president chiu: welcome back. to the members of the public, we have temporarily recessed are closed session to discuss the park merced, and we will go back to that after our 3:30 commendations. we welcome you for celebrating the asian heritage month. today, we will be recognizing 12 hard-working community leaders from our districts. supervisor farrell apparently picked two from his district, but these are people who have measurable and distinct successes in our asian american communities. the criteria was individuals to provide a platform for promoting communications and connections within the apa group or the

broader community or those who have been providing a voice for the asian pacific american community and for providing issues that are of importance to the community or for those who have been promoting civic engagement for the asian-this of american community, and i just want to say that it is wonderful to see everyone in our chambers. obviously, in the city and county of san francisco, we have had a 165 year history, and it is great to continue that tradition before we start, i would like to take the opportunity to recognize the chair of the asian-pacific american celebration committee. i want to thank you for your hard work, and especially for making the heritage awards ceremony last night one of the most attended events of the year. i want to thank you for your leadership and invite you up to the podium to say a few words. >> thank you, president chiu and

supervisors. we are celebrating heritage month every year in the month of may. i also want to thank those or launching a new tradition of honoring asian-americans in your district. and i have been talking to president chiu. it is about time that the board of supervisors were doing the same thing. i want to extend an invitation to you. every year, the first monday of may, we will have a citywide celebration with the community. the main program of that celebration is the presentation of the heritage award, and this year, our theme is celebrate heritage, celebrated community voices, so the individuals and organizations that we on this year are those involved in the media, and i just want to share

with you that they are fantastic people. for the emerging leadership award, we have the following people. the younger generation, young professionals. for outstanding organizations, we again have an organization and the individuals involved to have done a lot of good work, and last but not least, this is a year when we also look of a lifetime achievements, and the committee finds it extremely hard to select from the many corner -- qualified candidates, so this was the first year that the committee decided to have two candidates share the lifetime achievement award, and you know their names. they are -- so we're very pleased to have them. we're very pleased to have the

new tradition of also having the mayor of the city presenting our lifetime achievement award, so thank you very much for what you are doing, and happy asian months. president chiu: thank you, claudine, and what i want to do is to start in numerical order with district 1 and provide accommodations, so with that, i would ask her supervisor from district 1, ericd -- eric mar -- our supervisor from district 1 to go first. >> -- supervisor mar: it is always good to be in district 1. the organizing committee and claudine have brought this to city hall, and we will be doing

it every month in may. recognizing an amazing leader, and this is also at the richmond area. this is right next door to the balboa theater on balboa on 38th. i am a former staff member, and there was the richmond district in 1974. it is the largest nonprofit be a role and mental health area that -- the largest nonprofit behavioral and mental health area. angela is an amazing leader. she is a licensed clinical social worker who has been working in the community for over 10 years. she has worked there for over six years. in addition to the program, she also served on the committee for

the asian american alliance against domestic violence. she is tremendous. i have seen her in action. she is helping to organize a festival with our office and many other community-based groups. she also provides supervisions two master's students, and i know that supervisor -- to masters students, and i know that supervisor avalos will appreciate that, being one himself. there is the balboa health clinic. it has been good for us to work with into a to organize within the richmond district a broader coalition of health providers and community-based groups, so we wanted to announce, too,

we're having our seventh annual festival which is on sunday 14 between 10:00 a.m. and took what p.m. at the richmond district recreation center, and we invite all of you to honor angela and also to come to be held festival. so with that, i want to introduce angela. >> i thank you for celebrating this. i feel very honored by this. they're very much in touch with the community. culturally competent mental- health services.

asian americans have a lot. thank you. [applause] president chiu: another

supervisor has two from his district. supervisor farrell: what can i say? i'd like to bring two of. if you both who are here, and maria is accompanied by her daughter here today, as well. i will keep this shorter. just to let you know about maria, i got to know her on the campaign trail, and i got to know her. this was about empowering individuals. there was a board member and board chair. multi-cultural child care organizations, for affordable child care services. teachers, children, and their

families to have a learning environment that allows children to develop to their full potential, and while serving as board share for the child care services. she is also a 10-year board member and chair person for the bay area business development center, which is for eight business loan guarantee. the in power steering entrepreneurs to end poverty with microfinance loans and help low-income entrepreneurs grow their business, and by 2010, gumball capital had organized a challenge at 15 schools, raising capital for their cause. and lastly, as the secretary of the bread project. from the start, their mission has been to promote economic self-sufficiency and in power individuals with limited resources by providing bakery training and assistance to low- income individuals. the founders found that beijing was a trade with a growing

demand and a practical korea pact that could be taught in a short time. individuals hits in their economic recession can find work quickly to sustain themselves and their family. it is through the great work of people in district two, like ms. matsu, and we want to thank you and honor you for all they do for the pacific american community. [applause] >> thank you very much, board of supervisors. this is a great honor. what inspires me to do this community work is getting to know and to work with the countless unsung heroes home really dedicated their lives and their careers -- who really dedicated their lives. they're free leisure time to

help those less privileged. thank you very much. [applause] supervisor farrell: and secondly, i am honoring him as we -- tyhe -- the chef at one of my favorite restaurants in the city. he has provided the city with leadership for over 10 years. he has brought an exciting cultural blends and an extremely intense of culinary career p.m. he was born in asia. his career was at the prestigious shangri-la hotel in kuala lumpur. he has worked more than 25 years. in 2001, a restaurant invited him to take the reins of their

kitchen. it has taken years to keep them thriving as one of the popular restaurants. his commitment in rich's the economic prosperity of our city of district two and contributed a great deal to our cultural diversity. i thank you for your efforts on the city and county of san francisco, and from our family that goes there quite often, thank you all for your continued hard work for the great restaurants in our district. thank you. [applause] >> supervisors, it to the community, thank you very much for this honor. i am very honored. thank you. [applause]

president chiu: congratulations. it is my honor to make the next presentation. if you could please step up to the podium? [applause]

and i first want to welcome all of the members of the association who are here. they q4 being here. for those of you who do not known cta, they are the largest based tenants' organization in san francisco. they fight for tenants in chinatown and in the broader san francisco community. our unreal today -- honoree has served caught with them. he is summoned retired as the postmaster at the telecommunications bureau after 33 years of service and moved to san francisco in 1992 to be with this family. from 1992 to 2002, he worked as a garment factory worker in san francisco while living at 152

jasper place with his wife, a building that holds many elderly, monolingual and long- term residents, and there were even action notices sent. this is for the chinatown community development center, and after months of rallying and committed to organizing, the landlord rescinded this, and the tenants were able to remain in their homes. i should note that the case at jasper place was one of the parts of what i passed last year to place restrictions on the development of garages that replaced tenants and units. so with that, the board of supervisors, we want to extend our highest commendation and

gratitude to you for leading these rights for them and all sit franciscans. congratulations. [applause] >> [speaking foreign language]

[applause] [speaking foreign language]

[applause] [speaking foreign language] >> good afternoon. i am glad to be here. after retirement, i stayed home with the carrot taking care of my grandchildren. the new owners of jasper place had an eviction notice to force a senior house hold out of their homes. we had deep roots in the community. at that time, other residents were worrying about what their future might be. fortunately, the tenants were

able to get to the point. it motivated me to continue to fight for our home. in order to win this battle, i know that we have to unite and stays strong. after 18 months of the struggle, we were allowed to stay in our homes. they wanted me to stay and dedicate myself. i realize that there are many tenants out there in san francisco who may be going through the same struggle. income is too wide. we want it so that the city can improve the quality of life of the vulnerable and low-income population. cta is the largest tenant organization in san francisco. er