supervisor chiu: i fully appreciate the concerns raised by some tenant leaders. i would never supported the project if i did not feel comfortable that tenant rights have been protected here with parker said -- part merced. i say this as one of the few tenants on the board of supervisors, who has been a staunch advocate of tenants before i was elected and with my votes on this board. my parents immigrated to the

united states in the 1960's, and i was the first kid born in the u.s. my parents sacrificed everything so that their kids could have the opportunities that they wanted when they came here. i grew up in the boston area, live in different parts of boston, went to a catholic high school in dorchester, which is a section of boston. because of my parents work and the opportunities they gave me, my brothers and i were all blessed to go to harvard university. it was intense. i stayed there for college, for law school, and i also have a master's in public policy there. those are subjects i decided to study in part because i was very interested in public service and public policy issues and government. i ran for office in part because i wanted to serve the city and really protect all that is so special about what san francisco is. >> we've been talking for years about how important it is to build new neighborhoods, to

develop affordable housing, make sure we have transit-oriented sustainable green development that really is worthy of a 21st century san francisco. what we're doing today -- and, frankly, what we're doing this year will have impacts on the city for decades to come. thank you all for being part of this, and i look forward to that mid-cutting. i moved to san francisco 15 years ago for all the reasons that we all love our city. our cable cars. our hills. the diversity of our neighborhoods. and have loved every minute of being here. >> like many of you here, i did not actually grow up in san francisco. i grew up in another part of the country that was not quite as tolerant or quite as diverse. san francisco drew me, as i think it through all of us, because we live in a very special place. i just want to say on behalf of the board of supervisors -- we have a special responsibility

and a special leadership role in the world. as we come together, we symbolize all of this date we have in humanity, the faith we have in the fight for civil rights, the faith we have, frankly, as a common family. >> i consider myself someone who shares the progress of value that need san francisco's -- many san franciscans hold dear. >> i do believe that a majority of this board share the same progressive values, and i think there is a danger and an overly narrow definition of what is progressive. we have to remember that being progressive stance for values of inclusiveness, of tolerance, of acceptance, and we need to think hard about how we characterize various votes of either being within that definition or outside of that. >> before i ran for office, i

worked in san francisco as a criminal prosecutor and a civil- rights attorney and really got to understand how much of a beacon to the rest of the world san francisco is for social justice. i also been spent a number of years helping to grow a small business, got to understand the innovative spirit here in san francisco. at night, i volunteered as a neighborhood association leader and also as the chair of an affordable housing organization and learned so much about the challenges facing our neighborhoods and facing a really special tools that are the urban villages that we live in. sen for assistance -- facing really the special jules -- jewels that are the urban villages that we live in. san franciscans during campaigns read everything they are sent in the mail. love to meet candidates. a gauge with them in

conversations. i also learned how important it is to build bridges between communities, particularly communities of diversity we have. i was just incredibly honored to have been elected in november 2008. my district really encompasses the ethnic and economic diversity that exists throughout the city. as a result, i think my district is really emblematic of the entire city. you can find every political perspective that you could possibly want in district 3. so oftentimes, the interest of my district and the city really are quite a line, so i do not have to think about this difference is probably quite as often as some of my colleagues may have to. i in particular want to thank the mayor for his decision to protect our nutrition programs. this is something that i think we all believe is incredibly important at a time when we have seen massive federal and state cuts, for us to hold the line locally and stand up in the city of st. francis for our seniors and our nutrition programs and

families. i think we have a lot of challenges right now. we are still in the midst of the great recession. we all know way too many folks who are struggling in a minimum wage jobs pirouette of folks who have been laid off at work. i think as a city, we need to do much better at creating an environment where we have more jobs and more economic development. i know that all of us are committed to ensuring that we have a budget that not only provides basic city services that we have come to expect but make sure that we take care of our most vulnerable. whether it be our at-risk use, our seniors, are disabled, our working families, folks who are out of work. i know something that every public servant who is here is committed to. adding with all come together as a board, as a city. we should come together as san franciscans, and, colleagues, at this time, i hope, and i asked that we unanimously vote for ed

lee to be our next mayor. this is also a historic day for the asian-american community. for a community that has been here in santa francisco, for over 160 years, i am a product of that community. i know the ed and all of us of asian-american decent feel the legacy. i want to thank all of you who have been part of this historic moment to make this happen. and say that this is obviously not just about a chinese- american community or an asian american community. this is about the american dream. the idea that anyone of any background of any color from any part of the globe can come here and sunday be at the very top of

what our community is about -- and someday be at the very top of what our community is about. >> san francisco is home to a renowned civic art collection that includes a comic works -- iconic works by local and national artists integrated into our public buildings and six basis. the arts commission has struggled to take care of the priceless collection because of limited resources. in an effort to gather more funding for the maintenance of the collection, the art

commission has joined forces with the san francisco art dealers association to establish art care, a new initiative that provides a way for the public to get involved. the director of public affairs recently met with the founder and liquor -- local gallery owner to check out the first art care project. ♪ >> many san franciscans are not aware that there is a civic art collection of numbers almost 4000 works of art. preserving the collection and maintaining it is something being addressed by a new program called art care. it is a way for citizens to participate in the preservation of the civic art collection.

with me is the creator of the art care program. welcome. the reason we wanted to interview you is that the artist in question is peter volkas. why is he so important to the history of san francisco art? >> he is a very famous ceramic ist. knowing the limitations of clay, he got involved in bronze in around 1962. he was teaching at the university of california, berkeley. >> your gallery celebrated the 50th anniversary of continuous operation. you are a pioneer in introducing the work and representing him. >> i have represented him since

1966. i was not in business until 1961. he made a big deal out of working in clay. the things he was doing was something never seen before. >> it is a large scale bronze. it has been sitting here of the hall of justice since 1971. talk about what happens to the work of art out of the elements. >> the arts commission commissioned the piece. they did not set aside money for repair. it has slowly changed color. it was black. it has been restored. >> it has been restored to the original patina. >> there was no damage done to its.

i do not think there were any holes made in it. they have been working on it for six or eight weeks. it is practically ready to go. i am very excited to see it done. >> over the course of the arts in richmond program, we have added almost 800 works of art into the public space. maintaining that is not something that the bond funds allow us to do. this is why you came up with the idea of art care. >> i hope we get the community going and get people who really like to be involved. we will give them a chance to be involved. if you are interested in art, this is a marvelous way to get involved. there is work all over the city where every year ago.

-- there is artwork all over the city wherever you go. my idea was to get people in the neighborhood to take care of the pieces and let the art commission have the money for the bigger pieces. >> i was talking to the former president of the arts commission yesterday. the 2% ordnance is something he helped to champion. >> it is all over california and other states now. we really were the forerunners. it is a wonderful thing to bring the community into this now. people have seen art being put into the community. this has not been touched by any graffiti. it just faded over time. it is so open here.

there is nobody watching this. i think that is a plus to the community. i hope the graffiti people do not go out there now that i am opening of my mouth. >> i want to thank you for the 50 years you have already given to the city as an arts leader. >> i started in to briberon, i's only been 45. >> you have championed his work over these years. >> it has been exciting working with him. it is one of the highlights of my life. >> thank you for being part of "culture wire" today. >> to learn more about the program and the list of public arts in need of maintenance, visit the website. thank you for

>> 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 casket by carving the woodallen petition douche the wooden petition himself. >> we transformed the gallery to and eerie victorian garden. my name is lowe hodges, and i

am the director of operations and exhibitions at the conls tore of -- cons tore of flowers. we decided it needed context. so we needed a house or a building. the story behind the couple in the window, you can see his wife has just served him a glass of wine, and he is slumped over the table as the poison takes affect. a neat little factold dominion about that house is actually built out of three panels from old james bond movie. we wanted people to feel like i am not supposed to be in this room. this is the one that is supposed to be barred off and locked up. >> the ole andersonner -- oleander. this popular shrub is popular in warm climates. it has been implicated in a surprising number of murders

and accidental deaths. children are at risk because it takes only a few leaves to kill them. a southern california woman tried to collect on her husband's life insurance by putting the leaves in his food. she is now one of 15 women on california's death rowan the only one who attempted to murder with a plant. >> people who may haven't been to their cons tore or been to -- do serve tore or their botanical garden, it gives them a reason to come back. you think let's go and look at the pretty flowers. these are pretty flowers, but they are flowers with weird and fascinating stories behind them. that is really fun and really not what people normally think of when they come to a horticultural institution. >> "wicked plants" is now

showing at the san francisco conserve tore of flowers. unless next time, get out and play. grex good morning, ladies and gentlemen. my name is tom nlan. i am very happy that i am joined by my colleagues here, the vice chair jerry lee.

cheryl brinkman and bruce oka. the director would have been year, but he was away on business in oakland. thank you, directors, for being here. we really appreciate the input we got -- over 650 responses to the questionnaire, which we put through the citizens advisory committee and other interest groups, and we are very pleased. we believe we of dawn and else standing at job. -- we believe we have done an outstanding job. [applause] i think that was the honeymoon right there, guys. [laughter] before we talk about today's event, i want to meet -- i want to mention debra johnson, who

unfortunately had a medical appointment this morning. she wanted to extend our congratulations. ms. johnson has served this agency so incredibly well. particularly, our work with the union negotiations recently, successfully completed. she is an outstanding, dedicated member of the team here. we look forward to working with her for a long time in the future. i want to say one thing in particular. i think a lot of people from staff are here for the mta. one of the highlights for me was to meet with about 50 of the senior managers and directors, getting input in an incredibly awful experience. i came away more proud than ever. i appreciate the input. i believe our selection reflects all the qualities you talked about.

let's talk about the candidate himself. he is one of 30 or 40 applicants for this job. we see in him someone that is a very fast learner, who has proven time and again 311 and also at his previous employment in washington. he and his family are daily muni writers -- riders. it is a 24/7 operation. he has done an outstanding job their. he also manages more than $2 billion of capital projects. let's welcome him here. we're going to major capital projects. he is a truly gifted leader. that is the most important thing to was. we wanted someone who san francisco understood, the

dynamics of city government, and so we knew the city and was passionate about being a san francisco and. the many challenges he faces -- implementing the new labor contract, reaching out to all labour organizations at all levels. he is concerned with the basic reliability and key functions of. -- and key functions. is said that while improving -- he said that while improving functions was a basic key measure, we will look into what that entails. it is a thoughtful look from someone who cares about the system, but is coming from outside. the most important thing to him is the most important to our

customers, transit and parking and traffic. pedestrians, the whole thing. is a comprehensive view. we are confident we have chosen exactly the right person at this time. the next part of the agenda was to invite mayor lee to say a few words. that actually, he is on jury duty. i would think it would be a benefit of mayor that you do not have to do that, but evidently not. he is a real citizen, the mayor. instead, we have from the board of supervisors, david chiu. [applause] supervisor chiu: thank you, and first of all, i want to thank the incredible men and women who are serving at the leadership of

the mta. many of us at the board of supervisors were anxious and curious about the position that would be announced today. i can tell you from the board and, we are all incredibly gratified with the wonderful decision made today. congratulations for that. i also want to obviously say a few brief words about ed, and then we all want to hear from him. i have known him for three years. before i was elected to the board of supervisors, he was someone i knew was incredibly well respected not only in my district, but throughout the city, and as someone who understood the details and the big picture. we have worked closely together on improving our roads. i have cycled with him. i know he is very committed to making sure we will see great safety and great industry

ahead, and he is someone who rides the bride and walks the walk. we have sat on the knee -- on muni and talk about what needs to happen to improve the system. he has a great team at the mta to pop into this. i think today the future of transportation in san francisco is in good hands. with that, are we about to hear from the man himself? >> that was probably a bad career move on my part, but we're also pleased to have two other members of san francisco leadership with us, supervisor scott wiener from district 8, who has a great interest in uni. would you like to say a word or two? sueprvisor weiner: i really want

to congratulate the mta board for making an inspired choice your. another has been discussion in the press as to whether he wants someone who has experience running a transit agency, but i think it is important to keep in mind mta is not just about muni. muni is the 800-pound gorilla. but it also encompasses the taxi system, the roads, and, of course, muni. need someone who has the vision to integrate all of that and have a great global transportation system in san francisco. i have worked with him for a long time, back to when i was the president of my neighborhood association and we were planning in our first parts project in the castro. i cannot think of a better, more dedicated public servant, someone who truly gets the big picture. i