. >> herbert winer. >> herbert winer, passenger at risk.i got the rudest new year greeting from mta this morning as i was embarking from the l, the door slammed on me. now, this is dangerous. people have actually died as a result of these vehicles' doors slamming on them. and i don't want to wait around for a remedy until some member of the mta board for mta management has a door slammed on them. i could be injured or killed by the doors slamming on me. with the medallion policy, we have a double standard here. why is it that the taxi drivers are extorted. please stand by. please stand by. you better start catching up. >> next speaker, please. >> evelyn engel. >> i don't own a medallion. i'm going to be affected by this compromise plan. it stands to reason the cabs that will be not be expedited and that's effectively a ban. i drive mostly in the city but it's still going to hurt me. my income last year went down. i expect it to go down next year as well and even more because

>> herbert winer. concern is all necessary surgeries for the eye should be covered by a co-payment or sharing of the cost because if extra surgery is required for the eye, the severity of the eye condition that should be covered. when i had my cataracts removed, i had the basic treatment. i didn't require anything else. i was very fortunate. other people might not be so fortunate. they may require extra lenses or something like that. that should really be covered as part of the plan. that is my concern. >> thank you. seeing no other public comment. public comment is closed. now we move to the next item, please. >> item 17 is an action item. whether to hold closed session for public employee performance evaluation. hss executive director. >> this is part of the governance area as well. as i think following the guidance of council we are going to undertake this particular item because it is dealing with the evaluation of the executive director of the agency and it is not subject to a public meeting, and

>> herbert winer. without really knowing the intricacies of contracts, you know, you talk about contractors having the work spread out, does that mean that they're working on two, three, four, or five projects at the same time? i really think that you should get more of a commitment with guaranteeing the work done in a certain period of time with penalties if they do do it in that certain period of time. that should be cut in stone. i really think that requires more observation and surveillance. also, what i'm wondering, do no-bid contracts exist with m.t.a.? are they competitive or not? i ask this as a question, not as an accusation. so basically, without knowing the intricacies, and just as a broad reaction to this, you know, what are we contracting for? we're putting the city on the hook for for money, and we can't spend it on the buses that we desperately need, so these are just my impressions as a citizen. thank you. >> do i have anymore public comment? if not, public comment is closed. thank you

. >> herbert winer. one thing i am concerned about is transit going to be given top priority? i have the sense this board considered bike lanes more important than public transportation. i am really concerned about this because i see a widening of sidewalks, i see a taking away of driver lanes which adds to congestion, which adds to the difficulty of buses traveling throughout the city. before you could get from one part of the industry to another the longest it would take would be an hour. now it is an hour and-a-half. i think one of the real answers is more buses and more drivers. i really think this board should make transit the first priority. after all the model is transit first. so far it is transit first, passengers last. this is my concern i wish to convey to the board with regards to the capital project. thank you. >> again i recommend you read the recent ta report on congestion in the city. it does show that street network changes barely contributed to overall congestion in the city. if you haven't reviewed that ta report, i recommend do you it. any more public comme

. >> herbert winer. i have a riddle. what's the difference between santa claus and muni? santa claus gives presents. muni gives misery for the holidays. last friday, i had to wait 25 minutes for a bus at california and presidio. the bus went to fourth avenue, and then, there was a switchback. and i don't blame the drivers for this at all. i was really furious, and everyone knew about it. i'm sure people were quietly furious. i have another question. how many people on the m.t.a. board, m.t.a. management, and how many people support vision zero or the bicycle coalition or muni acts? muni acts are those who blindly support muni acts. i can't identify the muni acts, only the muni acts know who they are. so the next time they stair at the meyer or when they look at -- at the mirror when they look at themselves in the morning, they have to ask themselves, are they a muni-ac? >> next speaker, please. >> austin, followed by mark. >> hi. i'm austin peterson. i started driving san francisco taxi in '88. i was looking at other opportunities in the '90's, but people persuaded me tha