Explanatory document resolution file no. 201909coe. Item for discussion and action. Commissioner sullivan is going to do the actual motion. Thank you. Save your voice. Great. So as commissioner sullivan can attest to, we had a really interesting policy Committee Meeting on these issues. And we wanted to ask cyndy our Climate Program manager to give you a brief outline of what was discussed not nearly in the same level of detail. But as lowell said, when you look at our where weve got emissions coming out, its pretty clear theres not a lot of mystery here. Our buildings are a big part of the story. And where those emissions are coming from, cyndy will talk a little bit about that. But more and more, they are coming from natural gas. And while we will be developing a Climate Action strategy that you will hear a lot more about for 2020, we dont wait for that to be finished before we adopt policies along the way. And theres a particular moment in time now that is very important because the Building Code gets updated on a threeyear cycle. And we are and that starts now in 2019, the new cycle. So we wanted to weigh in to be in alignment with that statewide cycle. And im going to let cyndy take it from here. Good evening, commissioners. My name is cyndy comerford. Im the Climate Program manager. And im going to give a brief summary of the presentation that i gave to the policy committee several weeks ago. And so what we are here for today is to ask for your support on two ordinances that anthony mentioned. One ill refer to as our electric preferred code and the second ordinance is our municipal electrifycation ordinance. The municipal ordinance inhabitant has not been scheduled for committee yet. So i just want to start off talking about our Energy Future in San Francisco to kind of set the stage for this brief presentation. I know that our current model of energy in california looks very bleak for the third year in a row, we saw horrific wildfires. And pg e said the shut offs that have been happening could last for ten more years. So i want you to know the city of San Francisco is taking this very seriously. The city has recently put a bid in for pg es assets, infrastructure that serve San Francisco so we can secure our Energy Future and depend less on the rollover grid. Its really important that we start electrifying our buildings. And thats what im going to talk about today. In addition to our electrification, we want to invest in smaller Power Supplies and microgrids and backup Battery Storage and also around smart inverters and expanding solar. These types of measures can help us keep the power on when we have these types of events that weve seen recently. And in addition, its really important that the city leads by example. And that starts with our pal buildings. So at the crux of the two ordinances that im going to talk about today is really about the reduction and elimination of natural gas. And i wont go into all the detail i did in the last presentation, but natural gas has many impacts. As a super greenhouse gas, its mostly methane. And its 86 times stronger or traps more heat than carbon dioxide. Its a combustible and hazardous material. Weve seen explosions all over the united states. In 2010, we saw our neighbors south of us have a massive natural gas explosion where there were eight fatalities. Theres impacts to our health, not only from the extraction of natural gas but the use of it in houses. And the more studies that are connecting natural gas cooking to increases in childhood asthma. In addition, natural gas is just not as reliable or resilient in major disasters as electricity. And so as lowell kind of talked about when we look at the big picture of our emissions, about half come from buildings and the other half comes from transportation. And this slide kind of dives in a little deeper to show the emissions just from our building sector. So in our commercial and residential builds, our natural gas use is mostly from hot water, heating, airconditioning and cooking. And we can see that most of our residential and commercial emissions around natural gas and almost all of our municipal emissions are from natural gas since all of our electricity comes from a carbonfree source. So kind of to achieve our climate goals, the elimination of natural gas is actually critical. And mayor london breed established very Ambitious Goals of achieving net zero emissions in New Buildings by 2030 and all buildings by 2050. In order to achieve these city goals of net zero emissions by 2050 and make sure that we are abiding by our parent agreement to limit temperature increases to 1. 5 degrees celsius, increasing electrification in our new and existing buildings is absolutely necessary. So that brings us to our policy proposal. And as director raphael said, just to give a little bit of background, every three years, the state of california goes through a code cycle. And so we are coming to the end of that code cycle. We are going to adopt new Building Codes. And in california, you have an option to adopt whats called a reach code. So to go above the state standard. And this is mostly done for environmental reasons. And San Francisco has been doing this for years. Weve been a pioneer in this field. And what we are here to show to you today is a new reach code to help with our building electrification and also our climate goals. And so what this slide shows is our policy proposal. And this is for new construction in private buildings. And so what we are looking here, if you build your building to be all electric, you just have to meet the state standards. And if you decide not to build all electric, what this policy does, it makes it more difficult for you. So if you choose to build a mixedfuel building, you have to go above the state standard. And that increase is around energy efficiency. And so this is the policy package thats our electricpreferred code that has been sponsored by supervisor mandelman. And the second ordinance which has been sponsored by supervisor brown is around the municipal buildings. And for municipal buildings its the complete elimination of natural gas. So there will be no more natural gas in the new construction of municipal buildings. So this just shows an array of different buildings in San Francisco from municipal buildings to existing buildings to private construction that have already been built all electric. So we know that the technology is there and that its possible and we are really excited to work with our stakeholders to embark on this next phase of building all electric in San Francisco. And so that concludes my presentation. Im happy to answer any questions about the policy proposals. Okay this is where i jump in. Thank you, cyndy, great presentation. Commissioners, any questions . You dont have to raise your hand because you cant see the commissioner wald. I have a question about the resolution. Thank you. I have a question about the resolution. This one . That i think we are talking about, which is the first one in our packet okay. Which wait a minute is 190972. Requiring new construction in major renovations to exclude natural gas. Okay. That is if one for municipal buildings. Thats the one for municipal buildings . Because it wasnt clear to me whether it applied to all buildings. Thats my question about that. And okay. So on the second one, i am just and i apologize for not being able to make the policy Committee Meeting at which you discussed this. But im just wondering whether it would be possible to give a stronger signal, if you will, to the building industry that this might not work, and if it doesnt, we are going to demand that all buildings are exclusively electric. I think that is a wonderful suggestion. We are just about to launch in coordination with the Mayors Office and supervisor mandelman, zero emission Building Task force. And supervisor mandelman has said within six months that we are going to propose a allelectric for new construction. So that is on our agenda. We have some additional stakeholder outreach. We need to do with our advocates and the Building Community to make sure that we can address the issues around technology, labor, Workforce Development and equity. And so that is our next step. And just to kind of look at some of the other cities, the electric preferred code, that is through the Building Code and to make sure our steps are legally defensible with the city. But our second step is what you mentioned. So hopefully this resolution is the first step signaling that, and then launching the task force and hopefully having another ordinance within six months that does exactly what you suggested. Okay. Thank you. Commissioners . Did you want to amend the resolution or are you okay with the resolution as is . Well [laughter] stronger language i heard its not the time for that. So i will, rather than propose amending it, i will vote for it. But make note on my calendar that in six months, i hope we can lead this issue. Absolutely, me too. Thank you. I have a question. This is probably not the right time. Commissioner heather. This is sort of out of the realm of these resolutions but its maybe the time to say this. I look at the construction thats happening throughout the city, and of course theres tons of new construction happening but theres also tons of renovations happening. Is there a mechanism or any idea of doing this kind of work in three years or as part of the cycling to suggest that renovations also have to move toward all electric . Absolutely. So i should have mentioned as my last come, the zero emission task force for buildings that will be launching is going to have four subsections. One is going to look at all electric for new construction. And then there will be other workgroups that are going to look at existing construction around municipal and commercial and residential buildings. So our goal is within one year to have a road map for existing buildings, how we retrofit them and electrify them. And would that be holding to the threeyear cycle to get it into code that if people are applying for permits for renovation . It makes it easier if you do these updates to the building codon that triannual cycle. But you dont have to. So thats something we are going to have to think about and work with our stakeholders as we go through the process. It makes it easier for the Building Community, but i think that remains to be seen. I would like to just add the municipal is for major renovations as well. So we were looking at renovations that were above a certain threshold would mean because we want to get it when your boiler goes out, when you are doing a lot of work on a building, no, you are not building a brand new building, its the perfect time to be thinking about going all electric. So for municipal it is for major renovations as well as new construction. I have one question or maybe its a comment. I think i read in the last week that the Restaurant Industry sued the city of berkeley on this very issue. And as a city where our restaurants are important, and we have a foody culture, i wonder if it would be possible to stage this process so that commercial restaurants are the last ones to be forced into all electric, just a thought for the future. Thats a great suggestion. And the Golden Gate Restaurant Association will be invited to participate in these conversations and be a really important stakeholder. If i may, commissioner, that is precisely why we arent suggesting an allout ban for every building type as of january 1, because we have not done the work that we think is important to build the support from the community and the understanding. And as we talked a lot about during the policy Committee Meeting, the Contracting Community needs to understand how to do that. They need to understand how do you offer an electric alternative. So we have, for example, in february, we are going to be doing electrification expo in Golden Gate Park at the county fair building where we are going to invite residents and contractors to learn about Heat Pump Technology and understand whats possible. So we are building a socialization. And with the intention as commissioner wald said, to send a strong signal to the marketplace that this is step one and there are more steps to come. Could i add to that that its not only, you know, a city buildings and commercial buildings that are faced with the example that you gave debbie, that your furnace stops working or your heater thing stops working and those are emergencies. And in the absence of having the kind of information that you need or the conversation that you need, people, its already happened to me this year, are going to buy a regular water heater because you need to have a water heater. And we somehow have to figure out i urge you to help us figure out how to get ahead of that problem so that when somebody is faced with this emergency, they can get help from whatever is the appropriate community with a minimum of effort. Like two hours at the most. I couldnt agree with you more. We definitely as director raphael said, we have a lot of work to do in educating our Community Around electrification. And we are going to take that very seriously in the upcoming year. Maybe its a thing that we should think about doing like neighborhood meetings where we can talk about these issues and the options. Once you figure out what they are and what the solutions are. Yeah. Absolutely. Thank you for your comments. I appreciate them. Any other commissioner comments or questions . If not, i understand we are going to do Public Comment and vote on these one by one. So first, is there any Public Comment on resolution 201908coe regarding municipal electrification . Seeing none, is there a motion and a second on this matter . I move. Motion by commissioner wald and seconded by commissioner stephenson. All in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed say nay. Motion carries. Our second resolution is resolution 2010909coe regarding electric preferred buildings. Is there any Public Comment on this resolution . Seeing none, we have a motion to approve . President bermejo. Is there a second. Second. Commissioner wan. We have a motion and a second. All in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed. The motion carries. The next item is item 9, directors report, update on the department of the environment administrative and programmatic operations relating to budget planning, Strategic Planning, clean air transportation, climate and Energy Public outreach and education, environmental justice, habitat restoration, green building, zero waste, toxics reduction and urban forestry. The speaker is deborah raphael. Explanatory document is the directors report. This item is for discussion. The next item. I would just say i want to theres so much we could talk about but we have a lot of new staff here who im going to have them introduced in a minute. I want to talk about a couple things that are going on that are really meaningful for us. In order for us to get to a Climate Action strategy that is compliant with the paris climate accords, we need to have a deep and Extensive Community engagement process. And in addition to that, for our mayor to feel comfortable and excited about doing some of the bold policy initiatives we need, she has said to us you need to bring others along. And so we are hearing and we also believe that in our hearts as well. And so we are embarking on some interesting methods for Engaging Community on what can be a very wonky subject, how to get off of natural gas, for example. So what we have Just Launched is something we call the anchor partners initiative. And that is a shorthand for saying rather than the department leading on community outreach, why dont we have trusted Community Partners lead and we pay them to do so. We honor the fact that they cant volunteer. So cyndy and her Team Selected two wonderful anchor partners, Emerald Cities and poder to help us answer the question how are we going to design a system to transfer off of natural gas in the existing residential building stock. Because when we go to our lower income families and say we would like to improve your building and make it all electric, the first answer is, number one, oh my god, how much is that going to cost me. But number two, am i going to get displaced. If you fix up my building, am i not going to be able to afford them anymore because i dont own it. And so we understand that those are big barriers and hurdles to get across and for us to ban natural gas, do such a bold thing, we must do it with people along with us. So we had our first of those anchor partnerled meetings last week. And it was focused on labor, how are we going to work with labor. The next one will be focused on affordable housing. So each one of those anchor partner teams is focused on a particular target audience. So i use that as an example in my directors report, because it speaks to the intentionality of our work to bring people along to an order to get to that statement, we will be banning natural gas. We are not jumping there. But we are going there with a how conversation, not a whether. And that how conversation is how do we do this so that people arent displaced, so people can afford to live here. So we meet our climate and our social needs together. We will also be having conversations about how do we ban natural gas in new construction, not just have electric preferred by bringing along the trades and bringing along the restaurant associations and everyone else as well as how do we get off natural gas in existing municipal. Thats going to be along with the puc. So lots of conversations happening, but cyndy is shepherding because ultimately in november we need our new Climate Action strategy to be adopted, and thats a city wide strategy that needs to have encompassed that feedback. And as i said earlier, we do that attempt that we find opportunities to take action as we go along, Building Code, lets lead by example in municipal. Lets get to electric preferred and send signals that we are serious about going further. I would like to also say that we had a really wonderful hearing on urban forestry between two hearings in front of the board of supervisors. One on biodiversity and one on urban forestry. And what is so important about that is when we talk about our Climate Action strategy, 08100, this is a way to focus on roots explicitly and the board heard loud and clear if need for Additional Resources and the need for city agencies to work with them and the department was part of both central to those conversations. And finally, i would just like to say that on december 4, im going to be doing a field trip to look at what our School District is doing from 10 to 12 30, 10 a. M. So if any of you can join me anthony, did you send out the email. I will tomorrow. He will send oute out an eml tomorrow to see what they are doing in their initiative but also in their school lunch program. We will be going to the high school to look at their new cafeteria and looking at how that promotes the roots part of things, local organic food and also zero waste. So if you can join me, that so if you can join me, that at work and im excited to help push along the environments mission. Thank you. I was with a Strategic Firm that focused on the Energy Sector so i worked with energy utilities. Thank you. Good evening, commissioners. My name is minho park and im rounding out my first month with my title is transportation outreach associate so im engaging in outreach measures regarding our Sustainable Transportation measures and initiatives. And providing other support on the projects as need be. Before this, im actually a recent berkeley grad. I graduated in may. In terms of professional experience, i worked with the Natural ResourceDefense Council and Clean Energy Team last summer. Good evening, commissioners. My name is means goldman and i work with the Environmental Education the School Education team within the department of environment. I work as an Environmental Education aide so i go into schools and give presentations on compost, recycling and waste management. Before i joined the department, i joined in Early September and i was working as an educator inhouse for about three years. So thank you. Good evening. My name is Monica Dwight and im an Environmental Education associate for the School Education team and i largely focus on providing water presentations to elementary schoolers and also support in providing zero waste outreach to our schools. And before working for the department of environment, i was teaching english in spain. Good evening, commissioners, i work with the School Education team of an Environmental Education aide. As my colleague said, we go into classrooms and provide field trips to students so they learn more about what their field strips will be about. We also work on outreach in assemblies in schools and we go and show students how to recycle and really talk to them about why its important for us to protect our beautiful world many of before i came to the department before i was welcomed here, i was working at ucmerced. I was doing a fellowship that provided paid internships opportunities undergraduate students in the energy and environmental fields. Hello, my name is adam webber and ive been for six months at the department but its my first time on the meeting so its time i said hello. Im an intern and im doing some work on the antibiotics ordinance that passed a few years ago now and so getting data from Grocery Stores and trying to go through that. I currently also work at a Financial Planning firm so i still do that now. Thank you. Good evening, my name is anna bailey. Im an intern for the toxics reductions and healthy ecosystem team. Ill work on eight variety of projects but im looking at microplastic filters for washing machines and the cost of divvy efficiencies of the filters that exist. Im a grad of the university of michigan. Im very excited to be here. Thank you. Good evening. My name is mintu lay im a graduate from sf state. I work with the toxic reductions team on the healthy nail salon programs. I used to work in a nail salon in about 15 or 16 years so i know a little bit more about that. I also offer a Program Since day one so i have been with them about five or six years and also, i work with other projects on non stick cook ware and other projects with the toxic reduction team. Thank you for your work. What an amazing group. [applause] any comments . Any Public Comment on this item . I have a question. What is the significance of the fact that these new people are from just two programs . Are those programs having a big jump in existing staff numbers or do they have an unusually large turnover . I mean, theres only two programs here. I paid attention. [laughter] some of it is timing. You met people from other programs. So theres youve got some interns here who have been with the program for a while that are coming up to say hello now and it is cyclical. So the School Education program has an annual cycle and you will seeing it with or new team and you are seeing something that is significant if that we have had some vacancies in our Outreach Program at the leadership level for quite some time now. You remember luke, he left. You remember margaret. These were people who were there margaret wasnt there for so long but luke was. It takes a while to fill those positions with the right people. Jennifer, were so thrilled that you are here. I mean, shes essentially taking lukes position if you will and then two over from her is alex, who essentially took margarets position. These are very competitive positions and we want to make sure that we get the right person in them and so if asia was here, she would jump up and down in excitement because shes got a full team now where she didnt before. So, on the toxic end, thats just serendipity that you are seeing them all and on the outreach end, its a combination of normal cycles and finally we got through some heavy duty recruitment. So thank you for noticing. Thank you. Next item. Congratulations to you all. Hope to see a lot of you. [applause] the next item is item 10. Committee reports. This item is for discussion. Commissioner walls, would you like to give us an update. Mr. Solomon i dont have the ive been tapped for this. Sorry. My bad. At policy Committee Meeting we heard three presentations. The first was from cindy, Climate Program manager. She gave an expanded presentation on the pro electrification ordinances we heard today and recommend the policy Committee Recommended adoption by the full commission of the resolutions we just adopted. We next had a presentation from dorthy of the California AirResources Board which is a division of the cali approximate a on the emergence of rechargeable landscaping equipment. So i think lawn mowers and weed whackers and it was a nice convergence in the work theyre doing and the work were doing because these things are often used to mechanically deal with plants that you and otherwise need toxics to deal with. And lastly, we had a presentation from Dan Flannigan who is the urban Forestry Council president on the work that the council is doing and especially on the recently completed Strategic Plan which he presented to us just before presenting to the board of supervisors. Commissioners on october 16th, the Operations Committee met and we had four different presentations. Jose lem, who ijoejoe salem gavn update on the Operations Committee. We meet four times a year. Just the nature of how the budgeting process works is that almost every time we have a meeting were having a conversation about the budget either the pre planning, the big show or the update on what happened. The budge set in good shape. He does an amazing job. Its always in good shape. The department came and gave us an update on the Racial Equity initiative. We heard about this a couple of years before. Maybe a year and a half before. We got an update on the departments efforts there. Several members of the department have gone through a training process and the next step for this is theyre going to come and speak to us in january and give the full commission an update on the initiative. Cara gurney of the Outreach Team came ask gave us on the multi family Mailer Campaign it was part of a new zero a system roll out and it was exciting to see all that in action and see the materials the Outreach Team came up with. Cindy has been busy. Shes the Climate Program manager who just spoke with us and the spiel committee so shes been very busy. She came and talked to us about how the department is planning to reach out and engage the community on the revisions to the Climate Action plan that debbie mentioned earlier. Commissioners, any questions . Any Public Comment . On the next item . On the directors report on this item . It is the directors report. Do you want do give comment . Were going to move back. Ok. So we go to announcements. Yeah, is there any objection to moving back to item 9 to take Public Comment . Ok. Without objection, here we go. Susan paradox, california native plant society. Welcome. Im susan with the california native plant society. I wanted to thank the department of environment for your biodiversity resolution. Because you implemented a bio diversity resolution, our local ecosystem have benefited. The urban Forestry Council has added our local native trees to their proved tree lit. The San Francisco department of public works is designing the sunset boulevard improvement to include our local plant communities and local pollenate or plants and rec and Parks Department is designing Francisco Park with local pollenate or plants and rain water caption reuse for irrigation. If you sthank you so much for td work. Please, consider implementing a die owabio diversity strategy ad policy that vancouver and new york have done. That will enhance our local seekosis tom, improve human health, mitigate climate age and i hope it will be part of your Climate Action strategy in 2020. And thank you to Anthony Valdez for all your good work. Thank you. Next item is item 11, announcements, this item is for discussion. No announcements or Public Comment. The next item is 12, new business future agenda items. Anthony valdez, this is discussion and possible action. So, commissioners, in charles absence i will do the new business today. At the january commissioner meeting, well be having the regular items which is the voting on the budget and the recommendation that comes from the Operations Committee. As well as voting on the annual report and the recommendation that comes from the policy committee. Theres an election of officers as well as a couple of presentations from the climate team about hazard and resiliency plans that the cities is working on. So thats what we have so far in store for january. As well as the Racial Equity plan. Thats coming in january. There you go. Ok. Any discussion on this item . Any Public Comment . Next item, please. Clerk the next item is item 13, Public Comment on all matters pertaining to the went subsequent closed session. Before we move into closed session do review, director rafael will take public matters. Is there any Public Comment . The next item is 14, vote on whether to hold closed session to evaluate the performance of the executive director, california Government Code Section 54957af admin code 67. 10b. This item is action. Thank you. So we need a motion. I move. Moved by commissioner wong second. Its been moved and seconds. Going into closed session to evaluate the performance director rafael. Say aye. Aye. Any we are back in open session. The time is 8 48 p. M. Do i hear a motion to not disclose any or all discussions held in closed session . So moved second. Moved by commissioner sullivan, seconded by commissioner wan. Is there any discussion . Any Public Comment . All those in favor of moving to not disclose any or all discussions held in closed session, signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed . Motion carries. The next item. The next item is item 16, to make a recommendation to the department of Human Resources to increase the compensation of the executive director. This item is discussion and action. The commission can make a recommendation to the San Francisco department of Human Resources on the compensation of director raphael. The motion that we will vote on is to recommend to the department of Human Resources to increase the compensation of director raphael. Do i hear a motion . I move moved by commissioner wald. Second. Seconded by commissioner stephenson. Is there any discussion . Is there any Public Comment . Those in favor, signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed . The motion carries. The next item, please. The next item is item 17, adjournment. The time is 8 50 p. M. Okay. Thank you. Thank you we are adjourned. We are adjourned. [cheers and applause] lets give it up for the tree all right. Good evening, everyone. Around of applause for the Young People Theatre Company and its director. They were amazing. They will be performing the Little Mermaid next month at the museum. Bring your family, come out and support. All right. Lets get everybody up. Are we ready to light this tree . [cheers and applause] [ ] my name is phil ginsberg. I am the general manager of your San Francisco recreation and Parks Department. We want to welcome you to the 90 th, think about that. The 90th annual Tree Lighting. This started december 20th, 90 years ago on John Mclarens birthday and his spirit is here tonight because it is not raining. [laughter] this is truly one of our signature events of the year. Certainly one of my personal favourites. And if you see all the incredible stuff happening here down j. F. K. , if you havent walked down the street, there are rides and food and games and you get a goat of conservatory of flowers from night bloom or the outside of the building and the inside of the building are all lit up. It is super cool. The start of our show tonight is right next to me. Our mayor, london breed. Mayor, thank you for joining. We will have you wait just a second. The mayor is a magician and she will make the magic happen tonight with this tree. Before we make that happen, we need to acknowledge some other special guests who are here that make this happen tonight. They have joined me on stage. Present tonight we have state Assembly Member phil taking who is right there. [applause] i think our assessor recorder carmen to is here or on her way, and then we have our recreation and park commission, our president , mar buell mar you will and all of the commissioners. We have a number of other folks from the parks and Recreation Advisory Committee who are here who helped guide park policy. We are grateful for their support. And i see a few special Department Heads starting with our police chief bill scott who is here. I saw deputy chief david lazar, the head of the department of the environment is here. And many other special guests. If i have missed anybody on this stage, i apologize. I saw a project level in the house. Thank you very much. We do events like this four times a year. Our Family Friendly free events would not be possible without the generous support of our sponsors or partners including kaiser permanente, Byward Market , the San Francisco parks allianz, i saw the president of the Parks Alliance in the house, and recology. And of course, none of this would be possible without the hard work of the best staff. The best and hardest working staff in city government. The recreation and Park Department staff. Lets give them a big round of applause. [cheers and applause] so let me talk for a quick second about the tree itself. This is San Franciscos official holiday tree. This tree was planted by john mclaren. It is a Monterey Cypress that is over 130 years old. It has aged a little bit. It might have lost a limb or two over the years, but it is Still Standing tall. Tonight it is sporting over 550 lights. And what makes this Tree Lighting special is that this is the last Tree Lighting, this is 100 the 149th year of Golden Gate Park. So next year we will celebrate the hundred and 50th birthday of our entire park system in San Francisco. Lets give that around of applause. [ ] i mentioned our partners and i want to bring up one special partner. We have many, that help us provide programs and provide services for kids and help us to special events tonight. One of those partners is kaiser permanente. Tonight, the chief operating officer of kaiser his here to join us in celebrating the start of the holiday season. Help me welcome miss miller who will come up and say a few words [applause] good evening, everybody. Happy holidays. Welcome to tonights festival on behalf of kaiser permanente. We are a proud sponsor of recreation and parks annual Tree Lighting ceremony. Can you believe it is 130 years old . What we would like to do is celebrate tonight and also welcome you to the theme for this next year which is making friends one data time. The 150th anniversary or celebration of Golden Gate Park. 150 years. Give that a hand. [applause] in honor of that, we come together across this beautiful city to this world renowned park to meet with friends and family and to make new friends as well. Reminds me of the campfire song, make new friends, but keep the old. That is how this city grow stronger and strengthens through his relationships. We will continue to support these beautiful events and we hope that you, too, will take advantage of tonights festivities. Thank you again on behalf of kaiser permanente. Thank you. All right. So she is truly our park champion and chief. Lets get it lit, she says. She really likes to party and she is not particularly patient, but let me bring her up. Ladies and gentlemen, our mayor, london breed. [cheers and applause] thank you. All right. I love the theme music. First of all, thank you all so much for coming out today and braving the rain to be here with us tonight to celebrate 90 years of a time honored tradition here in San Francisco right in front of mclaren lodge. This is an amazing, fun event. Fun for the whole family. I love the idea that we have so many incredible officials here, but i will need some kids to help me light this tree. [applause] so i see these patient young people raising their hand right down in the front row. Have your parent bring you on up to the side of the stage so you can help me like this tree. [ ] i need some help here with this switch. [ ] all right. Come on up. I think we might be almost at capacity. Hold on. Come on over. Come on, you guys. Are you going to help . Do you want to help . Yes, i love it. You are brave. Okay. This is what we are going to do. Gather around the podium. Gather around the podium, kids. Stop trying to crash, parents. All right. Because we know how to count, we will do the count down starting from 10, and then we will hit the switch. I will ask you, what is your name . Jr. I will ask you and what is your name . Sia. I will ask you to put your hands here because when i say to move it and to liked it, then you have to switch it real fast. Okay . Everybody in this place is going to help us count, but not until we say we will start with 10. Are you already . Are you ready . Okay. Lets start. Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. [cheers and applause] good job. Thank you so much for helping us here today. Have a wonderful december celebrating joy with your Family Friends and community. Happy holidays, everybody. Secretary, role call, please. role call . Please be advised that director brinkman, director torez will not be with you today but you do have a quorum. Item 3, producing devices during the meeting, please be advised the ringing of cell phones, pagers and other Electronic Devices are prohibited at the meeting and any person responsible for one going off may be asked to leave the room. Please put them in the off position rather than vibrate because it may cause microphone interference. Item 4, approval of minutes. Directors, any comments or additions to the minutes from the 1s 19th . No Public Comment. Communications . Item 5, i have none. Item 6, introduction of new or unfinished business. Directors, any items to address at this time . No, seeing none, well move on. Item 7, directors report. Good afternoon, directors. So im going to start by asking my colleague, nadine tahere to come up and give an award. I dont see him, ill ask my colleague to come up and ill give an award to him. [ laughter ] so mr. Lee has been an employee of the city of the county of San Francisco for 20 years and has been here since construction began. Serves as the resident engineer for the chinatown station, the most complex station and part of the subway that is most in the public eye during the construction phase and he is a native deciding to take on this project pa because of his love r the city and chinatown community. This will be a Critical Link in integrating chinatown more closely into the citys transportation system. He has been instrumental in making sure the incredibly complex and deep excavation construction at central subway has gone smoothly and most importantly safely for over six years on the job and he is, as the resident engineer, the point person in dealing daytoday with the contractor and all of the challenging issues related to site conditions, construction techniques and labour issues, Community Issues and hes been a real unsung hero at the central subway project and i hope you will help me in recognising his service today. [cheers and applause] thank you. Mr. Wyman, myself and director hemminger had the pleasure of meeting you as we toured the tunnels and thank you for your work and service and we look forward to hearing from you. A few words. Youre welcome. Its been a real pleasure serving the community i grew up in. I was born in Chinese Hospital which is a block away and grew up just down the street on grant and washington, where im constructing a 250 million train station, a block away from where i grew up. In anyones career, it rarely ever comes full circle that it has for me and im