this time the need to have this a family together to support our city college. so also i have representatives of the comptroller's office, then rosenfield, mickey callahan, the human resources divisions that are here today, nadia from our public financing, and certainly kate howard and the budget staff, all here to help me help the city college to make sure they continue in the best tradition that we have in our city. after all, they need our help, our support. they will not be able to accomplish it all by themselves, so no less than any other educational institution. they cannot do it alone. certainly, i get that message from hydra a lot. working with her on the board of education, as well as her being

at the city college at this time, and then with our community assets, read it is here at the head of children, youth, and family. she has been a critical part of the programs that support our educational institutions and will be similarly so when we meet the challenges of our community college. our community colleges, as i say earlier, is the really important part. let me tell you how important. 90,000 students come through city college. we cannot let that fail. we will not let that fail. [applause] it is, i think, california's finest example of a true, urban community college. it serves 90,000 students, it has nine major maker of campuses, and more than 100

institutional instruction sites throughout the city of san francisco. and it has that because it wants to make itself available to every resident of san francisco and make it accessible by transportation, by bike or by foot, but also and most importantly, it becomes accessible because it is affordable and it is high quality. it has 815 full-time staff over 1035 part-time staff, and over 900 classified employees. offers affordable opportunities for san franciscans to earn associate degrees, to prepare for a transfer to hire institutions, or to pursue a career in technical education, over 50 academic programs, 100 occupational disciplines. city college also offers distance learning and free non-

credit courses in many fields. and for us in san francisco, for what i have been doing in the last year and half, it offers and empowers from our city those economic sectors that we consider most of valuable for our future. especially in the areas of health care, hospitality, biotech, and the technology in general. we have become dependent on city college for their ability to prepare the future work forces and because of the outstanding training that the college of fords, our economic future is directly tied to the success of our city college. so it is with that that i am presenting today a very important decision. in recognizing the importance of our city college to us as a

city, i also want to make sure that we recognize as a family the serious challenges that are before the trustees and before the interim chancellor as we would care to meet them. there will be very difficult and important decision that will need to be made in order to address the recommendations that are set forth by the accreditation committee. there will also be a lot of good faith negotiation that will have to happen in order to protect our city college. but tough decisions and reforms are what city college needs at this time. and we must first protect and serve the students of city college and make sure they remain have our number one priority. but any improvement means change from the status quo. it will also mean decisions about reform, decisions reflecting strong leadership and good governance that will improve our city college system

and protect this accreditation. to that end, i have given very careful consideration about who to appoint to fill this vacancy at such a critical time in our city college history. we need somebody who shares my vision of reform and some who will make the tough choices ahead. today i am proud to appoint rodrigo santos as the new trustee of the san francisco city college. [applause] not only to make good good decisions, correct ones, but also to complete the term of trusty marks. rodrigo is an individual that brings a wealth of knowledge and fiscal and managerial expertise, but he is committed and passionate about education and educating all of our youth, just

as he has done with his incredible twins and with the help of jenny. rodrigo has been and is based on business owner. he has had a history of community service. he has volunteered on a number of different conditions, including the san francisco building inspection commission, the former president of that commission, but i think most importantly he has been an incredible part of our workforce development commission because that is exactly what our kids are looking for when they graduate and complete their city college. it is not just about a degree. it is about whether that degree leads to full employment. that is what people are looking for. this is what rodrigo stands out in my mind amongst all the people that we had a chance to take a look at. he has been involved as a pro bono structural engineer. his firm is a structural

engineering firm, but he has been a part of many of our local nonprofits to have their projects successful in the past 20 years. i know rodrigo is a stronger performer. he is an advocate on behalf of students and he is committed to our city college and it will not lose its accreditation with rodrigo's help. [applause] for these reasons, i am presenting to you, rodrigo, as a great asset to our city college, and i want to thank him for stepping up and accepting this appointment at a time when we really need reform. thank you to you, jenny, and the two kids for supporting you as well. it is most important than ever before that we do whatever it takes to get our city college back on its feet, for the sake of current and future city

college students, for their families, and for all our city residents. it is a critical institution and we are preparing our residents to compete, not just to get the degrees, not just to get the job, but as a city, we need a city college that will help us compete with all the other international cities of the world, and it happens right here. so with that, i want to ask rodriguez to step forward and take the oath. please raise your right hand and repeat after me. i, rodrigo santos, do solemnly affirm 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 then i will well and faithfully discharge the duties upon which i am about to enter during such time as i hold the office of a member of the city college board of trustees

for the city and county of san francisco. congratulations. [applause] ladies and gentlemen, if i could present to you, rodrigo santos, the newest member of our board of trustees. [applause] >> i am honored for this great appointment. as a new member of the board of trustees, i can tell you i will do everything in my power to ensure not only do we follow the great work of former trustee milton marks. that great legacy of public service.

but at the same time, i join an institution that must be saved, an institution that must be preserved. [applause] i am absolutely committed to that goal. that goal will be shared by my fellow trustees. i will be working diligently with them to ensure we have not only the consensus that we need to pass a difficult reforms, but more importantly, we must support the interim chancellor pamela fisher. [applause] our primary duty is to ensure that she receives the support

and tools needed to implement the difficult reforms that are going to be required to preserve this incredible institution that teaches this history, as the mayor said, over 90,000 students. we're going to offer that supports. we think it is crucial as trustees to give the chancellor the support that is required, and at the same time, we will hold her accountable. we will help her, we will challenge her, and i know she is imminently qualified to help us save this institution. i will tell you a little bit about my background. i am a naturalized u.s. citizen. i was born in ecuador. i came to the bay area, went to

stanford university, and have a master's degree in structural engineering which i obtained in 1981, started my own structural engineering firm in 1988, santos and urrutia engineers. my partner is somebody that i met at stanford university. albert is a native san franciscan that attended the san francisco community college. there is a program where if you take 28 units and you get 3.65 and above, you have a direct path to uc-berkeley for better, stanford. [laughter]

i forgot this was being televised. [laughter] i met albert and we started the firm in 1988. that is 25 years ago. we employed over 25 people. quite a few of them, members of this city college. let me tell you, we hear a lot of negative things about the community college. but i must assure you, that in terms of technical expertise and great educators, we have absolutely the best teachers in the nation. [applause] i can guarantee you we will be preserving them. i have, behind me, my wonderful

family, my wife jenny, my two twins -- one of them. adriano and alexander santos. alexander graduated from ucla and is a proud member of the famous structural engineering firm of santos and urrutia. my daughter is a graduate of boston university. she works for the san francisco international terminal marketing division. born and raised san franciscans. i want to encourage everyone out there listening that this is the best city to raise a family. regarding a few of those articles that you read about families leaving san francisco -- don't.

stay in the city. this is what can happen to you if you stay. [laughter] in terms of my dedication, i think, san francisco has embraced me, has welcomed me, has allowed me to prosper, allow me to raise this incredible family. as a naturalized u.s. citizen, i tell you i have learned a great deal about compassion, public service, and it is time for me to give something back to a community that has embraced me and opened their arms to me. [applause] and that is what i intend to do as a new trustee.

you may have heard that i have an unusual work schedule. i open my office every morning at 5:20 a.m. i have an open house for anyone that want to come to my office to talk to me, hopefully, about engineering, until it o'clock a.m. i have been doing that for the last 25 years. why? because i would dedicated and committed to establishing and creating a successful business. i will bring the same commitment to the community college. [applause] and to ensure it does not affect my private business, i will be opening the office at 4:00 a.m. [laughter]

finally, i think is time for me to give something back to this wonderful community. i can guarantee you that nothing would give me more pleasure than being known not only as a structural engineer, but more importantly, as one of the trustees that was instrumental in saving city college. save city college. [applause] >> thank you, everybody. we can stay behind to answer a few questions before we go. we have a meeting to begin right away with chancellor fisher, and we have a lot of things to talk about. >> [inaudible] fairly conservative organization, polarizing

organization [inaudible] i will give you the chance to answer why you chose a polarizing individual. >> i would challenge that as being incorrect. the business background that rodrigo brings to this is a huge asset for city college. part of the challenges, if you read closely the recommendations, is the challenges of not only fiscal but governance. having a business mind, i think, will be a welcome thing for the rest of the trustees, to have a conversation with someone with a business background. >> [inaudible] >> i do think the board of trustees will be less about politics and more about how to do good administration of the

city college and make sure it is fiscally sound as well as the governance of it is sound. i think that is where the skills that will be a good match. >> [inaudible] >> my organization is extremely diverse. it is an organization interested in high density housing near transportation hubs. it is an organization that is green, an organization interested in responsible growth. i do not know why you characterize that as polarizing. >> what have you done to protect the accreditation of the city college? >> we first need to make sure that we offer the interim chancellor all the tools she needs to be able to respond to the original eight items, now 14. we have until october 14 to make sure that we have covered those items. >> any specifics?

>> i will be interacting with the interim chancellor and the mayor shortly so i want to make sure we can understand the global perspective and the responses we will be providing. i want to speak with a uniform boyce. >> given your background, how will you evaluate [inaudible] >> we will be analyzing everything. as a structural engineer, we will make sure the facilities we have, we will be analyzing them, and they need to be efficient. do we have the possibility of consolidating some of those facilities? i am not sure. we will be making the tough decisions and a proper analysis. no money will be wasted.

>> jennifer wagner. jnny first joined the league in san francisco in 2001 and has since volunteered in many roles at the local, regional and state and nation levels she currently volunteered as the president of the league of woman voters of california, and is a small business owner here in san francisco. she holds a degree in government, from claire mont college and a policy. >> good evening, everyone, candidates. >> good evening. >> this year we have two candidates for state assembly state 19, michael brior and phil tim. >> they will answer questions that you in the audience submit as well as the questions submitted to the league of women voters. in addition, the viewers from

the senior center may submit questions on-line. the time keepers will hold up a yellow card to signify to the candidates that they have 15 seconds remaining and hold up a red card when it is time to stop. >> both have asked the supporters to be respectful of the candidate and the audience and to maintain the quiet during the forum, i also ask you to respect this commitment, please. >> you all have many important decision to make on november 6th, and today's forum will give you the opportunity to ask questions to help you make your decisions. now, let's begin. >> our first question is a very general... actually i want to start with one here that is from the richmond senior center sent in on-line. >> the census data, and we are going to start with mr. brire >> data shows that many are

adults with disabilities or seniors it is expected to grow to 25 percent by 2020, do you feel that you understand the needs and challenges of seniors and adults with disabilities in district 19? what do you think we worry about and how will you help us to stop worrying? >> so, absolutely, while i am a young person, i do believe that we really have an obligation to protect our seniors. and when you see services to seniors being cut, you have to realize that they have contribute to the system their entire life and this is a time that they need services even more than other moments. and when you look at what is going on, you also have to say that there is the statistic that you gave is actually the start of the baby booming population, as she growing

older. so we actually need more and more services, we need to actually have people trained to provide those services as well. and so, i think, of my great aunt, who is 94 years old, who is i speak to as much as i can, when i think about what the senior population is going through and really care about their children and their future as well. >> thank you, mr. bryer. >> first off, thank you to the league of women voters and jr. voters for hosting this discussion tonight very glad to be here. i think of my grandmother and the amount of work that it took to take care of. we had an enormous amount of support from inhost services and i think about the california budget which has a $20,000 budget gap and the inhome services was one of those services that was cut where it was decided that we could not provide seniors care at home. instead, they are now going to the emergency room and seeking

much more expensive healthcare. we need to do a whole list tick approach and cut back the safety net that we have been cutting. and we need to make sure that we honor or seniors by making sure that they are taken care of during their later years in life. >> so a related question starting you mr. ting. >> retirees are faced with threats from their benefits from under funded pension funds what would you do to stop this from happening in the future and how do you make them live up to their obligations >> that is a great question, someone who is a fiscal question who has been working hard to make sure that the city and county of san francisco does everything possible to leave up responsibilities my office help to bring in above the budget due to the hard work of our office. pensions are a major issue not only in san francisco and the state. part of the work that we did

last year where we worked with labor unions and unix to debate and discuss and dialogue and we found a pension proposal that we could bring forward to the voters in the city and county of san francisco which was passed and we know that that is not the final step that the first of many things that we are going to have to do to make sure that we have a balanced budget. the worst thing that we can do is to make sure that we need to make sure that pensions are going to be there for people when they retire and we need to do everything possible to make sure that we live up to the obligations that we promised people when they started working. >> mr. bryer. >> pension is something that is critically important for the state. and we have huge obligations in the pension funds that have been unfunded and right now we are assuming something like a 7 and a half percent on pension returns when the private sector the returns are, you know, anticipated around 4 percent. and so this is an area where we

have to be honest about how can we insure that people who have worked and who have contributed are going to have pensions in the future? and so, we really have to, approach i got very excited about was what i redid in san francisco, it is one of the reasons that i started the drafted campaign and he worked with the unions to really be honest with how our system is going to be funded for not just in five years or ten years, but for the next generation. paramount importance. >> so expanding on that question, mr. bryer. >> what do you think can be done to address some of the systemic problem with the states' finances? >> we have to do a number of things. i mean, we literally are in a fiscal crisis. we have cities in the state going bankrupt. we have incredible challenges

on our hands. and we have to increase revenue. we have to decrease costs. which are popular and which are a necessity. but most importantly we have to grow the economy. and so there are a host of host of measures in each of those areas that are absolutely critical for our future and they are not easy decisions to be making but we have to make them sooner rather than later. because if you just pass the buck, it is the next generation who is going to be holding the bag. and in my mind, that is why i am running. it is really to look out for the children who are not voters, who are not being actually considered in my mind as much as they should. >> thank you. >> mr., chig how would you address the state's financial problems? >> we are about a hundred billion dollar budgt