contribution to our college, not only to his family, community, to the environment that he terrorist so much, but also to the institution of our city college that he worked so hard to improve. he took up the mantle, especially in the hard times when it was challenging already. i had a chance to express that to abby last week and let her know that we were thinking about >> thank you and welcome everybody to today's announcement of my appointment to the city college board of trustees for san francisco. let me begin by thanking my good him, certainly, were blessed with the many years of service that he and the family provided. his contributions to our education community will be sorely missed, but for the generations to come forward for will provide, continue to provide the kind of education and job skills that we need for our city. over the last few weeks, i have been working closely with the city college to assess their fiscal, managerial, and

accreditation issues. i want to thank the people behind me. in particular, the interim chancellor pamela fisher is here, and the current trustees, natalie burke is here today, i need a barrier is also here. thank you very much. also representing our students, mr. walker is here as well. [applause] with any educational institution that has value as our city college, not only did we work with those that are currently involved with them, but we worked as a city family. there is no way to express at this time the need to have this a family together to support our city college. so also i have representatives of the comptroller's office, then rosenfield, mickey callahan, the human resources divisions that are here today,

nadia from our public financing, and certainly kate howard and the budget staff, all here to help me help the city college to make sure they continue in the best tradition that we have in our city. after all, they need our help, our support. they will not be able to accomplish it all by themselves, so no less than any other educational institution. they cannot do it alone. certainly, i get that message from hydra a lot. working with her on the board of education, as well as her being at the city college at this time, and then with our community assets, read it is here at the head of children, youth, and family. she has been a critical part of the programs that support our educational institutions and will be similarly so when we

meet the challenges of our community college. our community colleges, as i say earlier, is the really important part. let me tell you how important. 90,000 students come through city college. we cannot let that fail. we will not let that fail. [applause] it is, i think, california's finest example of a true, urban community college. it serves 90,000 students, it has nine major maker of campuses, and more than 100 institutional instruction sites throughout the city of san francisco. and it has that because it wants to make itself available to every resident of san francisco and make it accessible by transportation, by bike or by foot, but also and most

importantly, it becomes accessible because it is affordable and it is high quality. it has 815 full-time staff over 1035 part-time staff, and over 900 classified employees. offers affordable opportunities for san franciscans to earn associate degrees, to prepare for a transfer to hire institutions, or to pursue a career in technical education, over 50 academic programs, 100 occupational disciplines. city college also offers distance learning and free non- credit courses in many fields. and for us in san francisco, for what i have been doing in the last year and half, it offers and empowers from our city those economic sectors that we consider most of valuable for

our future. especially in the areas of health care, hospitality, biotech, and the technology in general. we have become dependent on city college for their ability to prepare the future work forces and because of the outstanding training that the college of fords, our economic future is directly tied to the success of our city college. so it is with that that i am presenting today a very important decision. in recognizing the importance of our city college to us as a city, i also want to make sure that we recognize as a family the serious challenges that are before the trustees and before the interim chancellor as we would care to meet them. there will be very difficult and important decision that will need to be made in order to

address the recommendations that are set forth by the accreditation committee. there will also be a lot of good faith negotiation that will have to happen in order to protect our city college. but tough decisions and reforms are what city college needs at this time. and we must first protect and serve the students of city college and make sure they remain have our number one priority. but any improvement means change from the status quo. it will also mean decisions about reform, decisions reflecting strong leadership and good governance that will improve our city college system and protect this accreditation. to that end, i have given very careful consideration about who to appoint to fill this vacancy at such a critical time in our city college history. we need somebody who shares my vision of reform and some who will make the tough choices

ahead. today i am proud to appoint rodrigo santos as the new trustee of the san francisco city college. [applause] not only to make good good decisions, correct ones, but also to complete the term of trusty marks. rodrigo is an individual that brings a wealth of knowledge and fiscal and managerial expertise, but he is committed and passionate about education and educating all of our youth, just as he has done with his incredible twins and with the help of jenny. rodrigo has been and is based on business owner. he has had a history of

community service. he has volunteered on a number of different conditions, including the san francisco building inspection commission, the former president of that commission, but i think most importantly he has been an incredible part of our workforce development commission because that is exactly what our kids are looking for when they graduate and complete their city college. it is not just about a degree. it is about whether that degree leads to full employment. that is what people are looking for. this is what rodrigo stands out in my mind amongst all the people that we had a chance to take a look at. he has been involved as a pro bono structural engineer. his firm is a structural engineering firm, but he has been a part of many of our local nonprofits to have their projects successful in the past 20 years. i know rodrigo is a stronger performer. he is an advocate on behalf of students and he is committed to

our city college and it will not lose its accreditation with rodrigo's help. [applause] for these reasons, i am presenting to you, rodrigo, as a great asset to our city college, and i want to thank him for stepping up and accepting this appointment at a time when we really need reform. thank you to you, jenny, and the two kids for supporting you as well. it is most important than ever before that we do whatever it takes to get our city college back on its feet, for the sake of current and future city college students, for their families, and for all our city residents. it is a critical institution and we are preparing our residents to compete, not just to get the degrees, not just to get the job, but as a city, we need a city college that will help us compete with all the other

international cities of the world, and it happens right here. so with that, i want to ask rodriguez to step forward and take the oath. please raise your right hand and repeat after me. i, rodrigo santos, do solemnly affirm 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 faith and allegiance to the constitution

of the united states and the constitution of the state of california, that i take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and then i will well and faithfully discharge the duties upon which i am about to enter during such time as i hold the office of a member of the city college board of trustees for the city and county of san francisco. congratulations. [applause]

ladies and gentlemen, if i could present to you, rodrigo santos, the newest member of our board of trustees. [applause] >> i am honored for this great appointment. as a new member of the board of trustees, i can tell you i will do everything in my power to ensure not only do we follow the great work of former trustee milton marks. that great legacy of public service. but at the same time, i join an institution that must be saved, an institution that must be preserved. [applause] i am absolutely committed to

that goal. that goal will be shared by my fellow trustees. i will be working diligently with them to ensure we have not only the consensus that we need to pass a difficult reforms, but more importantly, we must support the interim chancellor pamela fisher. [applause] our primary duty is to ensure that she receives the support and tools needed to implement the difficult reforms that are going to be required to preserve this incredible institution that teaches this history, as the mayor said, over

90,000 students. we're going to offer that supports. we think it is crucial as trustees to give the chancellor the support that is required, and at the same time, we will hold her accountable. we will help her, we will challenge her, and i know she is imminently qualified to help us save this institution. i will tell you a little bit about my background. i am a naturalized u.s. citizen. i was born in ecuador. i came to the bay area, went to stanford university, and have a master's degree in structural engineering which i obtained in 1981, started my own structural engineering firm in 1988, santos and urrutia engineers.

my partner is somebody that i met at stanford university. albert is a native san franciscan that attended the san francisco community college. there is a program where if you take 28 units and you get 3.65 and above, you have a direct path to uc-berkeley for better, stanford. [laughter] i forgot this was being televised. [laughter] i met albert and we started the firm in 1988. that is 25 years ago. we employed over 25 people.

quite a few of them, members of this city college. let me tell you, we hear a lot of negative things about the community college. but i must assure you, that in terms of technical expertise and great educators, we have absolutely the best teachers in the nation. [applause] i can guarantee you we will be preserving them. i have, behind me, my wonderful family, my wife jenny, my two twins -- one of them. adriano and alexander santos.

alexander graduated from ucla and is a proud member of the famous structural engineering firm of santos and urrutia. my daughter is a graduate of boston university. she works for the san francisco international terminal marketing division. born and raised san franciscans. i want to encourage everyone out there listening that this is the best city to raise a family. regarding a few of those articles that you read about families leaving san francisco -- don't. stay in the city. this is what can happen to you if you stay. [laughter] in terms of my dedication, i think, san francisco has

embraced me, has welcomed me, has allowed me to prosper, allow me to raise this incredible family. as a naturalized u.s. citizen, i tell you i have learned a great deal about compassion, public service, and it is time for me to give something back to a community that has embraced me and opened their arms to me. [applause] and that is what i intend to do as a new trustee. you may have heard that i have an unusual work schedule. i open my office every morning at 5:20 a.m. i have an open house for anyone that want to come to my office to talk to me, hopefully, about

engineering, until it o'clock a.m. i have been doing that for the last 25 years. why? because i would dedicated and committed to establishing and creating a successful business. i will bring the same commitment to the community college. [applause] and to ensure it does not affect my private business, i will be opening the office at 4:00 a.m. [laughter] finally, i think is time for me to give something back to this wonderful community. i can guarantee you that nothing would give me more pleasure than being known not only as a

structural engineer, but more importantly, as one of the trustees that was instrumental in saving city college. save city college. [applause] >> thank you, everybody. we can stay behind to answer a few questions before we go. we have a meeting to begin right away with chancellor fisher, and we have a lot of things to talk about. >> [inaudible] fairly conservative organization, polarizing organization [inaudible] i will give you the chance to answer why you chose a

polarizing individual. >> i would challenge that as being incorrect. the business background that rodrigo brings to this is a huge asset for city college. part of the challenges, if you read closely the recommendations, is the challenges of not only fiscal but governance. having a business mind, i think, will be a welcome thing for the rest of the trustees, to have a conversation with someone with a business background. >> [inaudible] >> i do think the board of trustees will be less about politics and more about how to do good administration of the city college and make sure it is fiscally sound as well as the governance of it is sound. i think that is where the skills that will be a good match. >> [inaudible] >> my organization is extremely

diverse. it is an organization interested in high density housing near transportation hubs. it is an organization that is green, an organization interested in responsible growth. i do not know why you characterize that as polarizing. >> what have you done to protect the accreditation of the city college? >> we first need to make sure that we offer the interim chancellor all the tools she needs to be able to respond to the original eight items, now 14. we have until october 14 to make sure that we have covered those items. >> any specifics? >> i will be interacting with the interim chancellor and the mayor shortly so i want to make sure we can understand the global perspective and the responses we will be providing. i want to speak with a uniform boyce. >> given your background, how will you evaluate [inaudible]

>> we will be analyzing everything. as a structural engineer, we will make sure the facilities we have, we will be analyzing them, and they need to be efficient. do we have the possibility of consolidating some of those facilities? i am not sure. we will be making the tough decisions and a proper analysis. no money will be wasted. >> i am the director of community affairs. it is a great pleasure to introduce mr. john martin. >> thank you all for being here. [applause]

thank you for being here for the opening of the marine response emergency facility. i want to begin by introducing several dignitaries. the first is commission vice president mike hardeman. thank you. and commissioner steve nakaja. and i want to introduce our police department deputy chief at the airport, the guy in charge. david chen is here. from the adjacent coast guard facility, the commander. and we have staff members from our congressional delegation. we have staff members from senator feinstein's office, nancy pelosi's office, and others. thank you for joining us today.

[applause] throughout our history, safety and security has always been our priority. safety and security of our passengers, and safety of our employees. we are building on that commitment by commissioning what is the first fire rescue boat house facility on the west coast of the united states. more simply -- [airplane noise] we are at an airport. this is the first marine emergency response facility on the west coast. more simply, we can call it the first fireboat house at an airport. it is a core value for the airport team that we have worked together to provide an exceptional airport, that we are innovating, and that we work in

partnership. this is a partnership between the fire department and the airport. great project work by airport staff and the division of design and construction, who designed this building. the engineering staff support to the work. the architectural team and the design and construction staff -- i would like to recognize all the staff involved in the successful project. [applause] completed on budget, and one month ahead of schedule. we have an outstanding fire department staff at the airport. i believe we have one of the most recognized fire department staffs of any major airport in the u.s. the airport is committed to making sure staff has the latest and greatest technology and equipment to support their operation. the team is led by deputy chief mike morris, assisted by ed

dale. we thank them for their great work. [applause] it is my great pleasure to introduce major -- mayor ed lee to say a few words. >> thank you. i know that word leaked out i will be on an america's cup catamaran next week. i am sure this facility was identified as the very first fear reducer for me to be on the water. let me express my pleasure to be here with director john martin and his wonderful staff, with his airport commissioners that are here today, along with the chief and the chaplain, also here to give blessing to this wonderful facility. the chief, of course, is working closely with us. they have both upped their

willingness and collaboration to work together on this very important facility. this facility is something i point to as the new merf -- the marine emergency response facility. the airport can provide an extra level of safety for not only passengers, but for anybody that is in the bay near the airport. this facility, and equipment introduced today, will reduce the response time from what today is averaging around 25 minutes to get rescue equipment out into the boehner by --- bay nearby to something under five minutes. that is lifesaving. this is representative of every time i have come out to the airport. whether it is a new

international terminal that, under the leadership of john martin, was done, the new terminal two, the new traffic control towers about to be constructed, to a facility that is an extremely important collaboration, not only with the fire department, but also in strong collaboration with our cost card. this is essential -- with our coast guard. this is essential. this is why we have the infrastructure commitment that i have been talking about ever since i started working for the city. i have had the pleasure of working with john. his expertise and his team out here, retired as well as current, have made a strong commitment to make sure we have the modern facilities to take care of us. guess what? on the eve of america's cup, ther