our clerk, and her efforts to work us through a difficult process, and to make sure we thoroughly discussed with the public and with colleagues all of the nominees. i wanted to also say i really appreciated all the calls and e- mails from so many community organizers and advocates, workers' organizations, and neighborhood groups weighing in on this difficult but important decision that we make as 11 members of the board of supervisors. i was also able to talk to ed lee on thursday morning. he took the yacht -- took the effort to call many of us very early in the morning from taiwan. if he sincerely wanted to be successor mayor -- he currently serves as the city administrator. after the conversation, and other conversations with my colleagues, i am ready to support his nomination for the following reasons.

i have known him since he was a managing attorney over 20 years ago. many of us know him as a strong community leader. he is from an immigrant family. i knew him when he joined the administration in 1989. i was strongly support of other candidates who would have made great success for mayors. i think ed lee as the head of the human rights commissions of more rigid supported so many local businesses in the city and civil rights and immigrant rights in our communities. he has been an amazing affordable housing leader as well, with a strong background in chinatown and other areas. through this difficult budget season that we will find ourselves and, my staff and i will pledge to work with him to be sensitive to community-based services, and to work together to create a fair budget process for communities. it will not be easy. i feel he will be open to a fair and humane approach to generating revenue and sharing

the pain across the board with the cuts that might be coming in a few short months. i see this as a historic vote, as many have pointed out. we have an opportunity today to choose a highly qualified mayor, but also to make history in san francisco by supporting our first asian-american mayor, who will represent with pride all of our diverse people. i will also be casting my vote for ed lee as successor mayor of the city and county of san francisco. president chiu: supervisor daly? supervisor daly: i have been here just about 10 years now. i have seen go-along to get along. i think if you want to not rock the boat and skate by, it is not

a bad course. if you want to do more than that, if you think that there is a fundamental problem with the way things are in this world, go-along to get along does not get it done. you know, i have probably a reputation for reigning on parades. today will likely be no different. i reference my words from tuesday, all of them. i stand by them. something is not right, not just with the process of how this happened that supervisor campos referenced, but something is not right in the world.

there is injustice that i will not tolerate. if mr. lee surprises me, then so be it. i will be pleasantly surprised and i will apologize to him directly. i don't see it happening. i see a status quo being maintained, when what we need as candidates obama said more efficiently than anyone else, although there have been disappointments since then, as candidate obama said, we need change. i think now more than ever, we need that kind of change. what we have in front of us today is not that kind of change. it will not address the

fundamental injustices in san francisco. it is business as usual. i will be voting no. president chiu: supervisor chu? supervisor chu: thank you, president, and thank you to my colleagues. as many people in this room know, this issue is a big issue, particularly among the asian american community in san francisco, a city that has such a large population of asian- americans. what i do want to say and spend a bit of time on is not only is this an important issue for an important step in an important day for the asian-american community, but the reason why lee is because he is a qualified person and he is the right person to lead san francisco. he has been confirmed by the

board of supervisors twice. he has been our department head for multiple departments and he has a strong history for fighting for civil rights. aside from the importance and the historical nature of this issue, i want to say and reiterate that he is the right choice because he is simply the right candidate. thank you. >> regarding how we got to this place reminds me that it was just a few days ago that we got in gearing up for what is probably one of the most seminal decisions of this body. we all came here and with an earnest notion that we wanted to

advance the best candidates possible because we take this discussion so critically serious. we nominate candidates of our preferences and we have some serious debate. i chose the former mayor -- and then i also had signaled my support for mike hennessey because they have been tested and elected and they actually have the kind of impact that would well-suited best. this was a surprise to making

the choice. one of the candidates that was suitable was mike hennessey. it was a surprise that in some signal that that flow of thinking was interrupted. i thought it would be wise that this body trying to do a thorough vetting with the any of the others that we were trying to advance. i am glad that we were able to take this intermission and

reflect on mr. lee's consideration. he has garnered significant momentum. i did not understand that at first, i get that more now. i have not had the opportunity to speak with him at all leading up to this process. i did have the opportunity to speak with him yesterday and i thought the conversation was constructive and fruitful. in some cases, we will -- in our process. we will be able to evaluate candidates without any kind at the parents of manipulation or engineering or political dealmaking.

that did not give justice to mr. ed lee. this means to be feted. i feel that we did just that. i will support him. i believe that he is well known as a very effective department head and he has proven to be extremely responsive to our needs. i thank him for that responsiveness to all of us a matter of partisanship and no matter the affiliation anyone has with him in city hall.

they are able to take care of the needs that are necessary by our constituents. to me, that makes sense that he would be a proper consideration. people feel very strongly that he would help to unite the city in a way that at least begins to take some of the partisanship and some of the political perceptions away. i believe that he could help us do that. we appreciate the opportunity to address this more thoroughly. i will be casting my vote for mr. lee. >> i would like to start by

thanking my colleagues turned down i think that we have come to a much better place today and we had on tuesday. i think that we are getting the city and the people of san francisco the respect and dignity they reserved. i would like to thank sheriff mike hennessey. one thing about this entire process that needs to be made clear is that most of us here in this room believe that he is one of the great public servants. he has been serving the san francisco -- the people of san francisco for the past 18 years. there are many reasons to support the candidacy of mike hennessey and i would like to

thank him personally for being able to do this. the job for the interim mayor will be an extremely daunting one. so, this is not a little thing to agree to sit and take that post for 10 months. i would also like to thank mr. lee. the fact that he has also put himself forward speaks highly of mr. lee. as mentioned, he was the director of purchasing, the director of the department of public works, he was the director of the human rights commission. he has worked in almost every area of san francisco government. he has overseen our capital plan.

bandwidth he oversees -- he oversees the city's disaster recovery and response. this is a very important issue in district two and 10. he has worked on government efficiency and reducing the size of government. this is something that i used to do at the federal level. paul -- i will be supporting the nomination of mr. lee. in a time of budgetary restraint, it is good to know every facet of san francisco. both of these men have served the city.

i would like to thank them for serving the city and county of san francisco. >> i would like to thank colleagues for engaging in this deliberation. i would like to think all of you for crossing the political aisles that exist here and understanding the decision. i would like to thank all of you

from the public to come out here today for your engagement in this very important discussion over the past two months which will impact the future of our city not just this year but for years to come. at least reflect our shared progressive values. he has fought for working folks and for seniors. this is a historic moment. this is an historic moment for the chinese-american community, for a community that has been in the city for 160 years. a community that has struggled. a community that has seen

discrimination. a community that has had a place here in san francisco. a community like all committees similar to it, if you come to the city from another country, either you or your son or your daughter can someday reach the very top echelon of san francisco. this is a historic moment because this is an orderly transition of leadership. despite wonderful references to donkey kong, we have engaged in an orderly transition of leadership. this is what separates us as a democratic society.

this is what separates us as a free society from other less free societies. i'm so proud of us for what we're about to do today. with that colleagues, thank you for being part of this historic moment. unless there's any for the discussion, we will take a roll- call vote on the nominations on the roster. the sheriff mike hennessey was the first person nominated. indeed, then we will proceed to vote for our city administrator. a roll-call vote on share of tennessee -- sheriff mike hennessey. >> no. >> no.

>> aye. >> no. >>no. >>no. >> no. >> no. >> no. >> aye. >> if we can now take a roll- call vote for our city administrator, at least -- ed lee. >> aye. >> aye. >> no. >> aye. >> aye. >> aye. >> aye. >> aye. >> aye. >> aye on. >> aye.

>> there are 10 ayes, one no. >> the motion for edlee passes. >> as i have been advised by our car, we will continue item number two which would be the ratification of the appointment of a successor mayor in the event of a vacancy to when there actually is a vacancy. that would be to the state of -- if i could ask the county council. >> we would like to remind the board that you are still in committee and you must leave the committee and send the nomination to the full board and

then you can act at a later time on the ratification. >> i'm going to adjourn the committee of a cold. now we are back on item number two. can you read item number two? >> item number two, ratifying the appointment of a successor mayor. a motion to ratify the appointment of a successor may are due to the advent of a vacancy in the office of the mayor for a term expiring january 8th, 2012. >> to understand that the appropriate motion is for continuing this item to january 11th? the motion to ratify the successor mayor in the event of a vacancy. is there any discussion on

motion to continue in motion to that effect? any discussion? can we take that same house, same call? is there any other business in front of the board? i understand that supervisor daily suggested perhaps on tuesday to do an item for the introduction of the motion. before we adjourn, i have one more thing i want to mention. this is the last meeting for four of our colleagues who have served us for 35 years. supervisor daily, supervisor maxwell, supervisor dufty, supervisor alioto-pier. i would like to thank you for everything you have done. [applause]

is there any more business in front of the board? >> mr. president, we have one -- on behalf of supervisor dust -- on behalf of supervisor dufty, the meeting will be adjourned in memory of miss sinclair brandon. -- clair brandon. >> the board of supervisors is adjourned.