the other challenge is, it is the opinion of the redevelopment agency that it is illegal for the state to do this. the redevelopment agency for san francisco will most likely join in a state-wide a lawsuit against the state from doing this. as a city, we are reviewing our options, but because it is a separate agency, the redevelopment agency can make its own decisions. we have not included on our decision. we are working with the city attorney to get some aspects on the legality of this. we are fairly certain the redevelopment agency will be

joining the state-wide lost it with all of the other major cities in the state. they believe -- and there are good grounds to believe that -- that this is not a maneuver taken by the governor's office. >> does that mean we are going to have a temporary injunction first? >> i think so. the national league of cities, as well as the california redevelopment association, have indicated strongly their attorneys have strong opinions that that was not legal. >> [inaudible] you said many times that you would not be running again for

mayor. have you changed? with all of these campaigns asking you to run, what is your position? >> i tried not to pay too much attention to the people who have been starting the campaign to ask me to run. to the extent that i read and see it, i do appreciate that many people support what we are doing and how we are doing it. i enjoyed a lot of support, i think, not only internally from the government, but i think there are lot of people that agree with me. therefore, they believe that should automatically translate into my riding. there are two issues. -- running.

i like that people are in joint what we are doing. it is much better than, you are a failure, get out of here. for me, the personal choice has debate with an understanding of why i came to do the job and under what circumstances. it is a personal choice that i had. i never wanted to be a politician had i been, i would have signaled that many years ago. so i am still of the position that i will not be running for this job. i know there will be a strong effort the next few weeks to convince me otherwise. we will let that play out, but that is where i am at. i never look at myself as a politician. >> [inaudible] >> i think it is more

appropriate for me to focus on the things that i asked the voters to pay attention to. i have not really paid attention to either of the candidates for what they are saying. right now, to me, that is it a distraction. -- or what they are saying. i will not be endorsing anyone for any office. i do need to focus on the pension reform, sales tax, and on the road repaving, as my contribution to the voters. i think that is a lot already for people to understand. i think people will have to make up their mind about the other candidates they choose. but i hope they hold a session with you because you have some good questions. >> when you talk to supervisors, some say that you promised not to run. >> that was the circumstance.

they did not want someone distracted. i understand that. that is why i came into this job. >> how do [inaudible] you may go back in many years? >> of course, i do not think i would get this type of attention as city administrator. i do not have to do press conferences. city administrator is exactly what it is. administer the programs and policies with the mayor and board of supervisors. i enjoyed that. it does not have the day-to-day stress. one of the things i have been clear about as mayor is, i worry about everything. i worry about when i get up but

will be on my phone, a shooting, pedestrian that got ran over, a police officer. you worry about everything. you worry about every neighborhood, the fire victims. what happened to them? where are they going to live? what happens to their kids? you worry about every detail because you feel responsible for them. every day, the mayor is forced to do that because of where you are. everyone helps you expect them to solve their problem. i did not have that experience as the city administrator. therefore, i could go to sleep, i could have a two-day weekend. i could play golf and only worry about the ball and a whole. now i play golf and it is, where is the ball, where is the hole? my mind is on the budget, what i

will say, how i will say it. yesterday, with the ping-pong diplomacy, it was fun. i tried not to worry about it, but i said, i do not want to make a mistake because this is international and everyone wants to feel welcome, that they are involved. but as a mayor, you have to worry about many things. so i go to sleep tired, my notes are in front of me. i have to read my details and be prepared. it looks like sometimes i'm having fun, but in the back, my staff is working hard to prepare me, making sure i understand everything. it is not just making mistakes. it is doing the right thing and making sure it is the right way

to do it. i compare myself to the other mayors in other cities. i went back to the conference of mayors and i asked mayor bloomberg of new york. how did you do this over 10 years? these mayors, they have really been helpful. willie brown has been helpful in giving me advice about things that i did not have. i have had some private conversations with people about how to do things. that is part of my were read. i also enjoyed a lot of support from people because they want me to be successful. they know i am open to honest dialogue. whatever advice they give me, i keep it secret. and there are very content with that. -- they are very content with that. >> [inaudible] >> 6:00 in the morning on

sundays. maybe every two weeks. >> [inaudible] you just want to be a city administrator. you are used to these distractions. >> no, there were a lot of things i have to get used to the first few months. there are a lot of things that i cannot get used to in this job, the attention, publicity, but also, the variety of issues. there are so many things coming at you. for example, this today, a friend of mine in mailed -- e- mailed me and said that one of his in-laws was one of the fishermen that was caught out in the kabul area.

i said that we would call the account the general in mexico. so we immediately made a call, asked the mexican consulate to ask the mexican government to continue the search. do not stop. do everything you can. the weather is warm. people have relationships. i did not know that. i was reading the news like you, and all the sudden, a friend says, i have a relative there. can you plead with the government? i never expected to do that. but here he is, a resident asking for help. so we called the mexican consulate. they were transmitting information, the request. so it is things like that that you never expect. every day there is a challenge. if it reflects things that we

can do, we will do it. ok. thank you very much. i hope this was helpful.

++ >> i am the deputy executive director for the sfmta. i am pleased to welcome you to the celebration of the completion of the california and power line cable car projects, which saw the california cable car line down for six months this year. in spring, the power lines were down for three different shut down -- shutdowns. the project was a comprehensive line upgrade. the project was a collaboration with department of public works and the san francisco public utilities commission, both of which made multiple improvements to the infrastructure of this street in coordination with cable car improvements. we are joined today by the dpw director and sfpuc general manager. the businesses and communities surrounding the cable car lines were real partners with us, of course. this required close coordination

to keep clear the lines of communication, and we are pleased to be joined today by members of various merchants associations, neighborhood and civic groups, as well as downtown management organiza of these various entities has been critical to the success of these projects. we are also honored to have with us this morning mayor edwin lee to kick off the celebration. [applause] mayor lee: good morning. i know the sun is not out, but we can still be awake. i want to thank all of you for coming today on this reopening, and i want to let you know that you're so excited to join board president david chiu, who was a cable car writer -- rider from the first day he arrived, and also the departments that worked

so closely with nat ford and the whole team, in doing not only this project, but it has been 27 years since there has been a major overhaul of our cable car system. with nat's leadership along with carter's and sfmta, we want to make sure that the system -- if we invite people to ride halfway to the stars, it better be safe. we want to make sure that it gets a renewal in its brackets and sloths -- slots. you will hear about these details as you talk with cable car operators. i want to thank them for their patience. they are a wonderful group of people, dedicated to something that is part of our $8 billion tourism -- a very key part. soon, you will see the lines drawn here of people who want to take the cable cars on a daily

basis, the tourists and also the residents who find this a fantastic local way of enjoying themselves. when we redid the cable car system, we did a number of things that i thought were very smart and smartly done by the collaboration with our departments. we had the sfpuc do what it could to identify the locations in our sewer system that could be worked on. that was very smart. while this cable car system was down for several months. we had dpw and their engineers working to be paid streets and redo the curb ramps -- repave streets for ada access. that was smartly done. and on top of this, we had other parts of the cable car system redone as well. we had worked on the cable car

bomb -- cable car bomb -- cable car barn, to make sure the propulsion system was adequately restored. all in all, we have done this very smartly. the main banks today is to the residence -- the main thanks today is to the residents and businesses that tolerated this because they know at the very end it will be a blessing to have the cable cars run smoothly. i also want to thank the operators and the maintenance people at muni. they are very important to helping us run this system well, and they are part of a great system we have in san francisco to be very proud of. it goes to show that as we reinforce the system, as we make sure that the cable car system improvement project is done

well, that we take care of the other infrastructure we have alongside of it. that is why not only is this project successful in many ways and coordinated and collaborate with other departments well, but we want to make sure voters know that that is the way we will approach the street bond that we will have the board vote on very soon that will be placed on the november ballot. 8 $248 million bond program to make our streets that much more improve -- a $248 million bond program to make our streets that much more improved. half of our streets now are deteriorated. they need attention, and we want to make sure they are given the appropriate attention. we will be sponsoring that kind of infrastructure work as well with the leadership of dpw as well as the other agencies that will make sure when we do these roads, we will collaborate and make sure all the other

infrastructure departments pay attention at the same time. with that, i want to welcome in this great cable car improvement and have a great chance of cutting the ribbon and make sure that the lines will start reworking for all of the tourists and all of the users of this great cable car system. thank you very much. [applause] >> also, we have with us -- it is an honor -- president david chiu has joined us. would you like to say a few words? [applause] supervisor chiu: good morning. this is a great day for san francisco, our residents, our merchants, our tourist, and everyone who has been running our cable cars since 1873 -- everyone who has been writing -- everyone who has been riding our

cable cars since 1873. as mayor lee mentioned, from literally the first day i have lived in san francisco, i have taken our cable cars. it is one of my favorite ways of getting around my district and for many of my constituents and merchants, it is an incredibly special institution. cable cars were invented here in san francisco. they are part of what is iconic about our city. they are part of what makes our hills and neighborhoods so memorable. when i heard that we had to close down the cable cars for a time, as an elected official, i panicked a little bit. i heard a lot of concerns raised by neighbors up and down the cable car lines, who have to rely on these lines every day of the week to get to where they need to go. i am so pleased that this project happen as flawlessly as

it did. i look forward to getting back up on this cable car line, and i look forward to making sure that with all of you, we are investing in our transit, in our infrastructure so that something that was invented in 1873 will be able to be part of our great city for, hopefully, centuries to come. thank you very much. [applause] >> okay, we also have with us our board chair, tom nolan. >> thank you very much. didn't that cable car bells sound good -- didn't that cable car bell sound good? i want to thank our colleagues in the dpw and puc. i think people appreciate when departments work well together, and this is a terrific example of that, and hopefully, this is the way we will keep going in

the future. 8 million people ride the cable cars every year. that is an awful lot of people. business people, residents, and, of course, visitors, and we are delighted that this is back and running today appeared my notes say that we released conduits, police records, and switches -- we replaced conduits, police brackets, and switches -- conduits, pulley brackets, and switches. on behalf of my colleagues, thank you all for a job well done. [applause] >> ok, we would be remiss if we did not ask the heads of the departments that spearheaded the great coordination that went on with this work -- i would like to call up ed riskin from the

department of public works first. >> thank you, carter. this mayor, from his time as city administrator and moving on to his time as mayor, has encouraged strong collaboration between the departments of the city. when we can work together to coordinate and collaborate on the planning, design, and construction of major projects like this, it is not just about us working nicely together. saves time and saves money. as importantly, it minimizes disruption to the public. on a street like this that has such an essential function to the city, that is such a prominent st., that has so much happening on it, the ability to do that, to minimize disruption, to get the work done and save money in the process, is very important. our role in the process -- we got 17 streets reconstructed and 80 curb ramps built up and down

the length of california. it is not only smarter and safer, but it is much more accessible for the thousands and millions of people could travel upon it. we worked hard to minimize disruption during this process, but any time you are tearing up public rights of way, there will be some noise and traffic impacts and path of travel impacts on the sidewalk, but we worked hard to keep that to a minimum. i want to thank the designers, the resident engineer, the contractor, but also the residents, merchants, hotels, visitors, the many people who had to put up with this. thank you for your patience because this was a significant amount of work we got down for the city. with regards to being able to join forces with other city departments to get this work done, leverage our resources, save time and money, we want to do a lot more of that. we take whatever chance we can

to partner with other departments, other utilities, but we are only able to do so to the extent that our resources allow. the mayor mentioned the street's bond we hope to see on the ballot this november. -- the st. -- the streets bond. if that were to be approved, we would have a lot more resources to be able to improve our infrastructure. thank you do the people for allowing us to get this work done. [applause] >> last but certainly not least, ed harrington from the public utility commission. >> good morning. i love cable cars. i have been judging cable car contest for a number of years. even though the puc is a fairly small part of this, i started 27 years ago on this project. back then, it was an unusual thing to have puc, muni,

wastewater -- all those people come together and build up the streets and not come back and tear everything up. now, it is part of how we do business. whenever we have the possibility of doing some work in the streets, we figure out how to do it together and have as little disruption to the people of san francisco as possible. great to be part of this. thank you to the team on this. thank you, everybody. [applause] >> how about that? we would be remiss if we did not also thank the operators and cable car division staff that not only have provided this lovely backdrop for today's event, but they also provide the great california alliance service that has been running behind you. they also have been instrumental of ensuring continuous service even on buses along cable car lines during the shutdowns and

communicating our plans to our customers, with a transport every day. i also want to thank the teams with the cable car project for their diligence in helping san francisco maintain these important -- maintain this important infrastructure. also i want to thank the hyatt regency behind you, garrett delhi chocolates, and all of sfmta staff for making this a success -- chirar -- ghirardeli chocolates. thank you. >> i believe we are going to have a ribbon-cutting ceremony now? >> 1. 2. 3. all right. [applause]

>> the san francisco cons tri of flowers in golden gate park

is now showing a new exhibit that changes the way we see the plants around us. amy stewart's best-selling book, "wicked plants" is the inspiration behind the new exhibit that takes us to the dark side of the plant world. >> i am amy stewart. i am the arthur of "wicked plants," the weeds that killed lincoln's mother and other botanical atrocities. with the screens fly trap, that is kind of where everybody went initially, you mean like that? i kind of thought, well, all it does is eat up bugs. that is not very wicked. so what? by wicked, what i mean is that they are poisonous, dangerous, deadly or immoral or maybe illegal or offensive or awful in some way. i am in the profession of going around and interviewing botanists, horticulturalists

and plant scientists. they all seem to have some little plant tucked away in the corner of a greenhouse that maybe they weren't supposed to have. i got interested in this idea that maybe there was a dark side to plants. >> the white snake root. people who consumed milk or meat from a cow that fed on white snake root faced severe pain. milk sickness, as it was culled, resulted in vomiting, tremors, delirium and death. one of the most famous victims of milk sickness was nancy hangs lincoln. she died at the age of 34, leaving behind 9-year-old abraham lincoln. he helped build his mother's he helped build his mother's casket by carving the woodallen