>> look, thanks everybody for being here. i've been, as indicated, i've been looking for a good announcement ever since sunday night. we definitely found one. but i want to thank the board of supervisors. i know you're proud of your colleague for all of her accomplishments. also with our other official city family, dennis herrera is here, phil tate, of course, took a time away from

sacramento to be down here. thank you, phil, for being here. i know we have a representative from betty yee office, board of equalization that has oversight on assessor's office across the state. jose cisneros, treasurer of state. you sent david augustine. ben rosenfield, our controller, [speaker not understood], our budget director, of course. and then harvey, thank you for being here as well. and just all the members of the board that are here today. i think nadia is trying to get down here as soon as she finishes the final ratings on other companies. but i first of all -- it really is a necessity to have someone at the helm of the assessor's office. i personally want to thank zoom

wynn who has been in that transition for us. she's a real delight to have work with in this time period. she's held the office together and i want to thank her permly for being here today. (applause) >> a great job. you know, it comes as no surprise probably for all of us that i've chosen carmen. carmen has been willing to step up to be the assessor. if you look at what she's done and has been at the helm of our budget committee and working with my office and all the financial entities, of course, truly representing the board at the budget office last couple years. we've done a tremendous amount of good work together and she's made that connection that i have often spoke about in working with the board together on the budgets and making sure we cover all the interests and needs.

but also being very fiscally smart and brilliant in her efforts to help me do the first of two-year budgeting for the city, which is incredibly important. and i'll say later on why it means so much to rating agencies and others that we do even better fiscally. but at the same time we had in my first year 385 million dollar deficit. we were able to cover that through her leadership at the board. of course, all the board's cooperation. she also did it similar to the ways that i've been wanting to do it with the board, that is work with everybody, labor, our advocates, our nonprofits have all been recognized in the strong effort while we as people who are fiscally responsible for the health of our city balanced everything, and that is why i think we talk a lot about our success today. and i want to point to the fact

that i think one of the reasons why moody's perhaps made their move to upgrade our ratings was because they heard the rumor mill already about who we're about to appoint. [laughter] >> they wanted to reinforce that. but it's an incredible thing. i amoeba, -- mean, i think other cities are challenged by their ratings and we in the city working together, all of us sacrificing what we've done and having good discussions, are turning it around not only for us, but for future generations. and, so, i am pleased to announce carmen as the new assessor and that she will lead the effort there to do what phil ting did and so many others before them, is help us generate and get the revenues that we need, do it in an

efficient, an expert professional way, and enhance the staff's hope and belief that not only do we have a good manager at the helm, but a good partner with the rest of the fiscal leads in the city that are doing all the right thing and conversing in the right tone. this is so important these days to register a whole city family of professionals to talk with, not only rating agencies, but with our counterparts in the federal government and the state government who sometimes are challenged themselves about what they should be doing so that we don't get hurt by them. and i know carmen is going to be a great leader and a great partner. she's demonstrated that for quite sometime as being a very effective supervisor over district 4 as well as heading up the budget committee. so, with that i know she's going to get it all done and let me just take this opportunity right now to introduce carmen chiu, our new

assessor, and then we'll talk about the process. (applause) >> first off, i want to thank you all here for being here. for me, i've been an elected official for a little bit of time, but it never ceases to amaze me how nervous you get when you have all these cameras and people watching you. but i do want to thank you all for being here. i want it really thank all of my colleagues on the board who have taken the time under such short notice to be here with me today. of course, for all the electeds who are here city-wide, dennis, phil of course for being here and taking time out of sacramento for being here, our

city administrator for being he, kate howard from the budget office and doing such a wonderful job and stepping in and being here, too. i want to thank you all. and harvey, now i have to turn roles and be a little bit afraid of you. [laughter] >> but i do want to thank everybody for being here and being so supportive. it really humbles me that you are here, you've taken the time to be here to have the confidence to support me in this new adventure. to the mayor, i want to thank you. it's been really my honor, it's been my privilege to serve the people of district 4, to serve san francisco residents. and i take a look at this new opportunity and this new responsibility and really feel honored and privileged to be able to lead this new department as well. to all the finance folks who are here, my heart, my heart beat, of course to the controller's office, to the mayor's budget office, to harvey rose, to all the folks who are -- and the treasurer who i know couldn't be here today, but is sending his greetings from d.c., i really

look forward to working with you. i think that we are only stronger working together and that the financial health of the city, being able to build a solid foundation, the unique role each of us plays in making sure that happens is really something we can all work towards. all the things that we care about, being able to fund public services, being able to fund police services, children services, health services, these are all things that can only be accomplished when we have a very firm financial footing. so, i really look forward to that real responsibility and making sure that we're doing this together. i think with the solid foundation that assemblyman phil ting has set and the final work zoon has done stepping up in the leadership organization in the transition, i take the responsibility with humbleness. i really look forward to working in the department to getting myself right into it, to taking a look at the nuts and bolts of that organization. of course, to ensure to folks

that our assessments are fair, that we have transparent processes within the assessor's office, to make sure that our office continues to operate in the highest ethical manner, that is something i think we all expect of all our offices and all our operations. of course i vow to work tirelessly to continue to make improvements. every step that we take to improve our process for the residents is really a public service. and, so, i just want to keep my comments short. i want to thank you all so much for your support. i look forward to this new challenge and take on the responsibility with a lot of humility, humbleness, and with a lot of respect for everything that people have done here. so, thank you again. (applause) >> i almost did this twice. i almost forgot to thank scott, my husband. [laughter] >> when i was first sworn in

the first time around, i forgot to mention and thank him. [laughter] >> but i want to thank scott. he's been a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful partner. the strength behind everything, so, i just want to thank him. and of course thanks to my staff, thank you so much for everything. (applause) >> okay. so, of course, we wanted this announcement to stand on its own, but clearly carmen has been a great supervisor for the city. and now that we've made this announcement, i next have to make a decision on her replacement for district 4 and be prepared to do that through a process that will include stakeholders getting certainly carmen's input, community input. and we're setting our target for at least by no later than march 4th.

so, be about 30 days from now, and that will give time for the various staffs to adjust. and carmen would like to immediately take helm of the agency and start, because these are really good times for the fiscal responsibility of that office to take heed. but we do want to do as thorough a job to find her replacement and that's why we want to just suggest that let's celebrate today and we'll give ourselves 30 days to do the right process and meet with as many people as we can and get a good representative for district 4 and honor what all of these supervisors do every single day, and that is serve their constituents well and work with the city and do everything from compromising to advocating,ing to representing the whole city well as we've all done together. so, with that, we'll take a few questions. not too political, please.

[laughter] >> and we'll start with, we'll start with -- we were just five yards away. [laughter] >> [speaker not understood]. you were interested in a job because you were [speaker not understood]. can you just tell us other than that factor, what is it about the assessor's job that you find appealing? [speaker not understood]. [laughter] >> i think phil and z might disagree with that, and, of course, the fine people in the assessor's office would disagree with that. i think before my role i came in the board of supervisors, i worked in the mayor's office and nuts and bolts with regard to the budget and focusing on the long term couldn't point for the city. for me, all the things we want

to accomplish, really when it is trying it make our neighborhoods safer, whether it is trying to provide those after school services for kids, whether it's the health department and the emergency services that we have for the city, all of that really takes having a firm financial footing. if we continue to move down the cycle of having lots of cuts in the budget and not being able to to have sort of a solid foundation and move forward with, it makes things -- makes the provision of services and what people rely on so much harder. so, for me i've always been interested in that. that's why with david chiu's support and my colleagues' support, i've been at the board of supervisors budget committee four out of the five years i was there, r two years as a budget chair simply because i think some of those fundamental maybe boring topics really need to be focused on. and, so, for the assessor's office, i don't think at all it is boring. i think it's necessary to make sure that we focus on it and do it well and do it fairly. again, it brings in about $800 million worth of revenues for the city and that is not a small amount. so, we want to make sure that

we continue to be strong in that department, that we continue to do what we can to make sure we support the city's operations. so, i think it's a fundamental piece of our city's operations. >> let me add, too, i don't know if any of you certainly think harvey rose knows and others, if you've been in the room -- this is why i made the link to moody's. i was in the room with kate and all the fiscal people in the city, controller's office when we were getting reviewed by mood yes's and standard & poor's and other ratings, they throw questions at you. it is literally much more than an interview. it is kind of like a deposition. what do you have set up? what are you doing about this? what are you trying -- all of it is about economic and financial confidence in the city. and they're asking all these questions from the debt to general fund to reserves to how much you keep, what you're going to spend, what's the state going to do to you, what's the fed going to do to you. i think after going through

that for the last couple years, we need someone like carmen heading up an office that might in the external be quiet and unassuming, but they are an incredible part of the confidence building that we need to have in the city. and you have to actually be in those depositions with those rating companies in order to understand how important that is. because if they don't see our internal team taking care of business and demonstrating that on an every quarterly basis, on an every year basis, now it's poring through everything we do on an annual basis and every two years, the ratings are going to be low. because of all the other things that are happening in and around us. so, we've taken care of business. that's why i think we're viewed very differently than all the other cities i think in the state of california. yes. >> [speaker not understood].

[speaker not understood]? >> qualities, it's standing right next to me. so, in terms of public service, follow through, i mean, carmen has demonstrated very thoroughly in that district what it takes to be an effective supervisor. and the things that i have seen her do, i mean, she's hauled me out to merchant walks, to coffees on weekends, to garbage pick ups, to work along sunset boulevard picking up dead trees and fallen trees. and then talking with people down at the java coffee shop on noriega and finding out what's wrong with muni and how come they have these turn arounds which they hate out there. i mean, you just get into every single nitty-gritty thing that i think probably every

supervisor does. i've done that with the other supervisors as well. and you have to just bring that back in, absorb it, make sure we're responding and make sure all the other department heads that i get the privilege working on, responding every single day to those issues and making people's lives feel that they're improving and see the improvements. so, i think that's what it takes and you got to have the trust in it so that people are saying this is the person i want to invest in. that's what i'm looking at. again, i'm not going to go but for the comments that i made earlier, there are people interested in this position and i'll do the appropriate interviews and take a look at them. at the same time they have to be looking at the standards that have already been created. it seems to have been a high standard created for district [speaker not understood]. >> [speaker not understood].

>> are they key votes you want to tell me about? [laughter] >> i'll tell you later. >> you'll tell me later. >> [speaker not understood]. >> yeah, please. >> i want to thank you for that question. i think just as much as it is important for me during this period to transition and speak with folks at the assessor's office and really hit the ground running, i've never stopped working for district 4. and i think david can speak to this and my colleagues can speak to this. they ask, why are you still introducing items at the board of supervisors? aren't you done yet? when are you gone? [laughter] >> for me, i'm going to work until the last minute i am the district 4 supervisor to make sure i serve the residents there. when i came into the office, it was my commitment to make sure that i served district 4 well. that's why every piece of knowing what's happening with the merchant corridors, knowing what's happening with muni, understanding all the different aspects and problems people may face in district has been my priority. so, i don't intend to stop doing that until the very last

minute. >> [speaker not understood]. >> thank you. i think there's a lot to point to in my district. we really focus on the infrastructure and investments within our community. so, taking a look at what has happened with our play grounds, our libraries, these are all things that i'm incredibly happy to say that we've made wonderful improvement on and people actually see physical differences. but i think within city hall, the area that i'm always sort of the love of my work is really around the budget and fiscal responsibility. and, so, i think it's being honored to be able to serve on the board's budget and finance committee really helping that process go through and recently the last two years as chair really helping that process to move forward smoothly, making sure that we are putting the right attention we need to into a five-year planning process, making sure that we have our first two-year budget go off without a hitch.

are things that i feel incredibly proud of. and those are all things that i couldn't have done alone. again, all of my colleagues who are here and were with me before for those years and, of course, to my staff, they really helped to make that all happen as a city. so, i think that really bodes well not only with the leadership of our existing board and the boards that have come before, but it really shows there is really this unifying understanding of how important it is to have that solid foundation. >> thank you. (applause) ...out to bring that someone special. welcome to corona height located in the height of the cast strow

district the eye kong bay bridge and on towards the east bay. cone oi shakes park is one the city's best kept secrets on lake twin peaks it's hardly crowded on a day any day you will run into a new lolls and hop on a bus to get there without any parking worries and lolls bring their four-legged fronds run freely with other dogs and a small touch of grass for the small dogs and wild flowers carpet the grasslands keep on the look out nor hawks and ot >> hi, i'm with building san francisco and we have a special program of stay safe today. but we're going to talk about what you can do to your home after an earthquake to make it waterproof and to be more comfortable. ♪ ♪

>> we're here at spur in san francisco, this wonderful exhibit of safe enough to stay. and this is an example of what your home might be like after an earthquake. and we have today with us ben latimer. thank you for joining us. >> my pleasure, good to see you. >> we're going to talk about things that you might do ... >> hi, i'm with building san

francisco. and we have a special program of stay safe today where we're going to talk about what you can do to your home after an earthquake to make it waterproof and to be more comfortable. we're here at spur in san francisco, this wonderful exhibit of safe enough to stay. and this is an example of what your home might be like after an earthquake. and we have today with us ben latimer from tvan. thank you for joining us. >> thank you. >> we'll talk about things you can do you don't have to be a professional contractor to make your home more livable after an earthquake. >> i want to talk about things a homeowner can do. we have comfort and we have things like a little bit of maybe safety if your front door is ajar and waterproofing if you have a leak in your roof, or if you have broken glass on

the window. >> so unr, one of the most important fib use is keeping outside out and inside in. let's look at windows. >> let's assume this window is broken in the earthquake. we have wind and rain blowing in. one of the most important things you need to do as a homeowner is secure the plastic properly. if you just take staples or nails and put them into the plastic, we're going to get a strong wind and rip it right off. what i'm going to have somebody do is they're going to have -- this is an old piece of shingle. you might have -- everybody has a piece of wood in their basement. it doesn't have to be fancy. they take out this rusty screw begun, and hopefully you have one of these. >> there is one at the neighborhood support center. >> at the neighborhood support center. you're going to wrap this plastic around this board, take your screw. and then screw that in. >> you need a permit for this? >> you do need a permit for this.

and you can contact the former head building inspector to get that permit. that's it. now when the wind blows, it's tight and it's not going to pull through, having a single point of contact. >> great. what about this door? take a look at this door. what can you do? let's say it doesn't shut tight. what can you do? >> for the sake of argument, we're on the inside. i can't lock my door at night. i have a very similar, very similar idea. i'm going to take my 2 by 4. i can put it across the jamb in the door. one. two. maybe i want another one up here, maybe another one down there. but i can go to sleep. and that quickly, i can get it off in the morning. >> terrific. what about the roof up here? we see people throw blue tarps over their roof after an earthquake. that seems reasonable. >> i think the blue tarp is

reasonable. the things that people want to know that they need to know is if you have multiple tarps, how you overlap. starting from the bottom and moving up so that you're overlapping this way. so, rain running down doesn't slide under your tarp. >> right. >> and the same technique we did over here, as silly as it may sound, wrapping the end of that blue tarp with your board and then securing that if you can underneath, if you have to on top is fine. but making sure that you don't have an area where the wind is going to get under and bill owe that tarp. >> the wind can rip it right off. >> and then you're back up there again. >> let's go inside and check out what we can do inside. >> old fun. here we go. >> so, ben, i see you have nails, universal tool right here. >> man's best friend. duct tape. let me show you a couple things we can use this for after an earthquake. this window right here, because it's off kilter, we have open seams all along. i have a lot of air coming through. i want to stay comfortable at night. i want to keep that air out.

it's as simple as that, all the way around. >> excellent. >> now i don't have any air coming in. let's say this one is one that would annoy me. everything is a little off. my doors won't stay closed. i take a piece of my favorite duct tape here, close it up. and at least it will stay out of my way when i'm trying to live throughout my day. if we're not talking about pressurized water, we're talking about just the drain, sometimes they're going to get a crack here. >> right, sure. >> and you're going to get a leak. duct tape around that is going to help us get through until we can get a plumber out and get that fixed as well. let's say we only have electricity in one room, so we're running extension cords across the house. if i'm going to run an extension cord from one room to the other, i don't want kids tripping on it. i don't want to trippon it. i take my trusty duct tape, tape it to the floor, and i don't have to worry about it getting kicked. >> great, great. look at this. let's look at the duct tape here because we see a big -- >> yes. in the event of an earthquake, i don't think we're going to

have too many -- too much debris that's safe to put into a plastic bag, even as strong as it might be. these are called vice bags. this is what they use to put rice and things when they ship it. this is something where i take my glass, i can take broken pieces of wood, i can take anything sharp and fill it. and it's not going to puncture and come out. it's not going to fall all over the floor. i've not going to have it sticking out, maybe scratch myself, cut myself or anything like that. these are a great thing to have. >> you have a little go-to box for emergencies. that's great. thanks very much for joining us, ben. it's really been interesting. and i want to thank you all for joining us here at the spur urban center. and we'll see you again