is defined by the court space. >> okay. are we good? >> thank you so much. >> this is an opportunity to choose to be a part of history. many times history happens to us, in this case, you can choose to be a part of it. it's an historic day. i am very proud to be here >> hopefully, people will see that gay and lesbian people have loving relationships. it puts a face on that for a lot of people. i think there's all the of misconception of who gay and lesbian people are. i think it's important to see, we love our husbands and wives. we have the right to have families just like everybody else. >> they are so happy. and they out pour it to us.

helping them through this special day for them. >> from there, they would be redirected back. if they had a ceremony, there's a commissioner station near the exit where they can go in a continuous license and ceremony process. >> since volunteering last monday, i have performed 12 marriage services. they were extremely emotional. there's a couple that had been together for 9 years. they had a wedding planned in australia. it was a very lovely moment and very emotional today. i married a couple that had

been together for 29 years. it was a very, very emotional ceremony. >> the least amount of time that any couple has been together is 2 years. most of them have been together 8, 9, 10. i'd say 70 percent. >> for love is truly the greatest gift we are given to share. love's compassion is the glory of life. >> i work in the juvenile department. the mayor asked the liasson from all departments. i wanted to be a part of this history. some parts i wouldn't want to be. this part was really wonderful and a joyous occasion and a long time coming. it's absolutely the right thing to do. to bring 2 loving people together, in helping acknowledge and certify that

relationship, i find really wonderful and a joy and one of the most pleasurable things i have ever done in the city in my life. i will be continuing this afterwards >> when i was conducting the ceremony. some of the friends said, now it's real, now it's legal. in other words, they had gotten married before. this time, it's legal. you know, a sanctioned. it was hard for me to get to the end. i was starting to get emotional too. >> it's really one of the most extraordinary gifts to be given in life and that's to participate in a ceremony where you can celebrate the ultimate gift in life and that was falling in love.

i say this because it's important to remind people. doesn't matter what position you have in life. you can't buy it and you can't force it upon anything. love just happens. when it happens, it's something to celebrate and the idea that you can participate in that celebration. that affirmation, to conduct the ceremony. that's as good as it gets. for those volunteers what a gift for them and take up that time and contribute their time and receive so much more back. and expression of love and life. >> each person with the reporter's office, the best

volunteer is the guy at the end who did is that stamp, that means you are married. >> i am actually glad i am assigned here. it's a fun way to be involved in the process. it's the end where we hand out the official marriage certificate. this is a copy of the certificate here. >> there was one couple who was together for 30 years and it wasn't legal until today. you have to see the look in the eyes of the folks getting married. they are still jazzed and buzzed and wired. >> with behind site from 2004, and a lot more time to prepare

and over 350 volunteers. they provided a very different marriage experience. >> it has made up feel wonderful and acceptd and celebrated. so, the fact that i see so many people who have given their time to volunteer here means a tremendous amount. >> they are doing it in extra time in addition to the time they work here. >> we are usually good at putting our feelings down >> it went according to plan. this was what was planned for. people have commented, oh , my

god, you are part of history and so many couples did we marry? how many dreams did we make come true. i feel like this is something we are here and charged with this responsibility to turn off. >> there was a lot of agencies that offered up their employees to help us out for this duration in the north light court process. it's overwhelming how city government works. this is a time for san francisco city employees out shined >> it should have happened years and years ago, and that's why i am so proud to be a part of this. that's why the late nights didn't bother me. i would get exhausted.

in terms of what i'm doing, i feel so good. i feel so good about san francisco and the impact we are making in the state. we changed the state. >> you had clerks in the state of california that didn't step up. they walked away. we are not only going to not do same sex marriages not a second time any. in contrast, in san francisco, this is what we can do, add up all these computers here. expand our capacity by x. we can open up early. stay open late and on weekends. it's unbelievable and we coordinate all the training and get all through the process and make sure everything is signed

and certified. that's a model for others. what happens is, when people prove things can be done. it raises the bar for what's possible. >> i think a lot of people were here from 2004 and they knew what that was like and wanted to take part in 2008. i think people really again, you know, stepped up and really put out their best that anybody could do in very short amount of time and literally, i think we pulled this together in 2 weeks. we put in long hours to make this all happen.

>> to address these concerns, i have made a series of amendments to the resolution that capture the spirit of the policy but would allow continued conversation with the task force and other stakeholders about how we do metering. i believe strongly that the city needs to start developing toes to help create affordable housing. in our housing element alone, we

talk about building a 60% affordable, but we are currently not doing that. it is important to start the discussion about creating tools of measuring our affordable housing and creating tools to enforce that. i grew up in new york city, one to my parents who had immigrated here to the u.s. actually, i started really becoming active in working with the community when i was in high school. came out to california for college, went to stanford. i was always politically involved. when i was a college student, i worked on the initiative to get rid of affirmative action in our public government system. currently, we have 3 legislative items that are pending. the first is going to be coming to a final vote on tuesday, our mid-market uptown tenderloin task exemption legislation. it is basically an incentive to

encourage businesses to come to mid-market. in particular, where we have the highest commercial vacancy. and then when i graduated, moved out to san francisco about 12 years ago. i always loved sanford cisco in college, and i just wanted to try it out. i started working in economic development policy. i was a community organizer for six years. i worked with young people, parents, and families around issues that concern our neighborhoods, whether it was improving muni lines, affordable housing, public schools, or just planning issues in neighborhoods. we just had a hearing last week, and we are trying to do some work around bedbug enforcement, which is a major issue in the tenderloin and of hill and 63. a hearing will actually be on thursday, april 7, 10:30. we're doing our first hearing on

pedestrian safety. i think public safety is a huge concern. it ranges from both low-level crimes to pedestrian safety, and so that is a really important issue to me. we are probably more than double what every other district has. and that are preventable. and we can do better. district 6 is one -- home to one of the most diverse constituencies. we have the poorest residents in san francisco. we have lgbt. we have immigrants, people of color, youth, and a high proportion of seniors in the city as well. we heard that people want to see more jobs, want to see access to more jobs for our residents. we want to see more preventive instead of just reactive. we want to see after-school programs versus the police picking them up because they are out on the street, which i think our chief agrees with. i actually ran for the board of

education in san francisco and got to serve a term on our school board. what really surprised me was how much i enjoyed it. i loved it. i love meeting with families, meeting with youth, meeting with teachers, visiting schools, and getting a deeper understanding of what it means to make our system work better. the one thing i really enjoyed was i got to run within a district instead of citywide, was that i really got to know voters and residents. i actually enjoy campaigning more because i had time to knock on doors and the voters individually. i'd love it. i actually really enjoyed being out on the field. so i spent a lot of time doing it because i got to really get a deeper understanding of what people care about and what people's concerns are and also what people loved about the district and the city. i was talking with the mayor yesterday. he was very interested in seeing

how the good work with our office -- how he could work with our office. i would love to see how we could support small businesses because they are the heart at san francisco. they provide 60% 07% of the jobs in sanford cisco, and they provide it locally, and they are not going to offshore their jobs any time. i am not an opponent of cleaning up the tenderloin. i love the tenderloin. i love what is right now. i recognize we have a diversity of books that live there and people do not want to see open drug dealing. i do not have a problem with people lit think -- people out on the street socializing. i think that is good. that to me is more -- you know, it is part of the character of the neighborhood. i get to represent one of the most exciting and dynamic districts in the city. it is where change is happening, so i think it is exciting in terms of how we can model what it means to be a smart growth neighborhood, how we can use transit and housing effectively to serve our city and also to do

a lot of the new green policies that we have developed over the last 10 years. >> is housed in a spectacular building described by the world renowned architect. it is the san francisco destination for provocative expositions and programs that explore culture, history, art, and ideas. the director of cultural affairs told us more about the mission and to give us a tour of the latest exposition. ♪

>> today we find ourselves of the contemporary jewish museum. with me is the director of the museum. >> i am so happy you are here today. >> we're getting close to a milestone for the museum. it is your third anniversary coming up. >> it is. you were here to help cut the ribbon. it has been an extraordinary journey ever since. we welcome hundreds of thousands of people into the building. we welcome school groups, interests -- tourists. >> the addition of the museum to the cultural pantheons of san francisco has been phenomenon. you have fabulous exhibits. there is one i want to talk about, "seeing gertrude stein."

>> gertrude stein is a local woman. she was raised in oakland. she was an extraordinary individual who helped create -- many people call for the mother of modernism. years ago, i was introduced to someone doing research on her. i thought it would be an extraordinary exposition to take her and understand her at all for complexity. that is what we have on view during the summer of 2011. >> it is full of wonderful drawings, paintings, and sculpture. >> there is incredible art on view. we have photographs. we have sculpture. we have a lot of different things. we have a little something made for her by picasso.

there are five different ways of looking at her life. it is not in chronological installation. it is looking at how she is portrayed in help artists, painters, and photographers presented her and how she thought about her own style and presentation. many people think she always had short hair. it was not until she was 52 that she cut off all of her hair. the second element is called "domestic stein." alice b. toklas was her lifelong partner. they had several different homes. we know about their home in paris, the famous salon. you get a taste of what their domestic life was like. >> one thing recreated is the fabulous wallpaper. the black-and-white photos do not convey the color.

>> in doing a lot of research, you discover a little tidbits. with an exhibition, at the find ways to make it come together. we found beautiful photographs of the interior of their home. then we found a tiny scrap of the wallpaper. we saw how blue and vibrant it was. we had a designer recreate the image of the wallpaper. we had it made into wallpaper so we could all experience what it would have been like to be in their home. it is dynamic and fantastic. they seem very monochromatic because you only know them through black-and-white photographs, but they had such a vibrant life. that is what the exhibition is also trying to show. the third one is the art of friendship. picasso and matisse were part of

their second family. there were people she admired and worked with. we introduced the visitors to her second family in a sense. the fourth story is called celebrity stein. what a lot of people do not know is when she left united states in the early 1900's, she only came back once in 1934. we also have a section of every single first edition book she ever published. >> it is incredible to see all the first edition books. >> it is really impressive to realize not only was she a grand dame of paris, but she had an incredible writing practice. she was a prolific writer. the fifth level really looks at

her legacy and how artists continue to be inspired by her image, work, and concept. >> this is a compelling reason for people to visit the jewish museum. you also have life and theater. >> we are a non-collecting museum. any time you walk in the building, you will always be treated to a range of very different and wonderful exhibitions. in our first floor exhibition space, we have an exhibition on the work of charlotte sullivan. she was a young artist in berlin. the nazis came into power. her parents sent her to the south of france to live with her grandparents. she put herself in a room for about 18 months and created 1200 small paintings telling her life story through a kind of reflection. it is another example of the way

we try to bring a wide range of art and experiences to our public. we want them to find something meaningful to them. >> your institution has been in this neighborhood for three years. how do you like the neighborhood? >> this is the best neighborhood. we are the luckiest city in the world to have this kind of cultural district, to have so many museums and cultural institutions. the center of our tourist life is here because this is where the convention center is. people from near and far can be introduced to the richness of the bay area. it is so wonderful and unique. >> the city thanks you for providing such wonderful leadership and vision. >> we're so happy to be part of the city and so honored to be part of "culture wire."

>> to learn more about the exhibition and other upcoming events, visit the website. thank you for watching "culture

supervisor chu: good morning. welcome bit -- welcome to the second day of budget hearings. our klerk today is mr. victor young. mr. young, do we have any announcements? >> please turn off all sell phones. if you wish to speak during public comment or are spending -- sending documents to the clerk -- to the committee, please submit copies to the clerk for the file. supervisor chu: this is day number two of the hearing

process for the budget. we have heard a number of apartments on monday and today we have a host of the apartments. mr. wagner, do you have any opening comments for today? >> no, i do not. supervisor chu: let's go straight to departments. retirement system? >> item #one. annual salary ordinance enumerating positions in the annual budget and appropriation ordinance for the fy ending june 30, 2012; fy ending june 30, 2013, for the airport, port commission, and the public utilities commission; and continuing, creating or establishing these positions; enumerating and including therein all positions created by charter or state law for which compensations are paid from city and county funds and appropriation ordinance; authorizing appointments or continuation of appointments thereto; specifying and fixing the compensations and work authorizing appointments to temporary positions and fixing compensations therefore. item #two. consolidated budget and annual appropriation ordinance appropriating all estimated receipts and all estimated expenditures of the city and county of san francisco for the fy ending june 30, 2012; and for fys ending june 30, 2012, and june 30, 2013, for the airport, port commission and public utilities commission.

supervisor chu: we will be having a long day of public comments this friday at 10:00. we will take a break at noon and start again at 1:00. public information, public comment will begin again on friday. >> thank you, supervisors. the members have an outline from the retirement system and i have copies here if anyone from the public is interested. what i would like to do is give a brief overview of the system itself. it does come into the budget consideration and makes a brief consideration through budget requests. the retirement system is charged with administering two funds.

the pension fund and the 457 plan, the individual account plan. we have over $15 billion in the pension right now. the one item that i wish to highlight through both of these are that no general fund revenue is utilized for the expenses of either trust. through the pension plan the employer, the city and other employers, like the city school district, made contributions to the fund. they are not through expenses but rather through actuarial reports to fund the benefits themselves. the numbers that are contributed to both of these funds, and i know there has been a lot of publicity lately