technology companies that have joined in sf citi. thank you very much for those of you that have done that. we have stronger policy analysis for looking at legislation between the mayor's office and the board of supervisors that will gauge the impact on jobs and for small businesses. we have signaled very strongly that we need to have businesses at our site to evaluate all of the legislation that we do so that we can understand its impact on business. that is the level of commitment that i have made in working with the board of supervisors. i think we have signaled a new way of looking at things. finally, we have invested in the foundations of our city that ensure all of us can live here. we are investing in infrastructures. this november, we will propose a park spot to make sure that our parks are again world-class and

that they serve all of our neighborhoods in the city. we have enjoyed a very lucky vote past november where our paving and streets -- that will produce $240 million of anchor for our streets repaving but also for infrastructure in our streets that allow you need to move faster, less congested, our curb ramps for persons with disabilities, a number of street park with that will be had. bike lanes that will allow our bikers -- a lot of them want to be able to have dedicated green lanes. all of that has anchored into a very strong vote, one that was very difficult to pass because it required 2/3, and we were able to do that. very fortunate in our city to be able to have that. and, of course, improving our public transportation. muni continues to be a challenge

because of its infrastructure and its debts, and we will continue paying attention to that, and that is why we have got to be always investing in our future, and transportation is a huge part of that, but we have been very successful in gaining federal grants for that in the past, but also making sure we can build infrastructures like the central subway that are well on its way, and you will see a little bit of construction the taurus, but you will see in the near future that we will be able to bring people north and south quite easily in our new subway. i would say to you, as business leaders here, that i'm going to be about investing in innovation for our city. we've got to innovate our way out of recession, and we continue to see that if we do not do that, if we do not embrace innovation, if we do not melt technology, we will

lose steps very quickly. that is why i have been embracing all these technology companies, to start in san francisco, to grow, and tuesday. they also represent our future. i have often said that -- and i have been both a participant an observer and a relatively new mayor, but i will say this to all of you, too -- we have got to make sure that our city continues to be an investor- confident and an investment- friendly city. whether your investment is a family, whether it is a small business, or whether it is investing in someone else's business, no one is going to come to a city where the signal of the mayor with the board of supervisors for the lack of working together signals less than sure confidence that it is a good investment working with

your city. that is what is attractive but sen francisco. i will continue making that very strong, and everything i do everyday will be to continue to create jobs in our city. thank you very much. [applause] >> thank you, mayor lee. and to welcome their -- mayor jean quan, ed wasserman, who is very active in this community. [applause] >> i want to join in the welcome to all of you here on this valentine's day, a day for all of us to cherish our loved ones, including our love of our cities, which is what we're talking about this morning.

wendell rosen is a law firm founded 103 years ago in oakland at 12 and broadway just across the street. we are still at 12 n. broadway. we have a little better view 24 floors up, and we are proud to be in oakland, and we are growing in oakland. we brought three new partners in last month, and we think we will bring three new partners in this month. on your tables is a tool kit that you can use, and a few words about the breadth and ability of the lawyers in our firm. we are proud to occupy oakland. we have just signed -- renewed our lease for 52,000 square feet, and we are here for the long haul. my job this morning is to

introduce genes -- jean quan. you know her story, and it is a great one. first woman elected mayor of oakland. the first asian elected mayor of oakland. first asian woman elected mayor of a major city in this country. she is proud of that. we are all proud of that. you know a lot about her story. you know she is a champion for youth, for schools, and becoming a champion for economic development in our city. you know some of the difficulties she has faced. some of them are old -- crime, problems with our schools. some of them are new and not necessarily expected like the loss of redevelopment funds, and occupy oakland. and she has had successes. she brought a great new

administrative team to this city with our city administrator, under fire chief, the police chief, and developing really strong leadership for our city. she has also made some mistakes, and she has had the courage to acknowledge them, which is not easy for any of us. i know it is not for me, and she gets credit for that. the solutions to occupy oakland are not easy, and none of us can spell them out, but i do think that all of us, whatever we think about the occupied -- occupy movement and how it has been handled, can agree that not oakland, not any city should be expected to tolerate lawlessness or violent anarchy. [applause] thank you.

she started the effort to make clear that oakland will not tolerate it at all. but amidst all of these things, there are some good signs in oakland. i'm sure that the mayor will tell you about some of them, and i'm sorry this keeps moving. you know that the "new york times" recognized oakland as the fifth best place to visit in the world. [applause] behind london, but ahead of tokyo. the tagline they used was -- "restaurants and bars amid the grit." if you want to see what that means, go down to jack london square, have a drink at last chance saloon and go right next door to daniel paterson's new restaurant, and you will see the stars of the future.

you may not know that "newsweek" recently recognized oakland as the second best can do city in america. in looking at 200 cities, they evaluated an interesting set of criteria, and i want to read through them very quickly because i think you will find them interesting. they looked at emissions -- 13 major pollutants/the population to create a carbon footprint for oakland. they look at the increase in building permits, the increase in lead-certified buildings. they looked at the number of people who have health care. they looked at people over 25 getting college degrees. they looked at the number of it -- the increase in the number of people taking public transportation and walking to work. on the basis of all of those, concluded that we are the second-best can do city in the

country. and we have known that for a long time. i want to end this with a couple of comments -- many of you know that i am very much a political animal and that i have had a very long will the -- love affair with this city, and it continues, so i want to give you a little bit of political advice. you prole another article of petitions out seeking to recall mayor kwan. do not sign them. now is not the time to fuss with replacing our mayor in midterm. now is the time to work with her, to support her and her administration and council in making this the best city in america, the no. 1 can-do city in america. with that, it is my pleasure and pride to introduce to mayor

jane kwan. >> this is an introduction i am going to remember for a while. i know the media -- last week, and gave the state of the city address. there were upset that my speech was not occupied. they said why don't you talk about them. based on the last arrest, more of them lived in san francisco and oakland. i wanted to talk about the state of the city and where oakland is going. before i do that, i would like to wish my good friends have the new year. the first time i spoke in front of the business times group, i said it does not really mean " happy new year," but may you get rich and prosperous in the new

year. most of us are from merchant families. probably, for our families, being rich was the same as being happy. but also happy valentine's day. i would like to know who we are talking to. how many of you are from san francisco? thank you and very much welcome. stay for lunch. how many from oakland? the rest of the east bay? i bet some of the work in san francisco but live in oakland or the east bay. how many of you are like that? thank you. i always like to know who we are talking about. mayor lee and i know we are friendly competition, but the bridge -- the bay bridge economy is one in many ways. i will talk about oakland accomplishments and take a fresh look at the city, because it is probably not what you think it

is. it is changing quickly. i am a pretty out-their mayor, walking neighborhoods and the retail areas. i am always surprised by my own city. but for the rest of the world, the difference between oakland and san francisco in the great california economy -- we have slipped a little bit. we are now the eighth largest economy in the world. the rest of the world sees the bay area as one unit. in china, they see us as a golden triangle with san jose. there is the port, the bank. they think san jose has silicon valley. we know that is all changing. we are merging more and more into one economy. as jerry brown used to say, and this is the perfect setup with all the economic factors -- they are running out of space. our space is cheaper and more plentiful. as he used to say, it is faster

to get to downtown san francisco from oakland than it is from most of san francisco. so i am glad that you came. we will grow together and will prosper together. i was going to get you chocolate hearts for valentine's day. did not have time. but we have a little fortune cookie we are going to give you at the end, a small remembrances. but the main theme of wanted to talk about today is that oakland is on the rise, and we have -- i will not go into all the boring statistics. there are a couple hundred copies if you want to get it out. this last year, we created more than 5000 jobs, and moody's is predicting 8000 in the new year. we decreased unemployment by about 2%. our employment has been

traditionally higher. we have strong pockets in oakland. in some ways, we are 2 u.s. cities. we are the second most literate city in california, 15th most literate in the country. on the other hand, i have deep pockets of poverty. you will hear me talk in the media allot about 100 blocks. there are 100 blocks in oakland were over 92% of all or violence takes place. there are ongoing cycles of poverty, which i think our an excusable in our time. that is going to be a major challenge i am taking on. i believe if we can get more resources to young people in those neighborhoods, not only will murders go down significantly in the city, because of it are talking about 5%, but we can put our arms around them and make a change. i will ask you to step up and do your part.

we're also in a city where other economic indicators are looking good. we're happy about retail. our sales tax went up over 12%, and that is above the statewide average increase last year of it%. building permits are up. business permit licenses are up. hotel tax, partly thanks to the remodeled marriott hotel, taxes are up. what is interesting -- you are real-estate-centered people. many of those 2000 permits that are waiting for the economy to come up for business -- many of those people who have already gotten their permits approved for about 5000 new units are coming in to modify them, partly in reaction to the business climate. when we were in the middle of

the condo boom, everybody thought they were going to make a fortune. they are coming back to modify them for a stable mix for the future of the city -- for office space, some rental, as well as condos. they are moving in now. they are planning to move with construction before their permits run out in the next year or so. we have also been looking at generally good steps in terms of the city. i started my year facing multimillion-dollar set deficit. i had a $58 million deficit. had very little reserves. we were able to move forward with our unions to get over all across-the-board two-tier tension return and give back &. we were able to stabilize the budget. with the redevelopment surprises

and most of our vacation over christmas and new year's, worked on rebalancing the city budget again. we did it in a way that we did not just cut redevelopment, but reorganized the city. the consolidated many departments. we eliminated many levels of administration. a lot of that goes to the second most accomplishment a mayor is expected to do. i believe i have hired a strong administrative team. the business times calls them the dream team. i think they are a dream. we are a city of dreams. our new city administrator, dance and, -- san santana. my chief of staff, and washington campbell, who used to work for jerry brown. in this city, jerry is the governor, the only jerry we talk

about. and a home boy a lot of you will get to know. i want to make a couple points for this year. v/#i .wr? forward in the city. we're going to build on what is the whole of retail in oakland. i went to ics myself this year. we are going to go with retail . we are going again in maine. what is a vector symbol bent a asian-american woman? we are the best shoppers in the economy. when i was campaigning door-to- door, i have to tell you, the women in oakland will have my head if i do not bring retail by the time i finish my first term as mayor. that is their number-one goal.

we have interest in downtown retail we have not seen in decades. we plan to build on that and work on that. everyone was bragging about the new york times, so i will not do that again. we were considered the fourth best place to celebrate lunar new year, with san francisco and new york city. the cultural and the arts scene here in oakland as one of the most diversity's in the world -- 125 languages. in my family, i always say that means 125 different kinds of restaurants to figure out. oakland is an amazing cultural scene, attracting an intelligent, young workforce. it is what makes our young people ready to deal with anywhere in the world. if you believe what many economists say, that you need to give your kids the ability in

the perverse world, the global economy -- oakland is a great stage in place for that. we are expecting the food and entertainment industry to grow perhaps not just in oakland, but in our amazing neighborhoods. oakland and san francisco are both lucky to have great neighborhoods. whether it is piedmont avenue or the up-and-coming neighborhoods -- the laurel, the diamond, and along international boulevard -- oakland is a place where there will be continued growth. our second major focus will be continuing to be a hub for new, innovative companies. oakland has been the home to companies that now seem old school. kaiser may seem old school, but remember when henry j. came here. nobody knew that his most

lasting product would be a health care institution. he was a capitalist who wanted to provide a fair and efficient work force with a health care plan. that was the model for hmos. it may be the model, long term, how we deal with health care in this country. we now have a new model, the fastest-growing home solar companies in the country. it just expanded its office space. we have pandora. if you have an apple phone, you probably have pandora on your phone. they have helped the discussion around young companies. recently, we had an open house, so to speak, for about 150 investors. we had standing room only. they are leaving, i think, the discussion, particularly for

tech companies. some of the tech companies in san francisco want second campuses. we are hoping they will come across the bay. by bart, they can be there in 10 minutes. i take bart to visit the mayor in san francisco. it only takes me 10 minutes from downtown to get to market street. everything in real estate is closely linked. i am loving the fact that his friends are growing and i still have a lot of space here. this will probably be a once-in- a-lifetime development opportunities in oakland. oakland made a clear policy to save industrial land, so we could have a mixed economy. we are paying much more attention to the port of oakland. i say the port. the commissioners of the port are here. oakland is the only port in the united states -- president obama

is trying to double exports. if he doubles them here in the bay area, that is about 6000 to 7000 new jobs. the port of oakland is the only port that exports more than we import. i have been trying to talk ed and jerry brown into doing joint export offices in china. we as a state need to have probably a dozen offices in china, and go into the interior. i think that is what we need to do in the region. we need to talk about how we are going to share resources in that way. the coliseum city also would be an amazing opportunity. those of you who are going to ask questions about sports teams -- all three could fit there. i am holding out hope may be for victory park for the a's. oakland remains the center, transportation wise. you are looking at the rail

service to sacramento, the most heavily used in the state. or you are looking at the fact that -- where the heart of the bart system. with our good transit system throughout the case -- throughout the bay. with the airport expanding more and more flights internationally, oakland will continue to be a transportation hub. we will be working hard on federal and state investment. these are the main strategic areas we will be looking at. as a mayor, the things i have been particularly trying to not be preoccupied about, to try to get more involved in was to look at our service areas. we will have an upcoming joint conference in may to look at some of these sectors, including health care and

transportation, and particularly the entertainment and trade areas in may. we will basically have a conference on this. we will take people to major areas of development. i hope you will join with us in that, i think the first friday in may. oakland as a city is on the rise in the -- in many ways. this is a city which has the highest concentration of poverty still in the bay area. that property does not just affect us and oakland. it affects the whole bay area. when you go out, you will see these little cards. i am still a school board member at heart. i am going to be asking oakland and east bay companies to join us in three initiatives. you may know that when i started

as mayor i asked oakland to come forward to get 2000 mentors for our toughest kids. we are at about a thousand. a thousand to go. we are asking companies, particularly with cuts to the federal government -- my goal was at least a thousand jobs. we are halfway there. consider giving a job. think about your first job. think about young people who may not have people who have traditional jobs in their families, what a different world that opens to them. thinking of my adopted city of new york, where my husband and i live seven years, they had a fresh air fund. there are a lot of kids in oakland who when they come up thick ask the staff, "are we still in oakland?" there are so many kids who have never been outside of their neighborhood. i am running this campaign in the 100 block area where i believe we have to change the

city forever. oakland, we do not have a corporate tax. we will give discounts in our business tax and our sales tax. we have a pretty active enterprise zones. we have rearranged and reorganized all our economic development services so we can maintain them despite the loss of redevelopment. oakland is open for business. we welcome you. our weather is better. we have great restaurants. we hope you will join us in a city we really, really love. we do not think we are second to anyone. san francisco is often known as the kansas city. -- as the can-do city. we also believe we are a can-do city. our futures are so links to each other that we will rise and fall

together. thank you for coming, so many of you who did come. please join us on a first friday, and join us for some of the best art galleries and restaurants. it is basically a party downtown. if you are coming early, give my office a call. we pour a little bit of wine on the first friday and invite you to stop by the mayor's office, if you are looking for real estate. fred can help you any time. we often will show people around on first fridays. >> thank you, mayor quan. to introduce for the q&a portion, and again, hold your please welcome dan angell, president and ceo of golden gate