family? passage of the uniting american families act or inclusion of ufa and lgbt families in immigration reformwill not only benefit me about the thousands of people who are also in the same situation as i am. amending immigration policy of this country to include permanent partners will serve, in the long run, to keep families like ours together. it is a great privilege to be here with you today. i humbly ask for your support, and thank you. [applause] >> good evening, everybody. i have to do it. now i cannot see you. i want to thank the commission, organizers, and tell the panelists how great we are for your insight and advocacy. my name is melanie nathan. i am a personal advocate and conflict resolution specialist. i serve as vice president on the board of fair housing in marine and was recently reappointed to the marin human rights council. i practiced law in south africa before moving to the u.s. in march of this year i was faced with a choice. i could stay in the united states with might call-year-old daughter in a shared custody arrangement or i would have to leave her behind to go into

the reality of the building is that while it's two units, only one unit can be considered family-sized. the lower unit is small, cold and dark due to lack of access of light. we would like to have two family units to allow me and claire to live cufflely. improving this plan is a long-term plan. we engaged with our neighbors to gather their input and had many meetings, phone calls and email exchanges to make sure we were providing the opportunity for feedback. as our drawing will show, our plans have changed significantly to provide concessions that will address any concerns that have been raised. it's our opinion and that of the san francisco planning department staff that the objections put forth by the d.r. requesters feel to meet the requirements of extraordinary circumstances. it is our belief that the plaket from 313 objects to our project because he wishes to protect his view to the north and his property line windows. they will have to be covered up when we improve our home. he is all too familiar with the reality neither of these are protected so he is trying other tactics. as

it is one of those moments where we get to see visibly a united official family but, more than that, a united city come together and embrace a very important decision that i'm about to make. >> thank you. [applause] >> there are so many people up here and been part of this whole decision making and advice and community, but i want to of course acknowledge officials here. we have presiding judge feinstein joining us. we have the president of our board and members of our board of supervisors. i know david chiu is here, jane kim, carmen. ross mirkarimi. malia cohen, of course. our city attorney. we have representatives from mrs. harris's office and city public safety officials. jose ses -- cesnaros our d.a. george gascon. jeff, the public defender, many conversationse conversationsen:the sheriff, juvenile probation chief. office of citizens complaints. joyce hicks. edit harringto harrington. edit harringto harrington interim chief, thank you for your wonderful service being interim chief. a number of members of our police command staff. certainly the police commission. mr. mazuko i want

not more of them agree, can put it on the ballot and we think we will have the united family with us and it will be spreving a dignified pension and one that we could afford and one that will not hurt her general fund as we've been doing. that's what we have is our goal. [applause] >> so the next three -- tina moreland, barry livingston and jim maxwell. >> can you hear me? good evening. my question is directed at phil ginsburg. firstly, thank you very much for being attentive. i'm with russian hill neighbors so we're part of district two, part of district three, and we've been blessed with four parks in our neighborhood. and two of them have clubhouses, dimaggio and helen wells. and we have liaisons to the parks. and last monday -- i'm sure -- i think it got to your office by monday afternoon, one of our -- helen wills person showed up to help clean the toys and they weren't allowed in. they lugged up the hill all of their cleaning supplies and got there and were told they couldn't clean the play room for the children because they needed to be fingerprinted. so i understand if you're

all the units are three-room units and work well for families. the parking is located below grade and we have to build a full garage level so regardless of the number of spaces we allowed to provide there, we will have a full garage below grade level. none of the parking is at grade level so it doesn't reduce the amount of retail. and it doesn't have any negative impacts on pedestrian experience or other urban design concepts in general. we have done two other things in a sense to compensate for the residential parking and reduced the commercial parking and originally proposed four and only now proposing two and added those two car share spaces although none are required. i also want to mention a word about the outreach and there are no requirements but we feel it's appropriate and something we want to do and ought to do. what we have is we have two general neighborhood meetings. one in early 2009 and one in late last year. we sent notices to people within 300-foot radius of the project site and if you look at the package that i submitted, exhibi

units. the owner is also the owner of the care facility? are these separate -- >> the other families. >> just to clarify, we want this to be part of the care facility. dakota, those permits, a single family dwelling. this is not new. commissioner borden: i am trying to understand the relationship. it was not going to be a revenue source for the center, just for the family to live there. i have asked my question. i was just trying to determine whether or not there was an economic value through them that it would help subsidize the facility. that would make something may be more desirable. if there was an economic rationale. >> there is a motion and a second with intent to disapprove. on that motion -- [roll call vote] so moved, commissioners. it passes unanimously. >> we don't want to go beyond a couple of weeks, let me go to the calendar. may 19 i don't think it's doable. let's place it on the may 26 calendar. having two separate hearings, i don't think it is something. it is quick though. let's go with the nineteenth. is that enough time to draft its? would that be ok with you? 19.

if it was actually a dwelling unit for someone that was going to, one member of a family that was going to provide the care, it is incorrectly constructed because you would want access and not have to walk all the way around a lot to get in. if it is not, then it is an intensification of use. in either case, it is wrong. >president olague: i believe thy came in the originally to ask for an intensification of use. for an institutional use in a residential neighborhood, i have to assume that most of the hall -- they're mostly residential units around the institutional use. you basically have single-family dwellings that are in the midst of an institutional use. i concede granting -- i see granting an intensification of use. but to tread compound that it has no real association with the care or the residents in the facility right below it. initially, they were asking for a size that would go beyond the scope of the neighborhood character is what i am hearing. it is asking for too much, actually. i am happy to see it remain at an institutional use caring for those residents. but i can't sup

i'm the only person in my family born in the united states. my family is from mexico did my grandfather was recruited to work here in the united states during world war ii. my father emigrated here. i sister and my mother emigrated in 1967. we have very different experiences for all three of those members of my family. in my entire professional life, i was looking back. i've always been around immigration law. i am proud that it has been so. someone asked me if i ever regretted been so focused on that. i said i did not do it on purpose. somebody just told me once to do what you love and everything will work out. i'm pleased to say that it has. we were told to give our perspective a little bit. it's hard not to speak personally about comprehensive immigration reform and what it means. i had the privilege to work on some of the most meaningful cases to me. i know it's the one place in san francisco i always know how to get to. to give you a brief legislative update, one of the things that i said before ever working for a congressperson, if they k

that day no matter where we came from, what got a reprieve to, what race we were we were united as one american family. we were united in our resolve to protect our nation, to bring those who committed this attack to justice. we quickly learned the 9-11 attacks were carried out by al-qaida and organization headed by osama bin laden who declared war on the united states that was committed to killing and since around the globe. we went to war against al-qaida to protector citizens, friends, allies. over the last 10 years thanks to the tireless and road work of our military and are professionals we made great strides in that. we have disrupted terrorist attacks. afghanistan we remove the levant government around the globe we work with their friends and allied sought to capture or kill terrorists including several who were part of the 9-eleven plot. yet osama bin laden escaped across the afghan border into pakistan. a look at the continued to operate from the border and through its affiliates throughout the world. last august after years of pan staking work i was briefed on a possible leak to osama bin la

, no matter where we came from or what god we prayed to or what race or ethnicity, we were united as one familye united to protect our nation and to bring this attack to justice. we learned that the 9/11 attacks were headed by osama bin laden, and we went to war against al-qaeda to protect our citizens, our friends and allies. over the last 10 years, thanks to the tireless and heroic work of our military and other professionals, we made great strides in that effort. we disrupted terrorist attacks and in afghanistan we removed the taliban government that had given al-qaeda safe haven, and we worked to kill scores of al-qaeda terrorists that were part of the 9/11 plot. yet osama bin laden escaped across the border and shortly after taking office, i directed the director of the c.i.a., to make the killing or capture of bin laden the top priority of our war against al-qaeda. even as we continued our broader efforts to disrupt, dismantle and defeat his network. and then last august, after painstaking work, i was briefed on a possible lead to bin laden, it was far from certain and i met with our team

units in parkmerced. this will mean greater protections for seniors and families. it will bring 1500 permanent affordable units. we are allowing the demolition of two-bedroom units, against the long standing demolition policy to protect our housing. if this product is to happen, the least we can do is to mitigate the incentive to displaced tenants and preserve the affordability of the one dozen 538 units for the life of the building. -- for the 1538 units for the life of the building. i stand not to support this development agreement, but i think if we are going to talk about rent-controlled for the future of the development agreement, this is language that i think is stronger than what is existing currently in the legislation. i will pass out a copy of this motion. supervisor mirkarimi: i think we may want an opinion from the city attorney about the ability to amend the development agreement. would that be ok with you? supervisor avalos: yes. supervisor mirkarimi: not the city attorney. >> the development agreement is a contract. there is legislation approving it.

units. we do not have family-style units anymore. we do not have once created or built. that's the problem. that's why a lot of people are leaving the city. that's why a lot of people are looking to find a place they can live again. that's what park merced represented and that's what we need again today. supervisor mar: thank you. we are going to recess until 10:15 a.m. i'm going to call the next cards. they will be the first to speak as we come back at 10:15 a.m. >> thank you. good morning, supervisors. i'm here to support sending the park merced items forward as the committee reports to the full board. it's incredibly important for san francisco to keep making progress on adding diverse types of housing within city limits. the amount of housing proposed and its carefully deployed density is necessary to support a successful transit-first community. i've been impressed with supervisor chu's transit- oriented planning and i see this project as consistent with that thinking. the plan provides a nice array of housing types to support a diverse population, with the current

also with us, patricia riley, chairwoman of the trade center united family group.ster, la raorrain the south tower. let me start with patricia. this is your moment. what do you feel, what do you think? >> i'm very, very grateful to the military, to the navy s.e.a.l.s, to the president for not forgetting and for ensuring that our for not forgetting and ensuring that all the innocent people who were by instruction of osama bin laden that we finally got justice, and i'm very grateful to them for that, very happy. i'm really most happy knows that the last thing he thought was the americans came to get me for what i did to them. i feel gratitude for them. >> i never heard it put that way. jimmy, thanks for putting it on. i can't imagine losing a son. i can't imagine it. your thoughts tonight, sir? >> very happy, chris, that he was killed. i can't give so many thanks, so many people supported us, but i feel a burden has been lifted off our shoulders. i got the call from congressman before 10:00 last night, he was killed and to put the television on. my whole attitude, wh

i don't think these types of units are going to be affordable to your average family. that is what i am concerned about actually. i know that can't be or isn't necessarily the basis for not supporting this type of a project, but i do believe they will be out of the range of your average san franciscoian who is a nurse or teacher or middle class families looking to buy in decent neighborhoods. yo i don't think these are going to be afford to believe them. at some point i would like to hear back from staff and request to actually -- i might not even be here by the time you go on the market, but i think a lot of these units, they end up selling for close to $1 million per unit and that is not affordable family housing. and that is not the type of housing that we need to see more november this city i don't think. based on what i am hearing from the housing element and based on what i pear from abag reports and all the other studies i am constantly hearing presented to us here, i am not sure how some of the projects we're being asked to approve meet any of the standards aro

so the ultimate thing is building that family unit. i was going to run to that. life goes on. we all have a duty not just to the child. but to the family. because the child comes from a family and most the children that we're working with. the families are broken. the homes are broken. so they lived through this years and years. the parents have lived through broken families. >> i do want to say, we have to start with the kids. the kids are actually bring the parents. when the programs are working, then when you put on an event, the kid says, you have to go to this. if you don't come, i can't participate. it's a lot of the families that we're working with, the parents sometimes are at the same loss that the school and community it. i think it's empowering the young people and then they are parenting their parents. we have to deal with that reality. some of these kids are on their own. and going to the parent didn't necessarily make a difference. if we can get the kids to buy in. they can be motivated their own life. >> well, me, i just started to speaking to my dad. i haven't s

where we came from, what god we prayed to, or what race or ethnicity we were, we were united as one american family. we were also united in our resolve to protect our nation and to bring those who committed this vicious attack to justice. we quickly learned that the 9/11 attacks were carried out by al qaeda, an organization headed by osama bin laden, which had openly declared war on the united states and was committed to killing innocence in our country and around the globe. so, we went to war against al qaeda. to protect our citizens, our friends and our allies. over the last ten years, thanks to the tireless and heroic work of our military and our counterterrorism professionals, we've made great strides in that effort. we've disrupted terrorist attacks and strengthened our homeland defense. in afghanistan, we removed the taliban government which had given bin laden and al qaeda safe haven and support. around the globe we worked with our friends and allies to capture or kill scores of al qaeda terrorists, including several who were a part of the 9/11 plot. yet osama bin laden avoided capture. esca

all the units are three-room units and work well for families. the parking is located below grade and we have to build a full garage level so regardless of the number of spaces we allowed to provide there, we will have a full garage below grade level. none of the parking is at grade level so it doesn't reduce the amount of retail. and it doesn't have any negative impacts on pedestrian experience or other urban design concepts in general. we have done two other things in a sense to compensate for the

it could have a lot to do with the economic climate and stresses on individual family units at this time. those were the main findings. i can answer any questions if you have any specifics. supervisor avalos: how has the funding change for families and family support services? there was a reduction based on community development block grant monies. what has been done in place of that? is the city going to back fill any of that loss of funding? >> we have made the commitment to continue all of our funding for family resource center is. we believe strongly, particularly after these findings, supporting family's is key to keeping social support intact for the city. we are not proposing any reductions to current providers. we do know that perhaps some of our partners might be undergoing funding pressures in terms of funding from the state and the mayor's office, holding some of our dollars for potential state reductions so that we can backfill child care services and family resource center is. once again, these are the areas that we feel are crucial for supporting families in the city. super

where we came from, what god we prayed to, or what race or ethnicity we were, we were united as one american family. we were also united in our resolve to protect our nation and to bring those who committed this vicious attack to justice. >> james: a live look good ground zero, the a comic image of those a timbre towers etched in the mind of millions of americans. it will remain show for generations. they are rebuilding on that site. last night budgetary ground zero in washington hundreds of if not thousands gathered in the streets celebrating and these this chapter in this ongoing last night we had to his feet on the phone, his wife lauren was three months pregnant with their first child when their plane was hijacked by terrorists. >> it is a shock to find a good the news, it is a relief in a way that we see the responsible party has been dealt with hopefully it's a relief that future terrorist acts will not occur. it is better speed. the dutch bittersweet. it's not just as well people are killed for the wrong reasons. the new and has lost someone across the world. there will agree that, it's sens

where we came from, what god we prayed to, or what race or ethnicity we were, we were united as one american family. we were also united in our resolve to protect our nation and to bring those who committed this vicious attack to justice. we quickly learned that the 9/11 attacks were carried out by al qaeda, an organization headed by osama bin laden, which had openly declared war on the united states and was committed to killing innocence in our country and around the globe. >> the president also thanked the intelligence community who he says secured leads on bin laden's location since august. >>> there is new information emerging tonight on the timeline of events of all of this that led up to this mission that killed osama bin laden. the white house says it started tracking a courier last august who frequently made stops at the bin laden compound. this is just outside of islamabad, about 40 to 60 miles that compound includes a mansion that is five times the size of the homes around it. and according to sources, it had no internet service or telephone service, but had several couriers delivering pa

matter where we came from, what god we pray to, what race or ethnicity we were, we were united as one american family. we were also united in our resolve to protect our nation and to bring those who committed this vicious attack to justice. >> president obama in the east room of the white house earlier tonight. you are looking at all the people gathering in lafayette park. we have a similar gathering in ground zero. i have been admonished not to call it flash mob, it sent by definition, but they did form in a flash, after the news came out. all the spontaneous gatherings. i dasegal is interviewing folks it is hard to explain. you know it when you feel it happening. if you live near a place where peat are gathering, it is nice to have an excuse to go out, be part of something. a chance to feel good. that is exactly what people in places like new york and washington are doing. as sunday becomes monday, and people are somehow finding very large american flags to bring down to the gatherings. people of all political stripes. rachel maddow called in to say there were bush t-shirts, obama campaign signs. t

we are one family unit. there is no way that we can possibly compete, and i think the level playing field is actually correct. the buying power of these companies so far outweighs our capacity to buy that it is not even a comprehensible that we get even compete at that level. currently, in that corridor, there are six pet supply stores of some kind, six within that little corridor, 21 block, and i think the neighborhood would be well served if another type of business comes in to some of those areas or some of those vacant storefronts that are there, and the entire neighborhood can enjoy it. why do we continually have to have five, six of the same type of stores in a merchant neighborhood when we are dealing with a corporation that has 1000 stores nationwide? so it does have a huge impact. it already had an impact. if the commissioners would take in consideration if that would actually happen, if petco were allowed there, four stores would be impacted, pinched with a 42- store chain on one end and a 1000-sto