[roll call] >> clerk: and commissioner anderson has an excused absence. this is the recreation and park meeting of september 16th, 2021. please note due to the covid-19 health emergency city employees and the public, the meeting rooms at city hall are closed. we ask listeners to turn down your televisions and/or computers while listening on the phone. we ask for your patience if we appearance any technical issues. public comment will be available for each item on the agenda. each speaker will be allowed two minutes to speak. public comment is available via phone by calling (415) 655-0001. and the access code today is

24950826818. when you hear the agenda item you would like to comment on call, dial star three to be added to the queue to speak. you'll be lined up in the system. while you're 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 recparkcommission@sfgov.org. if you submit public comment via e-mail it will be included in the legislative file as part of the matter. you can send written correspondence to 501 stanyan is it true street, san

francisco, california. >> president: thank you. a few items. i did want to acknowledge that lorraine banford is refiring who is our supervisor of recreation. she led a team of 35 recreation centers to emergency youth care in response to the covid-19 pandemic and i didn't want to overlook simply acknowledging that achievement and i know we'll say more about her at the next meeting. we're also losing tokes gk who has been with the department for ten years in capital and planning and oversaw the improvement of many of the facilities in the department and i know we'll be honoring tokes next month.

finally, i want to read an e-mail i received only because i think it's appropriate to sing the praise of the unsung heroes of the department and the e-mail goes like this, hi, i'm not sure if this is the right place to send this but i wanted to send a message in appreciation to a golden gate park ranger. a few weeks ago, i had a crisis in the park on a field trip with a group of seniors. ranger m. fung came to me in one of my most terrible experiences in my life. i have never lost a resident on a field trip. it happened on august 25th at stole lake. mr. fung was a god send. my resident speaks chinese and i don't. it was such an incredible experience to be assisted by someone who speaks the language. i hope he gets paid for bein

bilingual. i lost an old chinese man in golden gate park who didn't speak english and had dementia. it was a super stressful experience for me but mr. fung made it bearable. with all the anti-asian hate crimes going on around in the country right now i was super anxious and afraid for this vulnerable senior wandering away in a massive park. i just wranted to say he is a phenomenal worker and we appreciate his efforts that day. we found the resident and we all made it back safe to west oakland and i attribute that to mr. fung. so thank you, mr. fung and that concludes my president's report. >> clerk: great. if there's anyone on the line who would like to make public comment to the president's report, you can dial star three to be added to the queue. >> ashley, we have two callers

and zero hands raised. >> clerk: okay. seeing no public comment. we are now on item three, general manager's report. >> good morning commissioners. i am standing in. our first item on the general manager's report is hispanic heritage month. hispaniced off yesterday and runs through october, honors and recognizes the contributions and influences of hispanic americans including their history, culture, and achievements. over the next few weeks, we at rec and park will be highlighting some of our parks and influences from the hispanic community including presida park and the artworking murals that adorn many of our murals and sites. stay tuned for more information on that. our weekly e news and our

social media channels. as many of you saw in the news this morning, jury commentry opened earlier this week following a $1.9 million renovation of the quarter acre mission district park that now features a seamless re-design with new planting, grass for dogs, and an adult exercise area with fitness equipment. in addition to the new top play area, the renovated park included a separate nature expiration area where students can exercise their bodies and imaginations. the area designed to spark creativity is the latest work in the network of natural play spaces developed by the san francisco children in nature collaborative. and, works to ensure access to nature and its benefits to all children in the city. the renovation also payings

homage an existing mural which we framed and refurbished. london breed, assembly member david chu in a neighborhood group, the jury commentors were instrumental. and the san francisco parks alliance transferreded one of our city's most time warn program. thank you for attending the event with us. this saturday the jerry garcia amphitheater in mcclaren park will re-open to improve its pathways, entrances, accessibility, seating, and more. the ren ration also expanded the flat, paved space adjacent to the accessible lot to better support events on site as well as allow for food trucks and

other event services. in celebration of these improvements, the san francisco shakespeare program will be performed after our ribbon cutting. so we hope to see you on saturday. also on saturday is coastal clean up day as volunteers join together to pick up trash from our beaches, parks, and waterways. rec and park volunteer staff is hosting six clean up events. those interested in rolling up their sleeves on satisfy to beautify our parks can find sign ups on our website. and on sunday, you can attend

xhed day from noon to 5:00 where 45 splittingly funny comedians with entertain the crowd. if comedy isn't your jam, but reggae is head over to golden gate park. you'll enjoy free live music concerts on wednesday, fridays, and sundays and some saturdays throughout the year. and all the concerts are free at the newly refurbished. and, one of my personal

favorites, flower piano is back. hosted by sunset piano and the san francisco botanical garden society in the botanical garden in golden gate park. this is after five successful years, they did not do the event last year because of the pandemic. as i said, it is back and flower piano transforms the concert hall where everyone is invited to play. garden mission is free to all san franciscos and families receiving snap or cal fresh benefits. finally, for our last event, sun down cinema continues their season of free movie showings in san francisco parks. with three up coming showings

including "the princess diary," "a league of their own," "and e.t." on october 22nd. in partnership with rec and park and for information on that complete schedule, you can visit sfparksalliance.org. that concludes my report. >> president: thank you. >> clerk: if there's any comment on the general manager's report, you can dial star 3 to be added to the queue to speak. >> three callers and one hand raised. >> clerk: okay. you have two minutes to speak.

>> clerk: okay. seeing no further public comment. public comment is closed. >> president: thank you. very good report. sarah, last month, phil ginsburg talked about the baseball clinics that were going to be held at the freshly renovated baseball diamond in the bay view. and i was out there for the first day. there were about 20 players, about five coaches and there were a number of parents there

as well and, number one, that diamond is absolutely gorgeous. and that goes through november the 4th. maniy blackwell has organized this. he wasn't there tuesday evening, but he does a great job. weed was running the clinic on tuesday night another apprised baseball man. so i just wanted to give a plug for what's going on at gillman and as i said, the numbers will grow as we go forward. >> clerk: thank you, commissioner. okay. we are now on item four, general public comment up to 15 minutes. this item will be continued to item eight. at this time, members of the

public may address items that do not appear on the agenda. with respect to the agenda items, you will have an opportunity to address the commission when the item has reached the meeting. you can dial star 3 if you'd like to make public comment on this item. >> ashley, we have three callers and no hands raised. >> clerk: we are now on item five, the consent calendar. >> president: is there any public comment on the consent calendar? >> clerk: thank you, commissioner. i wasn't sure. if anyone wants to remove anything from the consent calendar. >> is there any public comment on the consent calendar? paul, does anyone have their

hands raised? >> 0 hands. >> president: any comments or questions by the commission? seeing none. the chair would entertain a motion to approve the consent calendar. >> so moved. >> president: moved and seconded. all those in favor. thank you. >> clerk: we are now on item six, the san francisco zoo. >> thank you, this is tonya peterson and i believe i've got a power point, ashley, to show. >>. >> clerk: yeah. he'll pull it up. okay. >> okay. terrific. i'm tonya peterson. director of the san francisco zoo. let me show the first slide or

the next slide if i could we have two of these adorable creatures at the zoo. they are in a tree house that was built by the tv show tree house tops and that's tenzing one of the first mountaineers to climb mount everest. and then my next slide is our investment in laboratory species both pelicans, insects, and others and this month, we've invested quite a bit in the monarch butterflies and one of our gardens, the sensory garden has been planted with hopefully plants that attract the monarch butterfly but also have a bunch of signage and education items to create what we call pocket gardens at home

to support the species that is at risk and just one of our iconic species here in california and just a shame to lose those. so hopefully we are hoping everybody can get together to help safe this wonderful butterfly. the next slide. with covid, the pandemic, and other things, we've noticed that some of our seniors have felt uncomfortable with coming with big groups. so now wednesday mornings our senior members come in for free and alone. so look for those times, those wednesday mornings where seniors can come on their own and enjoy the park earlier than when most of the children are at a family show and we hope this is a safe way for our senior members to enjoy the zoo. the next slide, i just had to show you a picture. it takes a village or a zoo to

move one animal and that one animal was bruce bocci, the former coach of the giants and you can see how many people it took to make sure that bruce safely got in that crate. the crate then went to s.f.o. and dhl had a chartered plane for bruce. and his crate was 5,000 pounds. so you can imagine how heavy that load was for dhl. and then two of our staff, one of our vets and one of our senior curators traveled to cincinnati zoo where he will enjoy their new hippo habitat and the company of two femaleses, one in particular, we're hoping he will meet and breed with and will have little bruces soon. so, thank you everybody for that. have a safe departure. soon, our plan is to include

two pigmee hippos. they're critical in zoos and in their native habitat. in madagasgar. these are two snow leopards that are growing and we have finally finished construction on our snow leopard exhibits calls "expiration snow leopard." we had to quickly increase their habitat when we had twins which is unusual for snow leopards and now we're getting them acclimated to their place and it will soon be open to the public. and that finishes my report. >> thank you very much. >> clerk: is there any public comment on the san francisco

zoo report? dial star three to be added to the queue. paul, does anyone have their hand raised? >> we have one hand raised. >> clerk: okay. you'll have two minutes. >> good morning. my name is richard. i wanted to speak about whether or not the animals that we do have in san francisco, are they going to be vaccinated or do they have to be a vaccination program for zoo animals? there was an article i read online, it had to do with dear population throughout different parts of the united states that would have bands of dears that would be covid-19 infected so then they would be a reservoir of covid-19. so in the event before that

kind of event ever would happen at the zoo, i would just like to bring in the possibility zoo animals and on the way to do it. i don't know where to do it and then i talked about you had to say about pigme hip 0s. >> president: thank you, richard. >> clerk: thank you. paul, is there anyone else on? >> that is the last hand raised. >> public comment is closed. for now. item seven. i'm just going to make a brief announcement about that. the applicant and the appellant

will have seven minutes toe present their position. the applicant will present first and then the department. after the presentation, there will be an opportunity for public comment. so if anyone here on the line is here to speak to item seven, you'll be asked to speak after the department. after the close of public comment, each party will have three minutes for rebuttal. and then the appellant. then the commissioners may ask questions of either party and we'll give the opposing party an opportunity to respond. finally, there will be discussion, deliberation, and a vote. and as a reminder, we only have four commissioners today which is a quorum and so we will need it to be unanimous anyway way we go. if there aren't any questions, then we can move right into the presentation and the first is the appellant. >> good morning. i am paul canelli, a board

member with the italian heritage parade committee. i'll be introducing this followed by our president and frank monte will also be speaking. we're here today on behalf of the italian heritage committee. recently, we were denied a permit to use washington square park for a show to be held in conjunction with the italian heritage day parade which is happening sunday, october 10th. we believe this to be an arbitrary decision and we'd like to appeal that decision. we feel the entire commission should have a chance to hear our issue and then vote on it. the italian day heritage committee has had a 20 plus year history of using the park for the annual car show. in the past, we've been allowed to have 30 to 40 cars on display and as part of that precedent, we have paid approximately $5,500 annually

for the park permits. we agree to take steps to prevent any damage to the park. we believe we've been good stewards of the park and in the past, we've met with park gardeners prior to parade weekends to go over routes of the cars and to be sure sprinklers are not damaged which are flagged. we've never had any damage to the park. so the goal of our appeal today is to give our committee the chance to hear the real concerns of the empower commission about the use of the park. we want to hear what your concerns are so we can address those concerns and work with the commission to take agreeable measures. so, together with the commission, we feel that we can conduct a suitable event for the park while not having any detrimental effect on the park and we also have more recent ideas to lessen our footprint

which we'd like the entire commission to hear. we'll also be providing professional opinions of golf superintendents and other landscape professionals regarding the protection of turf and the landscaping. so the proposal includes a plan for a smaller footprint in the park combined with limited street access adjacent to the park. our goal is to work together with the commission to show case the park with an appropriate celebratory event. which is one of the best days in the park in san francisco. and i'll turn it over to the president of the italian day heritage committee. >> thank you. thank you to ashley for all your help. we're very excited to be one of the first big events in san francisco next month as we exit out of covid and try to get back into a little bit more normal life. this would be 153rd parade that we've done in north beach it

has been dubbed the christmas in october in terms of the amount of business and revenue it drives. and we're excited to be able to do this. we've taken steps. normally, we have 30 to 40 cars on each side of the park. the high side of the park near the san francisco athletic club, we've decided to reduce our footprint to preserve the park which was redone in 2019, so two years ago and we're reducing that footprint of cars down to 12. we talked about how we would bring the cars in on the pavement and only pull them off on the pavement and only extend on the grass in the higher side of the grass. we're reducing the amount of impact on the grass. we've also been given suggestions as putting some sort of firm wood like plywood to mitigate any concerns that the park has.

we've talked to people that ran the pga event here in san francisco. we've talked to people at the olympic club. frank, i'm going to hand it over to you to finish this up. >> yes. thank you, bill. and thank you to the commission for allowing us to speak on our behalf. i just wanted to kind of give you an idea of what we've done. we've listened to the park and rec. we've had conversations with the concerns of trying to keep the park pristine as we possibly can knowing that you've done extensive work on this park a couple of years ago. we have reached out as you see to tim putnan who is the golf superintendent at la quinta. he has extensive experience with cars being parked. i know there's a little bit difference of golf courses. however, in the opinion of both tim, frank rillo sr. who is the

technical engineer and the superintendent at the olympic club are also minimal damage to six to seven hours of cars on the grass. we worked with the ferari club to even minimize our exposure on any of the grass. we would come on the concrete walkway, 90 degrees turned into the grass. the tires will not turn into the grass and putting it on plywood would spread out the load on the grass. 95% of the park is free and clear at this point with twelve cars and that's just an estimate, but we are nowhere near traversing the park. we're staying on a path and going out and giving access to the handicap behind us and still having the exposure in the park and protecting it and listening to what you're saying and i think it's a significant

drop of 75% of our cars really being able to be parked in the park but still getting both and being able to protect the park with what we've reached out to our experts. >> clerk: you still have one minute left if anyone else wants to say anything. >> i think we're good. thank you very much for your time. >> president: thank you very much. >> clerk: okay. now we will go to the department and i have a timer here in case anyone is questioning that and feel free to drop anything in the chat if you need to know how much time you have left. i'll give you a one minute warning, dana. >> don't start until i get my presentation up. >> clerk: yeah. okay. >> can you see the power point now? would you let me know.

>> clerk: yes. >> okay. let me just start it as a presentation. and you're actually seeing the side notes too. >> yes. >> okay. give me a second. you don't need that. okay. i think i have to take you through this painful thing. i think i have to share the app and not my whole screen so let me do that again. teams changed the way they did some of this so it's confusing. >> i can pull it up if you'd like, dana. >> well, then i'd have to ask you to keep moving it.

i don't know it's not showing here. can you tell me how i can share it without making it -- >> so i believe if you have it up and you have the where it has both the presenter and the presented view, if you go to the share settings on teams, go down to window and you can select which powerpoint window you want to share. >> yeah. it's just not showing. i apologize, everybody. it's showing a bunch of other power points, that's why i'm struggling here.

paul, why don't you do it and we'll take it from there. >> clerk: paul is doing the public comment. david will do the presentation. >> yeah. sorry. >> clerk: okay. sorry dana, your time's up. no, i'm just kidding. >> one second, please. screen number. it's not that one. sorry. >> it's more complicated than you think. >> yeah. i did it earlier. >> they changed the way it works on teams. apologies again. >> there we go. >> okay. >> does that look good. >> thank you. good afternoon commissioners. dana kechem and i also have with me deny kern and kelly rednick who both have collaborated with me on this

presentation as the experts. so they'll be available to answer some questions. next slide. what we're doing is, as you know, hearing the appeal of the display of the denial of the display for 40 ferari cars. we had just completed a major renovation. placement of cars on the park's grass will require airation of the ground and due to the heavy use of washington square, closure of that park for six weeks. there are alternatives for cars that don't put them on the grass and washington square is one of the only green spaces in a dense urban area. so we have to weigh a one-day event against a six-week closure of that green space. the 2019 renovation, we talked to address historic turf and

drainage issue and conserve water. new soil was imported which was carefully installed in layers so that the water can percolate through it. placing heavy vehicles on it is counter productive. prior to the renovation, the organizers were told that they would not be able to continue to hold the show in the park. historically, we used to have to close the park anyway due to its condition. the new renovation allows it to stay open. we waved their fee for that last event and they were told this would be the last time. next slide, please. here is some pictures. washington square before and after to give you an idea and the next slide shows a close-up of the differences. next slide. since you're being asked to adjudicate this, i'm giving you a 101 on airation and compaction of soil so you can understand what we're talking about. these pictures show the difference between compacted

and noncompacted. compacted soil and water particles can't get through and air can't get through. go to the next slide, please. and this is what happens. water and dog waste accumulates on the surface. dog waste burns the grass. it becomes mud in the winter. the root structure is week and pour and can't withstand the type of use that washington square has. what causes compaction? weight. so i found this in a document. you can see the cow is kind of like a car where all the weight comes down on a specific spot created compaction. next slide, please. this also shows the type of impact you get from placing vehicles on the grass. next slide. here is a ferari, typically 4,000 pounds. each wheel puts a 1,000 pounds

of pressure in one spot. the impact doesn't show up immediately, the car drives away, it looks fine. but damage occurs and impacts over time. next slide, please. how do you mitigate compaction? compaction can only be addressed by aeration. we bring in heavy equipment, it fractures the soil, pulls it all up. three quarters of an inch wide, this is a little dot and 10" to 12" teen. we have to add topsoil, seeding, and fertilizing. given the heavy use of washington square, we have to close the side for a minimum of six weeks and possibly longer in the winter. next slide. so we have a closed park. next slide. here's a picture of an empty washington square fenced off because it needs to be aerated. next slide.

so how do you prevent compaction? yeah. you can put large sheets of plywood down. historically, this organization has not been willing to do that. unfortunately, their 2013 and 2014 contracts required them to do that. if they're willing to put a large sheet of plywood but it had been rejected in the past. next slide, please. here is the way i went down and met with some of their representatives to kind of look at where could we place cars without putting them on the grass. we were there for over an hour. i'd be there five days before and you can see there are paved areas where just as many cars could be placed in the park without impacting the grass and causing that closure as well as creating somebody called ferari way and we were willing to increase our permit fee. i want to emphasize that

washington square is different. other parks still allow cars on the grass. we require plywood under vehicles as they drive in and as they sit for events. we allow vehicles on grass where we can aerate and re-seed without requiring the closure of one of the only open green spaces in an area. our golf courses are not comparable. they have so little foot traffic. it's possible to re-open more quickly. we have the big park picnic still in golden gate park where there are other green areas from when we close the meadows to rejuvenate. but washington square is the only green space serving a dense community. it is heavily used and the only way to repair it from this aclosure. and, since renovation, we haven't let our own vehicles on it. next slide, please. this has not been an easy decision by staff. we have been put under a lot of

pressure, but staff believes that the correct decision is for the organizers to find alternative nearby locations for the cars on this day on pavement. and that the commission should not decide to allow this one-day event to require the park to be closed limiting access to the only green space adjacent to chinatown, north beach, and other downtown neighborhoods. thank you. >> clerk: okay. thank you, dana. so now we will have time for public comment. so if there's anyone on the line who would like to comment on item seven, the washington square park permit appeal, you'll need to dial star three to be added to the queue. >> ashley, we have eight people on the line and it looks like people pressed star three again. so three hands raised currently.

>> clerk: okay. so each speaker will have two minutes. first speaker. z. >> is it okay for me to speak. >> president: please do. >> we've be doing this for 153 years. i've never seen it closed for six weeks. as she said, if we will put plywood down. we will agree to that and put the cars on the plywood as she just said would alleviate that pressure. in 2000, 2004, i attended the park that had a show as she also said that the jimmy's old car picnic was on speedway meadows and i recently attended

the u.s. women's open and they put cars on the lawn for over four or five days, so there was no problem there and i see helicopters land in the marina for the fleet week. i think with our plan and i think with what dana said that it would be advantageous for all of us, we put the plywood down and we put the cars on top of the plywood and that mitigates it. so hopefully, we can come to an agreement that if we do it that way, the way she just said that there wouldn't be any problem with the park. thank you. >> president: thank you very much. >> clerk: next speaker. >> hi. good morning. my name is richard armenino. i'm a long time supporter of the italian committee. i do realize that the park was recently renovated, but i struggle with the city spending

that kind of money without considering the accommodations of all park activities which i've included the ferari show for the last 20 years. also to take place on a golf course and the i would appreciate any reconsideration of this and i appreciate the time and support that you're giving this cause beside those attending the parade, this is also an attraction for car enthusiasts and car clubs. i do know they come from san jose, pleasanton and stockton. thank you for your time. >> clerk: thank you. next speaker.

paul, i think maybe that person either was a mistake or they're not there so if there's anyone else on the line who would like to provide public comment, you can dial star three to be added to the queue. does anyone else have their hand raised? >> yeah. the same person is still unmuted. maybe they need to unmute their phone for us to hear them. >> hello. >> president: hello. >> hello. >> clerk: you're on. >> is this the public comment? >> president: yes it is. please proceed. >> this is ken mayly with friends of washington square,

long time member and 50-year resident of north beach. friends of washington square and other neighborhood organizations have worked very hard to bring this renovation to the park and we definitely do not agree or support putting the cars on the lawn with or without plywood. i really think it's a danger to the park and the infrastructure that we worked so hard to put in place to make the park more usable. i do appreciate the commission looking at this and considering this issue, but we really cannot support adding all these cars on the lawn. it just isn't really fair to a neighborhood that works so hard to preserve the square and then to have the risk of gaj to this infrastructure and the closing of the park. >> president: thank you.

>> clerk: paul, does anyone else have their hand raised? >> so now the department has three minutes for rebuttal. >> okay. can we pop my slides back up, david. >> okay. >> and just go to the next slide. so we found this first new compromise, unfortunately, when we met on site with the applicants, they didn't propose this idea. we saw for the first time yesterday morning based on what we saw in the proposal, we believe it should be denied. it still places cars onto grass. there are places on pavement. we expanded the paved areas at this park. it places cars on grass next to walkways which are the most heavily impacted by dogs on leash peeing.

it still requires aeration and closure presented to us. over irrigation lines and heads. and also, it's not realistic to pull those cars straight on unless you're putting them on an angle but historically, this group didn't want to do this. in 2013, 2014, they were required to do it and didn't. if they're willing to do this, i think we can end this conversation, we just need to come up with a plan that shows the plywood and then i know you want to rope off the cars so people can't get too close to them how that roping off would work. thank you. >> president: thank you, dana. >> clerk: okay. thank you. next, we have the applicants.

>> dana, thank you for that. let me just clarify '13, '14, every year, we've met with your gardener and at one point, he thought it was hard enough on the surface not to, but that's beside the point. at this point in time, we've all agreed our new proposal is cutting the cars down to 12 cars. having the plywood. we're willing to put the plywood because some of these other spots in the park for $250,000, $300,000 cars for security reasons and a bunch of others. i do believe the plan we have we can make it work with plywood. and we've cut down our cars down 75%. if you're agreeable to that, we

will work with you guys and cordon them off and i promise you, they can maneuver enough on those things to go from the pathway on to the plywood with what would be the plan and the ferrari people are all over trying to accommodate as best we can. >> president: thank you. >> commissioner, buell, if it would be okay, we could chat between ourselves in front of all of you. >> president: well, let me say. so ashley, we've gone through the process and now is it open to commission comments. >> clerk: yeah. commissioners can have a discussion. if you want to ask any questions, that would be probably the best way to have a discussion among the department and the applicant so they can respond to your questions. >> president: thank you. so let me begin and ask dana,

you believe that with the plywood this could work and i'm going to assume you also want to see a plan of just where the cars would be on the plywood before we officially authorize this permit assuming the commission is prepared to overturn the -- or grant the appeal. >> yeah. well the appeal was the denial of our permit for what they applied for. so i want to be clear, i believe that is the case. what they are now asking is if they submit a new proposal to us that involves plywood, will we approve it? and, deny is on the line and he can nod or shake his head, but i believe if we can do it and i want to be very clear that a gardener on site cannot be put under pressure to say no to plywood on the day of the event.

if we agree to plywood. i understood you guys didn't like the plywood because it wasn't the look you were looking for. that, i want to make sure we understand how that's really going to work, but, frank, if we can agree, then i think we can, you know, withdraw this and move on on our own to solve this problem and not put the commission in the middle of this. >> president: and just so i understand it, therefore, the commission wouldn't be approving the appeal they would simply going along with the applicant under the terms we've discussed. >> zack, i know you're on the line. if you understand the question, if you would advise, that would be helpful. >> sure. if the permit applicant based on the representations made today wants to on the record

withdraw the appeal, the permit applicant can do that. otherwise, it's still pending before the commission and the commission has to take action to resolve it. that could be to affirm the denial or to reverse or modify. those are the three options under your policy. but, again, if the permit applicant and the department are going to work out a compromise, the permit applicant can affirmatively withdraw the appeal at this time. >> president: okay. so let me ask zack while we have you on the line, can we negotiate a modification to the application today under this appeal? >> sure. so under the permit follows the modification is one of the options i would advise that the commission should have a discussion with the department and the permit applicant now to work out those terms so that

when you're voting on has a specific terms of the modification. >> right. but we haven't denied this proposal f.y.i. so. >> president: right. all right. so i guess, dana, the ball would be in your court to tell me what you'd like to see the commission modify the application to reflect. >> well, you know, i continue to believe that the applicant should withdraw their appeal and you direct us to go work this out. but if you want to do it some other way -- >> president: i'm inclined to want to do it some other way to give some finality. but i want to make sure that the applicant understand that this commission is very concerned that this be done appropriately and that the terms that dana has reflected

can go forward are the ones that we agreed to. >> clerk: also, i just want to flag that commissioner mazzola and sarah madlin have their hands raised, you may want to call on them. >> president: absolutely. let me start with commissioner mazzola. >> commissioner: thank you. as far as the process goes, i think, mark, president buell is correct that it would be better if we made a decision on the compromise today so that it's final and they can then there's no questions remaining there won't be any issues remaining, but i just wanted to say a few things and first thank dana and her staff for her understanding and willingness if they do put the plywood down that, you know, you're willing to go forward with this. i think, you know, that was one of the bigger issues and i

think one of the reasons why they didn't have the plywood on the original appeal is because they talked to some golf courses and they said they didn't believe that they needed plywood, but they're totally willing to do that like they said today, but i just want to make a few comments on behalf of the appellant. you know, these guys are well respected people in the community, in the city and they're not here trying to be rude or controversial or ram bunk souse nothing. what they're asking for is totally reasonable. they've been doing this for over 20 years. they've been told that a general manager, no. all the way through this thing. he didn't want to hear any compromise. so i'm glad the staff's willing to take that under consideration, you know. this is something to me that is

being exaggerated as far as how it's going to affect the park like was said earlier. i don't think the park is going to need to be closed for six weeks, i think that's an exaggeration. i want to make another point here that i drove by the other day and i saw a 2,000 pound four-wheel lawn mower back and forth all over that grass. that's okay but it's not okay to put a car with plywood. these guys are not rookies. they're city guys that care about the city. they're not going to try and do something to ruin a park. that's not what they're about. what they're about is they've been doing this for 20 years and all of a sudden they got told no because the park was redone. i know there was an issue with drainage problems after the park was done. and let me say something about that. azul works was the company that did that job. and i complained about that in

the beginning. and everybody knows the track record of azul and they've been banned for five years doing work here. aside from that, i complained early on that azul works was not using the proper classification to do this drainage. they should have used plumbers, they used workers. i had to go to the office of labor standards within the city and they deemed that, in fact, the zone works used the wrong classifications. they used people that were not trained to do irrigation piping and plumbing and drainage. they underpaid those workers and they got fined $25,000 for using people they were not supposed to use to do this type of work. so that is one of the main reasons why there was a drainage problem. these guys are not even considering parking cars anywhere near that drainage

problem. but i just want to share my frustration with the fact that these workers were underpaid and the company got fined and there was a problem afterward because they used people that weren't skilled to do the job. so i just needed to get that all off my chest and the commission to understand where i'm coming from. these guys are great guys in the community and they deserve a chance to be listened to and not just turned away. so i'm glad that the commission is taking the approach and is willing to do a compromise because these guys are upstanding citizens of the city and they deserved to be recognized. so thank you. >> president: thank you, commissioner mazzola. sarah. >> i just wanted to say on behalf of the general manager that the department would support issuing this permit with the plywood in place to protect the grass. on behalf of the general manager and also to address commissioner mazzola's points about the construction project,

we absolutely share your frustrations. it was very difficult for all of us to get through and just by way of a reminder to the commission, public works actually does all of our construction management, so kelly who's on the line here is the one dogging them to do all the things that commissioner mazzola pointed out, but there are often challenges with our contracts. unfortunately, we don't directly supervisor them, public works does. so we continue to try to monitor it, but absolutely hear you, commissioner, and share your frustrations. >> president: okay. thank you, sarah. so i want to be sure then that it sounds like we have an understanding and so i want to be clear that we would be affirming the appeal or denying the appeal. ashley, weigh in and tell me what document you want to see

officially done. >> clerk: from what i understand, owen, please make sure to mute because i'm hearing a little feedback. zack, is it fine if i explain this the way that you sent it to me. >> yeah. absolutely. i can explain it for you. >> president: zack, go ahead. you answer the question. you're the lawyer. >> sure. procedurally, it's a little, you know, secure here. the commission, one option is to affirm the denial of the appeal with -- affirm the denial of the permit with the understanding that the department and the permit applicant are going to work together consistent with the representations today and the department will grant a new permit again with the new terms that will be put on the record today. the second option is to reverse

the denial of the permit and then affirmatively grant the permit. i would suggest that the first option leave it puts it back to the department to work with the applicant to grant the permit so they can work out all the terms consistent with what's articulated today. you get to the same place, but it's up to the commission and how they want to articulate that. >> isn't it possible for them just to withdraw so the commission doesn't have to deny it? just to withdraw it because of the representations that we've made here and then the commission doesn't have to act at all and then the commission can advise us strongly to work with them to find a solution with the plywood? because i think we have a good answer here, but it does need development. it's not ready. i'm not saying we can't get

there and i'm ready to meet out with them on monday morning first thing and walk the site and we'll finalize this. so hoping we can get there. anyway. just my suggestion. >> i would suggest that's also a possibility, but my role is to advise the commission on its options. one other option is both to continue for another week, but then the commission would have to reconvene if something happened and you would have to get the quorum to decide on it. >> is it also possible to continue to the call of the chair so that if it does come to conclusion, it doesn't need to be heard and if it does not come to conclusion, they can calendar it? >> again, you would have to reconvene because of the time line within the next few weeks in order to take action on it. >> only if we didn't come to

conclusion if it was in need of the commission's intervention again. >> if the applicant and the department was able to work it out, you would still need some letter to the commission affirmatively withdrawing the appeal because it would technically still be pending under the commission. >> president: commissioner mazzola. >> commissioner: so after hearing all of that, i have a motion. the motion i would make is to grant the appeal with the caveat of them working with dana and her team to come up with the appropriate compromise as far as where the cars are parked and the plywood underneath the tires. so, like you said earlier, president buell, i think we

should finalize this today because the thing's coming up in less than a month. we need to move on this so there's no ambiguity and no back and forth. i'm against pushing this off for another meeting. we need to act on it today knowing that staff and the italian committee are going to work this out. everyone's on the same page here. so that's my motion. >> president: dana, do you want to weigh in on that motion? >> you're on mute, dana. >> you approve the appeal, then you approve the issuance of the permit for what they originally applied for and that just doesn't work. i think sarah's idea that you, you know, table this and direct us to work it out and they withdraw it because we solved it. i think we're going to solve this, but if you act to approve the appeal, then you've just approved the permit for 40 cars that they originally asked for

with no plywood. >> no we're not. on the record -- >> president: let me suggest this. commissioner mozzola, i understand your concern. i think it does make sense we continue this matter to the call of the chair because for commissioner mazolla's concern if the permit, if they can't work it out, we call a meeting and we work it out. if they do work it out, they withdraw the appeal and we don't have to have another meeting and i think that's what i hear they're going to be able to work this out. and i just want to get everybody kind of agreeing to that procedure because we're not losing control over this appeal. we will call another meeting on short order if we have to. and if we don't have to, we'd saved ourselves and we're giving the confidence that both parties are going to work in good faith to resolve it.

>> commissioner: that's different from what you said earlier. >> president: i understand, but i think the sentiment, commissioner, is that we want to see this go forward under the compromise. and we're all in agreement on that. so it's really just a procedure of what we need to do from a legislative standpoint or administrative standpoint to move this forward and i think if we continue it from sarah's standpoint, it allows us to ultimately work it out at this legislative body or this commission if we have to, but it sounds like we don't have to. it sounds like the parties can agree and they'll withdraw their appeal because they'll have a permit they've all agreed on. soy don't see a problem with that. and i appreciate, commissioner, that it doesn't exactly solve your problem, but it does get us to where we want to go.

>> commissioner: well, through the chair, then, if everybody's on the same page with that and we trust that the department and the italian committee are going to do the right thing on this, then i'll pull my motion. i just want to make sure on the record that this gets worked out and it doesn't fall by the waist side or something happens. if we can retain jurisdiction over this and you can call a meeting in a week, then i feel better about it. >> president: okay. well, then, thank you, commissioner. before i ask for a motion to continue this matter, i do want to acknowledge and thank commissioner mazzola because this wouldn't be resolved had he not taken a very active role in helping do this. and so, for that, i say thank you and for the applicant, i say thank you for your understanding and trying to work with us to solve these problems because i have received e-mails from people in north beach who've spent an

enormous amount of time from a volunteer standpoint to make sure that that park got restored to the condition the community wanted so if it sounds like we're being overbearing and concerned about drainage and they've put in a system that's very sensitive. having said that, 95% of the grass isn't going to be used in this and you're using plywood and you're sensitive to it then we can make this work. and so i want to thank everybody for being genuine in their desire to find a solution to. with that, the chair would entertain a motion to continue this matter to the call of the chair. >> commissioner: so moved. >> president: is there a second. >> commissioner: second. >> president: it's been moved and seconded all those in favor. it is unanimous. thank you. >> commissioner, i would ask if the folks would be willing to

hop on another call. >> president: i'm sure they would. thank you very much. >> thank you to the commission. thank you very much for your understanding and thanks to staff as well. >> president: you bet. >> thank you for hearing us. >> president: okay. >> clerk: okay. >> president: ashleys, where are we? >> clerk: we are now on item eight, general public comment. if there's anyone on the line that would like to comment on an item that is not on the agenda today, you can dial star three to make your comment. >> ashley, we have five members of the public on the call and two hands raised. >> clerk: okay.

speaker. speaker, you're unmuted. if you'd like to make a comment, your time is now. >> if i'm able to speak all i would say is i'm in agreement with what dana kechima said as well as the staffing department operations. as well as the comments that weren't included that phil ginsburg, the general manager has included. thanks. bye. >> clerk: next speaker. >> hello, my name is gina

tovar. i just want to make sure this is not commenting on the last agenda item. >> president: yes. thank you. >> okay. thank you. so i reside in visitation valley and i am a single parent and i have a son who attends arts and tech charter school in san francisco unified. he takes the bus 9r which ends at 2055 avenue at the gold eagles parking lot on sunnidale for the golf course parking lot and so he has to walk from that spot up to manzel and sunnidale where sunnydale ends and that's exactly where the school is. in the evenings, he's not the only one walking that route because there's a lot of people who live along sunnydale and this valley that will take the bus there and there's no

lighting from the terminal end of sunnydale where it meets san feld and so i wanted to bring it to the attention of the commission that public safety especially for children going to and from school at balboa park and taking the bus line there or going to city arts and tech high school, i would like to find out what the process is to propose lights along there. i mean maybe even just path lights along the sidewalk, it doesn't have to be a major street lamp, solar powered lights along the sidewalk area. >> president: thank you. i believe staff is taking note of this and, if you would contact sarah madlin at the

department, she will follow up with you. >> sarah madlin. thank you very kindly. >> president: okay. thank you. >> clerk: okay. paul, does anyone else have their hand raised? >> that was the last raised hand. >> clerk: okay. thank you. so seeing no further callers, public comment is closed. we're now on item nine, commissioners' matters. commissioners. >> president: i don't see any. >> clerk: is there any public comment on this item? >> president: that was public comment. >> clerk: paul? >> there are no hands raised. >> clerk: we're now on item 10, new business, ayend canada setting. commissioners. >> clerk: okay. paul, is there any public comment on this item?

>> 0 hands raised. >> clerk: okay. seeing no callers, public comment is closed. we're now on item 11, communications. is there any public comment on item 11? >> zero hands raised. >> clerk: seeing no callers, public comment is closed. we're now on item twelve, adjournment. >> president: the chair would entertain a motion to adjourn. >> commissioner: so moved. >> president: moved, seconded. all those in favor. >> ayes. >> president: thank you one and all. >> thank you everyone. >> thanks ashley. >> president: thanks.

my name is doctor ellen moffett, i am an assistant medical examiner for the city and county of san francisco. i perform autopsy, review medical records and write reports. also integrate other sorts of testing data to determine cause and manner of death. i have been here at this facility since i moved here in november, and previous to that at the old facility. i was worried when we movederg o much larger that i wouldn't see people every day. i would miss my personal interactions with the other employees, but that hasn't been the case. this building is very nice. we have lovely autopsy tables and i do get to go upstairs and down stairs several times a day to see everyone else i work with. we have a bond like any other

group of employees that work for a specific agency in san francisco. we work closely on each case to determine the best cause of death, and we also interact with family members of the diseased. that brings us closer together also. >> i am an investigator two at the office of the chief until examiner in san francisco. as an investigator here i investigate all manners of death that come through our jurisdiction. i go to the field interview police officers, detectives, family members, physicians, anyone who might be involved with the death. additionally i take any property with the deceased individual and take care and custody of that. i maintain the chain and custody for court purposes if that becomes an issue later and notify next of kin and make any additional follow up phone callsness with that particular

death. i am dealing with people at the worst possible time in their lives delivering the worst news they could get. i work with the family to help them through the grieving process. >> i am ricky moore, a clerk at the san francisco medical examiner's office. i assist the pathology and toxicology and investigative team around work close with the families, loved ones and funeral establishment. >> i started at the old facility. the building was old, vintage. we had issues with plumbing and things like that. i had a tiny desk. i feet very happy to be here in the new digs where i actually have room to do my work. >> i am sue pairing, the toxicologist supervisor.

we test for alcohol, drugs and poisons and biological substances. i oversee all of the lab operations. the forensic operation here we perform the toxicology testing for the human performance and the case in the city of san francisco. we collect evidence at the scene. a woman was killed after a robbery homicide, and the dna collected from the zip ties she was bound with ended up being a cold hit to the suspect. that was the only investigative link collecting the scene to the suspect. it is nice to get the feedback. we do a lot of work and you don't hear the result. once in a while you heard it had an impact on somebody. you can bring justice to what happened. we are able to take what we due to the next level. many of our counterparts in other states, cities or

countries don't have the resources and don't have the beautiful building and the equipmentness to really advance what we are doing. >> sometimes we go to court. whoever is on call may be called out of the office to go to various portions of the city to investigate suspicious deaths. we do whatever we can to get our job done. >> when we think that a case has a natural cause of death and it turns out to be another natural cause of death. unexpected findings are fun. >> i have a prior background in law enforcement. i was a police officer for 8 years. i handled homicides and suicides. i had been around death investigation type scenes. as a police officer we only handled minimal components then

it was turned over to the coroner or the detective division. i am intrigued with those types of calls. i wondered why someone died. i have an extremely supportive family. older children say, mom, how was your day. i can give minor details and i have an amazing spouse always willing to listen to any and all details of my day. without that it would be really hard to deal with the negative components of this job. >> being i am a native of san francisco and grew up in the community. i come across that a lot where i may know a loved one coming from the back way or a loved one seeking answers for their deceased. there are a lot of cases where i may feel affected by it. if from is a child involved or things like that.

i try to not bring it home and not let it affect me. when i tell people i work at the medical examiners office. what do you do? the autopsy? i deal with the enough and -- with the administrative and the families. >> most of the time work here is very enjoyable. >> after i started working with dead people, i had just gotten married and one night i woke up in a cold sweat. i thought there was somebody dead? my bed. i rolled over and poked the body. sure enough, it was my husband who grumbled and went back to sleep. this job does have lingering effects. in terms of why did you want to go into this? i loved science growing up but i didn't want to be a doctor and

didn't want to be a pharmacist. the more i learned about forensics how interested i was of the perfect combination between applied science and criminal justice. if you are interested in finding out the facts and truth seeking to find out what happened, anybody interested in that has a place in this field. >> being a woman we just need to go for it and don't let anyone fail you, you can't be. >> with regard to this position in comparison to crime dramas out there, i would say there might be some minor correlations. let's face it, we aren't hollywood, we are real world. yes we collect evidence. we want to preserve that. we are not scanning fingerprints in the field like a hollywood television show. >> families say thank you for

what you do, for me that is extremely fulfilling. somebody has to do my job. if i can make a situation that is really negative for someone more positive, then i feel like i am doing the right thing for the city of san f adjourned.f san f >> shop & dine in the 49 promotes local businesses and challenges residents to do their shop & dine in the 49 with within the 49 square miles of san francisco by supporting local services within the neighborhood we help san francisco remain unique successful and vibrant so where will you shop & dine in the 49 my name is jim woods i'm the founder of woods beer company and the proprietor of woods copy k open 2 henry adams what makes us unique is that we're reintegrated brooeg the beer and serving that cross the table people are sitting next to the

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can't get that of minor or anywhere else and san francisco a hot bed for local manufacturing in support that is what keeps your city vibrant we'll make a compelling place to live and visit i think that local business is the lifeblood of san francisco and a vibrant community >> we are providing breakfast, lunch, and supper for the kids. >> say hi. hi. what's your favorite? the carrots. >> the pizza? >> i'm not going to eat the pizza. >> you like the pizza? >> they will eat anything. >> yeah, well, okay.

>> sfusd's meal program right now is passing out five days worth of meals for monday through friday. the program came about when the shelter in place order came about for san francisco. we have a lot of students that depend on school lunches to meet their daily nutritional requirement. we have families that can't take a hit like that because they have to make three meals instead of one meal. >> for the lunch, we have turkey sandwiches. right now, we have spaghetti

and meat balls, we have chicken enchiladas, and then, we have cereals and fruits and crackers, and then we have the milk. >> we heard about the school districts, that they didn't know if they were going to be able to provide it, so we've been successful in going to the stores and providing some things. they've been helpful, pointing out making sure everybody is wearing masks, making sure they're staying distant, and everybody is doing their jobs, so that's a great thing when you're working with many kid does. >> the feedback has been really

good. everybody seems really appreciative. they do request a little bit more variety, which has been hard, trying to find different types of food, but for the most part, everyone seems appreciative. growing up, i depended on them, as well, so it reminds me of myself growing up. >> i have kids at home. i have six kids. i'm a mother first, so i'm just so glad to be here. it's so great to be able to help them in such a way because some families have lost their job, some families don't have access to this food, and we're just really glad to be

>> all right. come on up to our commissioners. hi everyone. i'm san francisco mayor london breed and it's really great to be here today. what a wonderful occasion and what we've done since this pandemic is we've sworn in people to commissions via zoom. and sometimes in person maybe one or two people, but this is the first swearing in that we're having with so many people and i've got to tell you, i'm so very happy about that. so thank you all very much for coming. [ applause ] i want to