[gavel] >> good afternoon. welcome to the san francisco board of supervisors meeting of tuesday, march the 11th, 2014. madam clerk, could you please call the roll? >> supervisor avalos? avalos present.

supervisor breed? >> here. >> breed present. supervisor campos? campos present. president chiu? chiu present. supervisor cohen? cohen present. supervisor farrell? farrell present. supervisor kim? kim present. supervisor mar? mar present. supervisor tang? tang present. supervisor wiener? wiener not present. supervisor yee? yee not present. mr. president, you have a quorum. >> thank you. colleagues, a couple of quick things before we do the pledge of allegiance. first i want to swish supervisor john avalos a happy 50th birthday. secondly could i have a motion to excuse supervisors wiener and yee? motion by supervisor campos seconded by supervisor farrell. without objection they shall be excused. [gavel] >> with that, ladies and gentlemen, if you could please join us in the pledge of allegiance. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, and to the republic for which it stands; one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

>> colleagues, we have our february 4th, 2014 board meeting minutes. could i have a motion to approve those minutes? motion by supervisor campos, seconded by supervisor breed. without objection, those meeting minutes are approved. [gavel] >> madam clerk, are there any communication? >> there are no communications, mr. president. >> and could you read our 2:00 p.m. special order? >> the 2:00 p.m. special order is the policy discussion between honorable mayor lee and the board of supervisors, this week representing the odd districts, specifically districts 3, 5, 9 and 11. the mayor may address the board initially for up to five minutes. the president will recognize the first supervisor who will have up to five minutes to present their own questions including any follow-up questions. >> thank you. mr. mayor, welcome back to our march question time. i'd like to ask if you have any opening statements. >> thank you, president chiu. i do not and i'd like to thank everybody for, again, being here and let's go on with the questions. >> okay.

with that, i actually have the first question. mr. mayor, to address the affordability crisis, you have rightfully pledged in your state of the city address to facilitate the construction of 30,000 unit of housing by 2020. as you know he, even as we build more housing, we need to do more to prevent the displacement of residents who are currently grappling with being priced out of our city. i believe that our city's housing policy must include a preservation strategy for existing affordable rent control housing in addition to new development, which we all know has been a much more cost-effective way to provide affordable housing and stabilize our neighborhoods. two initiatives that i've worked on to preserve our affordable housing stock are, one, to create a pathway for the tens of thousands of existing inlaw units to become legalized and two, to establish the right for tenants to make an offer to buy their buildings when their properties are up for sale. will you be able to support both initiatives and could you pledge to invest in housing preservation by identifying

funding for in-laws to be rehad and developed to code as well as for fen ants to acquire their buildings and keep them affordable through the small site acquisition fund? >> thank you, president chiu, for that question. and i believe we are in the housing affordability crisis and it has been a crisis decades in the making. and like you, i believe that in order to get ourselves out of the crisis we have to protect, we have to stabilize, and we have to grow our housing stock and provide both homeownership and rental housing opportunities. we cannot choose one over the other and we have to tackle both challenges concurrently. and that's why i'm supporting senator mark leno's bill which will permit san francisco to close the loophole in the ellis act to protect our city's tenants from losing their homes to real estate speculators. my recent executive directive also encourages building and protecting housing by requiring our city's departments to prioritize the construction of new affordable housing while

taking concrete steps to further preserve our existing rental housing stock. the directive incentivizes market rate developers to exceed the city's existing affordable housing requirements by offering a faster review process. this expedited review will move projects through city processes by 3 to 5 months faster from market rate developers that commit to building more than the minimum amount of housing for low and moderate income residents. encouraging more housing production is also why i set out a goal to build or rehabilitate 30,000 home in the next sick years. we must build and stabilize our housing ~. for these reasons, i am willing to support a pathway to legalizing existing in-law units. it's time to take these units out of the shadows and into the light. tenants need to zim propertivs of their homes that will make a real difference in our quality of life. ~

however, such a program should not force the hand of property owners, participation lenders should be voluntary. i commend you, president chiu, for taking this issue on because it's not an easy one. without careful consideration, legislation that tries to do the right thing could dislocate tenants. that's why as long as health and safety codes are ensured, i want in-laws to be preserved as a vital form of our city's affordable housing stock instead of being removed from the market. my recent executive directive ensures that the departments will cooperate in this way. as for establishing a right for tenants to make an offer to buy their buildings when they are up for sale, i've not been provided with legislation review, but i will definitely review that in detail. in concept, the legislation that provides a path forward to stabilizing residents who live in their rental -- who live in their rental housing stock is something that i would be very much interested in considering and i look forward to learning the details of your proposed

legislation. i thank you, president chiu, for your question and for your leadership on this issue. i appreciate the collaborative and inclusive way in which you approach crafting this legislation and these legislative solutions to our city's affordable housing crisis. >> thank you, mr. mayor. let me go to our next question from our district 5 colleague, supervisor breed. >> thank you. thank you for being here today, mr. mayor. >> um-hm. >> san francisco does not have enough ambulances. according to the budget and legislative analyst's recent audit, medic [speaker not understood] call the term used to describe when someone calls for an ambulance and the fire department does not have one available to send, has increased over 500% since 2008. they are happening an average of 8 times each day and i have heard reports of people waiting for at least 15, 25, or even sometimes 30 minutes for an ambulance to transport them to the hospital.

and the fire department is well below the service level it is obligate today provide its exclusive operating area with the state. remaining out of compliance could seriously jeopardize jobs within the fire department and revenue to the fire department, but overall, public safety. the fire department estimates that only 9 polynomial 8 million to provide new ambulances and personnel in order to meet its state regulation. this figure is likely high, as it does not account for the new revenue that increased emergency medical service capacity will generate. i have asked the budget and legislative analyst to assess that figure. nonetheless, whether it's 4 million or million, i think san franciscans deserve a reliable emergency medical system. will you provide sufficient funding in this year's budget to bring the fire department's emergency medical services into compliance with this exclusive operating area with the state? >> supervisor breed, thank you for your question about this

issue which has important implications for san francisco. just last week i met with department of emergency management director ann crone enberg and fire chief john hayes white to discuss this important issue. the chief was the very first person to bring this matter to my attention. i'd like to thank her for her strong advocacy and leadership in moving forward with a balanced solution that will provide critical medical care to patients. to be clear, everyone in san francisco who calls 911 and needs medical attention receives it in 5 minutes or less. this has been a promise not only reflected in our practice, but a promise reflected in what we call paramedics on scene. in less than 5 minutes, supervisor, and i want to be clear with you on that. the issue that the chief and you, supervisor breed, are raising is about which ambulance service transports people to the hospital after

they have been stabilized pursuant to their 911 call. and the necessary investments to maintain our exclusive operating area. as you know, from your time on the fire commission, supervisor, for many years the city has had an exclusive operating area which required the fire department to be the primary provider of emergency medical transport in the city and county of san francisco. in 2008 the state rescinded this agreement due to changes with the private providers who supplement the work of the fire department. through diligent efforts, the exclusive operating -- operation area was reinstated in 2012, and this new agreement required our fire department to respond to a minimum of 80% of the 911 calls. chief hayes white has laid out a strong case for how our city can invest in our emergency medical services to ensure that the fire department complies with the agreement which i am currently reviewing.

however, as the city looks forward -- look towards our 2014-15 city budget, we are all faced with the reality that the city is still operating in a deficit. even as the city's economy has rebounded after the recession, there is still not enough funds to cover all of our expenditures, resulting in a 66.7 million dollar deficit. as we embark together in crafting this year's budget, supervisors, i ask that you all remember that there are hard choices and trade-offs that will be necessary. whether it's investing in housing, in transportation, infrastructure or public safety, i know that san francisco will come together to find the right approach. supervisor, thank you for your question. i look forward to evaluating the chief's recommendations and working with you and the rest of the board to come up with a solution on this very important issue. >> thank you, supervisor breed. our next question will be asked by supervisor john avalos from

district 11. >> thank you, president chiu. am mayor, in your climate strategy, you wrote the need for immediate action has never been more evident and we know that cities are leading the way. however, the urgency of that statement is bee lied by the fact that the letter was dated october 21st, 2013 and the climate action strategy was not released until february 12, 2014. the climate action strategy goes on to state that, "moving to 100% renewable electricity is the single biggest step the city can take to reduce greenhouse gas emissions"ment. and yet there was an attempt to scrub cleanpowersf the city's plan to deliver 1200% renewable energy from the climate action strategy ~. the version of the climate action strategy released on february 12 included a whited out table of projected participation rates in cleanpowersf, but that table

was unceremoniously removed and a new version thats was posted two days later. unless we quickly implement 100% renewable electricity, we will fail to meet our legislative greenhouse gas emission reduction requirements in the next few years. as a birthday present to me, will you work with the department of the environment to reinstate cleanpowersf and the climate action strategy? [speaker not understood] the 87% of the san franciscans who believe global warming is happening, will you commit to launch cleanpowersf this year? thank you. >> supervisor avalos, i cannot grant your wish because cleanpowersf is still not good for san francisco. other than being your birthday, nothing ha changed with respect to the cca program since the board asked me five questions on this topic last september. we should not move forward with the program that contracts with a fossil fuel company in texas forcing san francisco residents to pay more for electricity. it isn't generated here,

doesn't produce direct local jobs, or enough environmental benefits. our san francisco public utilities commission had several concerns as well, and made their own decision, one that i fully support. they are protecting rate payers and focusing on their core mission. while nothing has changed with cca, our puc is facing serious new challenges. as i said in september, our puc's primary charter mandated duties are toe protect the rate payers, ensure clean districtv drinking water for 2.6 million ~ bay area customers, collect and treat waste and stormwater in san francisco, and deliver power for the municipal needs of the city and county of san francisco. and despite the recent rain, california is facing one of the worst droughts in state history, 2013 was one of the driest years on record and governor brown declared a statewide drought in january. snow melt from the sierra nevada is the primary drinking water source for 2.6 million

puc customers and we take this seriously. the power enterprise of our puc also faces critical challenges that must be prioritized and solved. our puc has learned that mountain tunnel, which transports water from o'shaughnessy dam to the mock is power house needs critical repairs costing approximately $6 28 million. and a new regulatory requirement, and increases in distribution and transmission costs could increase an additional $50 million a year. general manager harman kelly has assured me that the puc has explained every possible action to solve these problems and minimize the negative impacts to the city. these issues are and must be our puc's priority. supervisor, i'm glad you mentioned the climate action strategy. i want to congratulate the department of environment and all of our departments for working together to create the climate action strategy. there is a lot of good news to share. thanks to the hard work of our

departments, our residents and our businesses, san francisco greenhouse gas emission are down 14.4% from 190 levels in the year 2010. our power is cleaner, shutting down the power plants in san francisco. and we are a national leader in energy efficiency in the building sector. i think it is wise to continue to focus on energy efficiency. it reduces energy we need to produce in the first place and it creates jobs and makes a lot of financial sense. i am proud to have launched green finance s.f. with supervisor farrell to provide an innovative financial model to help homeowners undertake energy and water efficiency improvements. and my staff and the department of environment are continuing to work on this program to help low-income homeowners create employment training opportunities for our san francisco workers. i know supervisor is going to ask me next about your future

job prospect, supervisor. as a birthday president, supervisor avalos, maybe we can retain you to do energy efficiency. ~ birthday present >> and the final question today will be asked by our supervisor from district 9, david campos. >> thank you very much, mr. president. mr. mayor, thank you very much. as you know, i'm dealing with a very important critical issue. and as you know, supervisor avalos, who birthday is today -- happy birthday, supervisor avalos, in his second term, and very soon he will be an unemployed former supervisor over the age of 50. and let's be honest, with no transferrable skill whatsoever. [laughter] >> since you, mayor lee, have such a great relationship with our city's burgeoning technology sector, could you please help supervisor avalos get a job? [laughter] >> clearly, and i can see my colleagues -- they might be

afraid to admit it, but they know it's true. being a san francisco supervisor doesn't really prepare anyone for the real world, and supervisor avalos's advanced age as you know is an additional handicap in the modern job market. [laughter] >> so, i'm sorry to say that, supervisor avalos. to this day still asks [speaker not understood] to make dittos instead of copy documents. he has no idea what zenga means. he thinks it's what tom ammiano calls a witty insult. and he uses a flip phone, a flip phone, mr. mayor. need i say more? so, please, use your considerable clout to help supervisor avalos get a job lined up for after he he leaves his office so that we can make use of his limited skills ~. but i have to say that we have to recognize his very affable temperament. one idea that someone suggested was that maybe he could be a

greeter at twitter. i don't know if twitter has greeters, but that's an option. [laughter] >> and the last thing that i would say, mr. mayor, is that we, john avalos' friends will make sure he is prepared for his job interview. so, we're beginning today by giving him this manual that he can study. and i know that he will be studious in his efforts. [laughter] (applause) >> well, thank you, supervisor campos. that's quite a question. but i seem to have heard somewhere through the grapevine that you are in fact an attorney, supervisor campos. so, i know -- [laughter] >> i know i cannot get anyone a job, whether promised or implied. [laughter] >> plus, i'd like to use whatever clout you think i have to [speaker not understood] jobs for unemployed residents. so, i think you sell your colleague a bit short. you realize he's gainfully

employed by the good people of san francisco until january 2017, right? i don't think he's looking for his next gig yet. and as i think back on several years, we've been doing this question and answer session, i recall that it was none other than you, the man of the hour, supervisor avalos, who has always said that i'm too boring and not spontaneous enough when i come before the board. so, especially as you turn 50, i wouldn't want to surprise you too much. [laughter] >> but i will say given your age and my age, that perhaps we could work together to reduce the burden for seniors on our muni. that's some project i think we can work together on. but i also want to simply wish you a sincere and most happy birthday. it's a milestone, and wish you and your family the best. and i can't think of any other way to express it than to simply proclaim today to be john avalos day here in san

francisco. (applause) [laughter] >> thank you, mr. mayor. i guess you're not going to get supervisor avalos a job. but thank you very much. and with that, colleagues, why don't we now go to our consent agenda. items 2 through 5. >> items 2 through 5, the consent calendar are considered

routine. if a member objects, an item may be removed and considered separately. >> colleagues, anyone like to sever any of these item? roll call vote. >> on items 2 through 5, supervisor avalos? avalos aye. supervisor breed? breed aye. supervisor campos? campos aye. supervisor chiu? chiu aye. supervisor cohen? cohen aye. supervisor farrell? farrell aye. supervisor kim? kim aye. supervisor mar? mar aye. supervisor tang? tang aye. there are nine ayes. >> those ordinance s are finally passed. [gavel] >> it is 2:30. supervisor avalos, are your commenders here? >> yes. >> go to our special commendations, like to acknowledge you. >> thank you. thank you, president chiu. i have two commendations today for very significant people in

district 11. the first is for [speaker not understood] who ran joe's cable car restaurant on mission street close to silver. if you want to come up to the podium up here. it's a great honor to give this commendation to joe's cable car and joe. joe's cable car has been in its existence since 1965, and i'll read here the experience you had with joe's cable car restaurant. in 1965 joe started out with 160 foot building constructed to look like a san francisco cable car. it operated as a drive-in diner with walk-up service. i'm kind of thinking of like -- not happy days, but american graffiti. since then they added on a rain

shelter, extended the seating areas and in 1983 joe's went all out adding 1,000 square feet. now joe can join customers for his daily fresh burger in comfortable seating in a booth. the restaurant grew one step at a time. table service was provided in 1998 so customers no longer had to stand in line from the counter. satisfied regular customers have spread the word and proudly invite guests from as far away as the far east. some of the original customers -- i'm not sure where the far east is that. is that the east coast or is that the far east of the world? because i'm not clear about that. i think it's maybe asia is what we're talking about. some of the original customers come back with their children and grandchildren to reminisce about those good old days. in fact, the excelsior district there are a lot of people who like to reminisce about the good old days and joe's cable car is a big part of that. since 1965, the loyal customers

and food critics [speaker not understood] joe's cable car as the best burger in town and i've had joe's cable car burgerseses and they are the best burgerses in town. >> thank you. >> regular customers say they can't enjoy a burger anywhere else. joe's cable car is a landmark in the excelsior and in san francisco, and they cater to food consewers who appreciate the time and effort that goes into serving the ultimate burger and that is why joe's is fresh chuck daily usda choice beef only. we are sorry to see him go. his last day of operation will be sunday, march 16th. that's coming very, very quickly, and many, many people will be very sorry to see you close your doors. it's a neighborhood institution that people have longed to eat at and there will be a missing piece in our neighborhood. so, want to thank you for your

great service, your dedication to a great burger and to serving people in san francisco and especially the excelsior district. i will be coming with my family to eat at joe's cable car. >> thank you so much, and happy birthday. [laughter] >> thank you. >> thank you for everybody. we thank the people of san francisco that supported us to stay in business that long. i'm going to miss everybody, too. thank you. (applause)

>> so, my next commendation is for a gluev of volunteers who have done some really great work. ~ group revitalizing programming at mclaren park, in particular at the jerry garcia amphitheater. we'd like to call up linda light houser. linda, you're bringing up -- >> [inaudible]. >> okay. >> volunteers in this great effort and wanted [inaudible]. a real group effort. >> okay. so, colleague, in the last fiscal year, supervisors campos and cohen and myself, we worked

to make sure we had some funding to see some new programming, of entertainment series at jerry garcia amphitheater in mclaren park. it's been woefully under used. one thing we've seen in the park, there have been many, many dedicated volunteers that have carried on the tradition of franklin man sin i who we did an in memoriam for last week. really worked to revitalize not just the jerry garcia, but the park itself ~. and we have many, many more people who are coming to use the park. and there have been in the past a lot of things said about the park that haven't been true, have been exaggerations and now though are said less and less and people say more and more how fabulous mclaren park is. finally, saturday in the park was put on, the series was put on for i believe it was $15,000, but really the work that was done behind it was thousands and thousands of

volunteer hours. no one got paid for doing it. what we put in the budget, we made sure the concert series could go on, paying for performance and equipment and all that. but most of all, we have volunteers working dedicated days, saturdays and even before that throughout the year to make it happen. the event featured some really great acts. i was able to go to a couple of the events. i couldn't believe what i was hearing in terms of world class performers playing the blues in jerry garcia amphitheater. we've had cultural events that served our ethnic communities in san francisco, young people as well. i know this year will be our second year that we'll be doing it. it's going to be a great [speaker not understood] to see move forward. i just want to say thank you for your dedication, your work, your involvement in the park is beyond this concert series, in so many other ways you are stewards of our trees, open space, play grounds. that's something that is really tremendous for the future of

the park. and your dedication also guarantees [speaker not understood]. $10 million is coming to work in the park ha been part of really how -- part of revitalizing the community, advocacy around the park. so, the first day, i believe, there is a special saturday in the park children's concert on may 31st with a special remembrance of frank owe mancini who was instrumental in getting so many people involved in mclaren park. so, that will be -- is that the first? the first day. so, we're going to have a first day back we're honoring frank owe mancini and his legacy that includes your work. just want to say thank you for your volunteerism and for revitalizing the park and welcome. >> thank you, supervisor. (applause)