bus, i ask the passengers if we can have a seat for this person. >> anybody help us? thank you, sir. >> thank you. >> sides, federal law requires that the customers give their seats to the elderly and disabled if they should need it. >> buses should stop in zones that can accommodate multiple lines will stop behind one another. i cannot see what bus is behind -- i'm not even sure if there is a bus behind. the second bus does not come up to the front.

oftentimes, it has caused me to be passed up by bosses, by trains, and again, it makes me late for appointments. it makes me late for my job. >> i'm often anxious that i'm going to miss the bus that i need, simply because i'm not fast enough to scamper down and find out which bus is lined up behind the bus that is currently in front of me. what i'm going to work and i take the van ness street buses to work, sometimes, one of them will pull up right next to the other one. not in a bus stop, but parallel to it. and i do not know it is there. i also do not feel comfortable walking out into the street. >> is that my boss over there? i think that is my boss -- bus. i'm going to miss it.

i don't know how many times i have missed buses because of this. >> i do not double park. it is not safe for our customers, and especially the visually impaired. anything could happen, and it is muni's policy not to double park. normally what i do, if i can safely go in behind, i pull in the zone, offload my customers, load the customers that are waiting for me. when the bus in front of the leaves, i will pull to the front for the customers that did not see me. >> sometimes, the bus pulls up, and there is stuff in my way because the boys -- bus has not pulled up right in front of me. i have to figure out how to get around or through. i have to navigate through all of that in order to get onto the bus. >> when i pick up a visually impaired customers, i like to

pull up right in front of them, make sure nothing is in the way so they can walk right on the coach. >> okay, take one big step forward. >> when i drop off a visually impaired customers, make sure you do not pull up at the shelter. you want to give them a straight shot so they can go to the left or the right. you want to pull in front or behind the shelter. never around any trees or pose. i usually let them know that they have about 10 feet before you. a straight shot, and wallace 10 feet away, and they can make the decision what they want to do from that point. every now and then, and visually impaired customer wants to be dropped off right at the shelter. so they can go to the left or the right from there. >> ok, you want to take one big step when you step off. the shelter is straight ahead. >> if i get on the bus and asked a bus driver to please tell me when to get off at seven

straight, the bus driver very often will tell me to just look at the sign, and i will say that i cannot see the sign because and visually impaired. sometimes, the bus driver gets it. some of the time, the bus driver does not get it at all. it is really difficult when you do not see well to understand where things are. it is one of those issues where people do not see it from the outside. so when they see me having problems stepping off of curbs or stairs or running into the side of a building or things like that, it would appear to them as though maybe i had been drinking, but the problem is that there is no contrast between a great building and a sidewalk. >> it is difficult for some drivers i think to understand that i am blind. although i may look like i'm getting along very well, and it

did happen to me on several occasions with drivers, questioning my ability to see. they would say, "well, you really are not that blind." not only is that infuriating, but it is just something that cuts to my core. >> there are times that visually impaired customers get on the bus, and they are moving so well that makes me wonder how blind they are, but that is not for me to decide. i'm just here to take them some point a to point b safely. >> i moved all the way across the country specifically to live in san francisco because i knew they had great public transportation. i had the greatest interactions with muni drivers because i was thrilled to be on a bus and be able to get some more independently. i think the drivers can really feel proud that they are making people's lives possible in a way that it is not possible in other parts even of this country. >> the americans with

disabilities act of 1990 is a wide-ranging federal civil- rights law that prohibits discrimination against persons with disabilities. title two of the ada addresses access to public services, including public transportation for persons with disabilities. tips for respectful communication for people with disabilities brochures are available. call sfmta accessible services at 415-701-4485 for copies. >> this friday, february 15 --