defender, the man who you look to if you are arrested and broke. jeff hitachi. [applause] your city attourneyrney, dennis herrera. and the man who supplies most of jeffery's clients, because he arrests and prosecutes people, the cuban. george and his wife. [applause] and then, you have members of the school board, here and what jerry brown is doing to them on

the budget side, they will come to quite often for assistance. the president of the board works for you. mendoza. and there are other school board members that i will get in a moment, and i will introduce them as well. there are the remainders of the official families of san francisco, and before i go to those official members, i should identify some of your real friends. your it -- you are -- you are identified as the high-tech mayor in the country. i saw the 400,000 square feet

had been acquired for 18 years, my sales force -- this is the second step in justifying your title, and i think people like ron conway, who was part of this -- as part of this effort -- and of course, the chinese chamber of commerce which was involved -- sending in notes, i suspect this. and so, there are other people who will be introduced. but she has to be on a time schedule, and i am already

passed the time. i am about to present to you -- so that there can be the formal swearing-in, and then i will come back and finish up with the introductions, it's kind of important that you do this. they came to see you sworn in but also to be introduced. [laughter] with that, let me ask the former mayor and an awesome force in the public decision making, diane feinstein. [applause] >> thank you. -- >> for me, this is a time of hope and opportunity. i was here and some of this was

bittersweet, thinking back to when i took my first oath of office as the acting mayor. in 1980, when i took my first oath of office as duly elected. i was thinking about those times. and how sensitive that this city can be, and how much we need to work as a team, and there is someone i would like to introduce to you gina moscone. [applause] and now, mr. mayor, i would ask

that you join me at the podium, and anita, tanya -- if you would as well. if you would raise your right hand and put your left hand on the bible and repeat after me. i, edwin lee do solemnly swear that i will support and defend the constitution of the united states, and the constitution of the state of california. against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that i will bear true fath and allegiance to the constitution of the united

states and of the states of of california. that i take this obligation freely without any mental reservation of purpose of evasion. and that i will well and faithfully discharge the duties upon which i am about to enter during such time as i hold the office for the mayor for the city and county of san francisco. congratulations, mr. mayor. [applause]

>> the 43rd mayor of the city and county of san francisco, edwin lee. [applause] >> thank you. thank you very much. thank you very much. please, thank you. good morning.

one of those just wonderful? let's give them a big hand. and, to the incomparable charlotte -- to whom this staircase was dedicated, thank you for another wonderful celebration. we're so grateful to you, and george, for your friendship and service to the city. sen. feinstein, a year ago, i have the honor of being sworn in by your daughter, and i am happy that you could join us here. we know how much you have given and still give to the city. i will never forget our conversation outside the white house about how special san francisco is, worthy of every

sacrifice. thank you for your continued service, and your cost of advice and counsel to me, and all former mayors here today. senator, we are happy to have you in washington looking out for us for many years to come. and the house democratic leader, nancy pelosi. thank you, and thank you for all of the amazing work that you do for san francisco and our country, leading the charge for health care reform were protecting funding for the treatment of hiv and aids, we will work hard to return you to congress this year.

congresswoman spear, we want to return you to the majority's view can keep fighting for san francisco. thank you for being here today. and i see a few others are here today, i need to do all right or i will never hear the end of it. i am so happy that my friend from los angeles, and gene from oakland are here with us. we have a lot of work to do together for our cities. and to willie brown, to the lieutenant governor newsom, and art agnos. it is such an honor to stand before you and take this oath of office today, and over my 22 years of public service i have worked for everyone, and every

mayor benefits from those who came before and i have learned so much from each of you, and we have benefited from your leadership. thank you all for coming here. to my mother, my brothers and sisters and my whole family, what an incredible journey that this has been, and thank you for your support and guidance. and of course, anita, tanya, briana. you are my constant inspiration and strength and i would simply not be standing here without you. thank you for putting up with me, the long hours of attending to laugh at my jokes all these years.

a year ago, i stood before you and homily accepted the honor of serving you as the interim mayor. it was a historic day and a time of transition for the city, and certainly a pound a for the chinese community in san francisco. mayor newsom and other members of the board asked me to stand up, there was no greater honor than serve in my city in this capacity. i stood before you then added -- as a different kind of public official. i was someone who had never run for office, who had been in the trenches of government for many years. and actively worked on the outside to change government, working to make government more

fair and accessible for everyone. i came in determined to apply what i had learned during all of those years. i came in determined to bring a new level of civility to city hall. and despite a few rough patches, and it was an election year after all, we worked in an atmosphere of mutual respect. and managed to agree on a lot and get a lot done, and when we disagreed we worked through this and we did not get bogged down. i want to thank every member of the board of supervisors for your hard work, and your dedication to the city in the last year. we even met once a month to

exchange questions and answers. and i knew some people found those substantive, but a little boring. as long as we're getting things done, i don't mind being called boring. i came in determined to make san francisco work for the people of san francisco. i started with the benefit of a great team in place, with the city departments and the city commissions. let me talk about the tremendous legacy of our lieutenant governor and former mayor, kavin gavin newsom, and everything that he did that let me keep the ground -- hit the ground running, and so, together, we

set out to achieve five goals in the first year of office, hiring a great police chief and putting san francisco back to work with new jobs and a new local hire program, balancing the budget despite this -- this the deficits, and tackling pension reform, one of the most difficult challenges every city has faced. and we got all of these done. [applause] today, one year later, i stand before you, even more honored and humbled, at the responsibility that you have placed in me. and whether you voted for me first, second, third, or not at all, i want to thank all of the people in this city to give me

the opportunity to serve as your elected mayor. thank you. thank you, san francisco. and as proud as i am about what we accomplished together in the last year, i am here to talk about the future of the city and the road map going ahead. in the chinese calendar we are about to begin the year of the dragon, the most eligible -- the most powerful of all of the animals and leader of the dragon is a time for challenges and taking risks, and embracing innovation. my fellow san franciscans, i can think of no better time than this year, the year of the dragon to take on the challenges

we face together. together we will realize the unlimited potential of our people. these are challenging times, and the news of the sacramento and sacramento reinforces the reality that we have known for a long time, that local governments will have to do more with less. from the gold rush to the great earthquake, to the deepest recession we have seen in a generation, we must once again look to each other, to lift us up and forge a path forward. we will find that because this is the place where great thinkers and innovators from all over the world and across the country have come. irish and chinese and italian, african-american, gay, lesbian, transgender, hippies, techies,

biophysisists, but all came to san francisco. they bring different perspectives, and together, we built a city like no other on earth and made san francisco the innovation capital of the world. and today, more than ever, san francisco is always to invent the future, right here and right now, by capitalizing on the greatest resource, our people. innovations about a different way of thinking and approaching our problems, and with the innovative approaches to crime fighting and community involvement, san francisco is

one of the safest big cities in america. last year, violent crime was down by 6%. pension reform is another example of what i am talking about. the innovative way, and the key to meeting the challenges of the future. across the country, this was a wedge issue that shut down government and divided people, but in san francisco, we showed that we are a city that knows how, and we brought everyone to the table, with tough negotiations, and we produced the reform measure with business and government and labor standing side-by-side, in a way that respected all of the hard- working city employees. where else have you seen that across the country. and when we are on the subject

-- let's take a moment to remember warren helmund. [applause] he was at the center of pension reform, as he was with so many great causes. it would not have happened without you and we will always remember your contributions and we miss you. pension reform reminded us that we can solve the problems that we just set aside the small differences and focus on what we agree on, get down to work and get this done. and that is the spirit of innovation that we must embrace to meet the challenges we face today and down the road. a little bit of innovation can go a long way in your city government. in 2011 we saw the power of innovation and new technology

and in the power of people, united in revolution across the world. the same technologies, which were developed in san francisco bay are changing how we communicate, interact and share information with each other, across town or around the world. we must not be afraid of this innovation, and the disruption. in fact, we must embrace this. one year ago, when i first took office, i did not have an account on twitter, and now, i am going to do this with my first info-graphic. how about that? this is a little disruption but it shows how important

innovation and technology are to reforming the government and building the future. some of the smartest people on the planet live right here in san francisco and they love this city to. that is why just last friday, i joined a team that code for america to form a new partnership that brings culture into city government and for the first time, you will see hackathons, as we engage the most innovative minds to tackle the problems of government, from transit and permitting to better service delivery for the residents. we must innovate our way to a solution. and in doing so, we must always an event for everyone, whether you speak english or chinese,

were spanish, or all three. if you are young or old or have a disability. this is san francisco and true technological innovation must leave no one behind. the need to innovate and takers -- take responsibility for our own fate is nowhere more evident than in the challenges that we face with the eliminations of the redevelopment agencies by the state. the legacy of redevelopment and other parts of the state -- and in our own city is far from perfect. in recent years we have leveraged the ability to build more than 11,000 units of affordable housing to create a new hospital, and a new sales force campus in mission bay. we have world-class convention

facilities, and we are on the verge of 10,000 housing units and acres of new parks and commercial space at the shipyard. so many in the community have worked so hard for somebody years on these projects and to the investors -- you have my commitment that we will make good on our promises, from hunters. two mission bay and central market. -- hunter's point to mission bay and central market. i will present legislation to protect these projects and the thousands of jobs for the future. you are tired of hearing me talk about this, and some in the media even make fun of me for this, but i can live with that, because jobs and smart economic

development for the city and all of our neighborhoods are my top priority and it will be every day that i am your mayor. and because of that, and employment is also decreasing, as investment and job creation are on a steady increase. in my first year in office, unemployment went down dramatically from 9.5% to 7.8% in november. ladies and gentlemen, that means 17,000 people in san francisco went back to work last year, but we can be proud of this -- it is of little comfort to the single parents, or the recent graduate, or the returning veteran who

still finds themselves out of work. we must do better and we will do better, by continuing to attract good businesses and jobs. if we can take on the issues like pension reform, we can reform our job structure to incentivize and not discourage innovation. we must reform this and now was the time to finally get this done. small business and the local economy and the foundation of the vibrant neighborhood. we can do more to help them. we will strengthen the office of small business and increase the support for new small businesses with loans, and the neighborhood business job squad, and targeted investment in commercial corridors. at the same time we recruit these companies to san francisco, we have to make sure

that our young people and those in the middle of their career, who may be looking for change can get the skills and the training they need to take the jobs these companies are creating right here at home. and we can do this by working with people -- to establish innovated newt -- innovation and new jobs partnerships with the city college. to the diversity of our people and our geographic location -- san francisco is uniquely positioned to be the gateway for goods and visitors from the growing markets of asia and latin america and beyond. growing our international trade and tourism generates jobs in san francisco and opportunities for local businesses and companies abroad. with organizations like sf maid,

artisan chocolates and ceramic tiles, there is a new market for the local goods made right here in san francisco. zs clearly i can go on and on about jobs, and i will. jobs will remain the top priority of the lee administration, because if you care about homelessness like i do, you should care about jobs, our economy and innovation. if you care about muni like i do, i should care about jobs, our community and innovation. and whether it's parks, health care, the arts, public safety, the environment or schools, our ability to make progress is directly connected to giving every family the dignity of a paycheck and our willingness to embrace innovation. and through all of this we're partnering with a new

generation of community-oriented business people joining longtime neighborhood and community activists to help san francisco realize its goals. whether it's the great new economy folks, like ron and gail conway or mark and lynn, who are leading the new 21st sent tri-philanthropy unit or neighborhood and community leaders in the mission and chinatown or dr. joe marshall in the bayview, san francisco answer from across our city are working together to find new ideas to address social problems and they are bringing legions of committed people to the table with them. because we all want a city where a kid from any neighborhood can grow up safely , play at his local park and go , play at his local park and go to a good public school.