>> hello, everybody. thank you for coming. on behalf of phil and our two daughters, we want to thank you for coming to the swearing in today. let's get the program under way. as you know, san francisco has a new mayor. [applause]

mayor edwin lee was sworn in yesterday afternoon. we are honored to have been here with us at the end of his first full day as mayor. now that you are mayor, your day is just beginning. please welcome mayor edwin lee. [applause] >> thank you, susan. yes, i am almost through with the first day and i have been asking staff, when can i crack the first joke? i have not been able to do that. i am honored and proud to be here today for the swearing in of a very good and longtime friend phil ting. i do not know if many of you know this but we do have one particular thing in common. it is not height, nor is it facial hair.

what we do have in common is that we both work for one of the great agencies in san francisco, the asian law caucus. [applause] i know that having spent many years there, when phil started heading it up, we were both trained for solid community work, working on behalf of diverse communities on diverse issues, helping those who needed help, those who were powerless. as phil, who has been our current assessor-recorder is being sworn in today, he is much more than the appraisal function that this office has. in fact, he has utilized this position effectively to introduce some other creative programs, such as coastal are, one of the first in the country to do this -- go solar, one of

the first in the country to do this. they got a well-deserved award for recognizing that very thing. he knows how to use innovation. his spearheading efforts in the don't borrow trouble program, where people who are facing foreclosure get caught up in that, that has been extremely innovative. his real estate watchdog, when people make transactions on property and do not wish to report it -- that watchdog program is something he started. in the first year, $1.34 million. that is some serious money. it is that kind of innovation that also caused him to lead other things that i feel are important.

he is helping to start the china sf board. that is also something that i am working on. that is a job creator, bringing in the firms, and that is another example of innovation. all these accomplishments are just a few of the many things that phil has been able to accomplish, besides being a good father. i will let you know this. even on his first day, when i told you that i would be making the budget deficit a big priority -- many of us have already talked about this this morning -- i am going to need a bill to collect every dollar that he can. [applause] we all know it in the city that every dollar he collects is going to be part of the services we support in the city. that is an indictable -- hit in

valuable -- invaluable position. he will be helping all san franciscans make sure that our property taxes are filed efficiently and innovatively assessed in value. thank you very much. [applause] >> thank you, mayor lee, for your kind words. before i introduce our necks speaker, i want to acknowledge some of our friends today. it is our long list, so i would ask that you hold your applause until the end. we have the treasurer here. board president david chiu.

supervisor jane kim is here. supervisor eric mar. supervisor scott wiener. city college at san francisco border trusties natalie berg. executives of the labor council. city attorney dennis her erherr. tom ammiano, george gascon. former supervisor bevan dufty is here with us. department of environment director emily nutter. interim police chief jeff godown. thank you for being here today. [applause] now on with the program. when phil told me he invited the

speaker of the california state assembly to swear him in, i looked at him and said, are you kidding me? the governor is introducing his budget that we, sessions that week, there is no way he is driving down to san francisco for you on wednesday night. but it sure enough, here i am. i am not sure that bill asked me to introduce him, more so as payback for being the naysayer. we are so happy to have you here. i get to call you john, because this was before he became speaker. i first met john in 2008. bill said to me, my college friend is in town running for a board office in l.a.. we found ourselves having breakfast one morning. i thought, we are going to spend the entire breakfast talking

about his candidacy, who was going to win. this is too much for a saturday morning. but sure enough, at one point, he stopped talking about the campaign and just started playing with our daughter isabella, who was two at the time. at the pinnacle of their relationship, she spilled and ice cold glass of water all over his pants. i am thinking in my head, he hates us. should i buy him a new pair of pants? what should i do? john just looked at me and said, it is no big deal. don't worry about it. whether he was uncomfortable or not, you would not have known it. he accepts the situation, moves on, and that is the kind of person he is.

sari, we have some baby issues. i promise i will keep isabella away from you with any beverages tonight. now i will refer to you as speaker. john perez was elected to the california state assembly in 2008 representing parts of downtown l.a. and eastern ally. prior to the election, he spent 10 years has had the leader of the labor federation. since his election, he has hit the ground running focusing on job creation, expanding health care, support workers' rights, and oversight and accountability in our government. in 2010, speaker progress was elected by his peers by the california state assembly. as someone who works for the legislature, it has been a thrill watching you rise to your

leadership that i know our state needs right now. i asked phil to describe his college friend using three words. he said passionate, committed, just gets it done. that is more than three words. i do not know about you, but those are three solid words i am happy to hear describing one of the most powerful leaders in our state. i am proud to introduce the speaker of the assembly john paris. >> thank you. this week the governor unveiled a difficult budget with $28 billion worth of solution we need to find and somehow you are surprised that i wanted to leave sacramento? i am honored to be here. it is an incredible privilege to

celebrate tonight with all of you this wonderful transition as you enter your next phase of public office. it is an honor to be a part of this process with you. phil and i have known each other a long time. we met when when we were both young students at uc berkeley. as we celebrate a new governor, here in california, i could not help but think that everything was new again. i thought about everything that we worked on together and how much they laid the foundation for his work in public life, hopefully, for my work in public life. one of the first thing we did together was to pass an american studies requirement, a graduation requirement, at berkeley, so everyone understood the strength of celebrating the

diversity of the people of california. he fought for justice, not just as a student, making sure we had a university system that was open and accessible to students, but also to the faculty. he and i spent years working to defend faculty members who had been unjustly denied tenure through a denied -- flawed process. we fought the first goal for together. we protested the first president bush together. we engaged in broadbased coalition politics that laid the foundation for much of what phil has done prior to coming into office, his years in office. over the past five years, you have no phil to be a problem solving assessor. the mayor talked about some of his success. the fact that he has generated

$245 million above projected revenues at a time of this kind of economic crisis is nothing short of extraordinary. for as long as i have known him, he has been an incredibly forward-looking intellectual, a passionate leader, and that is something that has been consistent whether as a student leader, leader in the community leadership role, or as the assessor. before he came to office, he was a strg civil rights leader. he thought and protected the legal and civil rights for asian-pacific islanders and all people in the city who needed their services. he served the asian law caucus, the board for the california equality institute, defending work to secure legal protections for lgbt people. this is important to me as the

first day speaker. he and i go back so long, he probably remembers when i dated women. [laughter] i think this is long enough in where you can do the joke, mayor. becoming san francisco's highest-ranking chinese american official in 2005, still has really played a key role in the community. i know that he is as happy as anybody to be surpassed in that position, now having major league. we all celebrate your ascension. -- mayor lee. [no audio] [applause] [no audio][applause] the mayor talked about his great work.

he has been groundbreaking in his environmental work. really, making sure that we bring environmentally sound energy production into the mainstream, not only here in the city and county of san francisco, but making that success the foundation for which the rest of us judge ourselves. as public officials from across the state are called to solve unprecedented problems, it is encouraging to know that phil will continue his work on behalf of good government policies and solutions. it is clear that he understands every dollar his office brings in leads to more funding for the crucial programs that make this a city and county that people so much enjoyed living in working in. the commitment that the mayor discussed with respect to real

state watchdogs and others is phenomenal. in its first year of publication, the change report brought in $1.3 million, much needed for the city of san francisco. and that revenue went to help those in need the most, the children in our community, seniors, families who desperately need so many of the services that people are threatening to turn their backs on in challenging times. the strides that he has made in san francisco and is first few years as office -- in office are clear. it is exactly that what we are celebrating, the next term of office, all the promise that bill brings to us. as a friend, public -- fellow public servant, i cannot think of anything i would rather be doing than what i'm about to do next which is administered the oath of office to my friend and our assessor-recorder phil ting.

[applause] >> if you would raise your right hand and repeat after me. i, phil ting, 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 california, that i take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of

evasion, and that i will well and faithfully discharge the duties upon which i am about to enter, and during such time as i hold the office of assessor- recorder. congratulations. [applause] >> it is perfect when you have kids. they have an alarm clock when they tell you that you have gone on too long. you want to say hello too? first of all, i want to say thank you, first and foremost, to my wife susan, my daughters,

and thank you for the wonderful introduction and all the love that you gave to my family. thank you very much. i want to also thank our elected officials, commissioners, department heads, community leaders, friends and family for joining us in our office. it is an honor to have your support and share with you this great day. most importantly, why we wanted to do it in this office, i wanted to thank the people of the assessor-recorder's office. too often, you do incredible work, such important work, people do not often know the impact. let's give a big round of applause for the people here. they do the hard work. [applause]

the speaker was absolutely right. i am one of the proudest people in this city that we have our first chinese-american mayor edwin lee. [applause] ed, for many of us in the asian- american community, has been a longtime role model. he has always been my role model, mentor, and he gives the example of fighting for everybody every day and making sure that the city is not just there for some people, but that it is therefore all of us. it is something that i aspire to. thank you and congratulations. [applause]

and, mr. speaker, my good friend, john arresperez. we do go back 20 years. susan did say just that, that there was no way that you would come down here. thank you for being here in these times. i do go back to our days at cal. in the late 1980's and early 1990's, we were also facing budget cuts. this threat of contract that the people have given to families and students, that you were going to get a high quality of moral education starting in kindergarten, all the way through college, if you could stay the course. we saought start to the road bak then.

that is something that we continue to fight for. i want to thank you for your leadership. i cannot imagine someone who is more capable, strong, a willing leader at this time in the budget. so thank you, john, for your leadership. if you ride muni, if you send your children to public schools, if you use public parks or any of our libraries, you have felt the impact of the office of the assessor-recorder. someone told me yesterday that it is the office that most people have ever heard of. there is some truth to that. but everybody, even today, has felt the impact of our office. we have one of the most important jobs in city hall. we make sure every san franciscan, from the smallest home owner to the biggest in the city, pays their fair

share in taxes. since 2005, we are on the way to being the best. our office in the last six months had been tracking carefully all of the transaction that had come over through the desk on the recorders side. we were watching all of these transfer taxes. basically, is a sales tax when you buy property. in the last six months, by saying, these transactions do not feel right, the value does not seem as low as that -- we have been able to bring in $3 million of additional revenue directly for our general fund, just by being more diligent -- [applause] i say thank you too many people on that side of the office. just by being more diligent, more efficient, by paying more attention, we have been able to

do that. we are trying to get our government to become as efficient and diligent as we can be. by doing that, we can achieve the high expectations that citizens have for us. thanks to the incredible work of our staff, implementing the law management ideas that i brought in. we have brought in $245 million above our budget in the past year. that led to making sure that we did not have to layoff teachers. that allowed us to keep firefighters and police. that meant more parts which could stay open. that also meant that more buses could run. that money is what you rely on to get to work everyday, enjoy your life, and as families, that you get to live the quality of

life that you have. our office is also using new technologies, professional management technologies and the customer service our highest priority. some of these improvements have led to us closing millions of dollars in tax loopholes. we have launched the program to fight predatory lending, to make sure that home owners understand they can do something about their homes in foreclosure. lastly, i am extraordinarily proud that many members of the solar task force are here tonight and were able to help over 1000 home owners get solar on their roof. [applause] hawaii and also dedicated to making sure that every home owner gets their fair share when the city might be losing money. right now, given the huge drop in home values, we have some

people who bought after 2004 who deserve a reassessment our office, proactively, like many offices across the state -- we have looked at 20,000 home owners. we reduced the assessment by 15,000 homeowners -- 50,000 homeowners got a reduction. many of you have worked with me closely to make our tax system more transparent. to close loopholes to make sure that the very few do not escape paying what they are owed. i am also honored and grateful that you have stood by me, even when some of the most powerful institutions and people -- we work closely with homeowners

to fight against predatory lenders and we work to make sure san francisco can leverage that most important asset, their home, to put solar panels on their roofs. by doing that, we have launched one of the first green jobs programs in san francisco. go solar not only allows of 1000 people to get solar on their roof, but it injures 40,000 san franciscans have jobs -- ensures 40,000 san franciscans have jobs. we have an opportunity to get paid not just for this year and future projects, four years in the future. i know many people who have been advocating that program. and thanks to many of you have worked closely with me to close one of the state's biggest tax loopholes, proposition 13. none of the people in this

office are shocked, but i am shocked at how few people realized that every single building gets subsidized by proposition 13, regardless of how big or small they are. unfortunately, we have had to pay the price. we have seen a huge shift from who pays property taxes. 30 years ago, over 60% of property taxes were paid by commercial retailers. today, it is 43%. so the thing that we passed to protect home owners is now subsidizing somebody else. we felt that a fact. that meant higher fees at the university of california, state university, university college. it has meant fewer classroom -- larger classroom sizes for people k-12. it has also meant that we have

cut our social contract, in terms of people most in need able to get help. whether that is the elderly who need help at home, mothers with children who really need this money. that is why we need city government to be as innovative and compassionate as the people of san francisco. the best argument we could make today is to make sure that every day we are making government work better. the most progressive thing we could do is to make our city government work faster, fairer, and smarter pour every san franciscan today. that task, however, is too important to lead to us in city hall alone. we need your help. we need to be sure to engage the entire population to identify those problems, to help fix them, and most of all, to hold all of us in government accountable for all of the accountable for all of the services we promised to deliver