we began with people asking, why should we sacrifice? what do we get for ourselves? and that great leap, i think, started very early to "what can we do to help to make sure our pension is solvent?" that is the changing role that labor has made. i was pretty excited from the beginning where we were making a lot of proposals. where we started having union representatives make their proposals, then we knew we were on our road to ultimately thinking together how we could solve this problem. again, i want to attribute, really, where the cost of this matter lies. and that is with our labor unions and labour representatives working together with us to build consensus so we all sacrifice to make our system work better. with that, i would like to introduce rebecca ryan.

[applause] >> thank you so much. i want to acknowledge my colleagues standing beside me and behind me. i think it is important to understand what a difficult process consensus is. it is always preferable, but what it requires is a balancing of many different interests. people stayed in the room when things get difficult. people continued the hard work. we did not allow ourselves to get sidetracked or splintered. i think there is a myth out there about public employees, and what i am here to say is public employees are the solution in san francisco. they always step forward. after the election in november, where they said to the voters, if there is a problem, we will figure it out and we will not

shy away from it. they came together. based upon the facts, they found a fair and equitable solution. and i think the message is, the employee -- coppell -- the public employees step forward and the right thing in the right way. that is what this measure represents. that is what we should be celebrating. these are real human beings that have to make real sacrifices. but we understand why. and believe me, nobody has a better interest in the financial health of the city and the programs and services it provides then the workers who provide them. so, thank you for the opportunity to do the right thing, and i hope that the message that is shared from this is that the workers in san francisco did do the right

thing. thank you. [applause] mayor lee: i also noticed from the san francisco labor council, we began with a lot of the union reps saying, "please just talk to was." after a few months, it was "ok, talk with us. " tim paulsen, from our labor council. >> thank you, mr. mayor. as you say, this is historic. i speak to my colleagues all over the country, and there has never been a partnership with a city family that we have seen like we have seen in san francisco. usually, someone has to run good idea or they're doing it unilaterally. and there's all kinds of friction. here in san francisco, we really have done it as a good way. where do we get business, labor,

progressives, and moderates coming together for solutions to save jobs and city services? here. in san francisco. by the way, this has also been done with the account of the impact on working men and women in town. this is done deliberately. this is done smartly. during those long, long meetings during which we crafted this proposal -- i want to thank warren hellman for helping lead this charge. i want to thank all the sector unions. the public safety, the lawyers. everyone was at the table. i want to give an extra shot out to the chair of our public employees union from local 21. i am surprised his marriage is still together, the amount of

hours he has spent on this. i want to knowledge everyone surrounding us today. some of the other people working. i know tommy o'connor from the firefighters. the police representatives. along with the board of supervisors. there was a lot of number crunching to people were fully prepared when the move to the table. this is historic. i am really proud of both the public sector and the private sector that we can craft this kind of resolution. thank you. [applause] mayor lee: i also said the transparency was well beyond the labor unions as well, as well as our city workers. so, i know this transparency was reflected in the san francisco chamber of commerce and their ongoing participation. they listened very quickly to our efforts. >> thank you, mayor lee.

the chamber of commerce and the entire business community of san francisco want to thank you for your leadership, and supervisor tells burns -- supervisor tells burns -- supervisor elsbernd, for your leadership. businesses have had to reduce their work forces. we have 40,000 unemployed san franciscans. it was time that we faced the reality of helping the city of just -- i just needed pension reforms. we're pleased to be part of this process. again, the best kind of reform is consensus reform. there are many times when you see in front of you city leaders, labor leaders, business leaders agreeing this is the right solution of the right time. thank you, mayor, again for your

leadership, and we look forward to balancing the city budget and getting a raw economy back on track. thank you. [applause] mayor lee: by the way, if you are keeping count, i counted nine supervisors here. the other two who could not make it, i believe it was because they could not get here on time. we also have with us david metcalf from spur. we had a representative from the labor foundation. i also want to emphasize tim paulsen stood up for working families. that included rebecca ryan, roxanne sanchez, tom o'connor,

tim paulsen, and we are joined by the fire chief joann hayes- white. i want to make sure i recognize throughout the process that our city attorney contributed to all the legal questions that came up. knowing how difficult these aspects were, they stepped up to help us review all these proposals. with that, this press conference is concluded, and we will move forward. yes, we will take questions. >> [unintelligible] >> first of all -- [unintelligible] in this proposal, we're talking about 35%. how can we afford that?

mayor lee: it does, but obviously we have a long-term view on this. our talks relations indicates -- our copulations indicate this over 10 years. a lot will depend on how -- our calculations indicate the server 10 years. a lot will depend on how our investments do. we've always said employee contributions would be the major part and for a lot of current sacrifices are reflected. >> 35% -- it never gets to 35%. [unintelligible] mayor lee: it is a safety net. we have made the calculations just in case. >> [unintelligible]

mayor lee: the very first year this takes effect, we anticipate $60 million in year 2013. in addition to that, all the new hires will begin contributing in a different way beginning january of next year. that is the savings. there is no smoothing in this process, because there is no smoothing in the economics of what we are facing. so we did not consider that a dog. >> the 10-year plan will not get going before a couple of years. mayor lee: we do have labor contracts in place right now that we have to honor. we currently have a lot of obligations that we have to honor with current retirees. so we did not touch that the legal obligation. so we had to start making

significant changes as of nest -- next fiscal year. >> [unintelligible] mayor lee: the service employees are right here. they are right here among us. >> [unintelligible] can you talk about how they came on board? >> i would just say, we are happy to be here today. [laughter] i am the staff director in san francisco for the service employees. i am joined by members of our bargaining team. we are pleased to be here. we are especially thankful to warren hellman for his guidance and participation. we do have meetings with the mayor, issues we will be discussing. it is a healthy process and we're happy to participate. >> [unintelligible]

>> we will be discussing with the mayor. >> analysis negotiation different from previous years? >> negotiation is always a difficult process. both sides come in with their interests and ideas. what was different is we spent a great deal of time at the beginning and got beat up from the press because of the time that we did take because -- so that we fully understood what was going into the discussions. >> there is a particular elected official not ammonia. [unintelligible] mayor lee: i did meet with him yesterday. we explained our proposals. we will leave it to him whether he wants to present those or not. we to believe that our consensus approach is the right thing to do. it signals that if you do want a sacrifice, you have to work

directly with people who will offer that sacrifice and will do it in a way which is comprehensive and reflective of the values of san francisco. that is what we have done. i leave mr. adachi to his viewpoint. i am sure he has to recognize this is the official city family and he does not represent that. >> [unintelligible] do you think that was in his interest? mayor lee: i do not. the city attorney has been giving us advice. there is no doubt in my mind that that advice has been completely apart from anything that is political. we have kept politics out of this and focused on the numbers and the legality of the proposals we presented, and we are extremely confident this will pass before the board of

supervisors and the public in november. mayor lee: >> lee: thank you. [applause] >> thank you very much for coming this morning and welcome to the rededication of the reservoir. we are happy to be here today. this represents one of the milestones in our project. we are happy to share this with you. this reservoir has been empty the last two years and today, you will hear the sound of water

rushing to fill it again. it makes the city safer, provides water for customers, for firefighters, for after an earthquake. we will be updating our systems. this was originally built in 1885. 125 years old. it takes care of a good part of san francisco, places lower than this. it is an incredibly important part of our system in san francisco. it was a $39 million project and it came in under budget. we are doing it effectively and efficiently. we do appreciate the folks who worked on it. it is part of the $4.6 billion water system improvement program. this is about a half with point in that program. it is the last major project in san francisco that has been completed. there are a few more projects to

be done. this is the last major one. san francisco is more safe than before these projects were done. there are a lot of projects that happened in district 11. the first was a tank replacement project that started a number of years ago. it is fitting we are in district 11 because we're finishing the major work on our program in district 11. we're happy to be joined by supervisor john avalos. he has been supportive of all of our programs and was a leader on having local jobs for people who need them. the work is happening to provide those jobs. in fact, at the end of this week, we will have six kids out worth $18 million that will help the new local hire ordinance legislation. we are certain the pilots for how to expand local hire.

supervisor avalos? [applause] >> thank you. i want to congratulate you and the public utility commission, san francisco water, power, so were for your great work on this project and throughout the head ceci -- throughout the improvement program. we have projects being done across northern california and it speaks volumes about the puc staff, being able to bring these projects to fruition. these are paid for by our tax dollars. we owe it to the ratepayers to make sure that our public investments are made efficiently and a sound way for the budget. congratulations. i am excited about the track record of the puc on hiring locally in san francisco. for this project alone, we have 60.5% of the residents who are

around the area working on this project. we have 6.5% -- it is 27.5%, sorry, much better. 27.5% of the workers are local residents. that is above what our current mandate is for the local hire ordinance that we passed last year at the board of supervisors. i wanted to congratulate you on that effort. 54.5% are from the bay area. 60.5% of the workers are apprenticeships workers, new workers, who are getting new jobs into this industry. the project helps to make that happen. congratulations on that. we are hiring carpenters, cement workers, and landscape professionals. we know we are providing employment opportunities for this project. i look at this as providing so

many benefits to san francisco. we're providing reliable water. we are making our water system safe. we are also improving the process for many san francisco workers and businesses. those workers will go and spend money for their basic needs in san francisco. congratulations to the puc. i look forward to more of the work being done on our local monuments. thank you very much. [applause] >> thank you, supervisor. don't we love this almost summer weather? it is a wonderful place to be, isn't it? this is part of a larger improvement program and it is good when you have these ceremonies to have somebody who knows what is happening in back of us as opposed to those who come for the celebrations. julie is the head of the program and she will be talking about what we're doing here. thank you. julie?

>> thank you. i am thrilled to be here this morning to commemorate the completion of this key retrofit project as well as to celebrate the construction completion of 29 other projects here in the city of san francisco. the university mount reservoir is the fifth to be retrofitted as part of the water system improvement program since 2003. i think it is important to remember that every time we complete a project like this, we are a step closer to making our system completely seismically reliable and to ensure our 2.5 million customers have drinking water, and that we have an adequate supply to fight fires following a major seismic event. how did we seismically retrofit this 125-year-old structure? we installed a number of super frames to support the roof

structure. we added multiple sheer walls and stained -- and frames. we also drilled 500 miles through the bottom of the reservoir to anchor it to the bedrock to prevent it from sliding. we completely sealed and waterproofed the roof. with all of these upgrades completed, this reservoir will be possible of heating be -- feeding the entire city following a major earthquake. be completed some improvements to the inlet-outlet piping of the reservoir that will allow us to backseat our transmission system so that customers in the upper peninsula do receive water following an emergency. i am really proud of the hard work of our project team. there to be commended for successfully delivering the project and also for their

dedication to the program. i also wanted to highlight the pretty impressive track record of the regional project manager, howard fung. job well done, howard. [applause] thank you. >> thank you. just to make sure we understand, this is a partnership of a lot of folks. the general manager of the puc, the general manager for infrastructure, the assistant manager for external affairs, and a lot of you who have worked hard for the puc, we appreciate it. we also have the leadership of the puc, the commissioners to make the decisions. we have the president and the vice president of the commission. francesca