>> 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. >> good morning, everyone. i am the director of neighborhood business development for the office of work force development. thank you for coming. this is the kickoff of small business week as well as a celebration of the accomplishments of our small business revolving loan fund, which we have been working on for about six months. i would like to start by introducing the mayor, and we

will continue by hearing from supervisor wiener as well as our administrator for the loan fund, and finally, the owner of this great new business. mr. mirkarimi -- mr. mayor. mayor lee: thank you. i cannot think of a better way to celebrate the kickoff of small business week than to be right on valencia in the small business just started that has been the recipient along with some 27 other small businesses that have worked really hard to get to a place where they can be and allow the city to contribute and help. we did not hear a lot of times -- we hear a lot of complaints about how the city has not been doing things, but thanks to our small business commission, which is here today, and they're wonderful work and their director who has been advising me on a number of fronts -- their wonderful work and their

director who has been advising me on a number of fronts, and supervisor wiener, who had a chance to open up a farmer's market in glen park with me yesterday. we never do it alone. whenever our city is working together, we have to find people who know how to communicate with small businesses, drill down to what they need, and then work with our policy makers like the small business commission and their staff, but really help in figuring out what it is that a limited amount of money -- and it is really limited when you are only talking about $680,000 in very tight economic times -- to be able to spread that around to 27 different businesses, help and make sure that a company like mission cheese, which is probably gone through a huge jury just to get here, can be directly helped to be opened and

sustained success -- which has probably gone through a huge journey just to get here. we do not want to start things that cannot be successful. the whole game is about not only surviving the economic challenge, but as we recover -- and we are recovering in our economy -- that the small businesses will be successful, and they will grow, and they will sustain themselves, and they will be at the heart of what i think is a revival of the whole of valencia. when you walk valencia and look at all the vacancies that have erupted over the past few years, and to see small business is coming back, you will know that everyone is struggling, but they want to make it happen. i really wanted to emphasize this morning how many different journeys people have had in making themselves successful and how the city has been able to get them here and the great

journey and the great story we are going to hear from sarah and from family -- from emily. i want you to listen to sarah when she talks about how she got here and how she got the milk from those cows. [laughter] whether they are california or from maine or wisconsin, how did that milk and up into this lovely artisan cheese that she is making for our residents and visitors? i think the great journey will be when sarah talks about how she found her way to establish in san francisco. the greatest journey i hear are people who take up that opportunity, when they come into san francisco and make their home here. that is a wonderful journey because it has many more stories to tell about how young entrepreneurs who start their families and then grow. that is the story about small

businesses. i want to join all of you here in celebration. we will hear about other businesses, but it begins with these very personal stories and, really, how this milk and cheese got here, but how sarah got here through all of her work and study and how she could perform something very unique and contribute to the great businesses that sustain san francisco. with that, scott, come on up. [applause] supervisor wiener: thank you, mr. mayor. i represent this district on the board of supervisors. we always talk about how important small business is in terms of creating jobs, in terms of having interesting neighborhoods where we have unique businesses and not a complete takeover by chain stores, but then, we do not always put our money where our mouth is, and we make it difficult sometimes for small

businesses to succeed. in my office, at least once a week, we learned of a new arcane regulations or permit or fee or something preventing small businesses from succeeding. so it is so nice and so productive when the city is able to take a pro-active steps to help small businesses financially -- take a pro-active steps -- take pro-active steps to help small businesses financially. we have a real diverse array of interesting small businesses, so i am proud that we have been able to do this, and especially what we have been able to do on valencia's street. so congratulations and best of luck. -- especially what we have been able to do on valencia st..

>> a quick word before emily speaks. the money is critical, but what we have seen is the really critical things the city can do. one of the things that we like working solution so much is not just that they are able to make loans but the kind of business solutions they are able to give to owners, so i just wanted to put in that little plug. [applause] >> good morning. i am the executive director of working solutions, and i also am so excited to be here to kick off small business week this year as we celebrate the success of mr. and cheese. sarah, congratulations on all your hard work and achieving your dream. we all wish you success. sarah is the perfect example of the hard-working, tenacious, inspiring, and created under for nor -- creative and entrepreneur that has received assistance

from working solutions and san francisco. two years ago, the city had the leadership to prioritize access for capital to small businesses. at that time, credit access was at record lows, and even today, still, access to capital remains one of the single biggest challenges that a small business can face. particularly startup businesses like mission cheese. working solutions was selected to administer the loan fund, and that gave us the opportunity to do what we do best -- getting capital to entrepreneurs who need it most. working solutions uses its expertise to see the potential in an entrepreneur is like sarah -- entrepreneurs like sarah. plus, working solutions is committed to long-term -- to the

long-term success of each business. what we do in addition to every loan is provide five years of business coaching, advising, and mentoring. the san francisco loan fund has been a bright spot in a dismal economy. has been extremely successful in creating jobs and economic development. for example, in just weeks that mission cheese has been open, sarah has already created five new jobs and the loan fund overall has created 50 new jobs. working solutions, through this loan fund, has made 27 loans to businesses. the interest rate is low and fixed at 4% to 6%. we have lent out close to the entire $680,000 of the original lending capital, and 100% of those businesses are repaying

their loans. as the funds revolve, they become available for additional businesses. the funds are used for different things like marketing, hiring new employees, purchasing equipment, tenant improvements, and more. the types of businesses that have benefited from the city loan fund range from salons, cafes, retail shops -- all different types of businesses throughout the city of san francisco. these are exactly the kind of very unique businesses that make san francisco the diverse city that it is. i also wanted to point out that a few of our loan recipients in the city have also graduated and able to later on success -- access traditional bank financing. two of those have been able to move on to get traditional loans. i would like to really thank the community partners that working solutions works with.

we collaborate with organizations like the small business assistance center that -- assistance center, the san francisco small business development center, and pacific community ventures. all of these organizations and more create a network of vital support services and resources for small businesses in san francisco. i would also like to take the opportunity to thank working solutions' staff, board, supporters, and volunteers, who are really a big part of the success that we are celebrating this morning. finally, i would like to thank the city, mayor lee, supervisor wiener, and the small business commission for continuing to prioritize the needs of small businesses. it is my hope that we will be able to build on the success of this loan fund so that even more entrepreneur worst -- entrepreneurs in the future can

access these funds. thank you so much. [applause] >> i had no idea what to expect. this is my first press conference. [laughter] i have not prepared tirelessly for this, but i definitely have a lot to say about the space that we are standing in, so, welcome. producer real -- pretty surreal at the moment. i have to clarify first that i do not make all this cheese. [laughter] it comes from across the united states from dedicated cheesemakers that worked tirelessly without vacations to care for the animals and the land and create these beautiful beautiful -- create these beautiful pieces of art that are also delicious. that was my inspiration for this

space, a place to highlight and celebrate what is going on in the cheese world today and how far we have come from a place of kraft singles and block cheddar. i love when i deliver a cheese plate and tell them the names of the cheeses, where they are from, what they are made with, a few details about, you know, the rhine or the cheesemaker or the cows -- they have names. the vocationally gray's -- they rotationally graze. that is what this is about, sharing that accomplishment with a culture that has come so far away from small, handcrafted cheeses to a community that now really supports it. this is proof of that. people love cheese, and they love to know where it comes from. it is just an honor for me to

curate that experience and bring that to the mission. we have an open for a month. we celebrated our month birthday for this week -- our month birthday this week. we have been busy. we beat our projections by 12% in the first month. [applause] that is without beer and wine the first week, so an opportunity for next month. and we have gotten -- we have been welcomed with open arms by the community, local merchants, and people that live in the neighborhood. they are really excited to have a place where they can purchase these beautiful cheeses, and also people that are knowledgeable on the subject. it has been an amazing reception. i cannot really say enough. so many people to thank. i know i could talk for days,

and i would probably start crying, and that would be bad. [laughter] as a new business owner and someone who had a dream and felt so passionate about something that they quit their 9 to 5 well-paying job to make it happen, it was difficult to find bonds -- to find funds for sure. especially in this environment. i had dreams of getting loans from banks, and those dreams were shattered in conversations about revenue essentially. being a startup business is really difficult, and i was thrilled to have the opportunity to work with gabriela. she helped, through the process of refining my business plan to the point where i could ask for

a micro loan micromic -- microloan. agnes helped, and i was baffled by the kindness and generosity, working with both of you through the process. it was a lovely process. i was like, "i'm asking for a loan, and it is so wonderful and nice." i was grateful for the opportunity even to present to the loan committee. my expectations were pretty low, given my other conversations with banks, and people at large being like, "good luck getting money from, you know, anyone." i was just thrilled getting this microloan. it was essential. the refrigeration you see here was paid for with that. there is a killer of an in the

back. the beer dispenser. a lot of equipment that is necessary to provide what we provide here was paid for with that microloan. i was dancing in the streets after you guys call me. [laughter] i did not know what to do with myself. i am just really grateful for this opportunity. i cannot say enough. it is serial -- surreal. thank you. [applause] >> is the key is available -- oh, i'm sorry, we are cutting the ribbon -- is the cheese available? [laughter]

>> oh, we have some more scissors. >> there we go. >> here are some more scissors. mayor lee: on the count of three, two, one. [applause] >> we are open. [applause]

>> mayor for the city and county of san francisco. >> tonight, san francisco has a

new interim mayor. >> a few minutes ago, city administrator now interim mayor ed lee, emerged happy but humble. >> in 2011, a temporary or interim mayor was selected by the board of supervisors, what is an interim mayor? why do we need one? is it the mayor's supposed to be elected by san francisco voters? how did this happen? let's rewind the story a little and look at the people and complicated process that led to this historic transition. the last time san francisco had an interim mayor was 30 years ago, when, in 1978, george mosconi, was assassinated by supervisor dan white. >> both to grow rather mosconi and harvey milk have been shot and killed. >> they needed a new mayor at

the time. the board got together and appointed dianne feinstein. >> we did not have much to go on and looked at 1978. there were no hints as to who put it on the board, if any discussion occurred about a process. >> what triggered san francisco's search over 30 years later was gavin newsom's election to the office of lieutenant governor. >> i put myself up as a candidate for the tenant governor, won, thanks to the overwhelming support of the city. >> that is when we try to look for someone to take over his final year of the mayoral term. >> it is clear we have to do something in san francisco. we have to pick a mayor. that job was not up to the voters but the board of supervisors. by a majority vote, supervisors are able