car and drove his handgun. he then moved to an area of limited coverage north of the gate. simultaneously, officer griffin exited the car and tactfully moved to the tree line south of the gate. while moving to cover, officer tursi saw the suspect moving to his we stand. he then quickly pointed a handgun toward officer griffin. officer tursi 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]

>> hello. welcome to "meet your district supervisor." we are here with supervisor farrell from district2, which includes the marina, pacific heights, st. cliff, and the neighborhoods surrounding the presidio. supervisor farrell started his first term this january, so he is new to the board.

we will get to know him and talk about the toughest issues facing the city. welcome, supervisor. thank you for joining us. tell us about your background -- where you grew up, went to school, the kind of jobs you have worked. >> i am a born and raised san franciscan, first and foremost. very proud of that. i am also a born and raised district 2 residents. i grew up close to the palace of fine arts. my parents still live in the same set of flats i grew up in. i went to grammar school at stuart hall in district 2. i went to high school in st. ignatius. i'm a very proud wildcat. i went to college at loyola marymount college in los angeles. i had a scholarship to play baseball down there. ended up going to ireland and getting a master's degree at university college dublin. came back to the states and went to law school at the university of pennsylvania. spent three years in

philadelphia. came back, and ever since coming back to the bay area, professionally, i have been a corporate attorney down at palo alto. i left after about three years and became an investment banker here in san francisco at thomas was all partners. working the industry for about five and a half years. in the summer of 2009, joined a venture capital firm. i am happily married. my wife and i lived around laurel village in district 2. we have two small children. our goal is five and our boy is three. how parents and excited to be here on the board. >> why did you choose to live in san francisco? and tell us about what motivated your interest in politics. >> choosing to live in san francisco was natural, given that i was born and raised here. when you are a child, you do not understand what you have until you leave home.

i have the fortunate opportunity to live in los angeles and abroad in ireland and in philadelphia. there is no place like home in san francisco is your home. very natural and something was looking forward to in trying to find a job to come home to after law school. my job afforded me that opportunity, to come back to the bay area. so i'm lucky, and i will be here the rest of my life. in terms of getting into politics, for me, it was two reasons. first, being from here was part of my motivation. really feeling a sense of routes in san francisco, and also raising our children here. as a young family, we went through the discussion and dialogue that many young families go through in san francisco. "should we move to the suburbs? should we move elsewhere? san francisco is expensive to live. the public-school system has been difficult in the past." i think less about the quality of schools because we have great

schools and grieg parental involvement, but more about the assignment process. where would my child go to school? a lot of family leaves, -- a lot of families leave. we stuck around, but it was a turning point decision to say, all right, we are here from -- we're here for good. what can we do to make this place better? getting involved in politics was the fact that the seed was open for election for the first time in a long time. it was previously mayor newsom's seat and supervisor alioto- pier's seat. i did not get into politics because i had a lifelong ambition of being a politician. that is not me. i came from a private sector, and looking at honestly answering the question -- did i have something different to offer that i thought would be valuable to sanford's is go right now? i do think a large part of our problems in the city are financial, economic.

with my background, i did think i would be able to add a lot of value, and that is why i decided to get into politics. >> where do you place yourself on the political spectrum? >> i have to say, i'm one that has been trying to get away from the political spectrum dialogue in san francisco. i would just say, generically, i think i am in the middle. i'm a moderate person. nationally, i think we are a little bit left in san francisco, but i think i am a socially liberal person. that is what i tend to practice what i preach. >> what did you learn campaigning for supervisor, and was there anything that surprised you? >> that is a great question. i have never run for office before. i am new to the political world. for me, the learning curve was

the best he could be. there were a lot of lessons to be learned in running a race in san francisco. a few that stick in my mind -- money does matter. raising money. that is the simple, somewhat unfortunate fact of life. i think really having a message that resonates with voters, not just saying you want to be a politician, but you have to really explain why you, and i think that was really court to what we did. most importantly, the one thing i drew out of it was the hard work and other determination is the thing that will, i think, allow you to succeed more than anything else. i believe that the candidates who won this past november with the ones who worked the hardest in their races. >> what are the biggest issues facing san francisco? >> i believe the biggest ones are economic problems right now. we face was estimated to be a $400 million deficit this fiscal year.

potentially growing next fiscal year. it all comes back to that in many ways. we have a growing pension and retiree health care problem that is huge and looming and getting worse. as important, we have a huge unemployment rate here in san francisco. it is about 9.6% right now, and the fact that we have not done much about that in city hall i think is about to change. that is certainly something i will be focused on, putting people back to work. it is an individual issue, but it is a family issue, and we have a lot of families still struggling, and a think people have lost sight of that. hopefully, we will be getting out of this recession soon, but we need to do a lot in city hall to accelerate getting out of the recession, making sure families are back at work, making sure children are provided for. that is my biggest priority. >> talk about the issues facing your district specifically and

how you are going to balance the issues facing the city at large against those in your district. >> we definitely have a few big projects for issues -- or issues we're paying a lot of attention to and we will continue to devote a lot of attention to, both myself and my staff. one of biggest ones is the planned development of the new campus for california and pacific medical center. that has dominated a lot of city-wide dialogue in the past few years. that project is slated to go forward or get through the entitlement process this year in city hall. if you are not familiar, we currently have a california campus and a pacific campus, and the plan is to build a bigger campus and consolidate those services into one larger hospital at the old cathedral hill spa on van ness, and that is going to have a huge impact, both in terms of the neighborhood in district 2, not

only the new campus, but what happens to the pacific and california campus. also, is a huge job creator. we're making sure to do it in a way to we have every constituent buy into the project, create a ton of new jobs, and move forward with a health care system that benefits all of us. otherwise, some of the other issues coming up -- francisco reservoir in russian hill is going to be an issue that comes up. we have a huge project on doyle drive that is getting finished in the next couple of years. we need to make sure we wanted to the impacts. it is going to be a big deal. after leaving here, i am going down there with the mayor and the head of our department of transportation to really make sure we understand exactly what is happening at this point in time in the project. that is just a smattering of

some of the issues, but they are very important, and a plan to spend a lot of my time -- and these are the neighborhoods i grew up in, so, for me, it is fun to be in these neighborhoods to see what is going on and influence some of the thinking of some of the people making these decisions. i think we do lose a lot of sight. in the past, district supervisor's have lost sight of the fact that we do represent sanford cisco as a whole, and we need to major in city hall that we are acting policies, laws, and legislation that will of the city forward as a whole. there are a lot of issues like that. i mentioned job creation, pensions. a lot of them are economic, but some of them are more than that, making sure we continue to have dialogue with the 49ers. that is something that is not necessarily economic but something that matters to the city as a whole. it is a big part of what i look forward to doing in city hall. >> what are the specific thoughts you have on how the

city can deal with budget issues? >> i think of two things. i'm not one the things that we can raise revenue and that is going to solve out of our problems -- i'm not one who thinks that we can raise revenue, and that will solve all our problems. we need to look at what we do as a city and was services we offer. we have 26,000 city employees. our payroll and fringe benefits for city employees accounts for over 60% of our budget. if we are not willing to look at that issue, i do not think we are going to solve -- i know we will not solve our long-term financial issues. that, to me, is the biggest deal. second, it is about job creation. jobs are not just putting people back to work, which i think is the highest priority, but it is all the ancillary benefits we received, whether it be payroll taxes, an increase in property taxes. people who live and work in san francisco also shop at local restaurants, so shop at the

local retail stores. it is a huge economic impact in san francisco. in my opinion, it is getting our costs under control but also promoting economic development so we have a financial engine that will continue to promote us year after year. >> what are your ideas on dealing with the issue of homelessness in san francisco? >> i am one that thinks mayor newsom did a great job thinking proactively about what we need to do in san francisco. when he started care not cash -- but enacted so many things past that. project award down, when he ended up making sure there were family members on the receiving end, giving people bus tickets to go back home to where they are from -- project homeward bound. unfortunately, the project does not have a silver bullet ending. we deal with our homeless problem, and a lot of it, we need to make sure that the homeless population -- a lot of

them have mental health issues where it is just not solvable to lock them up. we need to help them, and i think we have that in our heart and soul to make sure that we treat the people as much as possible. at the same time, our biggest issue is that we have a continued influx of people in san francisco, so the more people we help, the more people come in, so it is a rotating system right now, and i think we need to continue to address the issue, spend a lot of financial resources on the issue, but again, i think it is something we will have to grapple with. but what is the long term solution here? we continue to attract more and more people in san francisco. again, i do not know what a silver bullet is to that, but i acknowledge it is a huge priority, a huge issue that affects everyone in the city. in our neighborhoods, the

homeless people themselves, of course, and also the tourism industry, which we rely on so much, so i think it is a big issue and something we all need to focus on. >> what about the city's housing needs? what you think the board of supervisors should do to really address housing? >> again, a huge issue here in san francisco. we live in a very expensive place. housing is one of the biggest components of that. i'm not one the things we should be interfering with private markets sales and so forth. i think that should be left to its own devices. again, we are in an expensive city. however, what we can do at the board is in sure that we promote and provide for both affordable and middle-class housing in the city. i think it is so important that we maintain our diversity in san francisco and who we are as a people and we really stay true to those values. the large part, insuring something that we want to focus on and i want to focus on, making sure that there are

housing opportunities for our first responders to be here in san francisco and living here, police officers, firefighters, sheriffs, teachers -- people that provide such essential services for our community, to make sure they have opportunities in san francisco to buy homes, set up groups as a family and really be integrated into our neighborhoods. to me, that is what we should be doing and, again, something we should be doing. >> let's talk again about transportation in your district. is there adequate service? let's talk about parking and traffic. tell us a little bit about district 2. >> district 2 definitely relies on muni quite a bit, though perhaps not as much as other districts, but it is so important for a number of people, for a community perspective to and from work. the mainline, stockton and the marina.

the one california is a major bust the comes through the district, and a few other lines, of course, on the borders of our district. it is a huge deal for us, and we need to make sure we continue to provide a great service. we are transit first here, and people embrace that, but we need to make sure we have a reliable, robust public transportation system, so it is a big deal. we do have a lot of people in the district that drive cars, a lot of people that have families. i'm one of those as well. i take it was once in awhile, but frankly, the way we have arranged in our family is i spend my morning with my children, and time allowing, i take them to school in the morning, so i drive them with my car. i do not believe the way to achieve our goals is to make parking so inconvenient, so expensive, such a bad experience that people, so to speak, capitulate and take public transportation. that is not the way we are going

to make it happen. we need to innovate, in my opinion, our public transportation system. we are doing things like the bus rapid transit systems, things like being allowed to pay for your public transportation -- we now have the clipper card. let's talk about putting that on your mobile phone and using that. innovating in ways were people say that public transportation is a great way to go. that is the way to achieve true innovation, not through making it so inconvenient for people to drive. i think it is a fact of life. young families are going to use their vehicles. we need to do a lot in san francisco to encourage young people and young families to stay in san francisco. i think we are missing out on a lot of our diversity when young families leave our city. we need to do all we can to be mindful of the needs of young families in the city. we mentioned housing. schools are a big deal.

but also being able to be flexible with transportation and children. >> what is happening with crime in your district? give me your thoughts on how you think the police are doing with respect to crime in your district? >> i think we are very fortunate in district two. we have a number of great police captains that oversee the stations that touched district two. richmond and northern are the two major police stations that touched the district. we do have a lot of crime in district 2. both crimes against individuals but also against merchants along our merchant corridors. chestnut. union in particular has been hit. fillmore and sacramento. it is a big deal. we also have the break-ins. we need to be very mindful that people keep their iphones