space in our own voice. >> the native american movements that were conducted in the 1970s are extremely important to me because my grandpa was at the forefront of them and he was making the world a better place so that i would grow up in a world where i had one less issue to face and my generation could start from where he worked and continue working from that point. >> the struggle has been going on for many years to remove this statue, but it's only one key in all of san francisco's history and all of this country's history about the misrepresentation of how this land was developed and colonized. >> we have to fight to regain our languages, have access to our lands, to keep our religions from being illegal. that is the legacy, that we are in a continuous struggle. >> i think those are ways of

acknowledging our path so we can move forward together. no one is going home. this has always been our home. how do we learn to live in reciprocity with one another? that's by acknowledging our histories and moving forward and telling the truth to history. [♪♪♪] [♪♪♪]

. >> chairman: would the secretary please call the role. >> secretary: [roll call] this is the recreation and park commission meeting of november 18th, 2021. the san francisco recreation and park commission acknowledges that we occupy the unceded ancestral homeland of the ramaytush ohlone people. as the indigenous protectors of this land and in accordance with their tradition, the ramaytush ohlone have never ceded, lost, nor forgotten their responsibilities as the caretakers of this population as well as for all peoples who reside in their traditional territory. as guests, we recognize that we

benefit from living and working on their traditional homeland. we wish to pay our respects to the ancestors, elders, and relatives of the ramaytush ohlone community. please note due to the covid-19 health emergency, the city hall is closed. however, members participating in this meeting remote 3. we ask you to turn down your televisions or computers when listening on the phone. public comment will be available for each item on the agenda. each speaker will be allowed two minutes to. call (415) 655-0001. and the access code today is 24957950557. 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 you dial. while you're waiting, the system will be silent. the system will notify you when you are in line and waiting. all callers will remain on mute until their line is open. everyone must wait for the time delays. alternatively, you may submit public comment in either of the following ways. by e-mailing recpark.commission@sfgov.org. written comments may also be sent via u. postal service to 501 stanyan street, san francisco california. please know that we are going to call the agenda out of

order. we are going to hold off on the general -- >> chairman: actually i'm going to -- >> clerk: okay. then we are now on to president's report. >> president: thank you very much. i have a few things to report. first, i want to congratulate our new vice president of the commission cat anderson being elected to that position at the last meeting and looking forward to a long and prosperous relationship in that capacity. congratulations, cat. >> thank you, president. >> president: i also want to express my gratitude to commissioner larry mazzola. it gives you a very clear idea of the talents and training and professionalism of our local 38 members. so, larry, thank you very much

for that. third, i want to read an e-mail. -- >> clerk: are you going to the the edits, the filming. >> president: whoa. >> clerk: you need to mute yourself, please. just a reminder, look at your screen right now. if you're not talking, then please mute yourself. thank you. >> president: thank you. so this is a success story of a former full-time 20 year resident of hellman hollow in golden gate park. with the great determination and initiative from ranger borrows, mr. kenneth horton has been placed into temporary housing and in line for permanent senior housing when

it becomes available. although this was a team effort mr. horton to find suitable housing and health care. walking mr. burton through all the steps needed to get the proper identification, residential application and job application. again, this is a process that ranger burrows started and completed in her short tenure. ranger borrows was also able to secure housing for 15 plus people not just in golden gate park, but city wide. not just from golden gate park. we're not housing people in golden gate park. she's committed herself to helping anyone that she can communicate with and is willing to accept her offers of help or

service. and then i had pictures. i just wanted to say that that's going of rec and park staff. with that, the final note that i want to make and it's a sad one is that we lost two big park supporters involved in the botanical garden year after year and nancy hellman becktal who co-chaired our and, with that, that concludes my president's report. >> clerk: okay.

if anybody would like to speak in public comment. >> ashley, we have four people on the call and 0 hands raised. >> clerk: okay. seeing no comment, public comment is closed. we are now on item three, general. >> thank you. i'd like to bring two others at the meeting. this work is really incredible. and as the president highlighted the number of contacts and the amount of effort and personal care and relationship building with any

one unhoused individual to get them services and support. it's really intense and remarkable and the fact that our rangers have had some really good successes in this regard is really note worthy and i think they deserve the acknowledgement and so i would welcome the opportunity to bring them back at a future meeting' and it's one of the reasons that we give thanks. of the the holidays are upon us and i did want to just take a brief moment at the beginning of the report to say happy thanksgiving to our park advocates or park users or the golden gate park tennis center. park amenities and community events are advocating for communities to make our parks more equitable, this commission's commitment to making our parks better is a

blessing to our department and our staff who have really just kind of dove in head first with curiosity, enthusiasm. engagement, experience and most importantly joy. so thank you, commissioners. we really do appreciate the work you do. just a few quick announcements about some fun up coming events. this weekend, we invite this commission and members of the public -- if everybody can keep their -- once again, keep their speaker off if you're not speaking. join us in celebrating our newest crop of graduates from the program this saturday november 20th at 11:00 a.m. at the lake merced boat house.

the program is a storage and leadership program that offers teams from san francisco southeast and northeast neighborhoods a chance to play an important role in the community by improving the city's green spaces and creating projects around issues they value. this past year, these teenagers spent more than 1,600 hours in our parks. this saturday, we're honoring 20 teenagers from our south who come from destructs 9, 10, 11, 3, 5, and 6. so we're very excited to celebrate their accomplishments in the community and in our parks over the past year. also this saturday on the other side of town, we invite everyone to come to the bayview

and shoreline park this saturday to three p.m. this is part of our program. it's interim activation. we continue to make progress on, you know, creating san francisco's next amazing and equitable space along the southern water front. the maker's market will be there this saturday and in february and may of 2022 it's fun and you get a taste of what indian basin really can be. as you know, golden gate park has been under going a lot of improvements for visitor access and safety recently and there are even more in the pipeline.

rescheduled from october 2nd, we are inviting members of the public for any commissioners that want to come out to join rec and park to come out. this saturday, november 20th. we've got a whole day worth of park events for you on saturday. and, at jfk, you can come out and learn more on this bike ride. bring your favorite bike or rent one. it will take 90 minutes to visit key spots in the park. the bike ride will begin and end at the cafe in mccallister. our combined outreach today include over 32 events. five in equity zone priority communities. 11 with the senior and disability community and two recorded virtual sessions. we've had a survey available in

five languages. more than 8,000 total surveys completed to date and approximately 700 surveys to date. we're very excited for the return of our annual tree lighting and, of course, the lighting of uncle john

mcclaren's tree. it's three family friendly events officially kicks off holiday season of lights and the park. psychedelic photosynthesis. a light conservatory of flowers. lights in golden gate park designed by josh hubert which is in the music concourse. the sky star wheel. and then alterverse poetry live music and arts at the

concourse. for more information on these events and attractions, check out sfrecpark.org/lights2021. moving from thanksgiving to the winter holidays to summer. the new year is on the horizon and that means we're already making plans for next summer and the highly anticipated return of camp mather. the lottery will be open through january 6th. to enter the lottery, visit sf park.org. also made available for low-income familieses. last quick update on the bayview playground opening. the current renovation is almost complete. the sod has been installed. it needs a few more days or

weeks for full establishment, but the opening is upon us and we actually anticipate a ribbon cutting ceremony before the end of the year so stay tuned for more on that one. tomorrow, friday, we are celebrating additional funding at the cannons bay mall. the five block project is estimated to cost $20 million. each block is costing around $5 million. it's complicated enough. currently the project is funding from both the city and state. tomorrow's celebration highlights our gratitude to senator scott wiener who allocated $4.1 million for this project. this announcement brings the

secure project funding total to $10 million and it includes $2 million air marked in the health and recovery bondy and then we also have for our brand new nature area partly of our indian basin project. a few of you were there and joined us for the ribbon cutting area. a few weeks ago, a range of really innovative ground

breaking projects from communities across the entire globe were nominated for this unicef award. a fact that makes us even more humbled to have been recognized as the winner. the city's inspire award celebrates innovative or projects that foster child rights at the local level and improve the daily lives of young people in the cities and communities where they leave. the nature exploration area inherented a kid-designed 12,000 square foot play space that encourages people of all ages to creatively engage with all natural elements like logs, stumps, and boulders. and in the area of san francisco as we know have experienced chronic disinvestment and experienced the indian basin area as an

environment education huh for youth. for more than 100 youth and other residents share their unique desires for the space. this is a really important evolving trend ha san francisco is proving a leader. research shows that play and exposure to nature is vital for childrens' emotional, social, and physical health. however, access to both are too often correlated with race, zip code, and socio economic status. so to have build such a landmark play area, the largest one in the city at indian basin is a signal to our planning. this was kaiser permanente, the port of san francisco, the san francisco children and nature collaborative and, of course, our very own department.

we are super excited about that and i will return to where i began by giving thanks to our partners to park advocates and to everyone who helps. and that concludes the general manager's. >> clerk: okay. thank you. if there's anyone on the line who would like to make a comment to the general manager's report, you can dial star three to be added to the queue to speak. >> there are eight people on the call and two hands raised. >> clerk: okay. so you'll have two minutes to speak.

first caller. >> hello. >> clerk: we can hear you. >> caller: sorry about that. thank you so much, commissioners, i appreciate the mention of becktal and all the park work that she did on behalf of the park and i just wanted to say i'm a super excited. the issue for most of us really is water and we need a grey water program similar to what golden gate park is going to have because the trees are falling and dying and this last

big rainstorm. there were five trees that went down and the mega drought has been so harmful and so whatever we're planting with the removal of the eucalyptus and then replanting sustainable trees that will be -- that are replacing them, we have to have a great water source or begin that right now because the drought's just so hard and unlike golden gate park, there's no water source whatsoever. and families, many families live in the excelsior, the valley, bayview and it's just the park. so i'd like to just sort of put that on the radar to move up a grey water initiative very quickly as we begin to replant

the park. thank you. >> president: thank you. >> clerk: next speaker. >> caller: hello, can you hear me? >> president: yes. since they were on. as you can all probably presume, the third great canceled this dul the pandemic. parks and rec have significantly cut back on the number of teens that can participate. we don't have really good numbers, but apparently, there

are only eight 4th grade teams according to parks and rec staff, registration closed within two minutes of being opened a few weeks ago. we don't know how many teams were shut out, but for fourth grade, it was at least five and likely more. there could be hundreds of familieses, but not more shut out this winter. we are at the mercy of parks and recreation on this. if rec and park doesn't allow our kids to play, it's canceled for the second year in a row. parks and rec has told us it's simply too hard. only misunderstanding and getting through the pandemic is

hard after so long about the effects of the physical, the kids and their families were so looking forward to the normal return. that is why it is disheartening they told hundreds of kids they can't play basketball this winter. he's asked his staff to look for creative solutions. >> clerk: i'm sorry, your time is up. my apologies. >> caller: thank you very much. >> president: thank you. >> clerk: i hate cutting people off like that, but it's hard for us to do this. paul, did anyone else raise their hand? >> there are no more hands raised. >> clerk: okay. seeing no further public callers, public comment is closed. this item and that do not appear on the agenda. you will have the opportunity

to address the commission when the item is reached in the meeting. if there's anybody who doesn't have public comment. paul, does anybody have their hands raised. >> i see two hands raised. >> clerk: for some reason, the timer isn't showing. i have a timer in front of me, but i think it's challenging if everyone else can't see it. so can we try to get that up. >> clerk: caller, you'll have two minutes once your phone says you're unmuted. >> caller: good morning. this is barry toronto. can you hear me? >> president: yes. >> caller: yes. i'm an activist taxi driver and i've been following the issue of access to golden gate park and the issue of continued

closure of jfk drive. we're not going to get involved in the taxi driver. we are going to get involved in being able to have access to the concourse. i have not been in golden gate park for almost two years and because of lack of access from golden gate park. it would be great if we could expedite the access to golden gate park from 8th and fullton so that we can help transport seniors and disabled and tourists through the amenities of the park and be able to take it safely going from the lincoln end of the park is not

an option at this point due to the time consumption required to do that and the cost to the passenger. so it would be great if you could make this happen sooner than later. i hope you expedite this because it's your decision and the board of supervisors' decision alone. also to take families from parts of the city that are not easily accessible by those communities would be helpful if they could also take a cash cab to the park. so and, of course, there's a shorter distance. so i appreciate your corporation and help in making this happen sooner than later. thank you very much. >> president: thank you. >> clerk: is there anyone else who would like to comment? you can dial star three for general public comment. paul, does anyone else have their hand raised?

>> there is one more hand, ashley. >> clerk: okay. you'll have two minutes. >> i think the hand just went down. when you announced star three, i think they pressed it a second time to lower their hand. and it's back up again. >> clerk: okay great. >> caller: hello. can you hear me? >> clerk: yes. >> caller: hello. >> clerk: yes, we can hear you. >> caller: hi. my name is john goldmyth. i am a 30 year san francisco resident and i'm contacting the commissioners from the rec and park specifically around the topic of castro metro muni station on the market street of castro. it was designed by howard grant, an 83-year-old living in oakland. she designed five muni stations

all connected and the castro muni station is the only muni station that has a green belt. and in 2018, myself along with adjoining neighbors and renterses, we co-signed two street park applications submitted to public works and san francisco parks alliance, the nonprofit headed by drew becker. with that, we've added on 1,800 signatures and we are very much in effort to preserve and landmark our beautiful train station. we do not want to be sacrificed to landfill for the stake of an elevator. we need an elevator for ada access and public works had a sensible design in 2018 with a conservative light touch for an elevator by the rainbow flag. now, the project is funded by

the state department of recreation and parks with a current budget of $2.5 million, republican tax dollars to demolish and replace our historically significant environmentally significant site. you all had mentioned the importance of children having access to nature. this would be project number one. thank you for your time. i appreciate it. our website is harvey mills plaza.org. of the. >> president: thank you. >> clerk: paul, does anyone else have their hand raised? >> there are no more hands raised. >> clerk: okay. seeing no further callers, public comment is closed. we are now on item 5, consent calendar. is there any public comment on the consent calendar. dial star three to be added to the queue. paul, does anyone have their hand raised. >> there are still no hands

raiseded. >> clerk: okay. commissioners, i'll let you. >> president: thank you. any comments or questions about the consent calendar? seeing none, the chair would entertain a motion to approve the calendar. >> commissioner: i move approval. >> commissioner: second. >> president: been moved and secondeded. all those in favor. any opposed? hearing none, it is unanimous. thank you. >> clerk: just a reminder, president buell, i have to do a role call. >> president: sure. please do a roll call. >> clerk: [roll call] okay. we are now on item 6, the san

francisco zoo. we have tim woo to present. did you want me to share the information for you. it will take a second to get up. so hold on a second. >> thank you. good morning. commissioners. it's a pleasure presenting for you today. next slide, please. >> sometimes it takes a second, i'm on the western pond turtle. storm damage, please. >> no. >> clerk: do you see the i'm

on storm damage. it might take a second to get there, unfortunately. >> all right. i will go ahead and begin then. of as you all know, it's rare for the zoo to close. however, on october 24th during the cyclone, we had multiple trees come down at the zoo. one by the cafe and another as a result of that, the zoo was closed for animal safety. given indoor access during that time. we swept through the zoo. we found that no further evidence of any long-term damage and we had no loss for injuries for any human or animal life. i'll sort of narrate.

there we go. that's perfect. thank you. from rain to drought. prior to the bomb cyclone, as you all know, we are in a severe drought here in the bay area and we received a call from the east bay regional park district let us know that several of these highly endangered turtles were found dead due to dried up ponds. so we set out from the zoo. several folks collected from and we brought the recovering. we will be reducing back to the ponds once the water levels rise again. next please, ashley. the remainder of our port is about how we're looking to increase the port and social distancing during the pandemic period. our most popular rents is boo at the zoo which is two weekends of halloween and this year we did a couple things to

encourage social distancing. we created our "sloth-o-ween" campaign. and that disburses them throughout the many acres of the zoo. next, our costume contest is always one of the most popular things. due to bomb cyclone and we had best animal costume. the family costume and judge's choice. we had several thousand people participate to social distance across that time period. another thing that we did, next slide, we decorated a mini haunted house day of the dead and go to the different ones to

see the various haunted houses. the animals on the next one, one of the highlights was having animal feedings that were pumpkin themed. rather than doing a schedule this year, we did these at random times so that people would wander through the zoo and not congregate waiting for them to begin. for both the visitors and great enrichment trees for the animals themselves. next. one of the things that we're watching now is our hurray fall campaign. which has people answering clues to bring them to the next place. and my next slide, what would fall be like without

oktoberfest and beer. we have our tower of giraffes. and these are newly introduced this fall and are great fun. and that concludes my report. >> clerk: okay. if there's anyone on the line who would like to make a comment on the zoo report, you can dial star three to be added to the queue to speak does begin have their hand raised? >> we have nine people on the line and one hand raiseded. >> clerk: okay. you'll have two minutes. >> caller: hi. i think what i'm trying to comment was on the public commentary, but the system wasn't recognizing me. when can i come back to do

that? >> clerk: yeah. we have another opportunity for general public comment during item 9. what was your name if you don't mind? i'll just make sure that we call you again. >> caller: it's our annual hello from sunshine. >> clerk: okay. we'll call you again during item 9. >> caller: okay. thank you. >> clerk: okay. seeing no further callers, public comment is closed. we are now on item seven, gardens of golden gate park agreement lease amendment. >> sorry. that was me. good morning commissioners. dana ketchum. director of property and permits. i'm here to present on the gardens of golden gate park lease amendment.

i have a slide show that i'm putting up. okay. this is a discussion and possible action to recommend the board of supervisors approve a lease agreement to expand that current agreement to resume similar services and the conservatory of flowers substantially in the same form as the draft agreement dated november 4th that was included in your packet. okay. now i just need it to move to the next slide. so give me a second. okay. can you all see the next slide? is that working? >> it's working. we can see it. >> perfect. thank you. the department has three specialty gardens in golden gate park all within a short

distance of each other. you can see this on the map. first, the san francisco botanical garden. the beautiful conservatory flowers where really the primary garden museum part is the indoor area which, you know, provides information and an opportunity to see very rare and unusual flowers and the japanese tea garden. historically, they were managed separately. the botanical garden had a partner. each had a different partnership arrangement with the san francisco botanical garden society. they have been our partners since 1955, but in 2003, we entered into a lease and management agreement where they oversaw visitor experience and admissions increasing visitation by 135%. volunteer efforts, community engagement and education, building a horticultural library fundraising events.

the botanical garden society since that time has also supported the garden with a master plan and most recently developed the plan and raised the funds to build the garden's nursery. the agreement is structured so that all rent -- and we'll talk about this more. all revenues go to the department and then are distributed to cover costs and any remaining goes into a fund in the bio departments for improvements at the garden. the conservatory of flowers partner has been the parks alliance for many years. even prior to 2003. but in 2003, the garden had been closed due to damage and the parks alliance was involved in raising $25 million in funds to re-open it. at the time, the predecessor of the parks alliance entered into a licensed agreement with the department and under the direction of the department managed admissions, community

engagement, education, events and fundraising. that 2003 agreement has been on holdover for eight or nine years. the way that agreement worked funds were held in an account at the san francisco park alliance to be used to cover those costs and could be used to cover repairs and improvements. [please stand by]

site planning,renovations, maintenance, all of that, none of change . so how do admissionreceipts work ? the way it is structured is they were using the botanical law also all admissions received come in daily into a dedicated account and are allocated as follows . first to cover the expenses for visitor experience. second, the department receives 4.4 million and on this a little bit more in a minute to cover ourcost of maintaining the gardens . this is comparable to the amount we had been receiving prior to this time.mostly from the japanese tea garden

because most of the other revenues did not flow directly to our bottom line and they will then receive expenses for education and community outreach at all three gardens and the remainder goes to this dedicated guarded improvement fund which is a fund maintained by the department for renovation and improvements. there's a littlemore detail on it .we used three covid 2000 numbers for comparison because covid makes everything upside down and you can see that admission costs have reduced by at least 400,000 due to a illuminating nonprofit redundancies . you no longer need a manager overseeing admissions at each site. if someone calls in sick you canredeploy someonefrom one garden to another . even to take a break . this goes across fundraising and other activities as well. we created dedicated community engagement funds at the japanese tea garden at the

conservatory as well and that 4.4 million of our community expenses reflects both an interest in the amount that we had historically received but also comes very close to our cost of maintaining these gardens and our staff thatdoes it. we did a back end analysis . and then the next contribution to the garden improvement fund is a half-million but could actually increase if we are, if the flexible pricing provisions that allow nonresidents during peak hours to be paid a little bit extra. a little bit onwhat the garden admission fees are . so the botanical, gets them for free. conservatory and japanese tea garden a reduced rate and for nonresidents you'll see for adult a flexible rate depending

on what time of year or what day of the week people are visiting. they vary by garden more importantly than that we want these gardens opens all and they are all anticipating in the museums for all program. they provide free admission. there's a national program that looks into that benefit and it applies to both residents and nonresidents providing free access to the gardens . there's a broader sf program with medi-cal and ebt cards and provides free access to the gardens at any time or those who need, who are on those assistance programs . also going back a few days a week and months where there's free admission as you can see down belowthree hours varies by garden . a few other provisions that are in this agreement. the museum storeand gift shop , thebotanical will not operate the conservancy as well as the

store . the japanese tea garden t area and gift shop will continue to be maintained existing concessionaireunder an agreement with the department . for events and permits those are primarily private events such as weddings and special ticketed events open to the public. the botanical will assume oversight of those events at the conservatory of flowers as well as the gardens. these events will be structured to ensure minimalimpact on public access . generally they are done inthe evenings when the gardens are close . we do a number of them at the conservatory of flowers and then weddings that are done in the botanical art. to the public. people understand people are allowed to come through. the revenue will be split between the botanical garden society and rpd for the maintenance fund. just a coupleexamples of events to remind us all .

flour ps piano which is an amazing free event open to all nice blue which was an event the conservatory did and was ticketed. so one complication we have is the conservatory of flowers ran a deficit during covid due to a number of factors. it's indoors and almost all museums ran a deficitduring this time . it was indoors close much longer due to covid. the opening wasreally uncertain . staff was retained during that time. the closures overlapped 2 significanttourist seasons and they also had unexpected expenses during those times .

that added to thedeficit so the total deficit was just over 1 million. it has now been working diligently to reduce that amount and is now just under 800,000 . the botanical garden society had agreed to reimburse the parks alliance for the outstanding amount and then the botanical gardenswe paid that amount over three years of garden funds reducing the amount that would ultimately go to the garden improvement fund . the proposed leaseamendment is supported by the board of directors of the botanical gardens and and francisco parks alliance . staff urges that you approve this new agreement. thank you. >> you dana. >> excuse me. we have to take public comment first .

>> clerk: if there's public comment on items seven you can dialá three to be addedto the queue tospeak . does anyone have their hands raised ? >> we have 11 people on the call and four hands raised currently. >> clerk: you will have two minutes to speakand when the light says you are unmuted you can talk . >> caller: good day commissioners. and i online? >> clerk: yes you are. >> caller: this is dawn calling. i'm a san francisco native, third generation and i've raised for a year, hopefully a fifth will be on its way. i run a local lan sleep supply business, oldest in the state and in that time have also

served on the botanical garden society 15years , i'm workingon 20 now . and i'm here tospeak in favor of this merger . bringing this network of the three iconic cultural institutions of san francisco under one management will provide focus, a long needed focus and enhancement to the programming and its environmental action and inclusivity . the botanical garden society has been partnering with san francisco rack and parts for many years but over the last 10 to 15. >> successfully.and now has what i consider a proven record of public enhancement. and focused management which we have raised the botanical garden to a internationally recognized institution and

world-class attraction . this overall, free institutions will create organizational and operational efficiencies i think ringing us in line with our mission. bringing people to nature. so we have a vision here.it's a vision of creating a unified conservation and cultural organization which will really enhance visitor experience and communityengagement. again, i think this is a smart idea for san francisco and for the community . commissioners, thank you for yourservice as well mister ginsberg and thank you for the opportunity to you today . >> tank you. next speaker.>> caller: can you hear me? >> clerk: yes, we can hear you. >> caller: i am rachelmartin ,

executive director of the california state parks foundation. a former elected member of the san francisco board of education, 23 year resident of san francisco's richmond district and proud member of the botanical gardens . i'm calling to voice my strong support for the proposal. it makes a huge amount of sense to combine these horticultural sites and visitorattractions under one roof to realize operational efficiencies and better serve and engage the communities . i dothink that an organization to manage the entity that the botanical gardens . i'veknown them both professionally and personally for over a decade . it hasbrought the organization investment , numbers and energy and i have the utmost confidence in her professional expertise and ability to lead

this new organization. i want to highlight the botanical gardens long relationship and educating the children of san francisco plants and horticulture including my own children who are periodically partof the third-grade science curriculum . during the pandemic the botanical gardens also provided educational opportunities to students as a respite . the botanical gardens ... there's someinterference, i don't know if somebody is unmuted . the botanical garden conservatoryand japanese tea garden are incredible outlets for san francisco and we also know there's work to doto

ensure these places continue to transform into aleading environmental and cultural institution because san francisco killer deserves no less . this is a way to accomplish this lofty goal andi wholeheartedly urge you to support these amendments . thank you for your time . >> clerk: thank you . >> caller: my name is mary ellen hannibal . and i am an author and journalist for 20 years i worked for the botanical garden, san francisco medical garden writing and editing its publications when that was a print production. now i'm currently on the board so over these 20 years i've worked to really try to amplify the incredible contribution the garden makes to supporting biodiversity, not only here in san francisco but also globally because as we all know we have this incredible climate here in san francisco and the garden can growplants that are endangered or extinct in the wild .

in my 20 years the garden has had productive leadership but now has leadership in november that is incredibly beautifully suited to the mission of the garden and all the gardens of golden gate park to better amplify and engage the public with biodiversity law that is underway all over the globe. so the garden grows the plants and we happened to save them and also creates incredible habitats for those migrating through birds and insects, bees and others. we also haveincredible leadership right now on the board of trustees . so this garden is a really, is poised to step up into the horticultural realm to another level and making the gardens of golden gate park into a concerted unified entity will

help that very immeasurably. not very immeasurably i guess just immeasurably. anyway, thank you very much everyone for your comments and work on behalf of the gardens of golden gate park. >> clerk: next speaker. >> caller: good morning commissioners. my name is del maxwell and i'm chair of the san francisco botanical gardensociety board of directors and a 21 year volunteer of the botanical gardens . first in the nursery and now in the california native garden and children's garden and also a major donor to the garden. i consider myself invested in the success and future of the gardens of golden gate park. i'm here to speak in favor of the amendment to ask the conservatory of flowers and

japanese tea gardento the leasing management agreement the san francisco botanical garden society . like many leading botanical gardens we are lucky to also have a pennies garden and conservatory within walking distance of each other. all three entities arelocated within the cultural hub of golden gate park . this is a great opportunity for a more comprehensive experience for residents and visitors to the city and for the elevation of all three organizationsinto a stronger more effective leading cultural and conservation organization . our board is very excited by and committed to this new partnership model and of 100 percent in favor ofthis amendment . ithank you for your consideration . >> clerk: that was for speakers, hasanyone else raised their hand ? >> there is one more hand raised. >> clerk: next speaker.

>> caller: can you hear me? >> clerk: we can hear you. >> caller: my name is john goldsmith, a 30 year san francisco resident, california native and also a certified master gardener and certified rosarian, roast specialist with the american rose society. i'm contacting you because i believe this is a private nonprofit partnership that has gone a ride and that i believe that golden gate park is the crown jewel of san francisco and biodiversity is key to our existence and longevity. with that i'd like to point out that the botanical garden society has muscled out all the

local long-term nonprofits tha have used the hall of flowers as a rental . it has become tooexpensive . meanwhile, the botanical garden society salaried persons continue to go up. the rose society can no longer meetthere. they have not been there for several years now. it started in 1945 . our history is being paved over bypowerful nonprofits . filled ginsberg is not a gardener or environmentalist and i would like to see rec and park manage all of golden gate park , removing these nonprofits such as the botanical garden society and sf parks alliance. they are all in on the take, taking public tax dollars in the name of the environment and i find it very shameful and i'm hoping that this fbi probe of

city corruption extends into rex and park cause our assets are being taken away and sold to the highest bidder. with that i'd also like to add that wehave a website . we are hoping to preserve our environmental assets in the castro . thank youfor your time . if anyone else would like to speakyou can dialáthree to the added to the queue . we can move on, i just wanted to doublecheck . doesanyone else have you there and raise ? next speaker. >> my name is claire myers thank you commissioners and good morning to everyone . i want to say that i'm not at my computer so i'm a little, i've been struggling to get online here but i've heard everything . until now actually i'm in the middle of a children's field

trip that i'm part of chaperoning but i'm also a member of the botanical garden board. i'm a lifetime resident of the district where my mother and grandmother, my grandmother roosevelt taught school for 40 years and i want to the i'm very much in favor of this and ou and emerging history institutions . i fully concur with the contributions that stephanie lindner has made to the committee this morning. i wanted to the user and experience as a lifetime resident of a few blocks from golden gate parkgrowing up and also raising my children there . it is a very important i think to show that these institutions can coexist independently and together to have the management and response responsible

governance to do so i think they're fairly for every institution butmore importantly to see the relationship of these three institutions . coexisting not only mimics what we're trying to explainto children in terms of biodiversity and cultural awareness , it is so much easier to visit the three institutions if they are working in coordination with each other. entry, i've had so many visitors over the course of my life visit one but not the other two. just because it's too complicated for them as tourists to conceptualize visiting them all at the same time. and just from the user and i want to represent how i'm immersed in raising children right now in san francisco and wantthem all to be able to

visit . with their families and i think that's the organization has, we had it all at our fingertips right now. it'sorganized . >> clerk: sorry, your time is up. does anyone else have their handraised paul ? see no further colors, public comment is closed . commissioners. hello colleagues. so i being you went to a lot of the documents and i want to thank stephanie and dana for presenting. i think it's a great shared vision. i like the idea. as a resident and voter that the three parts are being combined in the ticketing and operations will be merged but

have a concern . i know the parks alliance kept the conservatory open during thepandemic . and maybe data, you can explain a little bit more moving forward about the history of this ethicist loss. i'm just would you like some clarification onthat . >> i'm happy to do that. i'm going to make sure i get mine document open and can explain it adequately. sorry about that. there was a number of different factors. both on the revenueand expense side . that caused the deficit to happen one, revenues came in significantly below expectations . apart alliance did get a loan which helped significantly. it did help but revenues hit

over the total period first by closer and second by limitations on admission . that caused revenues to really come way below expectation. the conservatory also was in a growth period . it had started night other activities that were making at a fun place that people enjoyed knowing about and going to so we're already expected to increase. and but yet, they lost all the revenue or their pt spring season so that was one piece of it. the other thing that happened is just before the pandemic hit the office space that they have been using which they have a lot of very old infrastructure behind it that needs to be replaced. there was a mold problemand they had toreplace it . so had to be funded . so that was a couple hundred thousand dollars of expense as well. those factors all added together to cause that deficit.

since that time, there's been tremendous belt-tightening. awareness of expenses and while the covid deficit was at one point $1 million is now down to 800,000 and we expect operations to continue to reduce it it will continue. it will exist most likely at thetime of the transition . >> 1000. is it correct to say and i'm on operations committee. and trying to really grasp what operations is about and wrapped and park can you just, is it correct that under the existing agreement the city is required to reimburse the park alliance for the operation? >> the existing agreement provides if there was an

operating shortfall that the city, subject to budget authorization would reimburse the cost over the manyyears. there have been surpluses and there have been deficits . and when there was a deficit it's not paid back the next year and there was a surplusit got pushed forward or used for capital improvement . it's just there's always been an ad and flow. that's the way businesses happenand like all other museums during the pandemic , this was just an extraordinary event. and resulted in that deficit. technically the agreement does havelanguage in it, yes . >> i see all the advantages. i think it's still an excellent idea to reduce this expenditure and it would become kind of a national institutional

botanical garden but however, even though the lease says the city is required to reimburse the park alliance for this deficit,

. >> ... which wouldallow those additional funds to go into the gardenimprovement fund . and they would cover it out of their own accounts . at the date of any transition, whether it's fromtheir own fundraising or their existing funds . the moneywould not come from city funds . >> i think that's better when you're creating a new lease like this. i think these things should be

brought forward now so dana, i want to clarify that you're saying that the san francisco botanical gardens has agreed that the future admission revenue will not be used to cover their pandemic loss? >> yes, we spoke to them and they are willing to do that. stephanie, couldyou comment on that or would you be willing to comment on that ? >> yes, sure. this is really about fulfilling our mission and vision to connect people to the planet and each other and as you heard from many ofmy board members called in , they are very eager and excited to make this happen andthey think this is a worthwhile investment in the future . we are confident that we are going to be able to provide an improved garden experience across all three sites and make the gardens fully sustainable.

for example, the merger alone is probably goingto save around 400,000 in administrative costs . and whilethis is certainly not ideal , covid losses are a fact of life. indoor museums, that's what the conservatory was. it's bouncing back and we believe it will continue to bounce back and we are allabout build back better here at the garden . so we can overcome that. we will work with the parks alliance throughout the transfer of assetsand accounts and all that . they are committedto making this work and committed to what's best for the gardens as well . >> clerk: colleagues, if you have something to share maybe

president buell a motion can be made for an amendment. >> we have a couple other commissioners who want to be first. >> president: let's hear from other commissioners and see if we can't structure a motion. >> clerk: commissioner jupiter-jones i have your hand up first. >> i have a couple questions. it definitely makes sense to me. i'm all for the efficacy of it, but my first question was just around given with any merger of multiple organizations, has there been any projections or any thought about any loss of jobs or is anyone going to lose their job and not that that would make it not possible but just kind of if someone could speak on that and then the second question i have is my assumption because we're

hearing that all of this would be a great way to save on admin costs. and what i'm interested in is hearing on maybe some of the ways that this is going to help to increaseaccessibility and equity . for these gardens. i'm very much interested in how golden gate park can become just a little bit more accessible to the neighborhoods that are so close to it.so i'm assuming we hear all this stuff saving money and how it's going to allow for folks to maybe focus on that i would maybe like to hear that part of it of how this merger would allow the gardens to invest more time in community engagement on the southeastern side of the city and really like trying to get more folks who don't usually use the gardens or feel like the gardensare in place for them . this would help with that . >> i can address if you feel

comfortable. i'm happy because her very articulate. wetalk about these issues a lot . >> so commissioner, we do not anticipate any layoffs on the nonprofit side and i believe the same is on thecity side . we do not anticipate any layoffs as a result of this merger. likely both at the garden and the conservatory, we made significant cuts at the beginning of the pandemic. and we have not fully staffed backup in anticipation of hoping this would happen. and so we do not believe that in fact i think we will be hiring with this merger. in terms of being able to provide more programming to more people from all across the city and beyond, we really hope that this will raise our sites

when it comes to philanthropic support and that we will be able to attract grants from leading philanthropic institutions and donors to help really underwrite the cost of providing free and programming and certainly that caninclude transportation . we were really delighted this summer to partner with the department on a program through summer together and we hope to continue more opportunities like that. i should say that pre-áuntran4á we serve 13,000 schoolchildren from across the city and it came from all districts. so we're also very much accessible by public transit . i've been writing muni since i arrived in sanfrancisco and there were six lines that take you here to the garden . we actively try to promote that

in our material. >> i would just like the commissioner, we did speak with these finances and the mask does matter. we focused on the way that we think the gardens can operate more efficiently. that is not the driver here. the driver is the sort of grand vision and putting the botanical on the map for what it is which is really should be considered one of the best nature and environmental institutions in the country . and we did a lot of research, a lot of homework and we had experts come in and look at other gardens and how they operate and we know that most botanical gardens across the country include on its campus 80 garden and a grow house or a conservatory. and the botanical has just done such an amazing job over the last 10 years or so in managing

education, community outreach. it already is read to san francisco residents. and we're extremely confident that this will fulfill a vision of elevating the stature both for the visitor and as a significant cultural asset nationally by doing this. so the program vision that guides us is not necessarily the benefits but particularly after covid being able to eliminate some of the ... not staff or the educators or the horticulturalist's but some of the duplicative administrative functions and costswe incurred by operating these three

institutions separately . this is just also smart.>> president: ic commissioner griffin's hand up. commissioner. >> i want to thank my fellow commissioner jupiter-jones for raising the issue of potential loss of jobs. that was definitely one ofmy concerns . thank you for asking that commissioner and i'm satisfied with the answer . the other question i had was what wasraised by one of the colors . i was concerned about the so-called accusations. i won't call them accusations of nonprofits not being able to use the conservatory at all or not theconservatory , i'm sorry. the botanical gardens. can somebody talk about that?

>> i can talk about that because ioversee the county fair building. the botanical society does not oversee allocation of spaces at the county fair building . that has remained underus because just to ensure they have storage areas, they have the ability to hold meetings . we go through an annual allocation. for the past 18months they have held meetings , we're just barely getting the county fair building back open. there are two different road societies. i couldn't quite follow which one hewas representing . we have the annual mother's day rose show that happens at the county fair building. those predecessor organization , we're just in the middle of doing the allocations and i tested my team to say let's make sure is there something happening there that i don't know about but maintaining that and the hourly rates for a guarding group meeting is seven dollars an hour.

we haven't pushed them out at all. we've worked closely with them to ensure that and that's one of the reasons the county fair with reckoned part works for a variety of those different shows and things done by a variety ofdifferent organizations . so if the caller is still on the line and he can reach out i'm happy toengage him about that . >>president: that was a very satisfactory answer . so what you're saying is the hall of flowers remains with the department. it's not affected by this merger. >> we do have big flower shows like the orchid. if you want your son for saturday and i don't know, there's twoworkgroups so i get confused .

but if you want your meeting on saturday you willfind yourself bummed a lot because one of the other groups is doing a show . but outside of that we work really hard. they have their patterns every third tuesday. every fourth thursday they have their meetings and then we work around our holidays when ones get mixed up to try to make that happen. it's an incredibly laborious handholding process and it's something we care about. as i said the 20/20 to process is being finalized and i'll take a look at itwith my team . >> president: thank you for your answer. i want to say i'm definitely in favor of thismerger . >> any other commissioner comments? >> i want to clarify what was brought up. thank you everyone for chiming in . so that we can start out with a clean slate and if the both the

botanical gardens and the park alliance have this willingness to help us with this debt, i think we should maybe make an amendment. a motion to amend. having read over the document i think it's contained somewhere, correct me if i'm wrong. to removesomething in section b . >> i spent some time and raised this with the city attorney talking through what we would do to address the issue so that city funds were not going topay this back . and the two things we would do if anyone has that agreement open in front of them is exhibit e which has to do with the flow of city funds, we would strike subparagraph 1b

which is a paragraph that says the covid deficit would be paid back to the botanical society out of city funds so we would strike that and we have to tweak and work with the city attorney's but we would amend section 27 so far be that refers to the deficit and replace that they would pay the deficit and replace it with what is much more standard language in the transition agreement like this and say that the parties will arrange fortransfer of books and accounts as necessary . so that removes the city's obligationfor that test . >> president: thank you dana. commissioner louis, i want to compliment you for taking the initiative to seek to improve this agreement and to work out what i think is a better product and if i'm hearing you correctly, then you can provide

the exact language but we would be removing section b from exists exhibit e and expressing the sentiment of this commission on the modifications that you outlined. is that correct dana? okay. >> i thought you were testing me orsomething . i was checking my twitter feed. >> president: with that the chair would entertain a motion to approve this document as amended and outlined bydana and by commissioner louis . could i get, it's been moved, is there asecond . any questions, comments. the secretary cancall the role .

>> on the motion for amended agreement,commissioner buell . [roll call vote] >> president: it is unanimous. thank you dana for the hard work and thank all of those folks at the botanical garden and the park alliance and everybody that's got there finger in this five. i think it's a better document and i agree withthe general manager . the product that ends up here is going to put the golden gate park on the map in a way it hasn't been in the past and reflects the real value of all three of theseinstitutions so thank you very much . so what's next on our agenda.

executive session? >> first we will take public comment on all matters pertaining to the closed session and then i will ask everyone else who's not meant to be here for the closed session to jump off the call and sfgov tv will stop broadcasting while we are in closed session but before the public hangs up i want to make sure if there's anyone on the line would like to make a comment on item 8 which is our closed session you can dial áthree to be added to the queu to speak . doesanyone have their hands raised ? >> a lot of people are dropping from the call, we have three. >> for those of you watching or still on the call, if you'd like to join us afterwards for general public comment for some of the other items on our agenda, stay tuned on sfgov tv.

we will be back on and you can call back on the same number for now if you are on the call , ... we should close public comments first. if you could unmerged the web tax and anyone who's on the call who

i'm nicole and lindsey, i like the fresh air. when we sign up, it's always so gratifying. we want to be here. so i'm very excite ied to be here today. >> your volunteerism is appreciated most definitely. >> last year we were able to do 6,000 hours volunteering. without that we can't survive. volunteering is really

important because we can't do this. it's important to understand and a concept of learning how to take care of this park. we have almost a 160 acres in the district 10 area. >> it's fun to come out here. >> we have a park. it's better to take some of the stuff off the fences so people can look at the park. >> the street, every time, our friends. >> i think everybody should give back. we are very fortunate. we are successful with the company and it's time to give back. it's a great place for us. the weather is

nice. no rain. beautiful san francisco. >> it's a great way to be able to have fun and give back and walk away with a great feeling. for more opportunities we have volunteering every single day of the week. get in touch with the parks and recreation center so come [♪♪♪] >> 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. >> once i got the hang of it a little bit, you know, like the first time, i never left the court. i just fell in love with it and any opportunity i had to get out there, you know, they didn't have to ask twice. you can always find me on the court. [♪♪♪] >> we have been able to participate in 12 athletics wheelchairs. they provide what is an

expensive tool to facilitate basketball specifically. behind me are the amazing golden state road warriors, which are one of the most competitive adaptive basketball teams in the state led by its captain, chuck hill, who was a national paralympic and, and is now an assistant coach on the national big team. >> it is great to have this opportunity here in san francisco. we are the main hub of the bay area, which, you know, we should definitely have resources here. now that that is happening, you know, i i'm looking forward to that growing and spreading and helping spread the word that needs -- that these people are here for everyone. i think it is important for people with disabilities, as well as able-bodied, to be able to see and to try different sports, and to appreciate trying different things.

>> people can come and check out this chairs and use them. but then also friday evening, from 6:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m., it will be wheelchair basketball we will make sure it is available, and that way people can no that people will be coming to play at the same time. >> we offer a wide variety of adaptive and inclusion programming, but this is the first time we have had our own equipment. [♪♪♪]

. >> my name is dave, and i play defense. >> my name is mustafa, and i am a midfielder, but right now, i am trying to play as a goalkeeper, because they need a goalkeeper. >> soccer u.s.a. is a nonprofessional organization. we use sports, soccer in particular to engage communities that can benefit from quality programs in order to lift people up, helping to regain a sense of control in one's life. >> the san francisco recreation and park department and street soccer u.s.a. have been partners now for nearly a decade. street soccer shares our mission in using sport as a vehicle for youth development and for reaching people of all

ages. rec and park has a team. >> i'm been playing soccer all my life. soccer is my life. >> i played in the streets when i was a kid. and i loved soccer back home. i joined street soccer here. it was the best club to join. it helps me out. >> the tenderloin soccer club started in the summer of 2016. we put one of our mini soccer pitches in one of our facilities there. the kids who kpriez the club team came out to utilize that space, and it was beautiful because they used it as an opportunity to express themselves in a place where they were free to do so, and it was a safe space, in a neighborhood that really isn't the most hospitalable to youth -- hospitable to youth

playing in the streets. >> one day, i saw the coach and my friends because they went there to join the team before me. so i went up to the coach and asked, and they said oh, i've got a soccer team, and i joined, and they said yeah, it was he for everybody, and i joined, and it was the best experience ever. >> a lot of our programs, the kids are in the process of achieving citizenship. it's a pretty lengthy process. >> here, i am the only one with my dad. we were in the housing program, and we are trying to find housing. my sister, she's in my country, so i realize that i have a lot of opportunities here for getting good education to help her, you know? yeah. that's the -- one of the most

important things that challenge me. >> my dad was over here, making some money because there was not a lot of jobs back home. i came here, finish elementary in san francisco. after that, i used to go back to my country, go to yemen, my country, and then back here. last time i went back was a couple years ago. >> i came here six months, i know nobody. now i have the team has a family, the coaches. amazing. >> i'm hoping for lifelong friendships, and i'm super inspired by what they've been able to achieve and want to continue to grow alongside them. >> i love my family, i love my team. they're just like a family. it's really nice. >> street soccer just received a five year grant from the department of children, youth and family, and this is an

important inreflection point for street soccer u.s.a. because their work in our most important communities is now known beyond just san francisco recreation and park department, and together, we're going to continue to work with our city's most vulnerable kids and teach them to love the beautiful game. >> i want to tell everybody back home, i hope you all make it over here and join teams like this like street soccer u.s.a., and live your life. get a better life. >> right away, just be patient, and then, everything will be okay.

i behalf of our partner bridge housing corporation it is my pleasure to welcome you all to the grand opening of broadway cove and 735 davis. >> jack and i will be the co-emcees. we promise to keep things moving. thank you for the part you played in making this possible. as jack said, we also are sonnored to partner with john jn stewart. thank you for celebrating with us today. >> we are going to do tag teaming. bear with us. the mayor is a cup well minutes

late. on the former site of the tom thefreeway we are reminded of te long histories of these sites. starting with the many generations of the ohlone people who lived here and on the bay that made up the site before filled in. by the 1980s these were on the edge of the embarcadero recoast red-light district. evidence of tobacco and drugs. the practice of kidnapping men were all found during the excavations of these sites. in fact, many historic artifacts

unearthed have been preserved and will be on display in both building lobbies. that way was an empty glass case in an month or two it will be filled with interesting stuff. after filling in of the bay and commercial uses the site was developed part of the freeway until it was demolished in 1991. then, thanks to the advocacy of the community including the friends at chinatown community development center that ensured these newly surplus pieces of land would be dedicated to a critical public use here in san francisco affordable housing. [applause] >> to continue the story.

in 2016 the mayor's office of housing issued request for proposals on behalf of the city and the port. for two parcels known as 322-1 and the dwp parcel where we are today. as is the mayor's office of housing custom they knew what they wanted, gave us a detailed program of rough sizes and affordability. there are unique things here as a result of that. we also had the benefit of community design workshop organized by the city and i think we were the beneficiary of drawings and input from the community as many of you know this community is very engaged. with that information in hand, we set about the task of trying to assemble a team to design, build, operate and finance and build the building. bridge housen and john stewart

per successful on a project not far from here on bay street. north beach place. for 12 years before, we built senior housing, family housing, child care, neighborhood serving retail, all of the components that exist here. not a very big leap to say let's use what we learned there and recreate it here. state-of-the-art 2016 at the time. memorable for me. i have been doing this for about 25 years. i will never forget about a month of effort. that is how much time you have when the r.f.p. comes out to present the building to the city. i worked with jack and jon stewart was directly involved. i had known don for a long time.

he was friends with don turner. i would see him in the office and say hi, never shoulder to shoulder with him. i made it memorable. he brought the standard humor and passion to this effort which included neighborhood serving restaurant here that was desired by the neighborhood and by us not a small decision. it basically was investment that bridge and john stewart were going to make in the neighborhood. i am excited. these buildings represent to me the physical manifestation of everything john was about. legions of san franciscans of all ages will live here with dignity for a long time. for myself i am grateful to participate in a small way alongside john steward.

thank you. >> thank you, brad. it is mixed feelings we difficult the ribbon, of course. following our selection by the city and the neighborhood representatives as the developer of the site, the development team embarked upon intensive community outreach and design process involving multiple neighborhood groups that marie will talk to later. the port itself, city, historic preservation and many additional stakeholders. collaborative process that represents the best of san francisco i lot of give and take and serving the community and generating public benefit. leveraging public private partnership for public benefit. we put together the mother of

mixed-use projects, as brad mentioned multigenerational affordable housing for low income seniors and families, first subsidized units for missing middle moderate income housing. permanent housing for homeless. neighborhoods targeting a coffee shop, family style restaurant in broadway cove. mixed income child care operated by the ymca of san francisco and robust resident services company from lutheran social services and ymca serving all residents of the two buildings. broad wage of sizes 24 studios. 65 one bedrooms, and income from homeless 30% medium up to 120%

of medium and preference for households with certificates of parties operation preference who were displaced by redevelopment and households relocated from the city's dynamic hope sf redomprojects in potraro. this is for every type of san francisco needing a helping hand. we are very proud of that. [applause] this doesn't happen without political vision and fearlessness. it is a great pleasure for me. i mentioned earlier the land under broadway cove owned by the port of san francisco. the port graciously granted a long term lease for affordable

housing. i am proud to introduce if executive director of the port of san francisco. one of on only 12 women in the ports of united states. there are 350 of them. welcome elaine forbes. >> welcome, jack. ports aren't doing that great on gender equality. we hope they move along. the story has been told as well as the details of the units. i will skip that in my remarks. first we are excited to see everyone today. this is an incredibly important project for the port. we hadn't always gotten development right in this part of town, but this project really came together for us. generally speaking, port property is not appropriate for housing because it is a private use. we really had to work with state

lands commission to identify this was appropriate for housing. we found a 75 year ground lease to allow the project to happen. i want to thank my staff here today working so hard with the state lands commission, the community residents to get this right. as direct or i can't say how proud we are to bring affordable housing to a very high cost area in the waterfront. waterfront property for affordable housing for people in a welcoming in the neighborhood for diversity and -- diversity and equity. we are proud to be part of this. thank you for being here. we can't wait for the ribbon-cutting. thank you,. (applause). >> i will add thanks for the amazing partnership that allowed us to be here today.

the next speaker is a fighter for affordable housing and true champion for the neighbors of district 3. this project was conceived in 2015-2016, supervisor peskin was running for his third term after a little time off. he took office just in time. really to be the force to get this beautiful complex built. join me in warmly welcoming supervisor aaron peskin. (applause). >> thank you, brad. it is really a pleasure to be back with the team i started with 20 years ago, bridge and jon stewart company at north beach place, which gave me the opportunity to work with john on a project that was impossible. so many people to thank. let me join jack in thanking the community. this is the same progressive

community that supported more density and more affordability at north beach place over on bay street. same community that came together, barbary coast neighbors to support this project. it was great to be here when we turned the first shovel full of dirt. it seems like yesterday. this project was a long time in the making. let me start by thanking god for the earthquake. then move to mayor agnes who made the tough command decision to tear that freeway that separated northeast corner of san francisco from the waterfront. let me fill in the history between 1991 when that freeway

came down and 2016 when that r.f.p. went out. it wasn't an easy history. it long pre-dates the desire for affordable housing at this location. the original bill from the senator required all of these former freeway parcels to be disposed of for cash to pair for the embarcadero roadway structure. we overcame that. in 1996, the chinese chamber of commerce wrote a series of memoranda which i have unearthed that are remarkable in the vision for reuniting chinatown for the embarcadero freeway that led to improvements along the embarcadero and the one and only affordable housing project. remember mayor brown at that

point. there were four parcels. 1-a ford ability housing, sevenral please, third class a hotel and the fourth the park down the street. were it not for pushing from the community. broadway would have been a police station and not affordable housing. this would have been a hotel and not affordable housing. i want to thank everybody who made that dream a reality. our newest city attorney david chu for carrying that and making sure we turn car pace to people space. congratulations one and all. [applause] >> thanks, supervisor. yeah, that actually made the development the easy part of the project, i think.

that is the not usually the case. you practically introduced the next leader. this project requires state and local leadership. we had a champion in sacramento for many years even if he recently returned to his hometown. it is my privilege and honor to introduce former board president, assemblyman, chair of the state housing and community development committee and san francisco's current and first asian-american city attorney david chu. thank you. [applause] >> thank you, jack. it is so good to be home. let me say that i have been following the weather the week. it was supposed to rain today. i think it is fitting that the sun is shining on broadway cove.

my predecessor the great aaron peskin started sharing some of the background. i think we could write a book what it took to bring the community together. let me fill in a couple moments because i realized this project did really occupy time of former supervisors, my time on the board of supervisors and legislature and where we are today. this area was really collaboration between chinatown community and the neighborhoods around it. as former board chair of shinena town community development center we are so much better for it. i want to go back to meetings i remember when i was on the board of supervisors when the barbary coast and north beach neighbors came together and said, how do

we envision this place? initially we were thinking it was going to be just low income affordable. there was a decision made to not just mix up the moderate and low income affordable. think about family housing which as father of five-year-old is relevant to what we need to be as city. i thank the neighborhood associations for one of the best examples how community collaborates with developers to get things done. fast forward to 2018. i remember conversations with bridge, with the jon stewart company. they wanted me to carry this bill. it involved amending the burton act. i was talking to john burton last night with his colorful language. i explained we want to make a little change to allow a surface

parking lot to become family housing and child care. that is what we had to do. we had to get state change to get it. it took us nine votes in the legislature to get it done. that is one time nechapter how we move this. this project really came about because it takes the village of the public sector led by the mayor and the leadership from the city working with nonprofit bridge housing and so many instrumental to this. working with the private sector from bank of america to the architects to builders to really make this happen. i just want to thank you on behalf of all of us from the elected family for that. let me end with one final thing. we are here. the sun is shining because jon stewart is looking upon us. [applause] i want to say to the

family, john was literally larger than life. i think brad was talking about being shoulder to shoulder. aaron and i would maybe reach his chest. he was not only renaissance man, he was a true visionary. his heart was in this community. he sacrificed so much. i remember the brain damage deals. this was probably one of those deals, right, jack? where we are today is full of the spirit of so many but certainly the spirit of the stewart family and the spirits of john. i will say we miss him, we love him, we know he is here today. with that the last thing i will say keep doing this over and over again. keep building projects that reflect the very best who we

are. have a great morning. thank you. [applause] >> thank you so much, mr. city attorney. it is going to take me awhile to get that into it. we know you as such a housing warrior. thank you. as jack said. we had to build complicated mixed income, mixed use site on some toxic land in the middle of a pandemic. nothing to it. our next speaker, i think, reflects the neighborhood passion that residents here in district three have. bruno cantor is a local architect and neighborhood advocate. president of the board of north beach neighbors on the northern advisory committee of the port. probably well-known to our friend elaine. with that i also in talking about this with the rest of our

team learned that mr. cantor was also highly regarded by our friend jon stewart. please welcome bruno cantor. [applause] >> good morning everybody. some of you may remember me saying a few words at the ground breaking a couple years ago where i brought my five-year-old daughter with me. i remember john pulled me aside to say, bruno, don't bring your child up to the podium. she will up stage you. well, i did, and she certainly did up stage me. i am fortunate she is in school today. definitely working with john was such a pleasure, and he is sorely missed by all. fortunately, i was able to share this process of bringing affordable housing to my

daughter and her native san francisco making it possible for families like ours to continue to live in the city. i am an architect by trade as brad had suggested. i am so impressed by the architectural merits of these buildings. the architect and his team did a wonderful job in design of this complex. it is open, it is outward looking. this courtyard is inviting to the neighborhood, and it is spectacular. the commercial spaces here activate the street front and it is truly a place where -- worthy of being called gateway to north beach. what is more impressive is how we got here. the partnership between the public and private sectors and community to bring much needed affordable housing, i believe, is unsurpassed in this case.

the process was started early with extensive outreach to the community even before the architect was selected. the massing studies done with direct community input facilitated by architect not invited to see through the design. that made the residents of the neighborhood feel hurt and included in the process. we saw our input incorporated at a very early stage. i would like to thank former supervisor julie christian son who brought in senior housing and supervisor aaron peskin foreseeing the project through to its successful completion. of course, the leadership of the mayor's office of housing and community development just incredible what they have done here and, of course, bridge housing and the jon stewart company.

i am a process guy. it was amazing process to be involved with. the jon stewart company and leadership was again unsurpassed. of course, the port and the northern advisory committee members who contributed early in the process and bringing the stakeholder participation. i will end with saying that this is truly a city that my children will be proud to continue to live in. thank you. [applause] >> thanks, bruno. well, it takes a lot of community spirit and collaboration. it takes a load of leadership from elected officials at every level. since it is san francisco, it takes a lot of money. to paraphrase willy sutton. why do we go to bank of america?

that is where the money is. i thank and introduce or next speaker, her institution, the source of two key pieces of project financing. sizable construction loan and $25 million in needed capital. thank you, bank of america. [applause] >> good morning, everyone. it is so wonderful to be here on this beautiful sunnydale to see so many faces we are all here with three years ago when we did shovel that first bit of dirt as supervisor peskin said as well. this is a glorious, glorious development building. we are honored to be part of it. inst last year bank of america

provided $5.9 billion in financing for affordable developments across united states. this led to 13,000 affordable units, 6,000 green units, 2400 for seniors and 1600 units for veterans and people with stable needs and formerly homeless individuals. bank of america is proud to call san francisco our founding city from rebuilding after the 1904 earthquakes, financing two great brings and developments like this. proud of our $2.2 billion commitment through the san francisco process as well which redeveloped over 3500 units at 29 different properties. we would like to continue to thank our partners bridge housing and the jon stewart company, mayor breed and her team at the mayor's office of

community housing, housing authority, hud, port of san francisco and everyone who worked to make this development possible including our team at bank of america. thank you everyone. >> thank you. i have been at a number of these events and followed bank of america representative. we couldn't be here without the long history. these are complicated projects. you know, our partners at the mayor's office of housing are experts of helping us structure. we rely on lenders to bend on a variety of issues, some came up today. thank you bank of america for on wavering support. we are a little off script. we have the pinch-hitter in a minute.

before i introduce her, a rare opportunity for people like me deeply involved in the development. i get to meet neighbors and elected officials. i am one step removed from the people we are doing the work for. i relish the chance when there is a resident who has courage to step up to tell their story what this means to them. there is a resident of broadway cove who will share her thoughts about her new home. [applause] >> hi. i am a mother.

we are thankful to be part of this community with multiple backgrounds. our journey seemed long in the beginning. the transition happened in less than a year. in pandemic times accounting for the approval possessing times it was quick to the new complex. i am thankful that cheryl, chris, alyssa, my adult sons and myself stuck to the paperwork. we have never felt as safe and comfortable as we do now. i am thankful for my worker that encouraged me to follow-through with positive mind set. that is hard to maintain. this is our home. we can move on to other essential building blocks of our lives. the building is essential. i load dishes in the dish washer

as i wash laundry down the hall so i can graduate as aeners in the future -- as a nurse. we hope to move out and this unit shall open up for another need de family this will help with fancy electronic disposesible. [indiscernable] thank you for everybody that came together to make this possible for all of us. thank you. (applause). >> thank you so much. i would love to see you blossom. i hope you take advantage of all of the opportunities on your doorstep. a little drama today.

it is my pleasure to introduce mayor london breed. before i do. i wanted to share a little story i heard from a little bird about the mayor's weekend. as a group of fourth graders were trick-or-treating. they knocked on the door as out was carmen miranda from full fruit rig gallia. she was having as much fun as she was. san francisco kids knew who the elected officials were. i have it on great authority that they had a good time that night, you made that evening very memorable. please join me in welcoming our always fun, housing warrior, mayor london breed. [applause] >> mayor breed: thank you, brad. it is great to be here today with all of you. just to celebrate this

incredible project she and her boys and what this means for their life this. is so important to us as a city and why i know many of us here do this work. i know it is why for over 50 years jon stewart did this work. i remember in 2019 when we broke ground on this property completely empty lot we had a number of festivities and john, who retired many years ago but continued to work. often times jack was like i thought i was the boss. no, you are not the boss. john said i am retired. he was instrumental in the jon stewart company not just starting it but making it to what it became for affordable housing for 50 years from in san francisco. i met him in treasure island

right out of college. what was amazing why he stood out to me is because at the time we had -- jon stewart had taken over the property management of military housing provided to formerly homeless veterans and families and people. john said, wait a minute. these are people who were formerly homeless. when they move in how will they get furniture, a coffee maker? he helped work on a program that was developed in treasure island that allowed many of those families to go shopping at the warehouse where staging furniture existing for realtors to make the great properties look good and people got to go and pick out everything they wanted. i remember when i went on one of those trips i was in my own

little notes that i wanted on my place. that is the kind of person he was. that is why this project was important. it is going to serve a wide spectrum in san francisco which we talked about before i had a chance to get here. when thinking about affordable housing in san francisco and the challenges that exist with various families, people come from all backgrounds, all incomes, all challenges. folks formerly homeless live here. people who have incomes that may seem like a lot of money but not for san francisco are going to live here. we even in the city and county of san francisco fought down affordable so seniors extremely low income and may not have been able to qualify will be able to live here. section 8 vouchers will be helpful to afford this place.

making sure that we have mixed income level of people that build on the strong diversity that exists in our city. this is a community. it is not just housing. it is a home for those families who are moving in and who are going to be enjoying not just the amenities and ground floor retail and child care and community space, but each other. if this pandemic has not taught us anything, it definitely should have taught us how important the value is of being around one another, spending time together, developing partnerships and relationships and building community. the kids here are going to be hanging out with some of the seniors and hearing about stories of their lives. spending time with one another, developing those relationships. this is really an incredible milestone for our city. really, even though it pretty

much started many, many years ago, i think david chu was on the board of supervisors. the fact we broke ground in 2019 and it is 2021 and people are moving in, that is incredible. i want to thank so many of our city work force, the mayor's office of housing. eric shaw, elaine forbes right in the front row. elaine with the port had to do some maneuvering to get the property. as you remember before the 1989 earthquake when the freeway was here. actually it shut down before that. i can't remember. a long, long time ago this used to be a freeway. now it is housing. that is amazing. we are so grateful that bridge and jon stewart got together to create this wonderful community and just a step further in

meeting our housing goals in san francisco to ensure that people are housing, that they are living in affordable safe spaces in our city with dignity. thank you all so much for being here today to celebrate. [applause] >> thank you very much, mayor breed. it is clear to me why you and john were such kindred spirits. i think he dressed up as carmen miranda once for halloween, too. he gave me the mentoring this is so hard and takes a lot of hard work. you have to enjoy yourself along the way. you have to stop, smell the roses, have a laugh, bond with the people you are working next to, shoulder to shoulder with as

you persevere through the challenges. then have some fun. enjoy yourself. i think you have got that down. well-done. anyway, in terms of anecdotes, i appreciate your comments. the things we are experiencing as property managers we get to really wonderful to be the wantings who hand the keys to people, get first dishwasher. first locking door or first roof over their head in decades. if you aren't on the streets because you are traumatized, by the time you are on the streets you are traumatized. helping people back into conventional units andsive vit society is rewarding. it takes work. i don't want to take stuff away from them they are guarding on

the corner for 20 years. we have found ways to hang on to stuff, make sure it doesn't bring unfortunate very min into the project. bake it in our oven. no bedbugs. we have learned a lot along the way. that is where the rubber hits the road when you hand the key or welcome basket or go through the furniture warehouse on treasure island and they become housed or rejoin society in a way to be part of it. thank you for that. we have examples of a 95-year-old certificate of preference holder who has moved into 735 davis. we said you have had the cop a long time. she said you finally built something i wanted to move into. fair enough. we have multigenerational households where the grandparents live at 735 davis. the kids and grandkids live in

the broadway cove. exactly what the mayor was talking about. inter generational coming together right here in the center of the walkway is what john had in mind when he said we have got to have this crossroads in the middle of this thing, invited neighborhood partners to the property so it is not standoffish fortress. it is a welcoming and includes i place. i never met a mic i didn't like. on-line. i wrote a lot of his good stuff. final step or close to final step. thank you for being here. we will ask our project managers from bridge and jon stewart company. the director of housing ann

marie devore, some grand title at bridge housing. congratulations. if you could come up and recognize the many unsung heroes. thank you. [applause] >> hello, two years ago we stood here and it was a sunnydale as everybody was mentioning. it was empty parking lot and these two buildings went up within credible speed. we wanted to take time and thank the firms involved and staff in doing so. at bridge housing many people touched this project. one of the first i will thank the communications department for providing this event today, planning it and with the weather and everything. our services department who has

helped bring together the services including child care. susan and her team. i also wanted to thank the former c.e.o. cynthia parker who had the vision and support for this project. last but not least the project manager who is here today. raise your hand. [applause] >> brought this in on budget and on time. with the jon stewart company we thank the folks at jon stewart company. i wanted to mention it was a privilege to work with the jon stewart company like brad and jack said. even on the staff level. it was a perfect joint venture. we enjoyed it. it was difficult but we had some fun along the way. >> thanks, marie. it is great working with this

project. i want to thank them for the hard work. we had fun along the way. i want to thank the property management staff in leasing up the projects. it is a complicated process and during the pandemic they are amazing and have done a good job. we also want to thank the city partners. they truly have been colleagues and partners on this project and especially faith kirkpatrick long time project manager. >> thanks, don. >> the port of san francisco was also instrumental. at staff level we worked with rebecca and i am sorry. michael martin. without them we wouldn't have come to this place. they were instrumental to donate the land with the ground lease

to this project. staff was really incredible to work with. we wanted to mention our architect for the site. they were more than an architect. as you heard earlier from brad and from jack they were involved early on in the project in the community outreach effort. they worked with community with the neighbors, with bruno from north beach neighbors and the barberry coast association to provide input early on and all of their visions and their support was implemented in this project. bill letty, close friend of jon stewart that led the community outreach and this project. it was really a great

partnership with our architect and the two project managers that i wanted to mention. aaron. mario who worked on the project. during construction. it was an incredible piece. thank you, guys. [applause] >> i want to acknowledge the design work on the open spaces and design of the breezeway that john was passionate about and fought hard to maintain. i will step over here. i want to thank cahill and matt irwin and the whole a team. cahill was amazing. they were always willing to work with us and collaborate and brought both projects in under

budget and on time. [applause] >> thank you, cahill for all of your work. in addition to a great contractor rehad a great construction manager instrumental to get the project started. larry couldn't be here today. sheparded through this on cost and schedule basis. we are grateful for their time. >> we often say these projects are so complicated only attorneys could love them. it is really nice when you have attorneys smart that you like to work with. thank you heather and amy and charles olson who worked out the pieces for this. >> we also want to thank the staff that worked to provide the

necessary funding. the construction debt and the equity and bearings provided permanent financing. thank you, staff, for your help on getting this project closed. seeing it through construction and completion. [applause] >> we will turn this over to jack to finish this. >> appreciate it. >> thanks very much. it has been a sunny morning clouding up. it is running long. we are going to hit the gas pedal here. after devoting decades of life to developing and managing affordable housing throughout california and the country and years of his life to broadway cove and 735 davis, as many people mentioned we are saddened that john passed last year

before he could see it completed. as mentioned earlier, john started making presentations at the port on seawall lot 322-1 years before the project started and working through with the neighborhood groups to think about what could be done. he attended numerous community association meetings. he contributed to affordable housing in the city and state and at broadway cove and 735. he was overjoyed to see the project starting construction last year. honestly, i think i do feel his presence with us here today, especially in the hearts of everyone who has spoken about him. they say people live on in what they leave behind in the hearts of the people they interacted with. if that is true, john is living on in a way few of us have any hope of doing given how he

touched so many people so sincere really and honestly in affordable housing in his hometown and his neighborhood. is it an honor to carry on his legacy. we are proud of this beautiful project which he contributed so much to bring to fruition. that is why we have dedicated a big rock with a plaque for john. he was the big guy. that is the big rock. to help me unveil this plaque honoring john i would love to ask gus see stewart to join me at the rock. >> welcome to the the rock. >> brad, you want a hand on this? we are going to ceremonially.

okay. i think simply reading the plaque will do it and john the most justice. if you would just bear with me. >> memory of john k stewart 1934 to 2020. husband, father, friend, founder of the jon stewart company. his lifelong commitment was building well designed high-quality affordable housing throughout california. he was a giant of a man in every way. he used his great intelligence, humor and business skills to bring people together to make housing like this a reality. thank you, john. [applause] >> can i ask you to say a couple words? >> we are hiding behind the

bush. here we go. >> i want to continue the thanks. this means the world to me. this is the first and only memorial of its kind for john. it is hard to have a person die in the middle of a pandemic. at last we can celebrate him and i can't thank all of the team that made this project possible for allowing this plaque to be here to celebrate this wonderful passage way and this absolutely beautiful project. thank you all, thank you, jack, particularly, and everyone who was part of this. [applause] >> thanks. while i know you would kill me for saying this, i would also like to thank you and john for

the very significant personal contribution that you made to the construction costs of our child care center at the end. it wasn't just talk, it wasn't just time. it was work, wisdom and wealth they devotessed. thank you so much for that. thank you. [applause] >> that is it for this morning. many thanks to my co-emcee brad. no. it is not. okay. thanks to co-emcee. partner bridge. all of you for attending. let's cut this ribbon. thank you everyone. five, four, three, two, one.

(applause). all right. on 5, 5 2, 1 you innovation on or was on over 200 years they went through extensive innovations to the existing green new metal gates were installed our the perimeter 9 project is funded inform there

are no 9 community opportunity and our capital improvement plan to the 2008 clean and safe neighborhood it allows the residents and park advocates like san franciscans to make the matching of the few minutes through the philanthropic dungeons and finished and finally able to pull on play on the number one green a celebration on october 7, 1901, a skoovlt for the st. anthony's formed a club and john then the superintendent the golden gate park laid out the bowling green are here sharing meditates a permanent green now and then was opened in 1902 during the course the 1906 san francisco earthquake that citywide much the city the greens were left

that with an ellen surface and not readers necessarily 1911 it had the blowing e bowling that was formed in 1912 the parks commission paid laying down down green number 2 the san francisco lawn club was the first opened in the united states and the oldest on the west their registered as san francisco lark one 101 and ti it is not all fierce competition food and good ole friend of mine drive it members les lecturely challenge the stories some may be true some not memories of past winners is reversed presbyterian on the wall of champions. >> make sure you see the one in to the corner that's me and.

>> no? not bingo or scrabble but the pare of today's competition two doreen and christen and beginninger against robert and others easing our opponents for the stair down is a pregame strategy even in lawn bowling. >> play ball. >> yes. >> almost. >> (clapping). >> the size of tennis ball the object of the game our control

to so when the players on both sides are bold at any rate the complete ends you do do scoring it is you'll get within point lead for this bonus first of all, a jack can be moved and a or picked up to some other point or move the jack with i have a goal behind the just a second a lot of elements to the game. >> we're about a yard long. >> aim a were not player i'll play any weighed see on the inside in the goal is a minimum the latter side will make that arc in i'm right-hand side i play my for hand and to my left if i wanted to acre my respect i extend so it is arced to the right have to be able to pray

both hands. >> (clapping.) who one. >> nice try and hi, i'm been play lawn bowling affair 10 years after he retired i needed something to do so i picked up this paper and in this paper i see in there play lawn bowling in san francisco golden gate park ever since then i've been trying to bowl i enjoy bowling a very good support and good experience most of you have of of all love the people's and have a lot of have a lot of few minutes in mr. mayor the san francisco play lawn bowling is in golden gate park we're sharing meadow for more information about the club

including free lessons log

>> this is the last noting of the month of november. if you would all stand for the pledge of allegiance. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> thank you. also present with us tonight. actually, call the roll, please. commissioner hamasaki. >> here. >> commissioner yee. >> here. >> commissioner burns. >> here. >> vice president you have a quorum. we have the staff from the san francisco police d