>> good morning, everyone. welcome to city hall. the great city hall of san francisco. [applause]

we have been busy this morning but it has been a pleasure all morning to greet so many people love the city. i cannot think of another 10 people who love this city. i want to thank each and everyone of you because your volunteering -- i know that word. volunteer for one of the greatest cities in the world. what you will be doing, sacrifices in time, interactions with you, with various commissioners, it will be a wonderful experience, one that many of you will continue to do, and some of you about to do for the first time. i see former supervisor bevan dufty is here. david from the department of the barnett. emily. commissioner shorter, thank you for being here. bruce, thank you for being here. tom, roberta from the mta, thank

you for being here. please forgive me, i am still young. [laughter] i have so many others serving on different commissions already. thank you. we have city departments that are here. i know we have the department of the environment, film commission, commission on the status of women, health status board. we also have -- department of the environment, mta, and of course, the asian art museum. there are six commissions that will received today here 10 new commissioners. i want to thank you for your service. that may go through some of your names. good to see you again, jim. for the asian art museum, which

is responsible for determining policy for the administration of our asian art museum, the city's duel that holds one of the most comprehensive collections of asian art in the western world. jim, you will be joining 26 commissioners who all share a fellowship based on the conviction that the asian art museum is unique, the best of its kind, and a tremendous asset to our city. your expertise will be a substantial supplement to the work of your fellow commissioners, and notably, your background in finance and work cochairing the campaign for the san francisco ballet will be an extremely welcome asset. like all the other commissioners, the import work done by the 27 commissioners, the strength of the museum greatly benefit our whole city. it enhances our quality of life, a reputation as a cultural

center, and also -- an important point -- city appealed that brings in visitors and millions of dollars a year. thank you for your work and for what you will be doing with the commission. thank you for being here. [applause] on the commission of the status -- on the status of women, what an important commission. san francisco is the birthplace of the united nations and the first and still only city that has enacted a local ordinance reflecting the principles of the united nations convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women. i am confident my appointment to this body will enhance and support the continued efforts of the department and commission to ensure equitable " treatment of women, as well as to enhance women pause health and safety

throughout san francisco. felicialicia gamez. a new addition to the city family. commissioner brown has already has professional ethics. that is bar none, impressive. she has founded her own firm, serves on the board of the city's lawyers association, and above all else, has proven herself to be a leader, utilizing some of her best attributes, analyzing, collaborating, and offering solutions. as a latina attorney who had dedicated a significant amount of her time working on issues that impact the immigrant, latino, and lgbt community, i am confident commissioner gamez will add a unique and needed perspective to the san francisco commission on the status of

women. she has set herself, change starts with stronger individuals. with that chsaid, i generally look forward to seeing the results of your work on the commission. thank you for being here. [applause] nancy kirschner rodriguez. thank you for serving. with over 25 years of experience in national, state, and local policies, and as a former director of governmental affairs in my office, and the is uniquely qualified to expand the work of the commission on the status of women. she currently shares her expertise by serving on a variety of bodies from the city, including the board of directors jewish community council center, and is a driving force behind the work being done by the san francisco collaborative against

human trafficking. her experience with government on all levels and your desire to better the lives of all of those we certification leaves me confident that and to make an incredible mark on this community and will move forward policies that create many new and continued opportunities for women of san francisco and beyond. thank you, nancy, for your service. [applause] stephanie simmons. thank you for reupping, as they say. appointed to the commission four months ago, it is my pleasure to reappoint commissioner simmonds to her post. stephanie is someone who has great ties to our city. whether it is to the business community, african-american community, or our community of women, she is a strong advocate for all. we look forward to stephanie's continued service to the city in

her capacity as a commissioner. thank you for your service. [applause] the commission on the environment. what a commission that keeps me busy, but busy with positive things because it is all about our future, what we are leaving behind as the city continues to pursue our goal of zero waste by 2020, we can boast we are leading the nation with a 77% signed diversion rate, thanks to the department of the environment. innovative policies such as this, the city's energy efficiency policy, green jobs, and many more thank you for being and reupping yourself on the commission and the environment. while who describes itself as a

serial entrepreneur and start-up executive. his work spans from his current job as chief operating officer of earth aid ink -- inc., a proprietary universal platform that gets households to track their water usage to advising many prominent, elected officials across the country to energy and policy technology. he's a talented individual, and i'm pleased to be one of those elected officials raul has chosen to advise. i look forward to more advice in the future and i'm pleased to appoint raul today. thank you, raul. ruth ger vanous, -- gervanis, thank you for reupping. ruth brings years of experience teaching in the public school system, wogging as an environmental consultant volunteer and ruth has also proven she is a wealth of knowledge on all things related

to her environment. she's focused much of her attention on maximizing sustainability in the redevelopment of treasure, efforts that may just come to fruition someday soon. she's focused much of her attention on maximizing sustainability in all of these represent development projects but i'm sure how much she will advance our innovative policies and i continue to look forward to seeing this come out of the commission in the very near future. thank you, commissioner. [applause] our film commission, thank you, direct robertson for being here today and leadership that you have been providing. i'm seeing more and more films and been on the set of a last one was a very, especially thing because i got a picture can nicole kidman. how many of you did? [laughter] but another reup, a good friend

of mine, one has led not only labor but a great community and great labor leader, bob morales. thank you, bob, for reupping on the film commission. bob was appointed in 1996 by my good friend willie brown, making him the longest serving film commissioner i know. tpwhorn el salvador, central america, he came to the u.s. in 1958. after completing his education in san francisco, he joined the united states army where he served for two years. commissioner maradis is president of the steam electrics, hispanic caucus and california teamsters hispanic caucus and brings a valuable labor voice to this commission. rightly so. bob's work has been honored by various groups including the united way of california, martin luther king society of san francisco, the united states congress and state of california.

his talents are great and we're happy they reside here on our film commission. thank you, bob, for being here and reupping. don, thank you very much for reserving on this film commission. you have been here since 2000 when you were appointed by former mayor willie brown. why is there such a connection? don has previously served as a board member of the museum of the city and county where he took part in establishing a world class history museum. is a tireless advocate for gay rights and strong supporter of the film industry here in san francisco. don, it's a pleasure, you're advising me, doing great work and i want to welcome you again to the film commission. thank you very much. [applause] our health services board will continue to be a very, very important board for our city.

karen breslin, thank you, and congratulations for being elected to that board. pulling from her 26 years of experience working for the city, karen was elected to the health service board in 2001, was re-elected by members in 2006 and this year ran uncontested. commissioner breslin is a former president of this board and is currently serving as vice president. she's also served as chair of several health service board committees, including the budget and finance committee and rates and benefits committee. karen, thank you for your service and i will look forward to your continued work with the board as we pursue structural changes to our city's benefit programs. thank you very much and congratulations, again, for being elected and appointed. finally one of the most difficult commission board for

the city, our m.t.a. board of directors, and i saw nat ford here, good to see you, and i number of commissioners. jerry, you're rejoining here and you're reupping and talk about the military you need to reup on for m.t.a. but have you my faith and you have my confidence, jerry, in bringing forward to this board a wonderful perspective, one i think you have held and we talked about had many, many discussions about. first and foremost i want to thank the board of supervisors for their support for jerry's reaappointment. jerry was unanimously approved yesterday, making it possible to take over today. that's a great accomplishment, sir. a native of san francisco, lifelong user of our transit system and currently the m.t.a.

board's vice chair, jerry's being reappointed for many reasons. but at the top of this list is his willingness to step up to the plate and work through some very thorny issues and adequately addressing neighborhood and community concerns. jerry's worked to address community concerns related to some of the lines addressed in the t.e.p., transportation improvement project, is a perfect example of the valuable service that director lee provides on the m.t.a. board. jerry's experience with u.p.s. as well as his work with former mayor agnos, including helping establish a newly formed department of traffic as well as serving as chairman of the mayor's taxi demitty has been proven to be a valuable addition to this board. today at a time when the m.t.a. is dealing with very substantial issues, jerry's willingness to ask tough questions and his inquisitive nature encourages

the board and m.t.a. staff to create solutions outside of the box. thank you, jerry, for your hard work. i look forward to your continued leadership on this board. thank you very much. [applause] with this, i will ask all of our appointees to stand up and take the oath of office together. and if you can repeat after me and after each pause, you will state your name in order and also at the d, state your commission in order when it gets to that phrase. please raise your right hand. i i, do solemnly affirm 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 truth faith and allegiance to the constitution of the united states and the constitution to the state of california, that i take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and i will well and faithfully discharge the duties upon which i'm about to enter, and during such time as i hold the office of -- for the city and county of

san francisco. congratulations. [applause] i present to you the new class of commissioners!

>> welcome to culture wire. the city rolls of the red carpet to host the international film festival. the actors, directors, and others in among luminaries around the globe. we will get a sneak peek of this year's exciting program.

>> welcome to "culture wire." in april, the 50 forces and francisco international film festival will be taking place. joining me to talk about the programming is the director of programming for the san francisco film festival. rachel, welcome to "culture wire." i look forward to this every year. my first question is, what will be the opening night film? >> we have a terrific film for opening night. it is called a beginners and as an american independent film that stars ewan mcgregor and christopher plumber. >> what kind of music is that? >> house music. >> it is a hard to describe story with a lot of humor and heart.

>> what are the other highlights? >> there are so many great films. it is hard to pick out the favorites. we have over 200 films and the festival. we have some other wonderful american independent films like the centerpiece premier that stars john c. reilly. including the closing nine film that really shows the crossroads of internationalism that the festival. >> it is not just about the two weeks of the festival. you guys also run really fascinating programs for the bay area. >> really don't stopped screening films. we have a series of festivals in

the fall for the fall season. and we often do week-long runs at theaters around the bay area so that people who want to see the kind of films that we show at the festival can see them all year long. and we have a wonderful filmmaker services department. we can provide fiscal sponsorship and a lot of great advice. finally, we have a really robust education department. people that want to learn about filmmaking can take some of our fantastic glasses. >> one of the things that impresses me about the film festival is sort of the impact that it has. i know you guys are the longest running film festival in the americas. >> it was always a great festival for the city of san francisco, so our constituents

are the people of san francisco. we want to do what we can to reach out to as many kinds of populations as we can. one way we do that is by bringing in guests. that is one of the things that makes a festival exciting. not only do get to see films that you might not otherwise see, but you can meet a director or an actor and hear about their prospective making the film. the one thing that i always like to tell people who have never been to a film festival before is that it can sometimes seem daunting from the outside because he will pick up the program guide and it has 100 name movies and seems a bit hard to navigate in the beginning. but it is really worth it as you know from coming. the atmosphere in december, the interaction with other guests,

the films themselves make it a great couple of weeks. >> it is important to participate and take advantage of this treasure trove of films from how many countries? >> is usually between 40 and 50 countries. >> it is an impressive range of filmmakers and the national perspectives that gets represented in the film festival. thank you for bringing this festival to san francisco every year.