from lessons and trying to make a plan to make a better infrastructure for the future. i hope you will support my re-appointment and understand my door's always open to speak with members of your staff and i'm working with the issues internally you have identified we need to work on. i'm always willing to talk to anyone in the public about the issue. we may not always agree but i will listen and i've been the type of person that can work win anybody. thank you for the chance to speak before the committee and with you today. >> thank you, commissioner. >> thank you, commissioner borden. i've enjoyed working with you and you brought something up when you said taxi it reminded me, and feel free to answer the question on late nights, on the taxi issue, we have every tuesday a public comment -- and i'm sure they come to the board of directors too, and it's heart wrenching. what is the answer?

what is the solution to the problem? i think it's real. i would like to hear you from what you think can be done, if anything and to get your perspective on it. >> i think one of the challenges is the california public utilities commission has jurisdiction override-sharing services. i'm not saying their bad. i have had occasion to use them? absolutely. we have created a system where we sold medallions we sold to taxi drivers and we can't say that doesn't matter any more. there's not an easy solution i can say this is the silver bullet to solve the problem. we've gone a long way in eliminating the fees that exist for the taxi drivers, for color schemes and we're looking at how to do more of those things. we've extended the mileage allowance for vehicles to be on the streets.

it's a very complicated system and one of the things that we've talked a lot of about as working better with the taxi industry around marketing and improving their app fly wheel or any other app that might make sense and so many people use their smartphones which is why we've seen the proliferation of ride-share services. there's no easy answer. i see there's a shift of more people going back to taxis and having philosophical issues and concerns related to other issues, whether they're adequately ed or insured. we're seeing them make moves to do background checks. i think we're in an interesting situation where it's up against venture capital and we can't project -- i mean, some of the companies are not profitable at the moment so we don't know they'll exist in the future. our goal is to make sure the taxis don't go out of business should those businesses go out

of business. i don't have an easy answer because of the system. if we can start over from scratch, perhaps we'd create something different but we're not in a position to do that at this time. >> commissioner: thank you, is there a working group that can meet with them or try to get to some resolution? i know it's a huge problem. some of the people are suffering financially and some of them spent $250,000 on their medical -- medallions and i feel they have legitimate concerns. given the division between the board of supervisors and the lack of jurisdiction we have over the m.t.a. it's hard for us to solve the problem. though there may not be easy answers, is there any group inside the m.t.a. meeting with

them or trying to find a solution or trouble shoot or do anything to help them? >> we do have a taxi division. that's why we had a taxi driver fund and as a consequence of a meeting of a working group decide to give money back to drivers with medallions. we are working on these issues. i know some taxi drivers have had interesting ideas around prices in rides to the airport we're willing to entertain but there's challenges in implementing that. there's no lack of concern on our side. and in a lot of ways our hands are really tied in coming up with a concrete solution to the problem. all i can say is more people can take taxis that would help tremendously. if we philosophically got behind what we believe in that taxis should exist. how do we get citizens to understand the value they provide and how do we help the

taxi community help market themselves and make whatever needs improvements they might need to be more attractive to younger riders choosing other services instead. >> commissioner: great. i think you respond to some of the stuff we asked already. we've talked about the communication flow. so we'll have more of the conversation on monday. and i just wanted to say some of the things you've committed to in terms of what we talked about in term of the flow of communication and so on. >> i've committed, as i said earlier here, to make sure our staff follows through on the plan put in place and have dedicated staff to work with your offices around projects. this is already part of our public outreach strategy we have ongoing. we are beefg -- beefing that up

and doing additional route re h reach -- outreach and trying to be more inclusive for people who aren't easily in our reach or reached about things we're working on at the m.t.a. i think -- what's interesting is that we do studies every year and do a survey of riders. we have a 70% satisfaction rate among regular riders. i know people say, there's a million things wrong with the s.f.m.t.a. and people in new york plain -- complain about their transportation and there's always problems with transportation because nothing works perfect. if you drive somewhere you get traffic or you get in an accident. we're working to be more transparent and clear in our initiatives and communicate with

the community and we took a process where we went to the community to identify problems and come up with a series of solutions. obviously, sometimes we can do that. we can't always do that but i have been working and talking a lot with the staff in how to do a better job in identifying problems in neighborhoods everyone can see and working with the community around our interventions. we don't have a tool book of 50 things to do and how to better engage them on what we're doing in that area. that is what i've committed to. the staff is already working on that and anything i can do to help better facilitate making sure we follow through on the things we've promised, i'm happy to do. >> commissioner: i appreciate that. i think on monday we're going to have a deeper conversation about the reorganization in terms of assigning people to specific

supervisor offices from your department. the reason i think it's important is because we often are the frontline of the complaints that come in and concerns and frustrations. one of the things we did this year was worked closely with director reskin and mcgwire and the person who oversees the go forward bike program -- jamie. the way it was rolled out, in some neighborhoods there was frustration and strong reaction. i asked specifically to sit down with a team and go over the rolling out of that plan. and so we were able to make some adjustments i think were really important because just from my own experience being on the ground and the daily basis and the 311 calls and the struggle between encouraging people to take alternative forms of transportation versus just the

reality that people still have cars and parking is still an issue and people are still very concerned about that. and so that was through my and the director pushing and working together. and think that's something that maybe has been missing in the past. and i'm hopeful that we can move this reorganization plan forward in an aggressive manner and we want to work more closely with your board and i think it's important that you continue to do the work and i appreciate the fact that you bring a planning perspective as well as now you're bringing your transportation lens and putting the two together and see how all the functions interplay. >> thank you. i will say with respect to the bikes, on the board we express concerns and in the department we looked at things and recognized the permitting process that we had internally

for the sites didn't always make sense and did not do a good enough job of looking at what was on the issue and an installation went in front of a ups store which makes no sense. i know a lot of things have been changed and that's something the board pushed forward. i don't want you to think -- i think we learned lessons from not having been thoughtful enough at the beginning of the process and have learned and recalibrated on some instances. >> commissioner: good, thank you. i don't have any other questions. okay. we'll call you back up commissioner. any members of the public wish to comment on this item, please come forward. >> i'm bob planthold. i'd like my comments to apply here and in addition i didn't have time to come through with

all the analysis i made on this but i also want to point out to you, there's a disjunction between maybe nominee's perception between what they tell you and what the public experiences. you're hearing they respond to e-mails and requests for meetings. i've sent e-mails to individuals and several of them, zero response. i've made public comments, there's been no follow-up on some suggestions that when i talk to staff, they're willing to consider. so somehow you're told something that we in the public don't experience. we don't get answers. we don't get responses. i want to go separately back to something. too often appointees are made partly on the basis of a political checker board. what groups are important that we don't want to leave out they can't feel disenfranchised.

mayor farrow was a supervisor for seven years. there's supposed to be a policy of diversity for outreach. and in the seven years he should have done outreach. there's been nothing to independent living resource center or the advisory committee or nothing to the paratransit council. there are groups intimately familiar with the day to day needs and as i pointed out, these people are not paying attention to their facilities. people that are familiar with this are ignored. the mayor has staff from supervisor wiener and he was popular and supportive of transportation. i'm suggesting maybe ask the mayor what outreach did he do and why's it a political issue? thank you. >> commissioner: thank you, next speaker.

>> david pillpal again. several things. first, public outreach isn't just with the supervisors, it's about the public. >> commissioner: of course. i appreciate there was discussion and we'll talk about that monday. i stand by my earlier comments but frankly i'm torn because i like director borden and she co-chaired and did a good job. and in my view she also did a good job on the planning commission and thought she was articulate in her statement and in discussion with you. i wish she'd demonstrated more of that thoughtfulness and independence on the board. she does at times but at other times she goes along with the staff and the rest of the board members.

there continues to be issues with the m.t.a. board and how they engage with the public. particularly those who don't always agree but there isn't enough independence demonstrated on that board. and that's part of the problem and part of what you hear from various advocates. regardless of what happens today or next week, i hope you will continue to dialogue with board members and those who support and oppose things the m.t.a. does to do better as a city. i think that's incredibly important to all of us and again i really do like director borden. >> commissioner: great. thanks. any other members of the community wish to comment -- you'll speak on director borden. >> i want to speak up in support of her nomination. she's a fantastic board member. she brings a unique perspective. her work with the small business community in san francisco and

work with the restaurants. she is, as she said, a regular muni rider. i want to say she's a joy to work with and collegial and smart and fiercely independent and always quite vocal around what she believes. i urge you to forward her nomination with full support. >> commissioner: can you stay up. i want to call you both up because it's gotten attention from other members of the board and they've sent me questions. this is a general question but you want you wong -- both to hear it. it's more about proactively engaging with riders and the community to understand what their needs are. so for example, the l. caraval rapid project may be coming up or another and so how do you engage with the community aside from e-mail? >> if we know community meetings

are going on we tried to attend and we have day jobs. we took in the corridor to look at the project. the interesting thing with the project is we spent time actually going and looking at the street scape and engaging with people as we were doing that. it wasn't as if we were in a vacuum and made a decision about the project. and we will frequently do that. i will admit i have a full-time job and don't make every community meetings or always know about them but staff has done a better job to make sure we're aware of the meetings so we can attend. we're not elected officials in the same way and we have the m.t.a. staff but not individual staff to engage. i think -- trying to figure out a fair balance to do the kinds of things people want us to do given it's not our full-time jobs. we have full-time jobs and we

want to engage with them. if someone wants to invite me to a meeting i will come and i've said that to groups. i've done panels and discussions when i've come to talk about the projects. >> commissioner: i think the question is when have you these larger impactful projects and there's larger community processes, what's the role you all play versus -- and i get it's a volunteer job and we appreciate your public service, always, but at the same time, there are certain commissions that really require that level of engagement with the community. i think that's what a couple of the supervisors are asking. >> we literally did go along that corridor and looked at the project and what was going happen on the street and engage with people.

that's hands on for that corridor. we didn't just sit and have a presentation from staff to learn about it. we engage at the ground and look at the work being done and attending meetings when we can and are always open to being invited to things. >> commissioner: thank you. commissioner? >> i think what the public sees is when we sit there in the boardroom and make decisions. honestly, that's the tip of the iceberg of what we do. let me rephrase that, if that's the only thing an m.t.a. commissioner does then they're lazy. that should be the tip of the iceberg. thor the board it's true. a -- for the board it's true. as the projects come through their formative stages we're kept up to date and they'll come to us as staff briefings. we get all the e-mails people

send in. every e-mail a member of the public sends to the m.t.a. board is responded to by secretary boomer who does a fantastic job. we do make ourselves available. we go to as many public meetings as we can. when projects are coming before the m.t.a. board or we're having e-mails from neighbors saying they don't like a project we go out to see first-hand. there's no replacement for eyes on the ground to see what it looks like. >> commissioner: okay. >> again, what the public sees is the tip of the iceberg. as you do, we have incredibly full agendas to keep the meetings moving along and approve the projects to get them on the grouped. -- ground. i will stand by the fact my board makes itself available and we all have full-time jobs.

it's a volunteer job and labor of love for all of us and i'm proud of what we achieved on the m.t.a. board and what staff has achieved in the last six to seven years. i will stand by that and stand by my entire board and staff and agency. >> commissioner: i don't need you all to comment on this, i just thought of something really important to me i've heard over and over again. it's the m. -- the "m" line and where it will terminate. currently it terminates in ocean view, lake view part of my district. there are discussions with the park merced rebuild they might propose to terminate it at park merced and cut off the neighborhood. it's an alternative more wrapped way -- rapid way to get to the downtown and accept more rapid transportation then the j line. i want to say for the record,

it's really important to me both of you are conscious of that and conscious of that decision and i know we've had this conversation but don't just solely look at the numbers in terms of the decision making. think about the level of those that are under served. think of those living on fixed income or elderly who live in that neighborhood. it's important to me and literally every meeting i go and people bring up, police don't -- please don't allow them to cut off the "m" line. you don't have to comment. i just wanted that on the record. thank you very much. so we've done commissioner brinkman. we have a motion rejecting -- amending the proposal to approve

the mayor's nomination of gweneth borden to the m.t.a. commission. can we do that without objection. thank you, commissioner borden. men one of you can come to the meeting monday because we'll talk about the legislation. thank you. thank you, madame clerk. police -- please call item 12 our city attorney needs to leave and he's requested we call that and it will be a quick item to please call item 12. >> the clerk: it's an ordinance amending the elections code to require notice in the voter information pam plet -- pamphlet for a zoning change involving property. >> commissioner: thank you. i'll hand it over to you. >> thank you, supervisor. thank you for accommodating my

schedule. deputy city attorney john gibner. the ordinance arises from an ordinance at first reading yesterday involving the lawsuit to challenge proposition b that required voter approval for land use changes within the court's jurisdiction. that case has lasted several years and the parties recently reached an agreement before the board and as i said, the board approved on first reading yesterday's board meeting. one of the pieces of the settlement agreement requires to amend the elections code. that's this ordinance. it requires whenever there is a ballot measure making land use

changes on property within the court's jurisdiction, the voter information pamphlet will include a notice to the voters with specific language notifying the voters of the court's public trust obligations and the public trust doctrine under state law. >> commissioner: great. any questions from commissioners -- i mean board members? we're talking commissioners all day long. any members of the public wish to comment? please come forward it's appropriate since our next two items are port commissioners. seeing none, comment's closed. can we -- >> i'll make the motion. for recommendation. >> commissioner: and without objection. >> the clerk: item five is the mayor's nomination for

reappointment of william adams. >> commissioner: please come forward. >> supervisors, thank you for your time and your diligence and patiences. i'm willy adams. i'm the international secretary treasurer of the long shore warehouse union. for the last 15 years i've been living here in san francisco. i'd like to say that i guess i'm the hands-on commissioner on the commission. i'm the person who understands how port works. we oversee all 29 west coast ports. i've had an opportunity to travel to 60 ports throughout the world. we have been diligently going through a transformation at the ports.

i was appointed by mayor lee in 2012 and i want to thank the mayor for the reappointment and we're done some great things and one of the things that sticks out is it is going to be like one of the stellar neighborhoods in san francisco to live in. i'm impressed with the affordable housing and the giants project and 40% of affordable housing and also understanding how port works. the ports are the live blood of our economy. over a trillion dollars go through our west coast ports and also being able to understand the 500 leases that we as commissioners have to oversee at the bort. -- port. one thing i like about the commission is it's the most stellar commission. commissioners have different talent and ditch -- different

points of view and agree to disagree. we all engage the public and supervisors have said something. the people that come out, the public, they're the shareholders of the port. and we have pier 27, we have a cruise terminal and one of the things that we have been trying to do is to get the public to come down to the port. the port belongs to the public. we have over 30 million tourists a year that come to san francisco and a lot of people don't know there's a port there. one of the examples is pier 27 our cruise terminal we have 400 passengers a year and we want to

get up to 1 million passengers a year. and i've used my skills and when i'm back five and six times a year i'm building relationships with u.s. senators and constitution constitutional -- congressional people and talking about the situations at the port of san francisco. as you know, we have a seawall project in the making. we're talking about $5 billion. i think that's innovative. we're taking the lead. and one thing that makes san francisco unique is we're going from the flintstones to the jetsons. we live in a city where the average age is 27 years old and transforming the water front at pier 70, the shipyard. we lost a tenant over there but we're putting out another bid to get another customer because those were good union, paying

jobs and as you hear all the time and at the commission hearings is we need the good-paying jobs because so many people can't live in the city of their birth. they've had to move outside of the city. so i just wanted to say that we also spent a lot of time -- i like to hear from customers and clients and things in the port that we're not getting right. a year and a half ago we went through a transition where we had a port director, monique morgan at the port 12 years. at the time, myself and vice president brandon got a new port director. and we've taken off to the races running. she's bringing in her new team and i would invite all you supervisors to please come down to the port. we would love to give you a tour.

i think leader nancy pelosi's letter said it's the jewel of san francisco. it's our water front. if there's any questions, i know it's been a long day for you. and we're a port like san diego and a container port is like oakland, l.a., long beach. people will come on and say we'll make all the money. seattle has the port and the airport and that's where 60% of their revenues come from because they have the money from the airport. anyway, supervisor. [please stand by]

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i would like to you and your leadership making sure working with giants, pier 70, and all the different projects coming up, we aren't just thinking of current members but there's a pathway for employment and apprenticeship opportunities and those born and raised in the city to take advantage of the phenomenal growth we will experience. and i know you carry that and i just want to say i appreciate the hard work you have done and just want to get on the record that's important to me as i know it is to you. commissioner yee, did you want to say something? >> supervisor yee: just quickly. thank you for meeting with me yesterday. even though it was accidental. [chuckles] inside joke. i'm just curious. have there been discussions

whether or not you would support to have a discussion around implementing a program to maybe have a robust water taxi sort of system? >> yes. we know that san francisco is third in the world in congestion. and 20%, and i'm glad you mentioned, 20% of people who go to the giants game come through the ferry, we are using ferries and more water taxis because we have over 6 million people a year that use ferries in san francisco and we want to take a lot of that congestion off the embarcadero, the giants and all of our partners in the port have been supportive of using ferries and water taxis. it's like a bottleneck and we want to free that up. if people would take

alternative measures there wouldn't be so many cars on the road. we are hoping a lot more people, especially the southern waterfront, going to the giants game, warriors and even down in district 10 would use ferries and water taxis and i think it would take more cars off the road. >> supervisor safai: supervisor? >> supervisor yee: i think it goes beyond the event-type situations, there are a lot of commuters coming from the south bay that could benefit from this system. when treasure island gets built up, that will be probably an important mechanism. what do you call the boats that are faster? hydro -- >> the faster ferries? >> they are generally smaller. >> supervisor yee: the only ones i am familiar with are the ferries and the water taxis, i'm not sure what horn blower

uses to go back and forth to alcatraz. >> supervisor yee: i guess in other places i've seen where they say, what do you call taxis, much smaller and quicker. >> well red and white said they want to move forward taking some hydrogen and taking that energy out of the bottom of the ocean and you will see the new ferries be very, very quiet. very, very fuel efficient and basically there won't be any impact to the environment, more like l.n.g. and that's the new transformation of the new ferries that are being ordered. they will be faster and smoother and safer for our environment. >> supervisor yee: thank you. >> thank you, commissioner. i've been drinking a lot of water during this hearing. i had to rush out for a moment.

i don't have anything really to say, we have met in the past, we will meet again, i know we are setting up an opportunity to get together but i want to emphasize the pathway for employment tying in some of the things we have talked about here today. and i appreciate all the work you have done with organized labor and the way you have pushed these projects to be conscious of that. so thank you for your work on that. >> thank you. >> supervisor safai: and we will call you back up if we have any more questions. any members of the public wish to comment on this item? please come forward. and please keep your comments to this item. >> i object to mr. adams talking about the giants and how they are providing housing. 40% affordable housing for people who were born and raised in san francisco. the instructions pertaining to the mission building where the giants and port authority commission are part owners of that land.

the instruction, which is about the size of a ream of blank paper said it's supposed to be 50% for low and very-low income bracket peoples. there's 1,500 buildings in that mission building. could i have sf viewer please? this document is part of the instruction for mission rocks and it says 15% of that building is supposed to be for very low and low-income bracket people, [coughing in background] means 225 of those apartments is supposed to be for very low-income bracket people. you price fix and make 2% of the affordable housing of a.p.i. of the income scale at $36,300.

that means people who are in income brackets that are below in the very low and low-income bracket people who this rule is supposed to be applied to is not included in the housing opportunity. is that clear? now you got the giants caught up in it. the giants will be the first baseball team to have a $1 million discrimination lawsuit against them and the national baseball league. that's not fair. so you talk about you want to have your thoughts pointed out to you, you missed these instructions mr. adams when you were going over negotiating this mission rocks on that apartment building project. >> supervisor safai: your time is up. thank you. the timer went off. next speaker, please.

>> paul [inaudible], we represent over 140 unions in town. we are always very concerned about [coughing in background] having folks from organized labor in our commissions and town and sometimes it's difficult to recruit and find folks who have the time to serve on commissions, especially major commissions like the port commission. but i could say, and i said this when willie adams was first nominated to be on the port commission and i'm here to move that he continues and that you move this appointment forward. is that, i can't think of any better time that has to do with a commissioner who knows of an industry or knows the work that has to be done on a commission than willie adams. as mr. adams said, he has been to over 60 ports. he is a dock worker by trade.

the secretary treasurer of his union. he served, you know, on issues, so far, with the commission, whether or not its infrastructure, development projects, outreach to the community. he is very much a leader in this sea wall process we are about ready to engage in and the engagement there is just extraordinary. there are most international unions are based on the east coast when it comes to either d.c. or where the majority of them are, or new york, the international long shore workers union is based here in san francisco and it has locals all the way from alaska all the way down to san diego and he has been to all of them so he is uniquely positioned to serve us in san francisco and we are proud in organized labor of the labor council and the building trades too. to move him forward, thank you. >> supervisor safai: thank you. next speaker. >> my name is jack bear, with the san francisco giants baseball team and i'm here to speak in favor of the reappointment of commissioner willie adams.

he is really uniquely qualified for this position given his involvement in the i.o.w.u. on an international level. and he also brings a unique perspective to the port, which is very much needed as part of the port commission. he is also a very compelling, passionate and fascinating human being and i've really enjoyed getting to know him over the last four years and i look forward to working with him for the next. thank you. >> supervisor safai: thank you, mr. bear. next speaker? >> good afternoon, committee members. charlie [inaudible] with the operating engineers union, local 3, i'm writing in support of willie adams reappointment to the port commission. represents operating engineers who work directly for the port of san francisco. also the men and women who dredge the ports facilities and

we represent the train operators who did work in the chipper pay yard. we believe willie adams is uniquely qualified to be a port commissioner. his knowledge and history with organized labor makes him singularly qualified and we urge you to support his reappointment today. >> supervisor safai: thank you. any other members of the public wish to speak on this item please come forward. if not, public comment is closed. supervisor yee? >> supervisor yee: i will make a motion to amend -- number 5? >> approve the mayor's nomination. >> supervisor yee: to approve the mayor's nomination for the reappointment of willie adams to the port commission with a positive recommendation. >> supervisor safai: and seconded. we could do that with full unanimous support?

thank you, commissioner adams for your continued service. congratulations. please call the next item. >> item 6 is a motion approving or rejecting the mayor's nomination for the appointment of gail gilman to the port commission for a term ending may 1st, 2022. >> supervisor safai: thank you. commissioner gilman, please come forward. >> thank you, supervisors and supervisor safai. i would like to start by telling you about myself and what skills i would bring to the port. i moved to san francisco over 25 years ago to study at san francisco state with richard deleon who wrote "west coast city". i believe my whole life in public service in building community and helping folks to be more civickly engaged.

i have found my community throughout this city but especially in north beach where i have resided for close to 20 years. i've had the opportunity to marry my passion for social justice, interest in real estate, construction, and economic development activities. i've served on numerous boards and commissions that have worked for the betterment of the city and north beach community. for the past nine years i've had the pleasure to be the c.e.o. of community housing partnership. we help homeless people secure housing and become self-sufficient. i have a staff of nearly 300. most of them represented proud by by s.f.i.o.u. 10-1 i'm still in-housing, real estate development, construction typography, economic development for our most disenfranchised communities and skilled administrator. i am one of few women c.e.o. of

affordable housing groups through the bay area. i served as officer for prop-a learning inside and out how a bond works and i learned valuable lessons. you may ask why the port. as many of you know in 2016 mayor ed lee appointed me to serve on the department of building commission. i have been on that commission now for a little over two years and i've enjoyed that work. but last summer mayor lee and i started a dialogue about how i could make more of an impact. i talked to him about my love for the port and port activities. and we discussed my appointment at depth. when he put my nomination forward i was touched. he was fulfilling a commitment and vision mayor lee shared with me to see me serve on the port commission. i can hear the sea lions and fog horns from my home at night.

i walk along the embarcadero, i know many small businesses along the waterfront and i know the folks at the san francisco sailing company. i want to be the commissioner for the people. i'm excited to work on many of the issues that are facing the port. ensuring the public trust is upheld within the context of an $80 million enterprise department that spans 7.5 miles of jurisdiction. preparing for sea level rise, upgrading aging infrastructure and continuing our resiliency efforts are key if we are going to combat global warming. i want to work to ensure the sea wall bond measure in november is successful. learning from lessons i learned from prop-a. i want to help manage the growth and development on our entrusted public lands especially along the southeast sector of the waterfront. i want to help to make sure the community is heard. and i want to help activate under utilized parcels and

peers to ensure both stability, economic vitality and public use. lastly, i'm excited to work with director forbes, to partner with her on her goals and vision on the port and work in conjunction with commissioner president brannon, i have admired her as a port commissioner for a number of years and her leadership as the president. these are some of the reasons why i want to join the port commission. i thank you for your consideration of my nomination and i'm happy to answer any questions you may have. >> great, i also want to note for the record that supervisor sheehy has joined us. before you say anything, do you have any questions, any of the fellow committee members right now? >> no. >> supervisor safai: okay, supervisor sheehy, i know you wanted to say something. >> yes.

while i have tremendous respect for ms. gilman, supervisor katz, the former incumbent, for reasons that still remain unclear was not given an opportunity to be reappointmented. and i know within our community we are extremely disappointed. there is only one l.g.b.t. port commissioner in california and you know, for us as a community, there's always this assumption that we have kind of made it. but anyone who knows the history of the l.g.b.t. community knows whenever we make gains we lose those gains. it's never been our climb up the ladder has had, we have fallen back many times. and i note when supervisor katz was on the board, there were

three l.g.b.t. supervisors, now there's one. so we are very sensitive to representation to our ability to participate fully in the civic life in san francisco. it's important to us as a community. and to see that moving backwards is just very, very difficult for us. we have an individual who was elected to the college board citywide, was elected supervisor, citywide. is an iconic figure. one of the leaders in getting the equal benefits ordinance passed. i worked closely with her. and she is one of the heroes of our community and for us this is something that we find very, very challenging. it's no reflection on the

current candidate but our level of disappointment could not be under stated and our level of distress at the loss of this important role could not be under stated. >> supervisor safai: thank you, supervisor sheehy. any committee members have anything more before we go to public comment? ms. gilman, we will call you back up after we go to public comment. >> thank you. i just want to drop -- >> supervisor safai: that's fine, you could hand them to the clerk. any members of the public wish to comment on this item, please line up. please come forward. one minute. >> david elliott lewis with central city escrow

collaborative in tenderloin congress. for ten years i've lived in the tenderloin and i've known gail and i've been usually impressed with her. she has helped house formerly homeless people. and a lot of those formerly homeless people had been queer. so to say that the alternative choice as a pro-queer choice and she is not is not accurate. she has done a lot for l.g.b.t. people in providing housing for them. i've been impressed with her integrity, leadership ability, organizational skills. i've worked with her on some projects over the years. i think the port is an important property. it's been under-utilized and we lost a lot of business to oakland, union jobs that should have been here. i think she could do a lot to help us. i hope you will consider her. thank you. >> supervisor safai: thank you. next speaker.

>> good afternoon, my name is william rogers, c.e.o. for goodwill industries of san francisco. goodwill, as you know a large non-profit workforce development agency, we employ about 600 people. i'm here today to speak in support of gail gilman's appointment to the san francisco port commission. i've known gail for several years. she is a leader in affordable housing and workforce strategies. she has extensive experience both in residential real estate development, social enterprise economic development, homeless, social services, community organizing, public policy, while that experience is really critical for somebody being appointed to this commission, you also need passion. and what i know about gail she is committed to san francisco. she has dedicated her life and career to providing opportunities for underserved

communities. she is a trusted colleague. she is someone with integrity who will honor the public trust. >> supervisor safai: thank you, sir. next speaker. >> for the record my name is michael cohen. some of you may know that my company strata investment group has been partnered with c.h.p. and gail on our kind of transformative project, 1629 market street. and as a result, i have worked extensively with gail for more than three years. i have found her to be very smart, very hard working, always looking through the lens of the public interest and with impeccable integrity. i think the most powerful skill that gail has, however, she is really quite gifted as a

consensus builder and it comes from a process of very authentic engagement with community members. and i think these are all skills which will help serve her and the city and county of san francisco very well, thank you. >> supervisor safai: thank you. next speaker. >> good afternoon, supervisors, my name is pam david, the first out lesbian appointed to the mayor's staff in 1990, former director of the office of community development and former executive director of the walter [inaudible] fund, and in that capacity i have worked for many years now with gail. she has become a friend, an advisor, i think she is a brilliant leader. i think it's extremely important that the constituency she works with and empowers everyday has a voice on the port commission. she has a depth of understanding of the complexity and interconnectedness of the challenges facing san francisco

and as others have said, she has already proven her commitment to public service and to community. she is a collaborative, smart and pragmatic leader and will be a great asset to our entire community and to the port. thank you. >> supervisor safai: thank you so much. next speaker. >> good afternoon, supervisors, my name is tamika moss, i am the board president of spur. as well as the c.e.o. of hamilton families. and i wanted to speak in favor of gail gilman's appointment to the port commission and also want to acknowledge cheryl and adams executive director of the larkin youth street couldn't stay but wanted to speak in support. i have known gail for ten years working as a community organizer in the tenderloin when i first moved to the bay area 15 years ago. gail has continued to be one of

the most dedicated civic and professional leaders in san francisco that i know. and the tenacity she shows around her community and working on behalf of the most vulnerable citizens in our community is exactly the set of skills we need to have on the port commission. we need people who are dynamic leaders who understand the intersection between all the important policy issues the commission faces, so i encourage you -- >> supervisor safai: thank you. next speaker. >> good afternoon, supervisors, my name is beth stokes, executive director of episcopal community services of san francisco. i'm here to express my enthusiastic support for gail gilman. i have had the honor of working alongside her as a colleague for 15 years serving the unhoused and most vulnerable members of this community. the work she has dedicated her

life to is extremely challenged yet she has never wavered, day after day she rises. overseeing 300 employees, gail has worked to engender the public's trust. it's this hard work she would bring to the port commission. she would also bring a heightened understanding of the community issues that beset small businesses on the waterfront. yet there is also the immeasurable. gail is a tenacious, relentless and courageous fighter for this community [buzzer] [mic cut off] >> supervisor safai: thank you, next speaker. >> [inaudible], a former project manager with community partnership, agency gail leads. i want to offer my full support of gail's nomination as port commissioner. it's likely you all know well

who gail gilman is. you also know well how her tenacity has improved the lives of so many in our city. you have seen her lead a successful non-profit for years and participate tirelessly in committees and task forces to address the city's homelessness. you have seen her step up as a leader and collaborator on multiple propositions to secure funding for the city's housing crisis. gail puts others first. she puts the residents of san francisco first. in doing so she exemplifies the integrity needed to be a commissioner and more specifically to be a port commissioner so i urge you to support her nomination. >> supervisor safai: thank you. next speaker? >> good afternoon, charlie with [inaudible] engineers local 3. we represent over 35,000 surveyors, inspectors,

dredgemen. i want to read a few excerpts from letter of support i emailed to you all. i'm writing in support of gail's appointment to the port commission. her firsthand knowledge of the waterfront and experience with construction and development make her qualified for the position. she has demonstrated an understanding and willingness to work with organized labor. i know she will listen to all the diverse constituencies of san francisco while making her decisions and i urge you to join us in supporting her appointment, thank you. >> supervisor safai: thank you. next speaker? >> hello, my name is gail c. graves and i work at the s.r.o. collaborative and board of directors tenderloin housing clinic. i have known gail for a few years now and i'm in huge support of her getting this position. not only has she impressed me with her work but as a person

she has so much passion for this city and other people and i just want to say i really urge you to appoint her to this position. she would be great. thank you. >> supervisor safai: thank you, next speaker. >> hello, my name is alan freeburg. i've lived here for over 40 years. my wife and i lived in the lower haigt on steiner street. we got burned out, there was an electrical fire. gail, who just out of the blue came forward and offered her assistance in making sure we could move back into our house once its fixed. she is absolutely unec