supervisors moments ago. as well as that shown by your predecessor board last friday. and let me take a moment to thank former supervisors sophie maxwell, evan dufty, and michelangelo alioto-pier for your -- michaela alioto-pier for your support and trust of me. i am grateful and inspired by that show of support. but more importantly, i was inspired by what it portends. a new era of trust. a shared sense of purpose and commitment to this city that we all love. a sense of unity. i may be your interim mayor, but i intend to utilize this year and office to tackle our problems with resolve and

seriousness of purpose. this is an unprecedented opportunity and perhaps it is just what san francisco needs at this time and in our moment of history. ness an opportunity to come together -- this is an opportunity to come together, to roll up our sleeves and go to work on the significant challenges we all face. for the benefit of all san franciscans. i hope to move us past the labels that have pigeonholed us at city hall or at least to not be bound by them. because if you're a so-called moderate, then i'm a moderate. i've spent the past two decades trying to make this city work, to work for all of us. for its entire history, people have flocked to san francisco with their hopes and with their dreams. they've invested in this city, not only with their money but with their sweat and with their

blood. i understand that not only do people need to flourish here, but business needs to flourish here. i understand what is at stake. what is invested here in all senses of that word. it's our responsibility to see that this investment isn't squandered. but with all due respect to the talent of many leaders with whom i share this responsibility, i was a progressive before progressive was a political faction in this town. [applause] years ago, years ago, i fought the establishment to make this city function better, to make our communities more inclusive. i fought for justice. when i left bolt hall and

joined the asian law caucus i sought to integrate the san francisco fire department. i fought to protect the rights of blacks and latinos and gays and lesbians and other marginalized groups. i fought for tenets. i fought for senior citizens. i fought for the powerless. i was part of the city's first whistleblower program. i made sure our domestic partners and minority and women-owned business ordinances were successful. i helped establish our recycling program. now the nation's most successful. i ensured equal access to government services for all our citizens, including our immigrants. documented and undocumented.

[applause] in other words, i am my own person. [applause] decades ago, i was about as anti-establishment as one could be. today, like you, i am trying to make the establishment work for all san franciscans. and yes, i am quite aware of the significance of being san francisco's first asian-american mayor. as a chinese american, i'm well aware of my community's long and troubled and proud history in this city. the san francisco of old was directly involved in racism and neglect. the san francisco that i fought as an attorney began to change.

and now today, our struggle is here and it's succeeding. [applause] i am humbled to stand before you today on the shoulders of giants among many flagbearers on the day we moved that history forward. and i'm committed to move all san francisco, all of us, forward. and that is why i've accepted this awesome responsibility. so i hope you will join me. i intend to reach out to you, my colleagues, to my fellow citizens across all political lines and all potential barriers. there are so many talented people in this building and in this city. i know we can move san francisco forward together. and in the coming days, i will reach out to every member of the board of supervisors and

meet with you personally to discuss my ideas and my agenda. and yes, president chiu, i will sit down with you, shortly, to work out the details of our question-and-answer session. i will seek your advice and counsel as we immediately begin to confront the challenges that lay ahead. starting with tackling our budget deficit and finding a new police chief. to the members of the board, i see you as my esteemed colleagues. and i look forward to a relationship based on mutual respect and trust. to our fellow citizens, i'm not going to change. i'm going to open up that room 200 for everybody, daily, and make sure that you know what that is. i present myself to you as a mayor for everyone. a mayor for the neighborhoods,

for downtown, for business, for labor, for the powerless, and the powerful. for left, right and everyone in between. for everyone. i will be a mayor who tackles things head on and moves the bar forward. i will be your mayor. thank you very much. [applause]

>> mayors invite each and every one of you to join him and his family in the south light court for some libations and some enjoyment courtesy of mccall's. so please feel free to wander on over there with your cameras and get your photographs and do whatever you like. but thank you so much for coming. >> welcome to culturewater. in 2001, the san francisco arts commission and tampa does go public library established an

arts master plan for the city soon to be renovated branch library. almost 10 years later, the san francisco arts commission has integrated a collection of vibrant new artworks by bay area artists into five new libraries, and there is more on the way. here is a closer look at some of the projects. >> the branch library improvement program is a bond funded program undertaken by the san francisco public library to upgrade each of the branch libraries throughout the neighborhoods. one of the great benefits of this opportunity is that each of these branches has a unique artwork that has been created

specifically for that branch, based on input from people who live near that branch, in the surrounding neighborhood. >> trur- minded. there was a lot of community support for the project. i try to make it about the true hill and its history. they were something that natives used for making houses. the construction of the pond is based on abalone house construction. at the bottom of the form, it is woven into a rope which transforms into a manufactured rope. that is a reference to the cordish company, a big industry at the waterfront that went along with the shipbuilding

industry. other examples of art work in libraries that you might be interested in seeing it is dana zed's glass shatters in front of a library. there are a wall sculptures in the lobby of the glen park branch library. and then there is an illuminated book on the wall of the mission bay library. >> "ocean current." we are on ocean avenue, so there is a connection to that. that is what this is about. culmination of all lot of dialogue, processing over a five-year period. that is longer than most art projects take, but i really feel

like the product was enriched from that. making the sculpture involves forging and fabricating steel. we used to deal to create this flowing, central sculptor, heating, bending, grinding, painting, bending, and adding a patina to it. layers and layers of craftsmanship that went into this. >> of the artists who participated in this project are all bay area of projects. they work in a wide variety of media. metal, glass, natural elements, photography, just a range of different approaches and aesthetics. so we have created a nice collection of art work that is reflective of the current date. art scenes. and we invite everyone to

participate and to see the unique art works that have been developed. >> to learn more, visit >> right on time. i am grateful that a number of you showed up today. i thought we had just a few people being sworn in. i kid you not. i was thinking we could do this in my office. we would have only been able to get a 10th of you in there. i am grateful that you took the time to be here. i thought this would be my last swearing in as mayor but i have two people, supervisor dufty, tomorrow that i will quietly swear in. this is the last public swearing in of my tenure as mayor.

i do hear some claps on the other side. i am glad i do not hear any on this side. somebody picked up on that. -- some of you picked up on that. [laughter] i am appreciative of department heads being here. of course, our city attorney dennis herrera, who has taken the time to be here, phil ting, bevan dufty, the ubiquitous supervisor, and so many leaders, particularly from the labor community, chief of staff, and particular, the rank and file of my favorite local, 261. [applause]

truly my favorite. they are here for you, vince. i am pleased to be swearing in six individuals and i am honored that two were recently and overwhelmingly supported by the board of supervisors as a member of their other applicants were rudely rejected for purely political purposes. but i am over that. but i needed to state that publicly. that is sometimes the way people act when they cannot make the right decisions. sometimes they make the wrong ones. in this case, they made the right ones with the two of you and supported vince courtney to the public utilities commission -- [applause]

i guess i should have appointed him four years ago. little did i know. i should have mentioned him last time. that is unfair to the other commissioners. i know jason does not even have a friend here. [laughter] he does, jason elliot, department of the environment. leona bridges. we are proud of her as well. [applause]

>> how many have dealt lta sigma theta in the house? [applause] >> our collegiate expert, supervisor dufty. we talk about behavioral health and mental health, and i say that in the context of anyone who wishes to serve on the mta board. leona clearly passed the test and i am glad she did. it is pretty remarkable with all of the warfare as it relates to public transit in our city, dealing with $220 million in state cuts over the past few years. we have been running surpluses at muni had the state not gone in and drawn down nearly a

quarter billion. that became the biggest challenge in your biggest frustration in the last few years. so we are navigating through that. that has been the struggle. we are going to be on a much firmer footing in the future. leona will be a big part of the new direction, particularly with the transit effectiveness plan. we have a real information to which we can make decisions about augmentation and changes, and that is the first time in over decades. ed harrington was a big part of that as comptroller. i really do feel more optimistic than ever about muni. that is a hard thing to say, right? but i do have faith about its future. beverly, hang on. a big round of applause.

[applause] this is a big deal. the mayor gets one appointment to the ethics commission. the ethics commission is a big deal, particularly when a lot of elections are going to take place, mayor's race, all of the public financing. we had a great meeting yesterday to talk about integrity, honesty, calling strikes, even if your friends are on the other side. you have to stand up and do the right thing. beverly was ahead of me on all these things. i gave this a lot of thought and did not make a precipitous decision in terms of this appointment. i am very grateful that beverly said yes, and i am also grateful if you would also give her a round of applause. it is her birthday. [applause] happy birthday, beverly. [applause]

i have known lorna for many years. she has been around since the old days of the school district. those were challenging days. we were on not getting along. it was challenging. lorna always stood out as someone trying to bridge those gaps, try to work for all those challenges. she has done some amazing work with an organization that only does good work, focuses on best practices, mckinsey, a great think tank. we have talked a lot about how great she would be. she has been an advocate for

women's rights, advocate for girls. we thought it was appropriate to appoint her to the commission on women. thank you for your willingness to serve. [applause] finally, i see francesca, our first department of the environment. there was an opening at the department of the environment and there wasn't a young guy that has driven a lot of us crazy because he is eager, enthusiastic, engage, and he plays above his weight, figuratively, not literally. that is jason elliott, whom i am honored to have served on the commission of the environment. he has been my policy guide. i am just going to -- at peril of being judged -- to be bragadotious.

i will put up our record that we have done in the environmental commission with any others. i am really proud of the work that has been done. i have great confidence jason will continue that work well beyond my tenure. which expires soon. [applause] the swearing in. i will ask each of you, if you could, to stand up, sit down if you must, but raise your right hand, which i insist upon. i will say i -- you will state your name, and then we will go down the road. you got it. vince, you got it?

i -- do solemnly swear that i will support and defend the constitution of the united states and the constitution of the state of california against all enemies foreign and domestic and i will bear true faith and allegiance to the same, that i take this obligation freely without any mental reservations or purpose of evasion and that i will well and faithfully discharge the duties of which i am about to enter, and during such time as i hold the position as a member

for the city and county of san francisco. congratulations. [applause]