around us, in san francisco, we will depend a lot more on ourselves and on our own spirit of unity and sacrifice. i am not going anywhere for the holidays. i am staying right here in our city. i want to join with all the wonderful agencies who have come together. they have been here every season to help and asked others to make donations and sacrifices. the season of giving starts now. i would ask that everyone in the city stepped up. whether you of the job or not, whether you have a family that you care about, or other people's families, this is a good time to step up and make the extra effort. i am going to be there visibly joining them in the message of the season of giving. i want to register that this

whole city has been such a wonderful place to be. i am so very fortunate to be the mayor of this city. i also want to make sure that we have a lot of hope to bring to the residents who live here and the people who are suffering. i will have more to say in a minute. i would like to welcome to the podium someone i have had a chance to work with over the years. is someone i believe in and i know has a very strong message of hope for our citizens. that is cicecil williams and gladys. come on up. [applause] >> do you want to say something first? this is what we do all the time. [laughter] you go now and i will follow. [laughter]

i know what to do. if she says to do it, i do it. [laughter] thank you, mayor ed lee, and congratulations to you on winning the mayor of this city. san francisco is not only a beautiful city. it is a city and a community and a territory that serves the needs of the people. there is no doubt about it. people who are here today are ready and able to do the work. we want to expand and make sure that people in the city and bay area and do what they usually do. that is to make sure that no one has to suffer during the holiday season or in any season. no one should have to suffer.

we come together to support you and let you know that this city is ready. take us and lead us, we will follow. no doubt about that. [applause] >> it is always hard to follow the preacher. i want to thank mayor lee for showing the world and continuing to repeat the bottom line at san francisco is a compassionate city. it does care for all the people here, no matter who they are. we appreciate you. we appreciate your love of the diversity of the city. we appreciate the generosity of this community. thank you for continuing to give. [applause] >> next week, i will have the chance to carve some turkeys. i will be joining st. anthony's

and having a wonderful time. anita and i will have a chance to exhibit our love for the city again. st. anthony's has been a wonderful partner. i was here on these steps with st. anthony's a few months ago as they were exhibiting their love for the city. i know they have a tough time with all the lines increasing on a weekly basis. i want to introduce the director of the st. anthony's foundation. [applause] >> we are honored to be a partner with the city and with all san franciscans. it has been a hard time. we just got our numbers in. last month, we saw a number of

-- another 15% increase in the number of guests coming to our dining room. we're seeing an increase in the technology lab. we're able to meet the needs that grow because of the generosity of san francisco. we know the weather turns colder. we know the economy is still slow and many people still suffer. the other thing i see on a daily basis is hope. when san franciscans and people all over the bay area continue to come together, there is a lot of abundance. there's a great generosity. like the mayor and others, we come together. we may be volunteering, donating food or cash. it really helps. in giving, you and still hope. this the season of giving and hope. we come together and join together with the nonprofits gathered today. we all work together, whether we're buying food together, coordinating other efforts. it is all of us coming together as a family, a big community

family here in the san francisco area. we're honored to get to work with you and everyone gathered here. we want to wish everyone a blessed holiday season. thank you. [applause] >> next week, i will have a chance to join our intra-faith council -- inter-faith council. they have been very helpful as we try to figure out things. we do not have the solutions to every question or even the questions being raised by those representing the challenges to the 99%. we will need help from everyone to figure those things out in the city. i want to register my appreciation for the council and their continuing support for all of us leaders in the city and for their prayers as well.

i would to have funds serving one of the great institutions that are no longer just in chinatown. they are all over our city. annie chung, please come on up. >> mayor, thank you for including us in today's press conference. i read the "reader's digest" for december. they went around 16 countries and asked people one question. the question is whether the holidays are joyous or stressful. is where the united states placed? in the bottom two. -- guess where the united states placed? in the bottom two. at the top was philippines. india was at the bottom with 79%. the united states was close at 82%. thank you for giving out this message of hope today. under your leadership, this is going to change. we're going to make sure that

all sentences against a field stressful or sad during the holidays will be able to get something they wanted this year or for their families. there will be enough gifts for them. it is because you are stepping up. you are asking san francisco to join you and give more this season. we serve 35,000 seniors a year. like everyone else, the line is getting longer. our funding is diminishing. in october, seven adult day care centers were threatened to be closed by the state. mayor, you stepped in. you delivered the message of hope. he found the money to keep 1500 seniors going to these adult day health centers who otherwise would face nursing home and emergency hospitals.

on behalf of adult day health care, we thank you for finding the funding to keep us going for another few months. we hope that under your leadership, san franciscans will open their hearts and pocketbooks and continue to support the seniors. we look forward to having your car 30's and serve meals next thursday. we will serve 3000 seniors that day. thank you. [applause] >> in addition to the wonderful services that will be held with our communities and the wonderful meals the will be served, all i want to also join supervisor jikim is negative shares our strong compassion for neighborhoods. we will find the time during the holidays to open up city hall. when we get our treae lit, messages of hope will be hung on a tree.

we will have the snow day for all of the kids. we will also be able to have some pictures taken with the mayor for anyone who wants to come in and donate a can of food to the food bank. that will be another day when we register our joint effort to bring the message of unity to the city. we will need everybody to step up. this season of giving is in my opinion one of the very good opportunities for everyone in the city -- i do not care whether you are a corporate citizen or resident of whatever economic level, if you can step up to help somebody else, this is where the passion of the city

exists. this is where the soul of the city is. i want to thank all the folks here and every institution. i plan to work closely with all of them to make sure that we touch each other as we go together to help all of our citizens in the city. thank you very much on this announcement for our season of giving. thank you, everybody. [applause]

>> the right to vote allows us to vote for candidates or party and it is a significant way to have our voice heard. exactly 100 years ago, women were given the vote in california. the battle for women's suffrage was not an easy one. it took more than 70 years. a woman could run for president in new york. >> organizing this conference,

basically it modeled itself on a declaration of independence for women. it marked the beginning of the women's equality movement in the united states. >> at that time, women were banned from holding property and voting in elections. >> susan b. anthony dedicated her life to reform. >> suffrage in the middle of the 19th century accomplished one goal, it was diametrically opposed to this idea. >> many feared it would be corrupted by politics.

>> women in the 19th century had to convince male voters that having the vote would not change anything. that woman would still be devoted to the home, the family, that they would remain pure and innocent, that having the vote would not corrupt them. >> support gradually grew in state and local campaigns. >> leaders like ellen clark sgt come repeatedly stopping these meetings -- , repeatedly stopping these meetings as a politically active figure. doing everything they could to ground the campaign in domesticity. >> despite their efforts, the

link made it tough whenever voters were in the big city. a specialist in francisco. >> the problem with san francisco is that women's suffrage as an idea was associated. >> susan b. anthony joined the provision party. a deadly idea in san francisco. liquor was the foundation of the economy. and >> anything that touched on the possibility of prohibition was greatly and popular. >> the first campaign was a great effort, but not a success. >> the war was not over. less than one decade later, a

graphic protests brought new life to the movement. >> women's suffrage, the republican convention in oakland, this time it was the private sector response. 300 marched down the streets of the convention center. women were entitled to be here. >> joining together for another campaign. >> women opened a club in san francisco. it was called the votes for women club. if she could get the shopkeepers

to have lunch, she could get them to be heard literature. the lunch room was a tremendous success. >> it was the way that people thought about women willing to fight for a successful campaign. what happened was, the social transformation increase the boundary of what was possible, out word. >> there were parades and rallies, door to door candidacies, reaching every voter in the state. >> the eyes of the nation were on california in 1911, when we all voted. it was the sixth and largest state in the nation to approve this. one decade later, we have full

voting rights in the united states. helping newly enfranchised women, a new political movement was founded. >> starting in the 1920's, it was a movement created by the suffragettes moving forward to getting the right to vote. all of the suffragettes were interested in educating the new voters. >> non-partisan, not endorsing candidates >> -- endorsing candidates, getting the right to vote and one they have their voice heard. >> the 100th anniversary of

women's suffrage is taking place throughout the state. bancroft library is having an exhibit that highlights the women's suffrage movement, chronicling what happened in california, bringing women the right to vote. >> how long does this mean going on? >> the week of the 20th. people do not realize that women were allowed to vote as early as the 1920's. in the library collection we have a manuscript from the end of december, possibly longer. >> in commemoration of 100 years of voting in california. 100 years ago this year, we won

the right to vote. around 1911, this is how it would have addressed. and here we are, dressed the same. [chanting] >> we have the right to vote. >> whether you are marching for a cause or voting in the next election, make your voice heard. thank you for watching.

i'm the president of friends of mclaren park. it is one of the oldest neighborhood community park groups in san francisco. i give a lot of tours through the park. during those tours, a lot of the folks in the group will think of the park as very scary.

it has a lot of hills, there's a lot of dense groves. once you get towards the center of the park you really lose your orientation. you are very much in a remote area. there are a lot of trees that shield your view from the urban setting. you would simply see different groves that gives you a sense of freedom, of being outdoors, not being burdened by the worries of city life. john mclaren had said that golden gate park was too far away. he proposed that we have a park in the south end of the city. the campaign slogan was, people need this open space. one of the things that had to open is there were a lot of people who did a homestead here, about 25 different families. their property had to be bought up. so it took from 1928 to 1957 to buy up all the parcels of land

that ended up in this 317 acres. the park, as a general rule, is heavily used in the mornings and the evenings. one of the favorite places is up by the upper reservoir because dogs get to go swim. it's extremely popular. many fights in the city, as you know, about dogs in parks. we have 317 acres and god knows there's plenty of room for both of us. man and his best friend. early in the morning people before they go to work will walk their dogs or go on a jog themselves with their dogs. joggers love the park, there's 7 miles of hiking trails and there's off trail paths that hikers can take. all the recreational areas are heavily used on weekends. we have the group picnic area which should accommodate 200 people, tennis courts are full. it also has 3 playground areas.

the ampitheater was built in 1972. it was the home of the first blues festival. given the fact that jerry garcia used to play in this park, he was from this neighborhood, everybody knows his reputation. we thought what a great thing it would be to have an ampitheater named after jerry garcia. that is a name that has panache. it brings people from all over the bay area to the ampitheater. the calls that come in, we'd like to do a concert at the jerry garcia ampitheater and we do everything we can to accommodate them and help them because it gets people into the park. people like a lot of color and that's what they call a park. other people don't. you have to try to reconcile all those different points of view. what should a park look like

and what should it have? should it be manicured, should it be nice little cobblestones around all of the paths and like that. the biggest objective of course is getting people into the park to appreciate open space. whatever that's going to take to make them happy, to get them there, that's the main goal. if it takes a planter with flowers and stuff like that, fine. you know, so what? people need to get away from that urban rush and noise and this is a perfect place to do it. feedback is always amazement. they don't believe that it's in san francisco. we have visitors who will say, i never knew this was here and i'm a native san franciscoan. they wonder how long it's been here. when i tell them next year we'll get to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the park,k,

>> you can see that it is amazing. you can hear that it is refreshing. you reach for it because it is irresistible. and the taste. simply delicious. san francisco tap water. it engages the senses.

311 is an important resource for all san franciscans. should