an outstanding leader in our city. i could not be more proud and thank you to the board of supervisors, more pleased with their choice. for our next mayor of the city and county of san francisco. thank you all very much. [applause] >> as i indicated the, -- indicated, the mayors for the last 40, 50, 60 years in san francisco are represented here. the mayor who comes from the furthest distance and the shelly family and kevin shelly is somewhere here representative of the shelly clan. after shelly, there was joseph l. aliato and mrs. aliato is here. after joseph aliato, there was

george moscony and chris moscony is here representing george moscony. [applause] and after the moscony years, it was diane feinstein. and her husband, richard blum, is here. they actually got married in the chambers upstairs. [applause] now, in just a minute, the president of the board of supervisors is going to say the words that will allow you, the public, to know what the vote was in his chambers earlier in the afternoon. but mr. lee, there have been several people from across the bay, from sacramento and other places, who are here to extend their warm welcome. standing next to you is mayor newsom's chief of protocol, my chief of protocol, diane's

chief of protocol, everybody's chief of protocol, who's ever had a chief of protocol in san francisco, charlotte schultz. and i hope she sticks around as your chief of protocol. [applause] one of your state senators, and we have two of those, only one is present at the moment. the other one is up working on the budget. but senator leland yee is here to welcome you. [applause] and a man who went to bed on saturday night, a cop with a badge and who woke up on sunday morning a new d.a., george gason. [applause] city attorney twice elected in san francisco, and usually without opposition, dennis herrera. [applause] a member of the board of

education and from your administration, mr. newsom, hydra mendoza. [applause] the assessor for the city and county of san francisco, phil teng. the treasurer of the city and county of san francisco, jose cisneros. [applause] the public defender and the man that first whispered to george, you should be the d.a., jeff hadachi. one of the judges with whom we have worked for years, lilian singh. [applause] and of course the woman who was your lifeline from here to hong kong when you were trying to escape this awesome responsibility, rose pack. [applause]

fire chief of the city and county of san francisco, joanne hayes white. and a man whose work as an architect in three or four administrations, a man that i got from the board of supervisors years ago, he became deputy chief of staff and then chief of staff under mayor newsom, steve koba, chief of staff. and as always, you're in good hands of public safety, but only if there is a police chief, and there is one here, the acting police chief, jeff godong. [applause] the controller, a man who could cook the books or make it very difficult for you, ben rosenfeld. [applause] and from oakland, california, an asian person that beat you for mayor of the city by five

minutes -- >> a little more than five minutes! >> by five minutes by my account, this is san francisco. gene quan, the mayor of oakland, california. [applause] and the city attorney and one of my lawyers, john russo. [applause] oakland. from the board of education, emily mores. [applause] and i could go on and on with the -- mr. mayor to be of the people who are here celebrating with you on this very historic occasion. and it was all made possible by this fine collection of people to my right whom i've introduced by name and now let me ask the president of the san francisco board of supervisors, a man who chaired the historic

meeting where the vote count was done without the assistance of our folk who normally count votes which is kind of the way i prefer to have votes counted in elections. you get better results. the president of the board of supervisors, david chiu. [applause] president chiu: good afternoon. so mayor brown, i want to tell you the score of the game upstairs. two numbers. 11 to zero. [applause] this is an historic moment for san francisco. and i want to first start by thanking my colleagues at the board of supervisors. we may not -- please clap for them.

we may not always agree. but on this great man, edwin lee, we came together and thank you for that. [applause] i also want to thank the many candidates that we considered. one of the things that we are blessed here in san francisco was we had many individuals who we knew could step up to take this role. thank you for all of you who we spoke to about this. this is also an historic day for the asian-american community. for a community that has been here in san francisco for over 160 years, i am a product of that community. i know that ed and all of us who are of asian-american descent feel the legacy. and i want to thank all of you who have been part of this

historic moment to make this happen. and say that this is obviously not just about a chinese american community or an asian-american community. this is about the american dream. the idea that anyone from any background of any color from any part of the globe can come here and someday be at the very top of what our community is about. [applause] in closing, i also want to just say that this is an historic moment because we have overseen the orderly transition of leadership. what we have done at the board here at city hall is what separates a democratic society from less democratic ones. free communities from less free

ones. we have overseen a truly orderly and wonderful transition of leadership from our lieutenant governor, gavin newsom, to our now interim mayor, edwin lee. so without further adieux i will turn it back to our emcee and i just wish to say from the board of supervisors to our new mayor, ed, we look forward to doing many wonderful things together and with the entire city of san francisco. thank you all for being part of this wonderful community. [applause] >> i wish you had gone back to sacramento. because he just reminded me that i forgot eric mar. newsom had to remind me. [applause] thank you.

the board of supervisors adopted a set of rules to determine how you fill a vacancy when it occurs during the time of a sitting mayor. and those rules require that the presiding judge of the superior court in this county administer the oath of office. we are fortunate to have the presence of the presiding judge and she is katherine feinstein. where are you? would you please join us to do the duty of swearing ed lee in. mr. lee. >> if you would be kind enough to please raise your right hand and repeat after me. i edwin m. lee. >> i edwin m. lee. >> do solemnly swear -- >> do sol manyly swear --

solemnly swear -- >> that i will support and defend -- >> that i will support and defend -- >> the constitution of the united states -- >> the constitution of the united states >> and the constitution of the state of california -- >> and the constitution of the state of california >> against allen miss foreign and domestic -- against all enemies foreign and domestic -- >> against allen miss and domestic -- >> that i will bear true faith and aline of scrimmagens. >> that i will bear true faith and aline of scrimmagens >> to the constitution of the united states. >> to the constitution of the united states. >> and to the constitution of the state of california. >> to the constitution of the state of california. >> that i take this obligation freely -- >> without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion -- >> without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion -- >> and that i will well and faithfully -- >> and that i will well and faithfully -- >> discharge the duties upon which i'm about to enter.

>> discharge the duties upon which i am about to enter -- >> and during such time -- >> and during such time -- >> as i hold the office of -- >> as i hold the office of -- >> mayor for the city and county of san francisco. >> mayor for the city and county of san francisco. [applause]

>> thank you very much. board of supervisors for this fantastic opportunity. i also want to make sure i thank the mayors that i've worked for that are standing with me. mayor brown, wonderful years working with you. i learned a lot. and i want to really thank you for the tutelage you've given me, for the guidance, the leadership you've given the city, really appreciate that. to lieutenant governor gavin newsom, you're bold, your ideas have inspired me to go beyond just the bureaucratic jobs that i've had and your lessons about

not being fearful and taking risks have all been absorbed. thank you very much for your years. [applause] charlotte, you're going to be with us, aren't you? thank you very, very much for all yours years of service. and we hope that you will continue and help us out. to the board of supervisors, each and every one of you, i am ready to carry out the duties of this office and to do it in a way in which you will be proud. and to specifically supervisor david chiu and sean elsbernd who really had a lot to do with the pivotal discussions we had about this office, thank you very much for that strong and

continued encouragement. i very much appreciate that. and to our communities, to all of you who have come today to witness this, i want to thank you. because it is really for your behalf that we are doing this. and i want to say to all of you, i make that pledge that i will do my very, very best to represent all of the communities that you -- that you live in, that we cherish, that make this city a great city. and to my good friend, rose pack, thank you. we have done it. i thank you for this enormous honor and the enormous responsibility to serve as your mayor. it's a responsibility i take with great -- a great deal of humility, enthusiasm, and

determination. i must say it's been a whirlwind for me. i left town over a week ago as your city administrator, a career civil servant, looking forward to a new year of promise and challenge in the job that i love. and now just a few weeks later, i stand before you as your mayor. [applause] that's quite a journey. but in many ways, this wasn't a whirlwind. it was a journey decades in the making. i spent the past 21 years in and around these hallowed halls , beneath this glorious dome, working to make this city a better place, working for people, working for justice, working to get things done.

i believe that i stand before you today not because i was the preferred choice of one side of the aisle or the other, not because i was a safe choice, but because i was the consensus choice, the trusted choice. i believe that if you're able to build trust, if your word is your bond, then it doesn't matter if you're down the hall or 17,000 miles away. people know where you're coming from. i was personally gratified by the show of support demonstrated by the board of supervisors moments ago. as well as that shown by your predecessor board last friday. and let me take a moment to thank former supervisors sophie maxwell, evan dufty, and

michelangelo alioto-pier for your -- michaela alioto-pier for your support and trust of me. i am grateful and inspired by that show of support. but more importantly, i was inspired by what it portends. a new era of trust. a shared sense of purpose and commitment to this city that we all love. a sense of unity. i may be your interim mayor, but i intend to utilize this year and office to tackle our problems with resolve and seriousness of purpose. this is an unprecedented opportunity and perhaps it is just what san francisco needs at this time and in our moment of history. ness an opportunity to come together -- this is an opportunity to come together,

to roll up our sleeves and go to work on the significant challenges we all face. for the benefit of all san franciscans. i hope to move us past the labels that have pigeonholed us at city hall or at least to not be bound by them. because if you're a so-called moderate, then i'm a moderate. i've spent the past two decades trying to make this city work, to work for all of us. for its entire history, people have flocked to san francisco with their hopes and with their dreams. they've invested in this city, not only with their money but with their sweat and with their blood. i understand that not only do people need to flourish here, but business needs to flourish here. i understand what is at stake. what is invested here in all senses of that word. it's our responsibility to see

that this investment isn't squandered. but with all due respect to the talent of many leaders with whom i share this responsibility, i was a progressive before progressive was a political faction in this town. [applause] years ago, years ago, i fought the establishment to make this city function better, to make our communities more inclusive. i fought for justice. when i left bolt hall and joined the asian law caucus i sought to integrate the san francisco fire department. i fought to protect the rights of blacks and latinos and gays and lesbians and other

marginalized groups. i fought for tenets. i fought for senior citizens. i fought for the powerless. i was part of the city's first whistleblower program. i made sure our domestic partners and minority and women-owned business ordinances were successful. i helped establish our recycling program. now the nation's most successful. i ensured equal access to government services for all our citizens, including our immigrants. documented and undocumented. [applause] in other words, i am my own person. [applause] decades ago, i was about as

anti-establishment as one could be. today, like you, i am trying to make the establishment work for all san franciscans. and yes, i am quite aware of the significance of being san francisco's first asian-american mayor. as a chinese american, i'm well aware of my community's long and troubled and proud history in this city. the san francisco of old was directly involved in racism and neglect. the san francisco that i fought as an attorney began to change. and now today, our struggle is here and it's succeeding. [applause] i am humbled to stand before you today on the shoulders of

giants among many flagbearers on the day we moved that history forward. and i'm committed to move all san francisco, all of us, forward. and that is why i've accepted this awesome responsibility. so i hope you will join me. i intend to reach out to you, my colleagues, to my fellow citizens across all political lines and all potential barriers. there are so many talented people in this building and in this city. i know we can move san francisco forward together. and in the coming days, i will reach out to every member of the board of supervisors and meet with you personally to discuss my ideas and my agenda. and yes, president chiu, i will sit down with you, shortly, to work out the details of our question-and-answer session. i will seek your advice and

counsel as we immediately begin to confront the challenges that lay ahead. starting with tackling our budget deficit and finding a new police chief. to the members of the board, i see you as my esteemed colleagues. and i look forward to a relationship based on mutual respect and trust. to our fellow citizens, i'm not going to change. i'm going to open up that room 200 for everybody, daily, and make sure that you know what that is. i present myself to you as a mayor for everyone. a mayor for the neighborhoods, for downtown, for business, for labor, for the powerless, and the powerful. for left, right and everyone in between. for everyone. i will be a mayor who tackles things head on and moves the bar forward. i will be your mayor.

thank you very much. [applause] >> mayors invite each and every one of you to join him and his family in the south light court for some libations and some enjoyment courtesy of mccall's. so please feel free to wander

on over there with your cameras and get your photographs and do whatever you like. but thank you so much for coming.