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tv   [untitled]    March 13, 2013 4:00am-4:30am PDT

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over 40 years ago, was welcomed with open arms from native san franciscans. it is an honor to be considered for the port commission. [speaker not understood] i have a pair of glasses. having a problem finding them here. got them. by the way, i had to borrow these. i forgot mine. it is an honor to be considered for the port commission that manages miles of bayshore stretching from high street over to the indian basin into south with more than 600 acres under its jurisdiction. having been to korea in real estate both as a broker and developer, working on projects as large as the alaska pipeline to as small as victorian restorations, i'm very excited to be considered for the port commission. there are many aspects of the port commission's business that
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interest me, but in particular interest is a development lot 337 beside pier 48 with the eight acre of open space, parks, and infrastructure. i think we can all a greetgrape that this city can do a much better job utilizing the port department. the port has serious unfunded capital needs that must be addressed for the continued safe enjoyment of the waterfront. it is great to see this project privately funded by a developer. i know personally what it is like to invest a lot of money and wait 7 to 10 years and hope that my investment does not get wiped out by a recession. this project will result in increased land value and port revenue.
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a nice new neighborhood will be created and add to the urban fabric of the city. planning principles should address the project's needs and be consistent with city plans and policies and include smart and sustainable transportation. jobs, jobs, jobs. approximately 1,000 jobs during construction, hopefully for san francisco workers and suppliers big and small. when the project is finished, it is estimated we will have 11,000 permanent jobs with all the benefits that will bring to the general fund. the developers engaged in ongoing outreach to organize labor and community advocates. i would like to see more water transportation between piers up
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and down the bay front. not only will this generate more revenue potential for the department, but more importantly it will make the waterfront, with its beauty and amenities, more accessible to citizens of san francisco and the bay area. i am also very interested in pier 70 master plan or its 67 acre. i am aware september 2008 san francisco voters approved proposition d to preserve and revitalize pier 70. i'm in agreement with the port's vision for pier 70. that creates a vibrant and historic district, a district that reestablishes the historic activity level, activates new waterfront open spaces, creates
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a center for innovative industry and integrates ongoing ship repair operations. pier 70 is the oldest working civilian shipyard in the country and it is a place with incredible old historic buildings that can and should be restored to their former elegance. the curious various use of space ranges from artists to scrap metal collection represents just the beginning of the leasing opportunities for those historic structures. those structures and the companies that will one day locate themselves in these buildings should benefit from the preservation of this space in a way that respects the integrity of our port past, and i have experience with
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restoring commercial and residential buildings and working with relevant agencies. i look forward to the implementation of this plan, adapt buildings for new uses, replace unsuitable infrastructure including roadways, address environmental conditions, putting in new parks and open space amenities, improve the ongoing ship repair operations, reconstruct and repair piers and wharfs and shoreline areas. improve transit and parking. in summary, i was nominated for this position because i share the view of so many other people in this room and the mayor. jobs, jobs, jobs, revenue for the department, continue to promote the waterfront. we all want to make the
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waterfront more accessible and attractive and a destination for all the people of san francisco and the bay area and beyond. it is the city's crown jewel. more over, as your supervisor, i will [speaker not understood], i will do this with an ear towards the black community and sensitivity of the impact it has on transportation, business, et cetera. with my background as a broker, i can help the commission understand leasing and real estate matters, a skill not present in the current commission. in conclusion, i want to let you know it would be an honor to take on the port's public trust responsibilities including port properties for expansion of maritime operations, recreation, and open space along the bay,
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identifying sites for compatible new commercial development, and do all i can to ensure our port's property is being maximized in ways that benefits the department, the community, and all citizens of san francisco. thank you, supervisors. i'm happy to answer any questions you may have at this time. >> supervisor cohen? >> thank you. mr. murphy, hi, how are you? hi. >> good, i realize you may be a little nervous, but put down that paper and just talk to us. [laughter] okay. >> because i know your personality, far more personality than what you just read in that statement. thank you, supervisor. [laughter] >> you're welcome. now, you don't shrink when it come to controversy. and i want to say thank you for making the rules committee interesting today. i want to give you an
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opportunity just in very simple statement to tell me why you are seeking this appointment. no notes, just from the heart. well, i spent six years on the building inspection commission a commissioner, two years as president. and i felt my six years with dbi, we achieved quite a bit. we got a new online tracking service going. we implemented a one-stop fifth floor which we never had up to that point. the caps program, we brought it to where it is today. that was also my six years as commissioner. why do i want to do this? why do i want to come up here and put myself through all of this in front of you great
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elect officials? >> and san francisco. yeah. i've always wanted -- san francisco has been very good to me. i've been very successful in san francisco. i think today we simply call it entrepreneurs -- that's the way it was for me when i first came here. entrepreneur in those days, you got up in the morning, you went to work. you got up the next day a little earlier, you went to work. i feel i can and want to give back to the city. i've always wanted to give back, and i think i can help. >> okay, thank you. >> supervisor breed. >> thank you. mr. murphy, could you tell me, you do a lot of business in san francisco and now potentially as a port commissioner. do you perceive any conflicts of interest during the time that you're serving on this
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commission? no, i don't. as a matter of fact, i'm going into retirement shortly. [laughter] >> thank you. and also, of course, as you know, we have been contacted by many people who have opposed your appointment to this particular commission, and specifically for a more recent incident you provided a detailed explanation, which i think is appropriate. it makes sense, especially because you have been involved with the city, with the department of building inspection, and i do really appreciate you taking responsibility for this. and as a man i guess who is on top, you have a lot of people working under you who are responsible for the day in and day out activities of your company. and could you just give us a
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brief, just kind of overview of, you know, how you think situations like this, should they impact our decision as folks here making a decision to allow you to serve on a port commission? clearly you want to serve. clearly you want to invest your time in this, and clearly you have been a successful businessman here inself. but, you know, san francisco politics clearly is a contact sport and it's just something that you would have to go through as someone who is looking to serve on this body. so, could you give us a brief perspective of your thoughts about this situation? yes, i will, supervisor. the article in the newspaper you're probably referring to has caused me and my family quite a bit of embarrassment.
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the particular article -- i'll give you just a short version of what happened in my own words here. the site permit for that project was picked up in 2012. the excavation and shoring permits were picked up in 2012. in the early part of december my project manager picked up what he thought was all the necessary permits. and shortly after that, he had a family emergency in ireland, and he left for ireland and the ball got dropped. i became aware of the issue december 31st, 2012, while i was out of town with my family for the new year's holiday. on january 3rd, 2013, i paid all pending fees and picked up the addendum for the foundation and structural. it is important to note that the online tracking permit
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system shows that my application for this building was originally submitted june 20, 2007. the site permit was approved and issued march 2012, five years after the initial application. clearly, my projects have been winding the way through the permitting process without any indication of special treatment. all addendums were filed on a customary timeline and absolutely no addendum was filed after the commencement of construction. in addition to the letter of explanation, which i gave to all of the supervisors, i hired a third-party engineer to write a report on how this happened and what procedures were followed. this is now available under the
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sunshine ordinance. dbi accepted it and the project is now back on track. as a past president of the building inspection commission, i understand that i should be held to a higher standard. i have from the very beginning on hearing about this taken full responsibility. the buck stops with me, and that's the report that was done by a third-party. >> thank you. i also noticed from your form 700 that you have in excess over or what looks like companies in excess of over a million dollars in each instance. what are the approximate amount that we're talking about from this mistake in terms of dollars? what would you say it would have cost you had this mistake not been made? if it hadn't been made --
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the mistake cost me $40,000. >> and in a bigger scheme of things, i mean it's kind of the price of doing business in san francisco. well, this should not have happened. it's never happened before. but the ball got dropped and here i am paying the consequences. >> okay. well, i just wanted to just make a couple of other comments about mr. murphy, who i know, who i have a tremendous amount of respect for. and i think that he brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the city through the work that he's done, of course, privately, but also i appreciate the work that you've been involved in that you don't necessarily talk about in the community and working with people. and i think that we all make mistakes. i mean, i've made them as an executive director. at the arts center.
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my staff made them and i still had to take responsibility and things like this happen. and i just think, in my opinion, that it was really blown out of proportion and it should not cause us to put a hold or not support you as a candidate for the port commission. i appreciate your proactiveness in dealing with this situation. and, you know, i know we're going to hear from the public and i'm looking forward to public comment. but i would have said you had me at hello until you gave me this binder that, if i carry it out of hear, will break my back. but i do appreciate your due diligence and -- we will rehe cycle it for you. [laughter] >> and i do appreciate your due diligence and really being proactive about providing us with information, the feedback that i've gotten from people who know you who have worked with you over the years have
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been tremendous. and, so, i really appreciate you just putting yourself on the line and taking this time with us to talk about the situation. so, thank you. thank you very much, supervisor. >> so, i connect with some of the statements supervisor breed just made. i just needed a couple more clarification questions here. in regards to the permit that were not correctly submitted to dbi, you mentioned it was about 40 something thousand? that didn't have anything to do with the permit. that 40,000 i talked about is what it cost me to do this report after the fact. >> got it, got it. so, what was the amount, the value of the permits that you eventually had to do -- take out to -- permit cost for that project was probably $300,000. >> at this point, what's the current status of the notice of violation?
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more than half of it had been paid at that point. >> at this point, today. oh, it's all been paid. >> so, it's been abated? absolutely. >> thank you very much. sure. thank you, supervisor. >> at this point are there any public comments? you have two minutes. everybody line up on this side. you can go ahead. supervisors, thank you very much. my name is tom shad. appreciate the time to speak to you on behalf of a good friend, good san franciscan, and quite frankly an american success story, mel murphy. ~ it's been my privilege to know
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mel murphy for over 10 years in san francisco. ~ shea i want to tell you something you may not know given the information you've received about him. he comes from a very small county in ireland, west mead. it's now one of the famous counties as you know county cork and others are more famous for san franciscans. but nonetheless, this is where his foundation of who he is, i believe, was formed. he was raised on a farm, cows, chickens, goats, working with his hands every single day. like many people, my family, he immigrated to the great country in america and found himself in a greater city in san francisco and worked his way from very humble beginnings to a very, very successful current situation. he didn't do it just through hard work. he did it because he used a lot
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of vision and a lot of what he learned, i believe, back on that farm. if you put in a long day of hard work, that is considered to be a good day. and that's what i've known about mel since i met him. he is not a person that cuts corners. he is a person that follows through. he is a man of the community and i believe as a port commissioner he will understand a very complex multi-jurisdictional issues that are related to the port commission and need to be adjudicated in order for us to move forward and develop the port as we see fit. thank you very much for your time. ♪ with irish eyes [speaker not understood] i know that it's going to be mel murphy that you're gonna
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meet green eyed city, ocean city sailing slowly toward the sun green eyed city, ocean city sailing slowly toward the irish sun it's gonna be mel that you need and i know that you need it like a dream green eyed city, ocean port city green sleeves i know the commission needs mel, it's gonna be so swell green sleeves that bring the irish to the port commission will be great (applause)
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good afternoon. my name is alex rodriguez. i'm here to [speaker not understood] for mr. mel murphy. i met him 20 some years ago when i was a driver and he mentored me to do a lot of things. and he's a gentleman, lot of integrity, and i respect him very much. thank you. good afternoon, supervisors. my name is [speaker not understood] lead better. i'm an attorney in san francisco and i have the privilege and the honor to speak on behalf of mr. murphy. i've been working with him, i've known him for probably close to 20 years, between 15 and 20 years. we were neighbors. i know his family, mely and his daughter. i am lucky enough now to work directly with him in an
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organization that he is head of. and he is a man who is a straight shooter, has amazing integrity, does take responsibility fully. but what is so wonderful about mel is how he brings people together from all walks of life, from different aspects of life. and we're all able to know each other and work together. and i can take into consideration the sophistication of our world now and what the port will mean to this city, what he is bringing to this office is going to be an amazing gift. and i highly, strongly, and unequivocally support him. thank you for your time. >> thank you. hi, supervisors. deborah neiman, noe valley, cbd. i've known mel for about 20 years and i think he's quite a character. he has a very rich personality, and he's been a great contributor in terms of the public private partnerships that we have in noe, especially
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when he lived there. i think anybody who is a commissioner and is willing to give up their time is pretty special and i think mel would add a lot to the port commission. so, i'm here to support him. thank you. >> thank you. mr. chairman and supervisors, my name is bob melke. i worked with the city for 32 years, now retired. one thing is that mr. murphy was on, i worked with the building inspection department when mr. murphy was commissioner and he was always accessible to staff at that department, and that's just one aspect of his personality, which he was very helpful to the staff and would listen to them and work with them. also his accomplishments in the building inspection commission are pretty, pretty terrific. the one stop permit and the soft stair legislation that he shepherded through the building
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inspection commission all helped and i think were the number of projects that are coming before the port in the coming years i think he'll be a tremendous asset. he's both practical and understands these things. i would think he would be a significant asset for the port commission. thank you so much for hearing me. >> thank you. [speaker not understood]. hello, [speaker not understood]. i've known mel for a number of years and particularly when he was on the building inspection commission. and i find mel as someone who listens, who is reasonable, who is fair and believes in teamwork. that is important for any commissioner. you have to be able to work [speaker not understood]. coming from [speaker not understood] in building is a -- it's going to be a real tragedy for the port commission. there is so much development going on, he'd be a really good person to have there to watch
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what's going on and as far as where the buck stops. so, i support him sincerely and i hope that you will move his appointment on. thank you. good afternoon, supervisors breed, yee and cohen. my name is todd david and i am the co-founder of san francisco parent political action committee. and as an organization, we think it is so important to make sure that parents and families are represented on commissions in san francisco. and, so, it's great that mel has chosen to raise his family in san francisco and, you know, we need to keep families in the city. on a personal note, i think you know mel's history speaks for itself. i mean, he has been incredibly generous with his time, resources and expertise to this city. and i cannot think of a better person and skill set that is needed at the port commission than needed at the port
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commission. mel's skill set is desperately needed there and i think it will be a tremendous asset to the port commission. so, if you guys will support him on the way to the board of supervisors. thank you. good afternoon, supervisors. my name is douglas yip and i've lived in san francisco 61 year. i would like to thank supervisors breed and yee for the aggressive questioning in regards to mr. murphy's business activities. i think it is an obligation of a committee like this to aggressively look at the activities without taking one side or the other. so, just by the fact that you brought it up and examined it, i think that's something that most committees here at city hall do not do diligently. secondly, i would like to offer a suggestion since he mentioned
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about his past activities and certain government positions. so, i was wondering whether this committee might think this is the proper venue to inquire about the current status of the female head of building inspection. the last i heard it was in soderth of a -- sort of limbo land. also i'd like to get mr. murphy's opinions to the past port controversies regarding one of the port's leaders. ~ if i remember his name correctly, it was doug chan. thank you. good afternoon, i'm simon [speaker not understood], an architect in san francisco. i practiced in the city about 15 years. i just want to point out many people have tried to improve the [speaker not understood] of dbi. i think mel has done the best job. no one had ever [speaker not understood] what mel did.
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and i think that it's sad to say the water fund is very under utilized nowadays. it's all parking lot. i believe mel would be a good addition to the port to have him improve the waterfront. thank you. ~ to help improve the waterfront. thank you. ~ good afternoon, commissioners. my name is john mcardle and i moved to san francisco in 1969. much like mr. murphy, i was not an immigrant to this company -- this country, my parents were. and when i moved here in '69 i went to work for a privately held company from which i am now retired. along the way, i invested in property in san francisco and became a housing provider. as a matter of fact, one of the buildings i made an investment overlooks that graffiti [speaker not understood] theater that was talked about earlier. but along the way, i met a