i am not a poet. i am not dying. weight loss can still be a choice. i am not a poet. i don't care much for. i don't spend me weekends read anything writing. i like to have cocktails but i do not have a drinking problem regardless of what state i wake up in. i don't need drugs to open up my imagination. i am not a poet. i can tolerate half an hour of spoken word poetry. what my cats are up to. i always carry my business cards. i am not a poet, i only write to masture bait my mind. i am trying to convince myself that poetry it save lives. it's the dust of art. and i am going to close with to poet. americano. i look at myself in the mirror. trying to figure out what makes me an american. i see chickens. practicing religions without a roof. i see my own blood. proud american blue genes labels. i see them sits outside with the eyes of an alley cat. i see myself trying to be more like james dean. i see carlos san tanna. more than sporadic latino explosions. as american as bruce spring teen and elvis presley. i see taco bell. i see purple, red, blue, green, orange. i see che

i am not hearing anything in this that i am convinced we need from them. if we're just looking for work to give to somebody, these are lean times. there is not enough money for anything in government that we want to be able to do. there are things we need to be doing. we need to spend more time and need more staff for those. i am not hearing why this is so necessary. $100,000 is a substantial amount of money. i feel like we are being told we need to pay this money to them and are looking for some reason to do it. by understand you are not saying that. that is how it feels from here and from the proposal that local power wrote. i just do not appreciate it. beyond that, i have had my own concerns with the quality of their product in the past. supervisor campos: i think it is really important for me to respond to that. i do not know that anyone can sit here and say that anyone is trying to make work. my role as the chair of this commission is to make sure that we move this project forward in a fiscally prudent way. i asked for a recommendation from staff as t

i am a resident of san francisco. i lived and worked here for over 20 years. i am a social worker. i work primarily with low income seniors. i want to say without giving away any confidential information that we have an 82-year-old man who swims regularly at aquatic park. and as you probably know swimming is one of those activities that is really safe. and i want aquatic park to remain safe. my grandmother passed away at 82 years old. she wouldn't have been able to swim in the park, but i wish she could have. if she were here today and we could ask her what we can do about this, she would have said why can't we share. i think we can share. i think we can keep this resource for the important people in san francisco's community. >> good afternoon. i am andrew mahone and he i have been a member of the dolphin club since last year. i commute four times per week. i have swum 90.5 miles in aquatic park and a colleague of mine swum around 140. there are sprint competitions, swimming competitions of any kind, kayaking and rowing going on in aquatic park. from that there are also countless

>> i am not sure. did not read the newspapers back then. >> there is a story about the spanish-american war and now a newspaper man got as involved in that. creating the drama and the excitement. think about what this man is saying and whether or not the press club should have this up there. and going back to you for just a second. why did you read that? >> it is the journalist's creed and i want to be journalists. the ideals are very good. >> this was written in 1906. walter williams also said suppresion of the news for any consideration other thant the welfare of society is repre indefensible. you hear about people writing books. they hold information for nine or 12 months. they believe the suppression of the news is indefensible. who else wants to react? >> i am from virginia. what i have learned is that journalism is the art of telling, telling the story of current events and the past, present, and the future. the true meaning of journalism is to give the facts. we are struggling in this modern tim

i am in active labor. i am surprised you're so calm. i say, i'm surprised you're so calm. 11:30 p.m. dana drives to the birth center. i tell her right now i am not sad to do this. this is a solo expedition. i dark brown blob of slim e falls out. the mucous plug has to fall out. it's the mucous plug. i am in awe of dana. 1:30 a.m. i am naked. i modified downward dog. i think of the view everyone is getting. no one cares. 4:00 a.m., i am nine centimeters. i am pruned and exhausted. you are doing great dana says, i am not interested in being great. it's still nine centimeters. it's not time yet. she says me to blow out with my mouth. i say i might barf. 5:45 a.m. still nine, i hate dana. dana breaks my water. after 15 hours it's time to push. when you are this desperate, it's almost over. push, your pushes are excellent. 7:17. i can feel the baby's hair. you see your baby's head. 7:40. i do what she says. we rehearse. dana is guiding my baby's head. this is called ring of fire. okay. push hard. i moan like a walrus. my vagina tears to my a

i am not here as the founder of burning man. i am representing the burning man project, a new nonprofit. our offices are down the street at 995 market at 6th, right in the hearth of the mid-market district. there is no better place to commence this effort in san francisco, our home town. [applause] we know a thing or two about building a diversity and culture from the ground up. the key thing was expressed by the great jane jacobs. she said cities have the capability of providing something for everybody only because and only when they are created by everybody. care this is the principle that will guide the burning man project. working with the city of san francisco, we can do many things. you have noticed all of the vacant shop fronts along market street, i am sure. we can begin to change this. pardon me? anyway, we can change this by making it easier for artists to occupy. working with our sister organization, we can install public artworks. if you look behind you, you will see two of them freshly installed. we can also do what

i am proposing that mr. ellison and the city as well as the school district create a marine science career path away as part of this project in order to be, as you have mentioned, cultural and environmental impacts. this program is only for three years. might plan is -- my plan is to address the issues for the san francisco high-school kids and for many, many years in the future. i am asking that all these parties involved take the leadership and build this facility and work with the school district, as well as the commission here to work together with everyone involved. there are many needs, as we all know, many sectors of our country, economically, educational, and our kids need the real world practical experience to go out there and see what positions exist and the cooperation and shared vision that is necessary between the public and private sector. thank you very much. president olague: george robin, jeffrey anderson, daniel osborn. >> hello. thank you to the commission. i am here opposing b the recreat

i am going to speak about collaboration. i am going to talk about the role of expectations. i will speak to the value of hope. because when you're in an ugly situation. hope means so much. it's a global concept. in the research i do with resilience of children. close your eyes. bear with me. go ahead and hope them. i am not going to take you through a visiblization. i charge for that. some of you did not close your eyes. you looked at the other people closing their eyes. i asked students why? because i don't trust people around me. there are islands when children run to the nearest adult. if i am not dressed like this. i am dressed like i do at home. that guy must be a gangster. when i speak about at riskness, i asked this gentlemen, a school administrate or. what makes a student at risk? we talked about gangs. we treat the symptoms. it's the symptoms we're treating. that's just an expression of other forms of repression. teen pregnancy and drug abuse. i said, what's going on? well they speak a different language in the home. it's a disconnect. they don't have enough money.

for one thing i am sure. the director has done a phenomenal, great job of bringing together the various acrimonious factors -- factions of our taxi industry.

i am a driver with yellow cab. i am also the person who has since 2009 pushed for the single operator medallion. i want you to keep in mind today that company representatives who are trying to oppose this single operator medallion, this is a question of whether you have company controlled medallions against driver control and driver owned medallions. that is what is being debated here. the cab companies have to have full-time medallions because they are vehicle leasing firms and that is not necessarily the same thing as addressing the issue of transportation service. taxi drivers are considered to be self-employed business owners and because they are, they have to be given the opportunity to have some degree of ownership in the business. that is what the single operator taxicab is. i strongly recommend you please to go forward with a single operator taxi medallion. my recommendation is to go forward with a three-year lease plan and at the end, give drivers the option to own to purchase the medallion. that is one wa

i am having a pool table permit also. you walk in, and high and cocktail lounge, two pool tables, a shuffleboard table. you cannot move the pool tables out. you cannot move the 900 pound shuffle puck out. we are going with a high and bar with entertainment. -- end bar with entertainment. >>> commissioner meko: good luck. >> i hope you come by. >> can you walk me through the four plan -- for plan? if you bring in a band, i am trying to figure this out. >> we have elevated -- a broad iron fence which is open in three locations with couches and tables up there. you go up 20 feet from there and there is a communal table which is about 9 feet -- 8 feet wide and 4 feet. it will work well for a trio or something like that. on the other side, on the left side, there is going to be a couch. >> is this around here, where you are -- you can put it on the microphone -- microfilm. it should pull in a second. -- up in a second. there you go. >> there you go. over a little more. >> perfect. >> essentially, this is the entrance and the b

i am james moran. i was formerly employed with the koko cocktails' until a lease was given up for a gigantic corporation or hospital that is 75 feet from my house. the move to the upper area for this business would be an incredible opportunity for the neighborhood to gain a community that does not seem to have a spot yet up there that we can all congregate in. the owners here are all residents of this wonderful city for many years. i have had the incredible opportunity to work with them and see the way they run business from the inside and outside. i was going there before i got the opportunity to work there. they run an incredibly good business. i have been in this industry since i was eight or nine years old. i can tell you right now i have never seen anyone run a business as well as they do. it is a credit -- we cannot tell you as a community how much they have turned around that law. i have been to the block before they took over and after, and it has been a 180. to have of this and that that actua

right now, i am the current treasurer of the council.lligible] right now, i am here to represent the seniors. being an active member, every day, i serve lunch and i am an active member of the senior center. supervisor kim: any questions? we will move on to the next applicant. >> i am currently the director for san francisco mental health advocates. i have worked there for 10 years now. half of our clients call in voluntary hold on psychiatric units. the difference of our mandate to exist, with knowledge persons with mental disabilities. when is interesting about this is its address is: abilities. part of my job is to go in there. and determine what is appropriately based on their rights. following the book, i wasn't directing with the homeless. all of these neighborhoods, it is going to switch to historic downtown. of like to be part of the process and to really look after the clients. supervisor kim: what type of voice the hope to bring to ensure that benefits to help stabilize the community. what type of perspective do you want to brin

i am excited about that. relate to the long-term development plans, i wanted to point out that those developments will meet the port regulations and state land restrictions. so there is some level of asurance there on that part. i think that is it. thank you though. >> commissioner moore. >> i just wanted to make a comment that this commission does not decide what the exact outcomes will be. the only thing that we can do though is support the planning department and deliver an e.i.r. which is responsive to the questions and the concerns of this community. i think that we have the power to do that. and i do believe that the spoken comments which were pointed out to us in and other e.i.r. as prepared by many thoughtful and knowledgeable people should help give guidance to some of the issues and concerns. i would strongly encourage it particularly because it is such a fast track e.i.r. that it is done as much as possible. >> the nepa scoping hearing is august 17th at 4:30, not 6:30. >> sorry. thank you. >> they

i am very excited. it would be good if there is some impact if we knew to what degree it is there. >> i think thoughts are being given to that. but enough to have solid plans, but i think it is time for the primary focus be completing the eir. facilitating on behalf of the city and between the event authority and the organizing committee, he has been starting to do presentations to different commissions. i will have him come and provide 14 here. >> any other new business? seeing none. >> motion to adjourn. >> seconds. >> commissioners, the meeting is adjourned at 7:53 p.m. >> the san francisco cons tri of flowers in golden gate park is now showing a new exhibit that changes the way we see the plants around us. amy stewart's best-selling book, "wicked plants" is the inspiration behind the new exhibit that takes us to the dark side of the plant world. >> i am amy stewart. i am the arthur of "wicked plants," the weeds that killed lincoln's mother and other botanical atrocities. with the screens fly trap, t

been known, i am -- you know, i am distressed because everyone comes to san francisco gets some kind of compassion, but the residents seem to be overlooked. i had to drive around and have been prevented from driving by everything from parades, movies being shot, a sports car rally going past my house one saturday morning. a sports car rally from city hall. please, think a little bit about the residents and not so much about the taurus. thank you. president olague: thank you. good afternoon. i am peter straus. in years a member of the san francisco transit riders union. we have been working with the city's team for the past 6 months and very much appreciate the opportunity. appreciate the amount of work that has been conducted in a very compressed period. i hope there are lessons here, but that as a topic for another day. below forward to improving the city fell preparations for these events. in the meantime, i think you heard from other people today who feel there is some concern and frustration that they have not received feedback nor are the concerns we have expressed today and exp

i am a resident and social worker, but i am speaking more as a resident. in my opinion, we do not need more bars on polk street, but i would also look -- like to look at things from a point of view of seniors to live in the area. i am a member of the older women's league. one of our things is aging in the city. we also support healthy aging, which means getting out there in walking, interacting in the community. i see more bars just means it is harder to walk and more crowds. there are people focusing on having a good time and not necessarily looking out for who was passing by. you could be bumped into or anything like that. the whole idea of safety is very intimidateing. many seniors to walk in the evening. my husband and i worked iwalk ie evening and it is intimidating with all of the chaos and crime in the evening. in my opinion we do not need another bar or coffee shop. i would like to see businesses of the area where people could run errands and live independently in the city and have that within their neighborhood, rather than another bar. that is pr

for one thing i am sure. the director has done a phenomenal, great job of bringing together the various acrimonious factors -- factions of our taxi industry. she works hard to make things fair and that is important. i thank you for your service to the city we all love. i am here to support the fare increase. i am conflicted about the various issues in item 12. i am not being paid for this endorsement. i thank you for your service. bravo. >> our next speakers. >> i am with a san francisco cab drivers association. i want to support the meter increase that has been proposed and i expect that you will accept that. i am against the 10 medallions that are being sold directly by the mta. i do not think the mta should be in the business of selling them outright. it is one thing to sell to other drivers. there is a rationale for that and giving an exit strategy but there is a conflict of interest when the mta start selling the medallions and getting revenue and the question becomes, do we need the cabs or do you need

i am an accountant. the only way you can really guarantee 900 billion of spending cuts is you better make sure you cut about 90 billion. i have seen estimate of 7 billion the first year maybe 22 billion. what is the control of the fact that we may get 9 billion in the first. there is no guarantee of 1.2 billion in the second. we have to control spending in washington. this is business as usual. this is a spending culture in washington. i came here to see if i could do something about changing this culture. >> is this in any way appealing? is oo anything good in it>> cbo estimated 3.4 million would lose numbers. 50 percent of employers will drop coverage. there is 180 million people that get their coverage through prou employers now. healthcare law alone could eat up any savings this bill creates. >> from what i understand i can't say how you are a yes on this. >> this is totally inned a inad. it may be a step in the right direction but it's not fixing the problem. it's not about the august 2nd deadline i

i am here in support tonight. i am in support of the brickyard. i am a longtime union street residence. my building is approximately two doors away from the brickyard, and there has been previous businesses that have been worth of brickyard is located now. that business was called the bayside. i do recall the windows being open in front of this establishment, and i do not recall there being any complaints. i do not recall hearing any noise coming from dayside itself. i feel the brickyard owners are much more responsible in controlling any noise that would be coming from their establishments. i do not see 12 tables being on the patio in front of the restaurant of a nuisance or an issue. >> next speaker. >> my name is eric low, and i am a longtime resident, so definitely i am seeing the downturn of the street, and i really appreciate business owners such as susteren -- darren to bring entertainment back in a nice dining forum. i think issues of noise complaint should be put aside because of the fact that if you have a patio it is more of a dining ex

>> i am sorry [inaudible] >> great. if you would pay attention over here, you will get your time pointer from this gentleman over here. when you see 30 seconds, there will be a bill. you can go ahead. you are first up. >> hi. i represent immigration and i apologize for the baby screaming just now. we had to bring her. we spoke earlier on bye national couples. i am a foreigner, but lucky enough to have a card. we cannot operate like a billings. the only way that i can stay here is by getting my visa, whether a student or work visa. every time you get a visa, you have to leave the country to renew your visa and prove you are going to go back home. every time you leave the country, it is really scary because you have no idea who is interviewing you in the glass window and whether your application will be denied or not. one thing by federal law, it doesn't recognize marriages performed anywhere. i am one of the 18,000 legally married in california, but the gerg doesn't recognize it. so my husband can't spomsor me for a card

i said, "i am not attacking anyone." i am telling a story. i am not the beat reporter on education. my job was as a news analyst. what is the problem? i am making a substantive argument. she did not like it. we do not what you doing that. at one point, she did not want me identify myself as an npr reporter or analysts or anybody who did political reporting for npr. especially when i was on fox opinion shows. i said, i will do whatever you want. i am a big fan of npr. i value them. they have a massive audience. the audience was mostly hugely supportive of me. i would ask me to come out and visit and attract audiences and to make people contribute. i wanted to be there. she made it very difficult. she pushed me off the staff and made the relationship based on a contract. immediately, she began cutting my salary and a diminishing my role. >> we have not seen her in this process. she is not. on any program. she lost her job after she had fired you. >> that is right. i do not know the details. npr hired an outside law firm to look into this and see what had taken place. she said it was i

i am quite open about how high these things are. commissioner moore: i have a sense that everybody supports this standard to be realized and 60. is just a question of -- it is just a question of detail. of course, we wanted to be there, but i do not wanted to be a fallback. i wanted to be exciting and looking forward. is there anything you want to add to this? >> only that anything projecting over the sidewalk is subject to the encroachment permit. there will still be the process in place. commissioner miguel: it is the all important sign age. i was going to suggest putting the scion prior to the opening, actually. so you can see it sooner by however wide that opening is. but at the far side, i think it would give you the few seconds of extra time to come in. i know you have a question of size of lettering and that type of fame. it would be very handy and not uncommon to say that an era of this way is for this location and an air of this way to what is coming up next -- arrow this way for what is coming up next. if they want busines

i am here to support that. i am here to celebrate that. i am here to suggest that every store can do the same thing. it is not as about this announcements, also about helping us take two strokes back so it does not cost the patrons any more money and we have a safe place to take them. there also contributing to getting rid of graffiti. and they employ people. when you open up an oasis store, this is not just added produce, someone will have to handle that. they include another five or 10 employees. that is a great way to employ more people. with all of those good things, i would like to welcome the supervisor. she has taught me for six months about the need to have healthy choices in the menu. she has the heart to really express our support because you cannot really do anything. you cannot appreciate anything without your help. my wife tells me every day that i had better eat healthier. she cares about our community here. i joined her in this open and she is one of the healthiest people on the board of supervisors. she knows how it is help

i am routing for passion cafe. i am sorry they are having trouble. i am glad that pearl is opening at the corner. my excitement about market street stretches back to the 1960's when i was a high-school student in a saratoga and i sent away for the market street plan. that is the plan we're all living with today, the one we build the park system with. the large sidewalks and the beautiful sycamore trees or whatever they are and the wonderful middle-class people walking up and down market street and the architect's drawing. that is not my vision of market street. but i think that after world war ii, the country decided that we were going to go in the direction of heading toward the suburbs. i think that has hurt cities. i think it has hurt midmarket and the tenderloin, in general. i hope that if i can do anything to turn that around, i would be interested in doing that. supervisor kim: thank you. can you talk about some ideas or thoughts you have on how some of these that are coming into the area can work with the neighborhoods, and not just bringing j

i am a big fan of the concept of community policing.hat is the idea that our local police officers need to establish a better relationship with members of the community, residents, and merchants. through that community partnership, we have seen true successes in being able to combat crime. you have eyes and ears on the street cooperating with the men and women in blue. that helps to reduce crime. i have been pushing our police department to implement that. >> your district is a well-known nightlife destination. how do you balance the needs of the residents with the needs of the restaurants and bars? >> i moved into my neighborhood in part because we have such a wonderful vibrant nightlife. san francisco is famous for our restaurant scene, are seen, club scene. -- are sbar scene. we have had too much violence around these nighttime venues. i have passed several pieces of legislation to address the security and safety needs of neighborhoods. we all support a healthy, vibrant nightlife. but we also support a safe nightlife that complements

i am a good liberal democrat. in the san francisco spectrum, and probably considered more middle of the road. -- i am probably considered more middle-of-the-road. i am very independently comes to the issues. i do not vote the party line. a judge each issue on its merits. that is how i am. >> what do you feel are some of the biggest issues facing san francisco now? >> the budget is the most imminent issue. we do have a structural budget deficit in the city. we need to deal with the short- term balancing of the budget in a way that does not decimate basic city services that people rely on but also to address our long term structural budget deficit. that means implementing budget reforms that will smooth out the budget process so that it is not a boom-bust process. that means reforming our pension and retiree system so that they are stable and do not drain the general fund. that is a big aspect of it. another huge issue is the deferred maintenance on our infrastructure. we have a lot of infrastructure that has been d

i am not a swimmer but it is