charlotte, but friendship friendship engenders trust. you can deal with a person you trust. you can't deal with a person you don't trust. so ed lee spread that trust over the diversity of this city, of our state, of our country, and around the world, so thank you, ed. >> well, that was short, but important, and you're tall. so ed lee led us in a wonderful direction of all of the areas that we had to do for this great city, and there are people around the world that have sent -- that we have received letters, phone calls, e-mails all around the world

saying how wonderful he was. i happened to be with anita and her family earlier this week, and a call came in from former president bill clinton, and he had that same feeling because he said i liked ed lee the moment i met him, and that friendship grew and grew and grew. and he said so many wonderful things to -- i think tania, you took the call. and i have some other letters, there are many. but if i may, anita, i'd like to read some for you and for the rest of you. glad they're still here. this one is from -- let's see...let me get it first here. this is from former president barack obama. deer anita, breanna, and tania.

shis michelle and i were so sad to hear of ed's passing. ed's passion and dedication to the city that he loved inspired everyone who know and had the privilege to work alongside him. i know he will be deeply missed, and i want you to know that i am incredibly grateful for everything that he put into advancing our shared vision and values. while no words can ease the pain you must feel, i hope you take comfort inn knowing that his efforts to shape a future of greater justice and prosperity, both throughout san francisco and the nation will continue to inspire generations to come. again, please accept my sincere condolences. you will remain in my thoughts

during this difficult time. signed, barack obama. well, we heard from bill, and now we're hear from hillary. it is to you, anita, your family, and to san franciscans. it is with a heavy heart that i send greetings to all those gathered in the soaring rotunda gathered in san francisco's city hall to honor and sell great the life of your late mayor and my dear friend, ed lee. i was shocked and weren't we all, when i learned the news of ed's passing. throughout his trail blazing career in public service, he never stopped fighting for those who are all too often invisible to our society. as a joyful champion for civil rights and human rights, ed made his mark on your be will

he -- beloved city, fighting for immigrant rights, minority businesses, expanded public works, and economic investment and opportunity. he never forgot whom he served, nor his roots as the child of chinese immigrants. i was proud to know and work with ed and will always cherish the time we shared together. as you gather today to shed a tear, share a laugh, and remember and celebrate mayor ed lee. please know that my warmest wishes and heartfelt condolences are with you, to the lee family and san francisco, ed was loved by many. he will be greatly remembered and dearly missed.

signed, hillary rodham clinton. the last one, i can deliver when anita asked me to do two things. she said, there is a song that she loved, and i think you will, too. it is interesting when he asked me about that song, just out of the blue came a letter. i figure that ed had something to do with it getting here, and it is from the ambassador of san francisco, tony bennett. it says, to the lee family, anita, breanna, and tania, and the city of san francisco, it is with deep sadness to know that the next time i come to your beautiful city, that mayor ed lee will not be there to greet me in person. as he was a dear friend and will be greatly missed by so

many. however, his lasting legacy of support, dedication and love for san francisco will always be present and will continue on -- as part of this great city's history and vibrant future. then, he says, i know i have sang this lyric thousands of times, and this is in quotes, it says, your golden sun will shine with me, and mayor ed lee was a golden son of san francisco, and his contributions to this city will continue to shine for all of its citizens. and as you may know, mayor lee dedicated a statue in front of the fairmont hotel. right now, it has a red scarf around its neck to try to keep warm. he was there for the

dedication, and as you know, tony bennett has been here many times as an ambassador to our city. so now, may i present mr. tony bennett on video. he would have loved to have been here. [ tony bennett singing "i left

my heart in san francisco" ]

[ applause ] >> to the lee family, anita and the two daughters, san francisco has, on this day, appropriately acknowledged and celebrated the life of a man who was different than any of

his predecessors. present in this room are representatives of those predecessors. from the christopher years, the shelley years, the alioto years, the moscone years, the feinstein years, the jordan years, the brown years, the newsom years. ed lee was different than any of that category of groups that i just described. he really did not want the job. i'm not sure ed lee ever wanted any job except except one. when i became mayor of san

francisco, i had known of ed lee in part because he was one of the lawyers that handled the integrating and integrated of our department. he was part of the challenge that bob dimons and the black people that wanted to fight fires. he sued, and there were group of lawyers with a consent decree, so i knew him from that perspective of the consent decree. and then, this person i knew told me he had this person doing whistleblower activities and human rights, and he gave me his number, and the number was oakland. are you kidding me? i wouldn't hire anybody from oakland, unless he lives in san

francisco. i called ed lee in. he really didn't want the job, but i said, you've got to take the job, but you also have to move to san francisco. what do you mean, i have to move to san francisco? i said that's probably the only good advice you're ever going to get from me. he accepted that. where was ed lee about to take groceries home to? to the house that he bought as a result of my insisting that if he takes a job with me, he had to live in this city. now, you should know that there are mayors from all over the country here. benjamin from columbus will have the u.s. conference of

mayors, hancock from denver, these are all people who are friends of ed lee's. there are mayors from the nine counties, the bay area. libby schaaf, the mayor of san jose, mayor of richmond, mayor of sacramento. they're all here because they genuinely were friendly with, respected, and honored ed lee. that's the kind of impression ed lee could make and did make on everybody. governor jerry brown is here because ed lee's last trip out of san francisco was to go to chicago to participate with 36 other mayors -- or 35 other mayors to sign a document with reference to the business of climate change and global

warming. ed lee was doing those things. and rabbi singer, ed lee would never put any of that on his informational reference source, unlike gavin, me, and all these other people. he didn't do ads at all. i took more credit for what ed lee did than probably anybody else because i had been part of the conspiracy to get him to take the mayor's job. he didn't want the mayor's job. he really did not want the mayor's job, and newsom, you're right. he did not want the mayor's job. so what did we do? he was off in hong kong. we talked newsom into staying

an extra day so that we could do what ed lee never did, have to do, never would have done and never would have been good at. we had to get six votes for him to become the mayor following newsom, but we needed one more day. we convinced newsom not to get sworn in as lieutenant governor for one more day to give us a little bit more time. we also had to make sure that ed lee didn't know what we were doing. and sure enough, anita helped, kept him over there, but he had to be home because sometimes in this town, when you get the votes, you better call the election immediately. otherwise, the votes might disappear. sure enough, he headed home. start to get on the airplane, and some airport personnel

person welcomed mr. mayor on the airplane. ed lee had no idea what she was talking about. he turned around to look to see who she was walking about. she was talking about ed lee, and fortunately, it was not totally given away, because he landed, and we got him to, in fact, accept the job. why did we do that? we did that because ed lee had the qualities of a person whom if you did an interview of all of the ones that i just spoke about, he would be the only one would be rated appropriately by the head hunters as to who ought to be mayor. all of rest of us would be considered okay, but not first, because we were not always candid. ed lee was. we were not always diplomatic.

ed lee was. he had so many of the wonderful qualities that he would have been easily the head hunters recommended person to fill the job as the mayor. i can see it now as he is hanging out with your father, angela, in heaven and jonathan, with george. and for those of you on burton's side, he's talking to phil about why he would be admitted. he was that kind of advocate. he would, on any given day, do what needed to be done to solve

the problem and make it work, and i'm very pleased, anita, that you allowed all of us in the building that ed lee had something to do with restoring following the '89 quake. he was in city government at each of the steps and each of the way. and by the time this building opened, he was running the department of public works, completed the job with harlan and all of the other people that worked on it. ed lee was an unusual human being. it was the saturday before his death, on that early tuesday morning, that he was at the makras's, raising money for a supervisor who wishes to be the

person to handle the board of equalization of san francisco. and in his usual generous fashion, he was incredibly respectful. he was introduced. i was standing in the audience, watching, as i usually do, all other previous mayors. ed lee was supposed to introduce the honoree. he saw me, and as usual, he proceeded to say the introduction of the honoree will be done by the person that i want to identify and introduce, and he proceeded to introduce me. well now, i've not always been an easy person to tolerate over an extended period of time, because i'm always a little off

kilter here and there as nancy and diane and others will tell you. but ed lee had so much respect. i would guess, diane, i would guess, gavin, if either of you had been present, he would have extended the same opportunity, and i'm sure, jerry, he would have extended it to you. that's how ed lee functioned. he really wanted people to understand the pecking order and how important that kind of diplomacy really was. he had me introduce the honoree, and he introduced me, and he did it in the fashion he would do it. you know, you talked about -- charlotte, you talked about his

joke ability, and his daughters. he told terrible jokes. he laughed because he was trying to build enthusiasm for his jokes. i don't remember one line that was any good, but there is one i intend to close the column with next sunday that ed lee said to me at victor's house. he says, you know, i've been thinking. if president trump is prosecuted, and he has to serve time in a federal jail, maybe we should see if we can get alcatraz back operational. ed lee's last joke.

>> mayor brown, thank you so much for drawing back the curtain and letting us see the workings of that happy conspiracy. we're all surprised that you'd be involved in such a thing. i'm mark andrus, the bishop of the episcopal diocese of

california. i represent the panel, including the great amos brown, a true hero in civil rights for so many decades, the last -- one of the last actual students of martin luther king, one of the last he ever taught. i also come at the end of this great celebration, and i knew it would be what it has been: that is, tremendous leaders, not only of california but of the united states, drawing from their own broken hearted place, to provide comfort to mayor lee's family, his immediate family, his extended family, and also as gavin newsom said to his staff and the mayors who

worked with him, all of whom are broken heards, as are we all, this was all meant to be a celebration that provided what is called a balm. this is a balm in gilliad. grief does not go away on schedule. it does not go away at the end of a schedule. these words, i pray, will lodge in your hearts, and feed you and nourish you and comfort you in days and weeks and years to come. presiding over us are not only the stars and stripes of our great country, but the flag of our great city, the greatest city in our country. and on our flag to my left above us, is the phoenix, our

symbol. it is the symbol of rebirth and new life. it was given to us as a sign of what a community can do in faith together, pulling together in love, the only virtue that never ends. it is also about individual rebirth. the phoenix is a symbol not only for communities, but for individual people, and the power that brings new life is not the power of pulling together or of self-will and determination, but the power that guides the universe. that power, which is love, will ensure that ed lee lives forever. not only in memory, but in

truth. i'm going to read a psalm, a psalm of david. the lord is my shepherd. i shall not want. i maketh me lie down in green pastures. he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake, "ay," though i walk-through the valley of the shadow of death, i fear no evil. thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. thou prepareest a table in the company of my enemies. thou prepareest a cup, my cup

floweth over. surely, goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. oh, merciful god, receive him into the arms of your mercy, into the blessed wrest of everlasting peace, and into the glorious company of the saints and light. amen. grant unto those who are all bereaved that they may have the strength to greet the day with steadfastness and patience. in this we ask, in the name of god. amen. now, go forth into the world in peace, be of good courage.

hold fast to that which is good. render unto no one evil for evil. strengthen the faint hearted, support the weak, comfort the afflicted, be patient with everyone, but make no peace with oppression. love and serve the devine, and blessing got all mighty, the source of all life, the direction of all life, and the goal of all life. be among you and remain with you forever.

. >> ed would come by often to hear the music of pure ecstasy, so we came by just to serenade you because we loved him.

[ "pure ecstasy" singing ]

>> happy holidays. >> happy holidays. >> all right. i'm glad to be here with our supervisors, council district merchants, community mbz, but of course, we're here to thank local 798, our fire department. what a -- what a challenging year that we've had. and i know our hearts always go out to the people who will put themselves in danger in order to save others. time and time again, our firefighters, whether it's fires up north or around the bay area, they jumped to it and saved a lot of people's lives and property. but they give joy and can do

that more than other people that we know that may not have that opportunity. this toy program is something that we all take great pride in, because it represents so much of our valve -- values of giving back and making care of children in our city so they can have a similar experience when the holidays come. not everyone gets that same experience, but our firefighters and our union know how to do it. on that christmas day, they will make that extra effort as well to visit the families that didn't even have something that arrived for them. that's a special treat. it is something that i value so much, that represents a city that keeps our city really strong. so, tommy, do you, to the union, to all of the members, to the fire department, congratulations on the toy program, reverberating a wonderful place,

for the collection, and for its distribution and also to say thank you to each and every one of the members for the over-the-top contributions to the families of the city. happy holidays to you. [applause] >> thank you. appreciate it. good evening. i would like to welcome you to our johnny v. toy haul, named after a firefighter. johnny v. left us years ago in a tragic accident, but he's never been forgotten and we're offered to name this after him. thanks to generous contributions, we're standing in a beautiful, beautiful toy hall. it will allow us to better serve the program. our toy program is the city's

largest and nation's oldest. it started in 1949, with firefighters fixing up old bikes. and it has grown to serving 40,000 children and delivering over 200,000 toys every year. [applause] this effort doesn't stop and start at christmas. it's a year-round effort. after the napa and sonoma fires, we sent toys up there immediately, to try to put some normalization into the children's lives. in the next few days, we're sending toys down to ventura county. we send toys to pediatric aids wards, cancer clinics, anywhere where there's a child in need. there is is done through the generosity of our donors and san franciscans that put toys in the red barrels that you see, in firehouses and lobbies and for

me the holiday season kicks off when i'm dreaming home, frustrated, overworked, and i see firefighters carrying toys out of a building and it reminds us of what the holiday spirit is all about. what the holiday season means. how you can't forget people and you need to make sure that even in this rising economy that we don't leave the poorest behind. i want to thank our special partners that have made this possible. first and foremost, we have the academy of art, who let us sleep on our couch for five or six years now and deliver toys from their warehouse. at&t, air bnb, ron calloway, san francisco giants, barberie coast, alex turk and ground floor public affairs. and our elected family as well. mayor ed lee, mark farrell,

fiona ma, malia cohen, district supervisor, who will speak right now because she's giving me the look. ladies and gentlemen, malia cohen. [applause] >> thank you. i want to recognize councillor safai and jeff sheehy. local 78 has been incredible, whether they're fighting fires or collecting toys or making chili, they know how to have a good time. i want to recognize the board members that are here. i think we have jill running around. and we have sally running the program. and i want to give a shoutout to

clinton park also, and if there is any other staff persons that i missed, i apologize. it's just wonderful. thank you for giving us a reason to come out here to district 10. thank you for giving us a reason to bring a gift and to remind you, this is not the only opportunity. when you see a red barrel across the city, please, please donate a present. and also want to remind you to come on down to city hall because we'll have kris kringle in the house, as we do annual i will giving out toys and taking pictures. again, i want to welcome you into our house in district 10 and let's let the holiday season begin. thank you. [applause] >> now before our next speaker, i want to give a special thanks to mark leno who has set up this fundraising committee. and also a very, very special thanks to jill peeler and sale

gizasa and sally jacobs, our volunteers that make this happen. they ruin their entire christmas season up to and including christmas morning, where they're still giving out toys. a special thanks for making this happen every year. and our next speaker will be supervisor jeff sheehy. >> thank you, tom. it's so great to be here with local 798. tremendous work you do keeping us safe. oldest fire department in the country. and this toy program is so amazing that you are able to do it year-round and help kids that lost everything due to fire. i know it's been really hard up north. my mother-in-law lives up there. we had her for a while, which was interesting, when she evacuated. it was fun. thank you to the donors making this possible. it's a great list of folks and your leadership on this, it's fantastic. and happy holidays to everybody.

this is really beautiful. and one of the great things that i was proud to do with my colleagues was get support for this building in last year's budget round. and so i was very proud of that. it may have been the best thing that we did. but thank you, everyone, and happy holidays. [applause] >> all right, thank you, supervisor. and our next speaker and co-chair will be mark leno. thank you, senator. [applause] >> thank you, tom. i think we all knew tom as santa claus is a san francisco firefighter. don't you know when you are in san francisco when you are in a union hall and there are chandeliers. think of that, where else, but in our san francisco. it's been a great honor to co-chair this evening with our dear friend halah.

thank you. and if you have never been on the receiving end of a phone call with a request from halah, you want to say yes. and i have to say, no one works it like halah does. and that's why she's so in demand and so accomplished. so we all love this program so much for all the reasons stated. tom mentioned over 40,000 disadvantaged children will have a smile on their face as a result of 200,000 plus toys that will be distributed. and the involvement it takes, the money it takes, is not insignificant. let me add my thanks to our corporate sponsors, foundational sponsors, individual sponsors. there are a couple of things in life that we can count on. number one, that the san

francisco fire fighters will be there in our hour of need. and that every season around this time, their hand will be in our pocket trying to raise money for toys for kids in need. and i think, tom, there is no doubt why we're here. we want to be supportive of you and our supervisors, president reed, thank you for your leadership. i was going to introduce the mayor, but i don't think i have to do that anymore. i hand it back to you to please help me welcome our president of the board of supervisors, london breed. >> thank you for supporting this program. when i was a kid in san francisco, my grandmother to take me shopping to buy school clothes or whatever else. we went at woolworth's, k-mart, things like that. and i would leave her and i

would run to the toy section. and i would have a fit. oftentimes, i was never able to leave wal-mart -- not wal-mart, but k-mart or woolworth's with a toy in my hand. i thought my grandmother was being mean, but the fact of the matter is, we couldn't afford to buy toys. she could barely afford to get us the clothes on our backs, which she oftentimes would put on layaway. and how fortunate that i had station 5 right down the street from my house and i knew no matter what i didn't get throughout the year that in december we would line up outside that door and get handed a bag of toys. [applause] what it does to put smiles on kids' faces, when you hear the

gunshots and craziness and everything around you, the time that you can pick up the toys, there is nothing else that matters at that time. no matter if i'm supervisor or anything else in this city, it's a program near and dear to my heart, that it made a difference in my life. it took care of kids in my community and they're consistently there every december, delivering the toys, delivering the bikes, delivering the smiles, delivering the love. and so i want to thank all of the sponsors and all of the people that are here to support this amazing program. we couldn't do it without you. just this past monday we held an ethnic doll and book drive thanks to jill, over there with her mouth full. jill and i worked together. they would donate to

african-american art complex. but we did have a number of the challenges, with kids being african-american, we couldn't get a lot of african-american dolls. having a doll that looks like you, makes a difference. this toy program this launched this ethnic doll and book drive that they do every single year to recognize that here in the city and county of san francisco we come in all shapes and sizes, colors, races, everything that you can think of. and so all kids deserve an opportunity to smile during christmas with a toy, but more importantly, to get something that is going to make a difference and remind them that they are beautiful, that they are loved, and they are special. again, thank you to each and every one of you for all the work that you continue to do. thank you, tom o'connor, jill, sally, halah, and senator mark

leno for the work that he did to make this happen. this is amazing, a great turnout. let's keep the checks coming in. let's keep the volunteers getting toys out to the kids in the community. have a wonderful evening, everybody. [applause] >> thank you, supervisor. our last speaker will be supervisor mark farrell. san francisco has been very good to the san francisco firefighters. you treat us well, come ppensats well and our toy program is giving back to the program. and every once in a while, that thank you boomerangs and this year, supervisor mark farrell secured a $250,000 grant. and for that, we're immensely thankful. it helped us to put the finishes on the chandeliers that state

senator marck leno loves so muc. but without the leadership of this next supervisor, we couldn't have done it. welcome supervisor mark farrell. [applause] >> i get to be the closer tonight. i don't think it's because i secured the grant. i think it's because i'm the only one in this room wearing green this evening. i see a lot of red out there. [laughter] i will be quick because i'm at the end here. a few things. first of all, to hala and the senator, thank you for co-chairing this event. you deserve a ton of credit. my colleagues on the board, i mentioned this the other week. one of the best things that i've done as a parent since being at the board of supervisors, my wife and i take our three children down to station 1 and we go out and we rise with the officers, with the firefighters, into the tenderloin and other areas and hand out toys. as you think about being a

parent, the best thing you can do is teach them that it's better to give than receive. you are doing exactly that. whether you financially contribute, whether you are out there giving the toys out yourselves, this is what it's all about. this is the spirit of san francisco. i'm so proud to be a supporter here. i will always be a supporter, as i know everybody in this room will. it's a personal thing. as london mentioned, so personal to so many in so many ways. as we enter this holiday season, that we never forget those we're trying to serve. i want to say on behalf of myself, my family, thank you for all that you do and thank you to 798 and to the firefighters in this room. thank you for what you do for us every single day in san francisco. thanks, everyone. [applause] >> thank you, supervisors and

all guests. 5 -- i want to thank you all to johnny v toy hall and thank you to sf realtors. welcome and give generously. >> hello, everyone. i'm supervisor katy tang.

welcome to 12 days of kittens. my staff came up with an idea of hosting animals in our office so people can come and not only find animals that they might want to adopt, but we found it's a great stress reliever for people that work in city hall. they come around all day, whether it's the shift department or upstairs or the mta, just want to pet the animals and it helps people feel better. a lot of people proactively ask us, are you bringing back the kittens? we've been doing this for five years. it usually culminates in a party in december. we'll see animals adopted throughout the year. if people are thinking about animals to adopt, they may go to a pet store, buy from a breeder, go to spca, but we want people

to know that the acc has animals that need homes. >> every year, her office does the 12 days of kittens. and she picks up every morning cute, adoptable kittens. she has different groups of kittens every day and brings them to her city hall office and they're there all day for everybody that goes through to see and enjoy. we adopt out 900 kittens every year, cats and kittens. we're working all year long promoting adoption, getting people in to see the cats. so it's a pleasure it have the opportunity to showcase some of them in supervisor tang's office. kittens love to play and they're frolicking and all that and it's super fun. >> sometimes they will roam around people's desks. if someone wants to adopt a cat, they can identify any of them that might be hanging around our

office, but we have to go through animal care and control, make sure they pay a fee. it's very affordable, as well as they receive the proper vaccination. >> come on down, adopt a cat. there's a lot of kitties waiting for a beautiful home. >> how can you resist this face? >> i think everyone needs a pet in their life. it makes your day so much better. better.

ok, let's get started. welcome to our special, special, special budget and finance committee meeting for monday, december 11th, 2017. i am norman yee and i will chair this committee as soon as everyone is