selection. ed, congratulations. i really look forward to working together. [applause] >> i would like to ask our city attorney dennis hererrera to say a few words. >> thank you, tom. i would like to congratulate the mta board on all wonderful joyce. how i got involved in public life in san francisco, i was appointed as the predecessor to this board by mayor willie brown back in 1996. back then, the budget was much smaller. that the mission was just as important. in the two or three years i served on the board, and then as city attorney, were muni happens to be my largest client, i cannot tell you how much i

appreciate the work that the organization does. scott talk a little but about his experience -- talked a little bit about his experience. to me, that is what it is about. to have the stick to it of this -- sticktoitiveness to stick with an organization. i cannot imagine a better addition for this organization. we have had the opportunity -- i've had the opportunity to volunteer working for him on neighborhood cleanups, and i see how much he cares about san francisco, in respect of of his role. he has the leadership skills, the drive, the vision, the people skills to take muni to the next level. i want to congratulate him on

his new position and the mta board on a truly inspired selection. i know he is going to inspire nothing but confidence in the riding public of the city and county of san francisco. thank you. [applause] chairman nolan: a couple more quick thank yous. thank you for putting this all together for speeding even then the mayor is not here -- i want people to understand this mayor truly respects and appreciates the will of the people on prop. 8. he respected the board's decision, and i thanked the mayor for that. anyway, if he had been here, i would only say good things about him, about ed. ed says the first 45 minutes of the stock would be praising the board of supervisors -- the

board of directors. [laughter] i am very proud of the selection made. please join me in welcoming the new director of transportation and. [applause] >> thank you. obviously, my mom was up late last night what -- writing talking points for everybody. thank you to her for doing so. [laughter] i am honored and humbled to be here before you today. i want to thank the mta board for their vote of confidence in appointing me to this position. i came to local governments, to public service and local governments 10 or 11 years ago because i love cities. i think cities are incredibly

important. they will be potential to enable people to access education and jobs and culture and diversity, interaction and innovation. they also hold the potential to about us grow so that we can grow in ways that we are not spreading out to the west out -- to the rest of the planet that we need to sustain itself. for those reasons, i decided about a dozen years ago to devote my professional life to trying to make this work, to make them better places to live and work in. for me, thinking about how that applies to san francisco, because of our density, because of our hills, our strong opinions about everything, transportation is essentially important to maintaining and enhancing the quality of life for the people of san

francisco, people whether they are visiting or working. people need to be able to get around. mobility is exceedingly important when we are packed so close together in this beautiful city. what is so attractive to me about this position is the great opportunity that it holds to really make transportation work for san franciscans. people should be able to pop on the and unique bus -- on a muni bus or cable car. people want to ride muni. they like it. it is pleasant. in keeping with the transit first policy of the city, which i think is really for were thinking, we also want people to be able to feel comfortable if they want to bike where they

want to go. if people want to what to get to where they want to go. in order for those things do happen, the streets and sidewalks need to be inviting and welcoming, and we want people to use those modes, because it is good for the city, it is good for the climate and environment. is good for the health of the people who are biking and walking. it went all around. when you cannot take muni or bike or walk, people should be able to hail a cab and get one. or call a cab and get one. people should be able to access upcard to share. to get where they are going. ultimately, for those of you who have won, if you want to jump into a car, that should be reasonable and available alternative as well. i have every belief that that vision -- and i think that is

really what the voters in vision back in 1999. i think that is achievable. i think we can have a world- class transportation in our world-class city. the reason i think it is possible -- i think the voters, the people of san francisco really had great foresight and vision, putting all the modes together, which is unique in this country, if not the world. if you need traffic flow -- you need traffic flow to be managed cried. by putting all this authority in one place, i think there is tremendous potential this agency can do. there are wonderful things the men and women of this agency have put in place through tep, sf park, getting the central subway going. the foundation has been laid to

spring forward. i also believe and know their are a lot of crete, hard- working, -- great, hard-working, dedicated men and women in mta to have exceptional transit expertise and knowledge they are bringing to bear every day for the people of san francisco. putting all those things together, i see no reason why we cannot have a world-class transportation system. it is incredibly exciting. i am incredibly excited about the opportunity to contribute to making that happen. i think it is infinitely possible. i think it is what's san franciscans deserve. i do want to a acknowledge both mayors lee and newsom for giving

me the opportunity to come to the government on in the first place. it has been tremendously rewarding for me. i want to particularly thank the npw family, many of whom are here today. is tumbling and honoring to see you -- it is humbling and honoring to see you here today. it is incredibly motivated, confident, passionate group of men and women that come to work every day to try to make san francisco a better place. and if i was successful as the director of public works, it is because of the men and women of the department working together with me as a team with the strategic direction focused on delivering the best service they could to the people of san francisco. my success is, there, that's the

spirit. i look forward to working under the direction of the mta board, with the men and women of the mta, the labor organizations and leadership that represents them come with the rest of the elected family of the city, with my colleagues across the government's, from planning to the t.a., to the city attorney's office, the police department, working with the city family, working with our other regional states partners. all of them an important part of the transportation system here, working with other stakeholders within cac, within various advocacy groups. and really, the people of san francisco who really deserve to have a transportation system.

what i will commit to all of you and to the entire board is i will do everything i can during my time here to make it so that years down the road, when we all look back on the decision of the mta board, we will feel like it is a good decision and we will be happy with the results. thank you very much for coming. it is really an honor. i look forward to serving the people of san francisco. thank you. [applause] chairman nolan: i want to say a word of thanks to the board for the outstanding foundation ed reiskin was talking about building upon. there are so many amazing members of the executive team.

we have a strong foundation going for. now we have time for questions. i will take the easy ones. ed reiskin will take the tough ones. does anyone have any questions? seeing none -- [laughter] any questions? >> let me ask the question that every transportation and chief around the world has been i asked. what do you plan to do to make the trains and buses run on time? [laughter] >> yes, i think the honeymoon is over, huh? i do not walk into this presuming to have all the answers for the mta. the men and women of the india are the experts in their field, and what i -- of the mta are the experts in their field, and what i see my job as is looking at what makes things work and not

more. i think the people at the very front lines behind the steering wheel have the answers to these questions. i was just a very frequent muni rider and patron. i think there is low hanging fruit. i think there is efficiency to be found. i think there is no question we can make the operation work more efficiently, more effectively, i was going to say it is simple, but it is not simple. speeding muni will make it more efficient and cost-effective and enable us to develop much better service. i do not presume to be walking in with all the answers. i think the answers lie within the agency already. my job is to unleash the power for the folks that work here to

make that happen. that is what i am absolutely committed to doing. >> how you supposed to deal with the new -- [unintelligible] >> one of my first orders of business will be to sit down with the labor leadership. we need to work as partners. i do not see this as management versus labor. i see this as in g-8 employees working together towards a common goal -- mca employees working together towards a common goal. -- mta employees. as far as the contract, if changes need to be made, that is what we will do. i will be engaging in a partnership with labor. it will not be so much about the bargaining agreement, but how we

can more together to improve the delivery of service. i will sit down with them as soon as i can and work together collaborative lead -- collaboratively to make the muni system as efficient as possible. >> [unintelligible] chairman nolan: we can gather with members of the press if you like right after this. i hope you all agree that we are enormously proud of the decision we have made, and we look forward to working with ed reiskin on behalf of all the people of san francisco. thank you for being here. if members of the press want to stick around and ask questions, i am happy to do that.

>> here we are at the embarcadero. we are standing at one of locations for the street artists. can you tell me about this particular location, the program? >> this location is very significant.

this was the very first and only location granted by the board of supervisors for the street artist when the program began in 1972. how does a person become a street artist? there are two major tenants. you must make the work yourself and you must sell the work yourself. a street artist, the license, then submitting the work to a committee of artists. this committee actually watches them make the work in front of them so that we can verify that it is all their own work. >> what happened during the holiday to make this an exciting location? >> this would be a magic time of year. you would probably see this place is jammed with street artists. as the no, there is a lottery held at 6 in the morning. that is how sought after the

spaces are. you might get as many as 150 street artists to show up for 50 spaces. >> what other areas can a licensed street artist go to? >> they can go to the fisherman's wharf area. they can go in and around union square. we have space is now up in the castro, in fact. >> how many are there? >> we have about 420. >> are they here all year round? >> out of the 420, i know 150 to sell all year round. i mean like five-seven days a week. >> are they making their living of of this? >> this is their sole source of income for many. >> how long have you been with this program. how much has it changed? >> i have been with the program

since it began 37 and a half years ago but i have seen changes in the trend. fashion comes and goes. >> i think that you can still find plenty of titis perhaps. >> this is because the 60's is retro for a lot of people. i have seen that come back, yes. >> people still think of this city as the birth of that movement. great, thank you for talking about the background of the program. i'm excited to go shopping. >> i would like you to meet two street artists. this is linda and jeremy. >> night said to me to print them -- nice to meet you. >> can you talk to me about a

variety of products that use cell? >> we have these lovely constructed platters. we make these wonderful powder bowls. they can have a lot of color. >> york also using your license. -- you are also using your license. >> this means that i can register with the city. this makes sure that our family participated in making all of these. >> this comes by licensed artists. the person selling it is the person that made it. there is nothing better than the people that made it.

>> i would like you to meet michael johnson. he has been in the program for over 8 years. >> nice to me you. what inspired your photography? >> i am inspired everything that i see. the greatest thing about being a photographer is being able to show other people what i see. i have mostly worked in cuba and work that i shot here in san francisco. >> what is it about being a street artist that you particularly like? >> i liked it to the first day that i did it. i like talking to mentum people. talking about art or anything that comes to our minds. there is more visibility than i would see in any store front. this would cost us relatively

very little. >> i am so happy to meet you. i wish you all of the best. >> you are the wonderful artist that makes these color coding. >> nice to me to. >> i have been a street artist since 1976. >> how did you decide to be a street artist? >> i was working on union square. on lunch hours, i would be there visiting the artist. it was interesting, exciting, and i have a creative streak in me. it ranges from t-shirts, jackets, hats. what is the day of the life of a street artist? >> they have their 2536 in the morning. by the end of the day, the last

people to pack the vehicle probably get on their own at 7:30 at night. >> nice to me to condemn the -- nice to meet you. >> it was a pleasure to share this with you. i hope that the bay area will descend upon the plaza and go through these arts and crafts and by some holiday gifts. >> that would be amazing. thank you so much for the hard work that you do.

>> and good evening. welcome to the meeting of the commonwealth club of california. i'm bob, a member of the commonwealth program community and a chair for of tonight's program. i'm also a member of the house of delegates of the american bar association, where it first met steve. this is a series of programs underwritten by the charles gesky family, which examines the constitution in the 21st century. this examines the balance between safety, security, and public order, and the protection of civil liberties and the integrity of the constitution on the other. tonight program will focus on threats to our american justice system caused by under-funding and indecisiveness. i would like to mention that the

question answer portion of the program will be moderated by a professor geoffrey hazard, a distinguished professor of law at uc hastings. the professor is a leading expert in the field of civil procedure of legal ethics and is good at asking questions. it is my pleasure to introduce our very special guest, stephen zack, president of the american bar association. with nearly 400,000 members, it is the largest volunteer professional membership organization in the world. mr. zack is the first hispanic american to serve as the president and the second to be born abroad. he was only 14 when his family emigrated from cuba under harrowing circumstances, including last minute detention by the secret police. he made it here. in two lines -- and two lines come to mind when i think of him. "this is my country, land of my choice.

this is my country, here i found voice." what a voice it is. he earned his aba at the university of florida and he is now in their hall of fame. he is a partner in the miami office of the national law firm. his clients range from former vice president al gore to philip morris, to the national geographic society, and he is listed in the 2011 edition of the best lawyers in america. his cross-examination of an expert witness in bush vs. gore made the front page of "the new york times." he has a framed in his office. he was the youngest attorney and first hispanic to serve as president of the florida bar. he was chair of the ethics commission and served on the orange board committee. in the aba, he has been a

florida state delegate, chair of the house of delegates, our policy-making body, served on the board of governors, and is a fellow of the american bar foundation. as the aba president, he has led national effort to protect state courts, improve civics education, and fight cuts to legal aid funding. it is his mission to make equal justice under law a vibrant living reality for everyone, not just four words carved on the facade of the supreme court building in washington. mr. zack is a passionate and tireless advocate for liberty and justice for all. as he wrote in a letter in today's "daily journal," "that is what our profession does. we get in the way of wrong. we get in the way of attempts to separate and divide our society. we get in the way of those who would let our constitutional democracy whether away from

ignorance. we get in the way of those who would further widen the justice happen in our country." please welcome a great lawyer, my friend, and our speaker, steve zack, president of the american bar association. [applause] >> that is a wonderful introduction, bob. thank you for those kind words and for all the good work you do at the aba and have done for many years. thank you for this invitation. it is the world's largest public affairs forum. i love your model. "find truth and set it free." what could be better than that? i have heard many mottoes under -- over the years. in many ways, it is what we are all about here today in finding some truth and hopefully setting a free. we need to explain why the

preservation of the justice system is so important. it should be obvious, right? it should be a very simple discussion. unfortunately, it is not. in my lifetime, the loss of liberty is not a theoretical exercise. i actually experienced that in cuba. and, part of the passion that i feel about this issue comes from the fact that, in 1961, the cuban constitution was identical to that of the united states. those words in that constitution did not protect us. words do not protect you. understanding and be leaving in the words do. -- and believing in the words do. do. we today have a serious problem