the public defender salary is paid for by the city. it is the public defender's due to defend the public from a crime until they are proved guilty in a court of law. >> there you are, your honor. the district attorney once here said evidence included to show evidence of missing intermission in the report. >> that letter is a forgery. it is indeed in my letter paper. i write my letters on small blue paper with my initials on it. >> like this? >> tell me the truth. >> ok, it was my cousin's idea. >> my clients the ability to understand what is right and wrong was damaged by watching hours of the video of one man who enjoyed having sex. >> i think we should see what he is like. >> and attorney in the public defender's office? >> at ease, ladies and gentlemen of -- the jury. >> i am willing to do this pro bono. you can get all of my expertise for free. or you could get a $40,000 public defender. >> i am terribly sorry but i no longer represent my client. i need to be replaced as counsel. #x6rñ>> the first time i heard e term public tender

what does the public think we are? public defenders, and more broadly, criminal defense lawyers. nd what does it matter if anything? those are the answers we are going to tackle this morning. we have assembled a great panelists to help us into those questions. let me introduce the panelists. to my immediate left is jonathan shapiro, an attorney and former u.s. assistant attorney, who has spent the last several years and 10 season working on television dramas such as "the practice" and "boston legal." next to him we have jamie floyd. broadcast anger for network news. many of you know her from her daily live broadcast "the best defense. next is a local attorney who has handled a number of high-profile cases including a nationally publicized acquittals of actor robert blake and civil rights lawyer stephen bingham. to his left is a career public defender from washington state. she is a blunder and has her own -- blogger and has her own blog. so'. does the media contributes to a negative misconception of public defenders, and more broadly, criminal defense attorneys? >> no, thank you.

the public defender salary is paid for by>> like this? >> tell me the truth. >> ok, it was my cousin's idea. >> my clients the ability to understand what is right and wrong was damaged by watching hours of the video of one man who enye>> and attorney in the c defender's office? >> at ease, ladies and gentlemen of -- the jury. >> i am willing to do this pro bono. you can get all of my expertise for free. or you could get a $40,000 public defender. >> i am terribly sorry but i no longer represent my client. i need to be replaced as counsel. #x6rñ>> the first time i heard e term public tender was 20 years ago when i walked into the holding tank for the first time. the last time i heard the term public crusader was from a former law student talking about their perception of public defenders. so what are we? what does the public think we are? public defenders, and more broadly, criminal defense lawyers. and what does it matter if anything? those are the answers we are going to tackle this morning. we have assembled a great panelists to help us

somehow, the public loves doctors. do not know if there is a position in the government, the surgeon general, who represents the medical profession as a government, do good service. there is nothing like that for our profession. the ama does a lot better work and our bar association does. when jerry is representing robert black, he is working seven days a week, 12 hours a day, giving zealous advocacy for his one client. when the public defender is handling 400 felonies, they do not have time to remake their image. it seems to me the biggest problem we face is to recognize we have a problem. the problem is there is not an association or spokesperson who represents the position. it is too much to ask the individual lawyer or public defender's office to do it, but a group of office is working together to pool their resources, to educate the public as to what they do in the interest of justice might actually start to change attitudes. >> last question. what effect has the "war on drugs" specifically, the rationalized profil

that is the media reflects what the public wants. in my view, the media, in general, feed a voracious appetite for vengeance by an informed public. often influenced by fear, prejudice, and ignorance. i think one of the reasons criminal defense lawyers argued so poorly is people do not understand the source of crime. they want simple, quick responses to a complicated long- term solutions. you cannot fight crime by doing what the governor is doing, cutting social services and building new prisons. [applause] you do not have to be a rocket scientist to understand. all of us who have been involved in the criminal-justice system know where people who commit crimes come from. they are poor people, people of color, victims of abuse, the mentally ill, people with substance abuse problems. there are the people that fall through the cracks of society. but that is the public read what the public wants and the public is understandably afraid because this is a real problem. then there are these people who build prisons and service prisons who give

the public defender has the responsibility of defending the public, whether we enforce the bill of rights, whether we insure the constitution, including the right to effective counsel, are kept, whether it is making sure the individual is protected against the machinery of the government now, and the power of the government, the public defender has the role of ensuring accountability in our system. it is a difficult role because we have not been given the resources we need to do that job. from the early days, the public defender's office as well as conflicts council, assigned to rept represent people in cases has not received the resources that we need in order to do our jobs properly. so we're going to talk about those failings as well. so we have a great panel. i'm so exciteded to introduce and give you an overview of what's going to happen today. we have speakers from all over the country and we're going to talk about injustice and how in their experience it affects every day people. and our second panel is going to talk about the need to remake the image of a public defender. you alwa

employees that provide parking to the public? as far as -- as far as the reason why they should -- public transit employees should be treated differently is they don't have a choice. as far as transit first policy, we encourage the public to utilize transit. as an employee you may not have the selection, due to the fact that you're off, off peak as it relates to your ability to travel to work. that is an exceptional and unusual circumstance as it relates -- in my mind as it relates to transit employees in particular. in addition if you're a city employee who provides public education at unified or community college sdefwrict, you don't have to pay to park. if you're employed by the city and county of san francisco, the city doesn't seek two extract revenue from you to provide the public service. yet if you're a public transit employee, you're expected to be held to the public standard versus the other similar situations of public employees. with respect to collective bargaining agreements, i believe that the terms of the collectiv

is there any member of the public who would like to speak on this item? public comment is closed. can we have a motion to authorize the amendment of the legal services agreement? motion by commissioner mirkarimi, seconded by commissioner avalos. can we take that without objection? item passes. please call the next item. >> item 7, executive officer's report. >> i want to thank you for the previous item. it is typical to sit while you -- while your own contract is being discussed. this will be brief. first, i wanted to report back to you on the pull-mounted solar program. you may recall that we had a program we talked to you about that we thought might dovetail in with the second phase of the cca program and locals sold requirements. the program is out of new jersey. they are also doing a pilot project in los angeles and arizona, and mexico. sfpuc has been very helpful in accommodating to meeting with them and setting of potential sites for them to do the demonstration here in san francisco. secondly, i wanted to give a brief report on the fact of the legislation that we were direct

we have our colleague from the department of public works. if i could ask for brief comments. i know from our last meeting, there were questions on the plan and some of the other works that may be unfunded in the city. i know we also heard from the other budget analysts on this item. i would like to hear from our budget analyst on this again. >> thank you. just a quick review. the city did install most of the access for renovation. because of the design challenges -- not because it was forgotten. it was not completed in that time. until 2008 the design was vetted and approved. the board of supervisors also approved the certification -- the certificate of precipitation -- participation. last week, you requested a list of unfunded access projects, and we provided that to you along with a memo, and i am always happy, in fact eager to talk about where we are in our access work and what we still have to do. i want to clarify the memo outlined -- we do not want to confuse choices we can make for the ada transition plan with requirements for new construction. we routinely reevaluate h

we think this is a great use of public space. the whole foods going in. it is definitely improving public safety. yet another great project coming forward from the mta. we are happy to see this moving forward. thank you. commissioner campos: thank you. if there is -- is there any other member of the public like to speak? seeing and 9, public comment is closed -- seeing none, public comment is closed. can we take this without objection? thank you. madam clerk, call item seven. >> affirm the commitment to the project. this is an action item. >> good morning, commissioners. maria lombardo. you got a preview of this back in november. this is a three-part action the primary part is the primary plan for the subway project. for context, december 2011 is when the sfmta will get funding for the project. this is a pretty big deal. it is all 1.7 $5 million project -- $1.75 million. it represents the federal commitment to fully funding the project. it is a really big deal for the project. that is the plan -- let's back up a second. there are many things the mta has to

never mind the harm to the public of the library. never mind the damage to the public trust. never mind all the good this money could have done, extended for a useful purpose. what about misrepresentations to their own donors, who thought their millions were born to benefit the public library? the supervisors represent the people who ended up giving these people money. if the foundation were collecting for sickle cell anemia, they would be in jail by now. everybody says it is only the library. that is like saying it is only human history. in fact, that is why i always say the lies cost more. president chiu: thank you. next speaker. >> or ray hart, director of san francisco open government. i would like the slides to remain on the screen until i take them off. i am going to be talking about different san francisco boards and commissions. i have attended many meetings. there are problems i have seen. i am going to start with the residential rent stabilization and arbitration board. i am doing this because this is a petition for redress of grievances. i am 32 other residents of a

order to improve the department of public health. çwith the departure of mitch kz @ san francisco general hospital, i would encourage the department of public health to better its performance. i think there has been a lot of discontent of certain aspects. items like item two will give the department of public health enough money to improve itself. çunfortunately, all of us are aware about the news of laguna honda hospital. i feel barbara garcia will support on going whistleblowing activities by employees in her department. çhopefully, that will extend te sand and this could general hospital. >> thank you. any other public comment? seeing none, public comment is closed. a request to continue this item to the call of the chair. so moved. do we have many more items before us? >> no, mr. chaiv >> very good. this meeting is adjourned. ç >> this is the regular meeting of the san francisco planning commission for thursday, february 3, 2011. if i could remind everyone to turn off any electronic devices that may sound off during these proc

i can provide that to you or the public. we serve the tenderloin completely, south of market, civic center and union square neighborhood. our lines go out to bush st., all the way to third -- it is quite a big swath of the community. those neighborhoods and police stations are within our jurisdiction. supervisor mirkarimi: it just so happens that my district abuts to your border. it struck an initial concern when this conversation came up almost three years ago. how do you answer the question to people who say

are there other members of the public who wish to comment? public comment is closed. thank you very much for the presentations. i am willing to support this item. i do think we need to be cognizant of when we allow for waivers to exist for competitive bidding. given the tight time lines required for the america's cup, given the fact we did have a recent competitive bid for the agency did win and there is a clear connection to the two, i am willing to be supportive of this item. supervisor mirkarimi? supervisor mirkarimi: something that was not mentioned, but i think it would be a good time to refer to it, it was when in the earlier process of san francisco vying to host the america's cup that there had been contemplation by people not in this room that wanted to seek a state exemption for the environmental review. that was alarming. that had motivated and number of folks, me included, from around the state', from the land use community, who funneled into the conversation in san francisco. what a mistake that would have been if we did not pursue that route. then, it wou

the only exception is if the trees are maintained by the department of public works. if not, the responsibility would fall on the property owner. >> a couple questions. one i talked about with the staff before the meeting, but maybe the committee would like to know. i was approached by somebody who had suddenly that i'll leave behind their building had a gate on it, -- the alley behind their building had a gate on it, so it would be nice to know what the process is for coding and gave up, when is it -- for putting a gave up. the second is what is the process for someone who wants to use the sidewalks and outdoor benches to have coffee, not just temporary but on going? >> as it relates to the gate in the alleyway, currently state law prohibits the blocking of public alleyways. that would grant access, unless there is a finding from the city. we have another situation i know of where somebody put up a gate without telling anyone. they are going to purchase the alleyway. when it becomes a private property they are going to fend sloot off a. >> they can do that without per

is there anyone from the public that would like to comment on this item? seeing none, public comment is closed. i want to make it clear from your loving and giving heart each and every giving year start the money off fine february in the month the money is really going to shine march is going to march down the money i'll april you are the money easter bunny when you smile thank you for this item i gave it a whirl thank you for this item each and every day of the year supervisor chu: thank you. are there other members of the public that would like to comment? >> good morning. i am speaking in favor of the ordinance. the present system, as you know is broken. it is not sustainable. this is a small step to eliminate that situation. thank you. supervisor chu: thank you. other members of the public that wish to comment on items six and item seven? seeing none, public comment is closed. i believe there is an amendment to one of the pieces of legislation. either the city attorney or department, could you elaborate on what that would be? >> in light of the comments

the next item. this is just general public comment and so it relates to items not on the calendar. >> is there any publiccomment. >> now you are on public comment for agenda items for the public hearing has been closed. at this time, members of the public who wish to address the commission on an item that has been viewed in which members of the public are allowed to testify and the public hearing has been closed. each member of the public may address the commission for up to three minutes. the only item on calendar is item number 94 mission street on the certification of the final environmental impact report. >> is there any comment on the certification of the environmental impact reports? >> item number94350 mission street. certification for the final eir. -- at item number 9 for 350 mission street. >> this poses demolition of an existing four-story building containing office space and retail uses and construction of a new 24 story 50 foot tall building containing approximately 340,000 square feet. the uses are approximately 6,500 feet of retail space. approximately 23,500 feet of subterranean parking a