and in addition to the horticultural path, an accomplishment of that mission, they're responsible for11 responses, for achieving the park maintenance or repair throughout the crafts in our structural maintenance yard. they work on capital planning or capital division on park renovations. out at the parkman jerk servicer class, i said we have nine. five of those are former park service supervisors. that is how the pipeline culminates at that end. the one thing i left out of the pipeline, of course, is the number two step, the apprentice gardner program. very important, and i'm going to turn the mic over to anna alvarez, our open park space superintendent to walk you through the apprenticeship program. >> thank you, denny. good afternoon, supervisors. i'm anna alvarez. i serve as the superintendent of parks and open spaces. as the general manager mr. phil ginsberg stated, the department takes great pride in the gardner apprenticeship program as one of the partnership we created with local 261 to establish the very first ever state certified gardner apprenticeship program in california.

our gardeners perform a wide variety of horticulture tax, [speaker not understood], field turf [speaker not understood] nursery plant cultivation, urban forestry tree planting and reforestation, just mention some of the things we call upon our gardeners to do in our 220 parks throughout the city. within the 34 17 classification, we have a ~ -- an appointment or an assignment. it's called the park services captain. these are 34 17 gardeners who then receive an additional assignment or appointment from the general manager and they serve in an assistant supervisory capacity. and we select our park service captains from their merit-based performance record, from their demonstrated potential for supervisory duties and we check with 261 to ensure they are a member in good standing. we assign these assistant supervisory duties to build supervisory capacity in the department and also to establish supervisory experience for promotion.

are there additional amendments to title x horticulture? are there additional -- the gentleman from california mr. cost amendment at the desk number 69. >> clerk will distribute amendment number 69 and we will dispense plain animus we will dispense pain and skits and the reading of the amendment and the gentleman when he is prepared to explain his amendment number 69. >> thank thank you very much begin mr. chairman paradigm pleas pleased to take this opportunity to talk about an important program that was initiated back in 2008 the farrm bill involving the organic certification cost share program. as we know organic farming has grown in the united states. the rapid sales have increased despite the recession at a rate of 5% in 2009, 8% in 2010, 9.5% in 2011. 10% and 2012. nationwide organic farming now in america is a 35 billion-dollar a year industry. domestic production of organic products frankly in many areas connect to public demand and therefore this effort to continue to maintain our leadership is critical and provides jobs and improv

our library, which is northern california's most comprehensive horticultural library. our volunteer and our docent program, our free guided walks for visitors, our community events and classes, our programs for families with young children. just quickly, in addition, we also fund $400,000 a year for curatorial work and voluntary contributions to the city to support the hiring of an 11th gardener. lease and management agreement is important because it sets the framework for how the botanical garden society and the rec and park department will continue to work together for years to come. i urge your support thank you very much. >> thank you very much. >> and don, our board chair sends his apologies. he was here at start of the meeting, but he had to get on a plane to go to his son's graduation. i have a letter of support from him. >> thank you. tracy, mary pitts. joseph. lawrence pitts. barry galvin. >> good morning. >> good morning. >> i was asked last night to come speak to you. my name is tracy thatcher, the founder of flower and designs and i an educator and i teach

we redrafted it and we began to engage horticultural apprenticeship program. it took about two years to get all the parties around the city -- should i stop? >> no, please continue. >>> okay. it took about [inaudible]. on public comment or if we were going to kind of give you -- whatever you guys want [inaudible]. and i do want to say i agree with some of the comments. i think, i think that the general manager deserves an awful lot of credit and i do have to confess that i recognize that our issues, the laborers issues are a small piece of the pie. we're talking about maintenance [inaudible]. and about fieldwork and that's not an absolute priority for management. so, i will concede that point. >> [speaker not understood] more of your concerns. please continue with more of your concerns. >>> thank you. when we initiated this program, we do so on ~ only with the permission of our [speaker not understood]. [speaker not understood]. so, we work as a state certified board to administer this program. a couple of issues that came up today [inaudible]. the district ca

we established a scholarship at city college for the horticultural department.gbusters. we get good press and we get to see everybody's neighbor -- all our neighbors' gardens. because of the way san francisco s you get to be veuyer because usually you have to go through their garage or their house to see the gardens. and ruth gets known through the neighborhood because she's constantly peeking over fences and leaving fliers in people's mailboxes saying, do you want to be on the garden tour, and all this sort of thing. but anyway, so, we've -- just to show you how much the neighborhood has gotten to know each other, all the people in the portola, wave your hand. [cheering and applauding] >> and this is only a small representation. and six years ago i would say maybe a dozen of us knew each other, and now we know hundreds of people in our neighborhood. and we've become so desirable from a real estate standpoint, we have multiple offers on houses and they all go for over asking. (applause) >> so, if you want to know how to do a garden tour, ruth wallace is your wom

further amendments to title x, the horticulture title? if not, only half of senator bennett who had to leave, we do have one other amendment. number four i would ask the called up and this relates to promotion programs that would give producers the opportunity to promote their products. we all know promotion programs and producers ranging from beefing berry, mashers to blueberries. these are driven by farmers helping her and industry together to support, goals and research on promotion. the organic sector is as a growing sector. this amendment supports this growth by allowing the industry to engage in research and promotion that benefits the industry and encourages continued economic growth. i would ask for support of the bennett amendment number four. others in a very say aye. those opposed, nay. the amendment is adopted. senator bennet, you came back into the room after he did that for you, so you're amendment passed. thank you very much. do we have further amendments to the horticulture title? if not, the title is closed and we would m

executive director of the new jersey nursey and landscape association, a trade group representing horticulture industry in the state, proudly joined the -- first of all working for a landscape design, build contractor, landscapes and later while running his own landscape design firm. mr. mondi serves as the advisory council for landscape industry program at rutgers university where he also graduated with a degree in landscape architecture. i will now, that hope was officially introduce all of you, ask you to indulge me while i recognize our chairman for his opening statement and then i promise we will go to you for your opening statement. the gentleman from virginia, the chairman of the judiciary committee, mr. goodlatte. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i apologize for being late, and i do have a great interest in this issue and the hearing into witnesses, so i apologize to them. i did want to give my opening statement and i want to thank you and congressman smith for your hard work on this legislation. the future of immigration reform hinges on assuring the american people are immigration laws wi

do we have further amendment to title 10, the horticulture title? -- ot, on behalf of senator bennett who had to leave, we do have one .ther amendment this is bennett amendment number four that i would ask the called up -- be called up. this relates to promotion programs. it would give organic producers the opportunity to promote your products. on a promotion programs has been a valuable tool for producers. these programs are driven by farmers helping bring industries together to support common goals in research and promotion. the organic farming sector is very important. it is a growing sector. this amendment supports this growth by allowing the industry to engage in research and promotion that benefits the industry and encourages continued economic growth. of the ask for support bennett amendment number four. all those in favor? those opposed? the amendment is adopted. senator bennett, you can back into the room after i did that for you. your amendment has passed. thank you very much. do we have further amendment to the oracle to title -- horticul