supervisor mirkarimi: i think that the deliberations that came out of the last few months on the question of tax breaks and tax reform have helped us arrive at a particular place that gives us this entree to determining, maybe with our toe in the water, of what it might look like to actually recall tax structure. for most of my adult life, i have spent completely here in san francisco. now about 27 years. i was born in chicago. my father had emigrated from iran to go to school in chicago where he met my mother when he was attending university of chicago. that is where i was born. my mother, growing up in that -- growing up for me in the 1960's and 1970's -- was very involved in the war movement and

what often take me to protest and lectures. she was also involved in union labor, as her family had been for a couple of generations. my father was the director of ymca in chicago. with the sixth engagement, i think that all was in one variable or another, very influential on me. after my parents had divorced, i spent most of my youth in the state of rhode island. after i graduated high school, i went to the undergraduate college in st. louis, missouri, and came out here for grad school. fell in love with the san francisco bay area appeared all my plans changed, and this became my home. >> [inaudible] do we end up with a wells fargo here? another bank of america over there? what projects as going forward? supervisor mirkarimi: you read my mind. that is a perfect segue.

i wanted to talk about rezoning, areas that fortified neighborhood interests so there is not another chase situation or wells fargo, or what have you, that should put us in this position again. >> i worked as an environmental analyst for a number of think tanks and then applied to that trade in law enforcement where i went to the san francisco police academy many years ago, graduated from the sfpd class, trained in environmental forensics, both here locally, state, and finally by the u.s. epa in a training center, and i worked with the district attorney's office in san francisco for nine years becoming -- before becoming elected supervisor. i was one of 20 people who co- founded the green party in california. i thought that the democratic party in the united states had essentially vacated or left and use a little too much with the political right. in my opinion, there had been

insufficient advocacy for people who were left of center. less than to w. years ago, i decided it was time for me to shift direction and said the democrats. that is what this comes down to. that does not take quite as long comparatively to other cities, either. if anything, at least maybe permitting is made to the frustration that red tape business is the way you deal with that reality, but in terms of legislation, good idea actually gets marshall pretty quickly in this city. i love to campaign. i knew that in advance. how i like to campaign is i meet people. i knock on every door in district 5, and i really did enjoy that. but i like grass roots organizing. does not matter what your brand of politics is. it should never be subverted. whether you come from the right, middle, or left. you should always want to engage the public and in power the public by them meeting you and you listening to them. that is what has happened around

here. thank you. be well. if you look between hagiht and g -- haight and gary streets, you would have seen a complete renaissance. the median is here. the improvements on the sidewalks. this just happened over the last two or three years. the street you are right in the middle of right now is on funding at growth and a visitor. it is an amazing farmer's market that the whole community comes down for pirie whether it is good or bad, i have to tell you, i am the lowly impressed. right here, in front of motor bicycles shopping cafe -- mojo bicycle shop and cafe, we have the first part what we're week extended the table seating right on the street, and it is the

first one in the city here in district 5, and it serves as a template for other businesses wanting to do the exact same thing. >> there is all -- there's always a lot of discussion about diversity. i think class ever city is something that should not be subordinate to that discussion. i want to make sure that sanford cisco has a working-class population. i want to make sure that we do not take for granted because we are seen as more cosmopolitan, that that excuses' us from not tackling issues of poverty, which there are still substantial pockets of it in san francisco, despite what others may argue. that, to me, oddly it's our requirements, to make sure our city, in its reputation of being forward thinking and progressive, learns to make sure that that translates into economic, so that this is not just a city for those who can afford it. we want to get down to brass tacks issues about not just

public safety but the root causes that we want to address of job training, job placement, giving our youth something to aspire to, giving young adults something that they can turn to, giving people who feel that they need that extra level of support from city hall, from local government, the ability to be able to reach out -- that is also what tonight is part of. he is the real supervisor, my son. he just turned two last week. i know i was going to grow to be an eco-leader in some respects, but out of the desperation, the fact that we are not getting leadership from the federal government and state government, trying to mitigate pervasive environmental harm or answering the larger questions, like of a climate change, or trying to figure out ways that we compensate for insufficient public resources, coming from

state government, these are the kinds of things that force us to deal with citywide issues. sometimes, that is the risk of people of accusing us of overstepping our jurisdiction and being a little too heady about dealing with issues that really do not concern san francisco. my response to that is with globalization and with the way that the world has been brought into closer focus and the way that people now have admitted together through social media, there are no borders in this issue, and if there is going to be this kind of policy paralysis on a federal or state level, it is good for municipal government to step up to the plate and start leading the way or a less challenging the other tiers that if you do not do something, then get out.

>> hello. welcome to "culturewire." we are here today with bay area artist jody chanel, and we are here to see the plaza where your piece has just been installed. >> i have been doing large-scale paintings in the galleries and museums, and the idea that in the future, i could do something that would hang out a little bit longer than the duration of the installation the kind of appeal to me. i quickly found out about the san francisco arts commission school and realized there was a pre-qualified school you had to apply to, so i applied to the. >> how long did it take you to develop this work for the plaza? >> this was a fast track project. design development was about a

month. >> let's look at the beautiful mural. i have never seen a mural created on asphalt. >> the heat of the asphalt, a new layer of asphalt. then, these wire rope templates that were fabricated for the line work get laid down and literally stamped into the asphalt, and then everything was hand-painted. >> maybe you could talk about some of the symbolism, maybe starting in the middle and working out. >> [inaudible] the flower of industry. >> it is like a compass. there's an arrow pointing north. >> within the great bear consolation, there are two pointed stars here. they typically lead one to the northstar, otherwise known as polaris.

so i thought it has a layer of theme. >> let's talk about some of the other elements in the peace. we are walking along, and there is a weather vane. there's a sweet little bird hanging on the side. what kind of bird is that? >> [inaudible] the smallest of the gulf species, and it lives around the bay area. >> you want to talk about the types of flour patterns that you send? >> [inaudible] around 1926 or so by the dahlia society. >> what is this bird here? >> that is the california quail. >> coming up here, we had a little blustery theme. what is this area here? >> this is supposed to be the

side view, the expense of the golden gate bridge. >> there it is. >> there are really beautiful elements of architecture still around, i would say that it gives that feeling over to the work. >> what are your hopes for it? >> that in a way it just becomes part of the area. i think it is starting to have that feeling. people utilize it. they sit and, and have their lunch and play on -- they sit and, and have their lunch and play on that -- they sit and come and have their lunch and play on it. just for it to be part of the neighborhood. that is my hope. >> is such a beautiful addition to our public art in san francisco. thank you for joining us. it was nice to meet you. and thank you for telling us about your beautiful mural.

thanks for watching "culturewire." supervisor chu: thank you very much, president chiu. i wanted to emphasize what supervisor cohen, and this is the same conversation we have had with the nominee, and i look forward to seeing mr. ramos and the conversations and the balance he has expressed to me, and also recognizing some of the challenges that different neighborhoods might have with having accessible transportation, usage of cars and how is he would balance that, given multiple demands there might be, such as large families among other things. so i look forward to that

conversation. my parents immigrated to the united states about 30 years ago, and that probably was the most formative part of my background. growing up in an immigrant family, you learn many things. my parents raised me in southern california, and i grew up in the restaurant business. they had a small restaurant at the time, and i was there every weekend working, and it taught me the value of working hard and what it meant to be part of a small business, a small family, and an immigrant family at that. growing up in an atmosphere in being impacted by the los angeles riots when it did occur. we were always worried watching the news to see whether or not the restaurant would be looted, whether it would go up in fire, so it was something that was a big concern and worry for my family at the time. i remember thinking even at that age how important it was to consider what the economics were in communities, whether people had or felt that they had opportunities or did not have opportunities, and what role it

was that government played in those outcomes. >> [inaudible] supervisor chu: that is what really put me on the path to public policy. so i pursued public policy both at occidental college where i went to school as an undergrad, and also uc berkeley where i pursued public policy. i work on public finance for a while after i graduated and came back to government to really pursue that. ever since then, i have stayed here and fallen in love with how wonderful the bay area is. it is a really great place to be. all around the room, you will see a lot of great financial institutions. talk to them. you will see people who can help you with financial aid. talk to them. he will see departments that might have summer job opportunities. talk to them. utilize your opportunities today. learn a little bit about what you should be thinking about in the future.

generally, a very practical legislator. i like to look at what the impacts of legislation would be before really voting on it, so i think, depending on the issue, you can move around, and that should be the way most people think, which is let's consider the facts of legislation before you actually consider it, irrespective of what spectrum it comes from and what spectrum it is perceived to be. sunset district is a great district. has many residents who are families. we have a lot of families in our district. lots of kids, seniors, people who have raised their families there for many generations. the big issue moving people is the state of the economy. how is it that we are going to be able to bring down the unemployment rate in san francisco? how is it that our future generations, our kids, and our youth are trained so they are

able to take advantage of what is emerging? whether that is clean technology, technology in general, the health-care industry or other things that might be looking rosier in terms of future economic activity. thank you. today, i am very happy to have come with you all and to bike in today. i was able to ride a bike that had a two-person seat on it. i was in the back, and we both paddle together, and one thing i wanted to say is if you bike to school or anywhere, make sure to always wear a helmet. make sure to be safe, and of course, have fun, right? in terms of interesting jobs, this has to be one of the most interesting jobs. you work on a whole host of issues all year round, and you meet so many interesting people

around the way, so i really enjoyed that.