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tv   [untitled]    July 12, 2011 1:00pm-1:30pm PDT

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ellis, external affairs. one of our stars is shelly campbell, our product manager. thank you. [applause] we're also joined by the department of the environment had. -- hea. d. we are going to wait for the fire trucks to go by. this started with the dpw project and we are a client now representing the dpw is ed riskin. >> thank you. as the general manager and commission president referred to, dpw has been with this project for over a decade it has really become a labor of love for the department. it is an extraordinarily complex building project, unlike our typical library or fire station
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that we work on. and it is not because of the exceedingly high environmental performance, but exceedingly high seismic performance, business continuity performance. this will be one of the most advanced office buildings in the country. it is really a great partnership that we have working with the puc to make this happen, but also with our private sector partners, kmd stevens, webcor and their construction team. it has been a collaborative effort. we are proud of the fact that we are not only getting this great building built that will serve the city for generations to come, but in doing it, we are putting a lot of local businesses and residents to work in the process. it is really a win win. i want to commend the general manager and commission for their bitter ship and foresight in seeing after this project had
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been stalled for many years, seeing this was a great investment for the repairs and people of san francisco. it was the smart thing to do. we are righproud to be part of . i want to thank the work of the rest of the pc team to get this done. starting with a man who is living and breathing this, has been for years, our project manager brooke. [applause] he is working closely with edgar lopez, who manages all of our major projects, but was here pretty much from day one. they are being supported by our city engineers and the rest of the department coming together to deliver a great project to
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the ratepayers of san francisco. we're so happy to be a part of this. congratulations to the puc on getting to this point, the topping off ceremony. [applause] >> as the owners, we are certainly willing to move in, but we are not building the building. representing the builders is andy of webcor. [applause] >> it is great to be here. most people do not realize this building almost did not happen. i was at a green building conference and i ran into mayor gavin newsom. he said, we are not going to build that building. we cannot afford to. i said, mayor, you cannot afford not to. this building will be an example of what all cities should build. with the energy savings that were mentioned, this building will be like no others. when the city starts to operate, they will say, why did we not do
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this before? it is a wonderful thing for the environment, the city, a wonderful thing for us being chosen as a builder. i am wearing a hard hat because i am a contractor, that is what we do. i want to thank my team. they are doing a wonderful job. [applause] recognize that this is not an easy building. it is a innovative and complex structure. the first time it has been done here. there is a very sophisticated mechanical system. we have some great consultants here. it is always a pleasure to work with a team at the department of public works. you are wonderful to be with. edgar, we have done this before.
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brooke, you as well. ed harrington, when he came into this position, he said this building would be too much. we brought it down to $140 million, kept it as lede platinum. everyone on this team is absolutely first class. it is a pleasure partner with the city. we are in good hands with mayor lee. he recognizes the importance of this kind of structure and it is always great to work with the city of san francisco and the mayor's office. thank you. [applause] >> thank you. just in time, the son has come out. mayor lee will lead us in having the crane operator bring a the beam up. >> everybody, on three, we are
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going to have frankie bring it up. we are going to say frankie, bring it up! >> frankie, bring it up! [applause]
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++ >> i am the deputy executive director for the sfmta. i am pleased to welcome you to the celebration of the completion of the california and power line cable car projects, which saw the california cable car line down for six months this year.
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in spring, the power lines were down for three different shut down -- shutdowns. the project was a comprehensive line upgrade. the project was a collaboration with department of public works and the san francisco public utilities commission, both of which made multiple improvements to the infrastructure of this street in coordination with cable car improvements. we are joined today by the dpw director and sfpuc general manager. the businesses and communities surrounding the cable car lines were real partners with us, of course. this required close coordination to keep clear the lines of communication, and we are pleased to be joined today by members of various merchants associations, neighborhood and civic groups, as well as downtown management organiza of these various entities has been critical to the success of these projects. we are also honored to have with us this morning mayor edwin lee
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to kick off the celebration. [applause] mayor lee: good morning. i know the sun is not out, but we can still be awake. i want to thank all of you for coming today on this reopening, and i want to let you know that you're so excited to join board president david chiu, who was a cable car writer -- rider from the first day he arrived, and also the departments that worked so closely with nat ford and the whole team, in doing not only this project, but it has been 27 years since there has been a major overhaul of our cable car system. with nat's leadership along with carter's and sfmta, we want to make sure that the system -- if
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we invite people to ride halfway to the stars, it better be safe. we want to make sure that it gets a renewal in its brackets and sloths -- slots. you will hear about these details as you talk with cable car operators. i want to thank them for their patience. they are a wonderful group of people, dedicated to something that is part of our $8 billion tourism -- a very key part. soon, you will see the lines drawn here of people who want to take the cable cars on a daily basis, the tourists and also the residents who find this a fantastic local way of enjoying themselves. when we redid the cable car system, we did a number of things that i thought were very smart and smartly done by the collaboration with our departments. we had the sfpuc do what it could to identify the locations
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in our sewer system that could be worked on. that was very smart. while this cable car system was down for several months. we had dpw and their engineers working to be paid streets and redo the curb ramps -- repave streets for ada access. that was smartly done. and on top of this, we had other parts of the cable car system redone as well. we had worked on the cable car bomb -- cable car bomb -- cable car barn, to make sure the propulsion system was adequately restored. all in all, we have done this very smartly. the main banks today is to the residence -- the main thanks today is to the residents and
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businesses that tolerated this because they know at the very end it will be a blessing to have the cable cars run smoothly. i also want to thank the operators and the maintenance people at muni. they are very important to helping us run this system well, and they are part of a great system we have in san francisco to be very proud of. it goes to show that as we reinforce the system, as we make sure that the cable car system improvement project is done well, that we take care of the other infrastructure we have alongside of it. that is why not only is this project successful in many ways and coordinated and collaborate with other departments well, but we want to make sure voters know that that is the way we will approach the street bond that we will have the board vote on very soon that will be placed on the november ballot.
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8 $248 million bond program to make our streets that much more improve -- a $248 million bond program to make our streets that much more improved. half of our streets now are deteriorated. they need attention, and we want to make sure they are given the appropriate attention. we will be sponsoring that kind of infrastructure work as well with the leadership of dpw as well as the other agencies that will make sure when we do these roads, we will collaborate and make sure all the other infrastructure departments pay attention at the same time. with that, i want to welcome in this great cable car improvement and have a great chance of cutting the ribbon and make sure that the lines will start reworking for all of the tourists and all of the users of this great cable car system. thank you very much. [applause]
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>> also, we have with us -- it is an honor -- president david chiu has joined us. would you like to say a few words? [applause] supervisor chiu: good morning. this is a great day for san francisco, our residents, our merchants, our tourist, and everyone who has been running our cable cars since 1873 -- everyone who has been writing -- everyone who has been riding our cable cars since 1873. as mayor lee mentioned, from literally the first day i have lived in san francisco, i have taken our cable cars. it is one of my favorite ways of getting around my district and for many of my constituents and
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merchants, it is an incredibly special institution. cable cars were invented here in san francisco. they are part of what is iconic about our city. they are part of what makes our hills and neighborhoods so memorable. when i heard that we had to close down the cable cars for a time, as an elected official, i panicked a little bit. i heard a lot of concerns raised by neighbors up and down the cable car lines, who have to rely on these lines every day of the week to get to where they need to go. i am so pleased that this project happen as flawlessly as it did. i look forward to getting back up on this cable car line, and i look forward to making sure that with all of you, we are investing in our transit, in our infrastructure so that something that was invented in 1873 will be able to be part of our great city for, hopefully, centuries to come. thank you very much. [applause]
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>> okay, we also have with us our board chair, tom nolan. >> thank you very much. didn't that cable car bells sound good -- didn't that cable car bell sound good? i want to thank our colleagues in the dpw and puc. i think people appreciate when departments work well together, and this is a terrific example of that, and hopefully, this is the way we will keep going in the future. 8 million people ride the cable cars every year. that is an awful lot of people. business people, residents, and, of course, visitors, and we are delighted that this is back and running today appeared my notes say that we released conduits, police records, and switches -- we replaced conduits, police
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brackets, and switches -- conduits, pulley brackets, and switches. on behalf of my colleagues, thank you all for a job well done. [applause] >> ok, we would be remiss if we did not ask the heads of the departments that spearheaded the great coordination that went on with this work -- i would like to call up ed riskin from the department of public works first. >> thank you, carter. this mayor, from his time as city administrator and moving on to his time as mayor, has encouraged strong collaboration between the departments of the city. when we can work together to coordinate and collaborate on the planning, design, and construction of major projects like this, it is not just about
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us working nicely together. saves time and saves money. as importantly, it minimizes disruption to the public. on a street like this that has such an essential function to the city, that is such a prominent st., that has so much happening on it, the ability to do that, to minimize disruption, to get the work done and save money in the process, is very important. our role in the process -- we got 17 streets reconstructed and 80 curb ramps built up and down the length of california. it is not only smarter and safer, but it is much more accessible for the thousands and millions of people could travel upon it. we worked hard to minimize disruption during this process, but any time you are tearing up public rights of way, there will be some noise and traffic impacts and path of travel
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impacts on the sidewalk, but we worked hard to keep that to a minimum. i want to thank the designers, the resident engineer, the contractor, but also the residents, merchants, hotels, visitors, the many people who had to put up with this. thank you for your patience because this was a significant amount of work we got down for the city. with regards to being able to join forces with other city departments to get this work done, leverage our resources, save time and money, we want to do a lot more of that. we take whatever chance we can to partner with other departments, other utilities, but we are only able to do so to the extent that our resources allow. the mayor mentioned the street's bond we hope to see on the ballot this november. -- the st. -- the streets bond. if that were to be approved, we would have a lot more resources to be able to improve our
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infrastructure. thank you do the people for allowing us to get this work done. [applause] >> last but certainly not least, ed harrington from the public utility commission. >> good morning. i love cable cars. i have been judging cable car contest for a number of years. even though the puc is a fairly small part of this, i started 27 years ago on this project. back then, it was an unusual thing to have puc, muni, wastewater -- all those people come together and build up the streets and not come back and tear everything up. now, it is part of how we do business. whenever we have the possibility of doing some work in the streets, we figure out how to do it together and have as little disruption to the people of san francisco as possible. great to be part of this.
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thank you to the team on this. thank you, everybody. [applause] >> how about that? we would be remiss if we did not also thank the operators and cable car division staff that not only have provided this lovely backdrop for today's event, but they also provide the great california alliance service that has been running behind you. they also have been instrumental of ensuring continuous service even on buses along cable car lines during the shutdowns and communicating our plans to our customers, with a transport every day. i also want to thank the teams with the cable car project for their diligence in helping san francisco maintain these important -- maintain this important infrastructure. also i want to thank the hyatt regency behind you, garrett delhi chocolates, and all of sfmta staff for making this a
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success -- chirar -- ghirardeli chocolates. thank you. >> i believe we are going to have a ribbon-cutting ceremony now? >> 1. 2. 3. all right. [applause]
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++ >> i am the deputy executive director for the sfmta. i am pleased to welcome you to the celebration of the completion of the california and power line cable car projects, which saw the california cable car line down for six months this year. in spring, the power lines were down for three different shut down -- shutdowns. the project was a comprehensive line upgrade. the project was a collaboration with department of public works and the san francisco public utilities commission, both of which made multiple improvements to the infrastructure of this street in coordination with cable car improvements. we are joined today by the dpw director and sfpuc general manager. the businesses and communities surrounding the cable car lines were real partners with us, of
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course. this required close coordination to keep clear the lines of communication, and we are pleased to be joined today by members of various merchants associations, neighborhood and civic groups, as well as downtown management organiza of these various entities has been critical to the success of these projects. we are also honored to have with us this morning mayor edwin lee to kick off the celebration. [applause] mayor lee: good morning. i know the sun is not out, but we can still be awake. i want to thank all of you for coming today on this reopening, and i want to let you know that you're so excited to join board president david chiu, who was a cable car writer -- rider from
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the first day he arrived, and also the departments that worked so closely with nat ford and the whole team, in doing not only this project, but it has been 27 years since there has been a major overhaul of our cable car system. with nat's leadership along with carter's and sfmta, we want to make sure that the system -- if we invite people to ride halfway to the stars, it better be safe. we want to make sure that it gets a renewal in its brackets and sloths -- slots. you will hear about these details as you talk with cable car operators. i want to thank them for their patience. they are a wonderful group of people, dedicated to something that is part of our $8 billion tourism -- a very key part.
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soon, you will see the lines drawn here of people who want to take the cable cars on a daily basis, the tourists and also the residents who find this a fantastic local way of enjoying themselves. when we redid the cable car system, we did a number of things that i thought were very smart and smartly done by the collaboration with our departments. we had the sfpuc do what it could to identify the locations in our sewer system that could be worked on. that was very smart. while this cable car system was down for several months. we had dpw and their engineers working to be paid streets and redo the curb ramps -- repave streets for ada access. that was smartly done. and on top of this, we had other
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parts of the cable car system redone as well. we had worked on the cable car bomb -- cable car bomb -- cable car barn, to make sure the propulsion system was adequately restored. all in all, we have done this very smartly. the main banks today is to the residence -- the main thanks today is to the residents and businesses that tolerated this because they know at the very end it will be a blessing to have the cable cars run smoothly. i also want to thank the operators and the maintenance people at muni. they are very important to helping us run this system well, and they are part of a great system we have in san francisco to be very proud of. it goes to show that as we reinforce the system as we make sure that the cable car system
1:28 pm
improvement project is done well, that we take care of the other infrastructure we have alongside of it. that is why not only is this project successful in many ways and coordinated and collaborate with other departments well, but we want to make sure voters know that that is the way we will approach the street bond that we will have the board vote on very soon that will be placed on the november ballot. 8 $248 million bond program to make our streets that much more improve -- a $248 million bond program to make our streets that much more improved. half of our streets now are deteriorated. they need attention, and we want to make sure they are given the appropriate attention. we will be sponsoring that kind of infrastructure work as well with the leadership of dpw as well as the other agencies that
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will make sure when we do these roads, we will collaborate and make sure all the other infrastructure departments pay attention at the same time. with that, i want to welcome in this great cable car improvement and have a great chance of cutting the ribbon and make sure that the lines will start reworking for all of the tourists and all of the users of this great cable car system. thank you very much. [applause] >> also, we have with us -- it is an honor -- president david chiu has joined us. would you like to say a few words? [applause] supervisor chiu: good morning. this is a great day for san francisco, our residents, our merchants, our tourist, and everyone who has been running our cable cars since 1873 -- everyone who has