taking the time to inform yourself about your choices on november 6th. good evening. [ applause ]

>>

okay. i know it's a lot going on, but turn your attention to ms. reyes. >> boys and girls, we are going to read grades. we have been talking about the government and upcoming

election. so we will read our book. i love the way i see table one. everybody's eyes are on me. what a great job. "grace for president." one monday mrs. barrington rolled out a big post wer all the presidents on it. grace could not believe her eyes. where are the girls! that's a very good question, says mrs. barrington. the truth is, our country

has never had a woman president. no girl president? ever! >> no, i'm afraid not, said mrs. barrington. >> grace sat down at her desk. no girls. whatever heard of such a crazy thing. finally she raised her hand. >> scholars from uc berkeley, we talked about how very special we were. we tell you all the time you are special. the mayor, of all the other schools in san francisco, chose to come. and uc berkeley. so the mayor will talk to you a little while. all of our attention is which way? >> well, good morning everyone. >> good morning. >> i want to first begin by

thanking your teacher, ms. mayes, for letting me come and be part of your class room today. of course your principal for letting us come to be part of your earthquake preparedness day. how many people know what today is? go ahead? what is that? okay. well, yes. [ indiscernible ] >> that is right. we call it the great earthquake drill. yes. we are getting ready. did you know -- let me give you numbers. 56,000 students in our school district are all participating at the same time. in the cities, 322,000 people are part of this drill, yes. then in the state of

california 9.3, from los angeles, san diego, san francisco, all participating in this earthquake drill. that is pretty big large numbers of people that are joining all of you. don't you feel special? yeah, everybody is doing this. i have to my left and right are really important department heads. our chief of police is to my left. he is participating and has a lot of staff to support this effort. we have our fire chief. did you know? you reading from the book, grace for president, she is our female chief of our fire department. to her right is rob, the head department of our department of emergency management. one of the most important departments that's working with police and fire and

connected up with the whole state with our school system, school board, principals and students to organize and make sure we are prepared for the next earthquake or emergency. this is why we have the great california shakeup drill. this is why we are doing it all over the state. we have to be a little better prepared. how many of you think that you're prepared for the next earthquake at home? yeah? do you think you have some emergency supplies ready? everybody has a flashlight? what do you have to have to make sure the flashlight works. >> batteries. >> that's right! hopefully when you go home ask your parents, your mom and dad in the house do they have extra supplis in case there's an earthquake.

how many of you will be willing to do that today when you go home? we greatly appreciate it. that will make you feel safe and your household. you have to have preparations and be ready for things. that is why we do these drills. practice, practice and practice, keep talking to each other. sometimes i may not be here. in a few years might be a new mayor, new chief of fire and police. people, should they forget? >> no. no, they should not forget about being prepared . this is why we do these every year. we have a lot of events in between to make sure everybody is working. because we want you all to be safe. we want you to grow up. we want you to be really successful, have the best jobs in the world. but we have to take care of

things that might hurt us and be prepared. in an earthquake or emergency, it could hurt us or a member of your family, your household if we are not prepared and getting ready to recover right off the bat. is that a good message for everybody to bring back home? will you do that for me? thank you very much. it is greatly appreciated. i want to thank ms. reyes for this opportunity to be with you. our school district and our -- and members of our school board are here too to oversee and make sure we use everything in every class room. by the way, one of the reasons i came to the uc berkeley -- yes. >> like uc berkeley? >> i like it. i graduated from uc berkeley too. [applause] >> law school. that is where i went. are we ready?

>> that was the -- go back into our routine. it may happen when we are doing our regular thing. we will continue as we are and when we hear that, we do what we always do, okay. thank you very much. >> thank you, thank you. we actually maybe will stick around. we are interested to see whether grace does become president. how many know we are voting for president of the united states? >> go obama. >> yeah, i will take a pass on it. thank you very much for all of your attention, for making sure you asked the right question when you go home tonight. we appreciate that you take responsibility. you will be a great friend to your class mates and good family member and good citizen of san francisco. thank you very much. good job, you did great. >> great in your uniforms as well. >> we are uniforms as well.

>> love the stars they are all wearing. >> for third grade, very attentive. thank you for letting us come into your class room. you can ask questions or continue with the story. whatever your teacher would like. >> ask questions if you'd like. this is an opportunity. >> how old are you? >> how old am i? can you guess? >> 95? [ laughter] >> can you not guess! [ laughter] >> only third grade. >> close, close. i'm 60. and she's 48. >> in between. [ laughter] >> i was -- so you will remember this, i was born in the year of the dragon. >> oh yeah!

that is how i have fun when it comes to numbers and it comes to age. >> we all have different jobs. we all have specific things. the fire department puts out fires and rescues people. the police department keeps everybody safe. what my department does is help everybody know what everybody else is doing and kind of orchestrate the whole thing. so we run the emergency operation center. we do a lot of communications. we talk to a lot of people. >> so he has a special place. >> you know, we all have --

>> duck, cover and roll, yes! good job. ♪

>> there are kids and families ever were. it is really an extraordinary playground. it has got a little something for everyone. it is aesthetically billion. it is completely accessible. you can see how excited people are for this playground. it is very special. >> on opening day in the brand- new helen diller playground at north park, children can be seen swinging, gliding, swinging, exploring, digging, hanging, jumping, and even making drumming sounds. this major renovation was possible with the generous donation of more than $1.5 million from the mercer fund in honor of san francisco bay area philanthropist helen diller.

together with the clean and safe neighborhood parks fund and the city's general fund. >> 4. 3. 2. 1. [applause] >> the playground is broken into three general areas. one for the preschool set, another for older children, and a sand area designed for kids of all ages. unlike the old playground, the new one is accessible to people with disabilities. this brand-new playground has several unique and exciting features. two slides, including one 45- foot super slide with an elevation change of nearly 30 feet. climbing ropes and walls, including one made of granite. 88 suspension bridge. recycling, traditional swing, plus a therapeutics win for children with disabilities, and even a sand garden with chines and drums. >> it is a visionary $3.5 million world class playground

in the heart of san francisco. this is just really a big, community win and a celebration for us all. >> to learn more about the helen diller playground in dolores park, go to sfrecpark.org. >> we came to seven straight about 10 years ago. -- 7th street about 10 years ago. the environment is huge. it is stronger than willpower. surrounding yourself with artists, being in a culture where artists are driving, and where a huge amount of them is a healthy environment.

>> you are making it safer. push, push. that is better. when i start thinking, i see it actually -- sometimes, i do not see it, but when i do, it is usually from the inside out. it is like watching something being spawned. you go in, and you begin to work, excavate, play with the dancers, and then things began to emerge. you may have a plan that this is what i want to create. here are the ideas i want to play with, but then, you go into the room, and there maybe some fertile ideas that are becoming manifest that are more interesting than the idea you had initially set out to plan. so there has to be this openness for spontaneity. also, a sense that regardless of

the deadline, that you have tons of time so the you can keep your creativity alive and not cut it off and just go into old habits. it is a lot like listening. really listening to watch what is going to emerge. i like this thing where you put your foot on his back. let's keep it. were your mind is is how you build your life. if you put it in steel or in failure, it works. that works. it is a commitment. for most artists, it is a vacation and a life that they have committed themselves to. there is this notion that artists continue to do their work because of some kind of the external financial support. if that was taken away, artists

would still do their art. it is not like there is a prerequisite for these things to happen or i will not do it. how could that be? it is the relationship that you have committed to. it is the vocation. no matter how difficult it gets, you are going to need to produce your art. whether it is a large scale or very small scale. the need to create is going to happen, and you are going to have to fulfill it because that is your life.

>> it is my pleasure to introduce our moderate or this evening jennifer white ner, she came to san francisco m in 2001 and volunteered in many levels at the local, state and regional legalers. >> she volunteers as the leader of the voters of california and a small business owner san francisco. and olds a degree in government and a diploma in public policy from the university of edenburo >> thank you very much >> good evening, everyone, this election we have candidates for state senate district eleven, miss additionally, viewers from the

it, brooke man community center will submit questions on-line. the time keepers in the first row, will hold up a yellow card to signify to the candidates that they have 15 seconds remaining and will hold up a red card when it is time to stop. both candidates have agreed to ask their supporters in the audience to be respectful of the other candidate and others in the audience and to maintain quiet during the forum. i also ask you respect this commitment. you have many important decisions to make on november 6th. today's forum gives you the opportunity to ask questions to help you make decisions. now let's begin. >> we will start with question number one, miss difficult on. >> retire aoes in the public and private sectors are faced with nrets to benefits from under funded pen son funds what would you do to prevent this

from arriving in the future how do you make everyone life up to their obligations. >> let me thank the league by thanking you and the jr. league for hosting this event and very much thank the senator for participating. i know that there are a reasons here in san francisco where the result is a foregone conclusion according to many, politicians and i respect the fact that he respects the voters by attending this event. on your question regarding pensions, my husband is here in the audience and he is a retired beneficiary of a state pension program and so we very much think that the state needs to honor its obligations to all of the workers who did that program over the years and those are contractual obligations and i am an attorney and i do believe that those obligations need to be honored. however we have what the government has called a ponzi scheme and so there needs to be definitely a serious readjustment of the priorities

in terms of making it more of a private sector-funded type of pension benefit program going forward. >> thank you. >> mr. leno? >> let me also thank both leagues for bringing us together today and also it is a real pleasure to be here with miss dillan who is a great respectful of her party and an activist in the community. as i think that most californians know that we have spent a lot of time dealing with the issue of pension reform for the public sector workers and i think that we have reached a point where we can going forward deal with pensions in a much more sustain able fashion so that we won't see cities in particular having upwards of 25, 30 percent of the general fund having to go to pension obligations. of course, those promises already made must legally be adhered to. i have also said in a lot of time in this past year, looking

at private sector employees in publicly traded corporations, who have seen their benefits wiped out and in many cases actually stolen by top executives who are shifting significant amounts of money to their benefit at the expense of those workers. >> thank you, the time limits are tough, aren't they? >> the next question for mr. leno is state proposition 35, asks if the definition of human trafficking should be expanded and penalties for traffickers increased, convicted sexual trafers be required to register as sexual offenders and officers be trained and why. what is your view and why? >> the issue of human trafficking is a serious one, san francisco is one of the top cities in the nation experiencing this kind of crime. i authored a bill sponsored by our attorney general harris

this past year, which expands asset forfet tour, it is a way for us to quickly gain resources so that we can provide services for victims and invest in greater public safety police officers and investigator to deal with these crimes. i am opposed to prop 35, number one because the author of it is the single individual, deep pocket putting this forward. it is not a citizen's initiative. never came to talk to me what was wrong or short with our bill that he had to go to the ballot and expanding the definition to those who have to register as sex offenders to include those who have not even committed a sex crime, i think delutes the benefit of our sex registry. >> i think that the support for 35 is a no-brainer. i support 35. i do agree that the problem

with sex trafficking in our society in california is a very significant one. in san francisco is frankly the epi center of sex trafficking industry. and i find it interesting that the attorney general participated with the senator in his abnormal legislation and she did not do much about sex trafficking when she was the district attorney in the city and so, i walked to work through china town through russian hill and i pass sex dens every day and i wonder why the police don't do anything about it. we need more boots on the ground and will at the political level to enforce the law and appears that we need state level support as well. >> thank you, so this is a big picture question. miss dillon. >> what do you think that the legislature can do to address the systemic problems with the finances. >> that is a big picture question, it is a tough question. i think that in the long term a lot of the problems that we have here in the budget relate to the ease at which citizens

can put ballot box budgeting measure into his our state rule books and they don't sunset and the legislature has increasing little control as well as the government what can and cannot be cut every year. this is a problem that is not caused by democrats or republicans or the structure of our system. that is one thing that i would try to change is have legislation passed that would allow any such provisions that are sponsored by citizens and maybe even provisions that are sponsored by legislatures such as a senator to sunset or be examined regularly by some type of a commission. as to whether they remain valid. that is the big picture, but the other big thing that the state needs to do is recognize that we need to cut, cut, cut. and reenvig rate what our priorities are. the example is education verses the bullet train, i don't think that we can have both right now. >> thank you. >> mr. leno? >> yes. what i have learned through ten years of working in the state

legislature, is we have a very serious and significant governor nans problem and that is two-thirds vote requirement on the most important issue of the day which is revenue. we have seen our revenue cut significantly by taxes that arnold schwarzenegger cut his first day in office. we have a depoll that prop is trying to refill it. we should not have to do it at the ballot box when out of 40 state senators 14 have more power than 26. 14 can veto when 26 want. i tell fifth graders that and they say that is not democracy that is not possible. that is exactly the problem, we don't have democracy on all issues, revenue-related in the legislature, let the majority party do its job and if the voters don't like what the majority party is doing in no one jerry man dered districts

change who is in power, it is call democracy. >> continuing on the theme of democracy, and how people engage with their elected officials and with government generally, clearly civic engagement is critical for a safe, strong and a vibrant state and i am curious what you have done and what you will do to encourage appropriate participation in democracy. >> i think that we could probably most simply define participation and democracy aside from community hearings and gatherings is the opportunity to vote. and i have sponsored any number of bills that address the expansion of making it user for people with very busy lives who are probably operating sometimes in languages not their mother tongue to be able to cast a vote. we have seen across this country, the