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>> the most ribbon cutting and most ribbon cuttings, we keep everybody off limits and then we cut the ribbon and then stuff happens. you can't stop them. you can only hope to contain them in there so we're going to let everybody continue to play. so, it's been said that, that success has many, many, many parents and there are many parents, many people who have contributed to this outstanding, outstanding effort. we are so, so proud of this project and so thrilled to be able to give a new face to lafayette park. this park has tremendous

history, from a city attorney who claimed ownership of 12 acres in the 1860s, holiday hill, how many know about holiday hill? right? where the city attorney actually thought he owned a piece of this. to a professor who set up the first astronomical observatory on the west coast here in 1879. to the hundreds of people who call this park home after the 1906 earthquake, to controversial mind troops. to controversial park renovations. lafayette park has many stories to tell. but its views, locations and one of the city's most desirable neighborhoods in the city, it has -- this park has a way of igniting people's passions about green space. and we've got the permit appeals to prove it. yea! >> it is this passion that made la fay it park what it is today. and i want to talk about the community and partnership involved. so, in 2008 san francisco voter displayed their passion for

this park by approving an $185 million bond to improve parks, rec centers and play grounds like this one all across the city. more than $10 million of that bond were invested here in lafayette park and you're going to see even more improvements around the city as we start implementing the 2012 parks bond. yeah. (applause) >> by the way, if you're wearing a rec and park sticker today, raise your hand. yeah, woo, look at that. but government can't do it alone, we know that, right? and it's the passion of groups like the friends of lafayette park and the friends of lafayette park playground (applause) >> which has been with us every step of the way offering leadership, guidance, and support throughout the process. the friends group stepped up to help us make this beautiful, beautiful playground a reality and other you're going to be hearing more about that in a little bit. but it's also people like jeff miller who contributed all of

the architectural services for this gem pro bono. [cheering and applauding] >> but it's also the passion of our elected officials on the state and local level who you're going to hear from in a little bit including senator leno, assemblyman phil king, our mayor. (applause) >> our recreation and park commissioners megan levitt son is here. our district 2 supervisor mark farrell. [cheering and applauding] >> our district 8 supervisor and park champion, tallest park champion in the city, scott wiener. (applause) >> our district 11 supervisor and another park champion extraordinary narc, john avalos. (applause) >> our city treasurer who does his work to make sure we've actually got the funds to pull this off, jose cisneros. (applause) ~

>> but it's the passion of all of us. and i also want to give a big shout out to the entire city family for their role, mohammed nuru and folks at department of public works had a role, lindsay hirsch. (applause) >> with all due respect to dpw and everybody else who is here, the hardest working staff in government is rec and park. gk, construction manager, mary hobson, project manager. [cheering and applauding] >> director of capital planning, don. our great operations staff, zach taylor, judy auberry who is here, and everyone else who has contributed to this incredible project. so, at rec and park, we're encoloneling people to get out and play. that's our tag line, get ready, 1, 2, 3. >> get out and play. >> we say that because of the importance of keeping our families active and healthy.

this is a real serious issue. according to the center for disease control, childhood obesity has more than doubled in our children and tripled in adolescents in the past 30 years. in 2010 more than one-third of our children were overweight or obese. it is important that we get our kids outside. our children today average over 7-1/2 hours behind a screen. listen to that. 7-1/2 hours behind a screen, less than 30 minutes a day outside. that has to change. and this playground helps get it done. and i wanted to just offer a quick quote from richard lu who is the author of a book called the nature principle which encourage uz us to reconnect with nature and create a balance between nature and the ever evolving world of technology. ~ he says imagine a world in which all children grow up with a deep understanding of the life around them, where obesity is reduced through nature play, where children experience the joy of being in nature before

they learn of its loss. where they can lie on the grass on a hillside for hours, and watch clouds become the faces of the future. where every child and every adult has a human right to a connection to the natural world and shares the responsibility for caring for it. that's the community, that's the world, that's the park that all of you have created today. and i want to say that while we're here looking at this amazing playground which, by the way, has the world's -- i'm not kidding -- the world's longest monkey bars. >> woo-hoo! >> and as the father of a daughter who has broken not one, but two arms on monkey bars, i'm extremely fired up about that. (applause) >> but this park is more than just the playground. for those of you who are here with your kids and you're here for the playground opening, make sure you take a stroll up the hill. the view corridor that has been created as a result of this

incredible park design, lindsay, and this incredible work, mary, it's stunning. you can see all the way -- today you can see all the way into marin. you can see the entire bay. the tennis courts, the area, the amphitheater where the mime troop historically performed, the off-leash dog area, the benches on our hillside. we have created together a park that is truly extraordinary. it is a piece of art. and we are just also proud that we've been able to do this together. so, give yourselves a big, big round of applause. (applause) >> so, i'd like -- i'm going to get back up and introduce some other speakers and we have some gifts we're going to present in a little bit. but i'm going to start -- i'm going to kick the program off by bringing up our state senator. everybody here knows mark leno. but what you may not know is how committed and how tireless mark is to fighting for kids

and families and parks and open spaces. it's not always on the front page of the paper. he's often doing it behind the scenes in ways that not everybody knows. mark is a true advocate for families. he is a true advocate for parks. a true advocate for green space. and it is my great pleasure to bring him up now. (applause) >> thank you, phil. let's hear it for parks cheer leader and chief phil ginsberg. (applause) >> it is a real pleasure to be with everyone here today. it takes a village and the village is out. it's not often we get to say the words "our tax dollars at work" with a smile on our face. but we're doing it today. because voters really knew what they were doing a few years back when we passed that $185 million parks bond, neighborhood parks bond and the $10 million invested into lafayette park. i used to live at hyde and geary my first four years when i moved to san francisco, now

36 years ago, and this was my neighborhood park. and i've loved it ever since. the combination of the palms and the pines and everything in between, this is a jewel of a park. and when i saw the fences go up i got a little nervous because, well, it was going to be closed for a while. and i saw on some of the signs that some trees were going to come down which always makes me a little uncomfortable. but now seeing the result, it is magnificent. and, so, i want to thank all the folks who have invested their time and their efforts to make sure that the tennis courts got their renovation and the pathways were upgraded, the a-d-a improvements, of course, this extraordinary playground for our kids, the improved lighting which will make it all safer. and i'm glad, phil, that you mentioned the fact of this epidemic of childhood obesity and type 2 diabetes. you know, one in eight of us today will experience type 2 diabetes, but a generation from now that means kids here today, if we don't change course, 1 in

3, there are predictions in every californian will have diabetes by 20 50 which will completely overwhelm our already taxed health care system. so, get out and play is more than just some words. it's something we must do. it's for us to make sure that our little ones have the benefit of parks like these all over the city. so, to carina jones who led the fund-raising for the playground and lynn new house seigel who led the fund-raising for the friends of the park, and folks at dpw mohammed nuru, phil, your team. it's a thrill to be with my colleagues on the board of supervisors who lead the charge every day to make san francisco a better place. i've got proclamations for all the folks i just mentioned. thanks again for being here and celebrate this beautiful day here at lafayette park. (applause) >> so, mark, we have a little

parting gift for you to commemorate this great day. and to encourage you to get out here and take this and play with us. we have a lafayette playground sign and a rec and park picnic blanket for you to enjoy. congratulations. (applause) >> thank you. next time we need a park bond. while you go to the voters, i'm going to call sean parker. [laughter] >> thank you, mark. all right. i mentioned there are a variety of city departments here. i want to give a shout ought to battalion chief williams from station 38. where are you, chief? there she is. (applause) >> and i think we have some activities going on over there. i also want to give a big thank you to fire commissioner and lafayette park champion don. where is don? (applause) >> he's actually playing on the swings. [laughter] >> all right. next up, it does take great leadership from our elected leaders and another true example at the state level for us has been phil king.

also he's on the state assembly. he's that young dad with two kids and uses our parks and play grounds all the time. he couldn't be here, but i have [speaker not understood] to say a very brief word to present a proclamation. thank you. >> thank you so much, phil. i'm here on behalf of assembly member tang as phil mentioned. this is a wonderful park truly an effort on behalf of the community. we're here on behalf of the state assembly to present proclamations to the friends of lafayette park, rec and park, dpw, and carina as well. thank you so much, bill, and we'll be handing these out. >> thank you all. clap lap (applause) >> all right. ~ next on the line up, batting third, if you l he's the district 2 supervisor. he's a dad, he's a playground lover. he's a half decent athlete and he is a true, true, true advocate for our parks. representing the board and mark what i think i'm going to do is

give you the mic and have scott and john join you to say a few quick words after you're done. our board of supervisors has been terrific. even in the toughest times they have been working with us and fighting with us to find financial resources for our parks. something i know is going to continue in this budget cycle, mr. budget chair. [laughter] >> we are really, really thrilled with the support we've gotten from the board of supervisors for or parks and play grounds and rec centers. so, mark, come on up. let's give him a big round of applause. (applause) >> how about a huge round of applause for the best recreation and park general manager in our country today, mr. phil ginsberg. (applause) >> i don't think we appreciate how amazing phil is and how lucky we are as a city to have him. but today how lucky are we to be san franciscans standing here today? (applause) >> you know, today i have a number of thank yous i want to go through. but first i really want to

comment about our parks and our support for our parks not only in city hall, but with the voters of san francisco. you know, we fight that battle every year in city hall with our budget and we're going through it right now to make sure we prioritize our parks for our families, for our children, for our seniors, for everyone. and the voters of san francisco have done it year in and year out. and parks are for everyone. they're for young people and old people. they're for large people and small people. they're for dogs, they're for everyone that we care about here in san francisco. i see a number of seniors here today. i know one month old emma is here today. this is for everybody and my three children are playing somewhere. we lost them twice already today in the playground. but we are so lucky to have a great recreation park system here in s. let's make the commitment every neighborhood in san francisco has a lafayette park in their own neighborhood. (applause) >> and, so, for a few thank yous, i mentioned phil

ginsberg. i want to thank all our other elected officials, leno, wiener, cisneros, we have so many commissioners here as well. but i want to thank you in particular and i think we need a big round of applause. you realize the people here past 10 o'clock last night cleaning up. our recreation park department staff that made this happen today. (applause) >> these are the unsung heroes that don't get recognized very often, but they are what make our parks work and look the way they do and we are so lucky we have one of the most beautiful parks now right in the middle of pacific heights. but there are two people -- i want to thank a few folks. stefan franz as well, and our friends from prozac that represent our parks department and represent all that we believe in in our neighborhood. thank you for all that you do. and i really in particular today want to single out two folks. phil mentioned the friends of lafayette park and we have certificates of honor for them.

but this playground behind us would not have happened without one of the best friends of parks groups in our city of san francisco, and that's the friends of lafayette park. they raised hundreds of thousands of dollars. the plaques are around here and all the people that contributed to it, but there are two people that had the biggest leadership in this, and i want to bring them up. so, lynn and carina, come on up. [cheering and applauding] >> these are our neighborhood leaders for lafayette park. (applause) >> and there is not enough applause that we can give them, but we need to give it up in a very big way. thank you so much for all that you've done and please know that all of us are so thankful for your individual efforts. and we wouldn't be here without you. so, thank you so much to both of you. (applause)

>> we're going to bring lynn and carina up in a brief second. why don't you speak now. that will work, right? but i also wanted on behalf of the department to thank you both of you. lynn, since you've been the lafayette champion a long time, there is your official lafayette park sign and your picnic blankets. carina, you've been our playground champion, lafayette park playground sign. >> thank you. (applause) >> why don't you guys say a few words right now. >> okay. the only thing that i want to do is to thank all of you who have been -- hundreds, it took literally hundreds of people to do this. and i have a couple of names to -- we want to make sure we mention these names. but i'm leaving out hundreds of people and i know it. so, and there's plenty more chances. we're going to continue our cleaning and greening days the first sat