. >> 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

>> flyshaker pool was a public pool located on sloat boulevard near great highway.

it operated from 1925 to 1971 and was one of the largest pools in the world. after decades of use, less people visited. the pool deteriorated and was demolished in 2000. built by herbert flyshaker, pumps from the pacific ocean that were filtered and heated filled the pool. aside from the recreational activities, many schools held swim meets there. the delia flyshaker memorial building was on the west side of the pool. it had locker rooms with a sun room and mini hospital. in 1995, a storm damaged one of the pipes that flowed to the ocean. maintenance was not met, and

the pool had to close. in 1999, the pool was filled with sand and gravel. in 2000, the space became a spot for the san francisco zoo. these are some memories that many families remember swimming at flyshaker pool.