celebration in the not too distant future. we will do what we do at my church. we burn the mortgage. we are going to burn the mortgage. [applause] thank you, mr. mayor, mr. brown. >> we have had tremendous leadership from the mayor's cabinet, city attorney's office, but also from the board of supervisors. with us is the president of the board of supervisors david chiu. welcome. >> thank you. first of all, i want to thank all of you for being here at this wonderful announcement. i want to thank all of my colleagues from the public sector world and your leadership for helping to rescue this incredible institution. as mayor brown said -- and i do

not need to restate it. this institution is of critical importance to the arts world, to the asian community, to the storytelling of who we are as human beings. i am so honored to be an asian american representative here in san francisco and to have the largest art collection in the western world in our cities across the street from where i work is truly special. to have the 6000-year history, as depicted in the 17,000 artifacts that are here, i do not think any of us can question our fortune. the work that was done to pull together this complicated negotiation and to get to where we are today, i want to thank the mayor, city attorney, then rosenfield, nadia, my colleagues on the board.

i commit to you as the president of the board of supervisors along with my colleagues, that we will do what we need to do to get this done. hopefully, in short order, we can write the financial situation here and get us back on a footing we need to hopefully be an institution that will be around for another 6000 years. thank you for being here. [applause] >> our next speaker will be the president of the foundation of the asian art museum and the vice chair of the asian arts commission. >> on behalf of the asian art museum foundation, i express our deep gratitude to mayor newsom, mayer brown, city attorney dennis herrerra, controller rosenfield, and other leaders

for their leadership and helping us find a solution to the debt. we appreciate the city's assistance and support for assisting us in these difficult economic challenges. the city's support is for a wealthy cause. for nearly 40 years, the asian art museum foundation has provided much-needed financial support for the museum. this support has enabled the museum to successfully fulfill its mission of leading a diverse global audience in discovering the unique materials, aesthetic and intellectual, achievements of the asian culture. over the years, millions of museum visitors have experienced the museum's world-renowned connection -- collection. truly one of the city's most viable assets as well as for a great array of education. the city's plan for strengthening the museum's financial position will make

sure the foundation can continue these efforts for future generations. a successful capital campaign requires leadership, leadership, -- leadership, vision, and a well found gold. the foundation's leadership, led by our chair, has developed a framework of a strategic plan that aims to bolster the museum's commitment to serving our community. the plan also intends to maintain the organization's financial health to robust fundraising while also making sure the museum uses its resources in the most effective manner. we fully recognize the challenge that lies ahead but oare confident that our members and donors will support us, as they have done in the past. the foundation welcomes the leadership of the city in helping us achieve our goal.

also, thanks to the board of supervisors who have shown strong support of the mayor's proposal. thank you very much. [applause] >> let's welcome supervisor carmen chu. [applause] >> good afternoon. thank you for all of the individuals who came today. as you know, today is a day that we can celebrate a path for for the asian arts museum. i want to take some time to thank the people who have been so crucial in making sure this day is here. mayor gavin newsom and your staff for leading this effort and for all of your attention to this. even over the winter holiday, i know staff was working through this, so a big thank-you to you. dennis and his fine team who have been working diligently to make sure that all the terms are

correct, that we have the best deal for the city. thank you to the board president and members of the board who have always supported the asian arts museum. this is a good day for the asian foundation. of course, to the comptroller ben rosenfield and nadia, we would not be here without your hard work. today, i simply want to give two messages. one is just how important the asian art museum is to san francisco and to our history. san francisco and asian american communities are intricately linked. we have had a huge mystery here. one of the things that this museum represents to me personally is not just an arts museum that shows bali and the shanghai exhibit. it is the history from where my parents came, from where many san franciscans have come. if there is any message i could

leave today, for my lincoln high school mustangs out there, communities in the richmond, bayview hunters point, visitation valley -- this is not my museum along. this is your museum, this is your history. please support the museum. please make sure that this can stay here for your generation and for our kids. thank you for the tremendous leadership we have seen today, and thank you in advance to the community for their support. [applause] thank you -- >> thank you so much supervisor carmen chu. now i think we have all been waiting to hear from our city comptroller ben rosenfield about key points of the proposal to restructure the foundation's bond. [applause] >> that would be the first time that people would be waiting to

hear me speak. [laughter] i am just happy to be here today because that means we found a solution to a set of problems that threaten the viability and vitality of this wonderful institution. more than anything, i am pleased that collectively we have gone to that point. i will talk through some of the high points in the deal. fundamentally, this is a complicated negotiation agreement that involves five different parties, very quickly worked out under challenging circumstances and executed this morning. some are still subsequent to board approval, approval of the founders of the board of directors and others, but the deal is set. what it's fundamentally does -- of the $120 million in outstanding debt that the foundation formally held, lenders have forgiven $21

million. so approaching 20% of the debt has been written off. secondly, $30 million approximately in collateral that the foundation had been required to post with j.p. morgan under the terms of the old financial arrangement. those would be returned to the foundation. the form of that underlie agreement has been ripped up. secondly, so that the amount of outstanding debt is reduced, what is outstanding his then refinanced under more stable terms. form of financing was a variable rate subject to interest-rate fluctuations that would change the foundation's payments. it has been restructured as a stable, fixed 30-year loan at 4.6%, which is a competitive rate, and is free of some of the

other financial bells and whistles that had served to create some of the challenge with the former financing. third, the foundation commits, with the assistance of elected to the leadership, to raise $20 million over the next 20 years to meet the remaining gap on this financing. lastly, the city enters into this agreement and provides certain assurances for the lenders necessary to make this financing work. in essence, we lead our credit rating to this deal. in the words of the city attorney, it is hard to find such a good deal for all the five parties involved. it would not have happened without the leadership of each. i am here, happy to talk about the leadership before me and look forward to more stable financial footing for the

foundation and this wonderful museum in the years ahead. thank you. [applause] >> once again, on behalf of the staff of the asian art museum, i cannot say enough of our gratitude to civic leaders, mayor newsom, the city attorney, and board of supervisors president david chiu, carmen chu, ben rosenfield, and the public utilities finance director, and the others who have done so much work without being mentioned. and everyone coming together, from the museum to our city, and banking communities coming together to develop this proposal. about the value of the museum, i cannot say it any better any be civic leaders that have said about the wonderful importance

of this museum. so we are very motivated to work together, to move the process forward and the at some upon the i would like to acknowledge some of the save members on the museum staff who worked diligently particularly our c.f.o., mark. he is right there. thank you very much. come back to visit us as a body and once again we have experienced wonderful art from asia and interconnectivity from asia and our city. our leaders here will be available for interviews afterwards for questions. thank you very much for coming.

what do you get when you cross a soprano with cardiologist? ♪ ah someone who'll sing their heart out. just what they're doing at a children's theater organized by her choir, his hospital, and their community coalition. see, busy kids usually don't try drugs. what can your group do? contact your community coalition at... because...

>> right on time. i am grateful that a number of you showed up today. i thought we had just a few people being sworn in. i kid you not. i was thinking we could do this in my office. we would have only been able to get a 10th of you in there. i am grateful that you took the time to be here. i thought this would be my last swearing in as mayor but i have two people, supervisor dufty, tomorrow that i will quietly swear in. this is the last public swearing in of my tenure as mayor. i do hear some claps on the

other side. i am glad i do not hear any on this side. somebody picked up on that. -- some of you picked up on that. [laughter] i am appreciative of department heads being here. of course, our city attorney dennis herrera, who has taken the time to be here, phil ting, bevan dufty, the ubiquitous supervisor, and so many leaders, particularly from the labor community, chief of staff, and particular, the rank and file of my favorite local, 261. [applause] truly my favorite.

they are here for you, vince. i am pleased to be swearing in six individuals and i am honored that two were recently and overwhelmingly supported by the board of supervisors as a member of their other applicants were rudely rejected for purely political purposes. but i am over that. but i needed to state that publicly. that is sometimes the way people act when they cannot make the right decisions. sometimes they make the wrong ones. in this case, they made the right ones with the two of you and supported vince courtney to the public utilities commission -- [applause] i guess i should have appointed

him four years ago. little did i know. i should have mentioned him last time. that is unfair to the other commissioners. i know jason does not even have a friend here. [laughter] he does, jason elliot, department of the environment. leona bridges. we are proud of her as well. [applause] >> how many have dealt lta sigma theta in the house?

[applause] >> our collegiate expert, supervisor dufty. we talk about behavioral health and mental health, and i say that in the context of anyone who wishes to serve on the mta board. leona clearly passed the test and i am glad she did. it is pretty remarkable with all of the warfare as it relates to public transit in our city, dealing with $220 million in state cuts over the past few years. we have been running surpluses at muni had the state not gone in and drawn down nearly a quarter billion. that became the biggest challenge in your biggest frustration in the last few years. so we are navigating through that.

that has been the struggle. we are going to be on a much firmer footing in the future. leona will be a big part of the new direction, particularly with the transit effectiveness plan. we have a real information to which we can make decisions about augmentation and changes, and that is the first time in over decades. ed harrington was a big part of that as comptroller. i really do feel more optimistic than ever about muni. that is a hard thing to say, right? but i do have faith about its future. beverly, hang on. a big round of applause. [applause] this is a big deal. the mayor gets one appointment

to the ethics commission. the ethics commission is a big deal, particularly when a lot of elections are going to take place, mayor's race, all of the public financing. we had a great meeting yesterday to talk about integrity, honesty, calling strikes, even if your friends are on the other side. you have to stand up and do the right thing. beverly was ahead of me on all these things. i gave this a lot of thought and did not make a precipitous decision in terms of this appointment. i am very grateful that beverly said yes, and i am also grateful if you would also give her a round of applause. it is her birthday. [applause] happy birthday, beverly. [applause] i have known lorna for many

years. she has been around since the old days of the school district. those were challenging days. we were on not getting along. it was challenging. lorna always stood out as someone trying to bridge those gaps, try to work for all those challenges. she has done some amazing work with an organization that only does good work, focuses on best practices, mckinsey, a great think tank. we have talked a lot about how great she would be. she has been an advocate for women's rights, advocate for girls. we thought it was appropriate to appoint her to the

commission on women. thank you for your willingness to serve. [applause] finally, i see francesca, our first department of the environment. there was an opening at the department of the environment and there wasn't a young guy that has driven a lot of us crazy because he is eager, enthusiastic, engage, and he plays above his weight, figuratively, not literally. that is jason elliott, whom i am honored to have served on the commission of the environment. he has been my policy guide. i am just going to -- at peril of being judged -- to be bragadotious. i will put up our record that we have done in the environmental commission with any others. i am really proud of the work

that has been done. i have great confidence jason will continue that work well beyond my tenure. which expires soon. [applause] the swearing in. i will ask each of you, if you could, to stand up, sit down if you must, but raise your right hand, which i insist upon. i will say i -- you will state your name, and then we will go down the road. you got it. vince, you got it? i -- do solemnly swear 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 and i will bear true faith and allegiance to the same, that i take this obligation freely without any mental reservations or purpose of evasion and that i will well and faithfully discharge the duties of which i am about to enter, and during such time as i hold the position as a member for the city and county of san francisco. congratulations. [applause]

>> the san francisco ethnic dance festival is one of the jewels on san francisco sculptural crowns. this is in its 32nd year of showcasing the celebrated dance troupes. this year will be one of the past with four new works representing kondo, afghanistan, china, mexico. -- congo, afghanistan, china, mexico. more than a hundred 30 ensembles and soloists auditioned in

january for a slot in the ethnic dance festival. in the end, 37 companies were selected to perform. 26 of those performances are world premieres. >> each year, we assembled a panel of dance experts that is made up of academics, scholars, researchers. people have been working for decades in the field. many of them came to this country in the seventies and have trained the next generation of dancers. they are proud to see many of these students at the these masterful levels. this was one of the best panel'' we have ever had, extraordinary people. at the end of the process, they

rank their top groups which are then merged into a master list. >> performers are judged on stage presence, costumes, and innovation. >> the four programs are created around an exciting and dynamic range so the soloists and groups selected each weekend will have enough dynamic range to be a society overall to are experience. >> hundreds of dancers from different countries need each other, compare stuff, and make new friends. this has resulted in new cross- cultural collaborations'. >> one of the extraordinary things is that it really only happens here in the san francisco bay area. all of the dancers that we are

presented -- presenting are from the area. they have full-time jobs and they spend their weekends nurturing their passion to sustain these extraordinary dance forms from around the world. the audience cannot help but be inspired. >> this year, the festival will feature a special collaboration that celebrates the mexican bicentennial and commemorates the 100th anniversary of the mexican revolution. >> one of the great area biographers has stepped out of that role and we asked them to create a special work working with 6 x ordinary dance companies that we have assembled dancers from all of these companies to present a united o