bus lines. set against the reflecting waters of the lagoon and eucalyptus trees, the palace is one of san francisco post most -- san francisco's most romantic spots to relax with that special someone while listening to the water and gazing at the swans. a beautiful to view from many locations along the mattoon, an ideal place to -- all -- lagoon, an ideal place to walk with a loved one. reservations for weddings are available at sfrecpark.org. discarding contains plants referred to by william shakespeare's plays and poems. welcome to the shakespeare

garden here in the famous golden gate park. located near the museum and the california academy of sciences, the garden was designed by the california spring blossom and wildfilower association. here is a truly enchanting and tranquil garden along a path behind a charming gate. this garden is the spot to woo your date. stroll around and appreciate its unique setting. the gorgeous brick walkway and a brick wall, the stone benches, the rustic sundial. chaired the part -- share the bard's word hundred famous verses from a shakespearean

plays. this is a gem to share with someone special. pack a picnic, find a bench, and enjoy the sunshine, and let the whimsical words of william shakespeare and floats you and your loved one away. this is one of the most popular wedding locations and is available for reservations. take a bus and have no parking worries. shakespeares' garden is ada accessible. located at the bottom of this hill, it is a secret garden with an infinite in captivating appeal. carefully tucked away, it makes the top of our list for most intimate pyknic setting. avoid all taurus cars and hassles by taking a cable car. or the 30, 45, or 91 bus.

the garden was designed by thomas church in 1957. grow old with me, the best is yet to be is inscribed on a sundial. it is anchored by twin white gazebos and flowers that bloom year-round. this is the place to tell someone special or the place to declare the commitment you two share. weddings and the event reservations are available for this adorable hidden gem. we know there are many other romantic parks in san francisco. we hope you have enjoyed this torre of lookouts, picnics, and strolls that are available every day.

until next time, do not forget to get out and play. for more information about reserving one of these romantic locations or any other location, call 831-5500. this number is best for special events, weddings, picnics, and the county fair buildings. or for any athletic field, call 831-5510. you can write us at -- or walk in and say hello. and of course you can find more information moresfrecpark.org. --

>> in this fabulously beautiful persidio national park and near golden gate and running like a scar is this ugly highway. that was built in 1936 at the same time as the bridge and at that time the presidio was an army and they didn't want civilians on their turf. and the road was built high. >> we need access and you have a 70 year-old facility that's inadequate for today's transportation needs. and in addition to that, you have the problem that it wasn't

for site extenders. >> the rating for the high viaduct is a higher rating than that collapsed. and it was sapped quite a while before used and it was rusty before installed. >> a state highway through a federal national park connecting an independently managed bridge to city streets. this is a prescription for complication. >> it became clear unless there was one catalyst organization that took it on as a challenge, it wouldn't happen and we did that and for people to advocate. and the project has a

structural rating of 2 out of 100. >> you can see the rusting reinforcing in the concrete when you look at the edges now. the deck has steel reinforcing that's corroded and lost 2/3's of its strength. >> this was accelerated in 1989 when the earthquake hit and cal came in and strengthened but can't bring to standards. to fix this road will cost more than to replace. and for the last 18 years, we have been working on a design to replace the road way, but to do in a way that makes it appropriate to be in a national park and not army post. >> i would say it's one of the

most ugly structure, and it's a barrier between the mar sh and presidio. and this is a place and i brought my dogs and grandchildren and had a picnic lunch and it was memorable to use them when we come here. what would it look like when the design and development is completed. and we are not sure we want an eight lane highway going through this town. and it's a beautiful area in a national seaport area on the planet. >> the road is going to be so different. it's really a park way, and it's a parkway through the

national park. and they make the road disapeer to the national park. >> and the road is about 20 feet lower, normally midday, you go through it in two minutes. looking back from the golden gate bridge to presidio, you are more aware of the park land and less of the roads. and the viaduct will parallel the existing one and to the south and can be built while the existing one remains in operation. and the two bridges there with open space between them and your views constantly change and not aware of the traffic in the opposite direction and notice the views more. and the lanes of course are a

foot wider than they are today. and they will be shoulders and if your car is disabled, you can pull off to the edge. and the next area, the tunnel portal will have a view centered on the palace of fine arts and as you come out, you can see alkatrez island and bay. and the next area is about 1,000 feet long. and when you come into one, you can see through the other end. it's almost like driving through a building than through a tunnel. and noise from the roadway will be sheltered. and the traffic will be out of view. >> when you come out of the last sort tunnel and as you look forward, you see the golden dome of the palace of

fine arts and what more perfect way to come to san francisco through that gateway. >> it will be an amazing transformation. now you read it as one section, the road is a major barrier and then a wonderful strip along the water. all of those things are going to mesh together. >> right now the road really cuts off this area from public access. and with the new road, we will be able to open up the opportunity in a new way. >> this bunker that we see now is out of access for the general public. we are excited to completely rework this side and to open up the magnificent views. and what we want to do is add

to this wonderful amenity and restore this coastal bluff area and respect its military history and the doyle drive project is allowing us to do that recorrection. and this area is not splintered off. >> and we can see how dramatic a change it will be when doyle drive is suppressd and you have a cover that connects the cemetery to this project. it's historic on the statewide and national basis, but you could rush the project or put thought and time to create something of lasting public benefit. >> we really want this, for everyone to feel like it's a win situation. whether you are a neighbor that

lives nearby or a commuter or user of the park. that everyone will experience a much better situation than they currently have. >> the human interest to me is how people could work out so many challenging differences to come to a design that we believe will give us a jewel. landmark of a place. >> i am sure it will have refining effect like embark did. and there were people about that and no one would think of that today. and when you look at growth and transformation of the embark, the same with doyle. it will be a cherished part of the city and a worthy addition to what is there. >> it will be a safe and beautiful entrance to a

spectacular beautiful city. it will be the entry to golden gate that san francisco deserves. ♪ ♪ [applause] >> ok. that was really beautiful. we would like to welcome you to the third annual statewide celebration and recognition of asian-pacific islander american heritage month. this event is hosted by the mayor. i will tell you a little bit more. it is a non-profit, non- partisan.

since 2001, our focus has been on educating the public on public policy. and fostering the future leaders from our minority communities to serve at federal, state, and local levels. the mission is to empower patients and pacific islander americans in civic and public affairs to education, active participation, and leadership development. >> civic engagement, leadership development, and community servthe theme of tonight's evens a celebration of the achievements and accomplishments of asian-americans in the state of california and our nation. >> ok'ing.

-- ok. i would like to introduce our host for this evening. very well known as the first asian-american mayor in san francisco history. mayor lee championed balancing the budget to keep san francisco safe, solvents, and successful. he reformed city pensions. his focus is on economic development, job creation, and building san francisco's future. a great job, especially for helping out families. we want to keep families here. i also wanted to mention a little bit of his past. he was born in 1952 in the beacon hill neighborhood of seattle, washington. his parents immigrated to the u.s. from china and the 1930's. his father fought in world war

ii and worked as a cook. he passed away when the mayor was 15. his mother was a seamstress and a waitress. mayor lee has five siblings, he graduated from college in maine, he also went to uc- berkeley law school and finished in 1978. he and his wife have two daughters. i also want to mention, prior to becoming mayor, one of the key points in his contributions to the community is after he completed law school, he worked as a managing attorney for the san francisco asian law caucus, where he was an advocate for affordable housing and the rights of immigrants and renters. mayor lee -- [applause]

>> thank you. welcome to city hall. the people's city hall, san francisco. i want you all to note that that was such a wonderful rendition of our national anthem. please give another applause to the millennium -- melanie and her daughter. i am so excited about all of you and seen so many of you from all over our state. come to city hall anin san

francisco, welcome. i would like to welcome the former secretary of transportation. [applause] thank you for being here. thank you, john, thank you. our board of supervisors comment david chiu, thank you very much. david campos, thank you for being here. he is our adopted asian brother. we have so many of our state representatives here. so many of you are here. i have spent all night announcing your names, but they did not give me the full list. i will say thank you on behalf of our city.

from sacramento, los angeles, from all the communities in between, thank you for coming to our fantastic city to celebrate our asian-pacific heritage month. it is my pleasure to also provide you with a warm welcome and thank you for somebody who worked on this idea to bring everybody here to san francisco, my very good friend. thank you. where are you? when we first talked about this, we said there had to be the place where everybody felt comfortable. there had to be a place where we could feel the excitement of all very different asian american groups. we had to have a place where something wonderful had been accomplished. a leadership change, one that we

never thought in our lifetimes. by the way, as you know, i never thought in our lifetimes we would see an african-american president of the united states. what a wonderful location, that is something to celebrate. he has been here many times, president obama. the very surprised we had of being able to celebrate the first asian mayor of san francisco. it was not my doing, it was all of the people of san francisco saying it is about time we celebrate. thank you to the people of san [applause] i have a very short message. what did i have felt very strongly in my first elected year, but also during my tenure as interim mayor. we have a great deal of celebrate. we also have a great challenge in front of us.

there are so many of our asian american friends, iranian friends, friends from the philippines, friends from our japanese-american community, are chinese-american community, waiting for the opportunity to come together to celebrate our diversity, but also to signal to our european friends, our latino france, we are ready to help lead this state. and helped change the conversation and not only celebrate diversity, but use diversity for our strength. that is our strength. i want to signal to you, let's come together, let's use this opportunity to make sure we can celebrate our strength throughout the state. i also want to welcome carmen chu. thank you for joining us.

we can really celebrate and we can bring this state for because i know -- he does not want to be alone in san francisco suggesting change. nobody wants to be alone. all of us can contribute to a more positive outlook on life. guess what -- when we look at where we came from, when we look at the parents that brought us here, the generations before us, we learned a great lesson. we learned lessons they faced, there were struggling to get past the barriers of discrimination. past the barriers of economic privilege, past the barriers of the new immigrants to this country. they forged ahead. some of us aren't new generations, the generation of kids i want to -- some of us are

new generations. make sure they have a big opportunity in san francisco. we hope you do not have those barriers that our parents did. we hope that you do not run into the road blocks that we had to struggle for. we hope that our lawsuits, are street advocacy, -- our street advocacy, and all the places we struggled with in our generations, that you never have to go through. the only way we can do that is to make sure the door is always open to everybody else. that is our promise, we have to keep that, we have to keep our education strong, we have to keep our economic foundation strong, we have to keep our opportunities strong. thank you. i am honored. let us celebrate. on behalf of the city and county

of san francisco, i officially declare this to be asian pacific heritage month in san francisco and the state of california. welcome. [applause] >> i am going to make one correction. he said president obama is the first african-american president. president obama crew up in hawaii. -- grew up in hawaii. it makes him an honorary asian- american. he is the first asian-american president as well. tonight's events would not be possible without our community partners. a group that helped make all this happened, i am going to read them all.

the asian business alliance, asian law alliance, the asian pacific american leadership institute, chinese-american cultural association, chinese american political association, citizens for better community, culture to culture, why in the chamber of commerce of northern care of -- kawai and chamber of commerce of northern california, northern california chinese athletic association, national association of american professionals, national federation of independent business, national federation of filipino americans, the filipino chamber of commerce, around of

applause for all of our community partners, please. that was a lot. [applause] >> i am so glad he had to do that. our next speaker is u.s. congressmen. he is representing the 15th congressional district of california in the u.s. house of representatives. in congress, he is a member of the powerful house appropriations and budget committee. share of the democratic caucuses, new media working group, house democratic senior went, and the original author of the equity and excellence commission now housed in the u.s. department of education. his district includes silicon valley, the birthplace of technology.

mike has dedicated his life to public service and is lauded for his work on education, civil- rights national service, immigration, transportation, the environment, and high-tech issues. >> he is also the greatest karaoke sing their -- singer and all of congress. -- in all of congress. [applause] >> he just told me i had five minutes. what do you think of this program? [applause] it is about time. i want to thank francis and fong.

i think this is the very first statewide heritage month held with the mayor of san francisco. let me say something about heritage month in san francisco and your mayor. in the old days, you remember san francisco was known for passing all of these anti- chinese ordinances to limit the movement, the productivity of chinese in the city. we know two things. change happens. maybe the state of california is the state of golden opportunities, where we have a chinese-american mayor of san francisco. 35 years ago, congress members