Remarks by Rebecca Saroyan
90 remarks on the record, newest first · Page 2 of 4
- Play at 3:22:28
“MS. Yes. President Drozdvinia, I concur with everything you've said. I don't see a reason not to grant the appeal. I think from my observations at the record below, at the commission hearing, the Arts Commission hearing, it was unclear and inconclusive who started the altercation and the testimony was conflicting. So I'm in a position where I think that there is unequal application of the penalties at hand. And I might recommend that perhaps there is some kind of consideration of an interim type of resolution, mediation, counseling. some tiered level of Resolving disputes before jumping to a…”
Board of Appeals · Sep 16, 2026
- Play at 4:36:54
“Do you know how her son happened to appear?”
Board of Appeals · Sep 16, 2026
- Play at 4:37:42
“I'm sorry. I have another question. Have you had a chance to watch the video?”
Board of Appeals · Sep 16, 2026
- Play at 4:37:54
“So how have you been able to ascertain that the statement was directed at, I'm sorry, I can't pronounce.”
Board of Appeals · Sep 16, 2026
- Play at 4:38:08
“Yeah. Because I'm looking at the video and I can't see... I mean, I see the words, but how do we know the words are directed at him?”
Board of Appeals · Sep 16, 2026
- Play at 4:38:34
“OK, so you're acknowledging he's not in the video. He's out of the screen.”
Board of Appeals · Sep 16, 2026
- Play at 4:38:50
“OK, and you verified with her that her statements were directed at him.”
Board of Appeals · Sep 16, 2026
- Play at 5:08:50
“I actually have a lot in common with what everyone said. I'm very disturbed by the video. And I see why the commission made the recommendation that it did. And I think it's proportional for a threat. But I also recognize that we've been here now for five hours. And I think that we owe it to everybody to make a fair and partial decision. And I'm not sure that I have the right solution at this juncture in time because I also recognize that there were two other matters where we – granted the appeals. So I am also in a line with Commissioner Wong that I don't want to act unfairly here, but I do…”
Board of Appeals · Sep 16, 2026
- Play at 5:26:20
“Thank you, Commissioner Lopez. I mean, I think that your reading of the Artist's Code of Conduct, we have the authority, because it's a de novo review, to... disagree with where the Commission or what the violation of the code was and I think you're right if It's in three or acts that present an immediate danger to the public health and safety I think we could be squarely within three if it's not an actual It's not constituting a verbal threat, but we are in that arena and perhaps If we agree that It's a violation of code number three. I think we're all a little tired. It may make sense to…”
Board of Appeals · Sep 16, 2026
- Play at 5:30:41
“All right, similar to the first agenda matter, I'm going to make a motion to, I'd like to suggest a motion to continue this matter perhaps next week or the first meeting in October so that the Arts Commission could consider what other section of the artist's code of conduct this violation might fall into. And I think we'd also like to know what other, maybe this is from the city attorney too, What kind of penalty might we consider other than a suspension?”
Board of Appeals · Sep 16, 2026
- Play at 5:33:07
“I'm not sure. I mean, I think we have the ability with our de novo to review to make that decision. I think what I might suggest or ask is if there might be additional evidence for both parties, the appellant or the commission, to give them an opportunity.”
Board of Appeals · Sep 16, 2026
- Play at 5:33:47
“Then I'm more than happy to have someone else make a motion. I can withdraw and another member can make the motion.”
Board of Appeals · Sep 16, 2026
- Play at 5:34:29
“I wasn't asking for additional charges. I was just asking for scope or some other area of the code.”
Board of Appeals · Sep 16, 2026
- Play at 5:34:40
“OK, well, it's been 5 and 1 half hours, so I think we should try and make the motion.”
Board of Appeals · Sep 16, 2026
- Play at 21:02
“Good evening. Thank you for your testimony. A couple questions. So was there ever a discussion about the cost of the tree? Do you think that it was cost prohibitive? Did you ever talk to the department about what an estimate would be?”
Board of Appeals · Sep 2, 2026
- Play at 21:35
“I understand. And I'm not trying to get you to spend more money, but I was looking at the...”
Board of Appeals · Sep 2, 2026
- Play at 21:41
“I'm looking at the brief for... Oh, my God. Wait. It's the city's brief. And... You know, your pictures show safety concerns of the retaining wall. And interestingly enough, it doesn't have page numbers on it. It says, if the appellant has an engineering report they can produce, the department believes that the Board of Appeals should use it in their deliberation. BUF inspectors are not engineers and cannot speak to this point. Do you have... Has anyone mentioned getting... An engineering report to you?”
Board of Appeals · Sep 2, 2026
- Play at 22:27
“But I was wondering if in your preparation or if there's a neighbor that's an engineer or anything like that.”
Board of Appeals · Sep 2, 2026
- Play at 22:43
“Right. And my other thought is the Bureau of Urban Forestry, they're overseen by Department of Public Works. Did they send an engineer out? As far as I know, they did not. Because last week, we had a hearing that the Bureau of Urban Forestry was removing a tree. But then Department of Public Works came to oversee the removal of a tree. So it's interesting that they haven't sent anyone, an engineer, to actually.”
Board of Appeals · Sep 2, 2026
- Play at 23:18
“Tree inspectors only. Nobody from Department of Public Works. CAROLYN J. That's what I know of. CAROLYN J. OK. OK. Thank you so much. CAROLYN J. Anything else?”
Board of Appeals · Sep 2, 2026
- Play at 34:28
Not quoted here: it may name a member of the public. Hear it at the meeting.
Board of Appeals · Sep 2, 2026
- Play at 34:43
“Yes, we are on both sides of the point tonight. So I'm going to go back to this. I mean, because DPW has a lot of engineers, and would it be possible to send a DPW engineer out? I mean, last week what we heard was that Bureau of Urban Forestry was only able to make a decision on the health and safety of an actual tree, and that DPW would make the determination about the structure surrounding those trees or the sidewalk. Is there any way we could get somebody from DPW? I mean, I do think it's a significant concern that the retaining wall is cracking due to the roots from the tree.”
Board of Appeals · Sep 2, 2026
- Play at 35:48
Not quoted here: it may name a member of the public. Hear it at the meeting.
Board of Appeals · Sep 2, 2026
- Play at 35:59
Not quoted here: it may name a member of the public. Hear it at the meeting.
Board of Appeals · Sep 2, 2026
- Play at 37:22
“Is that what your arborists determined? Did they actually write up that it's not a hazard?”
Board of Appeals · Sep 2, 2026