vince harris/ vince has a long and distinguished career. he was lured away six or so years ago and we had the good fortune to lure him back. >> [inaudible] >> he comes with requiring no learning curve. we gave him about five minutes of high demand. -- honeymoon. he brings an understanding of capital programs and product delivery, but he had a couple of different stance on the capital funding and planning side. that is really great value to us, having run the equivalent of rta or mtc. he brings that funding and planning expertise to the agency. that is important to the delivery of capital projects. we're very glad to have him aboard. i do not know if you wanted to come up and say a few words. >> welcome back, mr. harris. >> thank you, chairman. it is a great opportunity to be here. it is an honor and privilege to be back and the capacity, kind of a rare opportunity to get to come back home. i think the director and the sport for this opportunity. -- and the board for this opportunity. it is my job to deliver quality projects, working collaborative play with all the communities in the city and county of san francisco. >> the opportunity to recognize employees is something that i look forward to a lot. so many of them are doing such good work and they're not that many opportunities to recognize them. when the certificates come across the desk, at reasons we are recognizing them, it is a great thing. one of the certificates came across my desk and get -- my hand was shaking as i had to sign it. it was bittersweet. i want to ask miss johnson if she will step forward. [applause] we are giving debra special recognition because this is not everyday that something like we have this opportunity. deborah has spent 20 years in the transportation and transit business. she worked at bart, she worked for wmata, which runs the metro ntin d.c. she subsequently became director of administration and accessible services. before i came, it you appointed her to be the interim executive director and ceo of the agency. what you may not know is that she is also president of the northern california chapter of the conference on minority transportation officials. she is active in the women's transportation seminar. she serves on the california transit association's executive committee. she is on urban habitats board of directors. i know you will recognize how phenomenal diver is for this agency and for the city -- dabber is for this agency and for the city. i met with her very early on. i had a great conversation. from that moment forward, i have had the best of working relationships. in the success i have had i really a tribute to her support and guidance. she really knows this agency inside out. she really understands san francisco, at extremely hard- working, i am happy to recognize her for all of that, it is a little bit a bittersweet because we are recognizing her as she moves on to bigger and better things. she is leaving to become the deputy chief operating officer for l.a. metro. back in the day, it might have been a little transit system in a big city. but now the growth of transit in los angeles is a phenomenal. this is a phenomenal opportunity for her and for them. a big loss for us, but great for l.a. we wanted to take this opportunity to recognize her. beforeher to say a few words,i will turn it back to the chair. >> when i got the e-mail, i said no. [laughter] it turns out i do not have that kind of authority. it has been wonderful working with you. it has been wonderful, a very warm, personable person who represents the agencies so well. colleagues, which to care to say anything at this point? >> no. [laughter] it has been wonderful to work with you. l.a. is so lucky to have you. i wish you all the best. i know you will go on to have a continued amazing career. we will miss you a lot. >> probably the secretary of transportation. director ramos: thank you so much for all of your dedication and hard work. when i first came on to the board, you were one of the people who impressed me the most. he served as an inspiration for me to really dig in and give your heart and soul. you just wowed me all all around. thank you so much for all of your professionalism and your dedication and your inspiration. best of luck to you. >> members of the board? director heinicke: the most interaction i have had with you were with labor negotiations for you did a fantastic job. of all the things that have impressed me about you, in this era of the new ground rules under the new proposition, as you could go through those very contentious interchanges an audience of all of that, he kept your poise, but advocating free strenuously for the agency. everyone is still held great respect and admiration for you. i think that is a real testament to your abilities as a person and a leader. you can go through a process and have everyone still love you at the end. if e-mail would have come to me, i would have been upset. but yes, i am very proud of you. you were going to do great things and i wish to the best. >> i would like to congratulate you. i think you have been phenomenal and i wish you all of the best. i am sure we will see many things from you in the years to come. you live all the attributes to do very well. thank you for your leadership. >> it has been a real pleasure working with the. -- with you. you were the consummate professional. any time i called, you never had a bad day. it was always a pleasure working with you. i want to wish you luck. i expect to hear great things about you. >> [inaudible] [applause] >> first and foremost, i want to thank chairman , members of the board, this is quite an honor. these years have been truly monumental in reference to my career. as indicated, i have had the opportunity to work did various transportation entities across the country. san francisco is very dynamic and unique. each day is like no other. i can recall one day, every time you turn over a rock, there is another rock. i just have moving them to the side. i want to thank my colleagues. the players may have changed, but we still had that synergy. it is very important that we do that on a daily basis. i would be remiss not to the acknowledge the wonderful staff that we have here at the sfmta. oftentimes, we do not get are just do. people remember the bad things that happen. i want to acknowledge the hard- working people that are so committed to this city and committed to delivering a viable transportation. i want to thank each and every one of you for the opportunity. i will most definitely be in touch. it is about sustainability. thank you, once again. [applause] >> we can move on to public comment on the directors' report. >> i want to ask a question about the director's report. we did talk about the issue of spare cabs. i think it would be a good idea to look at a protocol for when we can do this again. the u.s. open is not going to be the last big event we have. i appreciate your looking at that. thank you to the taxi community that brought this to the floor as the u.s. open was going on in conjunction with the bart issue. it speaks to the bigger issue of overall demand. we are doing a study on that right now. there was some concern raised that the folks doing the study had not spoken to the cab companies yet and the dispatch services. i know the interviews are being scheduled now. i assume they will get around to talking to the cab companies. we will make sure that they are talk to as part of the process. >> there are some members of the public who wish to address here. -- you. >> directors, what i want to bring to your attention is when the third street light rail was constructed, $700 million project, over 85% of the businesses suffered. when the market street light rail was constructed, all the businesses were compensated. i have worked in other ways with the director, and he is one of the few directors -- this is a difficult project. we need to consult and bring the businesses, the small businesses, to the table. with america's cup, it is not fair. vince harris was there when third street was done, so he knows me pretty well. it is going to be a little bit difficult, because he just arrived, but we have to cater to the small businesses. we have to put our best foot possible. what i like about the director, he has accountability and transparency. you send him an e-mail, and quickly he response to you. that means somebody is, you know, he is on the go. that is what i like about him. i want to thank you again for the two bus shelters. thank you very much. >> good afternoon. i want to welcome the new director. i want to let you know that more than anybody else in the cab industry, i welcome your presence because you're predecessor, i had to file some ethics complaints against. i am hoping you will get to know that. transit system that the cab's operate. -- the paratransit system that the cab's operate. i would appreciate if you would get yourself a debit card. mark is a great guy. i hope he will also report some of your experiences so we