director brinkman? director brinkman: we had an item dealing with signals. i think my intent was misunderstood, and what i would like us to take another look at is sort of best practices, what we can do other than traffic signals. i know we have an incredibly talented staff at mta, and i know they are well-traveled. i have actually been to some of their brown bag presentations, so i think they probably have a lot of ideas that they have picked up around the world, and we talk about the need to move to a system especially with our aboveground buses and streetcars, so i think figuring out intersection control is going to be such a big part of that, so i kind of would like another look at that. and then my second thing is actually around bicycles and specifically cyclists, which i know we have a lot of discussion about on this board, and i would like the mta to work with sfgtv and with city hall to come up with a program where we -- to work with sfpd and with city hall to come up with the program. especially those were riding around at night in with your buns -

i am sorry i did, but i think directors ramos, brinkman, and i engaged in questions about that, so i wanted to make sure we were all on the same page. >> subsequent to the last meeting, we sent a little more substantive information. there are more actions that will be coming to the board in order to move the process forward, in -- including next year's budget. >> i think you are speaking to the issue of the subsidization between parking -- >> the way i understand it is we are doing two things -- refinancing existing debt in great borrowing climate. great, let's do that. no question. the second piece is $100 million, which is, as you say, essentially going to pay for two different pieces. i think the question, which goes exactly to our restock and remains to be answered, or perhaps i just missed something, is how are we going to fund those streams? there was a stated preference that it is one thing for us to be subsidizing transit and another thing for us to be subsidizing parking garages at the same level. a question to me is not so much whether we should go ahead with the debt issua

>> they met in closed session to settle the matter with the director brinkman absent. the board also authorized the payment of two under and $63,000 for the beauty salon. there was no discussion of anticipated litigation. >> move not to disclose. >> second. >> thank you and happy holidays, everybody. have a good afternoon. >> thank you. let's hear it for the band. [applause] >> thank you. let's hear it for the band. [applause] welcome, everybody. once again, i have the honor of being your master of ceremonies for the annual lighting of the snowflakes on market street. great event. i love being part of it. good to have you with us. i should point out that we just saw a spectacular light show under the dome over west field center. you probably have not seen it because we are the first to see it. you should get over there and see it during your holiday shopping. tonight, we have the dancing snowflakes from the san francisco ballet school. they are currently preparing for the annual performances of the "nutcracker" at the san francisco opera house. here's something you may

president nolan: but as often happens, and during comments, as director brinkman did, that is -- >> that is ok, because you are hearing from the board, know what items the individual members went on, and you are discussing it with the director, especially if it requires some kind of staff action or staff report. you are making sure. you are doing that in your function as a chair as administrative matter to make sure that everything can come before the board in due course. and there is no problem with individual board members stating what they would like to have on the agenda, telling the executive director, that they would like to have something on the agenda, asking the chair to place it on the agenda. that is perfectly fine. that is what you do. there are some exceptions to the rule about not discussing items on the agenda. they are extremely rare, but there are some in emergencies. you sometimes will be able to discuss matters that are not on the agenda. of course, our office would be giving you advice about this. i have been in this office for 22 years, and i think the only time i ha

with that, my only comment is, but i do not want to speak on behalf of director ramos and director brinkman, who is not here, for the rehabilitation of the parking garages to the extent possible from the accounting standpoint and possibly from a policy standpoint that we want to make sure that that debt is going to be serviced by revenue from the parking garages. tuesday it, i do not one general muni funds for transit to be used to finance debt that is for the parking garages, especially when the purpose of borrowing to rehabilitate the parking garage is is to bolster the revenue stream from the parking garages. maybe i should make that again to see if that is something we can receive assurances on today. >> absolutely, director. each will be responsible for their portion of the debt. that is the plan. director heinicke: thank you very much. chairman nolan: other members of the board? director lee? director lee: thank you. chairman nolan: is that a motion? is there a discussion? all in favor approved secretary boomer: -- all in favor? secretary boomer: mr. chair, with those items behind you

. >> they met in closed session to settle the matter with the director brinkman absent. the board also authorized the payment of two under and $63,000 for the beauty salon. there was no discussion of anticipated litigation. >> move not to disclose. >> second. >> thank you and happy holidays, everybody. have a good afternoon. supervisor mar: good morning, everyone. welcome to the regular meeting of the transportation authority finance committee. my name is eric mar. i'm joined by supervisors elsbernd, kim, cohen, and farrell. i would also like to thank them -- take a moment to thank sfgtv for broadcasting as this moment. please call the next item. >> approve the minutes of the november 8, 2011 meeting. supervisor mar: without objection, approval of the minutes? do we open this up for public comment? is there anyone from the public at like to speak on this item? seeing none, public comment is closed. without objection, let's move this forward. madam clerk, please call item 3. >> recommend acceptance of the audit report for the fiscal year ended june 30, 2011. >> good morni

director brinkman: i attended an event, and congratulations to all of you. it is an amazing program. i thought i knew a lot going in, and i learned a lot and the two days, and it was fascinating to see the others there, as he said, waiting to learn from us and to see what goes on in san francisco, so i want to say thank you. you have a fabulous team. i look forward to supporting the rollout of sf park, because i think if it is a game changer. parking is an incredibly emotional topic, but the way you present it took the emotion out of it and really made it a dated driven process an idea. that was fascinating, and it will be really interesting to see where it goes. president nolan: director vice chair lee? vice chair lee: you pull up, and you say, "wait a minute. it takes a credit card." that is amazing. director: i throw around the term parking a lot. we need to look at how we are doing parking, and part of the reasons i can do that is because i know we have got all of you to back us up, and whatever is going to, will come out better than we already have. we

. >> they met in closed session to settle the matter with the director brinkman absent. the board also authorized the payment of two under and $63,000 for the beauty salon. there was no discussion of anticipated litigation. >> move not to disclose. >> second. >> thank you and happy holidays, everybody. have a good afternoon. >> when there is this a children's theater, it is a good theater. it is a good theater, you would like it, even if it is for children. that is what i think. i feel like it is both a story for kids and for much older people. it is both about being a young child and letting a toy or a friend, and it is also about what it means to get old. ♪ >> in 1986, my son was two, and i decided i would like to go over the story of the velveteen rabbit, mind you i had never read it myself as a child. i only heard it as a mother. my first-time hearing it was a bedtime story recording. it was through that that i found the theme and determined how it was going to produce this story. it was through listening to it. when a first mated, i really did watch my son, because

. >> i think director brinkman's question is to the reason, and it is not just a short sided coverage so we can go ahead and commit negligent acts and be covered by it. that is not the reason. the reason is that we ask our cfo and director and importance that people to make difficult decisions on a daily basis, and to then say to them that we are not going to spend the extra money to cover in case there is a mistake -- i have a concern that that sends the wrong message and has them acting out of whack with every other agency in the city, let alone the country, that is issuing debt that does this, and it exposes our employees to something that no one else is exposed to, which i think has a two-part detriment. it sends the wrong message to current employees, and i do think it would have a negative impact. let's just say that tomorrow, sonali has to move out of the country for personal reasons and we have to hire a new cfo. we're on the verge of issuing debt, and we're going to tell the we're the only entity in the ã9qj? arçqd with an insurance policy? i think that would hurt us in the e

. >> they met in closed session to settle the matter with the director brinkman absent. the board also authorized the payment of two under and $63,000 for the beauty salon. there was no discussion of anticipated litigation. >> move not to disclose. >> second. >> thank you and happy holidays, everybody. have a good afternoon.