i move that we move into -- >> commissioners, ray hartz, director of san francisco open government. as i spoke previously regarding this very issue at the very first commission, session which i attended in which you adjourned in the middle of a agenda item, went into closed session for four hours and as a result denied a number of members of the public opportunity to comment on the item because you came back after the four hours, finished up the agenda and said is there any other public comment and i was the only person sitting in the room. i'll be honest with you, given that i also talked earlier about the problems i've had with your legal division, chief, regarding not following the sunshine ordinance, the california public records act, i think for me, i will speak solely. i have a hard time believing, when you claim an exemption, whether you're being honest with the public about the basis for the exemption. to be very honest with you, once you're lied to by certain people, once people tell you something that you know is not true, and that you know they know is not true, you begin

. >> members of the board of supervisors, ray hartz, director of san francisco open governme governmentthis document, on the overhead, is a sunshine ordinance task force order of determination no. 11083 finding city librarian louise herrera in violation of withholding public records related to the finances of the friends of the san francisco public library, which mr. mr. chaffee mentions almost every week. this record request was made in july of 2011 and she has still not released certain public records releasable under both the sunshine ordinance and the california public records act. i've been asked why he would do this, and my answer is twofold. first, the records that have been released show that neither the library commission nor the city librarian provide any oversight whatsoever of the millions of dollars raised and expended each year by the friends. louise herrera receives approximately 3,000 a month of, quote, discretionary funds, unquote, from the friends. i think it's rather questionable that a public official would use his office to withhold public records, and would also pr

. >> chief, and director hicks, ray hartz, director san francisco open government. i had come prepared to talk about another part of this item. however, it's just too great an opportunity to pass up. i can't figure out whether we're sitting in a time warp back to the 50's and 60's or whether we're sitting in arizona. if what i'm hearing is correct, since members of the public weren't given access to this information, it was not visible on the screen, where you could read it, it would seem very convenient that if i'm an officer in arizona, and i don't want anybody to know that i happen to be stopping a lot of illegals, i can simply put them down as other, or white. and as a result, it is underreported. now i've addressed this before in prior commission meetings. the reality is, part of the problem with justice in this country is the fact that mechanisms are in place which allow people to manipulate the system, and do illegal actions, and get away with it. these five officers who did not report traffic stop data, why is that. do i not want you to know that all of thes

. >> members of the board of supervisors, ray hartz, director of san francisco open government. i want to agree wholeheartedly with mr. james chaffee's earlier comments relating to the friends of the san francisco public library. i spoke about this issue last week and i want to mention three particular issues. one was that city librarian luis herrera used his position to withhold public records he knew were fully disclosable under the sunshine ordinance and california records act. i was curious as to what you think of that. >> the second item was that the library commission and the librarian and the chief financial officer of the library are presenting numbers, including a particular 5.19 million dollar figure on the blanch library improvement program to the public for which they have no support but the number. and i was wondering what you'd think about that. i will assume on the first two items silence gives consent. and on the last one i wonder what you think about the fact that luis herrera gets up to $3,000 per month in reimbursement from the friends over which he's supposed

. >> members of the rules committee, ray hartz, san francisco open government.es board of supervisors seems to be lacking in the rule of law. the sunshine ordinance task force has been unable to meet for months, denying due process to the san francisco citizens. this was done in retaliation for task force decisions against certain members of the board of supervisors. the full board changed the recommendation of this rules committee and failed to take public comment before removing the only representative of the disabled community from the task force. despite what was said by supervisor campos if you followed the sunshine ordinance there were several in the audience who could have told you that what you were doing was something that was going to shut down the task force. supervisor wiener substituted a personally drafted candidate with no interest or knowledge of government matters. for the experienced representative of the disabled community. this retaliatory action denied the disabled community representation on the task force, opportunity to be chair or vice c

. >> members of the rules committee, ray hartz, director of san francisco open government.although my primary focus is open government issues, as a life long member of the lgbt gay community, and now although i'll never admit it publicly, a senior, i want to just comment on the importance of this hearing, and the formation of this task force. i, and most of the people in this room, grew up at a time when acknowledging urban sexuality you would not do. you couldn't participate in government openly as a member of the community. and there were often cases where you wanted to address specific issues related to the community, but were unable to do so because to simply acknowledge you were a part of it was the death nel. i think the importance of this community was, like it or not, we are still struggling for equal opportunity in the gay community around the uss. united states. there are significant portions of this country where being gay or lesbian or in any way different prohibits you from participating openly in government and especially in dealing with issues. one of the rea

hartz. >> ray hafortsz, director of san francisco open government. i'd like to point out a number of things that happened. the last item was being broadcast on the sfgtv as general public comment, which it was not. there were also periods of time when the broadcast was cut off, and therefore speakers who wished to speak to the commission were not put on sfgtv and i think both of those are wrong. if there is one thing citizens of san francisco would probably believe, it would be that members of the san francisco police department would respect the law. i know from my own experience that belief is often not true. the legal division of the sfpd understands both the california public records act and the sunshine ordinance, but seems to have no belief that those laws apply to the department. members of the division have been uncooperative, evasive, and dishonest in the handling of public records requests. in acomplaint against the chief before the sunshine ordinance task force has yet to be heard, i believe that a representative will appear, who will be e