>> this has been interesting and exciting week in san francisco, the last week of september. this was a company that is well known to many people, but boat -- that will be well known to many more people. >> we are home to twitter, wikimedia, foursquare, and we are home to a 270,000 square foot headquarters at 8th and brannan, zenga. it was leaked they are announcing their new headquarters. >> this is an online gaming company in san francisco. this employs roughly 1200 people they had 398 employees,5

, and competing against president berlusconi in italy, and we are down here with all the attributes of this natural amphitheater which is the san francisco bay, and the opportunity to be the only american city to defend the america's cup. those of you not familiar, you should just care on this basis, besides the love of the sport and showcasing the natural beauty and wonderment that is sailing in the san francisco bay, you should care because of those 9000 jobs. the economic stimulus for the region is the equivalent of three super bowls. if we succeed in getting the

america's cup to defend the cup here, there is great expectation that they will win that defense and continued to make subsequent investments for many years to come, so this is an extraordinary moment and opportunity to really jump start our regional economy and our local economy, and i want to congratulate everyone that has worked their tails off to get us this far. the reason i mention this is because this week, we submitted our term sheet to the board of supervisors, laying out the scope and commitment we are making to being the host city. we have a lot of work ahead of us. we expect a decision in the next weeks, but the determination of which of those three countries will host the 34th america's cup will be determined very soon. i just cannot say enough about all the elected family here in san francisco, and the corporate commitments we are getting from ceo close of companies large and small throughout the bay area that have really stepped up --

from ceo's of companies large and small. king juan carlos and berlusconi have been involved in the country's bids. we have a different kind of political system in terms of expectations and other folks -- other things that falls in d.c. are focused on. there is a lot going on. we hope to get rid elections and then see that same kind of enthusiasm. i expect we will, back in washington, d.c., not just the state. again, thank you to speaker progress -- speaker perez for release stepping up. third thing is we had a really exciting announcement as well -- at least i thought it was -- because we actually competed against cities large and small across the country for a $12,000,000.30-year grant that cames from the great -- from the

gates foundation -- $12 million three-year grant that came from the gates foundation. there were years where they were not so sure that we had our act together as it relates to public education. in this case, we are one of four cities that received a multi- year grant, millions of dollars used to focus on college going culture and partnerships that will be developed. we call it a bridge to success. 2.9 million students in the community college system. we often forget how important the community college is for vocational training and the community track and for people regardless of their time in life to get quality education, but we needed to create a framework to streamline our data collection, to streamline our collective efforts, and the gates grant will allow us to do that over three years. here is a good idea that his generated money and resources

and support. our job is to implement it and deliver on this promise, and that will happen with your good work and your good judgment, and so in closing, let me thank you in advance for that work. let me thank you in advance for your collaborative and these partnerships that you will advance. let me thank you for your wisdom in getting us here today and remind you -- the future is not in front of us. it is inside of us. we will determine the fate and that future of this program and whether or not more money will flow because we have aligned our collective strategies in a new and profound way. again, as one of four cities that will be receiving that $12 million. i want to applaud hydro mendoze for really leading that charge. and everyone at the community college system for release

stepping up to the plate and showing what we can do. and we built public-public partnerships, not just public/private partnerships, and really worked in a collaborative. my core beliefs has always been that money should not be the limiting believe, meaning a lack of money. if you have a better idea, the money can start flowing. i have always believed that. that is why we did universal health care. it was not that we had hundreds of millions of dollars at our disposal. we had a better idea. same case here. because of the work we have done with kindergarten and college and because we are handing out college savings accounts to many kindergartners that are entering the system, because of the work we did for san francisco promise and the guarantee of a four-year education for our sixth graders, because of the work that has been vance by the school board, all of those things contributed to us getting in the mix and getting this grant, and now, the eyes of this foundation and others are upon us to actually

deliver on promised, so i cannot be more complementary and enthusiastic about what this means. i have always said that once the mine is stretched, it can never go back to its original form. once we create that kind of imagination in the mind of a young child that now has a streamlined pathway to that bridge to success, which is a college education or career track through community college, then great things happen, so that is really where we celebrated earlier this week, down at that community college campus, and out in ocean avenue. complement's and hats off to everyone who made that happen. finally, a bit of sober news, but also new is that i think should give us pause and a little bit of optimism. we are going to lose the federal funding it looks like on this jobs now program, which is arguably a back breaker for hundreds of thousands -- and i mean that literally, hundreds of thousands of families across

this country that may lose their jobs, but rather than just accept that fate, we have some ideas. we have 4127 families that have been benefited because of the jobs now program. most aggressive expansion of this program of any city or state in the nation. they should be complimented and truly elevated in people's minds in terms of the good work they have done. we recognize that this federal money may go away, and we are still fighting for it. we have not given it up completely, but we are going to take some existing job-training money and redirected and realign it so we can keep roughly 470 slots available to those families that would otherwise lose their jobs. the hope is that roughly half of those 4000-plus families will keep their jobs because a private employer will keep them on, particularly through the holidays because so many of those jobs are in the service

industry. in january, to make sure we can build that bridge, we are going to create some incentives and open up the opportunity for folks to continue to get some benefit for continuing to employ some of these individuals so they can support their families. it requires us to redirect about $9 billion that we will be asking the board of supervisors to help us redirect. the other money was going out anyway, but not totally dissimilar programs. we think the best job training is on the job training. we think the best job is not receiving $450 a week in unemployment, but $447 a week which many people do through our transitional program, but that comes with the dignity of the job itself and a paycheck and the work ethic behind it. this is important, and i think i have brought this up in these weekly videos probably 20 times. i would say 30, but that would

be exaggerating. we are fighting hard in congress. speaker pelosi has been a great. senator feinstein and boxer has been a great. the president said he would sign the extension of the bill. it is just pretty damning that we have a program that is creating private-sector jobs, creating a real opportunity, giving people a real opportunity, and a costs for many folks less than it costs the taxpayers to just hand out an unemployment check. yet, there is no debate about extending it, even though we rightly extended the unemployment insurance benefits. this is frustrating, but nonetheless, we will keep fighting, and that frustration has borne some ingenuity and entrepreneurialism on our part to think about our existing job- training programs, again, so we can provide at least a framework of 1740 slots and the opportunity to extend this program for many families. that is the update for the week.

a lot of things to talk about, but those are four important things, and we look forward to checking back in in a week or two talking about our progress on jobs now and america's cup, and those other companies i mentioned that will be making some big commitments to our city. >> good evening, and welcome. i am president of the league of women voters in san francisco.

it is a nonpartisan political organization dedicated to the active and informed participation of all citizens in government. we never support or oppose candidates. but we do take stands on issues. for further issues about candidates and election issues, visit the web site www.sfvotes.org. that's sfvotes.org. we want to thank our co-sponsors for tonight's forum. sfgtv and the san francisco public library. you will hear from the unopposed candidate for public defender. he will have a chance to present his views on issues affecting the city and the public defender's office, answering your questions about those issues. to submit questions for the

candidate, look for a volunteer who will be handing out index cards. i also wish to remind you of our ground rules. the literature, campaign signs, or buttons can be distributed or posted inside the meeting room. no video taping or flash photography is allowed due to the fact that sfgtv is taping this forum. please turn off or mute yourself loans and other electronic devices. it is my great pleasure to introduce our moderator this evening. barbara is a board member of the leak, serving as co-chair of voters services. her career includes teaching speech and communication at san francisco state university. the city college of san francisco. and new york university. she is a corporate trainer and public speaking, presentation,

and media skills. >> this year, we have one candidate for public defender. the candidate will answer questions you in the audience segment as well as questions that have been submitted to the web site. the answers will not be timed. you have many important decisions to make on november 2. this form will give you an opportunity to be heard. let's begin. >> i am very honored to be here. >> what are your thoughts on death by lethal injection and california's future related to the death penalty? >> it may not come as a surprise to you that i am very much opposed to the death penalty. if there is a lesson that we have learned, the death penalty in california, and for that matter, the indicted states, it

has been a failure. we don't have a fair and objective way in order to determine who gets the death penalty. that is one of the fundamental problems with it. if you look statistically across the united states or even here in california, you will see the people of color overwhelmingly suffer that fate. it has always been historically so. on top of that, it has been a fiscal failure. we're spending millions of dollars unnecessarily to incarcerate individuals who, in most cases, have appeals that go on for years and years. it doesn't give finality to victims in the case or the individual who has been sentenced. i think that the public sentiment has changed. i think it is time that we

reconsider this state's laws relating to the death penalty, this nation's laws. the time is now. >> how will your office handle arrests that come from prop l if it passes? >> that has been a very controversial issue, and i have seen it both sides of the debate. my personal feelings on this lot is that it is unconstitutional. i believe that having a citywide ban of sitting on the sidewalk will criminalize behavior that otherwise should not be criminal. we have reached a point in san francisco where we have a dialogue about a problem, and

everybody wants a quick fix. the quick fix is to pass a law. i can tell you that we see the aftermath of these laws. and the very few cases wind up in court, because the justice system does not have the time to deal with these cases. that is the reality. our caseloads are heavy, our dockets are heavy. beyond that, could you imagine a jury tile -- trial on whether someone was sitting on the sidewalk or not? there needs to be solutions. it will it change behavior the voters will decide. >> what is the hardest case you

have had to defend relating to marijuana. >> marijuana cases, we still see them in san francisco we see sales and possession cases. i represented a man that was charged in cultivation, and he was truly using marijuana for his health condition. but it was before the medical marijuana laws had passed. and so we had to argue to a judge that he had a right to use marijuana because his condition at that time, it was a novel idea. we won that case, but it took almost a year. i still see him. you occasionally become friends with your clients, and they will

that never let me it -- they will never let me forget that. he would have faced a state prison sentence and had he been convicted. >> how has this shape your opinion on proposition 19? >> i am for the legalization of marijuana. i think it is hypocritical in our society that we outlaw marijuana and not alcohol. i think that the time has come for california to reconsider its laws, and it is the citizens#o$ that have taken it o where it is now. it has taken a tremendous amount of public education on this issue. people have, for years, talked about the fact that as a society, it doesn't make sense

that we are criminalizing marijuana. there was the movement to decriminalizing marijuana that made it a misdemeanor. and it was often charge as a felony. there are lots of places where people are sentenced to jail and prison. hopefully through 19, calipf3 will lead the way. >> how will the revelations of the crime lab debacle4ma change discovery in representing the clients you have represented? >> these are excellent questions, don't get me started on the crime lab. that was certainly an event at this year that shook the foundations of the criminal justice system. what happened, there were reports that a chemist who worked in a crime lab for many

years, a longtime employee, was taking cocaine from the crime lab home and using w technician's sister. when we found out about it, it was several months later, and it was thought at the police had just learned about it, it turned outrv÷ that they d known about the problems with this chemist. $6the reason why it when you he a chemist that has access to it, it calls into question every case. ef@we have hundreds of drug cass that are tried every week hall of justice. hall of justice. p'd found that some of the weights

were not properly recorded. there was no way for us zñ$@&e%i that because we don't have access to the crime lab,éçx the evidence was often late when the drugs were brought in. cases were dismissed. #"vyou were asking about the legalization of drugsylj, and everyone would have thought that san francisco would have fallen in the oceantsm because 700 cass were dismissed. life wenté$. on as usual. the sad part of the debacle:j< s that justice was not served in those cases. ju$ose cases had to be reviewed by the office. we had to gou"ç back and look at hundreds of cases that involved at thisáwk particular technician and contact the individuals in those cases and determine whether the case is needed topñe

brought back to court. there were some cases where there were more sample that was reported, and there were cases where thuwere . it was hard to figure out what exactly had happened. (xéwe are still reeling from the impact from that, but we're making sure thatsdn every case s properly adjudicated. n$f>> what have you done to proe diversity on the public defender's desk? [ to me. whend of the things i pledged to do oft diverse offices in the country. i bej. i appointed the first woman chief attorney. vññpeople might not know this, t the whole concept was originated by a woman, ]h and she lived inn

jose, had aí2ç family, and wantd to become a lawyer. at thatñ time, women could not become lawyers. she had to change the law÷/ allow women to become lawyers. a+tthey used to say that only we males could become lawyers. she changed it to say person. s but fc minorities. she then s's under the law, andayd won her suit. she became the first woman california and became a criminal defense attorney. she tried manykky cases from san francisco to los angeles. b of the public defender'su office.

defender's office came into being. íxçit reminds me about the importance of diversity. wye50% of my management team are women. jxzthe office is led by women. almost 60% are women. , i am very proud of the diversity. g twice received the bar association's award for both genders. %

statement. m0fif you are not registered to vote, others to register as well. the5ñz actual deadline is octobr yoy of this overwhelmed public servant who, you knowvotez do a as grown into one of the best offices in the