president buell: before i ask commissioner lee to make the item, i'm going to hear from commissioner levitanmmissioner levitan: the adage of no good deed goes unpunished could never have been more true for everything warren did. he could have backed away, but he did not. he fought hard because he believed in it and he believed in access to the park into the institutions for generations to come. that is one thing i will think about when i think about warren. what i find so touching about what has been said today -- everybody seems to have a story about warren, whether it is personal or on a larger scare. le. maybe they heard some of his great jokes at 7:00 and the morning. he had the ability to touch individuals and the masses with devotion. i feel blessed to have had his support the very many times i ran for office. he was always there for me. the odds were not that great in the outcome. he was consistently there. he has been a friend of my parents for some time. he has been an inspiration for those of us -- many of us on this commission are born and raised in this city. he shows what it mea

commissioner lee: i want to echo what commissioner levitan said. tom harrison also went to the employee holiday party earlier this week and had a great time, and it was very rewarding to talk to the employees and how excited they are, particularly under the general managers leadership, all the praise is that his employees keep upon him at this very happy event. i have one item for commissioners matters to consider. a number of people in chinatown come to me about an idea to build a stage. maybe the general manager has heard about this. at the portsmouth square mezzanine area. they often have events there, and each time, organizers have to actually read a stage to be put in. the idea would be perhaps to build a stage akin to what the japanese tea garden has done. where it would be a permanent structure, fixture in the plaza, and that when events happen, they can use that stage, as opposed to constructing it every single time. anyway, i would offer that up for future consideration. commissioner buell: thank you. >> is there any public comment on this

>> [roll call] commissioner levitan is on her way. a few announcements as a reminder -- please turn off any electronic devices and please take any secondary conversations outside. when you come to comment on public comment on an item, please make public comment to the commissioners. they will not respond to questions. they will wait until public comment is closed, and then they or staff may respond to questions at that point. there are two items that we are moving on the calendar today. the first is the general managers' report, which is item three. that will go to the end of the calendar. it will follow item 11. the second item is item five, the consent calendar. that will follow item seven. with that, we are on item two, which is the president's report. >> thank you. i will be brief. i know we have people here on other business, but we have a certificate of appreciation for the national aids memorial grove, and i would like to present that certificate. let me read from it. we have one of the most dedicated partners in our car drove

the functions, levitan will not respect the sub -- 11 on will not respect the sanctions. iran will not respect the sanctions. -- lebanon will not respect the sanctions. it will be the single. the condemnation will not be. >> let's talk about the united states and how the obama administration has handled this walking on a tight rope. in egypt, a close relationship of many years, and look at egypt's relationship with israel. that is on the table. support of the military over all of these years. yemen -- we are worried about al qaeda in yemen. the united states is involved in negotiating the president is stepping down, and granting him immunity from prosecution. saudi arabia and bahrain. there is a report talking about the tortures there. saudi arabia supported bahrain. send troops in there. the united states -- when do you do things because it is right? when you do things because it is politics, when you do things because it is in the nature of our own national interest? >> the obama at ministration had trouble with those different requirements in a sense. they've resisted

>> [roll call] commissioner levitan is on her way. a few announcements as a reminder -- please turn off any electronic devices and please take any secondary conversations outside. when you come to comment on public comment on an item, please make public comment to the commissioners. they will not respond to questions. they will wait until public comment is closed, and then they or staff may respond to questions at that point. there are two items that we are moving on the calendar today. the first is the general