(applause) >> can i just tell you how good >> has done an amazing job in it feels to be up here, to look district 8 and making that a out to see all the people that wonderful place to live for make everything possible, that really makes san francisco thousands of residents there, including my father. wonderful? so, thank you very much. and i just have got to give a he thanks you. special shout out. you knew i grew up in the fourth generation, you know? portola for those that don't know. [cheering and applauding] without further ado i'd like to >> right there at the intersection of silly man and invite someone who was standing on the stage just last year colby, my parents still live wearing a different uniform, there. that's where it started for me. stunning us all with her well but tonight is a night that we deserved award as a most have abopportunity * to up empowering city employee, that lift and support and say thank you to all the people that is lucinda from the fire certainly provide me support department to do the next award and provide me the motivation to get up and come to work every single day. for nerc. this is an opportunity to thank (applause) >> thank you, i want to say on and praise the people that call behalf of chief hayes white who could not be here tonight nert me stop, that e-mail me, find is a [speaker not understood] with the community of san francisco. me on facebook, send me a the marina navy demanded twitter and pick, found me on training. next door. 23 plus years later the fire i tell you, this is your day. department is still working with the community on this put your hands together. great program. hang in there, we're almost we have great training and done. but this is the day that we get support for what you do in your neighborhood.

to celebrate -- (applause) the neighborhood that you live >> i'm calling it the nen-ers. in, the earthquake knows no you know what's interesting? boundaries, the earthquake does i've been around city hall long not pay attention to that. enough to watch the nen awards we're all going to be in this grow and mature into what it is together so getting to know who today. you are in the portola, getting so, i also want to give a to know who you know is special shout out to daniel critical. (applause) >> the critical piece to the homesy who is the originator of this. nert program. thank you, daniel. (applause) and that happens through neighbors building their teams >> also i want to acknowledge and building what is going to be the network that we have together. his right hand christina so, thank you to the battalion palone, the new director, mon, 2 chief. hilbtion mayor's office neighborhood services over there in that corner. (applause) hickey is here on the chief's >> and for those of you that behalf. don't know, i represent nora is here today and donna is district 10, that's the going to tell you why. (applause) southeast neighborhoods. * that's bayview, that's potrero hill, visitacion valley, it's a little hollywood, it's dogpatch. it used to be the portola, half of it. my heart is still with you, but >> good evening. i'm glad like the speaker said, my name is dianne rivera, and i it is whole. and that is what's important, have a cold. so, i hope you'll bear with me. is that that neighborhood i'm a member of the remains whole so that our city will be whole. you agree? [cheering and applauding]

neighborhood emergency response team, and i am so pleased, as we all are, that nora has been cheers >> so, a few years back there chosen as the exemplary leader was this little idea to take -- for receiving the exemplary back the bayview and really leadership award for 2012. nora is a leader in her began to rewrite the history neighborhood and we all recognize her as a leader and the narrative that we often hear about in bayview. throughout the city. and it actually started, ironically, with a small little as a past coordinator nora has abandoned swath of land that led her team in all aspects of has grown up to become the nert training. nora does many other things for the nert program. cuseda garden. and it's the thought child and she has organized youth groups, the physical manifestation of namely the red cross youth group, so they can act as hard work, of a few community victims during our triage drills. leaders that got together and nora also participates in mini rolled up their sleeves and got to work. and tonight i have the honor to drills, outreach tabling programs, and she does introduce one of the continuing training. co-founders, his name is when nora is not doing this, she's working in the nert office organizing volunteers. jeffery betcher. where are you? get up here. and jeff is going to introduce to you as he escorts ms. nora is our resident ar annette young smith to the stage. this lady, ladies and extraordinaer.

and what do i mean by that? gentlemen, is a lifetime achievement award winner. nora has the ability through use of makeup to create please, please welcome her to the stage. life-threatening wounds on the limbs of victims. (applause) [laughter] >> so that our graduating nert >> i can't think of a more deserving woman. thank you. class 6 triage people can see come on in. what it might really look like during a real event. jeffery, i love you. >> i love you, too. nora's goals are pretty self-evident. she would like everyone to take >> hello, neighbors. the nert program. good evening. we are so happy, nora, for you -- where are you? you are very deserving of this award. congratulations. you know, first i have to say (applause) that i "heart" the portola, i really do. >> thank you so much. [laughter] >> this is an amazing win frankly for the whole southeast i really consider myself a student, and i have so many sector, from progress park down, and it's a wonderful people that are part of the night. great to be here with all of you. my name is jeffery betcher. nert family that have taught me i am the executive director of so much. and i invite all of you to the organization that emerged become member of the nert 10 years ago from annette young

family. and thank you again. smith and carl page's work on (applause) the block where i live. ♪ annette lived across the street from me and started planting flowers here or there around the block. and that changed everything mysteriously. and we figured out over time what it was that really created the change, and it wasn't the garden. it wasn't the plants. it was that annette was unafraid to cross the street >> to introduce our next award and give a hug to someone she i would like to invite someone didn't know, who was radically to the stage -- i have a cold, different from her, and she too, i apologize. [laughter] started to build a personal >> sneeze with my mouth moving. relationships that have become i want to invite someone who i think many people in this room cusada gardens and now a know who works behind the network of people and places scenes here at city hall to and projects that are really actually create what i think shaping the culture and life in are some of the most bayview hunters point. significant physical examples of neighborhood empowerment in it was -- it's been the the city. and that, of course, is lenny distinct pleasure of my life, frankly, to careful where you denriquez. move, it can change everything. i want to invite her up here. if you walk around and see an but if you're going to move to amazing mural or amazing a new place, annette young garden, it's a good chance smith is the neighbor that you she's the one that said yes to

that application. would pray to have. and i can tell you that she has so, here we go, lenny. been a terrific friend and mentor, too. (applause) she is still the chair of the >> good evening. i'm up here because i nominated board of the cusada gardens. the progress park for the best we know it's quesada. [laughter] ccg nen award. >> she is still the board. i'm proud to present this award she is still very much at the on behalf of nen to bruce and heart and soul of everything we do. she is our spiritual mentor, bill for their hard work and dedication for turning this vacant lot, this eyesore in and we love her. we truly, truly adore this their community to a beautiful green park for everyone to woman. and i'd like to introduce her enjoy. through their hard work and to you and i think you'll understand why. dedication and the support of their neighbors, they just congratulations, annette young smith. (applause) created something tremendously beautiful. it's just amazing. and i would like -- i'm honored and i would like to invite them up to receive their award. (applause) >> first of all, i thank god

>> thank you. [laughter] >> i want to mention that we live in one of the newest neighborhoods in san francisco, brand-new -- well, ten-year-old buildings, condos, apartments, a bunch of people who don't have a history, don't have a neighborhood. just a bunch of strangers living in proximity. and we got this idea to convert this derelict property, this derelict piece of weed infested lot under the caltrans on ramp. and all of a sudden we've got people showing up writing checks, digging weeds, breaking rocks. so, i got a real -- we got a real experience of what it

means to be in a neighborhood because we took this -- we turned into a neighborhood. that's the power of that project. so, i never anticipated it would do that. (applause) >> thank you very much. >> i just wanted to make sure everyone understood where it's located. it's located in dogpatch, small neighborhood on the bay in san francisco. (applause) >> part of district 10, supervisor cohen's district. (applause) ♪ >> certainly i'm weeding in front of my house, wait for people to show up with check. [laughter] >> get ready for that, deposit with my phone there. next is an award that i think, you know, ironically it's become one of those buzz awards for nen awards.

i'll be walking down the street and have someone come up and get in my face, we're going to come back neighborhood of the year, you watch. come back neighbor of the year, it's that bcs of the nen awards. and it's my honor to introduce someone who to drone deuce this award, many of you much in the southern part of the city especially have worked side by side with and do amazing things in your neighborhood, especially along merchant corridors. that's chrisy atano of the economic work force development. (applause) >> we're at the homestretch for awards. so, i've had the distinct pleasure of being able to work with many of the residents of the portola and got corrected many times how to pronounce that name. so, i am also a resident of silver terrace. it's been such a pleasure to work with everyone in the committee including both of the

supervisors that have been part of the district. (applause) >> supervisor campos and supervisor malia cohen. i'm not going to speak too much because i know the nominater took not only is she a part of this community, but she has taken the time to really outline all the achievements of the community. but i will say on behalf of my boss, amy cohen, the portola never had a drop down on the yelp. it never had a drop down on the cdbg grant application process. and they used to have t-shirts that said best little neighborhood you never knew. so, i'm going to bring up lindy lynetsky from dpw. (applause) >> we stole all her lines already. >> yeah, stole all my lines. you just stole another. all right. tonight is called the portola sweep, right? [cheering and applauding] >> i know there are several people here tonight who nominated the portola as the

come back neighborhood of the award of the year. neighborhood of the year award. i'm sure there were several nominaters. so, i'm very humble to be able to present my nomination and the reasons why i think we deserve tonight's award. i'm a relative newcomer to the neighborhood, only 13 years, and there are n who have been here fotheir whole lifetime. several years ago as even chrisy talked about, i first saw the portola, because portola family connections who this year is celebrating their 20th anniversary serving the community. (applause) >> had applied for a grant and as chrisy mentioned, there was nowhere to check. you couldn't get a grant if your neighborhood didn't include it. think of it still very similar. if you look at a aaa map today or a city neighborhood map, you ain't gonna see the portola on it despite all of our victories tonight and all of our victories over the past years.

this particular year has been very important to the portola. i think our biggest accomplishment was staying together. it was district -- redistricting and the d to put of us in one district and some of us in another district. and folks came out and they went to all those meetings and said, i don't care which district you put us in, but we want to stay together. the portola needs to be one. similarly, there was a road between two reservoirs in our neighborhood that was supposed to have been -- we opened after construction and we were told no, we're going to keep it closed. and that would effectively have blocked one side of the neighborhood from the other and hundreds of people attended a community meeting and said, no, you keep that open because we can't to stay together. (applause) >> in addition -- this is

definitely our year. we've won two community challenge grants. one of them was doing a beautiful mural of a stake on a caltrans -- it's the year of the snake, isn't it? of course we're going to win. (applause) >> the second is for a pocket park on boers at san bruno. it will be the first to be a pilot pocket park -- could say that several time, a pilot pocket park. [laughter] >> one of at least five improving every little corner of all the dead end streets on san bruno avenue. * boce. we could go on and on, everything from the garden tour to the brand-new library to the new trees that get planted to the folks in mclaren park getting fixed up. we have the most amazing people, volunteers and neighbors. i am so incredibly proud to live in the portola and watch and be part of all the

wonderful things we do. so, everybody here, give yourself a big hand. (applause) >> so, in addition to what mindy said, we should start getting a four-barrel that should get construction in february. (applause) >> without further ado, we would love to have everyone come he up here because i think half the people are from the portola. * but we are going to have barbara, let's see, barbara senich and jackie moray to come up on stage and accept the award on behalf of the portola. (applause) >> nice t-shirt.

thank you very much. here is a model of the t-shirt. [laughter] (applause) >> it is the best neighborhood you never heard of. both barbara and i are lifelong members of the neighborhood. i'm still in the same house that i grew up in. and come and see the new four-barrel when we timely get it. we're the only neighborhood that doesn't have a coffee shop. what can i tell you? [laughter] (applause) >> as jackie said, you'll have to come out to the portola to see what's going on. and don't forget to notice our painted pillar there as you

drive along 01

>> experiencing technical difficulty; please stand by >> here is the other linda to accept the award on behalf of the group. (applause) >> thank you. my name is linda light haiser and i work with help mclaren park. alioto-pier here to accept the award on behalf of the founders of the organization, the real movers and shakers who couldn't be here tonight, chuck and [speaker not understood]. [cheering and applauding] >> their family is in peru, which is where [a

they're so disappointed they couldn't be here tonight. but the back story on this is chuck grew up in the portola. and next to mclaren park and he spent his whole childhood there. and when he and she married, they wanted the same childhood experiences chuck had had, and even better ones. so, they have spent their time working on the play grounds and all the other aspects of the park. and they worked so well and collaboratively with all the other park groups that represent mclaren park. parks alliance and rec and park department. i know they want me to thank everybody who has been such an integral part of giving them this award and all the work we still have to do on mclaren park. so, thank you for chuck and trilsy. (applause) ♪

>> fantastic. easily one of the best views in san francisco, so, if you've never had the opportunity to visit mclaren park, i highly recommend it. it's like finding a whole new part of san francisco. and now it's time for our last award, which is an award that we felt was an important element of our vision for the neighborhood empower. ment network and that was to takethe opportunity to acknowledge the contributions of folks while they're still with us. so, the lifetime achievement award is for someone we feel we should take this moment in time and thank in person for their contributions to the city. and i think we have this year's winner epitomizes the kind of person that we should take the time to acknowledge and to go further into that i'd like to actually take a moment and invite now our supervisor district 8 malia cohen who would like to share her opening thoughts on this award.