san francisco. >> our charter spells out a formal process, but lee is pretty silent on that application process. >> this has happened in 32 years, but i think we need some better certainty on how we deal with this decision of succession. >> the charter has worked several times during times of vacancies like this. it certainly worked during aftermath of mayor mosconi and harvey milk. >> so we may be seeing more of these successor issues coming up, certainly something we do not want to legislate. i hope that we can trust people to be grown up about it, but if that is not the case, we can spell that out. >> going through the first time with little knowledge and information was difficult. now that we have got our record of how to do this, i think the next clerk and the city will be much informed with having our process and having our archives to look too.

>> and that is how san francisco government worked out the kinks, twists and turns, bombs in the road, to select its new interim mayor, ed lee. san francisco's first asian- american mayor. >> this has been an unprecedented and historic transition of power here in san francisco. i am so happy the board of supervisors came together to select an outstanding choice along many outstanding candidates to lead us over the next several years. >> over the past several months when this issue has come up, it had been agonizing. the board has been put into a difficult situation. there are a lot of differences of opinion on how to run the city, how to mass make a decision, who should be in place, 11 people to agree on that is a challenging thing. i think we have done the best we can do in the process, considering the difference of opinions. >> the people of san francisco can now choose their mayor, the

direction they want to go. that is why this decision was so appropriate. >> the other big shock is that the moderates seem to have won this round. people thought, progressives have themselves on the board. there is no reason that they will not get together and take a noted leader who is a progressive to be interim mayor, and then stayed there for another term. the great thing about being in term mayor is to get to run as an incumbent. the fact that the progressives could not get together to get somebody into office as interim mayor in their own self-interest was very surprising for a lot of us. >> what happened in the last month in city hall was an incredible show of democracy that was part policy, part politics, and it all came together, and more than anything -- not just from a reporter's perspective, often was this? but there was a public interest as well on what was going on in san francisco government.

we take it for granted a law that there is a city government here. this was something that brought people together. you heard people talking about it at the cafes, park playground, people who do not always pay attention. in that $0.10, it was the best thing we could have done for city government, even though it was a little bit messy. it was a lot of fun and an eye opener. it got people interested again.

>> good morning, everyone. welcome to city hall. the great city hall of san francisco. [applause] we have been busy this morning but it has been a pleasure all morning to greet so many people love the city. i cannot think of another 10 people who love this city. i want to thank each and everyone of you because your volunteering -- i know that word. volunteer for one of the greatest cities in the world. what you will be doing, sacrifices in time, interactions with you, with various commissioners, it will be a wonderful experience, one that many of you will continue to do, and some of you about to do for the first time. i see former supervisor bevan dufty is here. david from the department of the barnett. emily.

commissioner shorter, thank you for being here. bruce, thank you for being here. tom, roberta from the mta, thank you for being here. please forgive me, i am still young. [laughter] i have so many others serving on different commissions already. thank you. we have city departments that are here. i know we have the department of the environment, film commission, commission on the status of women, health status board. we also have -- department of the environment, mta, and of course, the asian art museum. there are six commissions that will received today here 10 new commissioners. i want to thank you for your service.

that may go through some of your names. good to see you again, jim. for the asian art museum, which is responsible for determining policy for the administration of our asian art museum, the city's duel that holds one of the most comprehensive collections of asian art in the western world. jim, you will be joining 26 commissioners who all share a fellowship based on the conviction that the asian art museum is unique, the best of its kind, and a tremendous asset to our city. your expertise will be a substantial supplement to the work of your fellow commissioners, and notably, your background in finance and work cochairing the campaign for the san francisco ballet will be an extremely welcome asset. like all the other commissioners, the import work

done by the 27 commissioners, the strength of the museum greatly benefit our whole city. it enhances our quality of life, a reputation as a cultural center, and also -- an important point -- city appealed that brings in visitors and millions of dollars a year. thank you for your work and for what you will be doing with the commission. thank you for being here. [applause] on the commission of the status -- on the status of women, what an important commission. san francisco is the birthplace of the united nations and the first and still only city that has enacted a local ordinance reflecting the principles of the united nations convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women. i am confident my appointment to this body will enhance and

support the continued efforts of the department and commission to ensure equitable " treatment of women, as well as to enhance women pause health and safety throughout san francisco. felicialicia gamez. a new addition to the city family. commissioner brown has already has professional ethics. that is bar none, impressive. she has founded her own firm, serves on the board of the city's lawyers association, and above all else, has proven herself to be a leader, utilizing some of her best attributes, analyzing, collaborating, and offering solutions. as a latina attorney who had dedicated a significant amount of her time working on issues that impact the immigrant, latino, and lgbt community, i am

confident commissioner gamez will add a unique and needed perspective to the san francisco commission on the status of women. she has set herself, change starts with stronger individuals. with that chsaid, i generally look forward to seeing the results of your work on the commission. thank you for being here. [applause] nancy kirschner rodriguez. thank you for serving. with over 25 years of experience in national, state, and local policies, and as a former director of governmental affairs in my office, and the is uniquely qualified to expand the work of the commission on the status of women. she currently shares her expertise by serving on a variety of bodies from the city,

including the board of directors jewish community council center, and is a driving force behind the work being done by the san francisco collaborative against human trafficking. her experience with government on all levels and your desire to better the lives of all of those we certification leaves me confident that and to make an incredible mark on this community and will move forward policies that create many new and continued opportunities for women of san francisco and beyond. thank you, nancy, for your service. [applause] stephanie simmons. thank you for reupping, as they say. appointed to the commission four months ago, it is my pleasure to reappoint commissioner simmonds to her post. stephanie is someone who has great ties to our city. whether it is to the business

community, african-american community, or our community of women, she is a strong advocate for all. we look forward to stephanie's continued service to the city in her capacity as a commissioner. thank you for your service. [applause] the commission on the environment. what a commission that keeps me busy, but busy with positive things because it is all about our future, what we are leaving behind as the city continues to pursue our goal of zero waste by 2020, we can boast we are leading the nation with a 77% signed diversion rate, thanks to the department of the environment. innovative policies such as this, the city's energy efficiency policy, green jobs, and many more

thank you for being and reupping yourself on the commission and the environment. while who describes itself as a serial entrepreneur and start-up executive. his work spans from his current job as chief operating officer of earth aid ink -- inc., a proprietary universal platform that gets households to track their water usage to advising many prominent, elected officials across the country to energy and policy technology. he's a talented individual, and i'm pleased to be one of those elected officials raul has chosen to advise. i look forward to more advice in the future and i'm pleased to appoint raul today. thank you, raul. ruth ger vanous, -- gervanis, thank you for reupping.

ruth brings years of experience teaching in the public school system, wogging as an environmental consultant volunteer and ruth has also proven she is a wealth of knowledge on all things related to her environment. she's focused much of her attention on maximizing sustainability in the redevelopment of treasure, efforts that may just come to fruition someday soon. she's focused much of her attention on maximizing sustainability in all of these represent development projects but i'm sure how much she will advance our innovative policies and i continue to look forward to seeing this come out of the commission in the very near future. thank you, commissioner. [applause] our film commission, thank you, direct robertson for being here today and leadership that you have been providing. i'm seeing more and more films and been on the set of a last one was a very, especially thing

because i got a picture can nicole kidman. how many of you did? [laughter] but another reup, a good friend of mine, one has led not only labor but a great community and great labor leader, bob morales. thank you, bob, for reupping on the film commission. bob was appointed in 1996 by my good friend willie brown, making him the longest serving film commissioner i know. tpwhorn el salvador, central america, he came to the u.s. in 1958. after completing his education in san francisco, he joined the united states army where he served for two years. commissioner maradis is president of the steam electrics, hispanic caucus and california teamsters hispanic caucus and brings a valuable labor voice to this commission. rightly so. bob's work has been honored by

various groups including the united way of california, martin luther king society of san francisco, the united states congress and state of california. his talents are great and we're happy they reside here on our film commission. thank you, bob, for being here and reupping. don, thank you very much for reserving on this film commission. you have been here since 2000 when you were appointed by former mayor willie brown. why is there such a connection? don has previously served as a board member of the museum of the city and county where he took part in establishing a world class history museum. is a tireless advocate for gay rights and strong supporter of the film industry here in san francisco. don, it's a pleasure, you're advising me, doing great work and i want to welcome you again to the film commission. thank you very much.

[applause] our health services board will continue to be a very, very important board for our city. karen breslin, thank you, and congratulations for being elected to that board. pulling from her 26 years of experience working for the city, karen was elected to the health service board in 2001, was re-elected by members in 2006 and this year ran uncontested. commissioner breslin is a former president of this board and is currently serving as vice president. she's also served as chair of several health service board committees, including the budget and finance committee and rates and benefits committee. karen, thank you for your service and i will look forward to your continued work with the board as we pursue structural changes to our city's benefit programs. thank you very much and congratulations, again, for

being elected and appointed. finally one of the most difficult commission board for the city, our m.t.a. board of directors, and i saw nat ford here, good to see you, and i number of commissioners. jerry, you're rejoining here and you're reupping and talk about the military you need to reup on for m.t.a. but have you my faith and you have my confidence, jerry, in bringing forward to this board a wonderful perspective, one i think you have held and we talked about had many, many discussions about. first and foremost i want to thank the board of supervisors for their support for jerry's reaappointment.

jerry was unanimously approved yesterday, making it possible to take over today. that's a great accomplishment, sir. a native of san francisco, lifelong user of our transit system and currently the m.t.a. board's vice chair, jerry's being reappointed for many reasons. but at the top of this list is his willingness to step up to the plate and work through some very thorny issues and adequately addressing neighborhood and community concerns. jerry's worked to address community concerns related to some of the lines addressed in the t.e.p., transportation improvement project, is a perfect example of the valuable service that director lee provides on the m.t.a. board. jerry's experience with u.p.s. as well as his work with former mayor agnos, including helping establish a newly formed department of traffic as well as serving as chairman of the mayor's taxi demitty has been proven to be a valuable addition to this board. today at a time when the m.t.a.

is dealing with very substantial issues, jerry's willingness to ask tough questions and his inquisitive nature encourages the board and m.t.a. staff to create solutions outside of the box. thank you, jerry, for your hard work. i look forward to your continued leadership on this board. thank you very much. [applause] with this, i will ask all of our appointees to stand up and take the oath of office together. and if you can repeat after me and after each pause, you will state your name in order and also at the end, state your commission in order when it gets to that phrase. please raise your right hand. i i,

do solemnly affirm 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 , that i will bear truth faith and allegiance to the constitution of the united states and the constitution to the state of california, that i take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and i will well and faithfully discharge the duties upon which i'm about to enter, and during such time as i hold the office

of -- for the city and county of san francisco. congratulations. [applause] i present to you the new class of commissioners!

>> welcome to "culture wire." i'm here with james lee, and exhibiting artist, and we will have a chat today about the body of work you are presenting. after you left the military, what prompted you to go back to a place where the u.s. is engaged in military action? >> it is interesting. the population of afghanistan is around 29 million, and

there's probably no more than 80,000 u.s. soldiers serving in afghanistan right now, but if you look at the stories that come out, you think the numbers are completely reversed. all the stories are about americans, and you see almost no images of stories about the afghan people themselves, so if you look at the dominant representational paradigm uc today, it is all about foreign soldiers. my idea was to try incurred counted to that a popularized narrative and focus on images and stories that really reflect that lived experience of conflict through the eyes of the afghan people. >> you are exhibiting with three other photographers. it is true all three of them have really focused in the areas where a lot of u.s. and allied forces are seeing action, are actually involved in combat, so your story is different than

theirs. what does it mean to show your body of work along side of the stories that probably are more familiar? what kind of juxtaposition does that create for you as an artist? >> i think the strength of bringing the two different stories together is i think there is a real danger in focusing only on surface similarities between conflicts. when people look at a body of work and say that they see in this conflict photography, and it reminds them of somalia or iraq, i think that is dangerous because i think there are very unique elements to each conflict, and if you do not focus on the distinctions, you start to create a broader, watered-down topic, which is armed conflict, so i think it is important that when we focus on conflict, we make sure we do not just generalize, but we allow specific places and voices and people to be heard and we do not make these generalized assumptions about what conflict is like. >> the other photographers in the show, what is local, and the

others are from new york and new delhi. what do you like about some of their work? >> in a big fan of the fact that he approaches photography from a non-traditional point of view. he also cunner has a mixed view of cameras themselves. he calls them toys. >> he uses these cameras that one might assume our toys, but he also says all the toy cameras are cameras, so it does not really matter to him what he is using to take the images as long as he is getting the images he wants. and because they are taken with these film cameras, they have a very different feel than the other pictures in the show. one of the things i want to talk about is that lindsey's body of work is running down one side of the hall, and it is all about women in afghanistan and how they serve and their special

interactions with civilian women and communities, which is the special role that women soldiers play in afghanistan. across from eric copeland's work, which is extremely masculine and black and white and very aggressive -- what do you think about that juxtaposition between their two bodies of work? >> i like lindsey's contribution to the exhibit. she shoots in color, like i do, so it is great to see more color. she has a gift for capturing distinct moments that balance the conflict that these women are facing did today, but also very intimate, very feminine moments. she has one where a female soldier is shaving her legs at the beginning of her day, and it is kind of an odd thing to consider, but, obviously, it happens every day, but most people do not think about the challenges that face women in these types of environments where they continue to be feminine, continue to be women,

but they also serve a vital role in afghanistan. she allows viewers to come in and see those kinds of intimate moments you might not normally think about. >> to our viewers, and actually the curator of the show. one of the things i was interested in with your work and with the other bodies of work i selected was that you are presenting a real human perspective. each of you zeroes in on individuals, and the kind of sensitive, intimate, or private moments. >> if you look at most people's lives today and the way they spend their lives, it is probably not that different from what goes on on some of these larger for an operating basis. they have cafeterias. they have internet cafes. they have laundromats. they have their own spaces where they read, play video games. it is really like a small, microcosm of what they might find back in the united states. >> what do you hope that viewers take away from seeing your body of work or the exhibition as a

whole? >> i think it is important for people to question how much we do or do not know about afghanistan, but conflict in general. too often today, i think we see one or two images and we think we understand what is going on in a part of the world, and we should try to get away from that. we should question what we know about a conflict, where we got the information, and always look for new perspectives and new focus is on topics that we think we already understand. >> james, thank you for spending time with us, and congratulations on the exhibition and letting san francisco see this big body of work of yours. >> thanks.