bury or extract the tbms at the chinatown station site. i encourage the city and mta to revert to thechinatown extraction reasonable idea and let the northern beach tunnels zombie idea finally die. thank you. >> next speaker. before the next speaker speaks i would like to call up the following individuals. [ reading speakers' names ] those are all the cards i have, so if you wish to speak, you can line up, please. next speaker. >> good afternoon. brett gladstone speaking for the project sponsor. for about 15 years i have worked on development at this site. this is the first project that i worked on for the current owner, but in the past developers have tried to keep the theater even passing legislation at your board to create a dinner theater second story restaurant, which wasn't allowed by code. so i'm particularly pleased to be here today after 15 years with what i think is the best possible project. in 2009 i presented this project to the planning commission and as you know it received approval. the project that is made possible by this

it would be absurd to stop it at chinatown and burry bury it there. that does no good. thank you. >> thank you. next speaker. >> supervisors my name is julie christinsen and i'm in favor of the proposatch my favorite line is the adage we use about planting trees. it's never easy, but for our part of the city it needs to be done. i think a lot of the people here really want to talk about whether there should about a subway or not. you think we're a little past that discussion. what i want to talk about is that the north beach station. we're apparently not ready for that discussion. so we have sort of a cold war issue in front of you, the battleground of the moment. i think leaving the tbms in the ground is not economical and not very san franciscan. i have gone to community meetings where dozens of merchants have said their businesses are going to be completely ruined by extraction at columbus and union. this is an alternative that i think serves our commercial district. the dem othis proposal preserves the tunnel from chinatown to north beach and we don't have to give m

some controversy around the central subway but i look forward to the central subway and going to chinatown. and i do go to chinatown believe it or not supervisor campos, but it's really exciting and it's an exciting project and i hope it stays on track. thank you. >> thank you. is there anyone else in the public that would like to speak? seeing none public comment is closed and i should mention that commissioner chiu has requested that we continue item 10 as well for further discussion, so colleagues we heard a motion and a second we're going to continue items 10 and 11. without objection. ms. ching next item. >> item 12 is introduction of new items. >> i see no new items. let's open it up for public comment. anyone from the public that would like to speak? >> you're going to being sick of me. i just want to say as an informational item to the commissioners i want better signage and traffic calming for market and ger rareo and laguna. we have a lot of development going on there and we're going to have a lot of new residents there, so i wish the commissioners and i am sure commissioner wien

business commission is proud to recognize r & g lounge for their contribution to the vitality of chinatownhe city of san francisco. open since 198 5, over the past 27 years r & g lounge has served innovative yet traditional dishes to local and visitors alike. growing from 50 to 250 seats. owner wong provides employment for youth, local residents, new immigrant and low-income families. mr. wong has an esteemed reputation in the community county as a great philanthropist, supporting many of the local non-profit organizations by donating money or gift certificate for fundraising events to organizations such as chinese hospital, chinatown community development center, self-help for the elderly and many others. mr. wong and r & g lounge are truly pillars of the community and the small business commission is pleased to present this honor to this deserving business. congratulations. do you want to say a few word? >> i'm happy, very happy today. i will try do my best. thank you. >> any commissioner comments? >> yes. >> go ahead. >> i just wanted to say i'm a native san franciscan and have been com

what used to be holiday in in chinatown, i took a picture of it at night. it's a beautiful pedestrian bridge. it has a lot of detail on it. it's been botched by that hilton sign. again, as the rules are now contemplated would grandfather that sign. in other words we need to opportunity to reel in branding that is at odds with the character of our neighborhoods. i would like to also point out that san francisco beautiful helped pass prop g. we had voter approval but no enforcement on it until we came here and pounded the desk and got enforcement on it and then we got some quantification. only 30 percent are operating legally. what you have in the executive summary is a little breezy and non-quantitative. >> your time is up. >> thank you. without any quantitative data we are about ready to see everything as is. good afternoon, commissioners, i'm kristin craven executive director for san francisco beautiful. i think we are in all favor in stream lining procedures and our concern is simply with the process. i don't believe we are in the business of creating cod

one of the families living in chinatown s-r-o buildings. [speaking through interpreter] living in s-r-o buildings, you know, our room is less than the size of what normal apartment building rest rooms would be. in planning and budgeting for our city, please take in consideration the very low-income family and people that need housing. thank you. please [speaker not understood] on housing. >> thank you, mr. tan. >>> good afternoon, supervisors. how are you doing today? anyway, my name is [speaker not understood] working for the [speaker not understood] homelessness. first, [speaker not understood] on homelessness, we support [speaker not understood] and the legislation [speaker not understood]. so, i want to say i oppose your legislation, mr. wiener, for different reasons. number one, that is because you're going to take the money from the s-r-o housing, low-income housing that we have from prop c. and second, because we got money for transportation for [speaker not understood]. i don't want to take money from these two programs what we get

you are not funded to extend these subway tunnels beyond chinatown. you know that. if you take a look at the december 8th -- pardon me, the 2008 approval, it said that this tunnel into north beach is for, and it says, this is a temporary construction tunnel for use in extraction of the tunnel boring machines. if you look at [speaker not understood]. if you look at the secretary of transportation's report for fiscal year 2010 on this project, there is a map in it. it shows nothing beyond chinatown. there's no mention of this continuation. >> thank you, sir. next speaker, please. >> howard wong followed by joan wood and then lance carn, s. >> good afternoon, mr. wood. >>> howard wong with muni.com. a supplemental letter from our attorneys libby [speaker not understood], were delivered later. * i'm providing three additional copies for your reference. as described in the three legal letters dated february 5th, february 14th, and february 19th, the pagoda theater requires a supplemental e-i-r and there are legal requirements for the special use district and continual co

meeting inviting you and experts that you referred to but we've never seen any reports as to why chinatown has become infeasible so it's going to disrupt us for years and years and i want you to think about that thank you. >> thank you. next speaker please? >> john horn followed by ron collins and mark gruber. >> i wrote 2 letters to chris, hiaschi i was very surprised how mr. -- conducted the session. the process was so narrow and ridged. he lost track of a half hour during the whole session and tried to make it up but didn't do a good job of it. there were at least 4 drivers in my group who were clearly not native english speakers and i was wondering if the focus group took that into consideration they didn't seem to be listening at all any way the focus group is flawed and there's very little actual exchange going on i asked twice about what the mta is doing regarding practical enforcement of the cease and desist order did not receive an answer so i thought the focus group was flawed and that was basically what i wanted to say. >> thank you. next speaker please. >> ron collins, mark gru

and i am a product of one of them in chinatown.rk i have been able to do and the leadership i have developed comes from mentors that have taken me under. and that see the benefit of raising new generations of leadership to continue their work. as we continue this work on the board and at the mayor's office. i think it's important to recognize what occurred before us, and respect and recognize that by continuing onward as we struggle on to be sure that the city benefits everyone. in terms of housing or jobs. i am proud to be a part of this city family. and last i will say, that the year of snake is also a time of reflection, and introspection and collecting one's self. think we had a lot of benefits last year, passage of bonds for the parks. and able to pass for the first time funding for affordable housing. and here in san francisco we passed a bond for city college. this is a good year to reflect on that and as we encounter the next phase here in san francisco. which is a time of incredible growth. thank you very much to everyone

>> just hearing commissioner wu speak i would like to you think about the sign in chinatown which could be down very quickly without additional approval. i would like to you think about a change in sign. >> this is a subject for another day and it goes beyond signs not to make things more complicated but there are many cities throughout our nation that have architectural review and they kind of make the building that are built there conformity architecturely to the areas they are in even some gas stations. we usually have buildings that have been something else in the past that are being changed so this is a little bit more difficult. you see these more in places where these are built new but it helps to make it more acceptable to the eye that they don't stand out as being the golden arches where you may see. they are a little bit different but that might be something we think about when we look at the sign approval process to see how appropriate the sign is in the context of the neighborhood obviously grandfathering existing signs are fine especially if they are historic in nature and

this does not appear to be the case in chinatown, just for the recored the ban does not include producengle use bags plastic shopping bags , you know the ones you will often see blowing down the street and hanging from a tree. now there was a loophole in the plastic bag ban, merchants were allowed to finish their existing supply. and it would appear that many of the shops in chinatown stocked up in the banned plastic bags for a very long time. in san francisco, stanley roberts-kron 4 news. >> jacqueline: we saw some breaks of sunshine. and tomorrow, similar. with those cloudy skies. it is possible that we could see some sprinkles and the better chance of rainfall for thursday. still not great. with spotty showers on thursday. this rain will search the bay area we are mainly just seeing the cloud coverage 50s along the coast kron4.com. we do have the chance of rainfall. right now, it is pretty light. go to our new channel. comcast 193 for the latest news, weather and traffic updates. ♪ >> gary: is a big night for the bay area sports. first, its been awhile since tiger woods has been numb

we are coming up to street to chinatown. since 1957, we are the only city in the world that runs cable cars. these cars right here are part of national parks system. in the early 1960's, they became the first roles monument. the way city spread changed with the invention of the cable car. >> people know in san francisco, first thing they think about is, let's go

a project by way of tunnel leading into chinatown by way of north beach. in december the first streetcar was driven into the tunnel. just two years after its berth, muni had added two lines. and k, l and m lines that span out from westportal. in 1928, the j line opened heading west to the beach. in 1944 san francisco voters finally approved muni take-over of the market street railway. by then motor bus and trolley bus improvement had given them the ability to conquer san francisco's hills. after the war most of the street-car lines would be replaced with motor or trolley bus service. in 1947, the mayor recommended replacing two lines with motor coaches. and it appeared that san francisco's iconic cable cars had seen their final days. entered mrs. cluskin, the leader to save the cable cars. arguing that the cable cars were a symbol of the city, and she entered a charter placed on the november ballot. it passed overwhelmly. the california street cable railway was purchased by the city in 1952. there were cut backs on the cable car system and in 1957 only thr

working and providing that san francisco of admission bay and the trans bay tower can coexist with chinatown and other quiet west side neighbors. infrastructure as most of you know is near and dear to my heart. i drafted our cities first blue print to up grade our infrastructure. and in the last two years we've got funds now for the water supply to be ready for the next earthquake. in the next few weeks i'll partner together with other supervisors to get the most vulnerable buildings to be retro if i had. the rebuilding of san francisco hospital the largest bond in our history is underway on time and on budget. and just last month we broke ground on the long beach library. next month in this very community will open to new bay view library. thank you lewis herself are a

we are coming up to street to chinatown. since 1957, we are the only city in the world that runs cable cars. these cars right here are part of national parks system. in the early 1960's, they became the first roles monument. the way city spread changed with the invention of the cable car. >> people know in san francisco, first thing they think about is, let's go track. >> ladies and gentlemen, please welcome laura republican powell jobs chair and co-founder of college track. >> thank you. good morning on behalf of the board, staff and students of college track it's my pleasure to welcome you to the bay center. it's an honor to have you here today and mayor lee welcome back. your support for the student is important. even though people talk about globaltion people are local and jobs are local. each of us each day can fix the neighborhood. real progress is credit place specific and - this concreteness is one of the benefits of college track. it lift up one student after another it looks after and supports individuals. it stand

the chinatown community development center and department staff have been attended those meetings as well to help explain how plan bay area relates to the planning efforts going on in san francisco. cal trans, let's give a quick heads up. i expect to come to the plans and program committee shortly. the process is under way for the transportation. through the mayor's office we have prepared a comment letter on the scoping for the environmental document for cal tran. a year ago this body of executive directors signed a northern california high speed memorandum you mean agreement. in the peninsula quarter which is a blended system of cal trains and high speed rail operations. the first project to get funded, and the project control project, they are three different names but tightly linked together. san francisco and sat san mateo and we are working with the mayor's office in identifying what sources could be used to do that. this is really in two different options. we have some commitment sometime this spring because we have the contract on the positive modification of the project. the

working and providing that san francisco of admission bay and the trans bay tower can coexist with chinatown and other quiet west side neighbors. infrastructure as most of you know is near and dear to my heart. i drafted our cities first blue print to up grade our infrastructure. and in the last two years we've got funds now for the water supply to be ready for the next earthquake. in the next few weeks i'll partner together with other supervisors to get the most vulnerable buildings to be retro if i had. the rebuilding of san francisco hospital the largest bond in our history is underway on time and on budget. and just last month we broke ground on the long beach library. next month in this very community will open to new bay view library. thank you lewis herself are a listen ran of the year for 2012. thank you for making our libraries a truly assessable resource for all the families in san francisco. and under the innovative and in partnership with so many park advocates san francisco parks are among the best in the nation thanks to a $100 million from prop e including all those parks alon

clients, no matter how old they are, no matter how little english they know, they know how to get to chinatown, meaning they know how to get to our clinic. 85 percent of our staff is bilingual because we are serving many monolingual chinese patients. they can be child care providers so our clients can go out and work. >> we found more and more women of child bearing age come down with cancer and they have kids and the kids were having a horrible time and parents were having a horrible time. how do parents tell their kids they may not be here? what we do is provide a place and the material and support and then they figure out their own truth, what it means to them. i see the behavior change in front of my eyes. maybe they have never been able to go out of boundaries, their lives have been so rigid to sort of expressing that makes tremendous changes. because we did what we did, it is now sort of a nationwide model. >> i think you would be surprised if you come to these clinics. many of them i think would be your neighbors if you knew that. often times we just don't discuss that. we treat husband

for many people who live in chinatown, this is their backyard.his is where many people come to congregate, and we are so happy to be able to deliver this project on time and under budget. >> a reason we all agreed to name this memorex center is because it is part of the history of i hear -- to name this rec center, is because it is part of the history of san francisco. >> they took off from logan airport, and the call of duty was to alert american airlines that her plane was hijacked, and she stayed on the phone prior to the crash into the no. 9 world trade center. >> i would like to claim today the center and the naming of it. [applause] >> kmer i actually challenged me to a little bit of a ping pong -- the mayor actually challenge me to a little bit of a ping- pong, so i accept your challenge. ♪ >> it is an amazing spot. it is a state of the art center. >> is beautiful. quarkrights i would like to come here and join them >>> while i get myself settled, maybe a show of hands. how many already been to see the exhibition? a number of you. first of

early days of the city, the city grows up in what is the financial district on the edge of chinatown. everything they rely on for existence is the golden gate. it's of massive importance to the people what comes in and out of san francisco bay. they can't see it where they are. they get the idea to build a giant wooden structure. the years that it was up here, it gave the name telegraph hill. it survived although the structure is long gone. come to the 1870's and the city has growed up remarkably. it's fueled with money from the nevada silver mines and the gold rush. it's trying to be the paris of the west. now the beach is the suburbs, the we will their people lived on the bottom and the poorest people lived on the top because it was very hard getting to the top of telegraph hill. it was mostly lean-to sharks and bits of pieces of houses up here in the beginning. and a group of 20 businessmen decided that it would be better if the top of the hill remained for the public. so they put their money down and they bought four lots at the top of the hill and they gave them to the city. lily