we look forward to bringing them back to you on july 23rd, with a final report at that time. thank you. >> chair peskin: thank you, geoff. and before we hear from the next speaker, i just want to say to my colleagues sitting through an extraordinarily long t.a. hearing on a board day with a timma hearing after this, that -- and i do want you guys all to continue, that this is profoundly important and what geoff, because i want to butcher his last name, just said, the decision that we all took, which was a very controversial decision, for which we took a lot of heat, was the right decision. if we spend a bunch of time on this now, i just told commissioner walton, who reminded me that the hearing is going on for a long time, we will all collectively save hours and heartache over the next many years. so i really appreciate geoff's candor about that. and we really are invested in

comprehensively getting this right, amongst stakeholder agencies, with the public and the words that you've just heard "reposition, redefine" are really both a comment on phase 1 and a road map to our aspirations on phase 2 and this is not just a mega-project, it is a mega-regional project. so with that, john. right? you are john fisher, aren't you? >> i am. [laughter] >> thank you, mr. chairman. and commissioners, we concluded with our draft recommendations today. so really opportunity to take any of your questions. and certainly field them to any of our colleagues on the panel. so i know, folks, insofar as we're hearing this again on julr of speakers, if anybody has questions, have at it. you'll have another opportunity. the one thing that obviously you have not touched on is the big

question. clearly what i heard you say is that this expert panel national, international experts is recommending a transitional phase. and then ultimately in a couple of years, an entirely new governmental phase. the multi-billion dollar question is what does that look like? i think we'll hear more about that and more about what the criteria around that will be. i also heard the last speaker say rather bluntly that we need to be selective -- what we've been asked for from the tjpa is noun across-the-board 30% design. what i heard the last speaker say, not so fast, you might want to do that selectively in some places and not in others. you do not want to do any more of that, or not much more of that, until we have a comprehensive arrangement with

high-speed rail and caltrain. those are the vexing questions that everyone has danced around. so let's answer those questions up front, so that we're not suffering for years on the back end. but with that, mr. fisher, anything, john, you're the only person i know and you've got an easy last name. [laughter] >> no, mr. chair. that's a good summary. that's really the exercise over the next month is to take those criteria, take the work plan that you heard ignacio lay out and understand who is best positioned to achieve those. and so that will be part of the recommendations on governance and oversight. but it's also really repositioning the project for a successful delivery. >> chair peskin: thank you, sir. mr. -- come on up. i know you were accept when we withheld your money a few months ago, now we feel vindicated, the floor is yours. >> i'm over it, supervisor peskin. thank you for a chance to address you. i do want to thank you for undertaking this effort. i want to thank director chang and her staff for this effort.

this was very important. we, as the speakers before we mentioned, we participated in the exercise. we thought it was very valuable and spent quite a bit of time. as the tjpa board looks forward to the recommendation to further strengthen the tjpa, and help the region and the tjpa delivered downtown extension or the new name program, in the most effective and efficient manner. to that extent, the tjpa board also asked its own peer review from the american public transportation association in december of last year. that peer review was presented to tjpa board in may. and the results of peer review provided us with valuable recommendations, that would further strengthen the project and the tjpa agency itself. we also provided the report of the peer review to the staff to be used for this peer review. i look forward for the recommendations in july. i do want to emphasize to strengthen the tjpa, strengthen

the team, and as i mentioned to you before, ever since becoming an executive director in 2016, we've been working in a transparent, cooperative way with the region, including ssta and caltrain. again thank you very much. >> chair peskin: thank you, mark. and i did not butcher your last name. with that, why don't we open it up to members of the public. james, bob, alita, peter, and that is all my speaker cards. if i did not call you and you want to testify, just line up. first speaker, please. mr. patrick. >> good morning. i'm jim patrick, patrick and company, representing myself and the public. i argued in front of this commission that we should not do this report. so now i'm evaluating some of their recommendations. reposition the rail, so-called rail program.

we formed the tjpa a long time ago, which was a ring forking, which is a very thing they're recommending was done a long time ago. redefine the program value proposition. if you look at the tjpa board, what they have on them is caltrain, muni, bart. they have all of these players on the board. that's in position now. rename. yeah. you want to rename it, that's no big deal. drum up support for financing. yes, definitely need to do that. engage the public directly. advance social equity. i'm not for social equity, i'm for building the most efficient railroad system as quickly as we can, that will achieve social equity. so i think we've got the shoe backwards here. this effectively delays this --

it has already delayed this program nine months. we all agree on that. it appears to me it will delay it another 24 months. all of the things talked about in this report, as i have say the through a number of board meetings, have been discussed how to -- [bell ringing] how to buy the railroad plan, if you will, how to fund it. this has been ongoing for a long, long time. this is nothing but a continued delaying tactic. i don't think we're moving forward. we need to get our employees from 4th and king to downtown. this does have a cost. it's an opportunity cost. and it's costing us a lot of money. [bell ringing] and it has for the last 50 years that i can remember. thank you. >> chair peskin: thank you. next speaker. >> good morning. peter strauss for the friends of

d.t.x. there's a lot of good stuff here. you know, and i don't think anyone would argue with the importance of the strengthening the regional vision for the project, you know county and -- and redefining it and that sense. it's a careful balancing act, is that we're missing a sense of urgency here. we're very concerned about a schedule that looks to us as if it's imposing an additional two years of delay. with chagrin a lot of projects that have been effectively stalled and need to be moving in parallel, such as the pennsylvania avenue e.i.r., the work on the 4th street yard, the work on the 22nd street station. and the continuation of the engineering of the downtown extension alignment. we're also very concerned when we hear that funding is on the

critical path. in the real world, that might be true -- i'm sorry, in an ideal world, that might be true. in the real world, it is when projects are shovel-ready, that they're in the best position to secure funding. so that funding should not be considered as a critical path item. it's something that we need to push to be able to secure that funding, to have a project as ready to go as we possibly can. [bell ringing] i fear what we're doing, you know, is -- we need to be careful to avoid analysis paralysis here. you know, we started with asking for additional work on governance. we're now looking at a work program to stretch an additional two years. good standoff. but we need the balance against expediting this project. maybe we should have asked for that as an additional step. that we should have asked the peer review panel to develop recommendations for how we can

expedite getting the damn thing done. [bell ringing] thank you. >> thank you, mr. strauss. next speaker, please. >> commissioners, i'm tim haas. i'm also a member of friends of d.t.x. and i was one of the 20 or so citizens who sat on the so-called rab working group. what you have developed and presented to you in preliminary form, a profound document. it goes to the basis of the whole project. i could be crabby and point out that i requested both this body and the board of supervisors to undertake such an effort, at least over the last decade. but i won't. but now you have it. and as we predicted, it's going to take two years and it may require state legislation and other things that could delay it even further. as my colleague peter strauss has mentioned, there are things that can be done now, for which

the funding is available, which would not affect any grandeur project. the pennsylvania avenue project tunnel took two years. and it involved the citizens and it was a unanimous report, which your board accepted. the next step is an environmental review of that. that should begin now. the planning department has the funds to begin preliminary studies of how to build a 22nd street station. they are reluctant to begin, because you all have indicated that you don't want anything done until you're ready. likewise, your staff at the t.a. needs to continue to talk to caltrain about the yard. and what happens to that, as for the 30% study, i don't really have an opinion on that. but you should make arrangements not just to stop everything in place, but to move things forward that make sense.

and your staff knows what those projects are. so you should give them instructions to do so. >> chair peskin: just for the record, i think our staff is well aware that we are on record in support of rail yard studies at 4th and townsend. next speaker. >> chair peskin, members, alita dupree for the record. i come to you simply as a user of transportation, representing only myself. and i see the importance of this project to build a railroad into downtown, for i have much experience with that. consider grand central, a legendary and historic railroad station in new york city. and i have not just gone in admire the architecture and

eaten in the oyster bar, but i have ridden trains in and out of it. and they can move about one train a minute, in and out of there during rush hour. and they haven't even reached capacity. so they have four tracks of main line into manhattan. consider new york 100 years ago, built multiple tunnels in and out of that city. and we can see one reason why new york has become a city of over 8 million people. so we have to have the political stomach and if the will and -- and the will to build ourselves a great and legendary downtown railroad, just as our forbears in new york saw the need to build a grand central and a pennsylvania station and a subway system and a path railroad, et cetera, in order to serve the people of new york. [bell ringing] so we must not be intimidated by the costs. and we must be willing to invest

in our future. just as new york and other cities have done to build downtown railroads and to bring people in and out of the city, to reduce the possibility of congestion that comes from single-occupancy vehicles. thank you. >> chair peskin: thank you. next speaker, please. if there are any additional speakers, if you would line up. >> hi, there. my name is continue hea. i'm here as one of the friends of d.t.x., the fearless crew going around from supervisor to supervisor to try to talk to you about how excited we are about the possibility of getting the train tracks to the train station. i think great things have already been said by a lot of people. and i'm not going to repeat them. of course, i am -- my question, which i opposed to a few of them, is i'm actually okay with the two years, if in the meantime, we're doing the e.i.r. and doing all of the other things, that we need to be done in the two years.

i'm not 100% sure what procurement means. but that's not why i'm up here at the moment. i decided to speak. it was a very impressive report. and i'm glad you have it. and i do agree with a lot of it. and the part that i agree most with is about having internal and external champions. and i think that is something that is missing in san francisco. i think we're missing our internal champions of transportation and i think we're missing our external, which is you, champions of transportation. and so i'm here to urge you to put on your transportation boots and become the transportation champions that we need, not just for this project, but you all know how passionate i am about all sorts of different projects in the city that are transportation-related. i want to read to you something that therese mcmillan said. she's the head of the m.t.c. and speaking at the transportation institute on friday. [bell ringing] she said there are three things that i learned in los angeles.

the first is serve all of your customers, especially those who have been underserved. the second is to be committed to public stewardship, you are crucially accountable. and the third, and this is most appropriate here, be a partner but lead and avoid if it demands. i think there's a void here. we need leadership. and counting on you all to lead us into getting those train tracks to the train station and extraordinary public transportation for san francisco. thank you. >> chair peskin: thank you. next speaker. >> hello, i'm bob. i'm president of save muni. we are one of those external champions, that john was talking about. we've been fervently in favor of the downtown extension for many

years. and we stand in that position today. this is a two-year delay. it is -- it has some good and some bad components. the very bad component, terrible component is it sounds as though the recommendations are conditioned upon high-speed rail. now if you look at the politics of high-speed rail, that may never happen. so condition being this project on agreements with high-speed rail is, at best, a fantasy. this project should be done now. now. let me tell you, while we're sitting here, we've been sitting here for almost an hour

listening to this presentation. we just increased the cost of the downtown extension by $17,500. and that's based upon the m.t.c. projections, that the cost of this project, which is in the ballparked at $4 billion, increases $200 million every year. [bell ringing] every year! so anybody here who is interested in the fiscal aspect ofs of this project, should urge that it be done soon rather than later. and certainly not conditioned on an indefinite possibility of high-speed rail. this is a downtown extension for caltrain. [bell ringing] that's what it's about. and we should get on with it. thank you. >> chair peskin: next speaker. >> hello again, supervisors, my name is roland from san jose.

i really like what's on the table right now. and i'd like to touch on the point of national significance. if you really want a project that's going to get national and international attention, don't just leave it to the downtown extension, include the transbay tunnel to start with. then if you go further and extend it all the way down to gilroy and now you're going across the bay, you look at the project with the magnitude of the channel tunnel railing, which is the link between london and the channel tunnel. it's really the scope that you want to be looking at. and then the way that you deliver it, the way that was delivered, was actually a concession. and, you know, it was a private sector funding. they came up with $3 billion to start with. and then you bring in assets. so transbay determines a liability, not an asset, that you bring to the conversation.

and they operate all of that. the idea is that the actual infrastructure itself is profitable. but these people don't operate trains. that operation is to franchise it. you can have a caltrain franchise, a high-speed rail franchise. remember one thing, what's very important, if you include the transbay corridor, you likely have a bart franchise, but not running bart technology, just running standard technology. wrapping up here, one thing i'd like to see, as part of the conversation is the peer review that was presented to the tgpa board in may. it has some important points, eliminating the reliance on consultants, which is what the government is trying to address with the high-speed rail. and most importantly very early hiring it a chief engineer, who is familiar with none -- how you can get something that size. [bell ringing]

downtown without blowing it up. thank you. >> chair peskin: thank you. next speaker, please. >> my name is jerry coughlin with the bay area transportation work group. and i think i would like to start by saying i agree with most of the previous speakers. i'm not saying it was wrong to stop and look at this. that's okay. and it's also okay to see if it -- particularly talk about getting it into a broader realm then it was. now by taking this on, you are looking like you're going to be the leaders. i mean, that's -- there's 11 of you. and none of you have executive office, but that's the way it's being presented. i don't think that's going to happen, partly because this is much bigger than the city and county of san francisco. always has been. and one of the speakers talked about connectivity. connectivity to bart,

connectivity to caltrain, connectivity to 40 bus lines in the east bay. connectivity to five muni lines. these are not just putting it downtown, it's much bigger than that. so in these leaderships, somebody already said that, it really needs some kind of political push. there's been a lot of us here who have been pushing this -- i hate to tell you how long since i've been pushing this idea, a long time. peskin will remember -- norm rolf died in 2005 and dreamed of this back in 1973. so this is nothing new. i hate the idea of reconstituting. i think patrick made a very good point. [bell ringing] the idea of reconstituting what's there is okay. but you got to make sure you don't slow the project down in the process. thank you. >> chair peskin: thank you. seeing no other members of the public, we'll close public comment. [gavel] i think there is a misunderstanding that needs to be corrected, relative to delays

and funding. so why don't i turn that over to our executive director, who may bring folks up from the expert panel. ms. chang. >> thank you so much, chair. thanks again to our panel. please do elaborate on what i have heard from you today and respect to some of the questions that were raised, i heard a question and a concern about delay and does this two-year work plan represent even more work on top of existing work and will represent a delay. in fact, i believe it's the panel's believe that the two-year work program is an ox-oriented work program, that has to be undertaken for efficiency and effectiveness in project development, regardless of who undertakes the work. this is a road map to getting the project reinstated and to reenergize it and take the decisions in a very strategic way as you have laid out. i believe it's actually to the contrary of delaying, it's actually to expedite project development. i'll light you guys perhaps elaborate on that. to mr. coughlin's point that he

just made about localizing versus regionalizing. i heard a strong recommendation to regionalize this project and to strengthen its regional participation and to really focus on funding and project definition decisions that could lead up to a procurement decision, that means a contracting decision to construct the project. it's not to say that we're getting the full funding grant agreement in two years. that would be a miracle, that would be amazing. let's try to get that level of funding definition and funding strength to the project within the next two years. it's only going to come from advancing project decisions around development, phasing together with the operators and stakeholders. that's what i heard. >> chair peskin: geoff. >> chair peskin and madam director, i think you're right. what our objective is to accelerate this project and break it from some of the tasks that we feel are holding itself back. so our hope is -- our objective here is to see caltrain service

into the transit center as early as possible. so i think when you see the final report, you'll see multiple things targeted toward achieving that goal. and i'm sure there are other members of the panel who would speak to this. >> chair peskin: john. >> thank you, chair. geoff's right. the idea is this up-front time is -- can and should be used very fruitfully with some of the technical work that needs to be done. the alternative, and i've personally had the opportunity, -- and prior to that at the federal level, to see projects nationwide. and if you don't get your act together up front, if this -- if the work that we describe is not done, the context is this project will is going to be looked at against other projects around the country, especially for federal funding. and it's not going to compete well. the reality is you have to do

this work. you can do sequentially, you can front-load it and what we're actually suggesting is the front-load as much as possible. >> chair peskin: ignacios no, -- anything you want to add? mr. john fisher? >> thank you, mr. chairman. first, i'd like to clarify for the speaker who asked what procurement means. procurement means the contrast -- starting a process for contracting for the beginning of construction. so when we talk about procurement, start of procurement in 2021, in fact, summer of 2021, carrying to the plan, what we mean is a process that is actually comparable to the schedule that is currently published for the project. , that schedule called for a start of activities in 2018, leading up to advertising for award of construction in 2021 and beginning of construction in 2022. so the plan that we worked was

effectively to deliver that similar schedule, as was already on the table. >> chair peskin: thank you, sir. mr. fisher, anything you want to add? and then let's wrap this up. >> just final comment on the speaker who mentioned waiting for california high-speed rail. i think to the contrary there, i think part of the early activities are to sit with the operators and get a sense of the capacity they need to bring services as soon as possible. and that is likely caltrain first. so i think it's more trying to address the reality of where that project timeline is. but also where there are potential funding contributions will be. and that's critical activity that needs to happen, as we move forward in the program. >> chair peskin: thank you, sir. and i would finally like to acknowledge our former executive director of this body, mr. jose, who was also one of the expert panelists and with that, we will see you all on july 23rd.

thank you for your work. mr. clerk, could you please read the next item. >> clerk: item 12. >> given the late hour and the pending timma meeting, i would like to continue this item. are there any members of the public who want to speak to item number 12 in seeing none, public comment is closed. is there a motion to continue to the next meeting, made by every single commissioner here. we'll give it to commissioner safe, seconded by commissioner fewer and take that without objection. is there any introduction of new items? seeing none, is there any general public comment? >> chair peskin, members, alita dupree for the record. with general public comment, i enjoyed my meeting with you last

time. so i thought i'd come back. i'm looking for a lot ir feel that -- i feel that this agency can do more. as i think about new ideas of navigating this challenging landscape in san francisco, and i see things in other cities that are helpful. i'd like to have here in san francisco. first, i speak in the importance and i feel the need to a veteran's medical transportation network, a system that will help veterans to get to and from their medical appointments. and some say why veterans? well, with the recent enactment of the mission act and more places where veterans can go for medical care, and the challenging landscape of hills in san francisco, which can have

many impediments of reaching public transportation, the fact that there are about 4 million veterans that are receiving service-disabled compensation. i want to see this city become a place that will be welcoming to veterans, especially those with disabilities. we are very fortunate that any veteran with a service disability rating of greater than 50% is able to get a reduced fare clipper card. but we can do more. and i do use some shared mobility devices today on my way in, probably will use some later. so they are helpful to me. we just need more of them, because they help to add to the quality of life here. please remember those of us who served. and who are disabled especially in memory of those who have fallen. thank you. >> thank you. any other members with general public comment?

>> yes, very briefly. i would like to do supervisor peskin -- the last tjpa cost review committee, which essentially exposes a potential clawback from the administration in washington. we need to go back to the agreement -- the agreement signed in 2008. and transbay used to be a -- basically followed the same alignment as the old terminal. but they made two conditions. number one, the tracks had to be straight. they could not be curved. second, they had to have a minimum length of 1,312 feet. that's the amount in the agreement. now everybody, when they designed the station, know it's 1400 feet. and once you go back and revisit and ask your engineering staff to review the drawings, you're going to start seeing the issues

with how you can possibly connect that to a new transbay tube. so i just thought that i'd put it out there. i want everybody to be aware of this. look at it carefully and this is why for the last couple of years i have recommended to absolutely integrate the transbay with the d.t.x. and the pennsylvania and everything else. thank you very much. pes thank you, sir. seeing no other members of the public for general public comment, public comment is closed. and we are adjourned. [gavel]

supporters of the eagle plaza. [cheers and applause] this morning, i was honored, my business partner, mike leon. on this historic day. i want to take the warmest welcome possible to the honorable mayor london breed, supervisor haney, supervisor mandelman. the greatest community, members of the leather and lgbt cultural district and the friends of eagle plaza. we're all here today after a

long road. great accomplishments. eagle plaza started as an idea. six years ago my business partner and i met, built and have a conversation about breaking ground for construct, where we floated idea of the construction of the plaza. between the san francisco eagle bar and the construction. a plaza unique to the world that will honor the leather and lgbt communities, serve as a focal part for them to have events. and now this idea is about to come true. it's fitting this was elected for the first public plaza dedicated to the leather community. it's been the home for this community for decades.

a special thanks to supervisor haney and mandelman for introducing and pushing forward the legislation to permit the construction of eagle plaza. [cheers and applause] without their efforts, eagle plaza would still remain as an idea. i would like to thank all of those who contributed financially to eagle plaza and to my eagle family for their support. and, of course, the most special thanks to mayor breed, who removed road blocks, constantly moved the project forward to where we're here today at the ground-breaking of eagle plaza. i would like you to extend the warmest welcome to our mayor, london breed. [cheers and applause] >>

>> mayor breed: thank you so much. i am so excited to be here today. we're going to have one of the most beautiful plazas in san francisco. i remember when it first became mayor and i knew that this idea had started over six years ago when state senator scott wiener was on the board of supervisors and i know a lot of the work he did helped to get us to this place. but i was really frustrated over the two years of bureaucracy. we already had the support. we already had the plan. and the city bureaucracy continued to delay this project. so two years delay was just really unacceptable. so when i first became mayor, i made this one of my first directives and we got the approvals done in three months. so i'm really proud -- [applause] -- that we were able to work together to accomplish that goal. in addition to that, because this was such an amazing

community-driven project, $200,000 from the community college grant was made possible to help fund this project. the work from build inc. and i want to thank lauren seguin for being here, as well as the folks from the park alliance and the friends of eagle plaza, you all came together to make this incredible project possible. and i also would like to say a special thank you to senator scott wiener who put $100,000 in the state budget so we can have the additional support that we need. but here's the good news. we know that there is still a $50,000 funding gap and so that we can focus on the work and not on the resources needed to get the work done, i work with supervisor mandelman to come up with the $50,000 that we need to get this project done.

[cheers and applause] >> mayor breed: so to the folks of the leather and the lgbt community and this cultural district that was made possible for the purposes of celebration coming together. and in the spirit of pride month here in san francisco that celebrates inclusiveness and love and all great things we are here in our great city, i would like to say congratulations and thank you all for your hard work. i know when this plaza is completed, it's going to be used by so many people, to hang out, drink coffee, read, and celebrate and all the great things we do that make san francisco such a unique and special place for people to visit and live here. thank you, all, so much. [applause]

>> now i'd like to present a very special award that the san francisco eagle bar to a very special person. this is called the leather feather. and it's given in recognition of someone who not only has supported the leather community in a special way, but performed extraordinary service in doing so. so for making eagle plaza a reality, eagle bar is honored to present the leather feather to the san francisco mayor london breed. >> mayor breed: thank you. >> thank you so much. >> mayor breed: thank you. [applause] >> i want to have you guys now with bob, the chair of the

leather and lgbt cultural district. [applause] >> i am proud to be here for this historic event and the leather district is delighted to have the eagle plaza in our district. and we look forward to its use as a gathering point in the district. i have the honor of introducing rafael mandelman, the district supervisor and native san franciscan. he supported the leather community even before he ran for supervisor and can be seen in local venues periodically. [laughter] now he's reaching out beyond his district's boundaries to take real action to help make spaces like the eagle plaza come into being. his actions to make spaces for leather communities will keep this neighborhood's historic vibrant which will help perpetuate the city as a city

for tolerance and acceptance. with that, i present to you rafael mandelman. [applause] >> supervisor mandelman: good morning, everybody. this is such a wonderful morning and as i look out at this crowd of gorgeous people who are doing amazing things in our city for so many causes and communities. i see race bannon. race always deserves a round of applause. [applause] san francisco is a city that does not forget its history. we build on our history. we celebrate our history and make new things happen next to old things and that is part of the magic of the city. and i'm so pleased that this plaza is -- as the mayor said, it took a little longer than would have been ideal, but it is now finally happening. i want to say just a few -- maybe a year ago, or a couple of years ago, we were worried about

whether there even would be an eagle, right? more than a few years ago, but the community came together and city hall responded and now not only is the eagle still here, it's still a place to enjoy on sunday afternoons and all the time. and thank you so much, lex and mike, but now we have not only the eagle, but this amazing plaza coming here. so thank you, all, for coming out. thank you all for coming out. but have a very, very happy pride. [applause] >> thank you, supervisor mandelman. i now have the proud honor of introducing district 6 supervisor matt haney. i met matt when he reached out to the leather and lgbt district when running for office. he expressed support for our

community then and is following through with his action. it's these spaces that form a community and those spaces for the leather and lgbtq communities are under constant threat in this neighborhood. matt haney is not only talking about preserving the culture here, he's sponsoring legislation to preserve the spaces that make soma a destination for people across the country and around the world. the fact that he is here today showing support for the eagle plaza is one sign of his commitment to the communities. with that, i present to you supervisor haney. >> supervisor haney: thank you, bob. well, i want to say this one more time. this is going to be the world's first public plaza dedicated to the leather community. isn't that incredible? world first. and not only is it the world's

first public plaza dedicated to the leather community, it is in the world's first cultural district dedicated to the lgbtq community. give it up for that as well. bob, tremendous leadership. i want to thank all of you who worked hard to make this happen. sf parks alliance, mayor breed, supervisor mandelman, senator wiener. this is an extraordinary effort that made this happen. far too often the things that make this city wonderful, the things that built this culture, created our identity, the institutions, the businesses, are the ones that are constantly under attack. and sadly that's been the case here in western soma as well for the leather community. and with what we're doing today, the city is finally saying, not only are we going to preserve those institutions and that culture, we're going to celebrate it, have a permanent

home for it in our city and we're going to do it in western soma. there is no west soma without the leather community. i'm excited about the future of this plaza for a number of reasons. also because we need more open space in this part of the city. soma and west soma has some of the least amount of open space, parks, places for people to relax, to bring their dogs, hang out. and i know this can be an extraordinary open space. i may not have been to many leather events, but i have been here for the beer bust a couple of weeks ago. and this is a community that knows how to come together to have a good time. i want to give a shoutout to a group of people. i want to shout out to the construction workers behind us, who are actually going to build this thing. for all of their hard work, we're going to put on hard hats, but they do the work every day. thank you so much.

t thank you all for being here. we'll champion the leather district, the eagle and the plaza. thank you, all, for being here. >> good morning, everyone. my name is victor, i'm the communications director for senator scott wiener. this is a project he has spent a lot of energy working with lex and mike for the last six years to make this happen. he was very proud to get in the budget $100,000 to help make this a reality. [applause] i want to thank mayor london breed as well for her continued support of the plaza, as well as supervisor mandelman and haney. the leather community has always played an important role in the lgbtq community. at the height of the h.i.v.

epidemic, the community stepped up to raise funds for h.i.v. care, research and care for the entire community and continues to do that to this day. this plaza will serve to commemorate that and to continue to allow that work to happen. i want to thank you all for being here today and all of you that helped make this happen today. thank you so much. [applause] i'd like to bring up lauren from build inc. >> thanks. i don't know where to start. i mean, so many aspects of this are important. people think of us as developers, but really we're urban place-makers and this exemplifies the work that is important to us, every project we do. the neighborhood makes its place and has influence on what we can do there. so this is amazing.

for my partners, on behalf of my partners, our whole build group, the team at the office, this is the work that is meaningful, rewarding and just makes it all worth while. so thanks to mayor breed, to supervisor mandelman, haney, lex and the whole community to help make this happen. it takes a village and this is our village. thank you. let's dig dirt and make it happen! [applause] we have shovels right here. let's go dig. >> 5, 4, 3, 2, 1! turn that dirt! woo hoo! [applause]

love that. that's a great shot. thank you. . >> i just feel like this is what i was born to do when i was a little kid i would make up performances and daydream it was always performing and doing something i feel if i can't do that than i can't be e

me. >> i just get excited and my nickname is x usher my mom calls me i stuck out like a sore thumb for sure hey everybody i'm susan kitten on the keys from there, i working in vintage clothing and chris in the 30's and fosz and aesthetic. >> i think part of the what i did i could have put on my poa he focus on a lot of different musical eras. >> shirley temple is created as ahsha safai the nation with happens and light heartenness

shirley temple my biggest influence i love david boo and el john and may i west coast their flamboyant and show people (singing) can't be unhappy as a dr. murase and it is so fun it is a joyful instrument i learned more about music by playing the piano it was interesting the way i was brought up the youth taught me about music he picked up the a correspond that was so hard my first performing experience happened as 3-year-old an age i did executive services and also thanks to the lord and sank in

youth groups people will be powering grave over their turk i'll be playing better and better back la i worked as places where men make more money than me i was in bands i was treated as other the next thing i know i'm in grants performing for a huge protection with a few of my friends berry elect and new berry elect and can be ray was then and we kept getting invited back you are shows got better we made it to paris in 2005 a famous arc we ended up getting a months residencey other than an island and he came to our show and started writing a script based

on our troop of 6 american burr elect performs in france we were woman of all this angels and shapes and sizes and it was very exciting to be part of the a few lettering elect scene at the time he here he was bay area born and breed braces and with glossaries all of a sudden walking 9 red carpet in i walgreens pedestrian care. >> land for best director that was backpack in 2010 the french love this music i come back here and because of film was not released in the united states nobody gave a rats ass let's say the music and berry elect and

performing doesn't pay very much i definitely feel into a huge depression especially, when it ended i didn't feel kemgd to france anymore he definitely didn't feel connected to the scene i almost feel like i have to beg for tips i hey i'm from the bay area and an artist you don't make a living it changed my represent tar to appeal and the folks that are coming into the wars these days people are not listening they love the idea of having a live musician but don't really nurture it like having a potted plant if you don't warrant it it dizzy sort of feel like a potted plant (laughter) i'm going to give san francisco one more year i've been here

since 1981 born and raised in the bay area i know that is not for me i'll keep on trying and if the struggle becomes too hard i'll have to move on i don't know where that will be but i love here so so much i used to dab he will in substances i don't do that i'm sober and part of the being is an and sober and happy to be able to play music and perform and express myself if i make. >> few people happy of all ages i've gone my job so i have so stay is an i feel like the piano and music in general with my voice together i feel really powerful and strong

>> clerk: good evening and welcome to the june 26, 2019 meeting of the san francisco board of appeals. president rick swig will be the presiding officer tonight. he is joined by commissioner ann lazarus, commissioner rachel tanner. at the controls is the board's legal assistant, gary quintara, and i am the board's executive director. we have scott sanchez sitting at the