>> good morning, every one. hello. thank you so much for coming to today's press conference mayor, conference and our lunar year the year of the dragon. san francisco has a special place in history, in december of 1992, san francisco watched the city where the historic unveiling of the first-ever lunar new year took place in this entire country. and since 11992, we have many national first days and national ceremonies. but whether we get the first day or not, we always have an unveiling as part of our lunar new year celebration. it's very excited. last week i was very comfort to

join seattle to join the postal state for the unveiling of the lunar new stamp. it was attended by 300 people by eduardo who is the president of the retail of the postal service. vod me and the public that lunar new year is the most successful program in the commemorative stamps. we are very happy to keep up with the tra kissing. --tradition. today we're gathered today, although the stamp is already out there, but it's our tradition in our city to unveil the stamp for every one in the san francisco bay area. so without further ado, i would like to introduce our mayor, maryland on --our mayor, london

breed who has unveiled a lot of stapp p. >> mayor breed: hello welcome and welcome to unveil this stamp. it's an exciting time filled with so much joy and excitement, especially after coming out of this global pandemic. it has been very difficult and for whatever reason, i feel like even though, we have the worse of it behind us, this is the one of the first years that i feel like people are actually coming out and coming together differently than they ever have before to celebrate lunar new year. i was at events in china town, in the richmond and in the bay point where they were

celebrating lunar new year in a joint celebration together. and it's been great to see and these places have been packed with people. so the excitement is in the air and i could not be more excited and proud to be here today to celebrate a time honor tradition for the past 30 years here in san francisco, thanks to the leadership of cludine chang and the organization that has been doing a lot of work during the month of may and lunar new year to bring communities together. thank you for all your amazing work. we have a number of other special guest from across the api spectrum from japan town to tenderloin, to the various groups who will have activities and events all over san francisco including our city liberian, michael lambert which will be a number of great

events so make sure you check out the san francisco library system and look at all the activities and events and things that are going on in our libraries and in our park. it's going to be a good time in san francisco. and lion dance, mean, man these folks know how to put on a performance. right now this is a relaxing moment, even though it takes a lot of strength to hold this dragon up, they're going to be performing all over the city and doing all the exciting things that they do. and clearly they're a lot younger than the rest us, because they have the energy and strength to do it. we're joined by a couple of people, and i want to again recognize clawdene more being here and post master, i'm so

happy to get hor land, he's behind the most exciting parade, the lunar new year parade that will be happening in san francisco on february 24. book up all the hotel rooms and come to eat and enjoy china town and all during the month of may. there is something for every one. so we're excited to have you here, as well as our city attorney and thank you to our police commissioner larry yee representativing chinese consolidated benevolent association. so we're happy to kickoff the year of the dragon which represents, strength, courage, and it represents progress. and i must say that this city

has made significant progress. we know that this pandemic is not complete xlaoe behind us, but during the piem we experienced challenges in our api community with a rise of api hate and making an effort in our program, ambassadors protecting our communities, coming together to do what is necessary to keep people safe with our police officers, as a result since 2021, we have seen a 90% decline in api hate crimes in the city of san francisco thanks to the work who are here today. [applause] because we want people to come out to all the neighborhoods of san francisco, our seniors and our grandmas who we love so much, they have to feel safe in the city and the work that we're doing together is ensuring that, especially during the lunar new year. we're cleaning up the streets even more.

we're puting out all the various activities and food and fun and festivities, you're going to see smiles all over the city and county of san francisco because of everything that we have done and we'll continue to do to ensure the success of lunar new year of san francisco and the unveiling of this stamp really kicks it off to full gear. thank you all for being here. with that, i would like to introduce our city attorney, david chu. [applause] >> thank you, madam mayor for your leadership and for being our chief cheerleader when it comes to the lunar new year. let me start to the api federation, andclaudiaeven year after yae, you work.

and we celebrate lunar new year the right way with the postal. and the line dance meet troop the access or and i were talking how we would like to dawn those polls poles, but we'll be doing some arm curls with our law books to be ready, is that right, walkine? when i was little, i collected stamps but when i was growing up, there were not stamped that reflected our culture, our api heritage, our inclusive diverse beautiful culture that is the asian pacific community here in the united states.

and when i think about how different it has been over the years that generations of kids get to be reflected in something as common as the stamps that we put in the letters. my son who is p, is slightly obsessed with stamps because of course he's my son. and for me to share the year of the dragon stamps is going to be excited to him, but it means that just as i learned about black history and women's history and other aspects of american history from the stamps that i observed in the 70s and 80s, he will learn that and more. i want to thank the post master and the leadership of the postal service for uplifting who we are as americans, uplift who we are as asian pacific americans and uplift who we are as san franciscans. with that, thank you so much

and do i bring you back claudiadine or madam mayor? come on back madam mayor. >> mayor breed: thank you so much for your leadership. and i want to recognize some of the leaders here, nelson lum is with us as well as steven lee our port commissioner and night life champion, lions deny will be packed all throughout lunar new year. grace herothi thank you from jam an town, ron lee, good to see you, i saw the hawaiian shirt is always good for any occasion. elvin louie and al perez, thank you for being with us commissioner perez and so many of our wonderful leaders as well as our commissioner a raoen lee rylee, we appreciate what you do on boards and

commissioners and activities all around the city. and with that, i want to introduce the post master, i was going to say post master general but just post master from the united states postal service to help introduce and talk about this stamp douglas smith. >> good morning, every one. thank you mayor breed for the kind words, claudine, i don't think there is any place in this country that represents what we provide with the stamp and in this city, although we were not first, i think we're always going to be the most important so thank you for the words. it's an honor to be here as we celebrate the year of the dragon.

i would like to thank the speakers for your support. as a post master of san francisco, i'm proud to recognize this meaningful stamp that is val owed by those who celebrate the lunar new year as well. it's a time when families get together as you have done today to celebrate the celebrating of our stamp. as one of america's oldest public institutions, the postal service is proud to celebrate through our commemorative stamp program. likewise, i'm proud to say that the workforce is one of the most diverse in america. sxl that's appropriate since we serve the most diverse customers on the face of the earth. ours is a world culture, which is why it's so important that our stamps reflect the rich multi cultural traditions.

for more than three decades, they celebrate the lunar new year. in fact the lunar new year are the collection right side the most exciting releases the postal service has had. that's no surprise that more than 1.5 billion mark the event. the success of the series is a wonderful reminder to bring friends and family together in the spirit of celebration, a tradition of course is what lunar new year is all about. this year's stamp showcases the only mythical creature in the chinese zodiac, dragons are considered by many to be welcome harolded of hope for the future. it's also been said that people mourn during the lunar new year tend to have the features. enterprising, wise and powerful, are the traits. i'm proud to say that i was born in the year of the dragon

in 1964. i hope you know that we have quality, wisdom in our judgment and good luck and good fortune. the stamp, the 5th in the lunar new year series, created by camille chu, sevensers the beautifully adorn mask used in lunar new year parades, on the long tradition of paper cut folk art cuts created during this yaefrment the mask was constructed out of hand painted paper and and used flowers and tassle. gold and red, gold representing prosperity and red good fortune. you can purchase this stamp in our places, and from the convenience of your home at u.s. ps.com.

as you add the stamp to your collection, or use it to mail your lunar new year greetings, it's our hope that the year of the dragon brings peace, and comfort to you and your families. thank you again for the opportunity to be with you today and i would now like to ask mayor breed and our participants to come up and help me unveil the 2024, year of the dragon forever stamp. [applause] >> mayor breed: all right,

join us in the count, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1! [cheers and applause]

>> thank you, everybody. hello.

>> my name is julie maw. i am a captain in the san francisco fire department. i didn't grow up thinking i would be a firefighter. i didn't realize it was an option. i didn't see other people who looks like me in the fire service, so i didn't have an idea that this was a possibility for me. what inspired me is i had a few friends from the hip -- hawaiian community who were applying for the job at the time and they encouraged me to apply as well. we are a pretty tightknit community. we are like a family, the fire service is like a family.

food is essential -- is central to our gatherings in the fire service as well. and teamwork and being part of something bigger than yourself and really having community. that is what inspired me to be part of the fire department. when i was applying for this job and i was going down that route of the hiring process, i looked around and i started looking at the different engines and the rigs driving around the street and i said, you know what, there is somebody that looks like me. there is somebody that looks like me. to me, that was really important. and that representation, what i saw, the light bulbs went on and i could see myself in the job. for me, being in this position as a captain, and being on the track and going around to her neighborhood, even when we are doing the most mundane of tasks, it is important that they see me in the role, right? asian pacific islander woman in

a leadership position, that i am in this job. and even ringing the bell for the kids in the neighborhood, they see me, they cs, they see my crew and it is huge. that lightbulbs can go off for them as well like it went on for me. it truly is important to me to be part of an organization that supports diversity and representation. being in a job where we serve the community is really important that we represent the community. i think visibility, representation is key to opening doors for others, other people of color, other women, other people in the asian pacific islander community and say, hey,, that could be need too. i could be here serving the community and being a firefighter. [♪♪♪]aced

in san francisco. >> happy 30th anniversary sfgovtv. you are all are fantastic you put oat great stuff we love working with you congratulations thank you, happy 30th anniversary sfgovtv in any more than 20 years of the public life as city attorney and as head of puc my honor and privilege to have you as a partner in all the work we've done the san francisco police department congratulates sfgovtv for thirty years of original >> san francisco is a positive impact on my chinese business.

>> i'm the founder of joe-joe. i'm a san francisco based chinese artist. i grew up in the bayview district. i am from china i started at an early age i started at age of 10 my grandfather my biggest inspiration. and i have followed with my traditional art teacher in china:i host educational workshops at the museum and local library. and i also provide chinese writing in public middle school and that way i hold more people fall in love with the beautiful of our chinese calligraphy. it is a part of our heritage. and so we need to keep this

culture alive. hand writing is necessary field that needs to be preserved generation toieneration. this art form is fading away. but since covid i have been very dedicated to this art and i hope that my passions and serving this art form. there are many stores and shopping centers and companies that are interested in chinese cal iing ravi. i feel motivated to my passion for chinese calligraphy in today's world. so people can always enjoy the beauty of chinese calligraphy, from time to time i have a choice to traditional chinese

calligraphy to make it more interesting. we do calligraphy on paper. i can do calligraphy different low. >> my inspiration is from nature and provide calligraphy that was popular style of persons time. i will invite to you check out my website or instagram. and there is some events and updated upcoming events that you can participate.

>> my name is marta i'm the management here with public works. it is found in the upon 1997. it is the only public access glass studio in san francisco. we give access to everybody. you don't have to be an experienced artist to take classes we offer beginning level programming. events. fund raisers, it is about giving everyone who is interested in the opportunity to try glass to work with glass and experience mediums. >> i'm linda i'm part owner and manager of the paper tree in japantownful i'm hope to create a destination. not only do we have our huge selection of origami paper and

book but a museum everybody can enjoy that and see what can be done by folding paper >> good to see amazing origami. a selection of paper. got wonderful gifts from japan and great customer service. >> i'm holly and i am the owner of [inaudible] in san francisco. >> we offer classes. and open studio access. workshops lead by local artists that you can see here we have a [inaudible]. and people should expect to join the community and just learn about local bay area artists in the process. television.

>> the filling that on encouragement center offers community resources is to the community efforts for the heritage. >> and filipinos features in the community a indigenous community in weaving those beautiful textiles for hundreds of years we're proud to feature more than one antique ones and other fashioned from the community. and we're trying to have an

public works commission, even today, is monday, february 12th, 2024. our meeting began at 9:01 a.m. secretary fuller, please call the roll. good morning. please respond with here or present. lynn newhouse. siegel, present. commissioner newhouse siegel is present. warren post here. warren. chair post is present. gerald turner present. commissioner turner is present. paul wolford present. commissioner wolford is present. fadi zabi present. vice chair zabi is present with five members present. we do have quorum for the public works commission. public comment is taken for all informational and action items on today's agenda. to comment in person, you will please line up against