[applause] it would not be a san francisco event without a blessing from the sisters of perpetual indulgence. >> good evening, everyone. i am here to bless you. will ask for everyone's attention for just a minute. if you please, would you close your eyes, bring your hand close to your heart, and take a deep breath. friends, family, to date -- today we're gathered beneath a symbol of energy, life, and hope for the world. you have decorated it with love and light, wishes and dreams. now on behalf of the sisters of perpetual indulgence, i gather this energy and strength that will pass to any and all who look on this tree of hope and send it to you. but in order to send it to you,

in order to release the energy of hope this magnificent tree represents, i will ask each and every one of you, if you please, every time you hear the words " we say," will invoke harvey milk by saying it as one group "you have got to give them love." repeat after me. and i want everyone in the building to hear you. you have got to give them love. i did not hear you. >> you have got to give them up. >> there you go. for all the lgbt younger people struggling with police, we say -- >> you've got to give them love. >> a sign of hope -- we say --

>> you that got to give them love. it is wonderful to see each and every one of those gives power to help in our world. to you all, we say -- >> you have got to give them love. >> for all of us to leave here tonight with the resolve to reach one person in our lives, we say -- i would like to steal this blessing with the whole the blessing of glitter. i have been asked not to use clipper. like our love, it's everywhere. now with the energy res drawn from the street, from the energy rays in our house, we know you'll all with the holy blessing of our love, and may our love spread, made this glitter remain -- oop -- this love remain with you as long as

it is needed, and made it remain with each and every party that needs magic and mike. repeat after me. what joy? more joy. i want to hear you this time. always join. on behalf of the sisters of perpetual indulgence, i know released this love, this energy, and this power to all of you. blessed be this blessed day. thank you. ♪ [applause] >> . plea done. beautifully done. -- beautifully done, beautifully done. i know you want to see and hear from this legendary performer. we're so honored. the bay area is filled with beauty and wonder. just like our next speaker. rita moreno is one of the few

people who has won a grammy, and in me, i tony -- an emmy, a tony. she is also won the heart of san francisco. your honor to welcome ms. rita moreno. [cheering] >> merry christmas, everyone. ok. the ageless words written by dickens 152 years ago addressed the radical, social, and political upheaval that was the french revolution. "a tale of two cities"expose the

inequity of government. is a narrative that speaks to us today. it was the best of time, the worst of times. it was the age of wisdom, the age of foolishness. it was the epoch of belief. it was the epic of in credulity. it was the season of light. the season of darkness. it was the spring of hope. it was the winter of despair. we get everything before us. we had nothing before us. we were all going direct to heaven. we were all going direct the other way. does that sound like the current

political discourse? [laughter] does that resonate with your feelings? does that describe your consensus of someone you know? how does one navigate the uncertain valley that lays between the best of times, and the worst of times? is it possible for this season of lights to shine into this season of darkness? there's a compass which can guide us from the winter of despair, and that is called hope. help. -- hope is putting faith to work when doubting would be easier. we can all be thankful for hope. people like martin luther king

jr, told as darkness cannot drive of darkness. only light to that. the haight cannot drive out hate. only love can do that. perhaps it is only coincidental, but you cannot spell passion without spelling compass. i can remember people who hoped for me encouraged me. no matter the times in the season's, we cannot give up on hope.

hope is patientvce with a lamp lit. the american poet emily dickinson rights "hope is that thing with others that perches in my sou and singe -- in my soul and it seems the tune and never stops at all. thank you and happy holidays. can all the speakers join me? and all the speakers join me so we can light the tree? is peter still here? ok. >> no, peter left. a surry. >> welcome, welcome. this is going to be gorgeous. i have not even seen the tree at. we're going to do a cat that.

is everybody here? ok. i want to hear the children doing it, to. will will start with 10. ok? here we go. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. [cheering] [laughter] >> beautiful. >> 13,000 stars. and how many cranes? >> 7000 cranes. unbelievable. isn't that beautiful? doesn't that give you hope? >> thank you for being with us. rita moreno. thank you for being with us.

and now some music. >> thank you.

[dog barking] [rocket whistles] [boom] >> hello. and welcome to "need your district supervisor -- meet

your district supervisor." supervisors campos is our supervisor for this week. welcome. thank you for joining us today. tell us about your background. where you grew up, went to school? >> sure. i was born in guatemala. i was brought here by my parents. i grew up in l.a., and then moved up to the bay area, and i went to stanford. i came back after law school. my background for the first few years was as a practicing attorney. i worked in the private sector for a number of years. and then i worked for the city as a deputy city attorney and then became general counsel of the school district of san francisco and through that became involved in politics and

at some point decided to run for office. >> you have lived in san francisco for awhile. why did you decide to live here? supervisor campos: i have always felt that san francisco is unique. i have always loved this city. i think that san francisco is -- it represents the best of what this country has to offer. it is a place that welcomes people from all over the world, from all over the country, and is a place that not only tolerates, but actually increases diversity. it is a place that is forward thinking in terms of how it looks at issues, and it has always felt like home. as a gay latino man, i felt this was a place where i could be

happy. >> why did you get involved? supervisor campos: i think a lot of the past to do with my being an immigrant. i am very grateful for all the opportunities this country has given me. only in this country could someone like me have an opportunity to go from having nothing to go to stanford, harvard law school, and to be an attorney. it really is a way of giving back. i really believe that when you are blessed with the opportunities that this country gives you, that you have an obligation to give back. i really believe in public service. i could be in the private sector and make a lot of money, but i believe i have a duty to try to make things better for other people and to pay back the country that has given me so much. >> looking back to your

campaign for supervisor, what lesson did you walk away with after that experience? did anything surprise you? supervisor campos: the first lesson is how lucky we are to live in san francisco how lucky i am to represent district 9. as you indicated, it includes bernal heights, and it also includes the portola. it is such a rich district. getting to know people of the district through the campaign, doing the job of a supervisor has been the most rewarding super rigid experience. -- the most rewarding experience. it is amazing how the people are. it has been a great experience. i do not know that i fully understood the richness of this district until i was actually talking to so many people on the

campaign trail. now as a supervisor i see it every day. i see that. and there are challenges in these tough economic times. but i also see so much potential, so many amazing people, and we in city government have an opportunity to address so many problems and make so many things better. the campaign was a learning experience on so many levels. beyond that, i think you've learned something about yourself when you are putting yourself out there through the political process. i was very lucky that i had that opportunity because where i come from something as basic as free, democratic elections, that is a luxury. people participate in the democratic process. that is something that is quite amazing and remarkable.

i think that you do not fully appreciate it if you have had it all your life. whereas someone who came from a place where that was not possible, i think that i have a unique appreciation for it. it was really an exciting thing to do. >> where would you place yourself now on the political spectrum? the left, the right? supervisor campos: i think the labels can mean a lot of different things. i see myself as someone who ultimately has tried to make things better for people. i have a progressive outlook in terms of how i see things. by progressive i mean the sense that we have to make government and the city work for everyone, and that means that not just those who are doing well. it is also those who are not doing so well. it also means making sure the city works for the middle class

and to think of innovative ways of addressing issues and to not be afraid to think outside the box. that is what i see as being "progressive," in that sense. ultimately, there is a guiding principle. that is how i approach government. i believe in good government, transparency, accountability. i believe in making sure that we follow best practices. i think that is something that often times transcends the left, the middle, the right. it goes beyond that. and that is why, you know, as a supervisor i focus so much on contracts and how the city spends money, which is not traditionally a progressive issue. but i believe we have an obligation to make every penny count and to make sure that we

are making the most for the very limited resources we have. >> let's talk about the issues facing san francisco. what do you feel are the biggest issues facing the city right now? supervisor campos: clearly the budget and the economy is a huge issue. it has to be a priority for everyone. we are still going through a very tough economic time. we are still not where we need to be in terms of job creation and economic development. i think we are very lucky we live in san francisco because it is a very animated place. -- innovative place. government has to work not only with the business community, but with community groups to see how we can create economic development that works for every san franciscan.

i think that remains a big issue. and balancing the budget will be a priority. has to be a priority. we will do that. we have done that time and time again. public safety is also something we are very interested in. it has to be a priority, because if we do not have public safety, nothing else works. one of the things we are focusing on is trying to focus on how policing works in san francisco. i used to be a member of the police commission, and i learned that the most effective community policing is the policing where you have the police and the community working together. it is important to have police officers on the street and have the police presence. at the same time, there has to be a connection within the police and the community. so, that requires -- also we

have a focus on violence prevention. in the mission, we are focused on gang activity. we have to balance the very important work of the police would be very important violence prevention work -- with the very importance violence prevention work we're doing on the ground. so, public safety is something we will keep pushing on. we are trying to create a definition of community policing the recognizes that policing should change depending on the neighborhood, but also have key components throughout the city. we talk about community policing without no -- knowing what it means. another challenge is transportation. as the city, you are defined by how well your public transportation works or how well it does not work. even though we have had improvements in muni, i think we

have to do a lot better. and i think there are issues in terms of the services that are provided, the reliability of the system. i think the ridership is rightly frustrated they have been asked to pay more for less. i do not think that is right. we have focused on the operational and management fees. we tried to make public transportation acceptable to people. i have worked with the other supervisors to provide -- other supervisors supervisor mirkarimi and mayor lee. this allows us to make an investment in public education, but also a long-term investment in public transportation, because as young people from an early age to use the system, the public transportation system, they are going to be committed to public transportation for

years to come. >> do you feel additional issues that are facing your district -- that there are additional issues that are facing your district that are unique to your district that you have not mentioned? supervisor campos: there are issues that come up, whether you're talking about the mission, bernal heights, portola. one of the issues we have worked on in bernal heights is the issue of protecting a mural around the public library, which is an issue that raise a lot of other things. it led to a larger discussion in terms of who we are as a community. some people wanted to preserve the mural. others wanted to get rid of the mural. and we believe in a dialogue. so we brought together in mediation everyone so we could come to an understanding of what

our common ground was and to see if we could agree on certain basic things, and we were able to come up with a solution that makes sense for the entire community. in a sense, it reflected larger issues that are impacting the city as a whole. so, there are issues like that that would require a knowledge of the neighborhood, and knowledge of what is happening on the ground, and knowing the difference is of how all bernal heights may look at an issue vis a vis the mission or portola. as a supervisor, i do have to be able to balance managing citywide issues, which is very important, but at the same time, focusing on the specific needs of your neighborhood. that is really important to us. one of the things we need to

prioritize is that making sure we focus on the nuts and bolts of government. a lot of the calls we get involved fixing alights, replacing a pothole. i think it is really important to make sure we get those things right and we try to work very closely with the city agency to make sure government is responsive. if we do not do those things right, those little things, which are big things in life of a neighborhood. >> how you reconcile the needs of your district with the needs of the city? supervisor campos: i think it is possible to do that. even though we have these great districtwide elections, i think district election still allow you to deal with larger issues. we feel that we certainly have demonstrated that as a board. individual supervisors have

demonstrated that. one of the pieces of legislation we worked on last year that we are very proud of is the health services master plan, which is legislation that for the first time has a city like san francisco thinking about the health needs of the city of seoul. -- cities as all whole. it is good for us to know what the health care needs of the city are going to be in the next couple of years or long term. so, making sure those who do planning and other things, that we think strategically about the need citywide and also neighborhood by neighborhood. and we were able to do that and pass that legislation as a district-elected supervisors, even though this is legislation that impacts the entire city in the future of health care in san francisco for many years to come. i think it is possible to do

both. it is definitely possible. >> let's talk about budgets. the city is faced with tough budget decisions. including where to make cuts and whether or not to increase taxes. how will he make these tough choices -- will you make these tough choices? supervisor campos: the budget is the most important policy document that the city can pass. it reflects the priorities of city government. i believe we have to be creative in how we look at the issue of the budget. it is important for me that certain things happen. i think that public safety has to be a priority in the budget, the public safety cannot be compromised to save a few dollars. but i think the public safety goes beyond funding the police department and the fire department, as important as that

is. it includes funding violence prevention programs, after- school programs so someone has -- and people have something to do after school, funding our department for recreational opportunities for young people during the summer or after school. if you do not do that, that will have implications on public safety. the safety has to be protected, because if we do not do that, we are creating more problems that will be even more costly in the long run. i think that we have to think about it in a very strategic way. i think it is important to protect the safety net. i think we have to find efficiencies in terms of where we can do things better. i think the issue of overtime is something we have to continue to monitor and make sure we reduce overtime costs as much as possible. but i also believe that there is only so