[singing] [applause] >> the project. [applause]

let's give them another round. ok. that brings us to the acknowledgements and closing remarks. on behalf of the san francisco african-american historical society, i would -- something like this cannot happen without the involvement of a lot of people. and some of those people on the back of your programs, we have listed all the members of the committee who worked hard and long to make this happen. nobody worked as hard as kirsten in the mayor's office out of the office of may -- neighborhood services. let's give kirsten and the committee a big round of applause for their contributions to this great effort. we have another -- a number of proclamations that was received from senator feinstein and boxer and other offices. a couple of other people we do

have with you. michael sweet is with us and sheriff ross mirkarimi is with us. let's give them around of applause. hansothis is a membership organization. open to any -- anyone. ms. kelly spoke to in her remarks. you wrote him to join us. there is information about the society and refreshments. please join us in the light court. thank you for making this a wonderful kick off. let's give naomi kelly a round of applause again. thank you. [applause] thank you all very much.

♪ i'm one >> to kick the morning off with somebody must excited to invite to the stage. mayor ed lee is the 43rd mayor of the city of san francisco. before that for years, he was the city's administrator. in those roles, he has been a terrific and important friend of the sustainable and clean tech business community. if you look at what san francisco is doing and has done, you will get the kind of role that he has played. first, behind the scenes. now very much in the front of the room as mayor. san francisco is, i think, the first city with 100% of its transit non-traditionally or

alternatively field, either in electric, by a diesel, or natural gas. the city that has a 70% and diversion rate, all being destructive on twitter and everything. almost 80% of all the trash generated in the city goes somewhere besides a landfill. that is one of the highest rates in at the world, and it is on the path to be 100% landfill- free by 2020 and also for the city to be renewable power by 2020. if you are here last year, you heard his predecessor gavin newsom talk about some of the vision of what has been going on in the city. not just the vision, but the accomplishments. a terrific story. this is a man that has been making this happen for years and years. please join me in welcoming mayor ed lee. [applause]

>> good morning. thank you very much for coming this morning. i want to wish you all a happy lunar new year. i was behind the stage with joel for a few minutes and we discovered we're but year of the dragon. if you know about chinese zodiac, you will know that the dragon is one of the most powerful animals of the chinese zodiac. and in the year of the dragon, it means that you confront challenges, you take risks, you embrace innovation. that is what i want to talk to you about this morning. you know, i had my notes last night. i was reviewing them. i was told, you have to tell them, where the 2012 s ascent -- sustainable city. we're the greenest city in north america. we are one of the top five best cities for clean tech and

technology companies to invest in. and i can go on and on with those statistics. what i really want to tell you is what has been on my mind for the last couple of weeks, because they have a lot to do with the. it has a lot to do with the challenges that face as a mayor of one of the greatest cities in the world. i want to create new relationships in this city. it is something that i have been gearing -- yearning to do as i watched and helped mayor gavin newsom for the last seven years and release all the goals that he was setting up, the goals of zero waste in our lifetimes. the goal of getting 80% the level of carbon emissions of 1990. and making sure that that could happen in 2015. i went about in my city administrator's job helping him do some of the things he thought was really important. i stepped up to do those electric cars. mayor, can you let me do that?

and we're on our way, our goal to 80 to 100 of these battery chargers in public garages, and you eventually we will get them on the streets. that is a great bowl. that is one that is going to help us. but i think the best bill that i will be able to contribute is one that i am already starting. and this new relationship that i announced a couple of weeks ago, but it is still something i continue to be excited about, and that is our new relationship with our technology companies. we started a whole collaboration called sf ci 6ty, is an initiative for technology and innovation. -- sf city. we're kind of creating a new chamber of commerce with our technology companies, both established and new ones. what i want to do is that contest. and in bringing on jane as the

nation's first chief innovation officer located in the mayor's office, i want to tell everyone that as a 22-year bureaucrat, me, that i want to say to everybody else in the city, get off of dependence on the state government. get off of our false expectations that the federal government is going to save us. yes, we have got some great programs, but they are all in this kind of funky status for the cannot really help our cities. it is really going to be were the cities are across the country and across the state where we are going to innovate our ways to solutions. whether it is helping our homeless, a building housing for everybody, getting the services we need out there, getting good communications, getting better transportation. the cities there were the convergence of all these things happen. and in realizing that, you know,

you could have expected a major to be in the government bureaucracy for 22 years to say, hey, let's just keep building government, adding here and there. i cannot do that. we cannot do that and meet the challenge of being the most sustainable and continue to be the most sustainable country -- city in the country. we have to innovate ourselves out into these solutions. that is what this relationship is so important. it is a relationship that i know many of you who work in the businesses throughout san francisco are going to see as a very positive way to work with your local government. because in that relationship i expect a drop out, as you're doing today, the best ideas there are. we're going to disrupt, in my opinion, the way i have been doing work in government. as you know, i have been head of human rights commission.

i have been -- my best job was the purchaser of the city. at that time, i got to buy $1 billion worth of stuff every year. how great of a job is that? what i did learn during those years was i can buy green products. i can start innovating government with my cohorts in all of the 60 different departments as to what grain products are other and how we can introduce different things like what companies like met it are doing in these new cleaning apparatuses. how we can change our way of doing things so that we can be smarter and less wasteful. i can work with the garbage companies and helping your department of environment established a goal that we can really accomplish and get with it. all those things that learned under gay art -- under mayor newsom at the time, now i get to implement. i get to increase these new relationships like sf city and and they're up and do marathons

in the city to share the best ideas. to me, i think that is the best way our city moves forward. i am not going to just stand on the laurels of great accomplishments. i know we're one of the top five cities in the country that are great investments for clean tech, biotech. we have some 30 capital adventure -- capital venture companies in the city that have filled their portfolios with clan tech and biotech investments. that is great. we need to do more. we wanted to do more. we have to innovate our solutions. and that is why i have asked for sf city, through all of the companies that my good friend has been investing in and new companies, to encourage them to come into the city, established incubators, and its alert the city forward on

better biotech, better glass that can keep warmth and still use energy in the right way, better lighting, even higher standards for our commercial buildings. even though we have had a great run, this last year i sign a commercial building organism, and we have great companies like autodesk and others to really work with me and increase commercial buildings to use recycled materials, as well as energy savings. we need to do all of that. we need to an advance the relationship forward. that is why sf city and to me. that is why it is so a important for code for america. that is why we brought in the nation's first chief innovation officer. you are in the world of green business and green technology. we need your ideas. i want them. and i won business to know that they have a critical role in working with our government. we cannot have a separate government from business. that is not the way to do things

anymore. and the smaller businesses, the new innovative businesses, they're coming up with solutions. that is why what these things accelerated. we cannot be dependent upon government anymore. we have to create a new relationship. the challenges that are before us, if we're going to be a center for innovation before we take on the challenges that are suggested, we are going to also have to be a smarter city. we are going to have to be one that is less wasteful. we're going to have to also embrace innovation. that is what you're here for today. i want to welcome you here for the 2012 grain business form. please innovate. give us your best ideas. you will have a city that honors our tradition of moving forward on the greenest role possible and getting to all our goals. thank you very much for being here this morning. [applause]

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>> let's give them another round of applause. take your seats. good evening, everyone, and welcome to mayor ed kee;s -- lee's new year's celebration. my name is jason chan, and i am the master of ceremonies. people around the world celebrate the lunar new year. we celebrate the year of the water dragon. the dragon is the most powerful animal in the chinese zodiac. qualities include being magnanimous, stately, vigorous, strong, self assured, proud, noble, direct, dignified, intellectual, fiery, passionate, decisive, generous, and loyal.

if there is any doubt this is the year of the dragon, just look at who has been inaugurated as the 43rd mayor of san francisco. [applause] the year of the dragon is a time for confronting vexing challenges, taking bold risks and embracing innovation, and just getting it done. and that is what the mayor has been committed to -- getting things done. as the first asian mayor of san francisco, he has been a champion for diversity in our neighborhoods and city, promoting our rich culture and heritage, and strengthening our international ties with asia and beyond. i am proud to introduce the host of this evening celebration, our dragon mayor, mayor ed lee. [applause] mayor lee: happy lunar new year. welcome to city hall. i immediately want to thank all

the people here that are sharing our stage, from commissioner ch ang to our guest from at&t, our tax collector assessor, phil king, counsel general gao, david chiu, carmen chu, eric mar, and other board members who will join us. scott weiner, malia cohen who just came from china lot -- not long ago from a trip. thank you for being here. to our family associations, our department heads, our other commissioners and friends, happy new year, and welcome to our official celebration here at city hall of our wonderful chinese lunar new year. we just came from the official lighting of our new lantern.

i hope you will stay tonight long enough to view all of its beauty and the lightness of it. there are a lead the lights on there. there are recycle cd's on the dragon boat. it is 76 feet long. it is, of course, my entry into the america's cup. anyway, i want to thank everyone for being here, for helping us celebrate. as we have been saying, this is one of the most exciting, attractive holiday seasons for the whole of san francisco and all of our communities. we look forward, and i hope you join me, in not only the very big chinese new year's parade of will happen this saturday, but the whole weekend. there are community affairs. there is the coronation ball. we just finished the street for

a couple of weeks ago. the pageant just happened this yesterday -- this weekend for miss chinatown usa. they have been a wonderful several weeks of celebration as we enter the year of the dragon. as i said many times, the year of the dragon is phenomenal, because it is a time where we are confronting our challenges. we are taking on more risks. we are embracing innovation. and that is exactly what i want to do, in concert with our board of supervisors, to help lead the city and make sure we are boldly going forward in our recovery of our economic challenges, but also, most importantly, to provide opportunities for everyone in this city, regardless of your background, to fully participate in everything that is meaningful in the city, whether it is raising a family, joining in a business, or getting a job. there is such a wonderful

opportunity for everyone to work together. this is meaningful for me. i personally am celebrating this with anita. we cleaned up the house a couple of weeks ago. we are still cleaning it out to get rid of stuff from old years. because of the opportunities i see for this city, we are going to be receiving a lot of gifts in the wake of opportunities for the whole city, and we need to be prepared for that, to start celebrating the whole of these new years. i want to especially thank our counsel general for being such a great office in the city, for teaming with us in so many ways to not only celebrate these things, but a continual connection to so many of us in the bay area who want that connection, whether it is cultural, educational, or in business. there is so much we can celebrate and continue that connection. counsel general, it is my honor

to signify this wonderful holiday by providing you the proclamation that signals not only our appreciation for these holidays, but deep appreciation for the ongoing work your office does to make sure that we keep up not only defers values, but celebrate our heritage. on behalf of the city and county of san francisco, which officially declare this the year of the dragon. [applause] >> [speaking chinese]

honorable mayor, thank you so much for your kind, warm words. i am so proud to hear, so happy to hear that today is the day of the year of the dragon. i am the most delighted to join you tonight in this magnificent hall to celebrate the chinese lunar new year, the year of the dragon. today also happens to be the day of the chinese lantern festival. in china, the year of the dragon is the symbol of strength, of success. the lantern festival is a symbol of unity and harmony. i sincerely hope that the year of the dragon and the lantern festival will bring fortune for

the great people of san francisco. these days are the best days of the chinese council general. we are busy attending all kinds of celebrations at the local asian and chinese communities. in all these parties, the topic of china-u.s. relations is the most talked-about topic. everybody was happy to see that last year progress has been made in china-u.s. relationship. we saw a frequent exchange of high-level visits. the president of china, mr. hu jintao, visited america. the and the vice president of this