we have kids from our tenderloin community school. thank you for being here. [applause] all right. we also have, for the first time, at the request of -- the idea ofcesa -- that cesar chavez elementary school wanted us to webcast this live, so we did it for them. wherever you are, welcome. [applause] tony, for 50 years, you have helped us not only remember a great song, but whenever any of us leave our town, we always come back and call san francisco our home. i know we talked a little earlier and tried to recall that wonderful initiation where in 1961, you first sang that song in the venetian room up at the fairmont. little did you know at the time

that then mayor george christopher was in the audience with joe alioto. it was such a marvelous performance that when joe became mayor, he adopted that as one of our two official anthems. thank you for performing first in san francisco. [applause] tony, you have helped us celebrate so many milestones in our city. you have helped us after earthquakes to come back and revive the spirit of our wonderful city. you have designed the wonderful art pieces to raise funds for those who need that service. you help us to reopen. after earthquakes, you have helped us climb -- not half way, you have helped us climb all the way to the stars with the -- a

nation of our cable cars. you have just -- i in your career, you have generated more love and more nostalgic for our bay area -- more nostalgia for our bay area than all the songs and all the movies and all the television shows associated with us combine. for that reason -- it is really for that reason, tony, that it is my pleasure if you would please come up, to declare today, valentine's day, february 14, 2012, as tony bennett day in san francisco. [applause] and also, on behalf of all of us and with all of our love and with all of our hearts together, to present to you the key to the city of san francisco.

[applause] >> would you like to say a few words? you have 45 minutes. [laughter] >> well, i would like to thank mr. ralph sharon, my great friend and musician, for finding this song. i was in little rock, arkansas,

and we were on our way for the first time in my life. he found a song, and he said, "why don't we do this in san francisco?" i said ok, and i have no idea, but there was a bartender who said, cassette and i don't mean to interrupt your rehearsal, but if you record that song, i'm going to be the first customer -- "i don't mean to interrupt your rehearsal, but if you record that song, i'm going to be the first customer." as i started singing it, the people came up and said, "you have to record the song immediately." i always thought it would be a local song in the area, but the fact that it has become such an international song throughout the world -- everybody loves it, and they love this city. it reminds me of one time when i

was playing the fairmont hotel, gorbachev from russia with here and travel throughout the whole united states and in front of the company could tell, i was listening to him speak about san francisco. he said, "i traveled to every city in the united states, and i was disappointed with what i saw. there was not one city that i liked, but as far as i'm concerned, san francisco is so beautiful that i would like to design 15 cities in russia that look like san francisco." [laughter] and he was right. [applause] my wonderful wife, my family is here. i'm thrilled.

thank you very much. i must say -- excuse me, i have to mention one thing. i have never seen anything in my life as beautiful as these young people. [applause] you stand so beautiful. [applause] -- you sang so beautiful. [applause] >> it is tony bennett day in san francisco. [applause] just fantastic. now, before we leave here today, just one more time, let's hear that special song one more time, now performed by the talented

san francisco gay men's chorus, who will be joined by -- yes -- who will be joined by all of our performers here today and then all of you. you can sing along by following the lyrics on the screens. ladies and gentlemen, the san francisco gay men's chorus. [applause] ♪ >> ♪ the loveliness of paris seems some house sadly -- somehow sadly gay the glory that was rome is of another day i've been terribly alone and four got 10 -- forgotten in

manhattan i'm going home to my city by the day -- city by the bay ♪ >> and now it is your turn. >> ♪ i left my heart in san francisco high on a hill it calls to me to be where little cable cars climb halfway to the stars in the morning fog

may chill the air i don't care my love waits there in san francisco of of the blue and windy see -- above the blue and windy sea when i come home to you san francisco your golden sun will shine for me ♪ [applause]

>> very nice job, everybody. well, as we close here today, mr. bennett, you have always had the key to our hearts. now you have the key to our city. we hope to see you back here soon in your city by the bay. thank you for this wonderful gift you have given us all these years and thank you so much for letting us honor you today. tony bennett day in san francisco. once again, for the man of the hour. [applause] thank you all so much for celebrating with us today. happy valentine's day. we will see you at the ballpark.

>> you know, i spent this morning with a number of department heads, and thanking them for their wonderful contributions for the heart of the city charity contribution this morning, sharing stories about what our contributions are doing in the charity giving for the city. i registered to them the same thing that i will register to our upcoming commissioners who are about to be appointed here today. a huge thank you for you, your families, supporters. you are joining the city family,

me, sean elsbernd, department heads are here today, because we love the city. we want to make it successful in every way. i need to think ahead of time. before you are sworn in, you need a big hug. you need the city's official hug. you will be in positions to hear about issues, challenges, but you are also going to be part of making decisions that move forward to the spirit of this city, the spirit that i felt a couple of weeks ago when we celebrated the 50 years of leaving our hearts here, that we continue doing that on a daily basis. you will be sharing responsibilities for over 14 different bodies in our city that are not only policy but are hearing the nitty gritty things that have to be done to move the agenda forward.

you will be able to enjoy the challenges of the city, ones that are critical to the delivery of old promises in a city where everyone has a voice, that, through your words and wisdom, be empowered in the city. you are all part of commission that will empower people, so, quickly developed the attitude, agenda, schedule. we need your time. i think people are giving money in these challenging economic times. today, right now, i am thinking you because you are going to be giving more than $5 of your time. he will be sacrificing personal time over the weekends. as i do, saying, it is worth it if i can turn around attitudes of what we are doing.

if i can have all of you that are here today help me with the promises we made in our redevelopment communities, as you take on things like the successor oversight agency committee, help me develop those promises for communities that depend so much on our development. tell them that we are not giving up on those promises, whether it is housing, economic development, workforce development, kids. when you take on responsibilities of the building inspection, and joining me to make sure that job creation is at the helm of it. when you take on small business and again, recommit it -- when you're on the human rights commission -- talking to groups that feel disenfranchised, you share the same spirit. when you join our immigrant rights commission and say to immigrants who may not have english as their first language,

that they are full participants in everything that we do and they have every right to be participating in every aspect of life, the enrichments that we want to share. when you look at that big stack of permit appeals, when you are wondering, did ed asked me to do this going through every appeal of every permit? then i will ask you to step up again and say you have a mayor that is extremely thankful for the work you are doing, the leadership you are doing, the money in that the courts will raise to keep these wonderful talented and innovative arts and our city, keeping us vibrant. all of these commissions -- we have some 14 commissions are being appointed today. each and everyone of them are extremely important in terms of the quality of life for the city

and the promises that we will fulfill to all of you. i am excited about your appointments. as we swear you in, i will ask and take the time that i know the rest of the city family wants to see -- i want you to come up come as you raise your hand, named a commission that you will be on. we are proud of these appointments, we are proud of the time that you will spend, the quality of life that you will improve. i want you to do that for me as we swear you in. looking at all of you, knowing where you will be, the hours you will be spending, you have to understand, you reflect a tremendous diversity in the city, one that i have the privilege of representing myself in an historic fashion. i know that all of the communities in san francisco will be so proud of your

leadership and your vision, but also, i think, most importantly, we are proud of the spirit in which you take on this responsibility. because it is personal sacrifice. sometimes, for us, we can get tired of the complaints, but at the end of the day, when you know, it if you listen to everybody, you do the balloting required, you make the decisions, and you keep your heart focused on improving people's lives in every possible way, whether in it is in entertainment, planning, all of the things that are represented here today, you will feel really good about the city. i just want to welcome all of you to the official city family and do my best to let you know that i will help as much as i can from the mayor's office. we have a great job to do, and

it will be fun, exciting, enriching, and rewarding for everybody. thank you for being here today. [applause] i know time is of the essence. we need to get to those agendas. if i may, i would like to have all of the candidates please stand up. please raise your right hand. as i begin, i will go through and ask you to announce your name in the boldest way you can and simply to name the commission that you will be sworn into. please repeat.

>> [inaudible]

>> and do solemnly swear that i will not supplant -- suppt and defend the constitution of the united states and constitution of the state of california against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that i will bear true faith and allegiance to the constitution of the united states and the constitution of the state of california, that i take this obligation freely

without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and i will well and faithfully discharge the duties upon which i am about to enter during such time as level the office of -- for the city and county of san francisco. congratulations. thank you very much for your service. [applause] ladies and gentlemen, please welcome all of our newest 31 commissioners for the city and county of san francisco. thank you.

>> sanrio famous for the designs for hello kitty. i thought i would try to make it as cute as possible. that way people might want to read the stories. then people might be open to learn about the deities and the culture. ♪ they reached out to make about five or six years ago because of the book published. they appreciated that my work was clearly driven from my research and investigation. after i contributed my artwork,

the museum was really beside themselves. they really took to it. the museum reached out to me to see if i would be interested in my own space inside the museum. i tell them that would be a dream come true. it is the classical, beautiful indian mythology through the lens of modern design and illustration and storytelling. they're all of these great sketch as i did for the maharajah exhibition. i get a lot of feedback on my artwork and books. they complement. they say how original the work is. i am the first person to say that this is so derived from all of this great artwork and storytelling of the past. the research i put into all of my books and work is a product of how we do things that a--

at pixar. sometimes you will see him depicted monkey-like or as superman. i wanted to honor his monkey coloring. i decided to paint him white with a darker face. it is nice to breathe new life into it in a way that is reverent and honors the past but also lets them breathe and have fun. it is almost a european notion to bring these symbols and icons from southeast asia. they decorate their deities. it was a god they interacted with every day in a human way. the most important thing has been to create work that is appealing to me.

i want to see vishnu to pick did in a modern way. it dawned on me by reinterpreting the deities in a way that is modern and reverent to the history, i am building a bridge for young and old audiences to make friends with the culture and these icons to learn their stories. ♪

there are so many ways that the internet provides real access to real people and resources and that's what we're try to go accomplish. >> i was interested in technology like video production. it's interesting, you get to create your own work and it reflects what you feel about saying things so it gives perspective on issues. >> we work really hard to develop very in depth content, but if they don't have a venue, they do not have a way to show us, then this work is only staying here inside and nobody knows the brilliance and the amazing work that the students are doing. >> the term has changed over time from a very basic who has a computer and who doesn't have a computer to now who has access to the internet, especially high speed internet, as well as the skills and the knowledge to use those tools effectively. . >> the city is charged with

coming up with digital inclusion. the department of telecommunications put together a 15 member san francisco tech connect task force. we want the digital inclusion program to make sure we address the needs of underserved vulnerable communities, not communities that are already very tech savvy. we are here to provide a, b and c to the seniors. a stands for access. b stands for basic skills and c stands for content. and unless we have all three, the monolingual chinese seniors are never going to be able to use the computer or the internet. >> a lot of the barrier is knowledge. people don't know that these computers are available to them, plus they don't know what is useful. >> there are so many businesses in the bay area that are constantly retiring their computer equipment that's perfectly good for home use. computers and internet access

are helping everybody in the community and people who don't have it can come to us to help with that. one of the biggest problems we see isn't whether people can get computers through programs like ours, but whether they can understand why they need a computer. really the biggest issue we are facing today is helping people understand the value of having a computer. >> immediately they would say can i afford a computer? i don't speak any english. how do i use it. then they will start to learn how to do email or how to go back to chinese newspaper to read all the chinese newspaper. >> a lot of the barrier still is around lack of knowledge or confusion or intimidation and not having people in their peer network who use computers in their lives. >> the important thing i learned from caminos was to improve myself personally. when i first came to caminos, i didn't know anything about computers. the second thing is i have

become -- i have made some great achievements as an individual in my family and in things of the world. >> it's a real issue of self-empowerment where new immigrant families are able to communicate with their families at home, able to receive news and information in their own home language, really become more and more connected with the world as well as connected even inside their local communities. >> if we value the diversity of our city and we value our diverse neighborhoods in the city, we need to ensure that they remain economically viable. equiping them and equiping residents in those areas with jobs that will enable them to stay in san francisco is critical to that. >> the important thing that i see here at caminos is it helps the low income community, it helps the women who wouldn't have this opportunity otherwise. >> the workers with more education in san francisco are more likely to be bl