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tv   Mayors Press Availability  SFGTV  August 2, 2015 11:30pm-12:01am PDT

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identify one addresses another there are difference and different kinds of we calls them sidewalk performers as you recall but it is difficult for a variety of reasons in part because i only have one again blood instrument in which to manage and frankly that's not a system that will make mr. compton particularly pleased given his complaint. >> can you get street performers into the speaker somehow. >> we're possibly. yes. that is certainly on the skeletal like outline is to try to manage or deal with this but again my name is concern is to not provide a solution necessarily that falls to the entertainment commission if we create code
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sections in a police code or municipal code and other agencies use it code that's mites preference i'm sure you're aware of programs at the port and programs at the art commission to take a lot of staff time we appreciate the performers in san francisco but i don't know that our commission has at cabinet to create an entire new program. >> does the art commission are they responsive to your - and fyi if you sell a product which includes a cd or tape unfortunately, we're so digital that is not the way people sell their product but a product you made you could currently right now go into the street artist program and get one of the stalls in a variety of locations for a period of time that is already something we can and
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will you know send people to if they come in with that - but if they don't have something to sell they don't qualify if you want to put a hat out you can't in order to change that it requires a vote of the people of san francisco they're considering this is a very old 1972 piece of legislation you might have voted for it to create the street artist program maybe not you but it needs to go back to the voters that is not out of the question at all for the arts commission but we're talking a few years. >> so someone puts out a hat that's the major modification. >> based on the requirement for the street 56r9s program do you
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said. >> you have to - >> you canned make policy change without going back to the voters. >> no. >> the reason i ask you is because there is a section like was created by the voters but when they the the music culture amendment to the 90 a it went to the board of supervisors only did not go back to the people that's why i'm asking you that question and so 90 a was a policy statement they're totally different we wanted to make an amendment to chapter 90 i believe you have to go back to the voters. >> so we can't do it in the street not a program making a policy thing you can put out a hat. >> i think you can not number two, of selling a product.
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>> okay okay new just asking. >> all right. thanks for bringing that up commissioner lee it is a good follow-up to a couple of months ago >> any other commissioners questions or comments if not any public comment on item this i don't see any the late item request for future items anything anybody want to bring up remind people our first meeting 40 in september a cancelled and the first in august hfa happens to be your anniversary party is it is not quite a meeting that will go to permit and sorry. >> doesn't we have an august. >> august 22nd. >> august 22nd is scheduled for our entertainment commission retreat for all of us the idea
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we do strategic planning if you can get your thoughts going about - >> no. >> not yet we'll prepare that in the next couple of weeks. >> the date. >> august 22nd is a saturday, i building from 9 to one. >> do we have a location for that no. >> so we have a meeting on the 18 and the retreat on the 22nd correct. >> i just want to inform you i'll not be at the retreat i'll be at a wedding but i'll be at the 18 meeting. >> if we want to have our vice chair we'll have to look at another date okay. so it didn't seem like anything burning people want to bring up any public comment on this seeing none, that adjourns
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our meeting have a good night >> hello and welcome to me your district supervisor. we're here with supervisors got scott wiener.
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he started his first term this january. we are going to get to know him and talk about the issues facing the city. welcome. thank you for joining us today. tell us about your background, where you grew up, went to school, and what kind of jobs to have had. >> i grew up in the philadelphia area, in new jersey. i went to school up and down the east coast. i went to undergrad at duke university. i went to law school at harvard. after clerking for a judge, i came out here in 1997. i have been here for the last 14 years. i have always lived in the castro. i am an attorney. i started out in private practice. i settle private law firm during complex commercial litigation. in 2002, and moved over to the sentences the city attorney's office where i worked on the trial team doing trials for the
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city, handling my own cases, and supervising a team of attorneys as well. >> why did you choose to live in san francisco? >> i always assumed i would go back to the philadelphia area since that is where my family is. i was always interested in san francisco in terms of what it is as a city, its culture, it's amazing lgbt community. i came out here for a summer, fell in love with it. i have been interested in politics since i was a kid. i worked on campaigns as a teenager. i was involved campaign against senator jesse helms when i was in college. when i cannot hear, and was not initially involved politically. -- when i came out here, i was not initially involved politically. i helped to build the lgbt
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community center. i started doing campaigns. i gradually got involved in democratic party politics. i got involved in the alice b. toklas democratic club. i ran for the democratic central committee in 2004. i ended up sharing the committee. it was a gradual process for me. by the time i started thinking about running for supervisor, it made sense because of my involvement in the community and in politics. >> what did you learn from campaigning for supervisor? >> i learned a lot. i knocked on about $15,000. -- i knocked about 15,000 doors. i met a huge number of people. that is the best way to learn about the neighborhood, the city, and what people want and what their concerns are. i feel i can do so much more than before and started campaigning. -- i feel like i know so much more than before i started
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campaigning. we're all part of the left on the national standard. i am a good liberal democrat. in the san francisco spectrum, and probably considered more middle of the road. -- i am probably considered more middle-of-the-road. i am very independently comes to the issues. i do not vote the party line. a judge each issue on its merits. that is how i am. >> what do you feel are some of the biggest issues facing san francisco now? >> the budget is the most imminent issue. we do have a structural budget deficit in the city. we need to deal with the short- term balancing of the budget in a way that does not decimate basic city services that people rely on but also to address our long term structural budget deficit. that means implementing budget
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reforms that will smooth out the budget process so that it is not a boom-bust process. that means reforming our pension and retiree system so that they are stable and do not drain the general fund. that is a big aspect of it. another huge issue is the deferred maintenance on our infrastructure. we have a lot of infrastructure that has been deteriorating because we have not maintained properly. that includes roads, sewer systems, muni. we need to be much more diligent about maintaining our infrastructure. some of the big citywide issues that impact the district include transportation. we had more muni service and some other districts. it is not always reliable. some of the major bus lines in the district are not reliable. we have major projects like the
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renovation of delores park. it is an opportunity to define what the park is and what changes we want to make to it. that is going to be and port project, the same thing with glen canyon that is going to undergo a lot of work. one of the most challenging parts of the new district supervisor is that we elect the supervisors by district. it is very important to pay attention to the district, be engaged in the projects in the district. we also represent the whole city. any district supervisor that focuses on the district without addressing the citywide issues is not doing his or her job. every day, i make sure i am working on the major citywide issues and the district issues. i try to be disciplined about that.
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>> how will you approach the tough choices? >> i think we have to start by looking at the most critical city services that we cannot do without. what are the ones that if they deteriorated, we will pay the price on? public safety falls into that category as a basic critical service. transportation, making sure we have the functional muni is critical. core public health services like dealing with mental on this on our streets -- with mental illness on our streets. if we do not provide services, we will pay the price. it works out from there in terms of budget priorities. >> with your plans on dealing
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with homelessness? >> it is homelessness in general and behavior on the streets. we need to make sure people have access to services. i was a supporter of putting the money we taking the money we're putting into the system to provide housing. we need to make sure people have access to services. we need to make sure that we have standards of behavior on our streets. most homeless people did not cause any problems on our streets. they are a small group the causing problems. we need to make sure we have the standards of behavior. there are some kinds of behavior that are not ok and they need to report that. . she mentioned housing needs. what are the housing needs? how should the board of supervisors address these? >> there are a few different areas we need to address. housing affordability or lack there of is a major challenge
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for the city. it is harder to afford housing in the city if you are lower or middle income. we need to address that. i want to focus on work force housing. we do a good job of generating high in housing. we can always do better. we do a decent job providing low-income housing. we do a terrible job providing housing for lower middle class and middle-class people, people who are working and paying taxes. we need to have them here for a functioning economy. i am looking for ways to fund more of that kind of housing, particularly for a central employees like teachers, nurses, first responders. we need to make sure that our development is a transit- oriented. we do not want to encourage suburban sprawl.
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we want to do infill housing so that people can live near where they work and near public transportation. >> let's talk about public transportation. is there adequate muni service in your district? what is the parking and traffic situation like? >> muni is not near where it needs to be. in the caster, we have the subway. -- in the castro, we have the subway. a can be terrific or frustrating. we are next to the bart line. in other parts of the district, is unreliable. the writeridership is lower bece of unreliability.
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other lines are not as frequent and people not think of using them. we have a particular problem in diamond heights. the neighborhood is served primarily by the 52 line. it is incredibly unreliable. the buses miss runs-------. for awhile, muni was ending service at 9:00 or 10:00 at night. it is up on a hill. without service, it is isolated. another thing i am working on is trying to get more taxis onto the street. a world-class taxi system is a complement to any public transportation system. >> how do you think the police department is doing? do you have any thoughts on how the city is dealing with crime? >> i was a big supporter of
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chief gaston. i think he will do a great job in the district attorney's office. part of me was sad to see him go from the police department. he had come in and started modernizing the department. it's technology -- a lot of different changes that needed to happen but were not happening until he came in and start of the department on the right path. it is critical that whoever the next chief of police is continue that modernization of the department. it will have benefits citywide. in my district, we have public safety challenges. the district is often viewed as a "safe district." we do have violence. we had a bunch of violence around delores park last year. there have been robberies in glen park and parts of the
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valley. there have been shootings in diamond heights. one of the challenges is making sure that the police department understands that even though we may not have the same crime levels as some neighborhoods, we still need attention from the police department. >> let's talk about the city's economic development. are we on the right track? what would you like to change about the approach to developing the economy? >> we are getting better. the city as got more proactive about attracting businesses and new industries and providing incentives for them to come and stay here. it is still a very expensive place to do business in terms of the cost of labor, land. we need to make sure that we are not taxing businesses to the point that it is not profitable and we are not attractive for
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them to be here. we need to reform our payroll tax. that is an incentive not to create jobs. i know the board president david chu is working on possibility this there -- possibilities there. i look forward to working with him. we've targeted efforts to revitalize areas and bring industries here with the tax holiday and proposal introduced yesterday relating to parts of the tenderloin to provide some payroll tax relief to encourage businesses like twitter and others to go there. >> the governor has proposed eliminating funding for redevelopment agencies. what is your opinion of the plan? what are your thoughts on the value of redevelopment agencies? >> i think the plan is over- broad. i do not support it as it relates to san francisco's model
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of redevelopment. our redevelopment agency does tremendous work in san francisco. a lot of projects like treasure island and what is happening in hunters point, those kinds of projects would be difficult to achieve without redevelopment. a redevelopment agency is the largest source of affordable housing creation in the city. it has been a huge asset. i understand there are other parts of the state where redevelopment has a different model and is not as positive. there are types of unwise development. redevelopment statewide is in need of reform. san francisco is a model for redevelopment and it needs to stay intact. >> let's talk about the role of sports.
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are you happy with the plans for the america's cup? should the city spend money to keep the 49ers'? >> i am thrilled about the america's cup. it will not just be an economic boom that creates jobs and long- term economic development. it will help us shore up our aging and deterioration appears -- deteriorateing piers. it will help us clear of deferred maintenance. it will be a promotion for the city. people will see the panoramic views of san francisco and want to come here. i would very much like to see forty-niners stay here. what that means, we will have to talk about it. i am not a big fan of massive public subsidies to sports teams. i think we should work hard to keep them here. >> we're almost out of time. are there any other issues or
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concerns we have not discussed? are there any other specific issues you plan to concentrate on throughout your turn? >> a couple that come to mind. i introduced in control legislation to make it easier for tenants displaced by fires or earthquakes or other disasters to find below market replacement meant -- rent while their apartments are being fixed. there are some aspects of our rent control laws that make it difficult to find those kinds of temporary accommodations at below market rent. i have been working with groups on legislation that introduced that will help there. i have also requested an economic impact study to be performed on the entertainment and nightlife industries.
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it is a very important economic and cultural sector in our city. we have never really taken a look at what it contributes to our economy. i think that is an important piece of information to have to guide policy making in the future. i have requested a hearing on the impact of historic preservation of other important policy goals in the city like creating affordable housing, having usable parks and libraries, etc. i want to look at how those different policies interact with each other. those are a few things i am working on. >> we are out of time. we will have to wrap this up. thank you so much for joining us. we have been talking to supervisor wiener from district 8. watch for the next episode of "need your supervisor." we will be back with one of our 11 city supervisors. ♪
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watching. >> ever wonder about programs the city is working on to make san francisco the best place to live and work we bring shine won our city department and the people making them happy what happened next sf oh, san francisco known for it's looks at and history and beauty this place arts has it all but it's city government is pretty unique in fact, san francisco city departments are filled with truly initiative programming
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that turns this way our goal is to create programs that are easily digestable and easy to follow so that our resident can participate in healing the planet with the new take dial initiative they're getting close to zero waste we 2020 and today san francisco is diverting land filled and while those numbers are imperfect not enough. >> we're sending over 4 hundred thousand tons of waste to the landfill and over the 4 hundred tons 10 thousands are textile and unwanted listen ones doesn't have to be find in the trash.
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>> i could has are the ones creating the partnerships with the rail kwloth stores putting an in store collection box near the checks stand so customers can bring their used clothes to the store and deposit off. >> textile will be accessible in buildings thought the city and we have goodwill a grant for them to design a textile box especially for families. >> goodwill the well-known store has been making great strides. >> we grateful to give the items to goodwill it comes from us selling those items in our stores with you that process helps to divert things it from
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local landfills if the san francisco area. >> and the textile box will take it one step further helping 1230 get to zero waste. >> it brings the donation opportunity to the donor making that as convenient as possible it is one of the solutions to make sure we're capturing all the value in the textiles. >> with the help of good will and other businesses san francisco will eliminate 39 millions tons of landfill next year and 70 is confident our acts can and will make a great difference. >> we believe that government matters and cities matter what we side in san francisco, california serve as a model phenomenal in our the rest of the country by the world. >> whether you do not to
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goodwill those unwanted text told us or are sufficient value and the greater community will benefit. >> thanks to sf environment san francisco has over one hundred drop off locations visit recycle damn and thanks for watching join us.
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>> welcome to the wednesday, july 22, 2015, no, it's yes wednesday, july 22, 2015, meeting of the san francisco board of appeals the board president is ann lazarus this presiding officer and joined by commissioner vice president honda and commissioner swig and commissioner wilson will be absences today to my right it the deputy city attorney that provides the board with legal advice and mr. pacheco and mr. alec our legal process clerk and cynthia goldstein the board's executive director also joined by representativesh