>> i have been a cable car grip for 21 years. i am a third generation. my grand farther and my dad worked over in green division for 27. i guess you could say it's blood. >> come on in. have a seat. hold on. i like it because i am standing up. i am outside without a roof

over my head and i see all kinds of people. >> you catch up to people you know from the past. you know. went to school with. people that you work with at other jobs. military or something. kind of weird. it's a small word, you be. like i said, what do people do when they come to san francisco? they ride a cable car. >> california line starts in the financial district. people are coming down knobbhill. the cable car picks people up. takes them to work. >> there still is no other device to conquer these hills better than a cable car. nobody wanted to live up here because you had to climb up

here. with the invention of the cable car, these hills became accessible. he watched horses be dragged to death. cable cars were invent in san francisco to solve the problem with it's unique, vertically challenged terrain. we are still using cars a century old >> the old cable car is the most unique thing, it's still going. it was a good design by then and is still now. if we don't do something now. it's going to be worse later. >> the cable cars are built the same as they were in the late

1800's. we use a modern machinery. we haven't changed a thing. it's just how we get there. >> it's a time consuming job. we go for the quality rather than the production. we take pride in our work and it shows in the end product. >> the california line is mostly locals. the commuters in the morning, i see a lot of the same people. we don't have as tourists.

we are coming up to street to chinatown. since 1957, we are the only city in the world that runs cable cars. these cars right here are part of national parks system. in the early 1960's, they became the first roles monument. the way city spread changed with the invention of the cable car. >> people know in san francisco, first thing they think about is, let's go

>> i get really concerned one ip -- hear people say the payroll tax is a job killer. maybe in some industries the payroll tax might be a disincentive on business going forward, but i would not be surprised if we came out of the whole discussion about remaking our tax for next year that it involves a combination of a payroll tax, commercial occupancy tax, and gross receipts tax. all of that could be in a remade form of our business tax structure. >> that is a good question to ask. i will ask this monday. >> i was born in of los angeles. i was in a mexican-american, a chicano town. my dad was a launch your worker. my mother was an office worker at usc. my parents were divorced when i was 10 years old. i moved to the east coast and

lived there for six years and then fled back to california after high school. i went to school at uc santa barbara. i have been in san francisco since 1989, have lived in the excelsior since 1999. the difficulty is, muni often sees it as an industrial area, not a neighborhood. we have to figure out how to make it work as a neighborhood and as a place that can service the light rail vehicles. i have had lots of different jobs. my main job has been doing social work for san francisco state university. i have been a community organizer, a social worker, but i have also been a legislative aide. i worked mostly for community- based organization supporting kids and families, working for labor. i got to see how city hall could be an effective tool to create change. i looked at running in 2007,

2008, and somehow i made it. i have been in politics for so many ways, doing work around central america, supporting people in central america against u.s. imperialism, their right to live, self determination. i did a lot of work on that on campus when i was in college. a bit of work on apartheid when i was in college as well. >> i never got involved in supporting a candidate. i never thought a candidate was someone that i would support. then when tom ammiano ran against willie brown, i got inspired. i thought, someone with integrity and honesty, if they can run for mayor, maybe i can be somebody who represents what is true about our people. that is what inspired me to run and be a candidate.

one thing this year that i really tackling, and i expect to for a long time, looking at me and how it operates in my district. san francisco, we talk about it being a transit first city, but it does not mean a lot if transit is not very well thought out in places away from downtown. my district is where we need to create better options. all the way down to randall street, there is no accessible boarding areas for the church. there is a woman that lives in a wheelchair on santa rosa. she has to go across to glen park to get out transit. >> those new stations, those are the ones that we are going to have to depend on. >> along balboa park station, near geneva, i have been pushing hard to get ramps for pedestrians. right now, it is dangerous to cross the street.

i want to insure the department of parking and traffic is painting lines on alemany street. beyond that, we need to figure out how to calm the traffic. a lot of cars go speeding through. sidewalks are not convenient for people. >> i am the supervisor for district 11, the debt -- the best district in san francisco. this year, we get to show how great district 11 really is. >> we are in our fifth year of major budget deficits. it is inevitable that we will make painful cuts. so how do we do it in a way that will minimize the impact on every day san franciscans? >> i really appreciate what you're doing here. you are a really patient gentleman, and i appreciate that. >> our parks are often cut first. how do we maintain our safety net, public health services,

security services? all of these are critical decisions that have to be made. >> i have seen many people come forward today who i know whose lives have changed because of the services we are providing. that is something that we can be proud of and have a as a goal at the budget process to make sure that we can turn lives around and create a liveable communities. >> if we do not resolve the pension issue, we will have to cut. we will see fewer options for muni. we will see the parks deteriorate. i think the tide is rising. we have to figure out how to swim very quickly.

>> happy arbor day, everyone. we have a lot of volunteers from the richmond district center. i grew up in the california area, ended up at uc-davis. i made my way out to san francisco in 1984 when i was a college student. i remember growing up on clement street. i have always lived around in richmond area, just being around a unique area of the richmond, discovering san francisco in the 1980's. >> i am hoping we can not support small businesses like this because they are the unique character that makes

neighborhoods like this so rich and lively to live in. >> i have also been active as a community organizer. i worked at the chinese progressive association. i also worked at the mental health center in the richmond district. i have always been passionate about civil rights, equality for everyone. i have a 10-year-old daughter, so having a girl has made me much more sensitive to gender equality issues. i guess i have always been vocal about my politics, but as a supervisor, i have to listen to other perspectives and making decisions. >> very soon there will be of much more seniors in that area. we are trying to focus on whether a stop sign or stoplight might help. >> tried to look at issues of senior nutrition programs, alzheimer's research, even housing policies that allowed our buildings to become more

senior-friendly. also looking at how to support senior services, neighborhood- by-neighborhood programs that allow aging in place. people who are getting older helping each other stay in their homes and communities longer so that they can contribute as long as possible, as opposed to institutionalizing them. >> i support working families, livable communities, definite drawn support for the small business. even in my district, there are pockets of poverty and many people of work. so it is also about supporting those under employed people, small businesses in this difficult economy. >> there are a lot of vacant storefronts, so we are trying to find people to read these spaces. there is a bookstore over there. this way there are a lot of businesses that have been closing. >> i support the small

businesses versus more chain stores that seem to be coming in to some of the vacant storefronts. i am trying to be sensitive to the local merchants because they make up the unique character and diversity of our neighborhoods. you go to lafayette. i was just there reading to a bunch of kids. i think i was reading to fifth graders. what grade are you in? >> as a member of the school board, i know strong schools in the richmond is key. also, from the birth to 5 commission -- each commission has an organization to oversee pre-kindergarten kids. i want to ensure that the state level that we advocate strong support for young children and their families, good parenting support as well. >> often, we have to govern with our hearts. 80,000 people in the richmond

district sometimes have different needs than people in the mission district or bayview hunters point. so often, elected officials and other hard working staff have to make tough decisions. they are political in nature, in many ways, even though people denied that, but at times, many of us are politicians, but we always try to govern with our hearts. >> i have always considered myself having progressive politics. i believe in a vision of people having their needs met. i believe in equity. when people have special needs, we should be considered of that. i also feel that working families in the lowest income population should have a safety net. we should have civil-rights and equality rights for people as well. if that is being a progressive, then i am proud of being a progressive.