>> thank you, all, very much for taking the time to be year on a sunday afternoon on what i imagine may seem to many of you and extraordinarily quick notice. the process for the new replacement of kamala harris has

been predetermine the by the election, by no means did we have a predetermined choice. that process began after the final numbers came in for attorney general harris and it was determined that she would be taking the oath of office as the next attorney general. of course, we had other business to attend to at city hall. notably, who would replace me as the interim mayor. a lot of work finalizing the america's cup, the asian art museum, and one more surprise we will leave you with tomorrow. as you know, tomorrow, i will be taking over as our next lieutenant governor. we have at least one of you here. thank you.

[applause] only willie brown could say it best. he said, "of course i want to be at your funeral tomorrow." i have taken this decision very seriously and very personally. unlike other decisions that would require concurrence and require a collaborative effort in terms of the ultimate determination, this was a different type of collaborative effort. the decision was ultimately mind. i have spent a great deal of time interviewing people formally and informally. and thinking through what policiequalities would make forn outstanding district attorney. no greater counsel than the current attorney general, kamala harris, herself. i've known her well before both of us were not elected office.

we have had a unique relationship where we are quite honest with one another, perhaps above and beyond the normal course of what one would call protocol. we had a good back and forth over the last few months about the bush a thought would be outstanding and what kind of qualities she was looking for -- about what she thought would be outstanding. i had the privilege of including many of you, including many of the people better up here today to counsel me on this process as well. yesterday, the entire day was spent going through the finer points and asking questions back-and-forth of some of the candidates. there are probably six or seven people that we gave a very serious consideration to. the point i'm making is that there are a lot of good people out there. they have a lot to add.

each one made a compelling case. every time i got off the phone, i said, that's the right person. i got on the phone with a new person and i said, that's the right person. it was not until yesterday that i had the privilege of sitting down with our police chiefs. -- our police chief. he was here for the swearing in of the new members of the board. i'm very honored that they are here. the supervisors are here. they were here to celebrate their extraordinary journey and their success. there was a pause that allowed the chief to come down and we were able to have that final conversation about district attorney. as i was listening to him, it became clear to me that he was the choice. he did not know that. he was giving me some good

advice. he did not know how good the advice was. he started talking to me about what he thinks we need to be doing in terms of the direction of the city and the work he has been doing and the special relationship he has had with the district attorney's office. a lot of that has been well publicized. a lot of that has been behind the scenes. of course, we talk about the crime labs and the dna labs. we talked about the insurance division and other things. we talked about civil rights and all the great work we've done in san francisco. difficult issues. we've had a chance to get to know each other in his capacity as police chief. i appreciate his understanding. i have been mesmerized by his remarkable ability to move into the realm of police chief with such ease. the honeymoon that i joked about when i swore him in as police

chief -- it has not necessarily ended. it's an extraordinary thing. he has been able to get involved in complex issues. he has mediated, negotiated, and navigated difficult issues. he has done it with remarkable capacity and appreciation of the values that make this city a special place. he has moved this city forward at a rapid rate. the lowest crime rates in our city's history. that reform is by no means done. it is starting to take hold and take shape. when we sat down and talk about the next district attorney, we talked in more detail about how we could build a stronger collaborative between our various law-enforcement agencies, and how we can start building real partnerships between the police department and the district attorney's

office. i know that the presiding judges here. others are year. we've had long conversations about how we can build a strong collaborative. it was in the course of that conversation, with his unique appreciation of the importance and understanding of how to get it done that the decision was made. i have no idea if he was interested. he did not seek this job. he did not even know he was being auditions. we were there talking. this will be the end of my private conversation -- publicly, at least. i said, "what about you?" he said, "are you serious?"

i said, "unless you can come up with some other names." as good as those names are in your recommendations, keep thinking. i said, "you can keep thinking until about 5:00 p.m. tonight." i said, "think quickly. he thought about it. i asked steve to call the chief. i said, "steve, i want to know he is interested because i need to make a decision this evening." this was last night. he said, "i think he is." we processed this. you did not know this. our police chief happens to be a lawyer. his experience is quite unique. he could talk about that a little bit more. a member of the california bar. as he has served in unique and

interesting capacities in that role, as well. i was enthusiastic, but i needed to process this decision. i had a chance to talk to our current district attorney and talked to many of you in this room as i look around and to members of the board of supervisors, current and past, and i'm grateful that we have so membemany members of the board . also, members the served out their term that decided to come back for this swearing in. i'm grateful for their counsel and advice, as well. members of the police commission, thank you for being here. we're here because of their counsel and advice and because of the outstanding job the chief has done in this city as the police chief. i'm very proud that i'm about to swear in chief gascon as the

next district attorney for the city and county of san francisco. [applause] [applause] he will speak to his virtues better than i in a moment. this is my last act as mayor of san francisco. as they say -- this is not to be taken lightly but thoughtfully with a deep realization of its obligations, commitment, and the like. this is not with heavy heart. it is with sound mind that this decision was made. the heavy heart is my own that this is the last decision i make, but it's one of the biggest decisions i will have made as mayor. i can assure you that i have great confidence that it will be one of the best decisions i have

made as mayor of san francisco. i just want to thank you all for the privilege of a lifetime. this has been an honor unimaginable. i'm grateful for this moment in time. thank you to the sheriff for being here. thank you to our public defender for being here. i'm grateful that dennis, our city administrator is here. thank you for being here. i will remind all of us that we come and go. we are given that moment in time. the purpose is always to do the right thing and stand up. principles transcend. do not look back and regret. the worst thing in life is to be given this privilege and say i would have, could have, should have. i feel that we gave it our all. i hope this appointment demonstrates that to the people of this great city. with that, i'm now going to ask

our chief to come here to take the oath and then make comments and thank you to you all for taking the time today. chief? [applause] >> thank you for your counsel, advice, and leadership. all right. say i -- >> you still have a few moments. >> i think you simply repeat after me. and do not forget me when it is done. i, george gascon, 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. i will bear true faith and allegiance to this name that i take this obligation freely, without any mental reservations, 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 position of district attorney for the city and county of san francisco. congratulations. [applause] [applause] ladies and gentlemen, san francisco's new district attorney. [applause] >> thank you. thank you. thank you.

first, i want to thank my wife. when the mayor completely took me by surprise yesterday at around 2:00 and i said, you know, i have to talk to my wife. we are truly a partnership. this was a major decision. just like when we came here to san francisco, it was a decision that we made together. i wanted to be sure that it was going to work for this partnership. she immediately said, "where is your heart?" she said, "follow your heart." thank you, baby. mayor, you have offered me two incredible opportunities and i will never forget them. being the chief of san francisco at the police department has been an incredible experience in one

that i will never forget. i'm so honored to have worked and continue to work with so many bright, hard-working, and dedicated men and women in uniform could i see one back there. thank you. it has been an incredible honor. you've offered me an opportunity to -- quite frankly, 48 hours ago, i would never have thought about this. i went to the office to talk about the qualities that i thought a district attorney should have. i wound up getting the offer and the job. i'm very grateful. i have to tell you that i took this job because i really believe that we can take and build on the hard work that now attorney general paris has done and all the other -- attorney general harris has done. i want to thank you all, city

attorney, public defender, presiding judge, the fire chief -- many of you that have become friends and incredible supporters. i take this because i believe that we're going to have a unique opportunity. i'm not aware of any other counties in this country where you have a former chief of police become the district attorney. here is where i see this incredible opportunity. at the end of the day, it's about delivering public safety to the community. we are entering a very difficult time for city government and certainly for public safety. resources will be less than what they were. the demands for public safety are going to continue to increase. the complexity of delivering safety for our communities is continuing to increase fop's.

-- to increase. the models we have used in the past are no longer going to work. we're going to have to figure out ways to bring the criminal justice together in a different manner than what we've had in the past. i believe that i can offer something that will be somewhat unique and having the understanding of policing and a career that has been incredible that is really part of my identity, and then falling in the footsteps of some one that i consider to be one of the best district attorney's around, and now our attorney general to get into be able to take the work that attorney general kamala harris did, and then bringing together my experience and the men and women of the san francisco district attorney's office, and others, and began to

deliver a different kind of public safety. a different kind of criminal justice delivering. i'm also looking forward to working with jeff. i believe the role of public defender is a very important role. i'm understand that in our system of justice, we are often called to be in this role. i believe this is the best system there is. i think there's also a lot of things we can do together. at the end of the day, we want to make sure that our community is safe. we want to make sure that even criminal defenders, not only are they given due process in court, but more importantly, they are given due process in life. that they're given the opportunity to get out of the life of crime and to be able to become conservativecontributorsr community. community.