sonia melara to the police commission will be very important. >> thank you doctor. any more public comment on this item? seeing none, public comment is closed. thank you to the public for making these comments and your testimony means a lot. i also want to thank commissioner melara for her statement. i felt it was very well-done, shows your passion to do this work and certainly what i have heard in your statements is the connection between your past experiences and how it could be a very useful and helpful to the police commission. so

commissioner tang. >> thank you, supervisor yee. again, i want to thank you everyone who came out. i think i have seen many very well-respected communities members here who are in support of miss medical examiner yawn melara and thank you very much for coming out. i am very supportive of this nomination and we heard the depth and breadth that they bring she brings. really public safety is hot just about law enforcement it's about so many other things. it's about as we mentioned about health, the health community, it's about issues that touch upon law enforcement such as domestic violence or human trafficking. you know, she brings also to the table her social worker background. also, i don't think she mentioned this, but she did run

a city department. so the police commission is an oversight body and certainly, in that perspective, has run a department and understands that sometimes there are some things that you need to do to help improve the department's internal process as well. more than that, it's about despite the fact that the police commission an oversight body, how we can really get all the members to work together with our community partners? because that is the only way to improve how the department operates. you bring a holistic background and experience that will really round out and compliment well the existing orientation of the commission. so i would really like to support you and make a motion to send sonia melara with full recommendation to the board of supervisors. >> supervisor campos. >> thank you, mr. chair and i

want to thank all of the members of the community for coming out and to sonia melara for her interest. i have worked with sonia melara and we have met and worked with a number of issues. one thing that we hadn't really done was to have a conversation about the issues that were raised during the discussion today involving the police department. we have talked in the context of health care. so when sonia met with me, what i said to her and what i will continue to say around an appointment to the police commission is that what the community those say about that is really important. because in the end the whole point of civilian oversight is to make sure that the time to

find out where people is now and not once they get to a commission. but having said that, i do appreciate the fact that sonia melara reached out to community folks to talk about some of the issues that we discussed. and the fact that there are people from this community that are coming out to support her, for me, you know, addresses any question in terms of her connection to community on these particular issues. i am encouraged also by not only her experience, her work, but the fact this is an understanding of the need to bring the police department even closer to this community, especially when you have a community like the mission as an example. where the community itself took it upon itself to come up with a five-year plan. i think you have to respond to

that and acknowledge how critical that is, because when the community wants to be involved and being part of the solution, i think that we in government should be excited about that. so i look forward to working with commissioner melara on that. and you know, i think on the issue of tasers, it's one of those things, where i think the main thing is that you speak to different people and that you have an understanding of the concerns. so with that i'm happy to support the motion by supervisor tang. i do think that the police commission is one of those positions that because it cuts across so much different areas that community involvement is really key. there is a reason why this is one of the few commissions that actually meets every week, because you want it to be connected to the community. thank you and i look forward to working with you.

>> there is a motion on the floor, with no objection, then the motion passes, congratulations. [ gavel ] [ applause ] >> madame clerk, can you please call item no. 3. >> item no. 3 is the motion confirming the mayor's appointof gwyneth borden to the municipal transportation agency board of directors for the unexpired [kpo-rgs/] of 4-year term ending march 1,2018. >> miss borden, please come up to the mic. chair yee, supervisors campos and tang, thank you very much for hearing this motion for my appointment to the mta. i am so proud for the opportunity to have served these past six years as a planning commissioner for the city and county of san francisco. those of you who have worked with me know i'm very passionate about land use issues and the things that

matter in terms of creating a strong community. to me, the transit agency is the most vital part of the overall network that we are look at. the connection between land use and transportation is often lost and every week for the last six years we have talked and pondered neighborhood plans and community plans and developments, based upon our transportation infrastructure and our plans for the future. i feel it's my opportunity, if i were appointed to this commission, to make that connection and make sure that those things happen. we all think that we have a great transit system, but we know it's not the best transit system and i think we have a huge opportunity with the transit effectiveness project right before us. it shouldn't

be, i feel like we have slow transit time because those people who have the luxury of time how to fund it and make it sustainable mechanism. >> thank you. >> supervisor tang.

for me more so than who is the body appointing these commissioners is the commission listen to the community and listen to the various supervisor office where we're in touch with our residents. i know that given the commissioners are not appointed, you know, based on districts, that for me it is important to be able to talk to the directors and that they understand what some of the challenges are that we face. as a representative of a district that is very far out and very much in support of efforts to try to make it such that people want to choose to ride transit first.

it's about fairness and considering all of the facts and i know you spoke about considering the budget in some of these policy decisions that are made. so for me it's really a positive experience with you working as a planning commissioner and i know you are fair and i respect that. so i don't have any questions about your qualifications and backgrounds. so i would just ask also what are some of the issues that you foresee coming up? i know that obviously it's about reliability and accessibility for all of our communities and what are some of the goals that you hope to achieve if you are appointed to serve on this body? >> one of which is the bond measure that you know is coming up this november for our transportation infrastructure. i almost also supportive of the vlf and know it's not as popular now, but i feel that funding mechanism needs to go form as well.

our on-time performance has been troubling and i think it's great to look at double-berthing of trains in the tunnel, because there is is a lot of congestion in the tunnel now. the necessary funding for the future and the transit effectiveness project overlaying document that will help inform how we do our rerouting of the businesses and moving our business stops and other improvements is also very critical. i was very supportive of the bicycle plan and making sure that we implement those improvements as well. so it's really about reliability and providing the necessary money that we need so that we can actually improve our fleet of operating trains and our existing right-of-ways. >> thank you. a couple of

questions. i guess one question about the free senior muni also. there was a lot of controversy with the central subway, and there is discussions now about the m line out on 19th avenue. and the possibility of eventually tunneling through there. i would just like to hear your opinion of basically going underground in general. because what i have seen in other cities in the united states and internationally, that the ability to move people, mass transit, is much more effective underground,

can you share your opinions. >> every major city i go in the world i take it, and if we could underground our entire transit system would be effective and one reason that bart does better in the city core it's underground and it's not competing with all of the traffic congestion above ground. it's an issue of funds and it's more expensive. planning was disappointed that we had not studying going as far as fisherman's wharf and with that said, at this point that is water under the bridge, because there are so many areas that are you high volumes of people to move around and as you prioritize that as you said over the m-line or other areas that have large riders. would love to see more subways, but i know there is a financial

issue that makes it more difficult to achieve. >> the issue of pedestrian safety has really floated up onto the top for the board of supervisors, the passage of vision 0, the budget process that we just went through and seen the district ask in regards for the budget show that pedestrian safety is becoming a high priority for all of us. so again, just generally speaking, vision zero has been passed, and mta is going to play a major role in this. can you sort of share your opinion of how strongly you would push for mta to implement, as much as possible

the safety measures that we are all talking about? >> i think it's very important as a member of the planning commission, i was one of the people who spoke of and unanimously supported vision zero. it's a real challenge in this city, because everyone drives so fast and in a hurry. and the challenges are enormous. i at think it's reprehensible, our commercial corridors people drive like are raceways and i think anything to calm the traffic down, i think it's very, very important. if we're going to be be that vision of a walkable city, a place people can feel comfortable accessing the community corridors or walking down the street to the grocery store, we always talk about that vision. but there are many people and seniors who are especially afraid to cross major arteries in the city because we don't have enough traffic-calming and safety measures. so i'm absolutely supportive of that.

i think having a liveable, walkable city is critical that we have those measures put in place. and i think that is something that we can't delay on, because every year we have senseless deaths due to pedestrian safety issues and it doesn't make any sense. it's the easiest thing to work on. so i hope that we get on that education campaign right away. >> i appreciate your answer. thank you very much. we're going to have public comment at this point for the item. [ reading speakers' names ] >> good afternoon supervisors i'm the executive director of the san francisco bicycle coalition and also speaking as a former member of the bdr of the municipal transportation agency to share my support for miss borden joining the mta board. we have been very impressed

with her approach on the commission and it's a great example of that and her strength in leading transportation issue. she mentioned the prop k plan and we're very happy with our breadth and depth of knowledge on transportation issues. i want to highlight her very mutual multi-modal perspective. very much placing an emphasis on that. thank you so much. >> thank you leah. >> good afternoon, supervisor.

jim salinas, people step to this podium eager to serve and not realizing the time constraints that are required on any particular commission. having served on what i considering to be three of the prestigious, san francisco police commission, parks and recreation commission and planning commission. this is one of those candidates, one of those individuals that realizes that you have to be accessible to all. as with the last candidate, who is extremely accessible, this commissioner has been accessible to everyone. we have had a lot of dealings with the planning department, as i served as executive director for the carpenter's union and again, the latino community has had a lot of difficulties with the way the

city is developing. so i justed want to commend commissioner borden for always being accessible, especially in times of great crisis and issues. she is always there. i got into a car when i was 13 years old and i didn't get out. two years ago i started to buy fast passs and i'm now a monthly clipper user and my goal is to use muni 50% of the time, because the car i have is not very environmentally friendly. so getting into that public transportation mode is important as one of the things that we contribute. want to thank commissioner borden for an outstanding job on the planning commission. and i'm sure she will do the same thing here. thank you. >> thank you. >> good afternoon, supervisors. my name is dwayne jones and i'm

ecstatic to be before you today, to support commissioner borden. she has been on several high-profile commissions before and we believe she has done an amazing job and look forward to her continuing that effort and her kind of being open as jim said earlier, to just hearing everybody out. being very clear on what the pros and cons are, particularly as it pertains to transportation. we all know how important an issue that is, particularly for the often disconnected folks in the southeast side of town. she has championed many of those efforts to make sure that inclusion and rapid transportation to get them to work, downtown, has been at the forefront of her work as i know even as a planning commissioner. so i appreciate the moments and i appreciate you all putting her forth for her appointment at the mta. thank you. >> thank you, mr. jones. any other public comment on

this item? seeing none, public comment is now closed. i am personally impressed with gwyneth. she to me has exhibited a lot of professionalism in the current commission position and the questions i asked her in her interview she was very thoughtful and gave direct answers and was willing to be very independent and her independence means a lot to me in terms of her thinking through what she would and would not support. so i would be very supportive of her nomination. supervisor tang. >> thank you. chair yee, i would agree with the comments you just made and really got to see commissioner borden's work through the planning commission. so i'm very familiar with what she is able to do.

supervisor yee mentioned the independence, and would i add to that fairness and then of course as everyone has said openness and willingness to listen to all community members is really important, especially when it comes to transportation issues. i would be happy to support her nomination to to the planning commission and send her recommendation to the board of supervisors. >> supervisor campos >> thank you very much, mr. chair and thank you to the members of the public who spoke and to gwyneth borden for her interesting and very supportive of moving this nomination forward. i feel besides just the work ethic and the willness to reach out to the community that i think are needed. so i look forward to working with her. so happy to support that motion. >> looks like it's unanimous. so i guess motion is supported

without any objections. so motion passes. congratulations. [ applause ] madame clerk, could you call item no. 4. >> item no. 4 is motion approving or rejecting the mayor's nomation of christine johnson for the planning commission for a term ending june 30, 2018. >> christine. >> good afternoon chair yee and supervisors tang and campos, thank you for having me today. i'm honored to be nominated for the planning commission and before you to present my desire and present my qualifications to serve. i came from the east coast ten years ago and i'm now proud to call san francisco my home. in that time i have not only built a personally life for myself, but a civic one. i'm a district 6 resident and the majority of my efforts have been addressed to addressing the challenges and opportunitis in the southeast portion of the city. i have served on the hunters

point shipyard cac and currently serve as the chair on community investment -- [speaker not understood] i have taken on these responsibilities over time in addition to a full-time career in public finance because i'm deeply committed to working in whatever capacity i can to make sure this city is a vibrant and hospitable place for everyone who wants to call san francisco home. i studied engineering in college, but my professional career is has been in public finance. in various capacities i have developed expertwise in how governments pay for what their citizens need and want. i have gotten a lesson on resources, particularly monetary resources matching with policy. in my civic life translated into a strong desire to make