have on our bench? >> we do use the city attorney for several items now. debra works closely with the city attorney on the imminent domain litigation. we work with them on various matters. of course we used to work with them almost exclusively on the construction side before we lost staff to the airport but we will continue to reach out to them and as long as they have the resources we are happy to use the city attorney. staff is also very conscious of using legal time. just last week i tried my hand at writing an affidavit for a records request and baby -- and debra complemented me before she made the necessary corrections. >> i noticed again looking at their foundational documents that our legal counsel is the

san francisco city attorney dennis herrera and it struck me that was an odd position given that as far as i could tell wasn't acting like a legal counsel so i had a couple of meetings with them and including mr. herrera on tuesday and he agrees that's a position that is untenuous for his office. he has no problem being the legal counsel but he understands that he hasn't been acting as such at all, and has made it very clear to me that he doesn't -- it's up to us, the board to choose our true legal counsel, and he's willing to be that no problem, but if he is he's going to act as such and be essentially primary. for example choosing all -- the other firms, the sub

firms and directing them he would be responsible and i have talked to andrew sharltz at shoop and hail and he he is also. >> >> hailey and he is perfectly willing to be the true counsel and understands that the scope of general counsel would include choosing and directing other firms to do the specialty work, so we're going to have to make a decision here and each of these -- both san francisco city attorneys made it clear they want off if they're not completely on, and the shoop and hailey firm is perfectly willing to be appointed in their stead if that's what we want, so i think at some point in the next few meetings at least we're

going to have to meet and decide who we want to be our legal counsel, and i haven't talked to nila about -- i don't know whether it can be done in closed session or whether it has to be done in open session. there are no employees involved but at the same time it's very personnel oriented so i will look for that and with respect to this item what i just want to make sure this is fine. we definitely need some more money in the budget to do this, but i would expect whichever legal counsel that we choose to revisit the whole bench and to decide how we want to present in the future, whichever one we decide, whether it's the city attorney who wants to get more involved with their office and do this, or -- and i discussed with mr. herrera -- i

said "well, of course you recognize there has been and will be conflicts in which the city has interest and not just the transbay terminal" and he agreed and said when he would step away from a particular decision but however rare that maybe or common that maybe, so it's going to be our choice, but we're going to have to make one, and i think sort of revisit this notion after we do that. >> but my understanding of the bylaws or whatever the constituting documents are the choice has been made and the choice is the city attorney is our general counsel and should we wish to change that and i don't support but fwhee to have that -- need to have that discussion but the city attorney is the brief

-- tjpa officer and they are a public sector law firm and because they're less expensive so i would encourage greater participation from the city attorney. >> and that's what we will require because in reality shoop and hailey have been acting to the extent that the executive director needed and general counsel it's been that firm and that's what we need to resolve and personally i could go either way. i don't care. but everybody agrees that the legal counsel has to be -- has to take authority and if it's going to be the san francisco city attorney mr. herrera is going to do that and if it's shoop and hailey that's what they're going to do, and we have to decide which way to go, and it maybe fine -- i mean just leaving it that way, but we're going to

see a lot more out of the san francisco city attorney if we just leave things the way they are. >> perhaps we should just direct the executive director to follow up and engage with the city attorney to see what he would propose in terms of what he would like to change to be in effect the general counsel for the authority. >> can i -- >> yes supervisor. >> thank you. through the chair. a coup of things i would say. actually i should ask the question. i know we had this legal bench for a while and who does distribute the work when it's decided that certain attorneys can't take on specialty legal areas? >> sure. various staff work with each of the firms depending on the area. we do it through requests for services. those have to be authorized by the executive director so they

incrementally authorize the budget for those service for the construction counsel it's dennis and mark and working with them. with shoop and hailey if it's a real estate matter it's often maria or i working with them particularly on land sales. if it's a administrative type question a question from the board, brown act, public records, et cetera it might be coming from nila or scott to shoop and hailey and if it's other issues it's dennis and working on those requirements. it varies depending on the matter. >> okay. so it's not distributed through the city attorney's office as our legal counsel? >> no. but as a reminder deputy city attorney cheryl brakman was involved in the selection of the bench and on

the selection committee. >> i think we have a good bench and i agree that we should increase the budget allocation and i should say i chat with the city attorney's office briefly and i think there is a need for clarity in terms of the role for legal counsel. i don't think they want to be off if they're not -- if there are specific kind of responsibilities that are not being addressed to them but i think there is a need for clarity in terms of what that should be, and we should hear from them in terms of what type of clarity they would like to see in order to remain as the general counsel and i agree with director reiskin and want them to be the legal counsel and they're much more affordable than the private law firms that we work with so i think over the next month we should have that discussion, and clarify that role.

>> right. and i should state that dennis or the city attorney was appointed as the officer as director reiskin mentioned and some time ago and regardless they have done a lot of work for us over the years and they continue to work with us and they are less expensive certainly. i think their highest billing dollar amount is about 253 an hour. the lowest private attorney is 353 an hour so it's a huge difference but i want to add how critically important it is to have our city attorney as the officer and just the [inaudible] alone has been extremely helpful to us [inaudible] when we went out for the goldman-sachs loan. it makes a big difference and it really helps the credibility of the organization and getting the funding and i can see the chair olson agreeing so i want to

point that outand we're winding down the station in less than three years. you will hear on an item today that we completed. i don't see a lot but we have a number of elements that i think where the city attorney would be help helpful, retear and sponsorship. those are the big elements coming up and certainly helpful in other areas as well but [inaudible] as loan has made a big difference to this organization from day one so i am happy with the direction of the board to talk with them and have them get more involved and help me continue the work. i mean we have been doing a great job to dea. i am a member of the state bar and we have been active and doing a good job evidenced by the successes of our project and the fact we're

opening on time and less than three years and we will get more engaged. >> great. >> if i can request maybe the executive director -- i think it's okay to say it because i'm not a san francisco person but i got confused during this whole discussion so in the theme of clarity if there can be information to all of the board members. i think i caught some things that seem consistent but sort of inn consistencies in what was said. >> >> so if we can get factual information about what it is, what the situation is that would give me good background. >> yes. we will provide that to everybody. >> that would be great. >> thank you. >> move approval. >> i have a motion. second. public comment. >> none. director kim. >> aye. >> director lee. >> aye. >> director reiskin.

>> all in favor say aye. >> director nuru. >> aye. >> chair harper. >> aye. >> that is five aye's. that is approved. item 10 is approving the minutes of the february 12 meeting. no members of the public to wish you on that item. >> motion for approval. >> (inaudible). >> motion and second. eric mar. aye scbr. >> director aye. >> aye. >> director. >> aye. >> i would like to abstain. >> director. >> aye. >> chair harper. >> aye. >> that is four aye's. that is approved. we will note for the public we'll go into closed session and they have an opportunity to address you now or we will close

>> all right. the tjpa board of directors meeting on march 12, 2015 is back in session and we will report on closed session. >> in existing litigation with dnd construction v. balfour beatty infrastructure, inc., san francisco county superior court case no. cgc-12-525388 the board 4-0 approved the term of the settlement and authorized the tjpa to execute the settlement and attached with the staff report and the tjpa is authorized to make payment as certified in the agreement and take all other actions in the settlement agreement to comply with the settlement. >> thank you. that concludes our business and adjourns our meeting. thank you.

adjourned. >> it is been an honor to work with mayor ed lee over the couple of years both as supervisor and now as president of the board i want to emphasize two areas i'm particularly proud of our work on omaha and our work on public safety together mayor ed lee and i have invested $5.4 million in incredible elevator repair at 9 inform public housing sites and also secured 2 pointed $5 million to

refusal over one hundred and 60 public unit housing for families just recently we launched a rental assistance demonstrates and with concert julian to transform san francisco's publicity u public housing the rad fireman is significant and will allow san francisco is leverage $800 million in investment eligibility and $5200 million from our city to rehabilitate over 4 thousand 5 hundred units of public housing unit for over 5 thousand 4 hundred residents this will be one of the biggest public housing improvements in our country i can tell you from experience the residents needed it i'm so proud of the mayor and public housing is affordable housing and mayor ed lee and i

are working to build both on public safety it has been a privilege to work with the mayor to put over 3 hundred new police officers on our streets in the next two years and (clapping.) you can clap for that and the poles are change in terms of public safety over the next year address the ambulance crisis by hiring dozens of now pharmacies and emts and plaza 9 now ambulances in service yesterday, i he was proud to join the mayor in introducing the city's 10 year capital explain that inxirwa 32 employed in citywide infrastructure investment over the next deek and beyond this plan will help create better hospitals, roads, muni services and parks while protecting the city from kwaektd

fire and for the first time ever sea level rise i'll tell you the process is the perfect case study of ed lee's leadership he always make sure that san francisco succeed by working together focusing on the details and anticipating the challenges and allocating the resources to meet the challenges. i can go on and on about the leadership on transportation and the historic number of new light rail trains we have or his ability to convince the private sector blooib like kaiser permanente and google and facebook to invest millions of dollars with a record low 3.8 percent unemployment rate he's inwavering in his push to make sure that every recipe has the

district of a job instead i will give any ladies and gentlemen my honor to introduce the leader, the planner at man behind the mustache mayor ed lee (clapping.) >> wow. london that is such a nice introduction need you say more shall i get off and let you take pictures of the world series let me just add something that i know is nor'easter to london heart and to me and so many of you martin luther king day london

and commissioner cohen and several others of supervisors joined me and mark bev half hour and hydra mendosa our education group joined some 50 students to watch the movie selma and our intent was not just to see the film but to have a communication with our student leaders in san francisco after that film london and i had a special lunch with mr. benny hoff and several others one the requests that came out from the students themselves in our campaigns with them in trying to ascertain from them what do question e they want out the city what can we do to work with them to make sure they understand that we are working for their success we want their talent to come out

and to be supportive and to be initiative in our city and because of all the national and local xhfktsdz regarding everything from police brutal so discriminates clearly that was the topic of the day we asked our students to comment on that they told us not only did they feel that there was tension but they also felt that we need more public safety officers and police officers that look like them and recognize who they are and can work in the community with youth as they grew up and know them by hair first names and understand where they are and hang out with them so they can utility that all custodies don't have a background that

will be challenging to public safety issues and so we began conversations about something that hadn't had an opportunity in our city for over 10 years a cat detective program that recruits kids after high school that prepares them for possible candidacy in the polygamists academy i know my staff never wants me to announce something that's not pesticide but we'll have a police officer indicate detective program in san francisco because of those youth (clapping.) so all good news i want to begin that that along with standing besides 3 world series trophies that excited me to no ends i'll take our pictures alongside when

i go and meet with the u.s. conference of mayors i can introduce myself of the mayor of 3 world series champion who get into a well deserved conversation about what we're doing as mayors san francisco is growing leading the way in our region and in the country 2, 3, 4 job growth and london said we enjoy a 3.8 percentage employment rate it proves our economic policies are working and just 3 years to the years of into custody to 2013 we created 76 thousand new jobs in san francisco we're growing faster than any major city in the u.s and i know a lot of the

business sectors get credit but we've seen job growth in construction and hometown and health care as well as technology those sectors provide good jobs with our minimum wage increase the most proving in the country even more of our resident will be in a position to benefit from our city's success i love coming to the city's beat breakfast it allows me to hear what people are thinking about this year results match from my understanding of business london breed's and employees from our city most people believe that our city is moving in the right direction and the quality of life in our neighborhood is improving but residents are anxious their anxious about their future they want to make sure that the

success of the city will result in the success of them as well so perhaps we see this month visibly and individually across around the cost of living specifically around housing costs you know i've also said the biggest diversified in our economy is between those are who have a job and those that don't we can agree that having a stable place to live in the city is a close second that's why i'm focused on dining to address the housing needs for all san franciscans that's why we are working together to address the crisis created by years of under this i'm sure you're aware of i've been committed to building thirty thousand unit of housing when i 2020 with 1/3rd affordable and others affordable

to middle-income families we're on our way with over 4 thousand units in 2014 and over 5 thousand expected this year to be delivered we have built more homes this past year than in 2012 and 2013 combined this is a process we need to do more let me be clear with you when we are in the midst of a housing crisis you don't slow down production you find ways to speed it along we've done that by cutting out red tape and having affordable housing project but as construction of those housing united are underway too many of our residents are fearful of the future many families worry about their ability to stay here in the long term i'm committed toe keeping san franciscans in san francisco and we have a number of programs that will help us do

that. >> so the next steps towards chief the goal we're keep the residents in their homes and helping resident buy their rent control shlgz or expand the down payment assistance so it people can see homeownership and we're investing $100 million from ash retirement fund over the next 10 years helping one hundred and 50 first time home buyers over the years we'll he said spake active evictions whether in partnership with the friends of the state legislator we must stop speck later from flipping buildings creating a new investment fund with our private and be philanthropic folks to have

purchase lands for rehab housing and leverage our public lands and public surplus goods for the middle-class we'll identify the sites for at least 4 thousands unit by 20/20 forcible to middle-class and low income families and go back to our voter for another affordable housing market this november supporting our ambition plans to allow for acquisition roanoke city construction of homelands for low and middle-income families as you can see my platform rests both on building and preservation we can't be a city for all if we don't build for you'll but we won't remain a city that with are if we can't keep our resident in place as was grow we have the opportunity to leverage

the successful times to bring housing online and to fund our format goals we can't settle for anything less and as our city continues to grow we will invest in transportation and in that network that moves our residents around the city and 2, 3, 4 region affordably and efficiently awhile it's encouraging the chambers pole show that people are happy with muni and bart we cannot fall behind in our work to equally prove on the transportation system thanks to google last year, we created $3 million for our low income youth and this year 3 free muni for low income seniors and people with sdablgdz ridership is up thanks to the

transportation bond passed last nova we're secured the funding inform improve that network as well as make our streets safer we'll complete $13 million of our high injury street networks bringing us clorgs to our vision zero goals with this time of prosperity it's our chance to think big and regional together we must usher or work to insure we have a truly regional transportation system we've made investment in our high speed rail and transbay transit center electrification of conflicts and metropolitan central subway we must now invest in a second subway this will insure our region overlook workforce has cease to regional jobs and second transbay will

allow our high speed rail to sacramento and will stand our xaltd capacity jobs while relieving pressures on san franciscan this project can't take thirty years we must work together to come out through the bureaucracy leverage offhand u funds from every possible source and get this transbay two built our region overlook economy depends on that it we all know that how's and infrastructure are not enough when we think about the health of our cities and community we realize there are still too many people that are homeless on our streets in need of housing and too many in our system that haven't been to find a way up and out we can't and will not snelt this year the status quo we'll work together to lift the families up 0 insure they