>> hello, good evening.

it is a great pleasure to be here with all of you tonight. i'm the director of your office of neighborhood services, and it is with great pleasure that we welcome you here tonight to celebrate the persian new year here in the rotunda of city hall. it is with great pleasure that i introduce to you the chair of this commission tonight. [applause] >> thank you very much. happy new year, everybody. [applause] i also want to take this moment and say happy cesar chavez' birthday. yesterday was his birthday. yes, thank you. [applause]

nowruz is about renewal. we all know that. we iranians take nowruz as a new day, so it is a time that we cleanse ourselves physically and spiritually. just before the nowruz arrives, we clean our environment, we clean houses, we wear new clothes, top to bottom, and when nowruz arias, the first 12 days, we cleanse ourselves spiritually. we let go of resentment, of the ugliness of hate, and we come together by visiting each other. then, on the 13th day, we finished it up by going outside, spending the time to gather in the open spaces and connecting with nature.

so thank you very much, everybody, for coming here to celebrate this renewal with us and expanding and extending our family of immigrants and non- immigrants. thank you very much. [applause] i like to introduce the host of the event, a wonderful man, whom i have known for the past 20 years, who i proudly call a friend, who loves the city, who knows the city, and every part of it, every part of its operation. and who has brought peace and calm to the city, to city hall

in the past few months he has been chief of the city. ladies and gentlemen, my dear friend, please join me in welcoming the 43rd mayor of city and county of san francisco, mr. edwin lee. [applause] mayor lee: thank you. thank you very much. welcome to the people's hall in san francisco. i want to first of all say -- i have always wanted to say this. the commissioner is such a wonderful person, and she has been our commissioner on immigrant rights commission, but you could see her when we walked in. she was hustling around getting everybody settled, doing what we needed to do to have a successful event, but she has been a wonderful adviser to me for so many years and a great

asset to the city. i want to give you a round of a free shares applause. -- appreciative applause. thank you so much. it is my personal pleasure to welcome all of you here to celebrate nowruz. this has been something that supervisor mirkarimi and i talked about for so many years, to make sure we on this day and make sure all of you feel so warm and welcome, so, we are joined by supervisors wiener, farrell, cohen, and there will be other surprises that will come in as well. they know and we know that the celebrations here are very important. they establish who we are as a community. the pershing community is a vital part of our city. i have been walking all aspects

of this city, and i know a lot of things that sometimes we talk about, sometimes we don't, but the thing we talk about the most is people love this city because it is so diverse. we welcome -- we celebrate the diversity. i want you to feel very much at home here in san francisco. all of your family should feel safe here, and i know that iranian americans, one of the things you always tell me that i go around and talk to people -- you do not want to be just employees. you want to own your own businesses. i know that. i know there are so many iranian americans here who say they want to branch out, want to be their own boss, and all of you have taught me how to make government more responsible to your business interests. because when you have good business, that diversity spread out even more. some of the best restaurants are being run today by iranian americans, and you are part of this very diverse fabric that we have.

as i have gone around and you have given me great advice, i want to make sure that our government is also reflective of the persian community as well, where we make appointments, decisions, where we are sensitive to the growing, strong families that you want to have in the city. that is why i get some great advice. i want to welcome you all to city hall, but also to invite you to participate in government at every level that you could possibly have. i see a around here the future of san francisco. the kids here, and for celebrating with us this wonderful occasion. one day you'll be the future of san francisco, and i want to celebrate with you right now. you are looking at somebody who

did not get this job in the very traditional way. it took supervisors with a bold vision to say that they could select somebody who had been working here for 21 years, who had helped them, in so many ways help our city, established a diversity, so i'm here as if women of this board, and i always will work with this board very closely to make sure we continue opening up the doors of diversity and make sure our government is run well and that we make good decisions that reflect upon the opportunity to get our kids involved and make sure they are successful and that you as families here are successful. i understand the play of immigrant families coming to this country. i also understand every single day in reading about the newspapers what is happening around the world and why people need to have a place where they can think freely, act freely,

and raise their families a safe way. this story about immigrants throughout san francisco's history, and i will forever, no matter what undoing, whether in the city administrator for mayor -- i will understand that our and the rights commission is there to make sure we understand that history, that everybody in this city, whether a company or corporation or police and firemen or fire department understands that the diversity in the city is to be something that is celebrated. you are part of the fabric, so with that, please, welcome yourselves here. this is as much your house as it is ours. have a wonderful nowruz celebration. and we will continue to have open dialogue welcoming all of the families here today. thank you very much today, and have the persian new year -- half the persian new year -- kathy -- happy persian new year.

[applause] that my great words of wisdom. we appreciate. now, i would like to introduce the coast of this event. a man who in our community does not need any introduction. he has been loved and supported by our community. he is of a ready and heritage, and he has been an ardent supporter of the iranian american and iranian american causes. he is also one of the hardest working people i have ever known. so with no further ado, i would like you to welcome supervisor ross mirkarimi. supervisor mirkarimi: how cool is this where the people meet

city hall government with unfettered access to celebrate diversity? we have been doing this here in city hall for six years now, and i cannot tell you how proud i am of our community, of mayor lee for helping co-host this event, or the many people working with her, a staff of the mayor's office who really helped us put this on. my colleagues who are here today from the board of supervisors. i see the director from dpw here. there are commissioners, elected officials, real advocates for a wonderful san francisco and bay area. that is why we have been able to put this on, and i thank everybody for their support and confidence in introducing to the

rest of the world what nowruz means to all of us. let's hear it for those people. [applause] i do not think it is my imagination, but i have to say, in the last few years, of the many nowruz events that i have been dissipated in and witness, i see a wonderful outpouring of people from the iranian american community -- the many events that i have participated in and with this. with regard to how we first come second, third generation are beginning to integrate in california and in the united states, how as our community is a very accomplished community on so many levels, but politics is a new frontier four armenian americans. that is why when i came into office, i said one of the first things i want to do is

introduce the said francisco city hall times, and we have done so since then. i notice that it is growing and growing in importance. next week is the death and assassination of dr. martin luther king. the principles that the practice, the compassion, the vision, the perseverance, are all those same kind of values and principles that i know are being practiced within the iranian american community today as well. whether you want to see a green iran or whether you want to help participate in the civic

process in california or in your own city, this is what is very heartwarming, by us coming together on a night like this. i very much appreciate all the dedication that has been applied in making these nowruz events as special as they are. i also would like to say that we would like to have -- we like to have fun. it is really the best part of introducing what nowruz means. that is why over the last six years, we have had art shows in my office. we would have exhibits down here, supported by the mayor, and introduce it to people exactly how we like to celebrate, through the arts, with great food, civic engagement, and it is wonderful to see, and it really helps us appreciate just what an incredible holiday this is. i want to thank everybody for being here today. it is a great pleasure to be

able to celebrate again with our city staff, with our community. i just want to wish everybody the happiest of nowruz. thank you. [applause] >> thank you very much, supervisor mirkarimi. now, i would like to ask my good friend of wells fargo bank to come up here and introduce the reader and sponsor of this event. [applause] >> greetings to all. [speaking foreign language]

>> thank you. she not only is our wells fargo family important team member, she is talented. she is teaching me how to dance. good evening, ladies and gentlemen. i'm so happy to be here on behalf of wells fargo, wishing you have a new year. we know that this is an important time for the persian community to celebrate, and at wells fargo, we treasure all the values of the cultural differences and diversity, so we love to celebrate with you. tonight, we have beautiful dancing and beautiful music, and, of course, we have you in here. that is very important. we also have a lot of our wells fargo team members. they are here. they want to get to know you even more so that we can serve you better.

tonight, i want to especially thank mayor lee and supervisor ross for holding this event. it is so exciting that we get a part to play with this. thank you very much, and, have the new year, everyone. enjoy your evening. thank you. [applause] >> thank you very much, and thank you to wells fargo for supporting this event. i would also like to support other sponsors. i'm going to name them. applied technology and science, at&t, of joe engineers inc., and i also want to thank everybody who helped this program. you know who you are. i cannot see it, but everyone who helped.

a lot of people held this program. special thanks, of course, to mayor ed lee and his office. thank you all for helping us to put this together. please don't leave. i do not want to be accused of standing between you and the entertainment. the entertainment segment is going to start. we will have dances and songs, and after that, we will ask you to stay here for their reception. thank you all for being here. see you next year. ♪

[applause] [applause]

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pleasant -- [applause]

>> [inaudible] you had just watched two dances from our dance academy. the first was a traditional harvest dance, and the second is the one that the little girls perform. i hope you enjoyed it. our academy is located throughout the bay area. thank you. [applause] >> the next dance is going to be by shafsa dance company. please give me an opportunity to welcome shafsa actually doing a

solo dance. [applause] ♪ ♪