not understood]. my name is sophie edelhart [speaker not understood]. and director ramos for seconding it. i really hope you all consider expansion of this program that will help over 3,000 18 year olds, including me in nine months. and as always, thank you for allowing me to be part of this conversation. >> thank you. next speaker, please. >> is theresa naranjo here? no? barry toronto followed by eric rue, then rosie [speaker not understood] and alejandra [speaker not understood]. if anyone has not turned in speaker cards, please do so now. >> hello, mr. nolan. [speaker not understood]. i thought we were going to have general public comment as well. i want to talk about the budget. you know, the taxi industry contributes a lot of money to this budget.

and i'm a little concerned that we're not getting our money's worth at all. i'm concerned that we are not being told what hadth investigators are doing. you know, of course they have done a wonderful job, but we're not getting reports about what we're getting for our money. what are they doing? i don't see them out there. i had asked it be important in order to improve the taxi service at the ballpark that they have the investigators out there to make it easy for us to get in and get out. they made a decision it was a waste of time not to have taxi investigators over on 2nd street and over on the ballpark to prevent the pill ferning and stealing and illegal activities going on thereby the tmcs and by illegal limousines and [speaker not understood] taxis. they made a decision, it's a waste of your time. no, if you have a presence there ticket these people, double parking, illegal parking, solicitation, then we can get more taxis down there.

otherwise you're not getting more taxis down there and i promise. i do want to close relating to the budget. i understand people want to have the meters on sunday and i think there is a compromise. there are certain very, very busy commercial areas of the city their meters, but there are parts of the city where the office buildings are closed. : the stores in that area, the store are closed because people don't work on sundays. to me it's important to have directive enforcement in those commercial districts, maybe union square, maybe certain parts of the mission. maybe marina, cal hollow. those areas where people can come from all parts of the bay area to shop and to enjoy the food. thank you very much. >> thank you. next speaker. >> eric wu. rosie [speaker not understood].

alejandra [speaker not understood]. jimmy dean. [speaker not understood]. >> good afternoon. good afternoon, my name is eric wu, a pointed by the board of supervisors david chiu. thank you for this opportunity for me to speak today as our economy is rebounding and our population is a bounding, we need to think about our future. ~ tonight you can choose a future already costs will not be a barrier for united technologies to go to school, to be educated, to commute to volunteer programs and give back to the community, to city hall, youth commission meeting that starts at 5:00 p.m. and ends at 8:00, you can choose a future where poor seniors and those who are disabled will be encouraged to get out and ride muni at zero cost. i think it's fair to say none of us here want seniors to use their social security checks to pay for transportation. you can choose a future where we have a transit first culture

where people think about walking or getting on a bus or riding their bikes before driving their cars. tonight at this moment in this meeting you are making a decision that won't just be about the budget for this coming fiscal year. you are deciding on the moral imperative on how people of our city will commute for decades to come. institutionalizing zero cost transit for youth should not be a political argument because the reality of our times should compel us to do all we can to help our youth get affordable successful transportation. so, let's establish zero cost muni for youth in the mta budget for our youth. >> next speaker, please. >> rosie [speaker not understood]. [speaker not understood]. violet dean. [speaker not understood]. >> good afternoon. good afternoon. i'm [speaker not understood] vazquez, i'm 17 and i attend balboa high school as a junior.

i'm here to represent empower and eight other organizations. i'm also here as a voice of high school students who can't be here today. i'm also here to tell you our story and demands. [speaker not understood]. and the last testimony i made it very clear that i was still in high school when i have 18. i though i will have responsibilities to participate in jury duty, i will still be in high school. that includes sat scores, testing, applying for colleges [speaker not understood] graduate. on top of that i am low-income and a minority. i know i don't have to share my struggles, but i will if i have to. i am one ought of thousands of youth and supporters who participate indoor knocking, getting arrested by police and campaigning. not only because we need extracurricular activity, but

because we care and we no that -- what the difference is between justice and equality. we want to stress less, we want to get to school on time. we want to be success. . years after sweat, blood and tears, you're still not sure you're going to include this program for 18 year olds. [speaker not understood] including our demand for 18 year olds as well. we will live in one of the richest cities in the world and the [speaker not understood] this city supplies for this to become permanent forever and a day. you invest in [speaker not understood] for youth, my [speaker not understood] on top of that you get the credit for it and the hard work. i'm upset and angry because i am. i want to know that my city cares for me. and i want to know that i'll be okay. i want to know one day i'll be a proud mayor of the city. please don't add onto my stress.

don't tell us and tell us our city hates us. you have an obligation to make history. >> next speaker. >> rosie [speaker not understood]. [speaker not understood]. jimmy dean. next person standing at the podium. good afternoon, my name is rosie, i'm a sophomore in high school, [speaker not understood] at balboa high school. so, i'm here to support free muni for youth and also to get 18 year olds in this program and to make this program a pilot. sorry. permanent. so, we come here all the time year after year regularly, all these people are packed into this room fighting for what we want and for what we need. so, what i don't understand is how you say you care and you support us, but [speaker not understood]. not just what we need but for

the seniors and people with disabilities and 18 year olds who are still in high school. like violet said, i also will be 18 in my senior year and just because i'm 18 doesn't mean i'm able to supply for myself financially with home and all that stuff. so, i don't get how i can pay $365 days a year just to get free muni or just to get muni. and also i would like to thank you for whoax who support, but also i would like to say this needs to happen. >> thank you. next speaker. (applause) >> good afternoon. hi, my name is alejandra ruiz. i'm a sophomore at balboa. each time we come here, we not only pack this room, but three overflow room. if this campaign was not important, there would be no one standing here behind us. there would be no one in those

overflow rooms. but as you can see it is important. it is important to people, to families, to youth. to seniors with disabilities. every time we come here we bring more and more people because we need more and more people to make you understand this is something valuable. we keep coming here saying the exact same thing over and over because we needed to see this is important. i will also be an 18 year old senior when i'm in high school. i don't have time to get a job and supply for myself. my family doesn't make that much money where i can afford to pay $4 each day. and sometimes i have to go multiple places where i have to pay $6 or $8 no matter how long i'm out. each student in high school has stress applying to colleges which costs money in itself, worrying about financial aid, worrying about sat scores, tests grade to get into any colleges.

and this, the muni funds are adding onto that stress. i mean, we are the future. if the less stress we have the better off we'll be. the better future we'll have. so, if you really do care about all of us, the fact that we may be sitting in your chairs one day and you want us to [speaker not understood]. it makes us happier and wants us to do more. (applause) >> thank you very much. good afternoon. hi, my name is jimmy dolan and i'm here to -- >> [speaker not understood]. [laughter] my name is jimmy dolan and i'm here to represent sfp balboa and [speaker not understood]. family in san francisco are single parents and they work very hard to support their families. my family consists of my mom, my sister and i.

my mom is out for more than 12 hours a day for most of the week. when i'm 18 i'm going to take $2 away from her each day while commuting to schools and programs. [speaker not understood] is not to be a burden to her and i believe for a lot of people here. before free muni was in effect, i would go home around 6:00 p.m. in october and november. i always have [speaker not understood] on me, but what if i didn't have it done? i might not be here speaking. [speaker not understood]. this school year there is no going around free muni for youth. i didn't have to worry about all expenses, all i needed was a card in my hand. thank you. >> any other speakers?

>> anybody else in this group who wishes to address the board? >> thank you very much for coming this afternoon, then. >> michael rhodes. danielle win ford. juna bay. >> good afternoon. hi. my name is danielle win ford and i am a families and youth transition coordinator for san francisco unified. we also call it fit, it's another acronym. this program, skew me, was put in place to support all of the homeless students and students that are living in transitional living situations in san francisco or in san francisco unified. currently we have about 2,500 identified students. many of them are already signed up in the free muni for youth program. fortunately and unfortunately. fortunately i am able to provide clipper cards for the 18 year old and 19-year-old

students at $26 a clipper card every month to get them to and from school. i probably spend between 13,000 a month. [speaker not understood]. i spend about $10 or $13 a month. some kid don't even qualify for my program so they are either not attending which you guys know that schools, they receive their money according to attendance. so, they're not showing up because they can't get to school. that money that we have available through mc kinney [speaker not understood] fund and title 1 reserve funds are limited and we could use them for other services such a tutoring, back pack supplies, uniforms for uniform schools, but we are spending a large

portion on the adult fast passes every month to high school students. you also know foster youth services; they also face the same issue because we do provide transportation. so, any support would help. >> next speaker, please. >> is michael rhodes here? followed by is gina bays here? no? larry edmond, is he here? yes. >> good afternoon, [speaker not understood]. >> [speaker not understood]. the last people who turned in a speaker card. metering on sundays has had tremendous benefits including for drivers. mta's own study has made it metering has made it easy to find a spot. less frustration, less circling, less traffic, that means people are able to find access, -- access businesses as

well as places of worship. people who get tickets found that spot in the first place because meters were on. it's important to think about meterings are in access to services. let's not give up that process. also' make sure we make it easier to park at the meter as soon as possible. no one likes paying tickets and we should [speaker not understood] as much as possible. citation revenue to paying at the meter. in facts, we know that's possible because credit card meters with longer time limits were installed in 2011. [speaker not understood] went up a third, and revenue went up to balance it out. overall that is a much better experience for people parking. you hear about paying for parking or any other day, it is more than the $2. later this year or next year the city is going to replace the reminder of its older meters with better models that expect credit card.

we can also expect citations to go down a bit and that to be made up by revenue at the meter. so, i would suggest that we focus on increasing ease of paying the parking. perhaps consider eliminating sunday meters only at places where there is truly occupancy that justified but in general continue the successful policy. thank you. >> thank you, sir. next speaker. >> larry edmonds. cynthia cruz. tony lee. ace on the case. >> good afternoon, [speaker not understood]. hello, my name is larry edmonds and i'm here to advocate with senior sda senior disability action network, [speaker not understood] child america community, [speaker not understood] spare the faith community, chp community housing partnership, tndc tenderloin neighborhood development corporation, and the tlgbt, transgender lgbt community and asa, america's

safe [speaker not understood] ada. i want you to see this article right here. i live in san francisco. we live in s-r-os and so many of our seniors who do not get to get out of those buildings do not have bus passes. for me, i get to go to karaoke at [speaker not understood]. i've been going there since 11-06-12 to today. it gives me a chance to get out. one day i took my neighbor, carol. we went on christmas day to ride the bus on treasure island. we had such a great night and she's 72 years old. but every senior and disability person does not have money to get a bus pass. a mayor or board of supervisors, they should give everyone two of the bus fares. i thought they was crazy, but now i know ticket people jump on the buses.

it's amazing people get arrested because they ride the bus. this affects elders, [speaker not understood]. you can get this in the city central paper and it just tells you some of the pains that elderly and disabled people are facing in san francisco. oh, my taken down and sro [speaker not understood]. they don't like people on low-income. we know we're in the housing crunch and we all need to become habitat for humanity. this is affecting us all. please do the right thing. thank you. >> thank you. >> cynthia cruz. tony lee. ace on the case. this is the last person who has turned in a speaker card. >> good afternoon, ms. cruz. good afternoon. cynthia cruz here for the league of [speaker not understood] voters here to talk about the sunday parking meters give away. this is a $9 million give away that no one is asking for

except mayor ed lee. meanwhile,00 of low-income, seniors and people with disabilities have been going to the mta meetings bugging for free muni. they're being told they have to wait until november and wait until the vehicle license fee passes or more charity from companies seeking good pr in exchange forgive aways. this sucks. we see the faith community, but we hope they would have [speaker not understood]. the mta was established by amendment of the city charter that the people of san francisco voted on. the mta's purpose is to manage the streets not to do the mayor's bidding. it seems like the mayor's imperative is to give away the town to the highest bidder. if the mayor has i his way, the next time we are packed in muni with all the other riders and recorded announcement says, please pay your fair share, remember, anyone who can afford to own a car in san francisco is getting a free ride thanks

to us. [speaker not understood]. transit riders should not be forced to pay higher fares and [speaker not understood] so motorists can get free parking. [speaker not understood]. san francisco is transit first. stop talking about it and do something. >> next speaker, please. >> tony lee. ace on the case. he's the last person who turned in a speaker card. >> good afternoon, mr. lee. my name is tony. my family and i were never really reliant on muni. so, when i would go to school, i would go to school. if my family had somewhere to go like family bonding, my dad would just drive us. this all changed when it was my software in high school. my dad had gotten a stroke.

by the time my family found out, it was already too late. his whole, his whole right side of his body was paralyzed, making him disabled. he is currently at a nursing home recovering, but he could only recover so much and his right side still remains paralyzed. so, with my mom being the only source of income as of now, she earns a little over minimum wage. so, it's really hard to pay for her bus pass, my bus pass and my dad's bus pass. plus other expenses that my family may need. i really do hope that you pass free muni for seniors and people with disabilities so people who are in a similar situation as me can have one less payment to worry about. thank you. >> thank you, sir. next speaker, please. >> last speaker, ace on the case.

>> good afternoon. good evening, commissioners. i have to [speaker not understood] meet with the reveldt agency. i am a senior. i'm 60 -- i'm the new 40. i have to say i think that the seniors should ride. also i'm here to comment on these gentlemen, ladies that, you know, approach these people on the bus. i think it is a -- i think it's a waste of money and it's almost like a gestopo when they get on the bus. i got a few tickets myself. certainly one time i got on and went to the back. but i'm a senior. pay your fair share. ladies and gentlemen, i've been working hard in the city as a community activist and i feel like my share is old. when people get on the bus, they might pay their $2 and don't need a transfer. if you have relevant information, they still pull you off like you're in some

kind of communist country. stand over here. it's very intimidating. i just happened down the hall. i think it's really unfair to the people who ride the buses, but this system is one of the best system in the country. i know that. i think the seniors should have a free ride. the policy you have now, maybe the workers that drive the buses, you couldn't afford it, back in the day, you suesed to have ticket takers at the bus. what do you have these people coming checking you out? if you have a ticket or a transfer, like i said before, pay $2 and don't need no transfer. consider those situations and

let the seniors drive free. thank you. >> is that the end of the speaker cards, ms. boomer? >> yes, mr. chairman. >> that ends the public comment period. we'll take a 10-minute recess. we'll be right back. thank you. >> board is back in session. >> first i want to thank everybody who is here, everybody who was here. we received hundreds and hundreds of e-mails and calls and letters, great outreach for this task force. it's been an extensive outreach and a lot of input. it is been very valuable input to the board. i appreciate that. i also want to say thank you to the mta staff. it's no easy thing to put together a budget like this. you did a great job putting it all together for us and good easily readable language. i appreciate that. and also i want to say that the budget that we have reflects the values that founded our strategic plan.

this make is very important, helps us to see where we're going and how we're getting there. i was struck by the fact we are dealing with this afternoon, since this is a genuine two-year budget operating capital, we're talking $3 billion. huge amount of money. and the history has come down to a final handful of issues that are million of dollars but nowhere near that kind of amount. they're all very important to us. and there's a lot of talk about the election this fall, the factor. it is a factor, but so are labor unions, labor contracts, the overall state of the economy. i can tell you i was just in washington, d.c. a couple weeks ago and it is absolutely gridlock in congress. the basic funding structure for transportation in this country could come to a halt as early as september this year. there is just not a whole lot of movement on this and it is extremely important to us. these are real factors. i wouldn't put this whole thing on the election by any means, but the other fax orx are real as well. this board needs to take that

into account. so, i'd like it propose -- the first thing i would propose is the amendment that i suggested earlier of postponing that, those increases for a year. and secondly, i think we should try to establish priorities among the competing interests for the new programs that we have here this afternoon. and there are essentially [speaker not understood] free muni for seniors, persons with disability, to age 18. to my mind those are the highest priority. my personal highest priority is to see that happen. and i think the next one would be service increases. that's across the board to benefit everybody. but to my mind, the needs of the low-income persons with disabilities and seniors comes first in this case. there are two other proposals in there, the fleet cleaning additions which is great and needed, but i think that could be low priority. and also the recommendation on

eliminating surcharges on payments [speaker not understood]. that to my mind is the least important of these to deal with. and, so, i'm asking for staff -- i'm suggesting we ask the staff, none of us has any authority outside the board as a whole -- establish free muni for youth as a permanent program and redefine youth to include 18 year olds effective january. we have a motion on that one coming up here shortly. but to do that, how we can do it, to make the people in the pilot it ha been successful. [speaker not understood] we ought to be proud of it for sure. in addition i'd like to ask that we extend the premium to students, christin a director reiskin is going to talk about that as soon as possible. and then i would ask that we foresee, coming in may with an equity analysis of the entire system. is that correct, director reiskin? >> that's correct. >> we're on the right track.

we're really trying to help the people who need it most. as i said, muni is for everybody, but especially for people who need it most. increase in paratransit cost. and i see that this impossibility department of aging services could make that up to the nonprofits. so, that would be helpful as well. so, as i see it, these things, [speaker not understood] and happy to hear other director. director reiskin? >> i'm not sure i understood one part when you said something about extending to 18 year olds in january. is that the -- >> yes. >> okay. >> there is going to be an amendment on that shortly. in addition to all the things we needed to do for moral reasons and everything, i fully support all of those, we do have a fiduciary responsibility. we shim mr. have to take care of the agency, take care of the city as a whole, the

individuals of the community [speaker not understood]. that's where i stand at the moment and happy to hear other directors. director [speaker not understood] -- >> yes. i put forward the amendment we include 18 year olds in the language. now, let me confirm this. because of [speaker not understood] limitations we can't include the 18 year olds until november because of the clipper card limitation. and this amendment will do a couple of things to the budget. so, i need to change the way we're going to do this. first, we need the title 6 analysis to be a medved to reflect that change and then be brought back to us at a subsequent board meeting, at our next board meeting. so, that can happen, we need to do that. i need to withdraw the amendment so we don't delay the budget. and with member consent ask mr. reiskin to make a technical adjustment to the budget which is within his authority to do

to include 18 year olds. so, again, we're going to include the 18 year olded as we had discussed, but it's not going to happen -- it's going to happen as a technical adjustment to this budget which mr. reiskin will do. >> withdraw the motion in >> i withdraw the motion. >> i'll second. >> okay. it's withdrawn. and then can we have member consent to ask mr. reiskin to make a technical adjustment to the budget to include 18 year olds. >> okay. >> thank you. (applause) >> i'd like to go back to one other thing. director reiskin need -- seniors and persons with disabilities, i'd like to ask the voters, we start the process immediately. how with are we going to do that? nothing is easy in an organization this big. i would like to see it possibly available -- when we figure out how to do it and implement it, because that can be much earlier than next year.