i and the great-grandson of -- i am the great-grandson of eloise westbrook. she has created a great lineage. for the people who have not had somebody to fight for them, she was the voice of reason for people who did not have a voice, and i say today, to everyone who made this possible, the fight is not over. we still have to continue the good fight. i am an iraqi veteran. a couple of years ago, myself, i was homeless. now, i am getting help. we have an issue going on in the city dealing with mental health. we have to address this. if each and every person -- yes, ma'am? >> madea is my grandmother. >> yes, so we have to deal with

this, this mental health. so it is good to see you. we talked before, but everybody here that made this project happen, let's continue to do the good work and keep up the good fight. thank you. [applause] >> i'm eloise's granddaughter. i want to say thank you. my grandmother is not able to make it, i guess you all know, but she said her best wishes. thank you. [applause] >> i would just like to thank you for coming out to the celebration. a lot of people ask me when i am working -- i do work on the san francisco cable cars. come out and ride if you have

time. anyway, they always ask me if i like my job. so i am going back to her. she really did like her job. she liked her job. it helps to like your job, you know? i sat with her a few times, and she really did care about the people, and she tried to help the people. was not talking down to them. she actually cared to help them get their services. another thing that comes to mind is in the scriptures, it says when you give something, do not get it grudgingly. they do not want it if you are giving it grudgingly. did it with love. so she gave it with love. when you do something, do it with love. i was on my way here, listening to a song called "stepping in the name oof love -- of

love" by r. kelly. he says if they ask why you did it, say you did it for love. i think that is why she did it. [applause] >> i am also one of the great- grandchildren of miss was sparked -- miss westbrook. i am very thankful, also, in light of the contribution you have blessed my grandmother with. she is very happy for this project here when you were about 97% finished, and you allow me to come video tape these things for her, she was really happy at what she had seen, and i wanted to thank you for that. anything we can do to put a smile on faces of folks who have sacrificed so much on behalf of us, you know, is a good thing. for those of us, you know, who are in member growing up, who have to look out for me while

grandma was dealing in some of these meetings, you know, i want to thank you for your help and those of you who helped her, because when your honor, you also honored those who contributed -- when you honor her, you also honor those who contributed, those who helped her along the way. though she may be the one out front, she is always backed up by good health, and that is what made her and pushed her to be who and what she is. without some of your help, they could have chosen a different name, but i'm glad you chose to honor her in this way because if you had given another plaque and award, she would have just waited until you left and then told me to go put it in the closet with the rest.

[laughter] so, of course, she is very thankful. very thankful. let us not forget about those who sacrificed so much on behalf of us. for a lot of them, it is on, you know, their shoulders many of us stand. because we stand on their shoulders, we get benefits, but it is based of somebody else's sacrifice, work, bloodshed, tears, and everything else. so i stand here grateful to be a great grandson of ms. westbrook. may god bless me to be worthy of such. thank you all. [applause] >> we have just a couple more people. let me just say, it is not in what order you come to the podium.

it is the fact that we are here to recognize something that is outstanding and good for our community and good for the citizens of san francisco. i'm sure nancy would have taken that position at any meeting or any public presentation she made. i have been to a lot of her -- i have even visited her in washington, d.c. she is a sincere person that is concerned about what happens to people. especially dealing with people in the health field. dealing with people in housing. dealing with those that cannot reach out and do the things they need to do and need that additional help. so there is a representative from her office, and i am so proud that she is here. so i would like to bring her up to the podium. would you please come up, nicole rivera? [applause] >> thank you, charles.

i know it is hot, so i'm going to make this break. the leader would have loved to be here. she is currently traveling, but she did send a letter greeting she asked for me to read to all of you today. "dear friends, congratulations on the ribbon cutting and grand opening of the new west park plaza, which includes the new south of market hulbert -- the new west block plaza, which includes the new south of market health center. i had the pleasure of touring this beautiful new facility and meeting so many of you. san francisco is fortunate to have a new state-of-the-art medical facility that is fully equipped to respond to the increasing an urgent health care needs of the south of market neighborhood. together, we will witness a significant increase in the success of managing ellis, maintaining health, and improving the quality of life for the south of market seniors, children, and family spirit it was fitting that the first anniversary of the passage in congress of the affordable care act was celebrated here.

without community-based clinics, thousands of men, women, and children would be without access to health care. thank you to charlie range, you're devoted staff, and medical and health-care providers for your leadership and work on the front lines to make this day possible. best wishes for a wonderful ribbon cutting celebration here ribbon cutting celebration here with my one -- with my regards,

>> from our new headquarters building. the sfpuc is used to doing things. we build and maintain dams, treatment plants, transmission lines, water and sewer mains. at the same time, our staff has always been in rented headquarters. we thought it was time to own that, too. this is the time and place, 525 golden gate. this is a milestone in the project for building. in about 30 years, we will have paid off the building, and then it will be free to our ratepayers. it makes sense for them and also makes sense for green purposes. this will be one of the most sustainable buildings anywhere around. it is going to generate power and also used 55% less power than and regular building.

ed will send off more non- potable water for more uses in the area. it will be a wonderful thing to live around and be involved in. we are celebrating this topping off. we have done some research. topping off ceremonies started back in roman times. people would have a ceremony when they finished building the roof of a house. as they finished, it was traditional to put an evergreen tree on the final game, signaling the finish of the infrastructure and construction. that is what we're doing today. you will notice of a lot of signatures on a banner that was attached to them being, because we have a lot of excited employees who could not be here today. hopefully, all of you have a chance to sign that beam and see

that evergreen tree that symbolizes the sustainability of our building and the good fortune of having completed the building. the first person i want to introduce is a person who has been involved in this building probably longer than any of us. at one time, this was not even going to be a pc building. dpw was going to do a lot of things for the city. back then, as director of dpw, mr. lee was responsible for doing that. now as mayor, he gets to sign the top off. [applause] >> thank you and good morning to this topping off. when ever you get three eds and an andy to gather you are going to have fun. i want to thank the pc for its leadership. they are leading the way in this

building and in so many other things. -- the puc for its leadership. they have a tremendous amount of jobs on the street right now keeping the city alive, moving forward with labor unions. i want to thank webcor, dpw, department of the environment, working together under the puc commission to make this building come together. i just signed my name on that last iron been going up. i wanted to make sure that i was recognized at this moment because it was one of the few times that a former public works director can actually have permission to do graffiti. but it is for a good cause. i know it represents so much of a great energy that has been poured in. it is lede platinum. that is a standard for the future.

it is one of the few buildings we will see in our immediate lifetime -- but to get it started on this -- and to have it contribute to a sustainable area called the civic center, to have this corner of our civic center be an example and model, i want to congratulate everyone who has been associated with making this happen. i know public works people have been working closely with staff at the puc, department of environment making sure that everything from energy use to the water is at a high standard. it is my pleasure to be here. we are so enthusiastic about this being the new standard and also a great building that our employees will be proud to work in. thank you very much. [applause]

>> thank you, mayor lee. our puc commissioners are the ones that actually make the decision about this building. all of them are here with us. the president of the department. [applause] >> thank you. it is an honor to be here for this topping ceremony. i want to thank my fellow commissioners who are here and also it knowledge a former commissioner, f.x. crowley, who was formally on the commission, who has helped. this will be one of the greatest municipal buildings in the country, if not the greatest. i have to refer to my notes because some of these stats are pretty incredible. this building will design 55% less energy than most office buildings anywhere.

that is one-third less energy than most buildings consume. over the next seven to five years, it will save an estimated $180 million in energy costs. that is a lot of money that will be saved by our ratepayers. we also talked about the reclaimed water. all of the sewage will be treated on site, as well as the gray water. that means all of the demand for the low flow toilets and your girls -- urinals will be met, and over 700,000 gallons of water will be saved annually. it will also save an additional 900,000 gallons that we are using at the sustainability district. it is a significant water savings that we need to pursue throughout the city. i also want to thank the mayor for his leadership on this. beginning in his early dpw days.

dpw, p u c, department of environment staff, everyone who has worked so hard on this -- i remember, it must have been 12 years now when we were first identifying different pilot projects through the city that could be brain model the. this was one of the building that they identified. -- green modeled. it is so rewarding to see this be realized as one of the greatest buildings in the country. thank you for coming and we look forward to moving in next year. -- greenest buildings in the country. >> other members of the commission, andy moran, art kane is here, various members of the puc, the general manager for water, power, waste water,

business services, and juliet ellis, external affairs. one of our stars is shelly campbell, our product manager. thank you. [applause] we're also joined by the department of the environment had. -- hea. d. we are going to wait for the fire trucks to go by. this started with the dpw project and we are a client now representing the dpw is ed riskin. >> thank you. as the general manager and commission president referred to, dpw has been with this project for over a decade it has really become a labor of love for the department. it is an extraordinarily complex building project, unlike our

typical library or fire station that we work on. and it is not because of the exceedingly high environmental performance, but exceedingly high seismic performance, business continuity performance. this will be one of the most advanced office buildings in the country. it is really a great partnership that we have working with the puc to make this happen, but also with our private sector partners, kmd stevens, webcor and their construction team. it has been a collaborative effort. we are proud of the fact that we are not only getting this great building built that will serve the city for generations to come, but in doing it, we are putting a lot of local businesses and residents to work in the process. it is really a win win. i want to commend the general manager and commission for their

bitter ship and foresight in seeing after this project had been stalled for many years, seeing this was a great investment for the repairs and people of san francisco. it was the smart thing to do. we are righproud to be part of . i want to thank the work of the rest of the pc team to get this done. starting with a man who is living and breathing this, has been for years, our project manager brooke. [applause] he is working closely with edgar lopez, who manages all of our major projects, but was here pretty much from day one. they are being supported by our city engineers and the rest of

the department coming together to deliver a great project to the ratepayers of san francisco. we're so happy to be a part of this. congratulations to the puc on getting to this point, the topping off ceremony. [applause] >> as the owners, we are certainly willing to move in, but we are not building the building. representing the builders is andy of webcor. [applause] >> it is great to be here. most people do not realize this building almost did not happen. i was at a green building conference and i ran into mayor gavin newsom. he said, we are not going to build that building. we cannot afford to. i said, mayor, you cannot afford not to. this building will be an example of what all cities should build. with the energy savings that were mentioned, this building will be like no others.

when the city starts to operate, they will say, why did we not do this before? it is a wonderful thing for the environment, the city, a wonderful thing for us being chosen as a builder. i am wearing a hard hat because i am a contractor, that is what we do. i want to thank my team. they are doing a wonderful job. [applause] recognize that this is not an easy building. it is a innovative and complex structure. the first time it has been done here. there is a very sophisticated mechanical system. we have some great consultants here. it is always a pleasure to work with a team at the department of public works. you are wonderful to be with.

edgar, we have done this before. brooke, you as well. ed harrington, when he came into this position, he said this building would be too much. we brought it down to $140 million, kept it as lede platinum. everyone on this team is absolutely first class. it is a pleasure partner with the city. we are in good hands with mayor lee. he recognizes the importance of this kind of structure and it is always great to work with the city of san francisco and the mayor's office. thank you. [applause] >> thank you. just in time, the son has come out. mayor lee will lead us in having the crane operator bring a the beam up.

>> everybody, on three, we are going to have frankie bring it up. we are going to say frankie, bring it up! >> frankie, bring it up! [applause]