over 2500 years ago, the persian king wrote and reminded himself that in all his conquests, "i kept in view the needs of the people and all their sanctuaries to promote their well-being." if you listen to the testimony before us today, there is no dispute that the community is telling you that there needs and their sanctuaries are no longer kept in view by our laws, policies, mou's and partnerships. you will hear that the community is no longer feeling safe in cities. they feel unwelcome, unwanted, and targeted. i sincerely hope that 2500 years later, if not better than where we were then, we can at least do as well. we can revisit and rethink our

laws, policies, and mou's and partnerships, and reverse the direction. it is a wonderful feeling of being safe and feeling at home. [applause] >> hello. i am a research associate at the school of medicine. i am here tonight because security is an important issue to me and i feel the security of over 300 million people in this country should matter. i also feel that after my experiences, the fbi will go to any length to do what they believe is protecting security. what they believe is not necessarily what will secure our security. i want to give you an example. in 2009, i had a friend stopped by tsa while boarding a flight. they took him to a back room.

fbi arrived and interrogated him. they asked if his wife worked a job. he is a resident of lebanon. they asked him how far away he lived from the security barriers. they proceeded to arrest him. they did not taken to a magistrate within 24 hours. many other things. at 1 point, they asked him, they got agitated, and they said, do you want us to shoot you? the right leg or the left like? -- leg? they charged him with bank fraud. this was at a time when people on wall street were running away with billions of dollars. the agent lied in one instance, saying that he had told us about these charges. before the grand jury, -- he had

said the reason he followed this because it is what he told us in interrogations'. bottom line is i don't feel safe. i live in fear for me and my family. sometimes i think, take me to jail. that way i don't have to pay -- [tone] that is all i have to say. [applause] >> my name is vera and i'm with the immigrants' rights commission. i was hoping to see the report on your sept. 2010 meeting. i was there and we have not seen the report. i was so happy to see that the recommendations are being acted on from that report. our president was here a little earlier, but he had to leave.

i wanted to let you know that we are certainly -- we do have a town hall meetings and we would like to have more. we have never read meetings and we often get complaints at our monthly meetings at city hall especially about the airport. the idea of having an ombudsman at the airport makes a great deal of sense, if we could help in that some way, it would be marvelous. people are harassed and kept longer and kept overnight sometimes while they're being questioned. i know the sfpd cannot be the police there. we have an ombudsman, a lot of problems could be solved on the spot. i'm glad to see you are working on solutions and that there are recommendations, and you are willing to help.

>> good evening. thank you for putting this on. i am the director of the fund that supports a 17 a-area memsa communities. there were earlier comments about the trust we should put in the u.s. attorney general. as a community member and someone who works with community members, i can tell you the actions the fbi have taken have eroded the trust. the men and women are supposed to protect us. instead, the community, community-base organizations as well as individuals, feel pro failed and -- profiled and surveillance. this will spread even more in terms of relations and perceptions of the sfpd. i encourage you to strongly

consider the resolution options and burn our community's trust back. you can protect our civil rights and keep us safe. if you ignore the resolution option, you will be sending the community a message that you don't take seriously our lives and concerns. i would also like to respond to comments about many members of the community's coming from countries that have different standards and laws. actually, some of these community members have shared that they have come to the u.s. in the hopes of seeking a different circumstance and in the hopes of seeking more protection, and an ability to speak up for themselves and their rights. however, are people say they're surprised, especially in san francisco that they continue to feel they are not able to speak openly and that they're being profiled and surveiled. thank you so much.

[applause] >> good evening. police chief, i want to congratulate you and welcome you to our community. commissioners, this topic looks kind of very deep. in looking at the law, i want to thank a good gentleman, jean, and i think you should consult with him. he's knowledgeable and it seems like there is a fight here, and administrative fight, outside

the law itself, concerning our communities. how the commission will deal with it, it seems very complicated, something that we, the subjects, we probably, we don't understand all of this, but i am sure the police chief, and you guys, you will get into some understanding. i am nobody, you know? i am just here, very interested. not doing well. but this issue of profiling

and deeper to people has been the same as immigration, federal immigration asks the police department to look to the immigrants. one police chief told me, i don't care where you come from. you do your job. also, you have to remember that in our community, it is a self- censorship. before anybody wants to do bad things for our safety, there are -- >> all right, sir. thank you. >> thank you. [applause] >> good evening.

i am the executive director of the san francisco bay area office of the council on american islamic relations. we're the largest american civil rights advocacy group. before i speak about our perspective, a pope of clarification. there have been questions about the fbi's present. it is my understanding, just so everyone knows, the fbi was invited to participate in today's hearing, and they declined. that goes to the question of trust and openness. if they are not willing to have these conversations in the open, the way they are in portland, the question comes to people's minds is, what are they hiding? why can't we have these discussions with them? that is that issue. in my line of work, i represent dozens of clients who have been visited by the fbi. what i usually share some

examples of what we see. they highlight the reason for openness, accountability and trust. there's a reason we need these things. some of the things we have seen with the fbi in the last year and a half is people being questioned on their views about osama bin laden. their question about the uprisings in the middle east, whether or not they know rebels in libya, tunisia, and egypt. african community members are questioned about the uprising in egypt and other parts of the middle east. we also find agents not willing to share their names, last names, affiliations, business cards, so all we get is mitch, george, and john saying they want to protect us. it does not work. i am urging this body to take up the recommendations that have been put forth to move us toward a resolution model so there is concrete, clear, and transparent accountability for the way law

enforcement interact with this community. we need trust. we must move forward together. thank you. [applause] >> good evening. i am with the advocate for human rights. we work with iranian immigrants, iranian asylees. i don't want to repeat anything anyone said. in our line of work, we have also seen our community organizations being harassed by the fbi. i want to underscore the importance of community organizations, security in knowing they are not being surveiled when they are providing services to the community. thank you. president mazzucco: thank you very much. any further public comment? >> good evening.

i am going to be helping with translation. >> i am a tunisian american. she will try to translate my story. >> i have lived in san francisco for 10 years. i work as a cabdriver. the fbi has come to my home and my work multiple times. i have been interrogated. in san francisco, the fbi has asked me about my religion, where i pray, my family's name, the names of my roommates, and how many times i pray, and very personal questions. in 2009, i was delivering to someone without pulled over by various sfpd cars and a van, including a red crown victoria. it stayed behind and there was a man that was walking. the officers told me to step out of my car. they handcuffed me and put me on

the sidewalk while they searched my car. they went back and reported to the man in the crown victoria, who then left while the officers spoke to themselves and seemed to be discussing what to give me a ticket on. i found out that i received a ticket for an unsafe right turn, which i did not do. i am saddened that this type of harassment happens to me. i'm not here today to speak about myself. i am here to speak about my family that i wish to reunite with. i have a daughter and a wife i want to bring here in the next few months. i don't want this to happen to my daughter when i bring her here and i don't want this to happen to my wife. help stop the abuses. [applause] president mazzucco: is there further public comment? public comment is now closed. item three?

item three is adjournment. >> i want to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their hard work. i want to thank the audience. very compelling to hear your story. we as a commission, we are all individual commissioners with equal power and authority. i think it is fair to say that we the commission will not tolerate any form of discrimination, any form of profiling come in this city. that is not acceptable. i know that chief suhr will not tolerate or allow that. we will make great strides to clear up some of the perceptions this evening. i want to thank john crew from the aclu for presenting these issues and bring in the audience forward. the folks we heard from, especially those individuals who have been affected, it is important that we send a message that we are not born to tolerate this, and that we will protect

civil rights. again, this is an unprecedented hearing. i want to thank the human rights commission. we're sending a strong message to night. no one should feel threatened by anybody. commissioner dejesus: i want to thank everyone for their participation. i want to say that i think we should have some next steps. on the commission level, we should follow up on the resolution aspect of this and continue to meet and discuss that and see whether it is feasible and how to proceed. i want to thank everyone for bringing this to our attention. i look forward to continuing to work with you to move forward. thank you. >> on behalf of the human rights commission, i would also like to say thank you and thank president mazzucco and his commission for sharing their meeting with us. i am sure i speak on behalf of everyone involved in sang thank you to theresa spar santazoey polk, -- theresa sparks and zoey

polk, who have worked on this issue. i'm proud of the work the commission does in san francisco. i'm proud we will continue to be on the cutting edge of issues like this to make sure that matters are dealt with and human rights are protected, and there is full view of these issues in public in san francisco. want to thank everyone. i want to thank everyone for coming tonight and we look forward to seeing you at our future meetings. >> do we have a motion? >> i want to say thank you. i will make a motion. i also want to thank members of the human rights commission for your detailed and thoughtful questions. i could tell there was a lot of work that went into it on your

end, and i appreciate that. i also want to recognize the work of our president, president mazzucco, because i know that he has met with members of the committee. with that, i move to adjourn. >> second. president mazzucco: all in favor? this meeting is adjourned. mayor lee: good morning, everyone. good morning, san francisco. it is great to see you here this morning.

i would ask before we get started today, if you would join me in a moment of silence for the people of japan who have been so tragically impacted by the disastrous earthquake and tsunami there. if we could have a moment of silence please. thank you very much. good morning. welcome to the 2011 bay area council outlook conference. we have an outstanding agenda for you today. we have been doing this for seven years. every one of these has been very exciting. i think the program we put together is an extremely robust and eclectic program. i think we are all going to learn something. it is a place for action as well. the whole history taking place

here, and outlook that results in real action out in the environment. we are really excited about the discussions that will take place today. they will be thought-provoking. i would be remiss if i did not remind everyone to please turn off your cellphone ringers so we do not have any distractions. there is one exception to that rule, and that would be larry bair. i hear that your ringtone is "we are the champions," and that one is ok with me. speaking of larry, the giants were pleased to share with us the world series trophy. [applause]

the giants have brought so much to this city, sharing with us this incredible trophy. it is just outstanding. it will be at the giants' boost today when we have a break -- booth today when we have a break. you can take a few photos. but do not take it home with you. you'll be hearing from me from time to time today, so i will keep this short. to kick off our events and provide welcoming remarks, allow me to introduce our newest rock star -- mayor ed lee. has shown that he is a natural for the job. i have been closed to him for decades. he is the head of the human- rights commission. he went on to become the city purchaser. mayer brown appointed him to be the director of public works,

and he spent several years as city administrator. i never would have thought that ed lee would be mayor of san francisco. because he is such a can-do kind of person, such a great problem solver, but i never thought of him as someone running a political institution, and san francisco is certainly that. but he has shown tremendous prowess in the job. i think he is perfect for it. most recently, his move to keep twitter headquartered in san francisco was a big thing and showed a major commitment to keep jobs here, and i want to thank mayor lee for stepping up and doing that. obviously, as san francisco goes, and in many ways, so goes the region. i really appreciate the work that ed lee is doing. if there is some way we can often -- if there is some way we

can convince him to stay on, your suggestions are welcome. ladies and gentlemen, without further read too, welcome s.f. mayor, ed lee. [applause] mayor lee: good morning. thank you for that wonderful introduction. i just want to preface it by saying, when you get a call in your in hong kong, and that call comes from former mayor willie brown, it is hard to say no. i have taken up this challenge. i want to thank you, members of the bay area council, for your tireless work periods it is significant -- for your tireless work. it is significant this group has come together this morning around the critical issues of the bay area. education.

infrastructure. sports. there is no issue more important today than the bay area's ability to compete and win business in the global economy. in san francisco, creating and retaining jobs has been a top priority, because that is what helps keep families in san francisco and helps them thrive. we are leading the way in education, health care, and the environment. for the past three months, we have made significant progress in making sure our business climate is alive and welcoming. let's begin with our central market payroll tax exclusion. yes. we have got a very important final vote today that allows us really to refresh our efforts, to rebuild midmarket street. and that is for the company that is so important, the twitter

company. but not just twitter. twitter knows they are going to be an anchor for us and they are already attracting other businesses such as burning man, the cultural arts. you're going to see these cultural arts agencies, all live along midmarket. that is what we are trying to do. we're trying to make improvements to encourage business to continue coming to the area, and to create improvements for the whole area. the city is also working on improving blight. just last week when we had our first vote, not celebrating just because of twitter, we walked together -- with twitter, with the shorenstein group, and began at the noon substation on fifth street. we are going to make it safe for everybody. you are going to be able to walk that street and not feel the traditional fears you felt

before. we are going to improve the blight. i am proud to be joined by some many great reporters and advocates. market street is in inderal in the diverse makeup of san francisco. we will make sure it becomes a bustling central locale for innovation. we are also thrilled twitter is joining us in central market. that stretch is going to be opened for change. it is not just to have twitter there. but as you know, and as events unfolded throughout the world this past beginning year and last year, we saw the product of twitter changing world of dance all across -- world events all across the international stage.

after 3:00 today, we can simply announce that twitter is made and engineered in san francisco, with 400 million users across the world. thank you for your support on that. [applause] and of course, just last week, we simultaneously announced that burning man will be moving into the bay area, and already i am tickled with some invitations to go to burning man this year. i do not know if i am going to do that. but they just announced a five- year lease over 18,000 square feet to be located on midmarket street. that is a wonderful follow-up. there will be more to come. twitter has many other firms that will follow. you want to be there with the creativity they will bring to midmarket as well. these are great additions we have in the works. it is also no surprise that the

34th america's cup is coming to san francisco in 2013, and we are hard at work in preparing that event. as you know, we announced the people plan, the plan which will move some 200,000 people every single day, on march 31. two years out, we are aggressively trying to meet our commitments for this spectacular 2013 event. we are trying to set a new standard because we know that not only moving to hundred thousand people will be -- 200,000 people will be a challenge, but sustaining the events will constantly be our challenge. we are aiming to make the 34th america's cup the most transit, bicycle, and pedestrian-friendly as forcing event -- sporting event in our history.

strategic adaptability and the positive legacy. anything we build must last all long time -- a long time, beyond the america's cup event. we want to make sure all our neighborhoods -- chinatown, the mission, and north beach, the south east sector -- all come for this event. we are engaging transit advocates, and neighbors, and the public, beginning to ensure that we meet transportation needs of the races, as well as our residents and commuters. we are doing this, as i said, the san francisco y, in partnership with the public -- the san francisco way, in partnership with the public and our stakeholders. the