so ever since we we would ask if you have any electronic devices you please, turn those off so they do not go off during the meeting. that you take any secondary conversations you may have outside. if you would like to speak on an item today we request that you complete a blue card unless otherwise announced by the president each person will have three minutes for public comment on each item. if there is an item of interest that's not on the agenda and is under the subject matter jurisdiction of the commission you may speak under general public comment and that is item before and then continued on item 7. when you address comments to the commission, please in order to allow equal time for all the commission or staff to respond to any questions during public comment. the commission may request staff to respond when the public comment is done. last, if the fire alarm is activated you have to evacuate the building using any exit. please note, elevators will immediately return to the first floor and are not available for use. if you need assistance out of the building, please, make your way to the closest area refuge which is directly across the hall in the men's restroom inside the restroom are a speaker box and security will answer your to let them know where you are and they will assist you. with that commissioner we are in item 2 the presidents report. >> thank you. very briefly, two things. one, i do very productive meeting out of the zoo at the mother's building with representatives of the art commission and the recreation and park department and the zoo staff. with richard rothman and kind of moderately happy to report were making some slow progress there and that there is [inaudible] to connect the building to be able to heat it to preserve those murals. there's some money that has been appropriated with the city budget to start some initial work on it. so i think were finally moving in the right direction. i don't see richard here, but i want to thank him for his continued devotion to that. secondly, i would like commissioner anderson to make a few comments. >> thank you commissioner buell.i just want to highlight that the wreck park staff commissioners were invited to a ribbon-cutting at the south end rowing club and the area they are touches on wreck park land and they extended the envelope of the building to allow women members to have a real changing room, locker room, where they been changing basically in a closet for decades. i think they want to one a fight in 1970s to include women turn it was a great celebration and they gave the san francisco recreation and parks department a certificate of appreciation and especially have a shout out to cassandra costello for being such a great team member for this event. so i just want to share that. we had this phenomena give this to our general manager nils ginsberg in a few minutes but anyway it's a great community asset here, and by the way south end rowing club has a really affordable membership if you're interested in rowing running or swimming. so thank you. >> thank you. that concludes my report. >> any public comment on item 2, presidents report? seeing none, public comment is closed to item 3, general managers report. >> good morning commissioners. today is april 20. [laughing] 4-20. if you happen to be in the east end of golden gate park today and suddenly have the urge to eat an entire bag of doritos you will know it's because 4-20 is also the date of the annual unofficial event in the area of the park celebrating for good and for bad, marijuana.in years past, this unofficial unsanctioned event the regularly draws 10-13,000 people from all over the bay area has been a real challenge for us. it's negatively impacted our parks, our staff and surrounding communities. last year we spent well over $50,000 a year in cleanup and park staffing on just on this one day. we collected 11 tons, or 22,000 pounds of trash in golden gate park alone and this does not even begin to address the impacts to surrounding neighborhoods with traffic and variety of other bad behavior to it's a tough event for us to manage. this year i am cautiously optimistic that things will be a little better. in partnership with supervisor breed and several government agencies, including the police department, fire department, public works, mta, sheriff, juvenile probation animal care and control, we have partnered together to create a plan that encourages participants to respect our community's and parks. that plan is possible because of the support from haight-ashbury merchants and event organizer who we are allowing to help organize the crowds that come. to be clear, this event happens whether we want it to or not. there is nobody in charge of 4-20. but we have imbued some responsibility and authority to some of the community folks to bring some resources to the event to make sure that we have some additional security, some additional sanitation services, some additional cleanup services. i'm very proud of the city government for trying this. i don't know whether it's going to work but we are going to hike and we are trying something different in an effort to accomplish three main objectives. we want to keep people safe. we want to minimize the impact on the surrounding neighborhoods. and we want to protect the park. so thanks to the support from local merchants and this event organizer, we have some additional [inaudible] including fencing which surrounds sharon meadow. 40 security personnel. there will be two points of entry into 420 today and i just was there this morning and you can already tell the impact that is having good usually what happens is such a permeable space people bring lots and lots and lots of stuff that makes public safety very very challenging. bring wagons full of booze, barbecues, large structures, amplified sound all kinds of things. so we are able to actually prevent some of the stuff coming in. significantly, were also doing her best today to prevent anybody under the age of 18 from entering the space. if you are under 18 and you get in there, please, no juvenile probation and s of pd will be in there with you. we are prohibiting glass and glass paraphernalia and tense and barbecues. there is no sale of any narcotics at this eventthat is permitted. [laughing]. we have 175 portable toilets, both inside the footprint of the space and outside around the neighborhoods. we have-there's an emergency medical plan. the spaces now got-broken up into different quads to make it easier to respond to situations. so this is a long way of saying there's a lot more planning a party with a committee group making the streets to help clean up afterwards and even with all that your department will still have 50-almost 50 park rangers and are in another 50 park maintenance staff out there to try to manage the space. we also have extraordinary help from the police department from public works, from mta in a variety of these other agencies. so we will see. but i think you should be proud of your department and frankly, the city and i really want to thank supervisor breed for really some pretty courageous leadership on this to try to try something to see if it achieves those event egypt objectives. i know that we're going to honor and talk a lot about some of our permit staff today and they're all here. i want to pay a particular debt of gratitude to them and specifically diane reed. diane has done just an amazing job between the summer of love and for 20, i don't know if anybody does a purple heart more than diane today. she's really done some amazing amazing work and parting with a community group and all these other city agencies to make this happen. so thank you, diane. all right. it's also worth month. we've got a whole host of events happening all throughout the month to so right earth month. one of them, i want to single out which is next saturday, april 29 huckleberry youth programs which provide services for low income and underserved youth celebrates 50th anniversary right along with the summer of love with volunteer day of service in golden gate park in the panhandle.. the event is in partnership with us and sf travel. will be a variety of beautification programs litter removal, barbecue lunch is included. please, sign up and join us at sf please, sign up and join us@sfrexandpark.org. huckleberry park is an amazing program and has been around since the late 60s urban kids who need a helping hand. this saturday on april 22 we have it's an american sign language day. with a family day and barbecue admission playground and inclusion center. 35-55 19th st. are maintaining arts and craps imagination playground and so much more. also our therapeutic recreation division will cohost access to adventure at the bandshell on may 6 which is a free festival of recreation for children with disabilities including sports extreme sports outdoor recreation aquatics cultural art and more. why we are celebrating our inclusionary programs i want to thank wilderness inquiry and there commute mobile for partnering with us. this a third year in a row. they were here here all last week at lake merced and spent last saturday right before extravaganza which i'm in a get to in a second, with canoes at mcnabb lake. wilderness inquiry and their canoe mobile programs part outdoor nature expenses for people in all committees across the subject they really focus on underserved communities,, monolingual committees and the disability community. i was out there with them on saturday and had just an amazing experience of watching a woman with ms who is wheelchair-bound and her family get into a canoe. for the first time. there were literally tears of joy as they paddled around the lake. so was really meaningful experience and a reminder of how special the clarendon park isand most portly, a reminder that recreation is for everyone. so it was a big big deal and i want to really want to thank inquiry mobile. after being at mclaren park for that i drove back across town and joint commissioner low at extrinsic extravaganza. i want to think my recreation staff-some of them are here-actually it's more than recreation staff. it's entertainment stuff, permit staff, everybody gets involved in this. we welcomed about 8-9000 people to golden gate park on easter saturday for a very family-friendly fun event that featured music, egg hunts, arts and crafts, rides, soft ice cream, and yes, the rib cookoff where i was part of a team from mclaren lodge and i think we got-we made up on the healthy choice award for a watermelon and [inaudible] salad which was pretty good. but we do not win the big rib cookoff. there are teams from the fire to berman police department, and rec staff commissioner low thank you, sir was a judge which means he got to eat a lot. taste a lotbut it was a pretty special day. we were joined by lots of vips including commissioner low. we had some of assemblyman david chiu. board president walton. assessor carmen chu committee college or board president shiah selby. a lot of stefan fronds in a variety of other folks who participated in the judging and was super event. then last saturday evening was america's [inaudible] 15th universe. the one of our closest partners.. i got to join them at their celebration it was an opportunity to honor their achievements. and celebrate this organization that is delivered just an incredible program to more than 15,000 children in low income areas of san francisco and around the bay. as you know there a nonprofit soccer and literacy program that focuses both on development through sport but also through writing and public speaking and poetry. they have made a super impact. is emily here? i'm not sure she's here today we will bring them back but i really want to thank emily [inaudible] for all that organization does for san francisco skids. also last week your san francisco bay socks, or our girls baseball program, participated with a proximately 100 other girls ages 16 and under representing 20 states washington dc and canada where they all traveled to los angeles to play baseball in inaugural all-girls tournament sponsored by major league baseball. so as you know, was a program called baseball for all which the nonprofit where we hosted-wasn't the first-it was the second national tournament last summer major league baseball has now embraced this and as part of their baseball for all program and on a weekend of festivities celebrating jackie robinson's achievements and groundbreaking evolution to the game of baseball, mlb was perhaps symbolizing the future and we have some girls from san francisco that are deeply committed and deeply talented to the game of baseball. they were in la representing our city. i really want to think rocky emily and alex-with their efforts to continue to coach and mentor and we are national leader in this program. lastly, as you know, we are in the middle of a demonstration project both golden gate park in mclaren park where we have for the first time in decades brought horseback riding back to these parks. i really want to take the opportunity to thank our partners at the pot of gold the adventurers who have been offering residents and tourists around both of these parks an opportunity to tour golden gate park and mclaren on horseback. in less than a month, we've had over 850 participants in this program. we started at golden a park and mclaren park start i think a week or so later but we have about 500 writers in golden gate park and over about 350 folks in mclaren. it's been really popular there. the pilot will continue to run through may 20 reflecting feedback from park user. i want to give you a little bit of a taste of some of the sweet things people have said so far. lewis ctr., park is a gateway to go mclaren park the introduction of the stables and horses has been wonderful and already used on families to an area that otherwise would not visit. the horses returning to the stables and mclaren is a wonderful opportunity to put the mclaren back on the map. introduce mclaren to our city's youth and benefit the park as well. somebody else had a minute bernal heights help owner and a 12-year-old horse mechanic the horses in mclaren our dream come true for my daughter. [inaudible] anyway, we've also got feedback about concerns. the two primary areas of concern about menu or management and trail erosion we've been working with pot of gold on both of those areas of concern. with respect to maneuver management particles is brought in an additional staff in each location and depending upon the number of riders on a given day trails revealing cleanup to three times a day of maneuver which is not to say people won't stumble upon some at different points in time but it's a regular multi time of day occurrence that there's maneuver management and there's been concerns about trailer erosion. our staff went out actually on april 14 and did a complete loop of both trails. very little to no damage in golden gate park. in mclaren we seen a little bit more evidence of trail erosion and it's been wet and it's been soggy but our staff has concluded it's actually minor and can be easily remedied with minor maintenance. we will continue to take feedback and continue to observe but it's been quite a successful program. if you are interested the horses out there seven days a week from 8 am-7 pm weather permitting. you can call 844967. if you are interested the horses out there seven days a week from 8 am-7 pm weather permitting. you can call 844-967-4653 or visit recreation parks website to sign up. it really is a very very special experience. lastly, we have a very special acknowledgment today which is why we have so many people in the house. let's give it up for permits and reservation staff. [applause] so coworkers and colleagues, move on regularly.. it happens but there are some whose time at a particular job have a much more profound affect on an organization. today we have the distinct honor of recognizing one of recreation and parks most-the longest-serving employee and frankly one of that are best very best. peter kendo is somewhat of a unicorn he spent the majority of his career 41 years worth, with one organization. an extremely rare feat. today weatherbee in the professional world or in the mba you don't just stay with one team anymore. he started at recreation parks in 1976 as an assistant recreation director and through the years he's worked at eureka valley rec ctr., mission playground, glenn park, golden gate park senior center and for the past seven years and a permanent and reservations division race manage [inaudible]. peter, among his many many highlights and i'm going to ask dena to say a few additional words, was instrumental in the creation of the sf white deal. which is a partnership that still exist today between the parks the permit fired up herman and the police department. he has been very involved in the san francisco giants community fund creating the first ever junior giants youth baseball league. it's a program that's now been duplicated by over 45 other cities in northern and central california. most recently, peter has been incidents when the very successful launch of our own san francisco deltas which is our stadium. one of our core values at recreation and parks of is relationships. when peter shared with us that it was time for him to retire we've got literally dozens of emails from colleagues and i want to give you a sense of a few of them to demonstrate what a positive impact he's had on the departments. on our culture. on his coworkers. bob blosser called peter a first bowel recreation park hall of famer. lucas tobin said recreation and park is not to be the same without him. jim jackson said peter is not like family. he is family. carly fullerton is now a nurse had g ph you used to be at recreation park called peter an amazing mentor. in i understand now that peter is going to do a little traveling. first to new orleans and then hawaii then st. thomas but i guess his daughter is getting married. it is an end of an era. but your legacy of how much you care and the importance that you place on relationships, peter, is the legacy is definitely going to continue. we thought we would take just a moment because it is a special day for parks and recreations had brought bring up dana [inaudible] could because i know we have a short agenda today to talk about peter a little bit and give you little bit evan or review, commissioners that all our permit and reservations division dies.it's extraordinary work. perhaps on a day wheremanaging for 20 and god knows how many other events in our parks just this week, it's probably a timely overview as well some and bring up adeno to say a few additional words. >> good morning commissioners. i'm actually can turn this over to diane ray who manages the permits division to talk about the permit steam but i want to share two quick anecdotes about peter that are my experience that really show what peter can do. is all about. as some of you know, before i became involved in the recreation and park department i was the soccer mom. managing my kids sports activities. i needed, for two years to get my kids baseball schedule to work with something else. i was told back in those days to fax the quest, fax, remember those days-two peter. i'd no idea who is thinking oh my god, here it goes into the morass of city government. what will happen? sure enough, every year the schedule came out and at one point i had the pleasure of meeting peter but this is a city worker that made the extra effort, always, to make things work for people. it was a name that stuck in my head. so, then i come to work at recreation parks and they don't really-i'm overseen permits they don't give you an introduction on how to get things done in that apartment. i was fortunate enough to have peter helping me and i still remember someone said, what you need that done you need to get the yard to do it. i was like, the backyard? what is the yard? i don't know whathow to get anything done in this department. peter saved me. he helps me through so many things, so patiently that he has been an incredible valuable member of this team and for that i will always be so grateful and will miss him terribly. so now moving onto ivan we were fortunate to bring an entire permit steam except for two people that are there in case walk-ins coming here and i'm gonna let diane introduce them and what they do but i want to talk a little bit about what permits does first. we issue probably over 70,000 permits a year and what is that achieve? it helps the public recreate in our parks. permits range from 200,000 people at hardly strictly to a few for smaller picnic but if you think 70,000 permits on an average is at least 30 people, your talk about 2 million touches to our parks. making that happen and organizing it. i'm privileged to oversee this amazing team i'm going to let diane,, who does the such a great job talk about them. >> hello. commissioners. thank you for giving us the time to introduce the team. they work really really hard and never get out of the office much. so it's fabulous they get recognized. we are very grateful for peter kendo and all he's done. he that com sensibility in the office that we will miss. we will also miss the harley davidson juxtaposed against the log cabin every day, but permits and reservations, we are open to the public 5.5 days a week. we take over 300 phone calls a day, hundreds of online applications, people can walk in and talk to us. we also serve as like a factor visitor center because people wonder in all the time. were in the middle of golden gate park so we get to talk to about all the things happening at recreation and park. we serve as sort of air traffic control. so if you figure we have all these reservations, we have maintenance things going on in the parks. we volunteer groups. we try to make sure that nobody is bumping into each other and everybody has their proper access. so the staff taking all these calls into an all these reservations, they do it with incredible amount of positive enthusiasm.. we are really are a great team working together. the camaraderie is wonderful. to be very different without peter bringing us together, but they do a great job so i just want to introduce them really quickly. while we do operate as a team, there are three focus areas. the first one is overseen by jeff choi. you want to stand up? jeff oversees the permitting and activities for our stadium and our athletic fields are 50, plus athletic fields across the city that is everything from the sf telcos at keys are two micro soccer at [inaudible]. another focus area, special vents. shauna. please, stand up your shauna has been with us just a few months now but she's successfully getting her arms around the 1500 special even permits on average that we do. these are more complex permits making sure that emergency medical plans are done and people are getting their proper fire permits and health permits that she's working with a gardening staff and making sure that we are protecting the parks for the load in and the loadout and installations happening during the events. very complicated. another big piece of it is communicating. comedic it into our internal staff what is going on, working with park rangers, working with gardening staff, and also communicating with other agencies. working with a police department and mta and public works and all kind of coming together and making everything work. lessening our impact on the communities around these events. so i want to-so the permits range from everything from hardly strictly bluegrass to all the marathons and fun runs, all the way to my community movie nights and community gatherings. it's the gamut. i want to introduce her team. jim jackson mr. jackson has been with us a long time as well. he came back as a part-time semi retiree and handles all of our film and photo permits across the city. which, can be pretty challenging. there's last-minute with lots of last-minute changes. he does a great job. >> and had a career in the nfl i believe? >> and played for the 49ers. our secret superstar. and worked for a walk a long time with elaine. then we have stacy-i think it stacy, will you stand up? stacy amongst all the events permits that she does she specializes with our unions amongst all the events permits that she does she specializes with our unions sq., plaza permits. all those big civic center plaza activities that we have, began small, and she is also our group cheerleader. she brings us together and guesses to participate in city functions, city activities and such. then we have jen chan. if you could stand up? jen oversees all of our permit in golden gate park. so all the runs and races and company picnics and things like that pretty much the gamut. she's done a great job learning all of the different facets of golden gate park., perez., oversees all of our lake merced complex. so that is the lake merced boathouse and all the indoor rentals there. that is all the activities that happened on the lake, all the runs that happen around the lake. so she manages all of those permits. she also sits with all of our cross-country permits and our encroachment permits.then we have elaine lyon. in the back there. she's also with a department been with the department for a long time and what's with peter. she is an expert in a lot of our sites. she's been with a permits to barman for a very long time. she is now handling the majority of permits in the justice herman plaza area and to our marina green complex. she also handles-she works closely with the cal academy and working out parking,, things for their loadings and dahlia requests and things like that. thank you, special vents team. then, our other focus area is for our public recreation. that includes overseeing picnic reservations, across the city, all of our access to our clubhouses, gyms, recreation centers, for community meetings and birthday parties. and has taken a lead with dana on our conversion to our new reservation system which is a huge undertaking and that is eric chu. do you want to introduce your team? >> thank you. first, i want to induce my team, public recreation out of those 70,000 we probably do about 50,000 on that team there's seven of us that handle all that. so 300 combination. first if you guys could stand up when i call your name? peter fong. peter handles all our large picnic applications along with others but everyone has specialty large picnics, pretty close to special vents if you ask me but they're kind of grouped.. he handles all the lighting and kind of our mis liaison and are [inaudible] next, nick marley, stand up. nick marley handles our indoor applications. a lot of the gym rentals, clubhouse rentals, sf-ust leaks for basketball, volleyball.. i lot of different types of things like that. who else is here? hector. hector rivera. our newest member he is now become more of a jack of all trades. we were very shortstaffed for a very long time and trying to piece it together, but now that hector has come on board if you is like we are a full team. the death star has committed and completed. the rest of my team they're not here but i'll give them mentions. karen ross. she has been with us for a a while. she does all of our pool rentals. swim meets, pool teams, things like that in our recreation centers dolores park picnic applications, where there are tables. let's see. she does a lot of our reporting for our team, reporting is very important. the communication to get staff to open facilities on the weekends for people to recreate is a very important part of our coordination with the [inaudible] and lexi, sandy lee. you may know her name recreation park legend. she still works with us. she knows all of our staffing needs and between her and peter, peter is not going to be here, much longer, but they're always kind of the first responses. when everyone panicking in a frenzy, we've got those two and amanda lee, she's our wedding specials. she handles all our weddings throughout the city. the last member of our team is peter a kendo which we will dearly miss. i just want to thank you on behalf of the team and especially myself. you've kind of been a mentor for me coming in here. showed me the ropes. show me all the good guys and just let you know, you're definitely one of them and don't disconnect your phone because i'm going to need to call you. so, thank yyou. >> thank you. >> commissioner, would you join me in giving peter a little commendation. >> thank you for all the accolades and commission. all my team members here. it's been a great run thank you. [applause] >> in his last >> i'm not much for words but a more of a background person so thank you everyone. >> thank you very much. >> thank you, peter his last official recreation and park, he just taught me to be brief. >> impossible >> that concludes the general managers report. >> commissioner anderson did you have a common you want to make? >> i was just wondering general manager ginsburg, i was really happy to hear about some of the measures that were taking to protect people at 420 today and you were mentioning some of the probations. i'm just curious are all those probations codified in the recreation code or? >> there's a park code with a series of rules that are approved by the board of supervisors and the conundrum for events like this and frankly concerts and some of the special events that permits works on smoking is tactilely not allowed in parks. we are aware of that. but the truth of the matter is, as supervisor breed said yesterday kind of is what it is,. so people are coming. we sometimes happen when we enforce the park code we try to identify the most important objectives and the most important objectives are in a crowd of 15,000, is not to walk around each person is a do this and do that but it's to keep the space safe and minimize impact on neighborhood and then to protect the landscape. those are our core objectives today. ps. i really appreciated that report. thank you so much >> we might call them high and lofty goals. [laughing] >> nice. [laughing] >> a walk in the grass, sir. [laughing] >> is that your report? >> yes. >> we do have public comments. [calling public comment cards.] >> thank you. commissioners and gentlemen my name is tom scott's. i'm a longtime advocate and volunteer at mclaren park. i'm actively involved in save mclaren park and the mclaren park collaborative. the pictures we just saw a little while ago were really pretty showing happy families on horses. i have hundreds of pictures that show a different story. unfortunately. i'm here today to ask permission to do whatever he can within its power to medially and primly suspend horseback riding concession in mclaren park. unlike the conclusion that your crew came out with last week the damage to the trails is significant. it's undeniable. i want those trails every single day. a stable and steady for months and years and suddenly they are crumbling under the weight of the horses. this includes beautiful sections of the philosophers way trailed no crumbling and the second problem the horse maneuver. it's found in all corners of the park including extra playgrounds, picnic tables and unpopular walking paths. the vendor even with more people is completely failing at his contractual obligation to remove this in a timely manner. some trails on the southern slopes the manure has never been removed. just a side note this morning, i watched the narrow path near cambridge entrance the path was completely covered with scattered horse maneuver and i watched this group of elderly chinese woman trying to navigate and tiptoe through that path. nowhere to go. they were clearly unhappy. yet, all the outreach doesn't reach them because it's falling in english. i like to quote from the current master plan for mclaren park which i assume was written by experts who know more about this issue than me. i quote, although there were stabled and equestrian trails in the park in the 1930s, this use has now been phased out. horseback riding is not allowed in the park because of the difficulty of constructing and maintaining a separate system. secondly, continues in the later part of the plan says that availment of an equestrian center and network of writing trails was originally considered for mclaren park but dropped from further consideration for the following reasons. the steep terrain in the park is not conducive to trail construction. the park is not large enough to provide a trail system of sufficient length and of an interesting writing experience and user conflict would result between equestrians and pedestrians and joggers. thank you for your time. >> thank you. >> good morning. my name is carnes and i'm a 25 year resident in san francisco right on the west edge of mclaren park, right under the water tower. my comments are more or less specific about the horse but about the process and the principles and just the general work process of how recreation parks and how we introduce new programs. against the backdrop of a long and arduous process about how we get bond money, how we get funding into this quadrant of the city, on specifically, 2012 bond, and projects like envisioning project and the quick strike project. so, with all of that going on and then to suddenly introduce a pilot, which i have a question about pilots. again i've worked in the parks as a volunteer and activist for 25 years. never heard about a pilot before. i feel that is-there's no precedent for that and to little bit of an oxymoron given what we've been accomplishing in the momentum that we've had on getting other repairs and just the basic things to put our park back together. mclaren park, that is. the fact that there is a pilot also, without any community input, all the stakeholders come all these volunteers like tom and so many others, that have been years and years into the park, and trying to guide along different projects, and then to introduce a pilot with no community input like we've always done, that has been the precedent. again, i just want to state that mclaren is really not one of these entertainment parks with a lot of activism went with carousels and these kinds of things. i see mclaren park and most people do, it's more of an education-entertainment or urban escape and opportunity. the city is as diverse a city needs all types of parts and this is one of those. we like to see this preserved in this way. again, the last thing was just that it feels like this is in conflict with park goals. there were processes going on and voted upon spending priorities for mclaren. thank you very much. >> thank you. >> good afternoon commissioners. general manager. members of the public. great to see that nobody is trying to sneak on the board of commissions here while we've been here. i did hear that somebody did try to sneak on the board there inadvertently without due process and public vetting.mr. chan, i believe. >> i don't know anything about it. >> no.? it's kind of what we heard in the news that a coveted recreation and park commission seat was tossed around and given up without proper vetting and it wasn't until the board of supervisors jumped in and refereed you guys that that process didn't take place. anyway, back to business at hand. >> i think the mayor's appointment, not the commission appointment but go ahead. >> okay. regarrdless, you do have to try to watch anything goes and nothing matters in san francisco politics and who gets to serve on the board and the commission. i'm sure you understand that mr. president. secondly, san francisco has for a long time been a culture where we had an agreed-upon set of values, practices and customs that amounts to an identity. you have kind of eroded that with your policies in and around the park specifically due to the stables and a lot of the people the kind of used to coming here and identify with the recreation and parks department and the parks. you no longer see them coming in here. you see recreation and park employees outnumbering the public, which is another bad sign. but, regardless, pot of gold is a good thing. horse maneuver is probably the safest maneuver to be around the public when it's wet not so much but when it dries out,, there's just no problems with it. it's great fertilizer. it has zero smell and degrades into something that is absolutely useful in any type of park or garden. so, yes, it seems like you are not following the culture and the policies that most of the people who put that part together identified with, and for that reason, i think changes are about to come. >> thank you. >> is there anyone else want to comment on general managers report? sorry. come on up. i was looking at your-okay i apologize. >> good morning commissioners. i want to talk about horses. when i talk about horses, i hope you don't getting behind whatever else. i think that it's very good that we are going to bring possibly be bringing back versus to golden gate park. i am one of the very few here today in favor of such . i talked about this with my niece, asking her which he ever be willing-wanting or willing, to grant out a small space and she just went so in the astec are they going to be available? i said, i don't have that type of influence. perhaps, the commissioners and mark buell might have that type of influence. horses are a subject that i don't think should face the scrutiny that's going to be going through, that has to go strictly by the rules. now if you look at the stables, they've been there for a long time at golden gate park. for a long time they were unoccupied except for the policing and they had a few places out there that had a horse right out on its own. i saw it one time when i took a walk to the park. but if there's going to be like income, were cost, expenditures, when this vendor goes out with other people be able to grant a small space? it has not been used for the longest of time. so i'm trying to help my niece bring out something for the commissioners to consider that there is a demand to rent out such spaces. meanwhile, i'm one of those who put their heart-when i got out a memo from the general manager ginsberg that i like you. i like the idea of having horses around you hopefully, i can get some ground with you people in the commission. thank you. >> thank you. >> as there anyone else that would like to make public comment under the general's managers report? seeing none, this item is closed. we are now on item 4 which is general public comment up to 15 minutes . this item will be continued to item 7. at this time members of the public may address the commission on items of interest to the public that are within the subject matter jurisdiction of the commission and that do not appear on calendar. with respect to agenda items you will have the opportunity to address the commission when the item is reached in the meeting. is there anyone would like to make general public comment? come on up. >> so once again commissioners i would like to refer you as the giant crocodiles slithering down the money way because i really feel that's who you are. the pattern and the way that the park has been handled has created a devastating effect and has all you know,, as any lawyer will tell you, whenever you have an action you have an equal and opposite reaction. yes, you are a diverse bunch both working for recreation and park them both on the boards here, diversity. we get that. but what is the result been? i think it's been pretty tragic. i think that canadian girlthat was shot in the park by the gangsters dealing drugs could have been avoided if you have not been on such a quest to evict and divide the park with your political agendas. i have never seen the park so divided that when you go in there the only people you end up hanging out with our the bombs and the drug dealers because there's nobody else going in there. i go in there. i'm followed by these folks and asked 3-4 times a day,. it's like excuse me did you not just asked me a half hour ago that question? it's a lot more than the summer of love. the summer of love was nothing like what's going on there. it's real estate that is being used for criminal activity. you know, i'm not against the use of medical marijuana. i think it is a medicine. but i think that the gangsters with law degrees running this city have produced the gangster type mentality that you come into contact when you go into the park. instead of our values that we identify as being american. because, that is what you are. it's like a criminal enterprise. we are you guys dictate who gets jobs,, who sits on the board, who does this. who does that. that's not american. you are the alligators, slithering down the muddy banks and you are very good at patting yourselves on the back and giving yourselves rewards. thank you very much. >> thank you. >> is there anyone else would like to make general public comment? seeing none, this item is closed. commissioners, we are on a consent calendar. did you want to speak on the consent calendar, richard? come on up. >> good morning again. i'm here to talk about fishing activities there. i've even try to talk about the paddle fishing how it's it's very intricate i was part of a party that went to lake merced and went fishing. i think that's great. it has only one patrolman officer. we don't have enough people in there. so you're going to get some money about $11,000, from the pal program and most of the work around the boathouse. they don't have good fishing equipment i don't know how they would go about getting better poles or better lines. they could just have-just stick in time some mono thermal line to put a piece of [inaudible] on wine bottles or anything. drop a line down and just fish four. you can take the fishing pole home. if you had something like that, something kind of like a huckleberry finn, you could go out there with kids and they would have a great time and they would learn a very important part. they would get lost out in the wild so you have to get your own food. you have to fish. that's number three-the other part i want to look at is the bridge. the bridge area between the north and east lake, you're going to put a peer out there on the northlake and then i'm trying to see that there be access that goes through to the eastlake for bass fishing for bass fishing has been put in there since the time dan mckenna former superintendent of the parks had those placed in by the people at lake merced. that would be getting to build a boathouse in the eastlake and you have an entry secure way of separating lakes from the north and the eastlake and you can go in there and do your fishing. it's over on the side there and it's got a lot of beautiful coves. i'm sure the bass and other sunfish are going to do just fine there. on the dock that you have, i was looking at the rampart. the image i don't have that could arise but what i see when it's overwater it's going to be a steep ground. you're trying to have something that's conducive to 88. how would ada be complied with as well as the disability of the peer? i had a mine you could cross over to keep the peer stable but there's a ramp issue on the 88 issue. i guess after finish. thank you. >> thank you.>> is there anyone else would like to make public comment under the consent calendar? come on up. >> hello. commissioners could my name is seth soft low. i represent san franciscosports and recreation. i am here with respect to the grant that's on the consent calendar for tennis court resurfacing. really just wanted to take this opportunity to thank the general manager and his staff for their support in getting us to this point. we are looking forward to your consent today and entering into the implementation phase of this grant to resurface tennis courts all over the city. we also will be coming to future meetings about another grant that we we bring into the city for non-tennis recreation. so, thank you again to the general manager and also want to thank nathan sinclair behind me in the grants department and the rest of the staff. thank you. >> thank you. >> is there anyone else would like to make general public comment on the consent calendar? seeing none, this item is closed. commissioners. >> mr. ginsberg did you want to say something? >> briefly when i think san franciscans saving our-san franciscans for sports and recreation. this is a group of very caring san franciscans that on their own negotiated a --some planning and connection with a derailment deal downtown there was can have a negative impact on recreation not within our jurisdiction and our redirecting the resources into our park system and into our public recreation system to improve it for all san franciscans, starting with some neighborhood tennis court resurfacing that allows us to leverage our existing funding and really tackle very very very robust program of tennis court resurfacing all over the city. these guys are doing this in their spare time on their volunteer time. not easy simple quick work. we owe-we the parks department, part champions, owe them a debt of gratitude for caring as much as they do about parks and recreation. >> thank you. entertain a motion? >> so moved. >> second. >> all those in favor say, aye. [chorus of ayes.] opposed, nay. so moved >> [gavel] >> we are now on item 6, san francisco zoo. >> good morning. powerpoint, please. resident buell, commissioners, general manager ginsberg my name is stephen haines vice president for marketing and strategic growth with the zoo. i just want to say to go off script for second in my prior role with [inaudible] i want to give kudos as well to the parks department worked a lot with them and you have got a great team. so you probably heard unfortunately last week we lost our dear polar bear was 36 years old. normal life expectancy is about 18-19 years old. in zoos a lot of times 20, plus his normal she was 36. she came to us when she was three years old and based with a san francisco zoo rescued her from what would've been not a good ending to her very short life at that point. so it's been really tough. on the staff the caretakers especially. in our crowds that come out every day i put a little picture together. a lot of kids came and left little notes attach them to the fence. some of them say i love you. you were great bear. i will miss seeing you. i loved it when you are around but see you in the next life and this one says, hope you are in heaven from kim of the so blessed little kimberly's heart. lots of flowers have been delivered and in the center if you can see it several heads of lettuce which was her favorite. so we will miss her. april start off with the great banquet the month of april-real. one for the pungent we've had a lot of great special events and exhibits. talks, dietary characteristic. more about these incredible creatures we have. we also opened up the exhibit. i think you heard me talk about some of the red ivory. it's a art piece and installation from a visual narrative by our artist in residence, henry jackson. so i would just love to invite you to come out and see this but it really is a very powerful? it's approximately 10 minutes long. we really have been amplifying our stop which is stand and take a pledge. the pledge against ivory. we love to welcome you out anytime let me know and you can see this great video. spring has been filled with rain but also-it's can be turning greener, not that type of green, but we've had a few bird walks. they really have been fascinating. with our master bird alan whitley. i just went on the safari actually two weeks ago and i can tell you that if you've ever spent time with real burgers, these are serious serious people. so we would invite you to come out the when we do another round of bird walks. phil mentioned something before. recreation is for everyone. i'm going to steal that line. we held an inaugural event on april 15 where we really spoke to the accessibility issues and recognizing that the zoo was about everyone in our community. this was a great all access day with this group sf cd support for families of children with disabilities. we built some very special programs , gave special tours. art projects. as well. it would really was an exciting day two cds families take part in our mission and our program and get out onto the property of the zoo and see our great animals and exhibits. so we look forward to continuing this event as well in the future. earth day, the saturday, april 22 is going to be beautiful weather and warm at the coast. so come on out. we will be having many many activities celebrating very important day. as well, next week april 25 is world penguin day. actually, the zoo-there's 18 species of penguins in the zoo actually has the largest colony of magellanic penguins in captivity and we have an incredible breeding program. you can still come out and see one of our newest additions, we call him freckles. he actually, he's perfectly healthy but with a different skin pigmentation. he looks like a dalmatian. he's white with black spots. so come on out and see our penguins. lastly, we are welcoming some new little ones to the zoo. this is our while leroux, dundee. dundee now has a little baby joey. the joey has not put its feet on the ground yet. it's kind of tough to spot these but when they are first born there about the size of a nickel. and they're born the gestation period is about 30-38 days. so after it climbs into the pouch and continues to grow and develop for several months.. so this is dundee's first time as a mother. we are very excited. i like to end with some fun facts, or somebody else would say uselesss trivia. their latin name is [inaudible]. the name comes from the fact that they are in between the size of a kangaroo and a wallaby. that's the name a waller. so it actually means the big and small. come on out and see our new joey. again special thanks to richard rothman and pres. buell for their support of the mothers building and trying to renovate that incredible structure. so thank you very much. >> thank you. >> is there any public comment on the zoo? come on up. >> commissioners, general manager, and three members of the public, that is a scary introduction because there should be more people here that feel that that they have a vested interest in our parks and that they feel that the people running the parksare able to communicate and follow and reciprocate in their enjoyment of the parks. obviously, that's not happening because nobody is here. >> i think this relates to the zoo report you were asking for public comment about the zoo report. >> exactly. on the only other person talking about other than the person that made the presentation >> what's the point about the zoo? >> while the point about the zoo is, very few people are involved in identified with what you are doing in the zoo whether it's giving an animal or donating an animal or a polecat from ucsf. i'm talking about the big picture here. the big pictureis with all you are budgets, all your quote, experience beyond the commission, it's having the opposite effect in the city and county of san francisco and the recreation department. people are divesting themselves from getting enrolled in the park recreation park department. they don't identify any more with it. there's no decency. there's no common respect for individuals. you have your agenda and the public have nothing to do about it or with it. it's a dictatorship. that's my point. the gangsters in the major media are the people that perpetuate this type of situation. but, my concern is that it's creating a disengagement between the people using the parks and the people running the parks. you have caused it back. when you have a cause you have an equal and opposite reaction and you don't seem to be concerned about that opposite reaction. what happens when you live in a city and you have small amounts of resources and somebody says, you have to move out of your horse stall in your horse has to move because we have to fix it up and then 415-16 years they don't do nothing? that's anything goes and nothing matters. that is gangsters with law degrees running the city. thank you. >> is there anyone else would like to make public comment on the zoo? seeing none, this item is closed. this was discussion on the kit were now on item 7 which is general public, and continued is there anyone here who did not speak on item for and would like to speak on item 7? seeing none, this item is close. we are now on item 8, new business agenda setting. there anyone who would like to make public comment under the items of the new business agenda setting? >> commissioner mcdonnell >> i'm sorry i touch my button. - i'm sorry - >> two items. i do know to be on the agenda or an update on the general managers report by left-winger and update on gleneagles because we have not heard how things are going.. secondly, if there's a right moment to get an update on the equity agenda. i know we applied to each individual item but an overview would be great. thank you. >> thank you. >> commissioner anderson >> part of me if this was already announced.. perhaps i missed the meeting in march but could we hear about the award that recreation park got for-no one has to travel more than 10 minutes >> trust for public land, i think? >> i don't think-that is coming. >> okay. i got a little preview from the mayor>> you are too early for the meeting, commissioner. >> sorry. [laughing] >> stay tuned >> okay. >> any other public comment on new agenda for heaven seeing none, public comment is close. item 9, communications. any public comment on under the communications? seeing none, item 9 is closed at item 10 is a german.adjournment >> so moved. >> second. >> all those in favor say, aye. [chorus of ayes.] opposed, nay. >> we are now adjourned. thank you, commissioners. >> [gavel] >> [adjournment] >> >> >> >> we are going to have a phenomenal program we promise. we hope to promise to keep it short.and inspiring. my goal for a successful day or a successful morning, is that you leave here clearing to go inspired, having met new people, having forge new partnerships and feeling generally positive about the future. so good morning everyone. my name is debbie rough health and i am the director of san francisco's department of environments. [applause] >> yes. so we are here today to celebrate. after years of drought, the rain has returned and california wildflowers are blooming across the state. you see the orange all around you here. some of you may think that it's san francisco giant orange and, yes, we love the giants. [applause]. actually, that orange today anyway, is a celebration of the california poppy. a great example of resilience, a flower that can survive hardship and come back even stronger. a symbol for everyone in this room today. so we are here to celebrate people and so peter, i need you to [inaudible]. peter is the guy who is scanning the audience. i don't see everyone. so when you talk about people in san francisco, what we first think about is our elected officials. we need to thank them for all the ways they show up. not only today, but every day for our environments. i would like to call out and these are people i've seen. i don't know if they're still in the room-but if you are,you, please, we've supervisor erin paskin-jordan supervisor katie tang. sheriff vicki hennessy. our city attorney, dennis herrera.ps selby president of the city college board and emily marotta say, who's on our san francisco board of education. so, thank you elected officials, please. [applause]. we also have scattered about the room, and i'm not going to call you out by name, but my fellow city department heads. your partnership and collaboration is not only deeply appreciated but it is essential to our success as a city. every one of you comes to work every day as a partner with me and i see you all around the room. wearing your hearts on your sleeves because you love this city and you are dedicating your lives to the public service, and i am so grateful for all you do. we are also here to celebrate our environment commission and the commissioners. there's going to be more about that later so not going to ask them to identify themselves. finally, we are here to celebrate the community partners, the people in this room, the hundreds of you, dedicate your heart and soul to preserving our planet. we need your leadership more than ever. frankly, we are here today to celebrate democracy. we are here to own the label of environmentalists. we are going to wear that label proudly as an act of resistance andan act of affirmation. [applause]. pretty easy to feel demoralized these days. the epa is being directed to not protect the environment. climate scienceis being refuted and dismissed. we have a president who believes that coal is the new black. so in light of all this, we want to kick things off today because today is about celebration, with a moment of uplift. we invited two people who have spent more than 20 years raising san francisco's spirit in the community to get things started. so, please, join me in welcoming happy and clean. [applause] >> we are one in spirit.[singing] we are one in the law. we pray all unity shall one day be restored. and they know we are all one by our love. by our love.[music] we are mothers of courage. fathers of time. daughters of dust and [inaudible]. this is the firstseed and flowers of love. love is a light[inaudible]. keep of faith. makers of peace. wisdom of age. yes.[ clapping] self-motivation. self-motivation. what is nation? self-motivation. what is nation? unifier's. don't divide us. unify us. don't divide us. unify us.don't divide us. [applause] >> wow. probably you sitting down wasn't that hard to stay seated? you just wanted to move around. some of you may have recognized happy and queen. they are the soundtrack of some people's commute, so i would like to say they help us with our 50 goal of getting people out of cars because you can see them sometimes in the park station if you're lucky enough but they travel around all of the bay area with that energy and wonderful spirits. so i'm inspired by that and i am also inspired by all of you. being here at city hall with all of you today reminds me that we live and we work in a very special place. that is the san francisco bay area can be a bubble inside a bubble. a bubble being california, the bay area, the bubble inside the bubble. with everything that's going on, around our bubble, we may be tempted to view this place as a protected shield. a cloak of invincibility that we can wrap ourselves in. but there is a danger in that.recently, i've got to think that while we are in this bubble inside a bubble in this roomis deeply bubble, does it matter what we are doing? are we just talking to ourselves? are we preaching to the choir? because the bay area is unequivocally the believers. we are the believers. the data shows that. we know there are no alternative facts when it comes to the state of our planets. we share a civic and moral responsibility to name those facts. as san franciscans, we have a deep commitment to protecting every one of our residents from the impacts of a changing climates. whether they are documented or undocumented, which were poor, homeless warehousedor house. that means we've got to face a reality head on. we are going to have to resist the complacency that comes with a fossil fuel based economy. we are going to have to disrupt this new national norm of climate denial, and most importantly, we in this room are going to have to offer an example of what is possible.. the words of paul hawkins come to mind when he said, cities like san francisco rehearse the future. cities like san francisco rehearse the future. we, in this room, are rehearsing the future every day we come to work. every day we are demonstrating to the world around us what is possible the city department who are switching to renewable diesel, where planning for sea level rise, working to get people out of their cars, who are designing neighborhoods to be livable walkable, safe. the 17 businesseswho are part of our business council on climate change, and they 247 businesses who have gone through our green business program and achieved all of the elements of the most gruesomely challenging checklist you can imagine so that they can be part of that inner circle of green those are just a few examples that we can point to because every face i see is an example of rehearsing the future is an example of taking action to protect this planets. because you all are willing to show up for the cause, because we all, in this room, understand that the life on this planet is sacred and it's our sacred responsibility to protect it. so they say the world is run by those who show up. i would like to thank that the world is changed by those who show up. in san francisco we have old elected leaders who show up and i understand sandra lee fewer came in. supervisor fewer are you here to be recognized? way in the back, oh my goodness. thank you. we have engaged public data shown up we have innovative businesses that show up and we have committees-committed city agencies. elected officials. the public. innovative businesses, and city agencies. there is tremendouspower in these four pillars of democracy when they are put to work for good. those four pillars that we have so strong here in san francisco enable us to her rehearse the future. they are the secret power of our bubble inside the bubble. today, we need to take a moment to honor democracy. the power of what is possible when those four pillars work together towards a common vision. and we are going to honor democracy and a very specific way today we are going to honor a particular group of people that has shown up for our city and for the environments. i'm talking about our commission on the environments. for the past 20 years the commission on the environment has embodied that forward thinking leadership that is the trademark of san francisco and its people and frankly, we are very lucky because most cities don't have a commission on the environment and they don't have a department of the environments. it was the will of san francisco voters in 1995. they wanted to create a place where the public could talk about environmental issues. that vision of democracy where we could give the environment a voice in our government, something special happened. the city actually discovered its own voice and was able to chart a bold course forward with the environment at its center. as a department head, i work very closely with our environments commission and i have to say, i am always impressed with their diligence, their ideas, and their commitments. many of our past and current commissioners are here today. our past department heads are here today, and even our past commission secretaries. so this is an illustrious group of individuals who have asked the tough questions, stood up to powerful interest, they collectively have shared new ideas for urban sustainability, and they have helped to make sustainability and climate action part of the city's dna. these commissioners listen to the public and they advocate on their behalf. they have served with distinction and with heart and with real dedication to our city and our planets. so i would like to take a moment and ask the commissioners in the room, the past department heads in the room, and the past commission secretaries to all, stand up and be recognized. [applause]. what a great group of people. so as everyone knows, commissioners do not operate in a vacuum. commissioners serve at the pleasure of their mayor. so they are a reflection of the particular vision of administration. the commission on the environment has served under three mayors. we would be remiss if we did not acknowledge their leadership today. former mayor willie brown, former mayor gavin newsom, and our current mayor, ed lee. [applause]. under mayor brown's leadership we have started down-we started down the trailblazing course that we've been on to this day. under mayor newsom, san francisco began to shine as an environmental leader unafraid of the pushback naysayers or industry, frankly.under mayor lee, san francisco has continued to push the envelope reaching further and faster and higher. mayor lee has challenged us all to ensure that the environment benefits reach everyone. that equityis at the forefront of our work to protect our communities and our city from harm. i am proud to work for a mayor who believes that climate action matters. i am proud to work for a mayor who is standing up to our federal administration because it is the right thing to do. [applause]. it is my honor to introduce to you today mayor ed lee. [applause] >> thank you.thank you very much. good morning everybody debbie, thank you for that introduction. i want to congratulate all of you for being here what a crowd of people and i am more appreciative because i know all of you are risking something to be here. you are risking losing your seat up at hippie hill.[laughing]. all right.so slow you're going to get it. which is why i have to note the absence ofwillie brown and gavin newsom. [laughing] anyway. print that. [laughing]. i want to welcome all of you. i want to welcome all of you to our city hall in san francisco. city hall,, the oldest leed platinum holding in the country. you are right here in it. [applause]. it's great to see so many of you here today to help us celebrate earth day, to honor the 20th anniversary of our city's commission on the environment, and just looking at all those that stood up and i stood up with us for over decades i'm very proud of the city and proud of the people i get to work with. you know, the mayors before me shared a very deep commitment to our cities of our mental goals and like me, they had the privilege of appointing some of the most amazing leaders and advocates for commission. i also want to welcome a good friend of mine. someone that i think whose name rolls off your mind very easily because he was there for us way back in 1970. let me formally welcome former congressman pete mccloskey who is here today with us. pete, please stand up. [applause]. it's an honor to have him with us today is one of the cosponsors of the very first earth day event, april 22, 1970. i was in college, pete. but, you know, at that time i still carried those visions that sometimes i share with debbie and the other commissioners, where over 20 million americans took to the streets of our country calling for a healthier and a better protected environments. i still remember those big huge balloons and in college, i was there saying, i've got to be a serious student because when i get out is a lot of good work that i have to get done. so thank you, pete for that. that firstearth day celebration help prompt the creation of the us environmental protection agency. certainly, under threat now and at that time, of course, with the leadership of mr. mccloskey, we passed the federal endangered species act. i also want to add my acknowledgment to the supervisors that are here. i don't see hillary ronen as well supervisor fewer. hopefully there are others did any other supervisors? supervisor safai, thank you so much. d-11. you know, the different districts -here we go katie tang. there we go. hey, katie, good to see you. out late last night. okay. [laughing]. i want to say thank you to the board because i know in their heart and in their work every day they join me in making sure that the city not only does the right thing, but stays ahead and does the model and be as what debbie said, rehearsing the future together. you know, we are celebrating this year's earth day the time of pretty deep uncertainty in the country. it's kind of hard not to feel like san francisco and our values are under attack literally at every turn at the national level. but when i stood right here at the rotunda at city hall a few months ago with many of you i was clear i was clear about what we in san francisco are going to do. we are going to remain a sanctuary city. [applause]. we are going to remain a city that is welcoming to all let me say this to you today. we are going to remain a city that takes aggressive and ambitious climate action no matter who is in the white house. [applause]. this new federal administration sees environmental policies as a stranglehold on business. they believe that the economy and the environment are mutually exclusive. well, today san francisco is once again proved the cynics completely wrong.yesterday i had the privilege of announcing that san francisco's achieved a major milestone. 20% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions since our 1990 levels. already achieved. [applause]. we all remember that bold goal that then mayor gavin newsom set out to reach 25% reduction in 2017, this year we've a college that earlierby three more points. but we also never rest on our laurels. that's kind of why all of us are here today as well. we make announcements and then we get together and then we plot out and then we say what is next. we not only reach this goal. we exceeded it by two years and we have done this while our population has increased. our population has grown in the same time period by 19% and our economy has grown by 70% over the same period of time. what does that tell you? it tells you, jobs and business, labor and the city and environmentalists can all act and get together and be part of the success of the city. as the federal government rolls back efforts curving harmful greenhouse gas emissions, we are pushing forward. our success is deeply deeply rooted in collaboration. thanks to the critical partnerships of our businesses and nonprofit organizations, are city departments, our labor organizations, our community organizations, are coommissioners, and all of our elected officials, and our residents, so i would like you to just take a moment and look at yourselves and each other and give yourselves a hand. yes. [applause]. okay. we have a long way to go don't worry? we still do but i like doing it with people. not to people. in celebration of earth month, i have an announcement i'd like to publicly share with you. last year we were able with the board to launch clean power sf.clean power sf-[applause]. as you know, it empowers our san francisco residents and businesses to choose, choose, cleaner more renewable energy at competitive rates. to date, clean power sf has welcomed in its first 75,000 customers across the city. that is a tremendous success. [applause]. with that, we are celebrating the rollout of clean power sf to the remainingquarter million electricity customers by 2019. so offering clean power sf to every eligible san francisco resident and business is the single most important factor in reducing greenhouse gas emissions from san francisco's electricity grid. today i'm excited to announce that by 2020 we are not just going to completecitywide enrollment for clean power sf by 2020, i am pledging that all of san francisco energy will be running on at least 50% renewable energy. [applause]. that's ambitious but we can do it.we can do this. obviously, for all of you that look at numbers and study what we are doing, this is obviously an ambitious goal. it's ambitious for literally any city in the united states. but you know california is already one of the most forward thinking states on climate change. certainly thanks to our governor. we are now going to leapfrog our state by putting ourselves 10 years ahead of california's 50% target that is 2030. now sourcing this, and that's why i need to work with everyone here in this room, sourcing this much renewable energywill not only reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 1.5 million metric tons of carbon, it will also create an additional 5000 jobs. yes. that is important. [applause]. i am going to make sure, as i constantly talked with debbie and the commissioners, i am going to make sure those jobs go to the people who need them the most. they are part of our future. clean power sf also offers customers the option to upgrade to 100% renewable energy with a service called, super green. yes. well i am proud to be a super green customer. [applause]. we can make that choice and i know others, when confronted with choices will make the right choice.because they live in san francisco. by making clean power sf the default electricity supplier for san francisco, getting more and more of our residents to sign up for super green, we can show the rest of the world how it is done. today, the back of the table for those of you who of yet consider this, please, take a walk back. there's a public utilities commission staff ready and eager to sign you up. when willie brown and gavin newsom get here will get them to sign up as well. [laughing]. well i want to say this. i am very proud of our public utilities commission. the general manager arlen kelly, who had the pleasure of working with for was two decades now and of course are commissioners themselves. thank you, to our puc for helping lead such a successful launch of clean power sf and for all the work that is ahead of us that you will do to reach our 50%renewable energy goal by 2020. it is up to me, it's up to all of you. it's up to everybody in this room. if we work together, that's how our city will lead the state and the rest of the country.as a city we are also continuingto walk the talk when it comes to clean energy in at a municipal level. last year we shifted the entire san francisco municipal fleet over to renewable diesel. [applause]. it wasn't easy. we had to trick a few of our departmental customers by making them use it and letting them know they were not using it yet. well, this meansnow today we are reducing our tailpipe emissions from our muni buses, our firetrucks, our heavy duty trucks at dpw. thanks to ed risk and in our san francisco municipal transit agency for their work in implanting this. it was not an easy process. but certainly one that we were happy to do. it's always a happy thing to educate others about more green fuels and green energy sources. we are able to make the shift because of a great partnership with renewable diesel provider and it's great to have them today. please, stand up. thank you very much for your leadership. thank you. [applause]. thanks for being a sponsor today but also working with us. by the way, were going to get those ferries in the bay area, too. this week, i am also pleased to announce that writer, the fleet manager company has committed to switching their entire san francisco fueling facility at third street to renewable diesel. that shift-yes, thank you rider. [applause].that shift will result in reduction of about 1000 metric tons of emissions for san francisco and the bay area. so as we shift to cleaner fuels, for our city's public transportation, we are also creating healthier communities. that is why it's so fitting today that i also take this opportunity to thank kaiser permanente not only as a sponsor. you are my hmo, too. i want to thank you for being here today. kaiser, please, stand up. here we go. thank you. [applause]. thank you for being part of this. for helping our city be greener, but also healthier. so at this time i would like to invite my good friend congressman former congressman mccloskey emma please, join me up here on the stage. let's recognize together a few special san franciscans. [applause].as debbie said earlier, for the past 20 years, i and mayor newsom and mayor willie brown had the privilege of working with a fantastic leaders in our environment commission. since 1997, over30 san franciscans have served the commission, helped us institute some of the most ambitious time and changing goals our city has ever had. many of them staying long enough to actually see them completed and when we look back at the commission, we see that we always-the commission has always been if you steps ahead.. that's what we wanted to do, right? yes. they have seen for this down the field. they've always considered the bigger picture, and they've always reminded us that we have a duty as a city to lead the way for the rest of the country. so, again, let me with now one of the cosponsors of earth day salute all the environmental commissions. again, please, stand up again for another accolade that you deserve. [applause]. thank you for your foresight. your vision. your work. your tremendous difference and please, if i may aska former congressman pete mccloskey to offer a few remarks. [applause]. >> my great-grandfather came here in 1853. ever since then this is been the friendliest city in the world. notes can be the greenest city in the world. but there's something you don't know that i like to mention. a colleague of mine in the congress back in 1970 had attended san jose state phone in love with california. many years later as a us senator from wisconsin he was in one of the skyscrapers may have been hopkins. with a friend, he looked across the sunset over the golden gate and he said, you know, there ought to be in earth day to celebrate the beauty of california. so that earth day had its founding here in san francisco 47 years ago. it's now celebrated in something like 182 countries. last year the united nations chose the signature on the global warming treaty to be on earth day, april 22. unfortunately, this year it will be sort of a day of mourning but 21 months from now hopefully will elect a democratic congress to check that. [applause]. [cheering]. house of representatives could still be a check and balance on this crazy white house, but thank you, mayor. this man is a legend. the city is a legend. thank you, all. [applause]. >> okay. so we are going to do a little photo op celebration right now. it will be quick but it will be meaningful to our state delegation could not be here today with us. they're busy in session and that's a good place for them to be. but i want to thank them for their leadership. san francisco doesn't operate in a vacuum. it is because of the bold laws that the governor and the legislature passed at the state level that enable us to make the progress that we can. so i would like to invite up to the stage right now, representatives from san francisco state delegation from the office of assembly member phil 10, assembly member david chiu and state sen. scott weiner, if you could come to the stage and mr. mayor and congressman, you could come to the stage that would be great. representing all of you commissioners will be johanna wald, who is currently the vice president of the commission on the environment. so come on up, johanna. [applause]. >> good morning everyone. my name is alex walker i'm here on behalf of state assembly member phil ting and i'd like to introduce my colleague with me today. >> hello. on victor release and deputy district director with center scott weiner >> katie r bona a summary member david chiu's office. >> on behalf of our legislative delegation, who as a [inaudible] can veer today because they're working on behalf san francisco values to sacramento into the state of california we want to bring on their behalf resolution separating the 20th anniversary of the commission on the environment on behalf of the delegation i like to present this to our esteemed colleagues around the state and take a photo. [applause]. >> awesome. so, of course, we cannot host this wonderful event was in for our sponsors. i want to emphasize that sponsorship of this event allows us to offer the invitation to so many community-based organizations and nonprofits who are in the trenches every day never giving up. so our sponsors, we are so deeply appreciative of your generosity to enable a room the size to be filled with so many environment all champions. the thing come as i read this list to you, i want you to think aboutfor a minute, most of these companiesdo not consider themselves environmental companies could that's not their reason for being. but each one of them in their hearts understands that you cannot separate out environment and economy and so they are here with us helping us blaze the way. kaiser permanente, for your commitment to renewable energy in a less caustic world. [applause]. nasty and let's say the applause for the injured nasty, for your leadership clean renewable diesel. salesforce, for your incredible innovation in greening all aspects of your operation, even your data centers.united airlines, for your investment in renewable jet fuel. another planet entertainment, blue shield of california, cool effect, san francisco giants, levi strauss, new deal advisors, rm w, school of thought, and wells fargo. thank you all so much for making this possible. [applause]. i want to give a big shout outto the staff of the department of the environment work so hard for so many months to put on this date they are probably very relieved it's almost over, but thank you so much. yes. [applause]. there's a lot of love in this room for you guys. sf of tv, the city hall staff to make this possible, the servers are working so hard, and spirit which is thank everyone who put this on. [applause] finally, in this time of political uncertainty, it is important that we remind ourselves that our actions do make a difference. that we can see our efforts are working and that we will not be diminished by obstacles thrown in our path, or by threats of funding cuts and program reductions. we will grow stronger and we will work harder. which is why, today, we as we leave this breakfast, we are gifting with little packets of california poppyseed's that can be found on all your tables. these seeds teach us about resilience and power. they remind us that our actions, when rooted in goodness, can break through and flourish even under the harshest of conditions. together, let's show our resilience and exercise our power, not just for the next four years, but the next 20 and beyond. let us rehearse the future together happy birthday. [applause]. >> >> >> >> good afternoon and welcome to the planning commission this is the regular meeting for thursday, april 13, thursday, april 13, any kind. proceedings. and when speaking before the commission, if you care to, do state your name for the record. i'd like to call roll at this time. commissioner president hillis commissioner vice president richards community college

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