signals. be aware of crosswalks and try to work within the laws designed to keep you safe. it is really important that this effort be a partnership, not only with law enforcement but partnership between the community. if you follow the laws, you have much less of a chance of becoming involved in a fatality. that is particularly important with pedestrians. just the laws of physics. it takes a little while for 2,000 pound or 3,000 pound vehicle to stop. physics is going to win every time. if you pay attention, if you follow the laws you have less of a chance of getting involved in these type of incidents. for the elderly in the community, it's more important. a majority of our traffic related fatalities involve elderly. people can't get across the street as fast, they may not

hear as well as some other members of the community. so for our elderly, let's pay attention. let's help them in terms of paying attention to our roadways when we are driving and bicycling, that is a huge issue in our city. our outreach is a huge priority and again we use traffic stops as a way of outreach but we also have many public campaigns to remind drivers and pedestrians and bicyclists of their responsibilities when they are often the roadways. the partnership we talk about between the mta, city government, board of supervisors, fire department, the department of public health, it really is a team effort to realize the vision of zero fatalities. i remind you, look at where we were and where we are. this vision will be a reality,

it will be a reality and we'll work together to make that happen. i thank you for your time. families thank you for being here and remember, vision zero is about all of us. thank you. (applause) >> thank you chief. the chief made reference that back in 2013 it seemed not a very realistic goal and we were one of the first cities in the country, i think perhaps only new york had adopted vision zero and now it's more common term and many more cities have adopted it. back then one of the things we started doing differently from the transportation standpoint, thinking of it as a public health issue and not just public safety issue. with the leadership of department of public health is a large part of why we are where we are, taking that view of the issues not just street design or

enforcement view, i think has been a game changer for us here in san francisco. we're grateful to be able to co-lead between sfmta and department of public health and joined on behalf of public health director garcia and chief medical director argon. (applause) >> good morning everyone. first of all i want to thank acting mayor breed for being here today and being behind this vision zero, which is really important to the department of public health. i was born and raised in san francisco. i grew up in the mission district. i live in glenn park, i raised three children and my wife is a first grade teacher. we have been dealing with the issue of traffic and pedestrian safety all of our lives. and i can tell you that what's

happened in 2017 is a big accomplishment. if you just walk outside and you see the volume of people, the volume of cars all the activity, and the fact that we are down in terms of the number of deaths is a huge accomplishment. it's a huge accomplishment and i think everyone should really take pride in that. the other thing to realize is for every person that dies, there's a dozen who were severely injured. so think of it as a pyramid. the whole pyramid is getting smaller. again, that's a big accomplishment. we all have to remember that all of us, all of us every single day no matter how you get to work, school, wherever you go, all of us are always pedestrians. this is really -- this impacts all of us. from a public health issue, one of the side effects of having

pedestrian safety is that it really promotes community health. it allows people to walk more, to bike more, to do what we call in public health, active transportation and this is really good. it's promoting health in other ways, reducing people's stress as they feel they can take a walk in the neighborhood and feel safe while getting healthy. and i also just want to acknowledge the clinicians and workers at san francisco general hospital working 24/7 so when someone gets injured, we have a team of people part of the city family who are the best in the world of taking care of the patients who are injured. the last thing i want to say is for us in public health, everybody coming together, working together, this way, this collective action, this collective impact, to us that's the best way to do public health and we're very excited. we have a lot of great staff,

please visit visionzero.sf. you can read about our collaborative success. again, thank you so much. (applause) >> thank you dr. argon. to echo the praise for the folks at the san francisco general hospital, i heard a stat a couple years ago, i don't know if it's 100% accurate but nearly half of the admittance are from traffic issues. you think of the first responders who bring the folks there and the impact it has on the system, it gives you the scope of the impact of traffic safety in san francisco beyond what we're talking about here today. the folks on the front line are largely from the police department, the first responders

to the scene and it's not just fatalities but 200 or so people who are seriously injured each year in san francisco. so the fire department plays a critical role in getting people to the trauma center to be helped as quickly as possible. i want to acknowledge and ask to say a few words our fire chief. (applause). >> good morning. thank you for being here. i wanted to comment on the alignment around vision zero and acknowledge the progress being made and has been said by many speakers before me, one death is one too many. we come some times from different angles but the san francisco fire department is fully committed. the men and women of the san francisco fire department are some of the first responders to

the difficult scenes. we experience the emotion and have the conversations with the families and i want to acknowledge the families here that have lost loved ones due to traffic collisions and fatalities related to our congested city. and it is worth noting as dr. argon noted, in a city whose population is rising, there's more vehicles and pedestrians and bicycles on the street, to have a reduction is significant but there's more work to do. there are three prongs i believe are part of vision zero, the education poliiece that the pol department has a role in. it is important to be alert and aware at all times. i know as a pedestrian, i'm the mother of three boys, one of the things i say, try to gain the eye contact with the driver and don't assume because you have a

green light or ability to walk across that it will be safe. so awareness is a key factor. our role is one of education as well. we have the contacts to support the family, enforcement obviously, the police department does very capably. i would like to touch on the engineering piece, the mta does a great job in engineering and reengineering our streets, we sit regularly with the mta, sometimes it's looked at as a competing interest, we want to as first responders be able to navigate to the scene of an emergency in a timely fashion but one of the things we heard loud and clear and i have seen, and we have worked closely with the city administrator's office, we have taken bold steps, not always popular in my department but bold steps to shrink the

responding apparatus. very proud that just last year we took delivery of eight new fire engines with a smaller profile, easier to maneuver and increased visibility for the drivers to make us safer as first responders and more responsive to the vision zero goals. i have driven the engines and they're more responsive in the city streets. we're piloting two new ambulances, they work different, we're hoping to work with our members to get them on board to take a look at a smaller ambulance as well. i drove that yesterday and it's much more user friendly through our narrow streets. we're hoping from an engineering perspective as part of vision zero to be very responsive to the size of our apparatus to be able to continue to fulfill our goals of saving lives and

property but also be responsive to our growing population and many different varieties of pedestrians, bicyclists, cars and public transportation on the street. so thank you very much. (applause) >> thank you chief. from the executive branch and other government agencies, department of public works, one of our main partners and public utilities commission, planning department with the unified school district, dozens of other agencies all working together. and i want to invite up some of our community partners, but before i do that, the bridge between the executive branch or one of the important bridges between the executive branch and our community are the elected officials that represent the community, our board of supervisors represent the citizens, businesses, schools, institutions in their district

and that bridge is important to us in terms of feeding the community voice to inform what we're doing and as i said earlier, it requires great leadership and sometimes great courage on the behalf of individual members of the board of supervisors to support the work that can be controversial but ultimately is important and necessary for us to get to zero. one of the great champions of that, district eight supervisor jeff sheehy. i want to ask him to say a few words. (applause) >> thank you. and i think this has been said, but i really do think that it is time to reflect on mayor lee's legacy. this is tremendous. we're here today recognizing the lowest level of fatalities because of the leadership of mayor lee. i think of his understated way of leading our city, the way he has brought our departments together and i do think once

again we should think about this as an important piece of his legacy. and i want to commend mayor breed for her leadership on the board, as ed ruskin mentioned, through the work on the board and enormous amount of feedback we get when the changes come into our neighborhoods, the ability to work collaboratively with the executive branch and agencies has been key. so mayor breed's leadership first as board president has been essential for this and going forward we'll continue to push the numbers down. i'm grateful for her leadership. i know for me personally i focused on bike safety and i hope the next year brings significant improvement, getting protected bike lanes so people can bike around. i think of my daughter,

12-year-old public school kid, we bop around all over town, pedestrian safety is critical. school starts again on monday, so i hope as you are reporting today you will encourage people to slow down, to be mindful, to recognize that you're going to have more cars on the street on monday, more kids on bikes, more kids walking and that's one of the great things that the transportation authority has been supportive of and mta, getting kids to get to school without necessarily having to be in a vehicle and the education for kids on public transportation and walking and biking and walking school buses is an innovation that is great that i have seen folks in my neighborhood implement. if we could be mindful monday that kids are going back to school, not a lot of them are going to be happy about it. you're going to have grumpy kids

dragging their feet and be slow and mindful. thank you. (applause) >> great messages, which i hope you will help us convey. two of the leading voices that challenge us are walk san francisco and san francisco bicycle coalition. everybody, whether you live here, visiting here, work here, everybody starts or ends their trip on foot. we're all pedestrians. and bicycling is the fastest growing mode of transportation in san francisco. you are more vulnerable road users traveling in those ways. i want to welcome walk san francisco and executive director from the san francisco bicycle coalition. >> thank you director ruskin. how did you know my speech would be do more, do better, do faster.

i don't have to say anything. in all seriousness, we're here to acknowledge the good news of 2017. i think after 2017 we could all use some good news. not only did the total deaths on our streets from traffic collisions decrease dramatically in 2017 but pedestrian deaths decreased as well. since 2013, every single year fewer pedestrians have been killed on our streets. this is really good news. of course this good news does not mean that we're all here today to pat ourselves on the back and move on. 20 lives lost is too many. and so each of the lives lost needs to be a call of action to everyone here to do better. no family should get a phone call that their loved one is in the hospital or their love one worse has been killed due to crashes we know are preventable. people talking in san francisco and so many folks have said this

today, every one of us here shouldn't have to put their lives on the line walking down the street. in san francisco, low income communities, people of color, immigrants and seniors are more likely to be killed in crashes and we need that to change. seniors should be able to grow old in our city. instead, they're the most likely group to be killed in crashes. these crashes, make no mistake, they're not accidents, they're predictable and that means they're preventable and that's why the city has invested a tremendous amount of funding policy into vision zero since 2014 and which we're extremely grateful for and why we're here today. at the same time, we need to do better. to get to zero, there's the better part director ruskin, to get to zero, we need to step our game up a little bit. we have six years.

we need to increase investments in safe streets and get projects into the ground more quickly, before more people get hurt and pass automated speed enforcement in san francisco. city community, advocates, families, i believe working together we'll reach zero by 2024. thank you. (applause) >> thank you. on behalf of the san francisco bicycle coalition, i'm the executive director and our 10,000 members, i want to thank many people here, mayor breed, supervisor sheehy, director ruskin, chief scott and his wife and all the other departments who have worked to draw attention toward the progress on vision zero. in 2014 with pressure and leadership from many of the organizations and individuals here today, san francisco

officially adopted the ambitious goal of eliminating traffic deaths and serious injuries from our street. the bold commitment will be one of the endearing legacies of mayor ed lee. i know he believed in achieving vision zero. he cared deeply about the safety of people walking and biking in our city and followed through by directing city agencies to deliver infrastructure improvements with the speed and urgency necessary. we owe it to mayor lee's memory to remain just as urgently focused on delivering safer streets faster. in 2017, san francisco proved to the nation that progress toward an ambitious goal like vision zero is possible. because of that progress, 10 people are alive today. 10 people are biking and walking to work. 10 people are waiting for muni and 10 people are coming home today to their families.

and i want to recognize alvin and san francisco bay area families for safe streets, those who have lost their loved ones for being here and continually sharing their stories. we're here to acknowledge progress but also to recommit ourselves to vision zero. we have to work harder, even harder moving forward if we want 2017 to be the beginning of the trend and not just an aberration. while we saw significant decreases in fatalities for people, and in particular people driving or riding in cars, the decreases were not nearly as significant for people walking and biking, our most vulnerable. in 2018 san francisco must show more resolve and urgency, starting with everyone standing here today. i want to highlight infrastructure is a key part of vision zero and we know there are plans in place for all

streets in the city. without all of us working together and strong leadership, the plans will remain just that. i want to highlight one project in particular, the better market street project, transforming 2.2 miles of the street into a safe and comfortable place to bike and take transit. we have watched as this project experiences delays and we cannot afford to wait longer. for the safety of the thousands of people who travel down market street every day, construction must begin as soon as possible. the memories of those who have lost their lives are dishonored by further delays. so as we look ahead, we must prioritize the construction of safer streets. dismantling the old barriers and throwing out the old excuses. there is no other way to continue progress in this new year. the lives of our friends, our

families and our neighbors hang in the balance and there is not a moment to waste. thank you. (applause) >> thank you kathy and brian. as the chief said, ultimately it's not about numbers, it's about people. so finally and i would say most importantly, we're honored to have alvin lester here, one of the founding members of the san francisco bay family for safe street. i think the voice of those who have lost a loved one are one of the most effective and compelling tools we have to change the behavior that needs to change to get to zero. please welcome alvin lester. (applause) >> good morning everyone. my story is simple but it's necessary.

i'll just get right to it. i'm alvin lester. the father of amonde lester, he was struck and killed in the bayview neighborhood in the city. i'm here to support safer streets so no one else has to suffer the pain i have from traffic violence. i'm one of the co-founders for san francisco families for safe streets, volunteers who have lost loved ones. we are fighting to help change the culture of unsafe driving habits. we have endorsed vision zero campaign to put an end to traffic deaths and serious injury by 2024. using education, engineering, and law enforcement. it is critical that our city officials focus on the proven tools which will help reach the

no death, no serious injuries goal by 2024. join with us as we push forward together to make san francisco a safe place to walk, ride, drive. and to add to that, i'm here to honor my son. he was a wonderful -- he was my only son and as a father, you put a lot of time and effort to raise kids and teach them the correct things to do and doing so, i had great expectations his life would be satisfying not only to me but to himself. we fight today to bring honor to san francisco. i'm a native and i have seen the changes in san francisco over the 20-30 plus years dealing with high volume of traffic and pedestrian movement on our streets. we need to take our streets back. we need to help people change the negative behaviors that they have built up over the years and we need to do it today.

no parent, no family member should have to go through the suffering of burying their children or mom or father because of preventable collisions. so, let's fight. let's fight. let's make a good fight. you know, there are good things we can do. we have proven tools that help people to drive correctly in our cities and i want to urge everyone at the sound of my voice to make some corrections. if you operate a motor vehicle, think about it, think about the person standing on the corner, think about how fast you're driving, think about the stop sign you're going to come to. just think and just doing so, you'll help someone live another day, i gandhi that. i guarantee that. so i just want to thank everyone for being here and i want to thank our public officials, walk san francisco, bicycle coalition and everyone here who has a vested interest in saving lives.

we all deserve to have safe streets. we shouldn't have to figure out which street to take this day or tomorrow, your life depends on it. you don't want to hear the phone ring and have the news that will rip your heart in two. it's tough, every day of the week i think about my son. he would have been 25 in may of this year. so he was in school, he was working, he had a promising future. however, the individual who took his life didn't care nothing about that. we have to care for those who are living. we have to care to make sure that crossing the street doesn't cost you your life. or end up in a hospital with life threatening injuries. we have to do it. so i'm here today to bring honor to those who have lost their lives and support all the individuals here to help make these things, the numbers come to fruition. i want to thank everybody.

thank you. (applause) >> i can't say it better than that. we are certainly committed within the government to do more and better and faster. as alvin and the chief and supervisors said, we need everyone to pay attention, to slow down as they're getting around the city. it's going to take all of us to get to vision zero but it is achievable. we can do this san francisco. thank you for coming today. (applause) ♪

>> 5, 4, 3, 2 , 1. cut. >> we are here to celebrate the opening of this community garden. a place that used to look a lot darker and today is sun is shining and it's beautiful and it's been completely redone and been a gathering place for this community. >> i have been waiting for this garden for 3 decades. that is not a joke. i live in an apartment building three floors up and i have potted plants and have dreamt the whole time i have lived there to have some ability to build this dirt. >> let me tell you handout you -- how to build a community

garden. you start with a really good idea and add community support from echo media and levis and take management and water and sun and this is what we have. this is great. it's about environment and stewardship. it's also for the -- we implemented several practices in our successes of the site. that is made up of the pockets like wool but they are made of recycled plastic bottles. i don't know how they do it. >> there is acres and acres of parkland throughout golden gate park, but not

necessarily through golden community garden. we have it right in the middle of this is the recreation and park commission with commissioner buell? here. commissioner lowe? here. commissioner mcdonnell? here. just to remind everyone, we request that you turn off any electronic sound producing devices that could go off during the meeting, so cell phones, if you could please turn those off or on silent. we request that you take any

conversations outside. if you would like to speak on an item today, please create a blue card. unless otherwise nounszed by the president, each person will have three minutes for public comment on each item. if there is an item of interest to you that is not on the agenda and is under the subject matter jurisdiction of the commission, you may speak under general public comment. that is item 4. it will be heard for 15 minutes and then continued again at item 12. please address your comments to the commission during public comment on items in order to allow equal time for all. neither commission nor staff will respond. the commission may ask questions after public comment is closed. if the fire alarms activate, you must evacuate using any exit.

please note that elevators will return to the first floor and are not available for use. if you do need assistance out of the building, make your way to the closest area refuge across the hall from the men's restroom. inside the restroom is a speaker box, press it and city hall security will answer it, let them know where you are and they will assist you. item number 2. the president's report. >> president buell: thank you. let me begin by simply saying no words can possibly express the sadness that we all feel in this department and this commission for the very tragic loss of our mayor ed lee. there simply aren't the right words to do it, but first, we will adjourn in his memory.

and two, as someone very high up in washington said in a text to me, in troubling times, he was a very, very decent man. and so we will remember him with sadness. with that, that concludes my president's report. >> clerk: anyone who would like to make public comment? being none, we are on item 3. the general manager's report. >> thank you commissioners and president buell, i didn't realize how hard this was going to be. yeah, i mean, we're all heart broken. and so today, rather than run through a typical general manager's report, i wanted to highlight the mayor's commitment to parks. for us all. and in honor of the mayor, i'll

try to be short, because i am short. [laughter]. he was just -- we're going to let the slide show run here, but he was such a champion of our parks. and certainly understood the importance of making them accessible to all residents. there were probably no single statistic related to parks that he was more proud of than being the first big city mayor to be able to brag that 100% of residents that lived in the city he led lived within a 10-minute walk of a park. he would almost every event since we reached that honor, mention it right out of the gate. and that was because of how much he cared about infrastructure and investment.

and during his tenure, under his leadership, we have invested over $350 million in parks. including voter-approved bonds in 2012. the implementation of a bond in 2008, and although that was before his mayoral tenure, if you go back a little further, the mayor city administrator was the author of the city's 10-year capital plan, which laid very much the groundwork for all of investment. parks that were reopened during his tenure include chinatown, delores park, glen canyon playground and recreation center, lafayette park, reopened the sunset recreation center,

reopened the joe dimaggio playground. opened a new plaza where town square on 24th street. acquired open space out of india basin, francisco reservoir, st. mary's which opened under his leadership. under his leadership voters approved proposition b in 2016. which really has been a true stabilizing force for us and will be even more valuable as we head into rockier budget times. just in last year since proposition b, we have resurfaced total of 15 tennis and basketball courts, most of which are in underserved

communities. he understood the importance of public-private partnerships and through you are partnership with the city field foundation we've renovated 21 soccer fields, added 80,000 hours of play. through our partnership with trust for public land, we opened -- renovated bo decker park, balboa, the amazing playgrounds that have sprung out of the ground, right in our front yard of this building which will open on february 14th, have his fingerprints all over them. i remember vividly meeting in his office with my good friend jackie and folks from the trust for public land and we excitedly showed him the design and he said light, there needs to be light. and light he got. and light he will get.

when these playgrounds open, you're going to see a brand new energy and face out at civic center. one of the things that i really connected with him and loved him for was how much he cared about our kids and how much he cared about active recreation, whether it was the mayor 3 on 3 hoops tournament, coming to crabfest, promoting the scholarships, whether it was supporting the summer camp programs, whenever he was around kids, you would see him smile and just light up. he loved sports, loved sporting events, loved community. he created his -- the mayor's annual ping pong tournament which started and runs throughout chinatown. golf. whether it be the first tee and

teaching kids who have never picked up a golf club the importance of the game, or having the world's best come to harding for the president's cup. am ex championship, the president's cup, all brought to san francisco because he was our park champion and he loved golf and the pga knew he loved golf and knew he would make it work. he always came out to the events. never missed a tree-lighting. in fact the last time i had the honor of being with him was at our tree-lighting this past year, where again, he bragged being the first mayor in a country where 100% of us lived within the 10-minute walk of the park. we've increased scholarships to san francisco families.

we've run the teen outdoor experience seven years in a row, which was his vision to bring kids who touched the juve nil system, up to mather for a long weekend when it was just theirs. he provided over the greater and greener parks conference where we brought the nation's park leaders and some of the nation elected officials to show off the park system. we presided over the centennial. he presided over the summer of love celebration. he led pride parades. giants and warriors championship parades that ran through our parks and facilities. he welcomed the world cup to civic center plaza. and there may have been no bigger san francisco deltas fan.

although they were only around one year, they made significant investment into our stadium for generations of folks to enjoy and they won the north american soccer league championship their one and only year. i could go on and on, but i'll stop there. i wanted to say how much i'm going to miss him and how grateful i am, how much he truly loved and cared about parks and the city's kids. to that end, we have some really, really special kids. i thought this was the right way to end today's otherwise sad general manager's report. i want to welcome the young people's team music theater company to our commission. they are a performing arts company devoted to bringing quality and professional level

theater to young adults in the bay area. this is your program. this is a san francisco recreation and park program. they offer quality instruction in drama, voice, acting, dance and technical theater. founded in 1984 by diane price. they are selected by open audition only. this past month, under the amazing leadership of nicole, they won first place for the second consecutive year. they performed excerpts from their upcoming production of bat boy, the musical, this production will revisit the first show ever put on my nicole, who is celebrating her first anniversary with us as director. [applause]

the show -- [laughter] the show will take place on january 26-28 and february 2-4 at the museum. and in honor of the holidays and our beloved mayor, i invite them to perform now. [ ♪ ] [ ♪ ] ♪ has come from the cold

♪ [ ♪ ] [ ♪ ] ♪ it's a joyful moment ♪ may the joyful noise ♪ make some noise ♪ make some noise

♪ sing it proud ♪ all night long ♪ make it noise, noise, joyful noise ♪ ♪ make some noise ♪ praise god ♪ so like the prophets we're told in the days of old, make joyful noise my soul ♪ ♪ make joyful noise my soul ♪ make some noise ♪ make some noise ♪ hallelujah ♪ all night long ♪ make joyful noise ♪ of joyful noise

[applause] [cheering] >> well, that's a pretty awesome -- >> wow. >> -- way to end the year in the general manager's report, in honor of our beloved mayor. >> president buell: we found a new way to open every meeting, that's terrific. >> mr. president, can you join me for a picture? how about we all go? >> president buell: the whole commission down, come on.

[applause]

>> commissioner, she's on the way out of the door, but i want to celebrate chris boettcher, who oversees all of the music programs, including this one, so thank you, chris. [applause] >> is there anyone who would like to make public comment under the general manager's report? ok. [laughter] seeing none, this item is closed. we're now under general public comment, is there anyone who would like to make general public comment? ok being none, richard? ok.

>> what would our meeting with without? >> can you sing, richard? [laughter]. >> good morning, everyone. i just want to make a few public comments, i try to speak a little bit about phil but what happened every time i walk around in chinatown park and i see something wrong. one of the things has to do with the new, brand new, restroom facility. and one of the doors always locked, the one with non-gender, family use, and everything else. is that ever going to be open? that's a very simple thing to do, open it. the room to whatever is holding it up. the other thing that i looked at, currently the location is going to be under a lot of renovations. i was thinking if it would be possible to get a temporary fix.

i walk through there, i see the pot holes, they're probably dug up by rodents, or unwanted rats. they have traps around there. could they do something like, use soil impact, hanging around the temporary fix and top it off with some of the broken up bark so it doesn't look so -- because at night it gets spooky and it makes different sounds in the park. i think the -- [inaudible] a good job because a long time ago i had spoken when he, lee, his wife, she wanted her name left off, but she, herself has passed on and was a great sponsor of park activities throughout the chinatown areas, basketball namely.

so of the interest, there was the slope in front of the park on the cray street side and she had shown me pictures of it. it looked awful because it wasn't cared for, there wasn't much maintenance done. i asked the maintenance about it. i don't want to fall down, it's a very steep slope there, maybe even get a stick or something, break it a little bit. that's how i remember edie. and then ed lee and those other people, who have already passed on. i hope i'm not going to be catching up with them. thank you very much. >> president buell: thank you. >> clerk: anyone else wants to make general comment? seeing none. >> president buell: before i entertain a motion on the

consent calendar, we have a request to speak. we welcome you and send our regards to supervisor yee. >> today i wanted to speak on 5-c, the west portal playground and i'll read a letter that the supervisor included in the report. i'm writing to express my support for the prioritization of the west portal playground renovation project. west portal playground is one of the most utilized playgrounds in district 7. due to the playground state of disrepair, the failing playground's task force identified it as a priority for renovation and is classified as a tier two approximating playground of the lets play sf tt initiative.

since 2014, my office has been working in collaboration with the recreation and park department, san francisco parks alliance and the friends of the west portal playground to continue driving this project forward. while the project has stalled at times, my office has continued to work closely with all stakeholders, particularly with the community members to raise funds and donor recognition ideas. to maintain the project's momentum. the community as represented by the friends of the west portal playground, greater west portal neighborhood association, west portal merchants association and students from west portal elementary school, totalling 160 community members are deeply invested in seat playground renovations completed on a timely schedule. it has been three years since my office first started collaborating on playground renovations and we want to see the project remain on schedule.

i hope the capital committee will approve -- the commission will approve the concept wall design to the members can enjoy a safer and engaging playground. this concludes the letter. >> president buell: thank you very much. >> clerk: any public comment? richard? >> i would like to follow up on the west portal playground design. i seen the particular model, i see the dragon, everything else, what i didn't see was the kids chasing after the big train, maybe they could have dragon

hands or whatever else. there wasn't very much for younger kids. even though it's designed for them, it's a lot of open spaces. where they have the dragon, i was thinking about, a lot of the parks have a spring, you got a little seat on it and the kids can chase after the dragon, or running along with the dragon. that was one thing i liked add onto the concept design. i liked the idea, a nice little park, portion dealing with growth [inaudible] -- plans, so on other issues, on the geneva community gardens, as well as the other geneva car barn, i believe that the -- i

read the contracts between mta, there is something about locking in the 7-year with the rooms that are going to be rented out at low cost. i wanted to include a possible addendum to that where there would be possibly interconnected rooms and it would be a display of earlier iconic type of structures, for example, even the -- i can think of the portals of the past out there. and that used to be on sacramento street before the great fire. throughout the city here, we have a lot of iconic artifacts that would be beautiful. there was a place that people can visit. and it would be like a recreational park area. i hope to keep it open so that you don't just totally lock in.

[inaudible] commissioner lowe, but possibly locking in on the 7-year space. i like to keep the addendum option open. thank you. >> president buell: thank you, richard. >> clerk: anyone else would like to make public comment? seeing none, this item is closed. >> president buell: chair entertains the motion? moved and seconded, all those in favor? so moved. >> we're on item 6, the san francisco zoo. >> thank you, good morning, tanya peterson, director of the san francisco zoo. we support the supervisor's efforts in regards to the west portal and appreciate it. i want to add our thoughts about our wonderful mayor. i first met him when he was at

dpw and i was a board member for the zoo. the zoo is a public-private partnership as the general manager discussed. way back when we were just little people, young people, we were charged with raising funds for our new education center. and as things go, there was a lot of value engineering, budget cuts, et cetera, but one thing was really important to ed lee at this point, the little door handles that had squirrels and things on them, ed thought it would be so great fort kids to open the doors when they saw the squirrels and other animals. we kept those in the budget and he personally screwed the door handles in himself. so here we are years later, he's the mayor and i'm the zoo director and he's standing in front of the door handles and he was tickled pink that the door handles was now there, he was

mayor and i was zoo director and we were finally somebody. we thank him for that. and a chuckle, that's one of the bald eagles, one of the successful conservation programs and we were explaining to him we had to separate the parents from the offspring to protect the health of the eggs and we used technology to do so. he said i wish i'd has he that technology with -- had that technology with the two teenagers in my house. with peace and love. speaking of programs, there is a product of 300,000 children have gone through the doors now since the mayor created these doors & we'll have winter camp over the break. there is still some room left. it's one of the more popular camps. i encourage if you want to put a child in, do so quickly. we love seeing the children at

this time. november was the neighbor month and we partnered with one of the neighbors and most recently we partnered with the pomeroy center. if you don't know, it's behind the zoo. often people go to the pomeroy center thinking it is the zoo. so we -- if somebody wore pink pomeroy colors, we donated to the center. they have one the largest warm pools for rehab and support disabled adults. they have free access, secret access to the zoo. and we were happy to give them $2,000 donation, 2000 people came through in pink, and then we also -- you can see the flamingo chick to the right, we named her pomeroy in honor of our neighbor. love the pomeroy center, good work, good people. it is that time of year, the reinee