we have the chinatown library. we have the chinatown ymca. our personal and individual stories are not reflected in our community institutions. our personal, individual stories have been overlooked. we feel very strongly that we need to begin to claim our history, claim our story, and claim our heroes. betty ann ong, a native daughter, is a hero, and should be honored with the naming of the chinese rec center in her honor. we further urged that in the future, a broader recognition of her heroism be reflected. thank you. president buell: thank you. >> richard? >> good morning, commissioners. i came in today to try to talk about this subject matter. i am not necessarily in favor of this project. we have already listened to this issue many times before this commission. just last monday, i went to the council. there was a consensus -- i asked the consensus be brought before the members of chinatown. it was not in favor of the name change. a few things that would have been brought in had to do with -- are we going by the right procedure? one of th

i am a resident of chinatown. i have lived in chinatown forever. we used to have six theaters. after or before the show, we would go to get a bite. right now, with television and d.v.d. is and other entertainment, all the theaters are shut. i go to the imperial palace quite often. i belong to quite a few nonprofits in chinatown, and other associations. he is a very friendly and very clean eating place. they do have three floors. the second floor, i think they want some entertainments on the second floor. i am a senior as well. i am within walking distance. after 7:00, 8:00, i can testify the garage at portsmouth square is empty. automobiles going to the restaurant -- there is no problem. i am sure the restaurant will delegate. they do not have to pay the parking fee. there are lots of seniors in chinatown. they live in a very congested place. there are entertainments, and within reasonable prices, i am sure the senior will go there once a week. i hope you will grant the permit. i am also a member of the central station, the police captain's advisory board. we had so much troubl

as somebody who grew up in chinatown, lives in chinatown, goes back to chinatown because a family and friends, it is painful to hear how we will not have the central subway. this issue now is also about leadership in the city. you have the grand jury that has raised serious questions about central subway. regardless of whether we like it or not, you have to take the grand jury report into second kind of rigid and to some kind of consideration. the mayor needs to look at these issues. if not, this project will be dogged by controversy, delays, and ultimately the people of san francisco will suffer. i would implore the mayor to deal with this issue, put it to rest. we have to come together as a city and move forward at the central subway. >> thank you. [applause] >> i agree with what the supervisor said, which is we have never regretted it ever building a light rail system or subway system. i have never heard people complain about the tunnel that we had to build in the 1920's. i am sure when those were built, we had complaints, issues, concerns, yet most people now on the west side of t

but is that true for chinatown? chinatown has seen incredible vitality through the really tough economic time recently. the vacancy rate, i believe, is under 5%. chinatown is really depended on the zoning for over the last 30 to 40 years to protect the neighborhood, to make sure that it is neighborhood-serving, to make sure that restaurants that are there serve the population that lives there. so there are currently five categories of restaurants in chinatown. i would argue to say that they are working. in another way, i think that we just do not know what the changes would mean. there have not really been like a simple fact sheet created. there is not in a way first to really get to understand what this means for a chinatown neighborhood. there are a number of changes come to chinatown but a city college is currently being constructed. chinese hospital will be constructed sen. central subway is under construction. this will change the nature of what is needed for restaurants, but maybe we need to look at it after o

i happen to think we should not just do it in chinatown. i hope someday our vision is to continue on, to connect the entire city. we know that in 15 or 20 years, traffic on our streets will double. when we are all sitting in gridlock in 10 years because of decisions that may or may not be made today, i think we're going to regret that. [applause] >> all right, thank you. >> should we let everybody weigh in on this? >> yeah. >> yes, i would like to -- [inaudible] oh, ok. what are you going to say to the people in the southeast of the city? quite frankly, people in the southeast of the city are going to be worse off. they will lose the direct connection that the t made to market street and bart and muni. there will have to go to union square and then walk back through a tunnel three football fields long to get to the station. i would say to the people of the southeast of the city that they are really going to lose with the central subway. the truth is that the mta's own statistics on how many people in chinatown are going to actually use the

so there are currently five categories of restaurants in chinatown. i would argue to say that they are working. in another way, i think that we just do not know what the changes would mean. there have not really been like a simple fact sheet created. there is not in a way first to really get to understand what this means for a chinatown neighborhood. there are a number of changes come to chinatown but a city college is currently being constructed. chinese hospital will be constructed sen. central subway is under construction. this will change the nature of what is needed for restaurants, but maybe we need to look at it after our toward the end of the construction. so i want to ask that you please remove the chinatown excuse district and this version of legislation. we can revisit it at another time when there is an opportunity to really make outreach to the merchants and the merchants associations. i want to end by saying that think we actually have a winning model of the zoning in chinatown right now. if there is really not a problem that we see need

i worked 13 years in chinatown. my office was in a rooming house for part of that time, and i worked 13 years in the tenderloin which of course you do with residential hotels, we called them initially, until they became sro's. there're a couple of similarities and a couple of differences. the point i want to make about your future planning. one suit -- one of the similarities are is everyone is low income. and in chinatown, people speak the same language, and so it is very easy to -- for them to come tell you something. the advantage to working inside the neighborhood, you do not have to spend her time traveling to see people in need. people will come tell you something is wrong. so you get the grapevine, it makes a big difference in accessibility. there are no elevators, and in the tenderloin, the rooms are larger. i was impressed when i went to work. the rooms are bigger. there are more rooms with baths and -- then there are in chinatown. the one bathroom for eight people in the center and that is a local code. if

it will also reduce travel time from chinatown to the caltrain station. this is all while creating tens of thousands of local jobs, as has been discussed. we need to remember the big picture. when we talk about the central subway project. we appreciate the comments that have been made to this effect. phase one of the project was the third street light rail project, which established retail and cultural centers with diverse communities along the light rail line and encourage economic revitalization along the entire corridor. the third street light rail open four full revenue service back in april 2007. the second phase, the central subway project operates as an extension of the third street light rail. 1.7-mile extension will have surface stops at fourth street near brandon and subway service with stations at the mosconi center, union square, and chinatown neighborhood. many people forget that these projects are the product of extensive community feedback and planning. the tea has identified the third street corridor with an extension to chinatown as a pri

this project means thousands of quality jobs going up in chinatown and north beach.ike to go over there with my kids. it is really difficult right now to park. all the mechanisms are in place to monetize and manage the project -- a monitor and manage the project. there is no reason to hold it up at this time. the report talks about increased costs. the longer we wait, the more expensive it is going to get. supervisor campos: thank you. next speaker. >> the transportation solution's defense and education fund. we are transit advocates working primarily on the regional and statewide level. we have opposed the central subway for years because instead of being a well-designed, cost- effective transportation project, it is primarily a political payoff. the grand jury deserves the thanks of all san franciscans for their willingness to dive into an incredibly dense thicket of details and their courage to call a spade a spade. their report is a crowd addition to the long tradition of speaking truth to power. the fundamental project design problems raised in the report are so

refers to a chinatown area transportation study of 1996. once again, the mta completely ignores these reports. mta did not report the day the mti reported in 2002, which was brought up by many of their experts, the fact that they included stockton street traffic signals, transit stop for spacing and relocation be completed in three years. it would have cost $9.1 million. they ignored that. instead, we are looking at $1.62 billion expense. i think the mta has not played with a full deck all along. when it comes to the subway, the subway itself will take longer travel time than the surface by an average of seven minutes, no matter which plan you look at. given this controversy and contradiction, i ask the board of supervisors should apply its due diligence and apply for the independent audit. supervisor campos: thank you. next speaker please. >> good afternoon. i am a south of market resident, and a long-time, over 12 years, member of the central subway community advisory group. i just want to say about the community advisory group in all the

there are 5000 units in chinatown. most of the residents are seniors and families with small children. the rest of the population is less transient. in terms of the infrastructure of the building itself, this is quite different from other neighborhoods. with the relatively affordable and easy access to grocery, most cut in their own rooms with rice cookers and hot plates. >> my name is josh, and i am with an sro collaborative, and i just wanted to quickly talk about a mission. there is actually a mix in the mission. there is about 50 sro's. there are only six that are nonprofit. the schedule needs to more stable populations, but the vast majority, they are private buildings and sort of run the spectrum of meeting people's needs to being quite bad places. one of the nonprofit buildings, the mission houses 288 rooms. the majority are fought wars or less. there are a lot of buildings that do not have elevators, or if they do, there may not be a code requirement to have them. it is more difficult to the elevators fixed in

is shrinking and chinatown's population has declined. if the trends continue, will it mean the end of chinatown in america? >> i don't think it's going to end anytime soon. >> reporter: but she says as long as the chinese economy looks more promising than america's, chinatown may need to keep up with the growth of so-called astronaut families, that's where the father lives and works in china leaving the rest of the family in the u.s. >> people are kind of parachuting in and outgoing -- moving back and forth and people do go back. >> reporter: as for shen, he is staying put where he has grown accustomed to american freedom and comfort. >> it may be winter now in the economy but it will recover soon. >> reporter: he considers chinatown and america his home, for now. in san francisco, sharon chin cbs 5. >>> a torrent of water and mud poured down on a bay area neighborhood. the damage this gushing washout left behind. >>> it's a day after thanksgiving tradition as common as leftover turkey sandwich. how your sink backups are bringing profits

i also went to dean parker and i grew up in chinatown, as well. i grew up playing at the chinese rec center. as chair of the capital committee, i can tell you that when we reopened, it will be on time next year. you will find the chinese recreation center is going to be a fabulous, brand new facility, built for the next 50 years. it is only fitting to have betty ann ong's name on this building. i hope you all will be there at the opening period when people come to that facility, and they ask, especially the younger people, the kids, ask, "who was betty ann ong?" we will have a story to tell. thank you to you all for supporting this. president buell: thank you. commissioner martin? commissioner martin: this is great history to me. i've been in this town for a long time. great moments we did stop in chinatown and did stuff together. i love what she is doing. this is the greatest thing in the world that could happen. i'm with you. president buell: thank you. we are honored to have in the audience betty ann ong's mother, as well. thank you for coming

we will close escrow on the chinatown station property as of november 1. we have begun three major construction contracts that will deliver the seven construction -- the seven construction contracts that will deliver the program. we have entered into final design, have awarded three major design contracts. the current state of final design completion is 90% complete. also, we have received a letter of no prejudice approval from the fta that will allow us to consider advanced construction which will allow was to put forth the utility contracts in construction and award the requirements for the tunnel contract. a milestone for the project was submission of the full funding grant agreement application to the federal government on september 19 of this year. that represents significant years of hard work from the city community as a whole, that will capture and leverage that have said sales tax leverage that the city began in 1989, to essentially require a $982 million that the federal government had set aside for the delivery of the central subway program. the

but is that true for chinatown? chinatown has seen incredible vitality through the really tough economic time recently. the vacancy rate, i believe,

these ordinances would permit inhalation of a mixed use building in the chinatown naval of the chinatown station for the central subway. these ordinances will be brought before you in january. commissioner miguel: thank you. >> thank you. >> thank you. commissioners, we can now move on to general public comment. this category has a 15-minute time limit, and members of the public may address you on items of interest to the public that fall within the subject matter jurisdiction of the commission with the exception of agenda items. agenda items may address -- may be addressed only at the time they are briefed on the calendar. each member of the public may address you for up to three minutes each, keeping in mind that the entire category has a 15-minute time limit. commissioner miguel: thank you. [reading names] >> good afternoon, commissioners. i am hear from the coalition for san francisco neighborhoods. the draft environmental impact report for the beach shall athletic fields have been released. project removes over 7 acres of natural grass and replaces it with over 7 acres of artificial

the organizations have been tireless hours in this, with a chinatown sro collaborative, and also folksom the in-house support consortium, but also many, many others, as well. the city, as many of you know and from previous studies, needs to develop strategies across departments to reduce the isolation, make buildings safer, and provide the elderly and disabled greater access to more resources and better housing. i should say that i am a baby boomer, of born at the edge of the baby boom. i think if it is from 1946 and 1964, and some say that the baby boomers are going to be the senior boomers in a short 20 to 30 years, and many of us already are, and studies we have done in the city, like one year ago, i worked with organizations to look carefully at aging in place and housing it upgrades to improve accessibility and housing needs for seniors in the city, and the study looked at the demographics of the population and showed tremendous needs. also, our city is not keeping up with housing production, particularly for the lowest income in the city. i know supervisor wiener is working to ma

i am one of the kids who grew up in chinatown. i see how these new immigrants are trying to earn a living, learn a job to raise their family. these folks spend morning in the cooking class and work at night, so please consider. thank you very much. >> i will start. i think this issue before us on this specific permanent and the nuances related to this permit is not about who use of the building. it is not about the nonprofits that is going to be housed there. it is about a process in san francisco but has many different approaches. the issue here is the degree to which different segments of our community look at the extent of preservation within itsel. there are those who feel not an of preservation is occurring -- not enough reservation is caring. i do not want to be like a city where you cannot change of paint cover without a certificate. what is important for this body is to look at both sides. the side of the appellant in terms of his concerns with preservation who needs to however adapt what he is planning in response to some