my guaranteed minimum, which is $18,000 a year, overshadows the guarantee or the estimated income of $7,000 that they're going to be providing. we're hanging in there. we're doing well. we have exceeded our minimum last year. that was before the new cafe opened in the presidio 100 feet from our location. that was having an impact on us. i am concerned that the food carts, if you put them down in the marina green, are going to have a further impact on our business. i am your partner down at the marina green and i want to work together with you, but this is going to make it kind of tough. thank you. president buell: thank you. >> we are done with general public comment at this time and we are on to item number five, which is the consent calendar. i do have one card and that is peter -- president buell: there is public comment at the end of the meeting as well, but we open it up to 15 minutes at the beginning of the meeting. so if you haven't been heard you'll get a chance for items that aren't on the agenda. >> peter? >> ok. is there any other public comment under the consent calendar? seeing known, public comment is closed. commissioners? >> moved to approve. president buell: it's been moved and seconded. any questions? hearing none, all those in favor. [chorus of ayes. ] president buell: it's unanimous. >> we're on to number six. vendor location. >> good afternoon, commissioners i'm the director of partnerships and resource development for the department. i'm here today to present the location of the blue bottle coffee concession in delores park. on september 2 the commission approved a two-year permit. it was in response to feedback from the community, where they preferred not to have a five-year permit, but instead, preferred to have a shorter permit. at that meeting the commission also directed staff to locate blue bottle in the southwest quadrant of the park and to return to a future commission meeting to plent the proposed location. we have since met with blue bottle staff as well as operations staff to identify a suitable location. the proposed location is adjacent to the children's play area in the southern portion of the park. the department staff worked closely to identify a location closer to 20th and church, but there's very little hardscape in that area, so this is the furthest or closest appropriate location to the proposed location. and this location is over 1,000 feet away from 18th street and delores. i also want to discuss what will happen when the playground undergoes renovation sometime hopefully next year. as this playground renovation will occupy a large part of the southern portion of the park, including the identified location for blue bottle coffee, it was necessary to find an alternative location during construction. and due to uncertain logistics -- construction logistics, we haven't identified exactly where that will go, but we are proposing that it will go against what is going to be a construction fence. it's also on this map. it's hard to see, but it's the top sort of white box. this is almost 1,000 feet away from 18th street and delores. we had a community outreach meeting to discuss this and our vendor policy in general. it was held on september 27 at mission delores church right off the park. it was convened by delores park works and attended by approximately 45 to 50 people. there were panel relationships that included relationships from the recreation and park department, neighborhood parks council, blue bottle and delores park works. it was also facilitated by delores park works. at the meeting we presented the blue bottle location and responded to the community's concern about having vendors in the parks. in response, we -- due to those concerns, we have agreed vehemently to monitor the operation, the initiative and the park and i want to point out if negative impacts on the park cannot be mitigated. the permits are fully revocable. president buell: thank you. do we want to hear public comment before we get commission comment? >> ok. elizabeth gibbons, julie flynn, daniella, rob lord, shakira finley. if you hear your name, please come forward. and deborah conscious. . . deborah -- thank you. >> my name is robert lord. i am the chair of delores park works. thanks for all the nice things said and thank you for the bathroom. that's a tremendous improvement and i appreciate a member of delores park works is actually leaving the organization, crystal is here, for being an advocate for that. very quickly, as you may be aware, we're a community volunteer organization serving the park's many patrons, in particular, their shared interest, including urgent channels of trash abatement, bathrooms to serve thousands on the weekends and how to cooperate with processes with the rec and park department, which is something i'm engaged with phil on. it's great. today we're here specifically to comment on the park vendor issue. we have concluded that the choice in terms of the vendors, if any, is beyond the delores works park scope and instead will be addressed by community groups, organizations, a lot of people here. our job is to essentially be above the fray and focus instead on the process. so specifically with the vendor agreement, whereas rec and park has executed ventor agreement contracts that have a provision where rec and park can unilaterally revoke those permits and whereas we work with rec and park -- that is delores pork works, neighborhood parks council, can work to document, publish and adhere to community communication engagement and accountability best practices, then and only then delores park works endorses the releasing of the vendor park holds. we understand that it's completely the authority of rec and park and this commission and nevertheless, we think it's important to underscore this communication engagement and accountability best practices so that issues of recourse don't have to become an issue in the future. thank you so much. >> thank you. >> good afternoon. i'd like to, if i may, read a letter on behalf of the executive director of la cocina. to recreation parks and the concerned citizens of san francisco. first of all, thank you for this opportunity to present all of you with knees words. i am sorry that i cannot be here for this meeting, but i am happy knowing that so many people do care about the situation. briefly, i am writing in support of mobile vending in delores park. while the process may be flawed, as has already been indicated, i would also like to put in the general record a sincere acknowledgment of the effort that has to this point gone into the selection of not only small businesses, but the progressive attempts by city departments to create a sustainable revenue stream for its valuable park systems. as a general city, let alone state and country issues, the presence of mobile food vending units in public green space is truly miniscule. but because these parks are parks for all of us, this conversation has been both enlightening and necessary. as an organization la cocina has advocated for five years that would allow low-income entrepreneurs to access avenues for formalization. we believe that the rec and park program is just such a policy and they go a long way in innovation for small business owners. make no mistake about it. this is still very much a business. there have been no give machine awace. with the minimum monthly rents of over $12 per squake foot, we'll be lucky to make money. we need to be cognizant of the potential of making this work and delores park seemed like the right place. we mention this because we believe that part of this conversation must consider the economic reliability of the proposal and the viability of this program. it is because of this recognition that we believe that all sizes of business and nothing is not a good thing for the program and for the parks. hopefully most people know what we do as an organization and know that we work hard to ensure that the city creates opportunities for entrepreneurs. we are here to support the entrepreneurs. president buell: you can finish, go ahead. >> to support our nrps in their opportunities to launch their businesses for a hungry public but also to encourage all of us here today to consider not only the drawbacks, but also the clear benefit of the proposal at hand, increase watchfulness of the park, additional revenue streams into the park's covers in a city that is notoriously difficult to do business in. we have heard and understood the concerns of everyone and rest easy knowing that we can answer to nearly all of the concerns by not only addressing the issues raised, but also by being part of the solution. again, thank you to the city and to all of us here for the ability to have this conversation. president buell: thank you very much. >> next speaker, please. i'll read a few more names. rachel herbert, steven gillett, michael mcconnell and jeff -- president buell: before you begin, let me suggest to staff that i think there are now enough seats that we'll let the staff not suffer anymore. they can sit down. >> hi, folks. my name is julie flynn and i'm also here from la cocina. i wanted to make one additional comment. i think one big concern that we heard at the community meeting was the mismatch of resources in the park in terms of trash and bathrooms, with the addition of new vendors. as an organization that works really closely with one of the vendors that will be in the park, i want to drive home the point that we're excited to be part of the parks community. the way we view our role there is added trash pickup. not only do we have an obligation to pick up the trash, but we would also have a vested interest in doing so. so i think we just really hope to continue to add value to the park community and while the process of the contract may have been flawed and i know there's a lot of emotion flying around that, we really are open to the discussion and hope to continue to add value. so thanks for hearing us. president buell: thank you very much. >> next speaker. >> good afternoon, everyone. my name is shakira finley. i am a small food business owner. i'm also president -- a president of the castro. i am speaking -- i'm sorry. i'm speaking -- i'm here not to be the voice of, but to provide ears for small businesses who cannot be here and speak on behalf of themselves. but hopefully that you will listen and understand that. we really appreciate what san francisco has already done to increase opportunity for mobile vending. it's ironic that we're having this conversation and just several hours ago we had mobile vendors providing great food this afternoon in the plaza. and based on my twitter feed, people love that. in light of the economic market, the tight credit market and also general obstacles for specifically people of color and women in starting and maintaining a business, we should not be limiting opportunities for these populations to operate. i think that's irresponsible. i speak very personally about this issue because it affects me directly. and i really, really feel in allowing for these businesses who come from disadvantaged backgrounds to operate in delores park and add that extra value and bring people into our public spaces and bring tourists and money and our community out. that's something that seems like a common sense to me. the 18th street is a commercial corridor. as a small business, i understand if you go into business there's going to be competition and that's just part of running a business. so i think we should be mindful of that. i just -- sorry, i'm just real passionate about this. i think it's important that we pay attention to the populations that we be revoking opportunity for -- as it is. president buell: thank you very much. >> next speaker, please. >> good afternoon. my name is debora. i'm an 18-year resident of 19th street and i am a 10-year teacher at everett middle school. i'm speaking as a voice for my neighborhood and community. i am most definitely not anti-small business, i am for community, which is why i live and work in my community. as i was listening to the speakers before me, i took notes. i heard someone talk about the degree gragation of golden gate park and about the damage to trees. i heard someone talk about neighborhoods covered in graffiti. that's been the reality of our neighborhood around delores park for the last five years. the overuse is well known and documented. i won't spend your time on that. the park is dead. there is very little green grass. it is mostly brown. the trash fills up. i invite all of you -- everyone invites you to come see things. come see our neighborhood. at 6:00 on a monday or sunday morning after every weekend the overuse and look at the trash buildup. look at the money that our city is spending to remove this trash. the extra garbage cans, the extra few porta-potties, and i agree, sir, they're very unsightly and i can see them from my living room window. it's astonishing the quality of life degrad days that has happened. there are plenty of coffee and food shops within a two to three-block radius. it's not about not wanting vendors in the park it's about wanting to keep the park as calm and less populated as possible. it is overused and it is well documented. thank you. >> rachel, steven, michael, jeff, dina open enshime, lucifer. >> hello, commissioners, thank you for the opportunity to speak again. i just want to preface what i'm going to say by saying that i really love la cocina. they're a great organization and i think they do great work in the mission and around the city, and i personally support them 500%. i am here to talk and speak to the process by which the whole idea of food vendors came about in delores park. it seems that history is repeating itself. in 2008 rec and park signed a contract with a vendor at clay tower without doing sufficient outreach to the neighborhood. the tower concession principles and goals document that i have with me today was drafted by various neighborhood groups in north beach and telegraph hill and is the result of community efforts, involvements and monitoring after a misguided proposal for the coit tower concession in 2008. it has become a public document and should be referred to that way. as i mentioned, i have a copy with me today for your review, but i'm sure you guys already have one. it is clear that the neighborhood is opposed to the commercialization of delores park. we have a petition with over 1,000 signatures from people who are in opposition to a commercialization of delores park. this document speaks for itself as it was posted online and it was put in a handful of neighborhood businesses only five days ago. we have 1,000 signatures. we have about 1,200 signatures after five days. please listen to the community on this one. we understand that the park is in serious need of funding. the numbers thrown out by phil ginsberg at our last community meeting was $70,000. i know phil is doing really good work in other areas and around the city, there's no doubt about that. but let's turn this situation around. i stand before you today as a neighbor and a business owner and i give you my word that i will help raise up $70,000 for delores park. there are numerous ways to come up with that money without having to sell delores park out from under the neighborhood. so please come to us for help instead of pitting us against each other and wreaking havoc in our community. we have an opportunity to work together, so please listen to us. president buell: do we have a copy of that petition? can i take a look at it? i just want to ask you a question about it. i went down to your cafe today. had a nice cup of tea and walked the whole park and just wanted to get a sense of this location that we're proposing. >> thank you. president buell: i have to share a concern. the first line of the petition says "why not? blue bottle coffee is a national chain store and they're in the queue to get a permit to open a push cart in our park. who knows what's next?" how many national sites does blue bottle have? >> i can't speak to that specifically, but they are a $10 million to $20 million company with many locations around the city. and i'm not the author of that document. that was put together by a null of people, so i can't really speak to the specific language. president buell: well, my concern is -- i understand the concern going on here. my understanding is that they're locally started and have four locations in san francisco, one in oakland and one outside california. that's hardly a national chain store. and so all it does for the side that's putting the petition in front of us is question the validity of the petition, if that's the information provided to the person signing. i would sign this based on that. i don't want a national chain store going into a park. that sounds terribly offensive. so i only raise that issue because i'd like to see the facts on the table as we consider this whole issue. fair enough? >> yes. and i don't want -- i want to be respectful of the commission. president buell: please. i just found that -- that it doesn't help the public discourse if we start with an information that -- as i say, i would sign that. >> point taken. and also, you know, blue bottle is a $10 million to $20 million company that is backed by venture capitalists and they have an aggressive plan to spread their business around the world. they are opening in tokyo. you know what? that's great for them. but they don't need to come to a small neighborhood park and -- for pure profit. president buell: that may be. >> ok. >> next speaker, please. >> my name is steven elliott. i live at 19th and guerrero. i've been there many years. and i want to address some of the things that have been said, particularly by the opening speaker, about reaching out to the community. i don't believe there's been any community outreach on this. if you look at the rules under prop g, which would apply to a place like blue bottle, which applied to american apparel that was trying to open on valencia, there has to be a certain amount of community outreach in a certain amount of time. we talked about like 50 people showing up at mission delores. i get 50 people to show up for a talk on this tomorrow. i met with 20 people on my block last night, none of whom had heard about this cafe opening. it would have been so easy for blue bottle to drop postcards or to go knocking on people's doors. they could have gotten the word out. i don't know why they didn't. i know that there's budget concerns, but there will always be budget concerns and they will always be attempts to fell public resources. blue bottle does qualify as a chain, which is five or more stores. and i know that what you guys do -- i have a lot of respect for what you guys do as commissioners. i know that you're mostly volunteers and that you're acting in the public service. and it's an incredibly respectful thing that you do. but ultimately we own the parks, and you manage the parks. and if you were to take a poll of the people that live near the parks, you would find over yemming opposition. if the -- overwhelming opposition. if the word is out on this, it's because of the 20 people i spoke to on my block last night. i ornl heard about this two days ago. the 20 people i spoke to it last night had not even heard about it. so the community has not been consulted on a store -- a chain store that is opening in our neighborhood and it's going around the process that would normally apply to a store opening a store front because it's parks and rec. so it's not being, under proposition g, the sames rules are not applying. president buell: thank you. >> next speaker, please. >> my name is deny net bunch. i've lived in san francisco for 33 years. i've lived between 14th and 15th on delores for 22 years. i do not own a business. i'm a prelim activist for the last 33 years. i just go for coffee every day to maxfield's, which is 17th and delores. it's not a chain. and i'm concerned that this is really a hidden tax. i understand you need money for the parks. but basically what you're doing is you're taking money out of the hands of the individual cafes, the one i go to every day, and putting it in your hands. it's a very sneaky process and it's a tax. and i think a lot of people in the neighborhood are upset about that. not just that, but the commercialization. even if it weren't blue bottle. if it were just an independent -- like a cart that i created and you gave me a permit. the commercialization of that park, we will not stand for it. this permit must be revoked. and i'd be willing to organize a boycott of this cart. president buell: thank you. >> next speaker, please. >> good afternoon, commissioners. my name is michael mcconnell. i'm a small business owner. i've lived in the neighborhood for 12 years. even though the group -- it was a group effort of writing this petition, i'm the one who filed it online. i understand your concern about that general wording of national chain, and i apologize for that. but i do want to clarify that i am also an artist, and if an artist has a show -- one show in new york, they can put on their resume that they're a national artist. they have one show in japan, they can say they're an international artist. you see how it can work either way? president buell: point well taken. >> thank you. [laughter] i also want to know that if you read further on, it says, we love food, we love food carts and we love blue bottle, we just don't want them in our park. that neighborhood is so concentrated. i own a really small business and we're the ruffian, the little guy. it's a place with the community comes and talks and hangs out. we actually know what they do for a living, their name. if i passed them on the way to bart i would notice if they weren't there that day, and that's the type of community we're trying to instill in the park. the people on this petition, they're all people who live there. about 1,000 to 2,000 people visit delores park every day. here's half of them who don't want it. i just think that it's also -- you guys have been talking about we love portland and the food cart. but if you followed the reports that you guys are looking about, portland does their food carts in urban areas in empty parking lots, not where it's green. there's not enough green space in the city. we go there to get away from that stuff, and i attended the community meeting on the 27th and there was no questions answered. people think it's supposed to be a push cafert, it's an eight by 12 trailer. they didn't know what the generator was, how many decibels. a 75-year-old yom asked how many decibels and they didn't know the answer. they didn't know what time they would be operating. there was all kinds of questions. it was just no answers. and they also said that 1.2 million people go through delores park annually. 13 million go through gold epigate park and i propose for them to use social networking and asking people to donate $10. if you ask all 10.2 million people to donate $10, you would be out of your deficit. president buell: great idea, thank you. >> can i say that they never answered my emails in a timely manner? president buell: commissioner levitt. commissioner levitan: i'm not putting you on the spot to speak for all peoples on this, but i'm curious. the dynamic that you're talking about at your cafe -- and that's what we love about independent cafes, especially in san francisco -- do you feel that that cannot exist simultaneous with something in the park? >> it could exist simultaneously with something in the park, but i don't think that's what's going to be created in the park. people that go there, they all go there in the morning with third dogs. i brought a dog and people were like, oh, my god, it's red, are you going to take him? all these questions. but you're going to have these kids going in the park and waiting in line for a cup of coffee. we live -- it's right across from a cafe, where i will see someone abandon their car, run across the sidewalk to get a croissant. blue bottle is great. they have a following, they make a great product. but do you need all that? the park is on record of being too many people going there, and that was one of the arguments is that they told us at the meeting that it will bring more people to your neighborhood. we don't want more people. [applause] commissioner levitan: ok. president buell: thank you, thank you, thank you. >> my name is jeff and i live at 45 delores, which is pretty much catty-corner from the park. by the time i heard of this and most people that i know in the neighborhood heard of this, it was already a done deal. it was no longer a question of should something go in there. not only was it decided that something was going to go in there, blue bottle and la cocina were the ones that were