>> good afternoon. thank you for coming out here on this beautiful summer solstice day with a phenomenal view. you can see mount diablo from here. you can also see our beautiful city. i am the director of public works. i am very pleased to be year. -- i am very pleased to be here to speak to this great community project. i will start you out with this fact, speaking of our beautiful city. 25% of our beautiful city is taken up by public right of way, streets, sidewalks, and scraps and parcels that the city

leaders laid out to convey people and vehicles. the public rights of way are important. that is what we stoeward. a lot of it was designed more for utilities and vehicles than people. what you have seen over the last few years is a rethinking of the public rights of way. we're here to talk about one small example of movement in a positive direction in terms of how we use our public spaces in san francisco. without further ado, the man you would all like to hear from. he is serving the great city now and once did as the director of public works, our mayor, mayor ed lee. [applause]

>> thank you. thank you for your leadership as well. i am up here for the ribbon cutting ceremony. i want to thank all the neighbors that live up here. you have seen corners of the city where grass is growing or people are neglecting these places. along comes a bureaucracy called dpw with others gaining confidence that we can do something about it. we can take a neglected part of our city where there is a corner that nobody takes responsibility for and is an eyesore some good conversations take place.

the streets and parks program at dpw with ed's help, engineering, they start talking to a bureaucrat about possible funds for a community grant program. then a leader starts appearing in says there is something we would like to have. the neighbors want it. we've been doing it on may flower, carver. can do it bigger and make it more beautiful. the neighbors and kids work closely with dpw, parks trust. as you can see behind me, i think somebody else's property

discuss another $1 million in value. it is worth it to transform light, to make sure we do it with our supervisors held and everyone concerned about the beauty of the neighborhoods. this is what makes neighborhoods strong. this is what i want to continue building on. leaders are working on everything from a little graffiti problem or staircase gardens saying that they want to get beyond neglect and bring it back to what it really is -- is paying attention to our neighborhoods, making them stronger, building community and building partnerships. that is what these street parks are all about. it is never about just the concrete or the flowers. it is about the life and increased value we bring to our

neighborhoods. that is what being a neighbor of the great city is all about. that is what i love about the city. my neighborhood is doing the same thing with our street. we want to pay attention to it. we want to get a little help. they get it. we bring the bureaucrats out to the neighborhoods. we make everybody that much more appreciative of what kind of city they are a part of. i want to emphasize the strength of our city relies on the strength of people likfrom the community. you build it here, in glen park, the mission, chinatown. it builds up the strength of the city. it comes back to our department's opening up their resources, not protecting it

like other bureaucratic agencies have historically done. we've said we can do it and be challenged with a grant program completely open to everybody. these things are worth the $1 million it looks like today. it is worth 10 times more in building camaraderie and companionship with our neighbors. i want to emphasize that. i want to represent that by giving what i can do to reflect our appreciation for the leadership. it is a certificate of honor to julian for his leadership on this project and many other projects that have kept this community working and expanding and growing. there is a design around his leadership. by voice vote as the mayor and city administrator that when you

have strong communities, things like disasters, we will have strong neighborhoods to help us recover back. this is the beginning of that. i want to give you this certificate on behalf of the city, parks trust, the challenge grant program. thank you for all of the leadership you have had. [applause] >> water? [inaudible] [applause]

>> thank you, mr. mayor, for your leadership on this. during his time as dpw director, during the community challenge grant program, and now as mayor, it is great for us to see a mayor that gets it on what matters to our neighborhoods and is encouraging all of the departments to embrace things the way he did. thank you for your leadership in enabling things like this to happen. someone else who really gets this is the supervisor that represents this area. he is very much focused on the importance of keeping the streets and sidewalks cleans welcoming, and beautiful.

i know he was regretful he was not able to be here today. he did send a representative from david campos' office. >> i want to thank the mayor for his kind words. as a member of the committee, i would personally like to show my appreciation and thank julian and the friends of bernal gardens for their work so that we can enjoy these beautiful places for generations to come. on behalf of the entire community supervisor comampos, in the board of supervisors, i would like to present this to julian for your commitment to excellence -- commitment of

excellence to the organization that has succeeded in turning a vacant lot to a beautiful garden. thank you for being an exceptional community leader. [applause] congratulations. >> thank you again to supervisor campos and his office. it is easy to have great ideas, but you need to turn to someone to get the work done. that someone in san francisco is sometimes known as mr. clean. he is our deputy director for operations who works to keep the city clean and make it beautiful. our deputy director.

[applause] >> let me join the mayor and our director in welcoming you all. thank you for contributing to such a beautiful asset to our neighborhood. san francisco has many hills and streets and lots of open spaces that have not been developed. people all over on the city had come together to help the city become stewards of the beautiful lands. here is another example of the community coming together, businesses, everyone contributing their share in making san francisco the great city that it is. i like to thank brought madmoor

landscapes apply the gave discounts and free materials to make this project happen. janet moyer landscaping assisted with the design. there was effort in trying to figure out the slopes the walls. they helped quite a bit. jordan kirkland, veronica brady , and the friends of bernal gardens who brought this burden to fruition. the department of public works is out there to hold hands and work with everyone. it is through their leadership that we are able to improve our neighborhoods. i would especially like to thank the staff of dpw who go out to all of these meetings and start these projects. i want to thank all of the

bureau's at dpw who assisted in bringing supplies, and doing some work, or making sure that the project was built as planned. thank you very much. [applause] >> there are a lot of other people to think. you have been hearing a lot about this gentleman, julian, who is responsible for a lot of this. i used to live not far from here. i used to walk my dog upon the hill there. it is so great to see the transformation of this space. it is something i want to see in my neighborhood as well. it does not happen without the leadership of the grass-roots level. we're there to support it, but the leadership is not there from the community, it does not happen. it is my great pleasure to bring forth a great leader in this community mr. julian wyler. [applause]

>> welcome to this point guard in v -- vista point guard. there are a lot of people who are not here today who contributed to make this possible. there are a lot of other people who come here and work and put in various parts of the garden, especially the unsung heroes of the volunteers in the neighborhood. working together and staying focused, this neighborhood has reached out and made partnerships with the city. we have worked together. we get more done that way. it is a real synergy. these gardens to them exist five years ago. they were all neglected, blighted, like a cross the street where you still see areas that can be in crude -- improved.

we just need a vision. the public gardens connect us to natural beauty. they give us a sense of community pride. they provide habitats for bees, butterflies, and birds. they represent what is best in us as a community. the bench represents a window on the past. it was once a curb in downtown san francisco. we've simply connected it to the future. another purpose for the garden is that it provides a place for people just sit and reflect and pause on their journey. it provides a kind of common duty that we all share. it allows us to stop and

reflect on the shining city beyond which continues to reinvent itself. today, we dedicate this beautiful public garden. made keeps a loy it keep so. thank you. [applause] >> those are beautiful words befitting and beautiful their part of our city. -- befitting a beautiful new part of our city. mohammad thanked a lot of the donors. the mayor referenced the grant program. there's the whole group of the friends of bernal gardens that we want to thank. finally, it is not just

community partners. in his community organizations that we partner with to make things like this happen. -- it is committee par-- communy organizations that we partner with to make things like this happen. there's great sensibility about the landscapes of san francisco. there is san francisco parks trust. i would like to ask karen to close us out with a few words. >> thank you. i think we're all moved by ulian's words and passion for this place. we're proud to be here for the completion of the beautiful garden. the term is fiscal sponsor, but it is so much more. we do community interface all over the city with many partners. bureaucracy is not a bad word. we work well with government. thank you to the bureaucrats. to me, that meeting has no

pejorative anything. the sense of entrepreneurship from dpw is very strong. you can see in the interactions with julian wyler, bernal gardens, and others in the committee who make this happen. dpw deserves credit. they built a concrete platform. they delivered supplies. the organized community work days and brought in tools. we worked with sandra. thank you for your hard work. you can partner with dpw, but you have to have a person there to be a partner. she has been hit. on our own staff, i want to thank julie and brean for their -- brandy for their two years of work on this. we have the committee challenge

grant that provided a lot of funding for this. lanita is an able leader for that program. thank you to all of our partners in the city and community. enjoy your new garden. [applause] >> thank you, everyone, for coming out. i think we have a ribbon to cut. it is green because this is a green space. please join us in formally opening the park. are we ready? [applause] thank you. i will beat anybody to that tape.

-- i will beat anybody to that cake. [laughter] >> 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 is here to make another announcement today. [applause] >> i am so happy to be here to celebrate this project. i think it is appropriate, the weather we are having, as we dedicate the reservoir. it is a little strange to be getting this rain, but we

appreciate every drop of it and we are happy to have a big reservoir. i am excited to announce that we have plans to install three small hydroelectric generators here on site. that is a clean, renewable energy source, something that we are committed to. it will replicate on a smaller scale of our large scale hydro project up that hetch hetchy dam . we are thrilled that will be on line. that will be done by 2013. 200 kilowatts per day will be generated by those three facilities, those three generators, enough to power approximately 200 homes. we are excited about that as part of our efforts to move away from dirty, empowered -- imported power sources in san francisco, and an example to our commitment to a clean, renewable energy future. we are excited about that.