yelled gun. the return fire to stop the deadly threat. the suspect appeared to a bid struck as he stopped firing and continue to drive away from officers. the suspect drove across all lanes and struck parked cars. it took a position of cover, not knowing the suspect had been injured by returned fire. when additional units arrived, it was discovered the suspect had been seriously injured and was found unconscious. officers rendered aide, called for an ambulance, and retrieve the hand and the suspect had used. tonight officers patrick grant and michael tursi are being recognized for their efforts. they are being awarded the gold medal of valor. [applause]

>> captain paul chignell, along with officers tastings ahastingd lopez. >> good evening to you all.

my pleasure to introduce richard hastings and that lopez. -- matt lopez. saturday, july 16, 2011, officer richard hastings and asked matt lopez were on duty and in uniform. their primary assignment was to be on a fixed post detail on the imminence of a railway platform on third street between oakdale avenue and plu avenue. this platform and the surrounding areas are notorious for high incidence of robberies, aggravated assaults, indiscriminate shootings, gang activity, illegal firearm possession, as well as a

multitude of quality of life cripes. the bayview station has dedicated a high-level police resources to this area, particularly to a recent rash of robberies on and adjacent to the platform. well on the platform, officers tastings and lopez contacted the subject later identified as kenneth harding jr.. he was on the railway vehicle. the officers determined the suspect was riding without benefit obtained. the officers escorted the subject off of the vehicle without incident and requested he sit down on one of the benches nearby. mr. harding complied with that request well officer lopez conducted a standard warrant record check. as he heard officers radio transmission, he suddenly leapt to his feet and started to run east across third street into

the crowded plaza with officers and foot pursuit. suddenly, and from a distance of 10 feet from the pursuing officers, harding a ride of the northern part of the plaza and reached his right hand under his left arm and then fired several rounds from his handgun at both of the officers. the officers immediately engaged in a firefight with the suspect. he then it fell to the ground, suffering a gunshot wounds. officers approached the suspect to taken into custody and render medical aid. numerous responding officers arrived on the scene and observed the officers surrounded by a mob, many of whom were screaming and provoking hostility towards officers. as they attempted to secure the time seen -- crime scene, the mom became increasingly provocative with the threats directed towards officers.

ultimately officers from four police stations and the tactical unit arrived to clear the plaza of the mall. in the aftermath of the shooting, it was determine the suspect was of recidivist criminal who was wanted in seattle, washington, for the murder of young, pregnant woman just one week before. this inference is the police department delayed -- delineates the criteria that must be met for an officer of the san francisco police department to be awarded the medal of valor. that includes outstanding bravery beyond that expected in a line of duty, or failure to take such action would not justify censure. with the rest of life actually existed and officer had time to evaluate the risk, and where the objective is of the sufficient importance to the risk, and lastly and most importantly, where the officer accomplish the objective. on july 16, 2011, officer

richard hastings and matthew lopez the kill each and every requested criteria for the medal of valor. they exemplified bravery of the highest level. in doing their duty and deterred by the fact that their lives were in imminent peril. they engaged in a gunbattle with a career criminal who was engaged with the ones in respect for public life and wanted to escape to not be held accountable for a vicious murder. san francisco police officers know at any time and anywhere they need to put their lives on the line to do their duty to stop a criminal. july 16, 2011, officer richard hastings and mathew lopez put their lives on the line and did their duty. for that, they're being awarded the most prestigious award, the gold medal of valor. [applause]

>> those were the last of the nominees and recipients.

the chief amount to the closing. -- will now do the closing. many of the people on the stage and an audience were present. as amazing as the stories were, you had to see it to believe it. some of the actions these officers took. we recognize the tennis solomon a moment ago, but i want to recognize something. many of officers recognize are not first generation san francisco police officers. four of the six are not first generation san francisco police officers. can i get the other generation of police officers that gave us these police officers to stand up and be recognized. [applause]

>> talk about raising your kids right. another recognition i want to make is we are going to experience in the next 30 days of record exit of police officers, especially commissioned officers due to the sun setting of the retirement program. many of the people that are going out red nominations tonight. if i could, all officers that will be retiring and leaving us, they we think you for your service by getting you to stand. [applause] that is going to close our program. know that all of these officers when they get back to work, they will go out again looking for trouble and probably find it.

i trust they will demonstrate again what these officers do every day, and that is keep this city safe. the command staff and commission will be available for pictures. family and kids for sure. if you can get your metal back from this little guy. thank you very much. hopefully we will see you all again soon. keep the officers in your thoughts and prayers. keep them safe. [applause]

>> welcome to city hall. thank you for joining us. thank you for coming out. i want to thank members of the board of supervisors. i want to thank them for being here in this joint recognition of our commissioners and members of 14 different bodies that will be appointed today to committees and commissions. i want to thank all the friends and family for joining us. let me say how excited i am this past week, i have been watching a certain convention. next week, we will have an even more exciting convention to watch. it is of course, in the spirit of the expected national, regional, and state elections we

are preparing for. it is also a reminder of the importance of our civic duty and all the different departments we have created. public engagement is extremely important to the way we run government in san francisco. it has always been about public engagement. we need the last bodies come a different viewpoints, different economic classics -- classes, ethnicities, and regions of the city to be well-represented on everything we do because that is what makes our city great. it is that the verse you point coming together to focus -- it is that diverse viewpoint coming together to focus and figure out with the public what it is that we should do, that it is

time well, well thought out, and what we need to do to show the rest of the country that this city can work itself out of the economic doldrums and into presenting hope and economic opportunity for everybody, no matter their backgrounds. we also reflect our regional values in this city in many different ways. we want to continue selecting people who will make sure government and all of our programs are open to everybody. i want to thank each and every one of the people in front of me today representing the different bodies we are about to make appointments to and thank you for your sacrifice, time, and energy. today we get to recognize you. tomorrow, people will start yelling at you. it is part of that process.

it is one we cherish no matter what body we're on. i know former mayor willie brown is here. i want to thank him for constantly being a support to all of our commissions and for being here today. i want to recognize each and everyone of you today by asking you to stand and be recognized as i call your commission and name out. for the board of appeals, we have an lazarus. joshua, thank you for being here. for the construction and workforce advisory committee, a body i helped to establish as city administrator, this body is going to be important for us

because in our economic recovery we need to work better with our construction companies to make sure everybody has a chance to work in our city. bob alvarado, thank you for being here and part of it. ed riskin, thank you for stepping up again. florence, thank you. harland kelly, our general manager to be. thank you. kent, thank you for stepping up. yes, i will tell you what you are paid for after. [laughter] james, thank you for being here.

coming out of retirement, thank you for stepping up. thank you for all of your great work. joshua, you are appointed to two conditions today. -- two commissions today. thank you very much. mohammad, he always needs help. thank you for stepping up. [applause] oscar delatorre, the northern california carpenters regional council, thank you. laborers council. tim, thank you for being here. the film commission, patrick johnson, thank you for stepping up.

an invaluable planning council that i will be working closely with as we move into the new health care challenges for our city and state and country, that is our hiv services planning council. gabriel ortega, thank you for stepping up. mark, thank you for being here. [applause] a very important commission, our immigrant rights commission, who is constantly challenged by the need to reform our immigration policies, but to make sure that when people try to vote this year that they will not be intimidated. we've got to work harder for the rest of the country. we can show the way here. i know the leadership will come from sonia.

thank you for stepping up. our state has presented, and our country has presented, a challenge to us for our seniors and the need for long-term care. we're going to be working closely with the long term care coordinating council. thank you, tracy. [applause] thank you for stepping up. and for teaching me how to pronounce your name. our mta newest member to the board of directors and one that i know will be of great value to us as we are challenged with everybody being able to enjoy all the services our mta has. thank you, christina, for stepping up. [applause]

as we move into the times when we want more people to come in, we want development to create jobs, we need to make sure we appropriately plan all areas of the city. i want to thank these two gentlemen for stepping up to come and spend hours of their personal time helping us with the planning of the city. michael, thank you for returning and stepping forward for the planning commission. richard, thank you very much for stepping up as well. some say the most voluble land we have -- valuable land we have for people to live and enjoy is the waterfront. i want to thank our newest

commissioner to the port commission, william adams. thank you, william, for stepping up. [applause] we have a very important task in front of us for this november. we have a very important bond i think most people in the city know will be invaluable to us for our kids and families. that is the open spaces part bond proposition b for this year. we also have a cherished commission and department that is charged with maintaining all of the open space in the city from the parklets to the vast golden gate park, to the shared responsibilities we have with ocean beach and open spaces throughout the city. i want to thank phil for being here today.

we have our returning commission. you have done a wonderful job so well. in my decision, it was appropriate to reappoint youtube this important commission, -- to reappoint you to this important commission, and keep the good work out. gloria, megan, thank you. tom harrison, thank you very much for your wonderful work there. we have challenges at our state level in the way we handle our incarcerated population. we will be working closely with the realignment committee, with all of our public safety departments, many of them are represented here today. we will be working with the sentencing commission. stephen, thank you for stepping up and helping us with our

sentencing commission. [applause] it is no surprise to you that i have been working with the board of supervisors on this very thema, and i am not afraid to keep repeating it. it is jobs, jobs, jobs for everybody. we can only do it if we have a more enlightened workforce investment board the works with us on all the policies we need to have, all the outrage, all of the communities need to be represented on our investment board. i want to thank everyone who is stepping forward today to be on the board to help us with the 21st century policies we need to make sure people have every chance and opportunity to work in jobs in the city. andrew, thank you for joining.

barbara morrissette, thank you for joining us. brenda barnes, thank you very much. diane easterwood from kaiser, thank you for stepping up and helping. kevin carroll, thank you for stepping up and being with us. niki callahan, -- mickey callahan, they keep for your help and stepping up. ontario from pg&e, thank you. rebecca miller, thank you very much for being here. [applause] rudy bagsby, thank you for stepping up and being part of this. sylvia kwan, thank you very

much. ted eagan, thank you very much for stepping up on this workforce. tiffany, thank you very much. keep us focused on central market, too. tom from riverbed technology, thank you. trent, thank you very much for all of your great work. jimena from bank of america, thank you very much for stepping up. [applause] finally, the largest body we have today, but one of the most important ones, one that today we have shared appointments with the board of supervisors is our youth commission. [applause]

yes. i assure you that people from this body, as well as all the other bodies, will one day see somebody standing in my place or in the place of the people standing by the side of meat and their respective offices. our youth are important. whether it is public safety, education, free muni, all the things we deem important to make this city healthy. you are charged with helping us with the best inclusion and policies we can have to keep families vibrant, keep our youth a safe, keep them motivated, and keep all of us paying attention to our next generation of people who will inherit everything we do and will inherit the good things as well as the bad things. with your help, there will be less bad things to inherit.

with that, angel carion, thank you for being here and stepping up. ariel, thank you for stepping forward and being part of our youth commission. brian chu, thank you for being here. christine, thank you for stepping forward. eric wu, they give for stepping forward. -- thank you for stepping forward. iris, thank you for being here. kyren, thank you for being here and being part of the effort. lily, thank you for stepping forward. mia, thank you for being part of this. mia, thank you.

nicholas persky, a key for being part of this and stepping forward. -- thank you for being part of this and stepping forward. paul rodriguez, thank you for stepping forward. rachel broadwyn, thank you. sarah armstrong, thank you for stepping forward. vanessa, thank you for being part of this. vee, thank you. that is our commissions. let us proceed with the swearing in. stand if you can and raise your

right hand, those that can do so. please repeat after me. i, your name, do solemnly swear that i will support and defend the constitution of the united states and the 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 that

i will well and faithfully discharge the duties upon which i am about to enter during such time as i hold the office of -- for the city and county of san francisco. congratulations. thank you very much. [applause] thank you, all. our class of commissioners for 2012. 14 commissions. thank you very much.