>> this is a meeting of the san francisco recreation and park commission, will the secretary please call the roll? >> commissioner buell? here. commissioner low. here. commissioner anderson? here. commissioner mazzola does have excused absence and commissioner macdonell will be joining you. if he could get everyone to come in and sit down. we would appreciate that. we can get started. reminder, this is the recreation and park meeting of november 16th. we welcome everyone here today and ask that you please turn off any electronic devices that may go off during the proceedings. we would also ask if you're going to have secondary conversations, you please take

those outside in order to the meeting run as efficiently as possible. if you would like to speak on an item, we request you complete a blue card. you don't have to, commissioner buell -- >> can i get an indication of how many plan to make comments? two minutes. >> so you have two minutes for public comment on each item. if you would like to speak on item that is not on calendar, but is under the subject matter jurisdiction of the commission, you would speak under general public comment which is item 4 and then again it is continued on item 13. we would ask that you please address your comments to the commission during public comment on items in order to allow equal time for all.

neither the commission nor staff will respond to any questions during public comment. the commission may ask questions of staff after public comment is closed. last, if the fire alarms activate, you must evacuate the building in an orderly fashion using any exit. please note that elevators will immediately return to the first floor and are not available for use. if you do need assistance out of the building, please make your way to the closest area of refuge, for us, that's directly across the hall in the men's restroom. inside the restroom is a speaker box, please press it, city hall security will answer and let you know where they are and assist you. with that, we're on item number 2, the president's report. and commissioner taking any items out of order.

>> president buell: so far, i'm anxious to make commissioner mcdonnell is here for one that has a vote. let me make two observations, that's the request we adjourn in honor of larry martin, his career began in 1966, served not only on this commission, but the planning commission and human rights commission. he was a leader of the local 250-a and at the same time worked hard on behalf of the people of san francisco who benefitted from his dedication the city. sadly, as well, advocate may wong was one of the city's most dedicated park advocates, not only showed up at the meetings, but the board of supervisors. he was one of the founders of the park, active in philanthropy

and volunteering. may was a strong advocate and a kind ofible person who helped to instill atmosphere of respect. with that, that concludes my report >> clerk: can we get everyone to take a seat? >> clerk: we're on item 3. >> few different announcements. this november commission meeting, it is a month of giving thanks and last sunday, nearly 10,000 soccer fans were very grateful to see the san francisco deltas win the north american soccer league championship this sunday against the new york cosmos. applause

>> their inaugural season, they accomplished what few have done in any sport. i want to thank the entire deltas organization for their efforts and inspiring a new generation of soccer fans in san francisco, providing affordable friendly activity in entertainment in our park, for their organizational values and investment in the stadium. it's been reported that state of u.s. soccer is in turmoil and that the north american soccer league, may or may not survive, so this may be the only year for the san francisco deltas. they ran their organization with grace and class and we're grateful. later this afternoon, should it

ever stop raining, at 3:30 i will be joining supervisor katy tang and hopefully you and others reopening the athletic fields after a project funded by the 2012 clean and safe neighborhood parks bond which we have san francisco voters to thank. it's arguably the finest baseball complex in the city, including two batting cages which is supported by major league baseball and the san francisco giants. in addition to the upgrades, the sports courts were resurfaced. renovations to the fields and the stadium bleachers were also upgraded. so, please join us. i think it's rain or shine, we're going to be out there for the grand opening of the west sunset playground project and

special thank you to dan mauer for his complicated project. it's november, but it is time to think about baseball. this saturday, november 18th, is the start of the registration period for the 2018 san francisco youth baseball league season. each spring, they serve approximately 4,000 youth baseball players, girls and boys, ages 4-14, from t-ball to competitive pony league levels and they include an all girls division featuring the bay sox. individual and team signups are available. also this saturday, november 18th, please join us at shore view park for a community funding and planning workshop at our -- one of of our newest parks. shoreview is yearly 1-acre site.

formerly the redevelopment agency and was acquired in june with the goal of renovating the site. the plans phasi ing phase start july. the renovated park will include a new children's play area, picnic area, irrigation upgrades, landscape areas, lighting and a new accessible pathway. next week as we prepare for the thanksgiving holiday, san francisco unified school district students will have an entire week off from school, and that includes one of my own. it's a first for san francisco families. rec and park is helping to provide city kids with fun, engaging programs by offering 7 thanksgiving week camps from basketball and tennis to eco camp and rock climbing. the camps are monday-wednesday of next week. we still have a few openings. most camps are close to capacity.

but if you are looking for something for your kids, next monday, tuesday and wednesday, please check out our availability online. on thursday, december 7th from 4-8 p.m. we want to invite everyone to join us in golden gate park, from mclaren lodge to conservatory valley, we have toboggan rides, carnival rides and visits from santa and maybe his elves. mclaren lodge, be there around 4:00. at 6:00 p.m. we'll be -- we're calling this golden gate park winter lights. we're expanding the normal program. at 6:00 we'll light the official holiday tree for the 88th time. and at 7:00 p.m., we'll light the conservatory of flowers in an amazing art show. the sequel to this summer's

summer of love show, you'll be hearing more about that later on in the agenda. and of course, we have many, many partners and friends that help us put on the events. including the san francisco parks alliance, kaiser, sports basement, conservatory of flowers, illuminate, obscura and others. i have a little bit of some -- two special recognitions. to offer. one is for lisa bransten. last friday, november 10th, the golden gate chapter of fundraising professions held a function. the san francisco parks alliance, a sponsoring member, nominated our very own lisa bransten with the spirit of philanthropy award for

commitment to let'splaysf! not to mention her work on numerous other projects, philanthropic projects, including the crabfest, the party for the parks, her team's work on the tennis projects and many, many others. i am very pleased to present -- mr. president, if you want to join? a small token our nursery's handy work. [laughter]. wow. >> congratulations. [applause] >> i'll be quick, i won't take

my whole two minutes. i just want to say it's an honor to come to work every day in golden gate park. i joke that i have the best title, director of partnerships, because i'm out every day with amazing partners from community groups to big non-profits, one of the most important of which is the parks, so thank you very much. [applause] >> and one more special bit of recognition. last month, i had the honor of attending the retirement party for barbara winger and i wanted to invite her here today to bid her an official commission-sponsored congratulations. it's a bittersweet moment for us at rec and park as i noted at barbara's event. it's an opportunity to thank and recognize her amazing contributions as one of our most valued park advocates, but she is moving on, after 23 amazing years. in 1994 barbara sowed idea of

planting something together. today the fruits of her labor are evident. they have eight gardens in the western edition and beyond, including one in the african art complex, the learning garden, the hayward garden and kitchen. but more than that is the effect that barbara has had on communities. we model a lot of her amazing leadership and work. teaches our kids how to care for resources, cultivates the next generation of park stewards, reaches out to communities with mentor, workforce opportunities and most of all, kindness. as barbara retires, we want to thank her for her tireless efforts as we look forward to

continuing our partnership with community grows, and in a role to be developed, our partnership with barbara, but i wanted to give her special recognition today, too. so... [applause] >> in 1973, i was involved in the demolishing of the public -- of a park that the community got together to go to the trust republic land to ask them if

they could turn this fire-ravaged area into a park. so in 1973, i was involved in the beginning of the park and i went through two renovations of it. my first experience with the -- with you guys and the commission was going before you in 1994 when mary burns was the general manager and bringing the community with big huge pumpkins we had grown in the space, asking for general -- asking for set aside money for that park and also because it was involved with hayes valley. we took on the clubhouse and from there down to the rose page mini park. so those three parks were the main we renovated. when we renovated them,

everybody said you should work with the kids in the housing development and do projects with them. that's how we started community growth. we did a program for teenagers called the beat, band of educated and employable teens. we've had that since 2008, they get a stipnd to work and do job youth development. so i'm really proud of that organization and proud of our partnership with rec and park and i really appreciate and thank you. >> thank you for all you've done. >> in honor of barbara and next week's harvest, our video of the month features the community gardens program. [ ♪ ]

san francisco's recreation and park department has 38 community gardens. there is a significant demand for community gardens, so we're working to increase access to community gardens by creating new spaces, streamlining and providing opportunities for everyone, whether they're members or not, to volunteer and enjoy garden spaces. [ ♪ ] [ ♪ ] this fall, the department hosted open gardens day and partners with the san francisco urban agriculture alliance to provide a bike. we not only visited, the city's largest, most productive urban running farm, on the same day, we gave away plants, mulch and

compost to garden throughout the city and over 300 pounds of fruits, vegetables and herbs. >> you meet neighbors you wouldn't meet otherwise. everybody lives in the neighborhood, but you get a chance to meet a larger cross section of the neighborhood. >> every day we work hard to make significant physical improvements to our gardens, because we know the improvements make a big impact on how well the garden functions. when the gardens are most functional they become spaces for community bonding. >> i love that it's a community place, people of all different type can come and make something beautiful. >> moving forward we'll be hosting more gardening workshops and providing more urban farming resources. we've partnered with garden for the environment and the university of california cooperative extension to offer practical workshops on topics

like compost management, pest identification and control, crop planning, hands-on tree pruning and more. we have so many exciting things happening in your community gardens, so come out and plant with us today! >> thank you, commissioners, that contcludes the report, and wishing you a happy thanksgiving. >> secretary: would anyone like to make comment? being none, this item is closed. we're on item 4, general public comment. at this time, members of the public may address the commission on items of interest to the public that are within the subject matter jurisdiction of the commission and that do not appear on the agenda. with respect to agenda items, you will have the opportunity to address the commission when the item is reached in the meeting. i do have three cards.

i have linda, colleen and richard. if you could come on up, please. as a reminder, you have two minutes each. >> happy holidays and happy thanksgiving, early. we have much to be thankful for and we would like to bring more cheer, because there is definitely a lot going on that we need to brighten peoples' lives. yes. and so happy holidays to you, happy holidays to all of you. we are entertainers and we love to do balloon artistry and fun things with kids. it's a very important time to spread the cheer and we like doing it at union square and all other locations.

so we'd love to talk with you as well, and especially union square, that is coming up just next week. so i hope to see all of you there. and brighten your days and your family's with our art. thank you. >> thank you. >> secretary: next speaker. >> fortune cookie by the way. >> thank you, for tune cookie. >> the name that the city knows me by is sunshine. i'd like to think that i do my best i'd say to make everybody in a happy space for the holiday. union square this year is once again under wraps, it's true, it doesn't look as nice as we'd like it to. i remember 28, 30 years ago i'd say, when i used to be right next to the tree by the way. i think it's time, again it's true, if you'd like to talk me

when you're not so busy as a council meeting, it would be nice to be in the square this year i'd say, so we could bring the cheer that they don't have to look at only construction this way. once again, i'd like to wish everyone a happy holiday, it's true. to everyone in the city, too. it's a time in the world when you can't have enough happiness you see. i'm glad to see san francisco honors that for you and for me. >> thank you very much. i'm going it leave my card. secreta >> secretary: next speaker? >> good morning. president buell and commissioners, i'm raised in the mission district, i passed the half century mark living here in san francisco. i'm here to beseech all seven of the commissioners to consider

the following. hoping that you will rename justin -- >> president buell: there is item number 7, you can speak to this issue under that item. >> i did not realize that. >> president buell: i'm sorry. >> my fault for not looking at the agenda. >> president buell: thank you. >> secretary: richard, did you want to speak? good morning commissioners, there are a couple of richards. >> president buell: if this relates to the item on the consent calendar, when we take up the consent calendar we're going to ask for public comment and i appreciate if you do it then. thank you very much. >> great, thank you. >> secretary: anyone else who would like to make general comment. >> not only a comment, but a

statement, but to go down in history. my name is ace on the case, i'm from the field, i call it the fill no more. i'm here to speak on the issue that is coming up soon, but i'd thought i'd have an opportunity to speak, may not be an item. but let me say to your park director, you have few parks in my community, in the fill-no-more. this agency is like the rest of the city, don't give a damn no more about the fill no more. see, i'm 63 years old, born and raised in the fill-no-more, but yet i have to come down here to city hall, which i call silly hall, to even get the rights to be on the map in the fill-no-more. it was ironic. some of you on that stage there,

know exactly what i'm talking about because you know the history of the fill-no-more. i'm appalled of this park rec. i had to negotiate to just work in a park and many parks across the treat from the police department. where we had killings next door to the police department. right across the street from a mini park that i think you guys are funding right now in the fill-no-more. i'm appalled -- >> bell ringing. >> the history speaks for itself, i got kids and my kids got kids. and my grandson gave me four grandkids, so i'm a papa, but in my community i'm known as ace on the case. in your face. i'm in your place. and i'll be here to talk about other things that i'm appalled of the city and county. errors that you all make in the city and county and the city

attorney. >> president buell: thank you. >> secretary: next speaker. >> good morning to all you commissioners, i know you have a hard job, i appreciate everything you do. i want to put this as natural area, native plan, open space, i'm here to talk about why we component have a mass -- don't have a master plan. i gave you a letter last time, it says, to whom it may concern, the park bond provided $2.4 million for major improvement to mclaren park. the funds would come from the state, department general fund. help the southeast district of san francisco follow the money, cv 1 schedule, mclaren cost plan. page number 28. annual maintenance, six gardens assigned to maintain john

mclaren park with three custodians we'll require to augment the existing workforce with completion of long term action and additional gardeners will be required. five gardeners are assigned to maintain john mclaren park acres. the master plan approved 1987 apparently had been swept under city hall without consideration to the hard-working underprivileged communities. to many specialties being created to glamorize and sway the new mayor, supervisors, not enough reinforcement for the gardeners labor force that make you guys look good. they should be taken more

seriously. mclaren gardeners maintain 365 acres, will have opportunities to enjoy their time without a long-term debilitating injury due to being work, which amounts to slavery. not much different than modern slavery on the 365-acre plantation. where is the open space fund money that is to be set aside for the gardener staffing. there is not enough to be done. >> president buell: thank you. >> secretary: next speaker, please. >> hi. can you hear me? hi, thanks for letting me be here. i'm su ellen, a mom of three boys and representing a

coalition of parents from the san francisco, i'm here to mention, talk about how we're trying to phase out sand from all newly renovated playgrounds, even though there is no sand policy. we have internal e-mails showing orchestrated public relations campaigning making it disappear as if the engaging in the process with the community. but have purposely left sand out of the community conversations. specifically, we asked, we had a petition, we have it over 700 signatures that accessible sand element be considered and possibility in every redesigned playground. such as said, sgt. macaulay and mclaren.

while they were being developed, they did not consider sand for new playgrounds. connie chan said they will be phasing out sand. on july 25th, they said they discourage the use of sand when renovating playgrounds. but the tone has shifted, on september 5th, she said sand is discussed, but it seems as if the statement was saying that the communities had to raise sand for it to be considered. and that now since september 29, they have begun developing guidelines for including sand in the playgrounds. and the playgrounds already in development, they're already pushing the plans through before guidelines have been developed and we're asking they slow down the planning phase in order to listen to the community and be able to get feedback on whether or not they want the sand for

the children. >> president buell: thank you. >> secretary: anyone else who wants to make general public comment? being none, this item is closed. we are now on the consent calendarnd i do have a few cards. i have albert, chuck, tom scott, steven, and richard. >> steven who? >> kenneth. >> thank you. in any order. >> hi, my name is chuck, i'm native san franciscoen, i have two little kids, 5-year-old, 10-year-old, we started mclaren park because there were five missing -- i'm talking on item d, the playground renovation.

one of the reasons we formed, there was no playgrounds there for kids. and we were asked to see if we could get a playground at an area that was smaller because we didn't have the money to put a larger playground at the group picnic area. we started with the toddler playground, we worked hard to fund, and we applied for grants and have now that small playground is that successful, but the whole reason we started to help mclaren park was to have a playground for older kids, all ages at the group picnic area which is where this playground is being built. it's a beautiful design, i can be swayed to approve it, be for it, but there is a lot of missing elements. i think there should be more for kids. when they're there, there is going to be groups of kids, there is not much there. with rec and park help and

outside monetary help we might be able to make this a great playground. right now to me it seems like it's missing a lot. just looks pretty to look at. thank you. >> president buell: thank you. >> secretary: next speaker, please. >> my name is stephen, this is embarrassing, but there is a similarity between sgt. macaulay and mclaren and i want to speak on sgt. macaulay. >> you can, it's all on -- yeah, sgt. macaulay, the concept twal design, right? >> yes. yes. again, my name is stephen and i live next to sgt. macaulay park and invested a lot of time in the procedures that have led up to the design of the park. and i would like to make it -- put on record that months ago, i mean, months and months ago there was a design passed by the

public regarding sgt. macaulay park and that was to kind of show respect to little saigon. that was passed and voted on and passed and that design has not been included to any park of the final design as far as i know. i think that is disgusting, considering what we did to that country, we should in some small way, i think it would be a nice gesture, because we bombed the hell out of that country, i think it would be nice to show some type of respect to the people of vietnam, saigon. and that's my opinion, anyway. i would like you all to look into that. >> president buell: thank you. >> secretary: next speaker. richard albert tom scott. go ahead.

>> thank you, commissioners, i'm richard harris with the san francisco golf and we have appeared before you on the sharp park matter. this is before your day on consent calendar 5, laguna salada, this was before you on march 16 and i have provided a copy to you of your march 16 referring you to pages 8 and 9 of the exhibit. what is before you today on a consent calendar matter of which

i received no notice is would change language. the language of the letter is being requested to be changed. and you will see that in your package on consent number 5-i. there is different language. now i have spoken with staff about this this morning, because i had virtually no time on this. it's possible that this is something that it can be understood, but at this moment i ask that it is taken off the consent calendar, i would like the opportunity to speak to staff and then bring it back to consent or kick it over to another meeting.

>> president buell: i'm going to ask the general manager to comment. >> commissioner, what is on agenda is simply a clerical fix to make sure that when you approved -- there was a resolution approving a letter that was submitted to the board of supervisors when they had the appeal on february 28th. i think you have a copy of that letter. in march you voted to affirm. we had the wrong draft of the letter, so all this is, is cleric clerical substitution of the language approved. mr. harris was present at the meeting, was present when it was read into the record and the

public golf association were consulted closely on the substance of the language. we have already apologized to mr. harris for this catching him by surprise. this was meant only as a clerical fix to conform the language that you approved to the language of board of supervisors approved a week earlier. you approved an earlier version of the letter. >> president buell: thank you, next speaker. >> albert and tom scott. can we please ask everyone to take a seat, if you're not speaking, please take a seat. >> morning commissioners. my name is tom scott, i took

great interest in the mclaren park. i filled out questionnaires, attended meetings and corresponded with managers throughout the process. i concluded i support most aspects -- >> president buell: there is an item on the general calendar on the mclaren plan and the trails et cetera. the item under the consent calendar has to do with the playgrounds. john mclaren renovation. >> right, i want to talk about the park. >> president buell: you address -- >> no, i'm talking about the trails and path. >> president buell: right, that's going to come up. when it comes up, we'd appreciate -- >> oh, i will. >> good morning commissioners, esteemed commissioners. i'm looking at consent 5 d and

e, let'splaysf! for john mclaren renovations, this is long overdue, but they're thankful, we'll take anything we can get. it's all here, equity. i'm going to put it right here. let's see if we can get that on the screen, please. but we have issues here with a lot of money, here it goes. plan to add the -- where is rec and park department plan to maintain the asphalt path? lots of money is going to dirt trails. ok. i guess you aren't going to put that on the screen, that's good stuff. we have a problem with equity metrics. i think that you guys need to look closer if that's you're using. there are serious problems in

mclaren park. i want to thank from the bottom of my heard, jacob gilchrist, i have the recreation park capital committee. this is a very good subject, john mclaren vision plan, we need a master plan, i want to thank him. we're grateful. november 1, 2017, let'splaysf! alexis ward is a worker, something we should cherish. she's a project manager. that's what we need. october 4, 2017 letter, this was done by tony moore environmental specialist, physical grants, mclaren park trails improvement. trails, not pathway, not asphalt. there is a lot of money going to trails. lot of people can't navigate trails. we need pathways. let's focus, it's important. february -- garden, alexis ward

again. i want to thank everybody, director of capital improvement. i hope you have a healthy baby and life. thank you. >> secretary: anyone else who would like to speak under the consent calendar? come on up. >> thank you. hello, my name is anna, i'm a neighbor at mclaren park. i'm speaking to item 5-d. and i also think that the conceptual design put forth for the playground does not address the full needs of the community, especially the 8, 10, 12-year-old children. it is much more aimed at younger

kids. and therefore i do encourage that the neighborhood be brought in more to decide what kind of playground we really need there. thank you. >> president buell: thank you. >> secretary: anyone else who would like to make public comment on the consent calendar? seeing none, this item is closed. commissioners. >> did you want to make a comment? >> yes, item 5-c, sgt. macaulay playground. i wanted to take a second. i don't know -- yes, you're here. good. and thank the following community groups for their work in activating the park and working with us on the design of the renovation. leveos, anna, who is the representative for her

engagement. we have been in very close communication over the design and then a series of additional alternatives that the community is interested in. specifically a restroom within the park. and while the restroom itself is not within the budget scope that we have, we are going to work with the community, public works and decaux to find out if we can move the existing j.c. decaux outside the fence line and slated to be replaced with a new structure that could give us storage. this is slated for the next year and a half to two years. we've also since the capital committee figured out how to include the trash cans and bulletin boards and the project budget and working with tpl to see if we can find additional funding for other scope items on the wish list, storage unit,

electrical outlets, additional seating and priceyier arched entry gate and art installation. we're excited to move forward with the concept design. these items will be included as alternatives. there is a lot of instability in the bidding climate as you know. i know over the next 12 months or so we'll work together to see what additional funds we can cobble to chip away at some of these different items. it's an important space for the community. it should be safe, clean, inspiring and we welcome the opportunity to work with them to see what we can do to fund some of these alternatives thank you. >> president buell: thank you. commissioner low. l >> vice president low: there was quite a bit of dialogue, and i encourage the department to

continue the great start on collaborating with the community to make sure this happens. it's maybe not perfect, but we have a plan and push it forward to make it happen. and look in our pockets to see if we have extra pennies to make the alternate happen. >> president buell: thank you, seeing no other comments. the commission would entertain a motion. moved and seconded. all those in favor? so moved. thank you. >> secretary: now on item 6, the san francisco zoo.

>> i apologize, this is going to be a repeat for those in committee two hours ago. i'm going to give you a brief overview of what has been happening in terms of our education programs in the community, engagement activities of the past six months or so. as you can see up here, our summer zoo camp is extremely popular, broke enrollment records. we had registration last february, 16th, we had 800 people registered the first day.

it's a nice mix of kids, 13,000 families. we had classes for kids 4-7 years of age over the course of ten weeks. we offered the second year of wellness, 101, for middle school kids, introducing them to animal husbandry, animal wellness, creating enrichments items and all the conservative camp sessions targeted to 6 and 7th graders was sold out. here's the first grade tigers with the masks they made. also early childhood programs, ecp. they're extremely popular. we celebrated 10th anniversary of the little learner's cabin. we have 300 classes, 430 kids participating and our staff continues to participate in professional development through classes at city college.

in terms of community engage am, we partnered recently with sunset resource center to provide scholarships to low-income families and we've had ongoing partnership with families of children with disabiliti disabilities. in april of 2018 we're going to have another one. it's well attended and been a great collaboration. we've also, starting our 4th season with tots, which is a group that uses parks in the city. we have these little kids that are barely able to walk, but they're going to become future soccer stars. they're mobile and use animal movements to play at the zoo, learn soccer skills. zoo mobile program, one of the flagship programs at the zoo. this past year, we taught almost

500 lessons and we served 94 title i schools, again, title i schools are schools that provide free lunch or partial fee-paid lunches, so that was a great way to serve some of the schools we hadn't done traditionally and it's part of the pilot program. 20 scholarships for various organizations, senior centers, homeless centers, et cetera. also had reservations of over 200 reaching 15,000 students. i mentioned earlier that driving in from the east bay, i heard climate change discussed on npr six times during my two-hour commute and that's something we want to continue to focus on at

the zoo. so we're having the climate change discussion in 23 classrooms. also with our zigzag zoom animal lesson, we're trying to target the lessons for the little ones that involves more movement. we partner with san francisco shared schoolyard project in the middle school and some of the other schools that have revamped their school yards and playgrounds and recently participated in katy tang's movie night, we brought bio facts. there is the cute zoo mobile. the climate change lesson. picture of our zigzag zoo preschool lesson with the little ones pretending to be fairets i believe. and this year, we hosted the 35th middle school science fair

in partnership with sfusd. the museum was still undergoing renovation. we had that in our grade hall, very good participation. we had the second year of hosting the king science conference. in partnership with sfusd and b.c. berkley and underwriting from google. we're about to start the third year of that. here are youth showing buy ofacts to some of the high school attendees. and then finished the 4th year of partnering with sfusd. they have a big presence in san francisco. we've partnered with them offer

zoo force for 6th graders in underserved schools. we teach animal behavior class in the schools. a week later, the kids come to the zoo and come to hang out and visit with the animals. this involves the volunteers and the staff, about to embark on the fifth year of partnering in two weeks. in terms of youth volunteers, this is just the youth volunteers with the education department. we have others in the natural trail, animal resource center. but these are some of the numbers in terms of scholarship recipients. the number of hours that the youth have contributed during the year. there are some of the youth with reading, storytime station, for the visitors that come by. this is outside the african

savannah, so they're reading a book about the zebra. and one of the things we're proud of, 20-year partnership with rec and park, habitat restoration on city property. here mountain lake. the youth read and do other types of restoration and collaborated with pre-sidio trust, where we planted over 1,000 plants. also, national level, we partnered with. some of the education staff have been training on climate change and interpretation for audiences. then wild nights, this is overnight program, very popular, because they get to stay

overnight at the zoo. either tent out, tents on the playground, or if it's raining, they'll sleep in the great hall. we had over 400 guests, 13 completed programs. outward bound likes to come visit us. 30 family groups and we won the best award for family wild nights. girl scouts program. a program that has been popular at the zoo. ramped it up in past year. we have the logo on the girl scout website. programs listed in the annual guide. and it's become very popular, three out of the four programs have wait lists. the girls do enrichment for our crow russell and other animals, to get their badges. so it's a fun collaboration.

we also work with the boy scouts. the numbers, 1-17, 346 schools visited for free. you can see the breakdown. 4-8th grade, almost 15,000 kids. and then the chaperones are the 50-64-year-olds. almost 60,000 complementary admissions during the past six months. and that included most recently disabled vets, fire victims. last weekend for veterans day, national guard. ssfpfd and then every month a free day for san francisco residents. that will do it. thank you. >> president buell: thank you. >> secretary: is there anyone who would like to make public comment on the item, the san francisco zoo? being none, this item is closed. that was discussion only.

we're now on item 7, john mclaren park vision plan. good morning, commissioners. >> good morning. >> good morning. >> i'm having a little were you able projecting, so let me know if you can't hear me. dawn, director of planning and capital management. we're here today, to, i hope,

celebrate the first round of a series of investments in mclaren park and i want to start today by thanking both the many staff who have worked on all facets of the plan over the past year and a half. and also thank the stakeholders who have stuck through with us as we've gone through really a year of extensive process. and the conversations overall have been enormously collaborative and constructive and i learned a lot. i want to thank them for participating in the process. bringing forward their dreams and hopes to mclaren park and i think we've made major progress on this plan in moving forward. today, what we really are asking the commission for is to approve the priorities reflected in the

allocation of $8.9 million for mclaren park funding and to direct staff to continue to develop concept plans for each one of those priorities. we have done that already for group picnic. and we will replicate that process for each of the other priorities, more detailed concept plans, completing ceqa review and bring them back to the commission before going forward with construction contracts and the like. so, one of the things we wanted to start with was talking about mclaren's opportunities and challenges. mclaren does occupy a very specific space within the park system. i think if you -- we've talked about golden gate park is the front yard and mclaren is the backyard. i also think if you were to put golden gate park and mclaren

park as book ends, you could almost arrange all the other spaces on spectrum, between extreme formality and the most wild spaces. they serve as mirror images of each other. what we wanted to do, we went through the process, not to change mclaren's core character, but to figure out how to emphasize and enhance it. what are the distinguishing characteristics? >> one is that mclaren, like all of the parks, or most of them has a healthy set of assets which encourage active recognize yaks, whether it's the jerry garcia theater and the many courts and playgrounds in the park. it's also distinguished by the natural landscape. not just landscape, but san francisco original landscape. where golden gate pk