this is the san francisco rec and park commission. will the secretary please call the roll. >> clerk: [roll call] this is the recreation and park commission meeting of july 15, 2021. and i'm going to read the land acknowledgement. the san francisco rec and park commission recognizes that we occupy the ramaytush ohlone. the ramaytush ohlone for their enduring commitment. protectors of this land and in

accordance with tradition, the ramaytush ohlone have never exceeded loss nor have forgotten the responsibility as the caretakers of this place. as the stewards of park lands, we recognize our duty to honor the ramaytush ohlone through interpretation of ancestry al. and which to pay our respects to the ancestors of the ramaytush community. please note that city employees and the public the meeting and city hall are closed. commissioners participating in this meeting remotely to the same extent as if they were. public comment will be available for each item on the agenda. each speaker will be allowed two minutes to speak.

comments or opportunities to speak during the public comment period are available via phone by calling (415) 655-0001. and the access code today is 146 159 6625. when you hear the agenda item you would like to comment on, called, dial star three to be added to the queue to speak. you will be lined up in the system. while you are waiting, the system will be silent. all callers will remain on mute until their line is open. everyone must account for the time delays and speaking discrepancies between live coverage and streaming. alternatively, you may submit public comment in either of the following ways. by e-mailing

recparkscommission@sfgov.com. please note that this meeting is recorded and will be available on sfgovtv.org. we are now on item two. president's report. >> president: thank you, ashley. i am happy to announce that i do not have a president's report this morning. >> clerk: great. um, okay. if there's anyone on the line who would like to comment on item two, the president's report, you can dial star three to be added to the queue to speak. paul, sduz anyone have their hand raised to speak on the president's report? >> there are three member officer the public on the line and zero hands raised, ashley. >> clerk: okay. seeing no callers. public comment on item two is closed the. we're now on item three. general managerer's report. >> good morning commissioners.

i wish i could follow president buell. first, i just want to remind you all that the month of july is national park and recreation month. the theme of this year's celebration all across the country is our park and rec story. in our park and rec story or rec and park story as a department this past year has really been one of a harrowism and sacrifice. our staff has stepped up and sacrificed to serve our city in a time of need whether they've taken care of san francisco youth and our community learning humps initiative or navigated the endless health guidance to make sure our parks open citywide. we're extremely grateful for their work as we move closer to the end of this pandemic. this -- i'm going to come back to this harrowism at the end of

my report as we recognize one particular member of our staff. moving on to all kinds of exciting things that have happened since we were together will be happening. i want to start with something really exciting which is that we've launched our junior guide program in golden gate park this month. this is an exciting field trip program that equates kids from our most underserved neighborhoods with golden gate park that empowers them to return with their families. the junior guide program which will run through the end of the month will serve more. actually, it's going to run through this summer, will serve more than 600 youth participating in the city's great summer camp program summer together. facilitated by our staff and the san francisco parks alliance, the campers take

shuttles from golden gate park from rec centers in neighborhoods farther from the park including the tenderloin, chinatown, north bay, bayview, the mission, bernl heights, excelsior, ocean view and the western addition. campers enjoy a whirlwind of fun and learning playing at the children's corridor. enjoying sweeping views from the sky star wheel. riding the carousel and hearing from golden gate park experts including authors, naturalists, gardeners and more even a general manager. junior guides receive a bracelet passport that includes free family admission to the japanese garden, the botanical garden. and the city's museums for all programs which offers preor reduced cost admission to the california academy of sciences and the young museum for

families receiving food assistance benefits. we look forward to seeing the park also with its new patrons this summer and long after as they discover the joys and history of golden gate park. one of the places that our junior guides visit is monumental reckoning. a two year art installation in golden gate park honoring many black history lives. the piece by bay area artist consists of 350 black cultural figures standing 4' high in the park's music concourse representing the 350 souls kidnapped from african and forced on to the slave ship in 1619. they surround the empty ped stool where the statue of francis scott key once stood. on top of the statue on

june 15th, 2020. key who worked the lyrics of the star spangled banner and the third verse of the star spangled banner is something that is just frankly not befitting of a national anthem. thank you to everyone who made this possible and to everyone who's been able to attend this event. if you haven't been out there, i encourage you to see this incredible installation. monumentalreckoning.org. shine on san francisco launches. yesterday, shine non san francisco was formally launched with an event in our own union square, with mayor breed, city leaders, lots of community organizations including the san francisco parks alliance. shine on sf is committed to

care in san francisco. the san francisco recreation and parks department is excited to be part of this coalition and be sure to participate in a citywide art project throughout this summer by sharing what makes san francisco shine via cards on living golden trees throughout the city. these trees are in a variety of locations including union square, the hall, in the mission and a tree has made a recent stop at skate in place in golden gate park. for more information and including interactive golden tree map visit

shineonsanfrancisco.org. joined the boys and girls club for the first day of the willy mays ground crews program. watering dragging, raking the baseball diamond. these ground crew members and training will be responsible for the upkeep this summer and beyond. we look forward to seeing this diamond shine. and i know this particular item seems to commissioner. i'm very excited to welcome poncho banshon to celebrate golden gate park's 50th anniversary with the san francisco parks alliance and

illuminate sf unfortunately, because of the pandemic, we weren't able to have much music there last year, but it's all getting going. so today's event is brought to us by value culture. it's a free all ages concert experience celebrating live music, peace, diverse cultures and san francisco. the show begins tonight at 5:00 and will run until 8:00 p.m. with other performers including astrella, tony kay and more. the event is brought to us by direct for more information and to register for prizes visit

value culture.org/music. we are all equally excited to share we will be opening our recreational activities. from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. but we are beginning drop-in play at our rec facilities july 17th. certain facilities will continue to also be open on weeknights. we anticipate on re-opening and after labor day in september we're getting back to business. for more information and rec

schedules for the summer visit sfrecpark.org. the san francisco parks alliance for the re-opening celebration at golden gates heights park. we invite everyone to help us celebrate this $2.8 million renovation new irrigation at the upper field and the event will feature a ribbon cutting. some speaks program and give-aways by renovating some of the city's most time warn playgrounds. please visit sfparkrec.org.

i know want to conclude by going back to parks and recreation month i mentioned the harrowism from our staff. i want to focus now in the recognition portion of the general manager's report on someone from our summer day camp team that deserves our recognition. today, i'm very proud to recognize mariana ramirez. she's worked for two summers

our day camp. last month one of our campers started to choke on potato chip. mariana attempted to dislodge the chip by hitting him from behind. she applied the hiemlich maneuver. the whole incident happened within 5 seconds and mariana's quick actions really saved this camper from a very dangerous situation. mariana, we'd like to thank you for your swift actions and thank you for exemplifying the caring, competent, you know, performance and stewardship of our youth that you and your colleagues have displayed for 15 months now and i'd love to invite you to say a few words. just so you know, you're on mute. >> thank you everybody. i just wanted to say i was there at the right time and at

the right moment. he's fine. we're all fine. it was literally within a blink of an eye. but, thank you. >> thank you, mariana. and thank you for being one of our amazing camp counselors this summer and clearly, you are in the middle of your camp day, so we will let you get back to it. but bravo and thank you. >> thank you, have a good day. bye bye. >> well, mr. president, i'm very pleased to report that the general manager's report is now concluded. thank you. >> president: thank you. >> clerk: okay. if any members of the public would like to provide public comment on the general's report, you can dial star 3 to be added to the queue to speak. does anyone have their hands raised? >> ashley, we have seven callers on the line and zero hands raised. >> clerk: public comment is

closed. we are now on item four, general public comment. at this time, members of the public may address the commission on items of interest of the public that are within the subject matter of the commission and do not appear on the agenda. with respect to agenda items, you will have the opportunity to address the commission when the item is reached in the meeting. so if there's anyone on the line who would like to provide comment on something that's not on the agenda today, can you dial star three. paul is there anyone raising their hand? >> we have one hand and i will unmute. >> clerk: okay. you'll have two minutes. >> good morning, commissioners. this is richard grossman who represents district 1 on prozan. we're waiting for the richmond playground to be finished and the other thing is about upper

grade highway. i just want to say i support supervisor chan and that they should consider concept two of sharing the roadway and the cards going in each direction on the cars park. but since we're in the still state of is that we can try them as a different concept in a state of emergency these would open up the roadway to cars all the time. the other would open it up to

cars and i think one of them can be implemented without putting traffic lights in the park so i wish the commissioners would abstain from trying to do some experiment before we go into the pilot program and we should start now and not wait until the last minute. thank you. >> thank you. paul, does anyone else have their hand raised? >> that was the only hand raised. >> clerk: we are now on item five, the consent calendar.

paul, are there any hands raised? >> no hands raised, ashley. >> clerk: seeing no public comment. public comment is closed. >> president: will someone entertain a motion to approve the consent calendar. >> so moved. >> seconded. >> president: all those in favor. any opposed. hearing none. it is unanimous. thank you. >> clerk: okay. we are now on item six, the san francisco zoo. >> to mute your own line, press star pound to hear the number of participants. press star star to access the

help menu. >> good morning. i'm jason waterson san francisco zoo, executive vice president of wellness in animal behavior. ashley, do we have a presentation loaded? >> clerk: yeah. gary will put that up there for you. >> thank you. and i'll ask to proceed with the next slide. i wanted to tell you a little bit about you've heard us talk before about our local conservation program. on the san francisco damsel fly. and now we're moving in to working with yosemite toads. so most of the time, they are under snow. they only have sort of a small period of activity during the

to bring tad poles into the zoo and rear them up for and these are just amazing 3 cute. take a look at that shot. next slide, please. back in 2019, we opened our san francisco conservation program that highlighted our local conservation programs. and this year, next slide, we'll be opening a new jewel

exhibit. this is the only place in the country where you'll come and see yosemite toad. unless you find them in yosemite, of course. next slide. and the next slide. that's my report. thank you very much. we are very happy to be continuing our local conservation programs and hope that you guys are interested to come and see this beautiful toad. thank you. >> president: thank you. >> clerk: if there's anyone on the line who would lightning to provide comment on item six, san francisco zoo, you can press star three to be added to the queue. paul, is there anyone with their hand raised? >> ashley, we have five callers and zero hands. >> clerk: seeing no further callers. public comment is closed. we're now on item seven.

japanese tea garden accept and exand updated donor recognition plan. >> i am here to present this item. i'll pull up my. ashley, can you see my screen, is it working? great. i'm here for discussion and possible action to recommend that the board of supervisors authorize the recreation and parks department to accept and expend cash and/or in-kind grants for the san francisco parks alliance valued at up to $400,000 for restoration projects in the japanese tea garden. and, two, to prove an updated donor recognition plan for the

tea garden. and the strategic plan references for this item is number one, inspire a public place and number three, inspire investment. in partnership with the department, the friends of the japanese tea garden and the san francisco parks alliance launched the japanese tea garden revitalization campaign and for other priority projects in the garden. the estimated cost for the restoration project is approximately $2 million. the department has budgeted a total of $1.7 million for the projects. the parks alliance on behalf of the friends has offered to raise the remaining funds estimated to be approximately $300,000. if there are additional costs and if there are additional philipanthropic funds they have

provided a donation up to $400,000. the controllers accept and expend process called for authorization for the department to accept and expend this donation. on july 20th, 2020, the commission approved a donor recognition plan for the pagota where donors would be recognized on traditional decorated hardware. at that time, the friends continue plated additional donor ideas and have now updated their proposed plan to include recognition on bold are es as well. this recognition element will be similar on boulders in the park system and these are three example photos of donor recognition on bolders in three of our parks. i don't have pictures of cute toads, but i do have some beautiful photos of the garden

this picture shows the pagoda under its existing state. so that the work can be done in a safe way and also can be protected from different types of weather and then next to the pagoda is the temple gate. the temple gate is not being restored if it needs restoration, but it has been painted and once the carpentry work is completed on the pagoda, the pagoda will be painted as well. so they'll look nice next to each other. i have a couple pictures that show kind of what's happening underneath the wrap. so the photo on the left is the very beginning of the restoration before some of the demolition happened. this is the top level or the

top roof of the pagoda and you can see the wear and tear on the wood. and the photos on the right show our rec park carpenters working on the restoration and working on repairing the entire pagoda but specifically on the top level roof. these pictures show the painting of the temple gate. so the one picture on the left is the painting in process and then the picture on the right is the freshly painted temple gate and one thing i love about the new paint on the temple gate is that the painters painted the fish on the top. they look really cool up close because you can see the shiny gold paint. so during the while the pagoda has been under restoration, there's been some inquiries about the garden and so one

inquiry came from the console general maeda toru who is currently stationed in san francisco. he was eager to meet with our general manager phil ginsburg and have a tour of the garden. we were able to do that safely. this is the console general and the general manager and this is steven pitsenbarker our head supervisor of the garden and he led the tour. the general manager and the console general were able to go into the white wrap and see the pagoda restoration up first and this is john cuna giving them an explanation about the work. and these are just two lovely photos that steven pitsenbarker took and shared with me so i thought the commissioners and

the public might like to see these as well. and, in closing, i would just like to share that this item is supported by carol morada the japanese tea garden and gift shop owner. the japan society of northern california the japanese chamber of commerce. the japanese tea garden honorary committee. and the department staff. that concludes my presentation. i'm happy to answer any questions you may have. thank you. >> president: thank you, abigail. >> clerk: if there's anyone on the line who would like to comment on item seven, you can dial star three to be added to the queue. paul has anyone raised their

hand? >> yes, there are eighteen callers and one hand raised. unmuted. >> clerk: okay. you'll have two minutes. >> hello my name is sarah free from the san francisco parks alliance and i'm calling to give a quick comment that we are very grateful for the dedicated efforts of the friends of the japanese tea garden rec and park staff and community organizations and community members who are really energized and fight excited for the renovation project. we ask for your recommendation for the authorization of the expenditure of this gift. thanks. >> clerk: thank you: okay. seeing no public commentors, public comment is closed.

paul has his hand raised. >> i just want to thank the san francisco parks alliance and the japanese tea garden for their really treasured and devoted stewardship. this is a long time coming the pagoda nearly crumbled. you saw pictures of steve pitsenburger who is the supervising gardener responsible for the tea garden and he has been doing it for many years if not international experts. this is very significant that we have this kind of talent within our staff because this is a very specific and unique specialty. and then, what makes this gift so special and i know commissioner mazzola is not with us today, but this private

philanthropic funding is done by our own staff, our own carpenters and our own painters and own structural staff. you know, we often are in a position where our structural maintenance staff really focuses on day-to-day deferred maintenance and doesn't have the opportunity to participate in a project that involves as much craftmanship as this one does and you saw a picture of jon cuna out there, but there were several members of our team that have devoted a remarkable amount of time to this renovation and all of the private and public funding raised, that's how we were able to make this possible. and so this is a really unique one. i doubt this means any advocacy or persuasion, but i just wanted to offer some context and just what a special partnership this has really

become. thanks. >> president: thank you, phil. i would also add to that that this is a long time coming. i've been out there a couple of times with the experts in pagoda restoration and i was told at the time that this pagoda was made for the world's fair and after the world's fair was installed at the tea garden and so that gives you some sense of how old it is and it really has been in need of repair. so i want to congratulate everybody involved in this effort. it's a long time coming and very welcomed. with that, having closed public comment, i would entertain a motion to approve. >> clerk: we have a couple of [inaudible] as well. >> president: sorry. go ahead. >> clerk: commissioner anderson. >> i just wanted to also thank the general manager. this project probably started when you first became a special

manager and he did a remarkable job getting unanimous community support. it's not easy to do that in j-town, but you did it and like commissioner buell mentioned, it's great to see our own staff such skilled artisans put this back together. so i wholeheartedly support and would move to approve this accept and expend grant. >> president: thank you, commissioner. commissioner anderson. >> commissioner: i too wanted to acknowledge the great care and work and advocacy of everyone involved and particularly give a shout out to our friends in japantown. their great care and support and advocacy all these years. i want to recognize. i also wanted to bring the

perspective of the little guy and when i say the little guy, i mean children. i visited the japanese tea garden in one thousand nine hundred seventy when i was six years old and it was the most exciting experience of my young life. the experience with the japanese tea service with the beautiful women and their gorgeous clothing. it really kind of set a tone for me. i have had japanese maples in my yard ever since, a

beautiful, unique opportunity can have on a child's life and i just want to thank everybody involved and i whole heartily support this project and restoration. >> president: thank you, commissioner. do i see any other hands up, ashley. >> clerk: commissioner mcdonnell. >> commissioner: i just want to wholeheartedly support this project. it's very exciting. just a quick question, abigail. in terms of what kind of knowledge, intel do we have around the philanthropic support that's making this possible? >> sure. so the philanthropic support is being, you know, it's managed through the friends of the japanese tea garden. so two of the long time members, they've been involved

with our park system and park alliance for a long time. so they were kind of the two main members and then some other newer folks have joined the group as well and so they have been doing the fundraising. so i believe the donors are community members in the city and are interested in supporting this unique space. >> thank you so much. >> enthusiasm. any other comments? questions? seeing none. the chair would entertain -- there's been a motion by commissioner low. the chair would entertain a second. >> commissioner: second. >> president: moved and seconded. all those in favor. seeing none opposed it is unanimous. thank you, abigail. and thank you, that's a great presentation. >> thank you. >> great, thank you.

bye bye. >> clerk: so we are now on item eight, equitable development plan. this item is discussion only just as a reminder. >> commissioners, i'm going to kick this off and then turn it over to my colleagues. as you know, last month, we kicked off the restoration of the shoreline with mayor breed, senator weaner, the bayview community, and i think commissioners buell, mcdonnell, hallisy, there was this wonderful community celebration to mark the ground breaking program and multi-cultural performances etc.. this is a real milestone. we have been working on this project for many years. you all are familiar with it. at this ground breaking, we also able to acknowledge and

celebrate a newly budget of $25 million for this project and a $25 million gift. the site remediation led by bay view that's going to deliver $140 million to the bayview. and before the team dicks off a presentation which is going to update you goeth on the park project and our very important and for unique equitable development proesh to this project, i did want to thank the governor, assembly member phil ting, senator weaner,

there has been so much advocacy on this project and it's wonderful to see our city come together for a once in a lifetime punt. the philip randolph institute and our equitable development leadership team who i'm going to say a few more words about. we have done some good work together and i am so excited to turn this presentation over to omar davis from my team and to jackie flynn. so, omar, take it away. and ambiguous lisa branston whom you're going to hear from too. >> good morning, commissioners. general manager and colleagues. give me one moment.

i'm going to share my screen. okay. my name is omar davis. i'm an shunt project manager with the capital division of reck and park director of partnerships and jackie flynn, executive director of apri. i'm presenting item 8, information and discussion only regarding the equitable development plan which accompanies the expansion. this work has been conducted with the help of project partners, trust for public land and the san francisco parks alliance. as a reminder, the water front parks concepts were approved on

august 16th, 2018. the rec and park department endeavors to build a park that's meaningful, equitable and essential to the health of san francisco's southeast community which has been historically underserved. the vision for this side has been to create a trail fetework. with that recognition in 2015, property owners as well as key regional and bayview hunter's point stake holders to understand the opportunities created by these sites and ensure all sites eventually look, feel, and operate as an integrated parks system. today, many of these properties along the indian basin trail line are in some phase of renovation or redevelopment. out of this process and from many community meetings, the goal around equity and inclusion became front and center. the park development priorities

and indian basin are rooted in creating amenity rich parks and inspiring open spaces designed in partnership with the existing bayview hunter's point community. in the process of design xg building these sites, we are building community capacity, stewardship, and ensuring that the parks are reflective of the bayview from who is constructing the park to the patrons that will enjoy the programming at the park to those who also maintain and operate the park facilities. we also want to acknowledge historic and systemic environmental justices within bayview untoer's point and reduce these impacts with a resilient design. to that extent, these programs are spread across multiple properties. 900 on the left featuring the ship wreck cottage. the food pavilion and shoreline park shown on the right will

feature new playgrounds, basketball courts, a cook-out terrace, kayak lunch and even more. the missing piece of the shoreline trail network. with remediation under way, we will go from what you see here to a much improved connection with the waterfront as shown in this rendering of shoreline park. and it shows you all a quick video. so give me one second to get that up. >> you're seeing a flyover without sound. so forgive us. but you do get a sense of the design here.

>> [inaudible] >> just a reminder to mute yourself if you're on the call right now.

>> it's much jazzier with music, but you get the idea. all right, omar, take it away. >> apologies for the lack of sound there.

let's keep going. >> and to this end, the work is truly under way. we broke ground for remediation last month on june 17th. thank you to the many commissioners who attended. we really appreciate your partnership in this endeavor. here is the larger schedule and phase one is where this remediation is taking place at 900 ines. upon completion, we will begin phase two, construction of 900 ines towards the end of 2022. once 900 ines is complete and open to the public, we will begin phase three ensuring that at in given time, there will be park access to the water front. along with the tremendous

positive impact that the civic space can have on our well being, the unattended sequences. what is unique about this project is a deeper involvement with community members to identify the employment, programming, and inclusion opportunities within this larger investment guide ongoing community organizing capacity building and decision making efforts and use this park to serve as a catalyst for further investment in the neighborhood. this is why we're here. jacquelyn flynn, executive director of a.p.r.i. will take you through more equitable development plan and community leading this effort. >> thank you so much, omar. and general manager ginsburg. good morning, commissioners. my name is jackie flynn and i am the executive director of the a. phillip randolph

institute in san francisco but i also play an important role as the equitable plan manager. and as omar said, it's important for us to not only recognize that we're not just building a park, we're building a park in a community that has suffered from some tremendous historic impacts and so we want to make sure that as we move forward, we've got some plans and strategies to address the social economic and environmental issues that have historically impacted the neighborhood and we are mindful that we're working to build investments in this park, but we want to go beyond the park and actively work to prevent any green displacement. next slide, please. thank you. so we established our edp leadership commission that phil mentioned very briefly. they were tasked to help us

facilitate and draft our plan we embarked on over a year of work meeting monthly with these members and there's approximately 20 total members and as you can see, we make up a very diverse group of bayview hunter's point with different images, ethnicity, social economic incomes and many of the folks that have been committed to this project also wear many hats in the community as community leaders. next slide, please. we've done an extensive amount of community engagement over the last several years in order to create the vision and future

space. this is just one photo and there's probably a lot more city departments that we are working with to make sure that we not only complement ongoing plans with the city, but we also leverage existing resources to go beyond what's happening in the park and our e.d.p., the plan itself actually gets into some of those details that we heard in the community. next slide, please. so the goals for our equitable development plan is to support a community driven plan. one in the bayview hunter's point community. of course, we want to make sure we are preventing any further displacement of the black community that lives and works in bayview hunter's point. and often times when we see major developments like this one, it can be a sign for

community that gentrification is coming. and so we wanted to make sure that we had some of those hard conversations with our community, but also come up with strategies to address some of those historic and systemic environmental injustices that have plagued bayview hunter's point. we also are provided sustained resources. capacity building and decision making in the area. we wanted to have community members at the table when we do this which is also a super fun site. so bayview hunter's point has

had some significant environmental issues as we are addressing and develop this park. next slide, please. so as we began to really work with our community to these were the six areas of focus that were identified. work force and business development a healthy community and ecology. opportunities for our youth and even though we're talking about building a park, we're going beyond the park and talking about housing security as well. all these areas are ones that our community told us they wanted to really focus on. next slide please to really get

into the weeds of how we can promote some of these areas. for arts, culture, and identity, we've got a couple of strategies here one that's equitable and responsible to the community needs and desires and also design a park that celebrates the black culture and celebrates our diversity as well. and as you may all know, our bayview hunter's point is african american and cultural district. of course, we hear a lot about jobs and access to opportunities. so we are working to build and sustain local businesses. rubicon is one of the local contractors identified in bayview, hunter's point and in

addition to that, we're providing training and professional development and supporting our 3rd street and commercial corridors just going beyond the park. we've already placed a worker that has gom and then lisa will talk a little bit about opportunity and offered an opportunity with our resource development team for our fellowship there as well. i'll let lisa talk a little bit about that. next slide, please. of course, it's important to ensure that there is some connectivity, some transit access and there's some safe routes to and from the park. so we are working to improve the neighborhood access, increase public access to the park and prioritize safety in and around the park. next slide, please. healthy communities and ecology

have been at the forefront of this entire conversation. we've also been talking a lot about how climate impacts will possibly impact that shoreline as we move forward. so, of course, the strategies here were to make sure that we extended environmental benefit of urban nature and surrounding into the neighborhood. we're creating a social hub within the park, so offering multiple resources at the park and increasing physical and mental health through our programming opportunities. [please stand by]

>> thank you so much, jackie, and for telling me that i was on mute. thank you so much, general manager ginsburg. i guess i want to start just by saying, really, what an honor it's been to be involved with a department that has such a deep relationship with the community. we're really putting our money where our mouth is on this project, so as you'll see, as you see from the budget on the slide, there's money for budgeting and building the

park, but also money for the implementation of the initiative that jackie presented and the team developed. and then, in terms of the committed funding, as you can see, we're well on our way in the fundraising through the 2020 bond and other local, state, and national sources of public funding, and then, of course, through the inspirational contribution through john pritzker that phil mentioned at the beginning of this presentation. but we still do have about $37 million left to raise, and we expect that to be largely the private side of this initiative, and we're well on our way to -- we are well underway in the campaign that will secure these funds. and i guess i'll say that even

though on the table there's fundraising practices, to ensure that everything is equitable with the community. i guess i'll start with one early milestone and get to some milestones that jackie mentioned, as well is one really nice milestone for the project is, at the beginning of this year, we secured, with -- in partnership with four other equitable bark programs, the award of a $1.5 million workforce development grant. and as part of that, the initiative will get $195,000 for the plan and barriers to work. that's paid out for three years, and the first two years, that will be training for construction jobs, and then,

the third year, it will be training for some sort of job in or related to the park which, at that point, will be -- we hope will be close to opening. and even more important than the funding are two elements. it's one more thing that puts the funding on the national stage, and it also included a lot of profit sharing as we try to break the mold in the way a lot of this has been done. we hired the really wonderful darryl watkins who's a student

at san jose state and has been on the project just a few weeks so far. he was hired by our fundraising consultant c.c.s. and has already contributed so much in terms of aligning the fundraising goals with the goals of the community and helping with outreach to the community about the fundraising. and c.c.s., the other thing that they're doing is creating a bank of pro bono hours that will go into the community to help them with fundraising and will host some community workshops on fundraising, which most people will tell you is an incredibly great thing for a nonprofit. and we are researching and creating equitable fundraising models, including, we have a

study out in the field right now about the fundraising campaign, but we're going to be interviewing members of the community for what this campaign should look like and what the naming should look like and how the community should be involved in the naming elements of the project, and darryl has been really crucial in pulling those pieces together for the whole team. and then, i'll say that the fundraising team, including the consultant, is going to the e.d.p. leadership meeting to get more feedback on plans for the project. and then next slide, please, omar. and i'll just end by saying, as i mentioned, the study is -- has started, and we haven't

started the community part, but the early feedback from the community is they're very supportable about the equitable development of the fundraising. they're very understanding about the idea that this is about listening to the community and doing something together, and happily, they -- many have indicated they want to make a gift and participate in the campaign. and i'll just end by saying i wanted to share this one quote that came from the study, talking about how wonderful the project is because it's not a project for the community but a project with the community, and with that, i'll turn it back

over to omar and thank you very much. >> actually, omar, i'll take it from here, if you don't mind, because along those lines, what jackie and i wanted to do, we are doing this with community, and we wanted to thank our leadership committee. so i wanted to share with you who they are, but before that, i wanted to thank jackie and apri and her team, kurt and eva and her colleagues for all of the work that they've done to facilitate this very unique level of community engagement. it has really been a joyous journey, and i know that my colleagues at p.t.l. and the

san francisco parks alliance share those sentiments. but jackie, and forgive me if i mispronounce anybody's individual name, but i know that syria o'kelley, [inaudible] cindy tran, eric scott, jessica campos, jill fox -- jill's been very involved since some of the earlier phases of this program, joyce armstrong, kelley lewis, kimberly hill brown, michael pingston, michael brown, [inaudible] ravelle taylor,

[inaudible], tiffany carter, wallace fung, and la toya pitcher has been mostly involved in the leadership community, but we have the support of many community leaders in the bayview? jackie, is there anything you want to add in thanking our tremendous leadership team? >> no. i do want to thank our community members. i think it goes to show how passionate we are about our community, and we often haven't had a seat at the table. this is one thing that i think is a historic moment for san francisco, doing something different, and i would say that it hasn't always been easy. i think it's important to show how much we are invested in this community and how much --

it just goes to show how much we really care. so i do want to thank all of the time and effort that our community leaders have put into developing the equitable development plan, and many of them are ready to move from plan to implementation and serve in some capacity on this project, so i really applaud all of the folks that have helped to contribute to this effort. >> thanks, jackie, and also a special shoutout to omar for all of your work and putting together the presentation today and the equitable leadership plan. [inaudible] who couldn't be with us today. i want to thank meyer rogers over at sfpa, philip wynn, [inaudible] eric from p.p.a., as well. hopefully, you'll hear from

some of them in public comment, but this has been an effort unlike -- we all have a lot of work to do so, but we've put in a lot of effort. and i think we'll stop the presentation there. thank you, commissioners. >> clerk: before i go over to the public comment line, we have ken nimm from oewd who wanted to stay something. >> thank you. thank you, commissioners. thank you, general manager ginsburg. it's been an incredible journey. i want to share an incredible human story? as you saw in the presentation with the mayor on the youth slide there were two twins standing behind her? they went on a v.r. training, right, to get people ready during the pandemic to get them to city build, and i think -- i believe that was in the last

month's newsletter, and they got into city build, graduated this last fall -- i mean, last may, and they are working construction, and they showed up in the india basin to help celebrate. thanks to [inaudible] and apri in getting them in, and that's just a preview of what's going to happen next year when we were actually doing the major construction? thanks to all of the public support team members and apri getting a construction specific team training. we're going to be focusing on india basin and bayview-hunters point residents. we run a longer program but with this special partnership, we're going to have a really focused india basin type of training to get work opportunities and we're going to have some v.r. included in it. even before the construction, we've been using that space for our hands-on workout with our

students and our v.r. training, so i just wanted to highlight that as a very cool story, the brothers, the twins, are looking forward to working on the project when construction begins. they were born and raised in the bayview, went to high school there, and now they're looking forward to that. >> clerk: my phone is ringing, but if you're wanting to enter public comment, you can dial star, three to enter the queue. paul, you can unmute the first speaker? >> operator: okay. >> hi. can you hear me? >> yes. >> okay.

my name is alejandra [inaudible] and [inaudible] it was great to see many of you for the ground breaking event and it's great to see the equitable plan. we believe that parks are essential for a community, and parks are not nice for a few but a must-have for everyone. as you heard, this project is not just about creating an amazing park, this project is about equity, this project is about renewal and environmental health, about developing the workforce. the project is about honoring the bayview and hunters point community. this community has suffered many injustices and [inaudible]

hard to change this park. as you heard, the community development plan was created by bayview-hunters point leaders for the bayview-hunters point community. this is a moment that we're close to establishing the plans and are in the process of building the park. but i want to also acknowledge that there's still a lot of work to do to make sure that this vision gets implemented, and as you heard, there has been a lot of progress. some goals will take time, investment, and sustained effort from all of us to make sure the plan becomes real, and i want to say that the trust of public lands and all our partners, we're all committed to this project and to see this plan get implemented. so thank you very much. >> clerk: thank you. next speaker?

>> [inaudible]. >> hi. you're on the line with the commission. hello? >> clerk: hi. you're on the line for public comment. >> oh, i'm sorry. yes, i'm [inaudible] i am a member of s.f.y. wall street. i'm also a member of the leadership committee, a native of san francisco bayview, and i'm sorry because i'm actually at my restaurant right now, and i was talking to customers, but yes, i fully support the project. i think it's vital for our community and it's going to bring a lot of jobs and it's going to be good for the neighborhood itself. so thank you. >> clerk: thank you. paul, if we could go to the next speaker?

>> hi. my name is rosemary sims, and i'm so happy that this project is underway. i am a fourth generation san franciscan. i was born and raised in the bayview-hunters point. i think it's awesome that we will have, at the end of this project, we'll have a safe, safe place for families to come out and enjoy their community. i think that's been a problem. in the past, bayview-hunters point has been cutoff from other points in the city. i know we see a change coming, and we feel like it's an awesome thing, and here's p.j. [inaudible]. >> good morning, everyone. my name is p.j. ulloa, and my roommate is [inaudible] i'm a long time bayview-hunters point resident. i love this project because

residents are [inaudible] to help with making decisions [inaudible] in all reality for us. i think that this is the time. it is time now that the bayview-hunters point in the surrounding communities of the india basin park have a space that they're able to go and build communities, a space that they're able to go and make great mum res with their families, so i am in total support of this project but also am the project of the resident council here in [inaudible] and also, our community as well is in big support of this project. it's time. it's time that families are able to have a space that they're able to call their own, and this project will allow families to come out of their home, build great memories, make great things happen within the bayview community. thank you. >> clerk: next speaker?

>> good morning, commissioners. hopefully, you can hear me. my name is [inaudible] and i am executive director of [inaudible], program under the office of the public defender. we also convened the bayview-hunters point collaborative group. i just want to speak in support of the project, we've had periodic updates from the team? we just actually had update about india basin project this past tuesday from meyer rogers, and i also was able to participate in the -- one of the focus groups around youth opportunities that happened last week, and that was really lovely. we support the strategy one and two that was identified around the youth opportunities and really enjoyed that discussion?

so this -- i just want to speak in support of the collaborative and partnerships that you created around this project, and also wanted to -- hopefully have more community voices. we really think it's great to open up and having more family events. i know there's been to be a family day at india basin park, and the group is hosting our annual backpack celebration that's happening at bayview-hunters point, and we really want a seat at the table to engage the community in the project, so i'll just leave it at that. thank you so much. >> clerk: thank you. next speaker. >> hello. good morning, or good afternoon. my name is rebecca taylor. i'm one of the community members for the india basin project, and i have been

honored with just over a year being on -- just giving ideas and hearing all the information about how they're going to revitalize this area because i work in this neighborhood, and i have my parents and children -- even though we're a little further up on the hill in hunters point, to even get access to the park. i'm hoping, when they have transportation in different ways, for our kids to be able to have access and field trips for my group. it would be wonderful, and i'm honored that they're finally going to get this project going, and it's well overdue. i think the hunters point project should always have this in mind to look out for this neighborhood that's been vibrant for years. thank you.

>> clerk: thank you. next speaker? >> greetings and good morning. can everyone hear me? >> hello? >> yes, hello. >> thank you. my name is [inaudible], and i'm deeply honored to be a part of this community. the beautiful hunters point is what i've always called it and actually expressing the beautiful culture that hunters point has been, although we've been plagued by several injustices, we still have been very resilient, and this project is a very deep sign of that. i want to encourage us to look at this as the hunters point basin because at one time, it was just an area that we as children would go and look and be at the water in that sense,

and i think it would be a really great way to unite because of the communities of india basin, the china basin, and of course what i like to call the hunters point basin. so with that, i definitely look forward to many more projects like this because there's so much more work to be done on the san francisco coastline, which was created by [inaudible] who happened to be a black man. doing a lot of work here, and at 35,000 acres, which a lot of it was san francisco before it was named. so i just want to think about, as we're moving forward on these projects, that we can name people that did a lot of the work, and many of the other families that made this possible. so once again, my name is [inaudible] and i'm a life

coach and a community and cultural developer that is excited to be a part of any project that would make [inaudible] in our communities available to the community that has been here for so long. thanks once again. >> clerk: thank you. >> thank you. >> clerk: next speaker? >> hi. my name is darryl watkins. i'm a bayview youth. i actually see a lot of familiar faces, so it's nice to meet you or see you jen. i'm working with the c.t.s. fundraising to raise money for this india basin project. i'm excited not only to be a part of this project but to raise money for this project and see what comes on.

i'm excited to see families and even people from outside of the bayview come to our park. i feel this is the most exciting start for bayview, and we're struggling in the right direction. we're going to get a lot of sound because -- so i feel like me being a member and i can't wait to see what comes out of it. thank you. >> clerk: next speaker. >> hi. thank you for having me. my name is [inaudible] in bayview-hunters point. i want to speak out in support of the project. india basin has been a home for

us before we even had a home. coming down there, being able to create space and hold space to share and connect, the park itself is medicine to the community, and so i just think that it's really about time that more support and more love gets poured back into something that is such a healing space for residents and folks that are within the community. so i thank you for your time, and yes, we are definitely in support of this project. i just want you all to also be mindful of transparency, especially dealing with the community in a forward way. thank you. >> clerk: thank you. next speaker? >> hello. my name is jessica campos, and i am one of the [inaudible] and i'm calling in support of the

india basin park. [inaudible] for the last two years, there's been a lot of work not only for the [inaudible] but for the community. director jackie has been able to pull in a lot of the community members and really listen? she listened to a lot of things about the community wants in the park and be able to bring a plan that is not only through an equitable lens but by community for community and also [inaudible], it's really great to see that the city is investing in our all the community and [inaudible] is really put into place, and i think not only the people that are calling, but we in the

community and the leadership team are going to hold the community accountable and ours accountable because we really want to make sure that all of that has been put into place and continue to flourish, so i'm excited to see the work and how it goes. thank you so much. >> clerk: thank you. next speaker? >> good -- good morning -- well, good morning, everyone. i'd like to thank everyone on this line for attending. i have been involved in this project for the last 1.5 years. i believe there's a lot of equality in this project.

it's important that we all play a part, born and raised, you know, the people that have just come to bayview-hunters point, and everyone, you know, is a diversity, and that is -- that's [inaudible], so again, i would just like to thank everyone for listening to us, for listening to our voices and hearing our voices, even including that. that's greatly appreciated, and i would just support to moving forward and, you know, having expressed positive vibes, healing in the community, you know, introducing healthy living and natural lifestyles to the community to the community and this is -- i think this is a really good

thing, so i'm blessed to be a part. thank you all. >> clerk: thank you. next speaker? >> hello, can you hear me? >> clerk: yes, we can hear you. >> can you hear me? hello? >> clerk: yes, we can hear you. >> ah, okay. my name is kirk grimes. i am the program manager for the a. philip randolph program in san francisco. i am very fortunate to be a resident and have what's called a seven-minute commute to work. but aside from all that, i am excited, i am proud to be a part of this project. as phil ginsburg said earlier, this is ground breaking. this hasn't been done anywhere else in the country, so as

commissioners, i thank you, and i appreciate your support for this because to participate in the developing and designing a park that looks forward to developing these options that this park has to meet is impressive. i am very proud to be a part of it, and i'm very proud to be working with my community to make sure that these goals and objectives are met. and on that, i'd like to say thank you for your time. general manager ginsburg, i thank you very much for giving my e.d.p. team he members a shout -- team members a shoutout during this meeting. commissioners, thank you very much for your time. >> clerk: thank you. paul, do we have any other speakers? >> operator: there is one last hand raised, actually, and they're unmuted. >> clerk: okay. >> hi. my name is [inaudible] and i'm a member of the e.p.d.

leadership committee? i am a lawyer, a communications executive, a mother, and a very proud homeowners in the bayview? i love my neighborhood and my neighbors, and our neighborhood deserves this project. it will be a gift for our neighborhood but also for the city as a whole? and so to close, i just want to emphasize to the commission that this project needs to be a citywide priority was it will do tremendous things to enhance the lives of the residents in the bayview-hunters point but also all of our city citizens, and i thank you for your support and partnership. >> clerk: thank you. i think, paul, that there's one more caller, so next speaker. >> good morning. my name is jill fox. i am -- i live 80 feet from the

historic shipwright's cottage. i have been advocating for this park since 1999. when i first spoke to phil ginsburg about it, he was the fifth park and rec manager that i talked to about our dream park plan for india basin. i am thrilled to see it moving forward, and i am thrilled that i have personally been acknowledged in this meeting as a member of the equity development leadership committee. but i also wanted to remind you of who brought everyone to the dance, and that was the india basin neighborhood associate which advocates for the

acquisition and for the shipwright's cottage landmark status, and that was all volunteers with really no budget who really wanted this park because we thought, and it's being proven now, that creating a park out of our closed boatyard and the other sort of junkyards that were around india basin would kind of lift all parks out here, no pun intended. so i am very happy to serve on the equity development plan. i'm very proud to be part of the creation of this park, but i do hope that the india basin creation association, ibca, we call it, that we continue the

work to honor the rich history, the rich diversity of india basin and to make sure that everyone, everyone is welcome in our new park and our beautiful waterfront, so thank you very much for this opportunity. bye. >> clerk: thank you. paul, just want to double-check, is there anyone else with their hand raised? >> operator: there are 13 callers on the line, and no more hands left for this item. >> clerk: okay. seeing no further callers, public comment is closed, and as a reminder, commissioners, this item is discussion only. if you want to discuss it only or if you want me to move on? >> any comments or questions from the commission? >> just that this is really amazing work, so thank you to everybody. really inspiring and excited about it. >> thank you, commissioner. we all agree. i think it is absolutely

remarkable, and one of the higher priors of the work -- priorities of the work that we're doing, so thank you, one and all, let's move on. >> clerk: we are now on item 9, jerry garcia amphitheater, contract amendment. >> my name is monica scott, and i'm here to discuss the jerry garcia amphitheater and possible amendment. this is discussion and possible action to amend the construction contract with angotti and reilly,, inc. , for the jerry garcia amphitheater improvement project, to increase the contract amount by up to $225,000, bringing the

revised not to exceed contract time to $791,369. this project is funded by the citywide project for the john mclaren park from the 2021 clean and safe parks bond and also the safe bond -- 2012 park forestry funding. the scope of the renovation work is expanding the paved flat areas to allow for food trucks and other amenities for larger events to take place as well as expanding a retaining wall and regrading for improved drainage, and we're also improving the access road that is unpaved that will reach the back of the amphitheater.

so this project was not brought to the commission for award of contract initially as it was under the $700,000 threshold for a formal contract, so that's why this is the first time you're hearing about this contract. however, the commission did approve the concept plan for this project. due to unforeseen conditions that have arisen during the course of construction, including additional layers of asphalt in the paving areas that are being repaved, additional tree removals due to trees that came down due to wind condition, as well as most significantly, a major infrastructure discovered underground with water pipes that had been remnants of project past, we have had numerous change orders that are detailed in the staff report

for you to see, and these total $225,000. and this is including a $30,000 allowance for unforeseen conditions until the project ends. as i think i just mentioned, the project is currently under construction, and we're anticipating reaching substantial completion by early september 2021. this project is fully funded and this is not a request for additional funds. with that, we request approval of the funds to increase the contract amount by up to $225,000, bringing the revised not to compete contract amount to $791,369. thank you for your time, and let me know if you have any questions. >> thank you very much. >> clerk: if you're on the line and you want to provide comment on item 9, please dial star, three to be added to the queue

to speak, and paul, if you could let me know if anyone has their hand raised. >> operator: ashley, we have six callers and zero hands raised. >> clerk: all right. seeing no further callers, public comment is closed. >> commissioners? comments? questions? motions? seeing no comments, the chair would entertain a motion to approve. >> so moved. >> it's been moved. >> second. >> and seconded. all those in favor? opposed? hearing none, it is unanimous. thank you. >> thank you. >> clerk: thank you. we're now on item 10, golden gate park 6 avenue skate area, open space fund contingency reserve allocation. >> good morning, commissioners. denny kern.

this is a discussion for a possible allocation for the open space fund contingency reserve for the resurfacing, expansion, and installation of surface artwork at the golden gate park. this is specifically strategy one as our public space and aligns with objective 1.2, which is strengthen existing parks and facilities. commissioners, i believe a lot of you know this area. the 6 avenue skate area is located in the east part between j.f.k. drive and folsom avenue. the existing surface needs repair and resurfacing, and the hardscape could be extended towards folsom avenue to create

an additional skate area. it's scoped and designed to preserve the existing trees and tree root zones around the statuesque majestic trees that surround the skate area. you can see the attachment in your package for the skate area and the proposed expansion toward fulton. additionally, [inaudible] later this summer and presented to the arts commission for approval prior to installation. the budget for this project would be $100,000 to resurface

the skating area, and 160,000 to grade, excavate, install rock base and pave the extension area to the skate area and lastly, $30,000 to install the surface mural once that design has been finalized and we can then put that into the oval area of the skate area. the total project government, then, is $293,200, and allowing for a small amount of contingency funding, the total project is rounded up to $300,000. to fund this project, we request an allocation from the subfund, and the balance would be funded from the general fund capital budget, the $150,000 out of the court resurfacing line out of that budget. so the staff recommendation for

this is approval of the allocation of $150,000 from the open space fund contingency reserve, specifically, the commissioners subfund for the resurfacing, installation, and expansion of the surface artwork in the golden gate park 6 avenue skate area, and commissioners, i apologize. i jumped over one particular part that i want to mention to you. there is sufficient funding in the commissioner subfund. the balance right now is $627,067, and that, and along with all of the other funds of the open space contingency reserved is detailed in attachment b of your package. this proposal is supported by operations director here in this department and the church of eight wheels, and we know of no opposition. >> thank you, denny. >> clerk: if there's anyone on the line who's like to

comment -- who'd like to comment to item 10, dial star, three to raise your hand to speak. paul, does anyone have their hand raised? >> operator: ashley, there are four callers on the line and zero hands raised. >> clerk: okay. no callers, public comment is closed. >> commissioners? comments? questions? seeing none, chair would entertain a motion to approve this item. >> i would like to move this motion forward. >> and second. >> having been moved in a sort and seconded, the chair -- i would like to skate this motion forward. >> and second. >> having been moved in a sort and seconded, the chair would take a vote. all those in favor? opposed? motion carries unanimously. >> thank you, commissioners.

>> clerk: we're now on item 11, general public comment, continued from item 4. at this time, members of the public who were not able to address the commission on item 4 may address the commission on items that are within the subject matter jurisdiction of the commission and that do not appear on the agenda, so if you'd like to enter public comment, you may dial star, three. >> operator: ashley, we have five callers and three hands, so i'll unmute the first. >> clerk: okay. >> good morning. my name is jean barish. i'm a richmond district resident, and [inaudible] today, i'm speaking on my own behalf. i'm speaking to urge you to please support the reopening of all four lanes of the great highway. the residents of d-1, d-4, and d-7 have had enough, as have all the motorists who have been

forced to detour and are getting stuck in traffic because all the lanes are closed. it's axiomatic, and over a year ago, the great highway was suddenly closed as part of the covid emergency order. there was no regard for the impact on the surrounding community. it was justified due to a terrifying pandemic and a perceived need that people had to have a place to be safely out of doors, but those conditions have changed. students are returning to school, adults are returning to work. lockdown is over. most people in san francisco are vaccinated. now there's talk of a compromise. perhaps a pilot program, during which time the great highway would be partially closed or completely closed part of the time, but the only solution to this great heist is a full reopen. the great highway was abruptly

taken from motorists due to extraordinary circumstances. there was no compromise then, and there should be no compromise now. it's time to return this critical roadway, a major north-south artery to the thousands of motorists who use it daily, and to restore the surrounding neighborhoods to their original peaceful state. anything less than a full reopening is highway robbery. thank you. >> thank you. >> clerk: next speaker? >> hi. i live along the lower great highway, and i agree with what jean barish just spoke of. i'd like you to focus on maintaining what already exists in the local parks and playgrounds rather than changing the great highway's

main purpose, which was to bypass our residential streets unnecessarily. please take time to drive around our residential streets. we live in a part of san francisco that has multifamilies and working class residents that need their cars for various reasons. keeping the streets open to vehicles allows for less vehicles on all streets. the opening the great highway will help keep unnecessary traffic off our residential streets. i just listened to how the india basin community were all in support of what you're doing there, and i thought that was wonderful. it sounds like they had a great community effort of outreach, and i don't feel residents of the sunset, richmond, and affected areas have had that same opportunity. what we're seeing is a lot of things done without transparency, and it just kind

of makes me wish that we had what the india basin, you know, community has. we don't have the best weather out here. it's -- the amount of people that used to be walking during the pandemic are not there. you know, it's -- people are back to their normal lives almost, and i just feel like you are -- rec and parks have kind of been gaslighting by calling the great highway the great walkway already. i don't know who decided to put that on your site as a destination. any way, thank you for your time, and please reopen the great highway. thank you. >> thank you. >> clerk: next speaker? >> hello? i'm with the opening the great highway. and while i applaud what you're doing down at innes with the

park, i think it's great, people need the great highway need this road to get into other areas of the city. it's not just a richmond issue. it's [inaudible] that you're trying to eliminate. the sad thing is the great highway does not need to close. [inaudible] is not the right road. we need to protect our coastline, not abandon it. [inaudible] through the embarcadero. that's all i have to say. thank you. >> thank you. >> clerk: thank you. paul, did anyone else raise their hand? >> operator: i do not see anymore hands, ashley. >> clerk: okay. seeing no further callers, public comment is closed. we're now on item 12, commissioners' matters. commissioners? >> commissioners, any matters that you would like brought to the attention of this meeting? i don't see any, ashley.

>> clerk: okay. is there any public comment on commissioners' matters, paul? >> operator: zero hands raised. >> clerk: seeing no comment, public comment is closed. we're now on item 13, new business-agenda setting. >> commissioners? i don't see anything. is that commissioner low? >> i'm waiting for adjournment. >> okay. >> clerk: [inaudible] do you have an equity moment that you wanted to bring up? >> actually, yes, i do, ashley. i spoke in may with commissioner mcdonald at the reopening of christopher playground, and we had a discussion of our experiences

with the department's training on becoming an antiracist organization. the training given by a company called be the change consulting, and i've conferred with the folks from be the change, and they recommended that i take three classes with three different topics that they thought would help me with my role as a commissioner. the first-class was narrating our journeys of race and culture, and one of the women in the class was from san francisco. she came to the san francisco unified school district. she struggled with learning differences in elementary school and middle school. the staff at sfusd did a great job with her. she eventually became an honor

student at mission high school. she got into u.c. san diego, graduated with honors, and then, she is now in a graduate program at ucsd, and she expressed her feelings about this graduate program. she's the only nonwhite person in the program, and she said it made her at times feel uncomfortable and awkward, and her comments triggered a memory from my youth. i graduated from st. ignatius high school, but i also attended poly high school in this city. the school building has now been torn down for about 50 years, but the two gyms are

still standing, and while at poly, i tried out for the basketball team. i made the team. i was the only white player on the team. the coach was black, as well, a gentleman named floyd glenn who was a great man, great coach. didn't look at me as being black or white, just looked at me as a basketball player. we had our first game in early november, and it was at mcclymonds in early november, and so we travelled to oakland to take on mcclymonds. we went to the locker room and got suited up and came out to the court about 15 minutes to

warm up. there was a big crowd there, and there was about 3,000 fans in the gym, and it didn't take me long to realize that i was the only white person in the gym. there was 3,000 fans. they were all black, both teams other than myself were black, people sitting at the scorer's tables were black, the officials were black, and i remember how uncomfortable i felt and how awkward i felt in that situation. we've all heard the term walk a mile in my shoes. i think it's very difficult to replicate another's experience,

but i have a glimpse of what desiree felt on that one day in my life. and the takeaway for me was i was uncomfortable for one day, and someone like desiree is uncomfortable on many days, and the class has given me a new level of compassion for folks that are having a different life experience than i'm having, and i thought it was well worthwhile for me to take the course. >> thank you. commissioner jones? >> just a quick -- i can't let it go by without acknowledging this, but this saturday kicks off the baseball for all

national girls baseball tournament in aberdeen, maryland, and while we were saddened that due to the pandemic, we were unable to bring our entire baseball program, i do want to acknowledge there are 15 players and two coaches that will be attending the tournament, including a lot of former players that are now in leadership roles. i happen to have one of those people here, and i hope you join me in sending these san francisco girls love. even though they're going to be wearing the jerseys of a different team, they're going to have us in their hearts. just want to acknowledge that. >> hear, hear. thank you very much. good luck. >> and next year, they wear our uniforms proudly again, commissioner. >> yes, and more girls than

ever before. >> thank you very much. any other comments or questions? no, that's it. thank you. >> clerk: okay. if there's anyone on the line who would like to speak on item 13, you can press star, three. paul, let me know if anyone raises their hand. >> operator: ashley, we have three callers and zero hands. >> clerk: okay. thank you. we are -- seeing no further callers, public comment is closed. we're now on item 14, communications. is there any public comment on item 14? >> operator: three callers, zero hands. >> clerk: okay. we're now on item 15, adjournment. commissioner low? >> commissioners, prior to adjourning this meeting, i just want to acknowledge that this is my last meeting as a recreation and park commissioner, and i just want to say thank you. it's -- i'm deeply grateful for

this opportunity to serve the city and county of san francisco. in my retirement as a recreation and park commissioner, i'm pleased that i will no longer have to remember my password for boardvantage, and you all will be also happy that i will also -- in my retirement, i will also be retiring my knowledge of section 295 of the planning code and the 1989 memorandum on shadows. but in all seriousness, this has been a great experience, lifelong memories and friendships, and i've never met a more passionate groups that are passionate about parks, open space, and recreation, so i think our san francisco parks

are under great leadership under phil ginsburg. so thank you very much. >> commissioner anderson? >> i just cannot let him get away. my friend, my [inaudible] in every expect, except for the great courage and heart that he has. commissioner low, it's been such a joy to serve with you. i have learned so much from you. i am in awe of your -- all of your community service. we all know that you have a couple of fingers in a couple other pies equally important in all of our communities. i'm sorely going to miss you. i demand an in-person celebration, commission president buell. there must be [inaudible]. any ways, i will so miss our

reparte. what can i say, alan? take care, and see you out in the d.p.a. >> thank you, commissioner. let me say, first, that there will indeed be an appropriate acknowledgement of service provided by commissioner low. it may take place at a place called sam's, and i look forward to hosting that. secondly, there should be an opportunity as well at a future meeting for commissioners to weigh-in on exactly what they think of the service of commissioner low, and i would finish by saying that the city has been very, very, very fortunate to have the services of commissioner low for many reasons. i will get into that at a future board commission meeting, and commissioner, you will be sorely missed. and i might add there's a

60-day period after which your term expires that you would still be serving, so this may not, in fact, be your last commission meeting. >> so moved. >> wait a minute, wait a minute. >> the hooks are long and sharp, alan. long and sharp. >> so the chair would, on that note, entertain a motion to adjourn. >> move to adjourn in alan low's honor. >> second. >> thank you very much. there's a second to that motion. commissioners, all in favor? we now stand adjourn. thank you. it was a good meeting, and thanks to all who participated. >> thank you. >> thank you, all. >> thank you.

[♪♪♪] >> i just wanted to say a few words. one is to the parents and to all of the kids. thank you for supporting this program and for trusting us to create a soccer program in the bayview. >> soccer is the world's game, and everybody plays, but in the united states, this is a sport that struggles with access for certain communities. >> i coached basketball in a coached football for years, it is the same thing. it is about motivating kids and keeping them together, and giving them new opportunities. >> when the kids came out, they had no idea really what the game

was. only one or two of them had played soccer before. we gave the kids very simple lessons every day and made sure that they had fun while they were doing it, and you really could see them evolve into a team over the course of the season. >> i think this is a great opportunity to be part of the community and be part of programs like this. >> i get to run around with my other teammates and pass the ball. >> this is new to me. i've always played basketball or football. i am adjusting to be a soccer mom. >> the bayview is like my favorite team. even though we lose it is still fine. >> right on. >> i have lots of favorite memories, but i think one of them is just watching the kids enjoy themselves. >> my favorite memory was just having fun and playing. >> bayview united will be in soccer camp all summer long. they are going to be at civic centre for two different weeklong sessions with america

scores, then they will will have their own soccer camp later in the summer right here, and then they will be back on the pitch next fall. >> now we know a little bit more about soccer, we are learning more, and the kids are really enjoying the program. >> we want to be united in the bayview. that is why this was appropriate >> this guy is the limit. the kids are already athletic, you know, they just need to learn the game. we have some potential college-bound kids, definitely. >> today was the last practice of the season, and the sweetest moment was coming out here while , you know, we were setting up the barbecue and folding their uniforms, and looking out onto the field, and seven or eight of the kids were playing. >> this year we have first and second grade. we are going to expand to third, forth, and fifth grade next year bring them out and if you have middle school kids, we are starting a team for middle school. >> you know why? >> why? because we are? >> bayview united. >> that's right.

>> my name is amanda [inaudible] over see the girls sports program. when i came to san francisco and studied recreation and parks and towerism and after i graduated i moved to candlestick park and grain r gain adlot of experience work with the san francisco 49 and [inaudible] be agfemale in a vore sports dynamic facility. i coached volo ball on the side and as candle stick closed down the

city had me move in92 too [inaudible] >> immediate interaction and response when you work with kids. i think that is what drives other people to do this. what drew me to come to [inaudible] to begin with for me to stay. i use today work in advertising as a media buyer and it wasn't fulfilling enough and i found a opportunity to be a writing coach. the moment [inaudible] you to take advantage of how you change and inspire a child by the words you say and actions you do. >> you have a 30 different programs for girls through rec and park and fast ball, soft ball and volley ball. i started the first volley ball league and very proud what i have done with that. being a

leader for girls is passion and showing to be confident and being ambiggish and strong person. [inaudible] for about 5 years. programs offered thraw thirty-three rec and park and oversee thg prms about a year. other than the programs we offer we offer summer camp squz do [inaudible] during the summer and that is something i wherei have been able to shine in my role. >> couple years we started the civic center socking league and what an amazing opportunity it was and is it for kid in the neighborhood who come together every friday in the civic center plaza on green grass to run and play. you otonly see soccer and poetry but also see books t. is a really promoting literacy to our kid and giving them to tools to make it work at home. real fortunate to see

the [inaudible] grow. >> girls get pressureed with society and i know that is obvious, but we see it every day, magazines, commercials the idea what a woman should look like but i like to be a strong female role for it goals that play sports because a lot of times they don't see someone strong in a female role with something connected with sports and athleticism and i love i can bring that to the table. >> soccer, poetry, community service. we now have field of dreams. we are [inaudible] all over the bay area and excited to be share our mission with other schools across the bay to really build the confidence and character of kids when they go out to play and close their eyes and think, why was [inaudible] we want to make sure-i want to make sure they remember me and remember the other folks who [inaudible] >> get out there and do it.

who cares about what anybody else says. there will be poopal people that come up and want to wreck your ideas. that happen today eme when i went to candle stick part and wanted to [inaudible] people told me no left and right. whether you go out for something you are passionate about our something you want to grow in and feel people will say no. go out and get it done. i can be the strong leader female and i love that.

>> all right, mayor, we've got a program. so be patient with us. all right. it's been a long time coming. hi, everybody, my name is phil ginsburg and i'm the manager of your recreation and park department and it's about time. it's really happening. it's really happening. you look over my right shoulder and you can see all of the work that's already started on our pathway to environmental justice. and -- and joy and community and resiliency. but before we jump into our program, we want to do a couple of things. and the first is that we want to acknowledge that the land that we are currently standing on is the unceded ancestral home of the first nations people. as stewards of parkland, our department recognizes the duty to honor through thoughtful and informed preservation and interpretation of ancestral

lands. as uninvited guests let us all affirm their sovereign rights as first peoples and pay our respects to the ancestors of the people. thank you. [applause] just a few hours ago our recreation and park department, and i see numerous commissioners here, commissioner anderson and probably a few others that i'm not seeing behind the crowds, passed the land acknowledgement and i want to thank greg castro and jonathan cordero who worked with our department in the crafting of this acknowledgement. and i want to -- you should please join me in thanking our amazing entertainers for their performances prior to the program. first the tai chi group, give it up. [applause] the sasamoan community dancers.

lion dance me. [applause] and following the program, there will be a performance by seilin finesse. [applause] we have a lot of partners, and i want to acknowledge -- before i turn it over to our m.c., first of all, mayor breed, thank you, thank you for believing in this project and thank you for pushing for it. and thank you for supporting it the institute, and i'll turn it over to jackie in a few minutes i want to thank our e.d.p. leadership committee, what is an e.d.p. leadership committee? this project is like no other, we're not just renovating a park, we're trying to work hard to understand what the community needs to thrive in this space. so it is yours. and there are several e.d.p. members and i see oscar james and michael wong, and jill fox here. so i want to thank you a few of the e.d.p. members and for all

of your effort in guiding us, in not just how to build this park, but to make sure that it is really for this community. i want to thank the trust for public land, and the san francisco parks alliance, drew becker is here and numerous members of his team. we have several representatives from our city family. i saw ken nimm and i say caller eisen, there may not be a city department that is not working on this in some way, shape or form. and i want to acknowledge our partners across the basin from bill dink, and i see lou vasquez here, lou, thank you for being here. and i want to give a special recognition to a guy standing right in front of me, john, thank you. john fritzker whose philanthropy turned this from a dream and a vision actually into a project. so, thank you, john. let's give him a round of applause. and thank you, moe, and john and

moe were recently married just a few days ago and they came back early from -- moe doesn't really call it a honeymoon, called it a camping trip, but they came back early to be here with us today. so thank you both very, very much. [applause] this project has many, many, many people rooting for it. it's gotten private philanthropy and it's gotten local bond money through the leadership of our mayor and several -- and san francisco voters. and it's also gotten a lot of money from the state of california, senator wiener, and commissioner chu, thank you for your leadership in making it happen. this project has even gotten federal money. we've gotten money from the e.p. e.p.a., and we have gotten -- anywhere that there's money we're trying to raise it for this project and it's actually starting to work out. today's groundbreaking is the culmination of seven years of

planning, outreach and fundraising on a project that will finally address decades of pollution and environmental degradation in a neighborhood that once helped to drive the economy of san francisco during world war ii. after the decline of butcher town, the decommissioned -- the decommissioned shipyards and the forced removal of the chinese shrimping villages, indian basin, was shut down to decay. the work that we're kicking off right now will restore public access to the shoreline, and create a robust wildlife habitat, laying the foundation for a new $140 million park in the heart of the bayview. this clean-up phase of the project is led by the bayview's own rubicon builders whose officers are just down the road on third street. the team highlights a key goal of the india basin project, to serve for equitable and

inclusive growth, which includes providing workforce and business opportunities for all bayview hunters point residents, regardless of income, race or demog raggy. and giving disadvantaged individuals the first opportunity to apply for entry level jobs in san francisco. the program is administered by oewd, and you'll probably hear more about that, but thank you, ken, and thank you oewd, for your incredible partnership. lastly, remember that this project is only made possible as much money from government as we've been able to obtain for this project, it's only made possible through substantial private/public partnerships. some of our partners, like t.p.l. and the parks alliance, have been working on this for years. and others like arpi, arguably even longer and have now stepped into new and indispenseable roles to move this project. i want to thank everyone for

their support. i'll now turn the program over to one of the leaders of this project, jackie flynn. jackie has been working on this thing for i don't know how long and has been a community advocate for even longer. she is my colleague, my partner along with drew and ali and their organizations on this project. and she is making sure that this community is involved in every single aspect of what happens next. thank you, jackie. [applause] >> thank you, phil. and welcome. first of all, i want to say welcome back, san francisco. it's so nice to see everyone and see your faces. and thank you so much, mayor, with your leadership on getting our city back and up and running. my name is jacqueline flynn, and i'm the executive director of the philip randolph institute and i'm your m.c. today, so i wear many hats in this community. and my -- my small organization, apri, i want to thank my team

because i could not do this work without amazing supportive casts. so thank you, my team at arpi. and i have the pleasure of also serving as the equitable development plan manager on this project. and ultimately what that means is that for every step of the way on this project we want to make sure that we're looking through a lens of equity. and thinking about building back within our community, and making sure that we're supportive of the existing community. and, you know, as we continue to invest in this park, i want to make sure that those investments actually make it and impact the families that i work with every day. as we kick off this year's juneteenth, i have been inspired by my ancestors and thank you so much, brother clint, for acknowledging the adversities that folks have gone through to be here and the fights they have won and lost. i'm very proud to stand behind so many folks before me.

this park is very near and dear to my heart. my office is literally a block away. and as you all know as a community leader, i've been here over 20 years. and i used to knock on doors to get folks to vote and i still do it now. but really what i'm interested in is making sure that this next generation is inspired to do the same and to be leaders in their community. you know, i see how much this project can impact this community right behind me. so i also want to acknowledge all of the folks that live on this hill that have been here for generations. and it's so important that this park is being built for our residents. so i'm excited to say that this is just the beginning. and we have a wonderful brief program, so i'd like to introduce our first speaker, mayor london breed. mayor london breed -- [applause] -- is a san francisco native. definitely raised by her grandmother in plaza east in philmore western edition, but, definitely roots here in san francisco. and she was elected as the first

african-american woman, and second woman in san francisco's history to serve as mayor. she's been re-elected to her first full four-year term in november of 2019. i know that we lost a year in this last year, but we are going to keep pushing. mayor breed is a tireless advocate for all san franciscans and helps to lead our city through a very tumultuous time as we helped to rebuild this great city and come out of that terrible pandemic. so without further adieu, welcome, mayor london breed. [applause] >> welcome, mayor. >> hello, everyone. first of all, phil, i don't know why we have to subject these kids to this when there's a park right over there. are you guys going to be able to play in the park? >> no. >> no? what's going on. they're supposed to be having a good time this summer. okay, well -- if any time during

this event you want to take them over to the park, feel free to do so because we want them to have a good time. it's been a long year for our kids in this city. and it's time for them to have fun again. [applause] i'll start by saying yes, i'm from philmore. but i do have roots in the bayview hunter's point community. in fact, my grandmother's father worked at the shipyard. he was in the navy at a time when there was segregation. and he worked with what was considered a colored group of men and i find it quite interesting that in our not so distant past, the level of discrimination that existed in this city, you know, what's interesting is that my

grandfather served in the shipyard in a segregated unit and now today his granddaughter, the first black mayor woman of san francisco, signed an official declaration after the president declared it a national holiday. i declared it a holiday in the city and county of san francisco. [applause] juneteenth is an official holiday for all of our city employees. i'm not saying don't go to work tomorrow. i'm saying for those essential services that we still need to you go to work but you do get a holiday in lieu. you're welcome -- no, not you're welcome, mayor, you're welcome black people. [applause] so let me just start by saying thank you. phil ginsburg, i want to just say to you, because let me tell you when phil came to me with

this project, i'm like, phil, well, what about, you know, some of the other parks in the bayview hunters point? and we talked around our plans of retrofitting a number of parks and what was important to the community. and i thought about it for, like, really long and hard because at the time i was supervisor for district 5 and ma leah cohen was the supervisor here in the bayview hunters point community, and this community pushed hard for a change because of the environmental contamination that took place here, because of what was happening all along this area. and i think about the many people who had asthma in the bayview hunter's point community and cancer and other ailments because of the environmental injustices that have existed in this community. it is so fitting and about time that we clean up india basin. we clean it up. [applause] and just a couple weeks ago i

was just at the power plant where we broke ground on what will be 2,600 units here at a polluting dirty power plant that former supervisor sophie maxwell led the charge on shutting down, and here we are connecting this bayview community, india basin, and the power plant and all of this beauty together in a way like never before. you know, it is amazing also that this community decided what was best for them. and that was really important, making sure that india basin task force of residents, of people who lived here, provided input. and cleaning up a place like this is expensive. and making it beautiful is even more expensive. so i am incredibly thankful to the voters who time and time again passed propositions to allow us to invest in parks? i am grateful to people who

just, you know, are amazing san franciscans like john prixter and his family for committing this money -- as many things that he could have committed, this $25 million to the largest parks contribution in the history of this city. he said that he wanted that to support the bayview hunters point community, so we are so grateful to you, john. [applause] we are grateful to the parks alliance and the land trust and so many organizations for helping to work, to see this project through. it does take a village. it does take $140 million to do exactly what the community wants to see here in india basin. and i also want to take this opportunity to thank governor newsome and thank senator scott wiener and david chu and phil ping for their support on the state level. it was a $25 million commitment, and we still have a few ways to go, but we are committed to

cleaning up this area so that those kids that you saw right here can play freely and safely and not be concerned about their health. that is what is most critical for us is transforming this beautiful waterfront and making it what it -- what this community deserves. and so i'm really excited about this. and i cannot wait until we are able to see it through. it's going to be absolutely beautiful. we've seen the pictures, but it's nothing like seeing it in person, connecting the bayview hunters point all the way around the waterfront of san francisco to the golden gate bridge. now you know what the marina looks like? that's what the bayview hunter's point is about to look like. [applause] with green and structures and all of the amenities that this community so deserves. so, you know, congratulations to this community for your hard work and your effort and sticking to it, and staying together.

we know that the challenges that exist, specifically for the african-american community in this city and this country still persist. but in me you have a leader who is committed to transforming that and i want to make sure that everyone in this city, no matter what your race is, understand that when we see injustices anywhere, it is clearly as dr. king would say a threat to justice everywhere. everywhere it is a threat, and it is up to all of us to take it upon ourselves to push aggressively for change. so thank you in joining me for change in india basin. congratulations to the bayview hunters point community. and let's get this project going. [applause] >> thank you, mayor. before i give it back to jackie yet again, just a couple more thank you and acknowledgement. alex walker, thank you for being here on behalf of assemblyman

phil king. assemblyman king calls almost every year and says what i can do for india basin, and we appreciate it. and david lazar, thank you for being here. i already acknowledged carol eisen and i want to acknowledge the co-chairs of the bayview alliance. and talking about coalition building and trying to pull people together to do good, thank you, sissy and chuck for all of your work and counsel on this project. i know that jamie bruni-myles, the current c.e.o. of the ymca is here. and the ymca will partner with us to teach all kids to swim and to make sure that everybody feels safe around the water in this beautiful park from this neighborhood. and then i also want to acknowledge dr. nina roberts who is here from san francisco state. she's been our academic advisor on our equitable development planning efforts, and thank you for your support. and i turn it back to jackie. >> thanks, phil. and just before i get into our

next speaker i want to acknowledge the leadership committee that has served on behalf of this community, committing their time and their vision to the project and making sure that the community voice is heard. so i see a few of them, jill fox, and oscar james, tanansha ocori, and i see a ton of you guys, and thank you for your time again on the project. so next i'd like to introduce one of our assembly members, a neighbor in our -- in our community -- and someone that -- you know, i have known for the last decade and he's worked extremely hard for the city of san francisco. and i would like to introduce our assembly member of district 17, david chu. [applause] >> thank you, jackie. good afternoon, san francisco. are we ready to play? all right! let me first ask the mayor -- the mayor refer the as herself to the resident of philmore. do we have residents of the hunter's point, bayview here? all right, this is our day.

let me first start by thanking -- it takes a village to do this, and it takes the leadership of a mayor working with amazing departments and an amazing rec and park department and working with the private sector and working with philanthropy and working with civic partners and working at the state level and i want to thank you for that. as the mayor was talking, i thought 13 years ago when i was on the board of supervisors, i had a conversation with then supervisor sophie maxwell and she said, you know, david, the southeast neighborhoods are forgotten. and we don't invest in these neighborhoods. and a couple years later i remember having a conversation with supervisor cohen and she said, you know, david, the city forgets about the southeast neighborhood and doesn't invest in us. well, today the city hasn't forgotten these neighborhoods and the city is investing in india basin.

phil ginsburg invisitted me and then supervisor walton to come to india basin. phil, you will probably remember this and we didn't know what we were coming to see and we got here and he looked at me and said, hey, chu, i need a couple million bucks. so i said, all right. and scott wiener, and phil and i, we got together and one year of the budget we said, okay, phil, we have $4 million for you. and then ginsburg said that we need another $8 million. so i said, okay, all right, you know, money -- we'll get another $8 million. and then he said, we need another $25 million. and then we asked, well, how much does this darned thing cost? and we all know the answer to that. but let me also say a week after that conversation right here, i was sitting in room 200 with mayor breed and she said -- and i think that this is one of those one-two things. she said, david chu, you heard about this project called india

baseip? and i said -- basin. and i said, i have. well, we're making this a priority. and i just have to say, mayor breed, thank you for your leadership. i think that but for you -- and i know that supervisor walton and phil ginsburg and so many folks here, you are the village that is making this happen. so thank you. [applause] let me just end with one thing. so i am a resident. i live about 10 minutes from here and i moved to the southeast neighborhood the day that my son was born five years ago. and i moved -- we moved here in part because i believe that the future of san francisco is reflected in the southeast neighborhoods. if we can lift these neighborhoods up, there is no end to what our city will be about. and so the last thing that i'll just say is that there are a lot of folks who refer to this project as the chrissy field of the southeast. and i'm going to say that by the time that my kid is a teenager,

i think that chrissy field is going to be referred to as the india basin of the north, all right? [applause] and with that, have a wonderful afternoon. and thank you so much for being here. >> thank you so much, assembly member chu. we have a few changes to our program, but it's okay, we always make adjustments and i want to make a couple more acknowledgements before we continue to move forward. we have additional park commissioners here and our president, mark beull, and i would like to acknowledge the president and the commissioners here and also eric mcdonald, i'd like to acknowledge you guys. thank you for all of your work in serving for our parks commission. before we move too much forward, one acknowledgement that we would not be here without the work that supervisor cohen did prior to moving into our state.

so i just want to make sure that everyone acknowledges the work that our previous supervisor malia cohen did. and so let me go ahead and get to our next speakers. please let me introduce drew becker of the san francisco parks alliance and guillermo. and drew is from the san francisco parks alliance and guillermo for the trust for public land. drew has served as the chief executive officer for the san francisco parks alliance since 2017. and in 2018 alone, drew led the organization as it completed 20 plus park projects engaging over 100,000 plus residents in park programming and helped to raise over $20 million for capital projects across the city. also helped to celebrate the 150th year at golden gate park. and then also guillermo was

appointed to our california state director for trust for public land in 2017. he brings over 20 years of successful non-profit private sector and local government experience to the organization. many people don't even know that guillermo mentored me way back in the day. and he's responsible for leading the trust for public land ak sigdz, park development and policy activities throughout the state. really both organizations have immersed in the community and they'll briefly share their role on the renovation project and the other work that they're doing in the community. so come on up, guys. >> i'm here. >> okay. okay. and just after them i will follow up with another speaker, but come on in. >> this is not guillermo, this is alex with the trust for public land so that everyone knows. we're going to tag team here.

i'm with the park alliance. so exciting to be here today. we're all here because we love san francisco and we know that it could be better. we have been doing that for 50 years at the parks alliance and we're honored to be part of this important project. indian basin is part of a larger project called the blue green way. and india basin is the largest public investment as part of that blue green way project. and it is a large step forward on creating a more equitable city. and it is a part of a better, safer, more accessible southeast side. public/private partnerships are vital to the success of public spaces and have been for decades. we are proud to partner with trust for public land and also the rec and park department to raise private funds through philanthropy for this project. we think that is truly important. all public space does better with a mix of funding. it shows commitment by the community and it shows commitment by the leader and it shows commitment from the city and commitment from the state.

so we're proud to be part of that. the community engagement is the heart of what we do, grateful to the bayview hunters point community for their continued involvement and advocacy for this world-class park for which in a few months you're going to see the transformation of a basketball court up in india basin shoreline park that we transformed by artists with murals similar to what happened at hayward playground. i know that the mayor knows that one pretty well. it will be pretty cool when that happens here. i would like to thank the parks alliance team on making this a reality. mya rogers, thank you so much. and phillip wynne and mark hannon and steve frederick, and sonya gonzalez-banks and our board of directors for their commitment to project. i want to also thank the mayor and her leadership and the bayview for steadfast support of the parks alliance and for her vision for san francisco. we are proud to work with you, and i'm really excited to work with your team on making and

reopening san francisco. the investment in san francisco's parks and public spaces have been extraordinary throughout this pandemic. and i think that you saw that in all of the residents saw that. and what you are doing with investing in this park and others and supporting other departments on our public projects and our public spaces is second to none. we support your vision 100% and anything that you need we're behind you. thank you, mayor, so much. and i also would like to thank -- i would also would like to thank president walton and his team in the mission to build a more equitable san francisco. i also want to wish everyone a happy juneteenth. thank you so much. and i'm going to turn it over to ali, my partner in crime on the non-profit sector. >> hello, everyone, as you can see i'm not guillermo, he got stuck in traffic so you have me i'm the bay-area director of the trust of public land.

and as jackie, i wear many hats and i have been deeply involved in this project and working in the neighborhood for years. actually, mya and i worked on another park to see it happen before we started on this project. so i am so honored to be here celebrating this milestone with all of you today. at the trust for public land, we believe that the parks are essential for healthy communities. and parks should not have a nice-to-have amenity for a few, but a must have for all. we see that what is happening here in india basin, we see it as a national model for how we should do parks throughout the nation. this project is not just about building an amazing park, which it will be amazing, but it is much more than that. as you have heard, it is about equity, it is about investing in this community that has been

suffering this investment for decades. and it is about renewal and environmental justice. we're cleaning up, and giving it back to the community so they can have access to this beautiful shoreline. every time that i come here and i look at this view and it takes my breath away. so we need to make the shoreline better so that everyone can enjoy this. this project is about opportunity, it's a -- it's about giving opportunity to local businesses, workforce and youth. it is about celebrating and honoring the bayview hunter's point community and the rich history and the culture. and it's about resilience and hope. this community fought really hard for change. they faced many injustices. and we are here starting to build the park they fought so hard to have. so this wouldn't have happened

without all of you, without the many partners that have been mentioned. i want to acknowledge a few. phil ginsburg and his staff, and the rec park commission, amazing partners throughout this. drew becker, mya rogers with the san francisco parks alliance. also amazing partners. jackie flynn and the apri staff, having worked tirelessly, you know, you have seen them operating the tech hub and really fighting hard for this community. and then the many other groups -- there are too many to mentiog support for this. of course, our elected leaders. without you, mayor breed, supervisor walton, without assembly member chu and phil king and senator wiener we wouldn't be here. as you heard, there's a lot of investment in this project.

also our funders -- john fritzer and his funds for taking the risk and the same with the public funders. you know, they took a risk. they invested. they believed in this community and last, but not least, i want to acknowledge again the bayview hunter's point community for their resilience and advocacy. without you we wouldn't be here thank you very much. [applause] >> thanks, ali. i made a quick mistake in the program, we always have different updates last minute, but i forgot to mention someone that has worked fearlessly in this community, and i don't know how i can miss him because he's probably one of the tallest folks out here. but i would just like to welcome up our state senator scott wiener for a few brief remarks on behalf of the project. thank you so much for bearing with me as i adjust and thank

you for -- >> thank you, jackie. they didn't like to bring me up because i mess up the microphone for everyone else. sorry. so i'm just -- i have been a huge fan of this project for a long time. and i remember early in my time on the board of supervisors, some community folks asked me to come down and i came down and they're like, okay, we know that it doesn't look awesome right now and there's a lot of sort of neglected areas, but we have a vision. and i am just so proud of this community for coming together and moving that vision forward. and then also i had an opportunity to have involvement when i represented the park area on the board of supervisors and we wanted to buy what is now the noe valley to turn it into a park. and working with noe valley and rec and park we decided, you know what, we don't want noe valley to just move forward but

we want to make this about various parts of the city and we want bayview to be involved and our southeastern neighborhoods to be involved because this is a part of the city that has been neglected for so damned long and we need to be there for all parts of this city and lift everyone up. so we were able to acquire not just the noe town square but at the same time that parcel right there as well as a parcel delta market. and it's just amazing. and noe valley town square is a much smaller, simpler project, but it is done. and it has added so much to that community, but that pales in comparison to what india basin is going to add to our southeastern neighborhoods and we talk about it being like the marina. let's think about embarcadaro, and taking a neglected part of the city, in piece of a piece of land, and turning it into an inspirational place for people to be, and i know that is what this is going to be.

and we have a lot of other work to do around housing and making sure that we can connect with transportation so that people can get in and out of our southeastern neighborhoods more easily. but, boy, having a world-class waterfront beautiful park is just going to be a game-changer so, congratulations, you will have my -- i know that assembly members chu you will have our support to get this project going. so thank you so much. [applause] >> thank you so much, senator wiener. a few more acknowledgements to my community. my friend, and her organization "from the heart" has been doing a significant amount of work here on the shoreline and connecting families to health resources and housing access. i just wanted to say thank you guys for your commitment on this project. and i've gotten her on our leadership committee as well so

that the voice of the community is truly heard on the project. so i do have one last speaker, did you want to make a few remarks? i will ask her to come up for remarks before i bring up our last speaker. come on. [applause] >> hello, everyone. i'm mieka pinkston, i'm the founder of "from the heart" and it's been a pleasure to work with arpi. i'll tell you that i don't trust many people, so it was -- [applause] it has been beautiful. it has been -- phil, david, everyone has been really, really, really helpful to me and to our community and i truly appreciate it. i know that this is in regards to a park, however, we have so many other things to address here. and i thank everybody -- i thank the mayor, david -- everybody.

we are all going to be a part of this, because it's not just about this park. we can't have a park and people homeless. so, you know, we -- i just want to say that. and i am here to help our community to better ourselves, so to educate our community on living a healthy and natural lifestyle. you know, i come with healing so that we can boing some of that good energy in. and i just try to keep us all on a positive page. if we can stay on a positive note we're going to be all good, y'all, that's all i want to say let's all just stay positive, let's heal together. and let's remember that it's going to take all of us -- no matter what color we are -- no matter what we do with ourselves, it's going to take each and every last individual here in this park and outside of this park to make everything that we want to happen look like the marina. it ain't going to just take a

park, okay? so that's what we need to remember is that it's going to take everything that we have to rebuild hunter's point. i'm born and raised here. so we got this. let's do it. thank you, guys. >> and that's just one of the examples of making sure that we make a commitment to this existing community and involve our residents every step of the way as we go. there's one last speaker that i'd like to invite up and i have known this young man over the last, i want to say six or seven years that we have been doing this work. darryl watkins came up in one of our youth programs, and he continued to come back and serve with our organization, volunteering for events, going door-to-door to pass out fliers for voting. and when the opportunity came around with our resource development firm, c.c.s., they were happy to bring on a fellow and they said they wanted to make sure that we made a commitment to this local community.

and i was very proud when darryl applied and he actually scored one of the highest scores through the application process and at the end of the day, i wanted to make sure that that opportunity went to someone that understood the legacy of what it was to grow up in this neighborhood. the generations that have served many years before we got here, and i really am proud that i think that he is going to be a great model for all of the young people that you guys saw a little earlier, but he will be serving with our resource development team, really helping to figure out how to come up with a strategy to fundraise, not just for the park, but equitable development, really investing back in this community. so without further adieu, i know that his parents are here and his sister is here, really excited. darryl watkins, please come on up. [applause] >> good afternoon, everyone. thank you, thank you. my name is darryl watkins.

sorry. my name is darryl watkins and i'll i'm an incoming junior at the university. i'm excited and honored to accept this position, to be a part of this community and to be a part of this u.c.s. project. i want to first thank the apri for the leadership development to prepare me for this opportunity. next, i want to thank my family for always being here and supporting me. [applause] this park is a symbol of hope. it starts with us. i really want to help this community in different ways and it starts with this park. thank you, thank you. i want to encourage all youth of

all ages and all races to help this community. so together we can change how the bay view looks. it starts with the youth, so when we get older we can be in the same position that everyone else is. but thank you for your time. [applause] >> all right, thank you so much, darryl. and, again, that's just one very small example of making sure that we invite our young people to participate on this project and build equity from within. so we're going to just acknowledge a couple more folks from our mohcd, eric shaw, and thank you so much for coming. from oewd and city build, ken nim, our trades workers over here. and i want to say thank you for jessica fontanelle from our success center. thank you so much. and so we are going to go ahead

and do the shovel ceremony. just remember that like our shovel ceremony, it's really a way to honor, you know, not only the gift, but this is an opportunity for future prosperity and success on this project. so i've got a few folks that are going to be coming up to get a shovel in the ground. >> are we ready? okay, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1... [cheers and applause].

>> we have a wonderful adult ceramic class. we offer over 10 adult classes in morning and evening. it accommodates people who work in the day, people who work in the evening, people who are day people and night people. we try to cater to the whole group. it's beyond just a clay lesson. it's really a lifeless on. when you meet people you never know what's underneath. sometimes they show you what they want to. and you kind of expect that it's just going to be that. but it's never really what's on the surface. it's really what's underneath the

surface . that's what i try to get at when i do my clay. the camaraderie that we have here. we have students that have been for for many many years. we have students here for the first time. we share our skills, our formulas. this is how we learn. how did you do that? let me show you. that's the attitude that the students and the teachers have here. it's a really wonderful nurturing place.