items? >> that complete to the agenda. supervisor avalos: we are adjourned.

supervisor chiu: good afternoon.

welcome to the san francisco board of supervisors for our inaugural meeting, today being january 8, 2011. madam clerk, please call the roll. >> supervisor avalos, campos, chu, carmen chu, cohen, elsbernd, farrell, supervisor kim. supervisor mar present. supervisors mirkarimi present. supervisor wiener present.

ball supervisors are present. supervisor chiu: please join me in the pledge of allegiance. [no audio] supervisor chiu: madame clerk, do we have any communications? >> yes, mr. president. i am in receipt of two communications from the department of elections. he has provided certificates declaring the official election a board of supervisors for district 2, 4, 6, 8, and tend from the november 2, 2010, consolidated general election. the members receiving certificates are supervisor farrell, supervisor chu, supervisor kim, supervisor wiener, and supervisor kim.

the deputy clerk will provide these certificates to you. i have one other communication. it is from our controller, mr. been rosenfield. we have confirmation that all newly elected and continuing members of the board have been bonded as required by the san francisco administrative code. supervisor chiu: moving to the third item on the agenda, the oath of office. the honorable dianne feinstein has had a family emergency and will not be able to join us. it is my distinct honor to introduce the assistant presiding judge in the state california and city of san francisco who will administer the oath to the newly elected and reelected members of the board of supervisors. here is the honorable judge cynthia lee. thank you for joining us.

>> it is an honor to be here to swear in the new members of the board. i am honored and delighted. this is truly a san francisco event. i am extremely pleased to be here. supervisor chiu: i would like to ask all the members of the board will be taking the oath to please rise and join us in the front for a better photo op. [applause] [laughter] please stand right in front here.

>> we're waiting for sufficient photos to be taken. supervisor chiu: it should be. >> i do not think it is. [laughter] >> we are going to get started, i think. [laughter] i realize it could be another half hour. we really need to get started. i am getting a look from the

board president to get a move on here. i would like for each of you to raise your right hand. repeat after me. i, then state remains individually, one at a time, starting with supporters of -- supervisor farrell. 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, that i will bear true faith and allegiance to the constitution of the united states and the constitution of

the state of california. i take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion. i will well and faithfully discharge the duties upon which i am about to enter. during such time as i hold the office as a member of the board of supervisors and a member of the transportation authority of the city and county of san francisco. congratulations. [applause]

>> congratulations. supervisor chiu: congratulations. it is great to see the new faces. we will now proceed to item number four, the election of the board. i would like to review the nomination rules. a board president is elected when the nominee receives a majority vote. the roll call will been seized. in member may nominate him or herself. only one nomination per supervisor is permitted. a supervisor may withdraw his or her nomination is the nominations are reopened and nominate another supervisor. a second for nominations is not required. members do not have to accept

the nomination and can withdraw their names without a second. everyone must vote under the board rules. the nominee who receive the lowest number of votes is never removed from the ballot unless he or she decides to withdraw. i know this is the first time that four of your use in the roster. i want to make sure that everyone knows how to use it before we begin. if you have any questions, we do have our clerk stop standing by. at this time, if you like to make a nomination for board president, place your name on the roster. i will call on supervisors in the order in which the name appears on the roster. the clerk will record denominations and called on the role beginning for each round beginning with district 1 and then alphabetically they're after. when called upon, each board member shall cast a vote by stating the name of his or her preferred nominee. let me now ask if there are any questions.

at this time, nominations are now open. supervisor chu? supervisor chu: nominating the board president is a very important time in our deliberations. today it is my distinct honor to be able to nominate supervisor elsbernd. he is an individual who i hold in the highest regard and have the deepest respect for. not only is he a terrific district 7 supervisor, he is also a wonderful representative of the city and county of san francisco. he is an individual who always has the best of intentions for the city. he has great integrity. he is willing to talk to all sides. no matter if you are in the same side or the opposite side, he

will always talk to you and tell you why. it is my honor to nominate supervisor elsbernd for president. supervisor chiu: supervisor elsbernd, do you accept the nomination? are there any other nominations? [laughter] supervisor chiu: supervisor, boa campos? >> supervisor jim is next on the roster. supervisor kim: it is my first meeting. i want to take everyone.

i know i will make remarks later. honor to nominate david chiu for president again. i think we all know we have a difficult year ahead of us with a huge budget shortfall. there are many policy initiatives we want to take as the city. i want to nominate president chiu because i think he will provide consistent leadership and his proven his leadership on the board. he has shown he can bring the board to gather, can make committee assignments based on what he thinks is best for the city. he can take an initiative for a lot of legislation priorities we would like to see. he has been an effective. ol-- bridge builder. he will listen to everybody. having served on the capacity on the board of education, i know how important that is in proving leadership.

he is also an experienced leader on our budget. over the last two years, he has worked with budget chair of a lavalos and the mayor to make sure that we can balance budgets. it is my honor to nominate you. supervisor chiu: thank you supervisor kim. i will accept the nomination. supervisor avalos. supervisor avalos: i congratulate you again on joining the board. i cannot imagine how excited you and your families are. i am here to nominate supervisor mirkarimi forbore president. he has shown great integrity as a member of the board of supervisors. he is a hard worker. he worked tirelessly for his

district and the entire city. when i think of the things he is done in his district and for the city, he is a strong proponent of public safety and community policing. in his district, we have seen the homicide rate that peaked in 1995 to 99 2/6 to go to almost -- with sina homicide rates that pete go to almost nil. the department's work together. that leadership is what we need. there are many policies we will have to work on together. he has been a master at creating innovative legislation. he has been a great colleague working on the budget committee. it is without reservation that i nominate ross mirkarimi for

board president. supervisor chiu: supervisor mirkarimi, do you accept? supervisor mirkarimi: i am honored and surprised. i decline. supervisor chiu: supervisors campos. supervisors campos: i want to thank president chiu for his service as president. it is very difficult position. we appreciate all the hard work and have done with the city and county of san francisco. from the beginning of this office, i have said that each one of us brings something to the table. each one of us has talent. each one of us has specific experiences that make us who we are. i think to the extent we need to move forward as a city, we need to have a collaborative approach to leadership. i think it makes sense to give an opportunity to another supervisor to serve in that position.

i think all of us have bought about the position. we have a new interim mayor. we need to come together and. we need to focus on moving forward. with john of avalos, we have someone who has the experience of making sure the business gets done. supervisor avalos has been the budget chair for the past few years and played a key role in making sure we have a balanced budget. i also think we need someone who will work with all sides. i believe supervisor avalos could not have done his job as budget chair without the ability to do that. it is for that reason i nominate him for board president.

supervisor chiu: do you accept? supervisor avalos: i do except. supervisor chiu: if there are no further nominations, without objection, nominations are closed. at this time, we will have public comments. madam clerk, please read the instructions around public comments. >> now is the time for any member of the public to address the board for a two two minutes each on the nominations for the office support president. they may do so now. if members of the public could make their way into the chamber, please line up to be escorted in. supervisor chiu: if any members of the public wish to speak to the nominations, please step up to the microphone. each member of the public shall have up to two minutes to speak.

1st speaker, please. i think that microphone is working. >> mr. chairman, i have lived in san francisco about 54 years. i pastor a church. i serve as the chairman of two boards in the city looking at jobs, development, growth. this to me is a great opportunity for a new beginning. we know and the federal government in washington, there's a difference between democrats and republicans. i do not think we can afford to have division with this board. such a tremendous job needs to be done. i believe that mr. david chiu

has done an outstanding job in shepherding the human this project in the southeast as far as hunter's point and other developments. in my community of bayview- hunters point, we stand approximately 25% unemployed. we must have a president that is going to give the leadership that will be sensitive to the needs of the various communities in this city. we need a progressive leadership. beliemr. i will leave mr. chiu should leave the board of the city. supervisor chiu: next speaker,

please. >> i am with the middle poke neighborhood association. i come to congratulate the board of supervisors and think the continuing members. i also come to speak on behalf of the russian hill neighborhood association. we both have the privilege of working under the leadership of david chiu. he is an outstanding leader for all of san francisco who provides talented, balanced, professional, and calm leadership across district boundaries and any perceived lines and limitations of race or political ideology. san francisco is a better city because of president chiu's leadership. thank you. supervisor chiu: next speaker, please. >> good afternoon.

for the last quarter years, i have the privilege and pleasure of working with david chiu on numerous neighborhood issues. on all of these issues, president to chiu as have the ability to get all parties to work together to come to a win- win conclusion were everyone has been satisfied with the results. this is a quality that is needed going forward in our city, especially in times with all of the budget issues. i thank everyone and ask you to please reelect david chiu as president of the board. >> i am paula brown. i want john avalos to be

president. i have lost a mother to a homicide. i have been supported by various supervisors in the chamber. one of them is him. i would love to see him be president. >> good afternoon. i am the executive director of the community leadership academy and emergency response project. it is a community-based organization in the southeast sector. this is a beautiful day. i would like to welcome the new members of the board of supervisors and two in particular that i love. i know the will continue to represent our constituencies as well. i think we have a tremendous challenge ahead of us. we have the enormous fiscal crisis in the city. there is the need for continuity

to ensure that we do not for the disenfranchise segments of our population. i am strongly encouraging something similar with the mayor. we have two a store near canada's i would like to speak for. john avalos has been there since day one and and dedicated to mitigating the social and classifieds. i would urge support for him. i am perplexed because of the extraordinary leadership that has come to bear in david campos. we worked on the issues between various communities. it is critical and needs continued attention to ensure that our special populations are not continually pulverized. i would urge you to carefully consider both of these candidates.

david chiu has been an extraordinary leader. in this time of crisis, we need continuity. supervisor chiu: thank you. next speaker. >> good afternoon. congratulations to the new supervisors. i am a local. i was born and raised in san francisco. i am here in support of the nomination of supervisors john avalos for more reasons than i can tell you. i came here and spoke to the current mayor newsom. i wrote him a letter the first day he was inaugurated when he first became mayor. i begged him to take care of all the people in the southeast that

were killing each other. they needed jobs. we need jobs. without jobs, it is hard to have pride and be proud of yourself that you can support your family. it is a basic need in this country. these of the things that we need. with the budget the way it is common even in the good times, we could not get jobs for the southeast district. that was even in the good times. this is fact. without the local residency hiring policy they will siphon the jobs to other counties and not the residents. this is really big. this has to do with people literally staying alive. [tone!] please take this into consideration. i am here because i care. we all need to work together.

thank you. congratulations to all of the new supervisors. have a great day. supervisor chiu: next speaker. >> good afternoon. congratulations to the new members. i am a lifelong resident of district 7 and a lifelong past employee with the board of supervisors. the role of the board president is our role that needs to take into account processes and procedures and work with the other supervisors to make you all 1. i believe that supervisor elsbernd with his seniority and love for the city -- i urge your support for supervisor elsbernd. supervisor chiu: thank you. next speaker. [foreign language]

>> good afternoon. i am the vice president of the tenants' association. we have over 1000 members across different neighborhoods. we are here to express our strong support to supervisor david chiu. he has been working with the tenants from day one. he has been here and supportive. he supported legislation to deter a real-estate legislators om