you can finish that remark. >> all of his family and friends that i have met are just people i got to travel with warren. i got to become really close friends with him. it remained always that he -- i cannot find words. when i found out about this happening, it's a fluke, a coincidence, that i happen to be in town for this today. if there is any way that warren can be recognized publicly for what he is, i would want to be a part of that. i would urge everybody to

approve of this. i love speedway meadow, too. [laughter] i spend a lot of time there. i do not think i slept there. i spent a lot of time there. i think it would be honoring its golden gate park and san francisco to name it after warren. president buell: thank you very much. [applause] >> thank you. good morning, president buell, commissioners. i served as the education adviser. more importantly, i am a friend of warren hellman and i am honored to be here in support of their resolution. on tuesday night, the full board of education unanimously supported a resolution in support of your resolution.

he has been an incredible champion for education over the last several years, many, many years. i can recall one of our early morning breakfast meetings. he is one of the few people i wake up early for. many of you know, this is when you get the best of warren, early in the morning. it was one of those moments where it was like, wow, it would be amazing. his only objective was to expose our kids to something else, to get them to love bluegrass the way that he loved the bluegrass. we have been doing it for quite a few years now. every year, it gets better and better and more exciting. now our middle school kids ask when they get to go. i remember the first bus that they brought over and the thank you notes warren received.

"thank you for the beautiful bus and for the hot dogs" and nothing about the festival. [laughter] now, about the music, dance, and being out in the open to experience this. it has been tremendous. we are very proud. we have also experienced warren supporting mission high school in ways they have not seen. i have been able to sit on the committee with warren to see three successful bonds for our school district that will help improve all the facilities, prop h, and then the quality teacher act, which pays our teachers more, primarily because of his support and help. he has taught me so much about

giving, loving, and about being. i'm honored to be here today on behalf of the 56,000 children that the unified school district represents, and to thank warren. needless to say, we hope you will pass this resolution, as well. mary richards ishere. she has been coordinating the festival with warren's team every year for the last six years. thank you. president buell: thank you. >> i'm sorry to say that i did not follow the rules. i am honored and privileged to be here to support the renaming of speedway meadow to hellman hallow. i will close my short remarks with that. as part of my work and the district, i have been working in the district as a teacher,

administrator, and now in support of all students, always in support of all students and families for the past 18 years. one of my privileges has been coordinating the hardly strict tly bluegrass festival. when the production staff came up -- i have a great relationship with the production staff that i work with. i have a little bit of ocd, too. i'm a member of the san francisco community. i have been going to the festival for the last eight years. i have seen the transformation of the park. they clean up when they are gone. it is miraculously. from 12:00 midnight until the next morning, you would never even know that millions of people have that incredible experience. for me and my car with the school district, there's an extraordinary opportunity for

our kids. there is no "no." it is such an efficiently run event for most important is the safety of our kids and the optimum experience. they have both. i want to share a couple of comments with you. i know warren hellman to be a man with a generous, humorous, and kind spirit, to be a man who loves and supports all children, and one of the most extraordinary things i know about mr. hellman, having been a middle school teacher and middle school principal, i have been a mom of a teenager. he intentionally invites nearly 4,00012-year-olds to his birthday party. as they are leaving this event, i could close my eyes and in a

minute, everything is clear and clean. for this reason alone, i would encourage you to support the renaming of speedway meadow. my quick song -- is that ok? president buell: please. >> ♪ over in hellman hallow, where the grass is so blue dance, said the banjo player so they danced and played joyfully ♪ thank you. president buell: thank you very much. [applause] >> good morning. my name is rebecca. i am with the municipal executives association. i was also one of the people who

worked with warren on the pension reform efforts that just concluded in the city. i just want to take a couple moments to speak about what a true civic leader is. that's how i view warren. he starts out with a recognition of our shared humanity, which is so important in these times where we are stratified and divided by so many things. he makes a personal commitment to get involved. he values public services. he has a deep respect for the public employees, the public servants. he has a belief in a collaborative problem solving model. he believes that if you bring people in their room and told them to the highest standards and the best expectations, they will not disappoint you.

we're happy to say that we did not disappoint him. he brought in experts when experts were needed. he brought in financial expertise. he never hesitated. his generosity was absolutely unbelievable. his moral leadership is what made him such a powerful force in that debate. i am a native san franciscan, who has walked in the parks as a child and take in my own child to the parks. we are products of the public schools. we have benefited from his largess in every aspect of our

lives. for some reason, he took me under his wing early in this process and had me to quite a few 7:00 a.m. breakfasts, where we talk about our childhood. i learned about his family history and he learned about mind. he always had some great jewish jokes that he needed to share with me and i laughed even when i did not really understand what they meant. [laughter] one thing you did not want warren to do was think that you were slow witted. i cannot imagine a more fitting tribute. i'm also a big believer that everything changes. we named our public spaces for our public heroes. thank you. president buell: thank you very

much. >> good morning, commissioners. my name is tom o'connor, president of the san francisco firefighters. i am here to speak, as well. i was fortunate enough to become his friend in the last few years. i was touched by his expertise and his personality. i came to learn just how generous he was all these years with san francisco. i really came to learn that i was fortunate enough to meet a really great man. i can say that for many reasons. while we look all around us in america and we hear about the 99% and the 1%, in san francisco, we have someone from the 1% who is still actively involved with the 99% that we are standing in line to speak praise of him. only in san francisco do you

have a man so generous and gifted that he shares it in every regard. the arts, parks, education, public policy, medical care. his daughter is here, who started the san francisco free clinic. i can go on and on. only in san francisco do you have a billionaire who walks down the street to have lunch with the firefighters. only in san francisco do you have a billionaire with a banjo on his knees throwing a great concert. i think i was most touched recently when i went to the fund raiser for san francisco free clinic. you can gauge a man or woman by their accomplishments in life. buildings, rich's, etc., but i think the real measure of a person is if they pay attention to the most important things in life. hearing his daughter's comments

and a love of family that was demonstrated, i know that i had become friends with a very great man. i think all of you should rush this through as soon as possible and let's put the sign on hellman hallow. thank you very much. president buell: thank you. >> commissioners, general manager ginsburg. many of you are used to seeing me come before you an advocate on behalf of one of my clients. i always wondered if i came to testify on something as a regular citizen. today, i'm wearing a different. fifth generation, a native born and raised, live within blocks of golden gate park, three blocks away from the wonderful san francisco clinic, which is a great neighbor, and here to testify on behalf of hellman hallow. as you have heard over and over,

this is an amazing human being. some of what i'm about to say, you have heard over and over and you will hear it from the people behind me. i want to touch on four areas. they are all very separate. one is this great neighbor i live three blocks from that is providing health services to those who do not have. it is an amazing contribution from the heart that warren and his family have made. i have had too few many times to be able to bond with warren over breakfast or lunch or sitting in his office. one of the items we always bonded over, our alma matters. the work he has done for cal -- it has been beyond exemplary.

i'm also a jewish community activist. i have not heard anybody talk about that yet. we have many wonderful people in our community to give from the heart. you mentioned sissy and the letter she wrote, but there's no one knew quite does it like warren. if we had just a few more, it would be an amazing accomplishment. my nephew and niece had the nerve to get married in washington, d.c. during hardly strictly 9. i have the nerve to ask them to reschedule. i could not miss it. i'm sorry, dawn. i will not miss another. my kids used to go because they

tolerated it for my birthday. now, two, three, four weeks before, my kid's hand me the list of concerts we have to see. it is a treasure. warren is a treasure. i know you all agree with that. president buell: thank you. >> i have one more card. if there's anyone else who would like to speak, could you please come forward and line up against the wall? thank you. >> good morning, commissioners. i am the executive director of the san francisco parks alliance and i'm happy to speak to you in that capacity this morning. what a love-fest. i do not even dare attempt to add to or make any serious contribution to the praise heaped upon this man this

morning. i do not even thdare. i will give you one brief observation. this is a rare opportunity for you commissioners. we only have one speedway meadow. we have a very limited number of facilities and places in our parks and open space systems in san francisco that can be named after such a man. thus, this is a decision that, despite all the praise, should not be taken lightly. we don't have any objective criteria by which you can make a decision about -- does this person warrant having something named after them in the parks system? we should not have that kind of criteria. should be driven by the kind of groundswell of support that you are hearing and seeing from the community today here. finally, i am honored to report to you that the board of director of the san francisco

parks alliance has voted unanimously endorsing the resolution to rename speedway meadow as hellman hallow. i'm placing my trust in the sense of the board -- to see an improvement in renaming it would be most agreeable. i also encourage you to consider hellman hallow. thank you. president buell: a very good. thank you. >> next speaker? >> good morning, mr. president. good morning, board. good morning, boss. [laughter] a couple years ago, we were having trouble maintaining the meadows. i was talking to the production staff, bemoaning that when they leave, i will have to do all this watering and all this

activity to bring the medals bacadows back. they said, what is the problem? we have all of our wires stolen. the production staff said, how much? probably about $15,000 worth of wire. they said, ok, what else? i put up a list, hoping for the best, and it came through. because of the production staff talking to the person that we are trying to rename speedway meadow about, i now have automatic irrigation -- the city now has automatic irrigation -- in hellman hallow. get it right. president buell: we surprised everybody. >> at least i am not singing.

[laughter] i am in full agreement. warren -- it is really funny. he is just a guy. when you meet him, he says, "hi." he is just a regular guy that wants to meet you and find out about you. this is an easy honor for us to do to honor a really good guy. thank you. president buell: thank you. >> next speaker. if anyone else would like to comment, please come forward and line up over by the wall. >> good morning, commissioners. obviously, warren hellman has done it again. he has done it in this room this morning. he has brought together civic

leaders, labor leaders, and business leaders who are one mind -- that this resolution is a great honor, and that we all endorse it unanimously. the chamber board of 80 business leaders met this morning and unanimously approved our support of this resolution. union leaders in the room today represent tens of thousands of workers. the chamber represents hundreds of thousands of workers and tens of thousands of businesses. again, whether it is parks, parking, pensions, or public education, warren brings together the people who matter, build consensus, and gets the job done. i would strongly urge you this morning to get the job done, not only in passing this resolution, but let's do it in exactly the way the rest of us are doing it

this morning and make it unanimous. thank you. president buell: thank you. >> next speaker. >> good morning, commissioners. i would love to see the me adow renamed for warren. i live a block away from where the concert is. for the past 11 years, i see the generosity that he gives to the city. i see the happiness as people walk up my street in front of my house. it is phenomenal. to be able to give him this honor is amazing. he is the true gift of the city. on a side note, i got my dad to come out for warren. i could not get him to come out for my policy, but i got him here for that. that should tell you something. thank you. president buell: thank you. >> and our final speaker.

>> commissioners, at thank you very much for scheduling this as quickly as you did. as i was walking in, a membenumr of liberal leaders were walking out. they said this was the best idea i ever came up with. they said i should resign and be on top [laughter] . this past year, you are all very politically aware of the role i often play as the naysayer. i passed two pieces of legislation this year that passed unanimously, this resolution and proposition c. the thing that brings both of them together is mr. h ellman. the real purpose of this and why it is so important, the great privilege in my career is getting to know mr. hellman.

he has taught me what it has meant to be a san franciscan. i think of my son and the future generations of san franciscans who will be able to look to this place and learn about him. thank you. president buell: supervisor, i know you played a lead role in this. from this commission trio, thank you very much. [applause] >> is there any other public comment on this item? public comment is closed. president buell: before i ask commissioner lee to make the item, i'm going to hear from commissioner levitan. commissioner levitan: the adage of no good deed goes unpunished could never have been more true

for everything warren did. he could have backed away, but he did not. he fought hard because he believed in it and he believed in access to the park into the institutions for generations to come. that is one thing i will think about when i think about warren. what i find so touching about what has been said today -- everybody seems to have a story about warren, whether it is personal or on a larger scare. le. maybe they heard some of his great jokes at 7:00 and the morning. he had the ability to touch individuals and the masses with devotion. i feel blessed to have had his support the very many times i ran for office.

he was always there for me. the odds were not that great in the outcome. he was consistently there. he has been a friend of my parents for some time. he has been an inspiration for those of us -- many of us on this commission are born and raised in this city. he shows what it means to give back. you give that to your city. his contributions to the city at large are considerable. the contributions of his family, his sister running the san francisco symphony, his daughter running the san francisco free clinic -- it is a story for future generations. this is why i wholeheartedly support this. it is so important for the next several generations to know that all of this does not happen by accident. you have leaders in your community who can give an who believe in giving back. if we do not have more warren

hellmans, i do not want to say i worry for the city, but i hope this teaches people that they need to give back. at the appropriate time, i will larded the support this -- i will wholeheartedly support this. commissioner lee: i have known warren for a long time. i grew up in chinatown at a time when the city was not as welcoming to chinese as it is today. i grew up remembering stories of how two drunken sailors beat up my great-grandfather and left him in a wheelchair for the rest of his life and other stories even more terrifying of an era not that long ago when chinatown

was a ghetto. when i returned to chinatown to do community work, i brought with me some of those memories and perspectives, until i met warren hellman. he opened my eyes to the rest of san francisco. at the same time, he respected where i came from. that is something about warren -- from whatever perspective you come from, he respects where you came from and tries to understand where you are. he broadened my horizons. he taught me how to care about this great city. that is something that is really special about warren. he teaches you how to care and how to do for the city. that is something that has to be taught to the next generation. a chinese proverb says belief does not fall far from the tree. warren has been a tree of life

for the city. hellman hallow will continue to breathe life into the city for future generations. what an honor to name a beautiful meadow full of trees for warren hellman. what a fitting tribute for a man who has done so much for all of us. with that, i would make the motion to rename speedway meadow as hellman hallow. >> second. president buell: it has been moved and seconded. before we take a vote, i'm going to ask warren's sister and daughter to come up for a presentation to all those in favor? >> aye. >> aye. president buell: against? hearing none, it is unanimous. hearing none, it is unanimous. [applause]