budget for radio systems? not in technology. as a result the controller presented a city budget for technology of just under $200 million. through our interviews with technology leadership we were told that amount is under estimated by ten to 20% or more due to the differences of what to include. actual expenditures presented more difficult picture. some departments use non technology people to perform technology assignments and hiding the expenses outside of technology. actual cost of city wide projects are blurred as the examples shows. no one knows for sure how much is being spent, how much is being saved. without comprehensive information there is no way to evaluate the success of ict city wide consolidations. we found no analysis where cost savings would come from from department to department or any of the consolidations. isn't there a reason to evaluate them on an ongoing basis? for that focused data is needed. it's not done now. either is a data base for personnel city wide and match needs with talent and ability. we don't do that because we don't look at technolo

if you look at the budget city wide and north of $7 billion a year we spend on city services which is frankly a huge amount of money, so when you look at the percentage whether it's $150 million or $250 million depending which report you read from it -- >> by the way if i can make one note and we can't figure out that number is astonishing to me and i ask every year in the budget process and this report points to $250 million i think is more accurate and ongoing question to the mayor's office and the controller's office and how we get a handle of that. my apologies for interrupting. >> what do we want to do? do we want to save money? is that our goal in san francisco? i suggest to you and i am not embarrassed by the fact we're are the innovation city and it's a lot of money and i think we should be innovative with that money and don't you feel bad because you're government and always a lagger? i don't feel i am. i come from the private sector and i can be as innovative as others and granted i don't have certain challenges and i don't have shareholders breathing down my neck but i have

to have corporations and all then political democracy is a sham in the you look at the military budget city of new jersey for you to spend as much as the world somebody at a time when our infrastructure is literally a deep level graded where the american society of civil engineers we get a decent these days grip is the future of our economy very infrastructure is going to work as of the face of those two issues which are you just don't fear the one percent. in the military industrial complex suddenly we are solutions to all the issues that mean there is money to invest in the new resisting the economy still selling his money to reform at whom so they're not wasting energy you can turn roads into solar panels that's not possible we like. our money ran on it and it was frightening. frightening. that he said it was to smother a target like the rest. easier by the red streak there we are right now. here. because. they say that the occupy movements major victory to date is that we have changed the conversation that people are now debating issues such as western equality at this point i think we

we propose a consolidated city wide ict budget and staffing plans. we propose a survey of ict performance from departments that is updated periodically. we propose console daitd ict management asset system for these purposes. we propose a data base for personnel. maybe we have enough data but we're not collecting the right useful data. everyone agrees that hiring for technology needs to be improved. technology is a highly dynamic and ever changing field. no one can predict the five years of technology or what talent will be required. of your cell phone. the administrator requires a staffing plan. doesn't exist. there maybe hurdles to overcome but hiring as permanent exempt is better than the traditional civil service for technology. it reduces time to hire. it raises proakt of attracting top talent. it means hiring mistakes can be corrected easily. it's done elsewhere in the city. lawyers and our attorney departments do have at will status for the same reasons as we find with technology. isn't it worth the effort to match talent with what is needed?

city college is spending 92 percent of their budget on staff when realistic budget is 85 percent. there's room for improvement there and city college can tighten its belt a little bit without coming back to the community which has borne multiple tax measures in the past. >> i thank you both for being here again. we hope this discussion was informative. for more information on this and other measures on this ballot please visit the san francisco league of women voters web site at sfvote.org. remember early voting is available monday through friday from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm if you don't vote early, be sure to vote on november 6. hirtion i'm richard janning, board member of the league of women voters. i'm here to discuss proposition b, a ballot measure that will be before the voters on november 6. the city operates more than 200 parks, playgrounds, recreation facilities, open spaces and other public properties throughout san francisco. in 2007 an independent review revealed many parks and facilities were outdated and posed seismic and safety risks. proposition b is a bond measure that w

budget for radio systems? not in technology. as a result the controller presented a city budget for technology of just under $200 million. through our interviews with technology leadership we were told that amount is under estimated by ten to 20% or more due to the differences of what to include. actual expenditures presented more difficult picture. some departments use non technology people to perform technology assignments and hiding the expenses outside of technology. actual cost of city wide projects are blurred as the examples shows. no one knows for sure how much is being spent, how much is being saved. without comprehensive information there is no way to evaluate the success of ict city wide consolidations. we found

wee taking a very small part of the city budget.hese people aren't going to be making decisions on where to buy their water and things like that. they're taking a small part of the budget and saying okay. voters, you decide what we should do withhis, if off community project. i think it's good experiment. i like the idea of people getting together and doing something. >> michael saying it's our money for goodness sakes. shouldn't we have more control over how is spent? >> first of all, we should give them much less of our money. that's number one. >> true. agreed. >> i agree with victoria. i think it would be far too chaotic. sort of like in football, everybody in the huddle trying call the play. you need one person to call it, the person who is elected to be in charge. if you don't like the job that person is doing, replace him and lookthere are council meetings, all sorts of meetings during the course of theonth where people can voice their opinion and speak directly to the local politicians. that's where i think this should be do

city college is spending 92 percent of their budget on staff when realistic budget is 85 percent. there's room for improvement there and city college can tighten its belt a little bit without coming back to the community which has borne multiple tax measures in the past. >> i thank you both for being here again. we hope this discussion was informative. for more information on this and other measures on this ballot please visit the san francisco league of women voters web site at sfvote.org. remember early voting is available monday through friday from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm if you don't vote early, be sure to vote on november 6. >> there are kids and families ever were. it is really an extraordinary playground. it has got a little something for everyone. it is aesthetically billion. it is completely accessible. you can see how excited people are for this playground. it is very special. >> on opening day in the brand- new helen diller playground at north park, children can be seen swinging, gliding, swinging, exploring, digging, hanging, jumping, and even making drumming sounds. this ma

they're ignoring this current and future impact of their past and current risk-taking on the city budgetey're refusing to read or acknowledge, let alone consider and discuss low risk investment policies which could meet the primary objective of preserving capital and also aachieve nearing the same arenas over time. the jury did not recommend the board eliminate the legitimate goal of seeking return on investments. the jury believes that the elected representatives of this city should insist the board follows principles of prudence make preserving capital a first priority. thank you. >> supervisor elsbernd: nins else from the grand jury? great. jay, you want to come forward? is. >> good afternoon, supervisors, jay -- executive director of the san francisco employees retirement system. i have some very brief prepared remarks that i would like to go through. on behalf of the retirement board we thank the civil grand jury for their service, however that being said, we are very disappointed that their report ignores long-standing policies and public decision-making practices of the retirement

costs associated with defending the board's actions are not in our budget. >> okay >> and it is something that is born out through the city attorney's budget. >> okay. >> and no additional costs for the or your work or your time? >> there is some small administrative costs ta we need to prepare the administrative record in cases but it is not significant. >> okay. >> i just had a some what related question about litigation and wondering whether you know what the rate of affirm ans or denial is compared to other years? it seems that there is a lot of affirm anses and what you cited here but i don't know how that compared to prior years. if you know. >> i don't know. i am not sure what was tracked prior to the recent reports that i have been preparing. but, it does seem to me as well that the cases that are resolved. that there has been a positive out come for the board. >> thank you. >> now, no other comments from me. >> okay. >> other than wonderful job. >> thank you. >> yes. >> i would ask for public comment, but we have lost our public. >> do you want to say anything? >> have you read it victor? >> have you read it? >>

thus the retirement board is under pressure to keep the assumed rate of return high for city budget andees. but the flip side of this is that the long-term financial health of the fund would be health of the fund would be better served.0 then the fund would be under less pressure to try to attain such high returns and could invest in less risky investments. in the long run the taxpayers will have to pay into the fund if the volatile investment!:jú-ñ decrease in value. the board relies on an investment consulting firm to recommend the investment rate return rate assumption. the consulting firm told the jury that its formula is prient proprietary and it will not divulge it to the board. the board assumes the rate for actuaries usend estimating the funding level. 9 city sets the contribution rate for the next fiscal year which is based in part oft final earnings from the preceding fiscal year which ends on june 30. major fluctuations. in 2011 the five year returns were 4.2%, 10 year were 6.it 2%, 5 year returns for 2012 were 1.02%. given the current investment climate the jury does not thi

. >> san jose mayor says voter approved initiative will have consequences on the city's tight budget. is required to set up an auditing function to make sure people follow the law. >> many voters tell us they agree with students, raising minimum wage in a high cost of living area is the right thing to do. 40,000 minimum wage employees will be benefiting. the professor supporting this effort says the successful campaign yain is getting state and nationwide attention. >> it's about san jess yeah and a larger question about economic inequality in the bay area and beyond. this affects all of america. >> the hike goes into affect nine days after results become official so probably in march. >> at and t promises a major upgrade saying it plans to spend billions moreover the next three years. they're trying to catch up and perhaps expand into automobile connections and home security. u.s. international trade commission declared china responsible for bringing the u.s. panel industry into the brink of collapse. this decision will trigger tariffs on chinese made panel. apple stock fell another

as for the cost, we're told the money would be coming from the airport's operating budget. the city council will vote on that tomorrow afternoon. . michelle being back to you. >>> a bay area family is among four killed in a crash near placerville. the chp said a prius and mini van collided. a man, woman and child died in the prius. highway patrol says the prius veered into oncoming traffic. it's not clear why. >>> 31 people died in california traffic accidents over the holiday weekend, 10 more than last year. 13 were not wearing seat belts. hear in the bay area, five deadly accidents killed a total of six people and there were 224 dui arrests over the holiday weekend. >>> a close call at southern california for a pilot from novato and his passenger. they were able to climb out of the wreckage of this small plane. plane flipped over during and emergency landing near cal state northridge campus. the faa is investigating. >>> san francisco general hospital is suing the l.a. dodgers over the beating of giants fan brian stow. stow suffered extensive brain trauma after two dodger fans att

. >> meier rum and manuals six and a half billion dollar budget for next year at city council his budget passed 46-3 and they did not need aldermen sandy jackson's vote. it's a budget that i think fundamentally balances our budget but it does it by not raising property taxes, not raising sales tax not raising the energy tax. 9 million more would be invested in early childhood education after-school programs and jobs children's eye exams and programs to address domestic violence. her husband congressman jesse jackson is still absent from congress as a cloud of federal investigation surrounds them. missing another city council meeting that makes two in a row for this month alone. impatient politicians appear to want the congressman to come forward with the truth about his campaign finances for the sake of the second district. if it's beyond a health issue its and urgency and necessity for the congressman to come to terms with the fact that he has to make a decision very very soon. out of respect for his constituents. as city hall sympathy seemed to lie with sandy jackson as the alderman wi

city significant changes in the last five years. like so many departments it's been tough through the budget reductions and things like that to redefine ourselves and rediscover where the best value is at the city. we had to give up traditional services and focus on core services but i think it's improving and i would certainly own and recognize that the department of technology has had some challenges over the years and performing its duties from a performance measure stand point but i challenge you to talk to the cio's in the room as the civil grand jury has and ask them if they feel it's improving or getting worse? we all have challenges balancing the strategic and project and operational duties and sometimes we succeed and sometimes there are unfortunately failure, but i would suggest to you that if you did ask the cio's and called them up or informally in the hallway. are they heading in the right direction? is their heart in the right place? are they listening and doing what they need to be for you? i think they would say yes and to that point you could look back at our track record over the last two years. we made the budget re