>> thank you. >> thank you. first of all, i want to thank the staff from the port and the conservancy for coming together from where we were taught what weeks ago. i think this show of public support and stakeholderrtpo is very good compared to what we saw two weeks ago. it is a testament to your hard work, i don't want to thank you. i'm happy we were able to look at how to scale the park decreases in a way that would not competitively hurt our long-term folks at the port. i also really, would like i like the acknowledgement about the wage issue. this is a comment. i would recommend the national park service, if it is not already in your contracting practices with a new concessionaire, put in the cpi increases are up, or any other unit increases that would normally take places -- take place in other contract, apply to this contract, whether or not the operator chooses a union

shop. do you think that is something that could be in your discretion create that we don't have wage issues in the future. that is just a comment. and that i wanted to echo a statement about the city of sausalito. i think our resolution noticed and saw this moving forward. we are not a reasonable transportation authority. that is not our role. while we can work with you collaboratively, which i feel this amendment does, i think it's a larger issue. it needs to be taken up with the appropriate bodies and authorities that look at reasonable transportation for the whole region in the bay area. it is outside of our scope. i think our staff is doing the best they can to note it and move forward. i'm happy with the progress and with the community supports. i see myself too in a place where i can move forward and be supportive of this project. >> thank you. >> i will support the item and put together -- but i want to be

vocally clear that i support competitive bidding in the widest sense that we could. the board of supervisors gave an exemption to competitive bidding for this project, particularly the park cruises. in a perfect world, i think it should be put out to bid. i went back, and i looked at the board resolution on november 16th, 2,008. very oddly, in the entire document, it is six pages long. nowhere in that document didn't really talk about opening up park cruises and to that portion being exempted. at somewhere, but it's buried in the back of the document in the term sheet. but even the public notice that went out after the board of

supervisors filed that, i believe it is an error in the big picture. if we want to competitively bid and givn exemption, the first line of the board resolution should stay competitive bidding exemption for the park services, and for the cruise line, or extra business that we are giving in thiscontract. i will look at these very carefully. i'm also going to talk to members of the board and candidly ask them how aware they were a bit. competitive bidding situations are huge in my book. if the fair wage component was not in this contract, i would not be supporting it. i would expect future things that come our way to have the prevailing wage. i would expect park services to best in line, voluntarily putting in their contract. they will float with the contracts.

for me, i have a slightly different take on the sausalito component of this. an we are out there, i believe we want to be good neighbours with everyone. just as ought all the stakeholders together, we have moved from something that had lots of concern to everyone at being on board and i believe that our neighbours whether it be san francisco county or sausalito, whatever it is, we have to look at these decisions in a global way. i am more open to their concerns, the same way i would up they are open to ours if we had issues in san francisco that we wanted them to help with. we spoke about the great group and their decisions are more than san francisco post as a borderline. the group worked on more than

just san francisco. we should do the same thing all times. so if there was a way for us to deal with how the boats move and to keep them away from sausalito and keep them 101, we should look at that openly. cause of that but i believe it is a very valid discussion to have added to something that if we contract and make agreements, then we have more stakeholders on board, and we have a regional approach to it and everybody can sign on. so, with that, i would be prepared to support the item. >> thank >> yeah. this project is kind of like a pot on a stove that is boiling over, and you have to take the lid off sometime. i think that's what's happening. i'm glad i was here at the inception of this.

this project before -- it let a lot of bad taste is in people's mouths. it did not turn out very well. hornblower did not live up to and none of the promises. atleft aot of people in a lot of bad places. this used to be a waterfront that was working class. it took me a lot -- a long time to get there. and it was a lot of frustration dealing with the park service in the beginning. they had threatened to go to fort mason, even though it we know it was just a threat. it just seemed like they never could get their head around it. a lot of this -- we may not be here today if they had came out with the right ways to determination in the beginning. don't you learn from something you have done 11 years ago and you go out and do the same

mistake again? i don't kind of get that. what left a bad taste in my mouth was the port had to go to d.c. we met with the department of labor. the park service did not do that. a lot of the work i think the park service did, the port and the staff wind it up doing that work. that left a bad taste in my mouth. but i do see, finally, it seems like the park service has come around somewhat. there was some behind-the-scenes thing that went on in d.c. they were very slow and responded to a letter. she expressed they did not give her the respect responding to her. i don't know about bureaucrats. i'm just a working guy, but sometimes where if you get caught up in that, you get stuck up in a file and they can't seem to figure it out. i believe in simplicity. i am a working guy.

but sometimes bureaucracy just blows my mind if we can't get through that. that being said, it seems like the union has made some strives towards -- forwards. you heard them all. they are willing to go forward. i want to thank orstaff. you guys were beyond. he di lot of the park service and you carried their water. i think they can do better in the future. they didn't show me that they could have done as much as they could do. that being said, i feel this needs to go to the next phase. and needs to be in the hands. at the end of the day, this is a political decision. that is what the board of supervisors makes the decisions for. i'm hoping in the future, badge the park service will step up, not to make the same mistakes. in san francisco, we seem to work together to try to get things done. there needs to be a cohesiveness, and i guess when decisions are made in washington where the bureaucrats are at, they are not down here on ground zero.

you need to be on the ground. i don't know if a lot of people know, we've been through three park service directors. when this thing started. one person comes in and ano person comes in there hasn't been any continuity. the meetin tat i was in a novembearkas there he said i know about the unions. you know what? everyone is part of this dynamic. it is san francisco. we are not like la. we have a way of coming together and putting our differences aside to get things done. i would ask the park service in the future that you be more inclusive, and think about what you are doing, and include everybody. we want things done, and a hornblower did not live up to any of those things. we want the best surveillance for our people here. so many people come up here and it benefits our people to come here on cruise ships and everything and a tourism of 30 million. and so, i'm moving forward.

and i also understand that the union keeps moving the goalpost. is a little bit for everybody there. i'm going to vote for this today and put it in the hands of t board of supervirs wre it needs to be, and once again, i want to thank you guys. you were great. rebecca, jade, mike, so many of you guys stepped up and did a lot of work for them. president brandon, this thing got off track and you got it back on track. and i want to thank my fellow commissioners. >> th you. >> i have one clarifying question in terms of the national park service has increased in terms of the value of the size of the boat. and we heard from tom in terms of being concerned about the environment, and we also heard comment about is there any inherent bias through the existing concessionaire? i we have heard -- as we have

heard in history in the past, that my understanding is cactus because the existing concessionaire has sized the boats, does not necessarily bias the transaction. because we had this concession and when hornblower took over -- actually they bought the boats. that does not represent inherent bias from the beginning of an existing contrast -- concessionaire. and i would like the national park service to comment on what would be the key criteria to evaluate the concessionaire we. >> in response to your question i have this understanding of how things work. i did understand that it had to be a transaction that happened. that would be one way for another se want to take over if that turns out to be the case. that would be an elective sale. that would not be a forced sale and hornblower would have to

sell. in terms of availability of vessels, that is one what mechanism by which a new operator could operate. but in terms of the other specifics, i defer to the national park service. >> okay. i do want to reiterate, as i mentioned at our last meeting, the park service is required by regulation and policy to adhere to a very tough standard for the concession contract and golden gate follows that closely. is a very rigourous process. this is a large contract for the national park service. it -- all components of it go through the competitive process. it is overseen by the washington office because of its size. and with that, i will turn it over to you.

>> i would jus will just speak a moment to the criteria in which the perspective offers will be evaluated. we actually do have -- sorry i do not have the full prospectus with meat right now, but we do have two criteria they will be evaluated on regarding their v. does certainly cover things like the vessel size, minimum requirements which we have discussed at length here. as well as amenities for comfo comfort, excess ability, other components. there's a really rigourous element related to environmental performance as we the minimum requirements will be a tier three. so there are really explicit details as for how the proposal should be developed to meet both operational needs, and the performance specification. >> what can you give us, in plain english, what tier three environment all standards main? >> yeah, it is a most progressive at this point that

the environmental protection agency has out. it is related to a missions -- emissions and yet the general operations of the vessel. >> is this something, i guess from the past that going forward, we would expect that the vessel was looking for environmentally friendly and protective? >> yes. we are endeavouring to ensure that. >> okayed. thank you. >> okayed. >> i want to direct this to director forbes. what is your opinion about sausalito when this came to you? can you tell us -- tell us what it was? you said we'd have to talk about it in open session. >> they have very legitimate concerns about how traffic will be managed for future prospective embarkation at fort baker.

national park service has said that they will take part in more study. it is legally required that there be more study. fundamentally i feel, i echo the commissioner's comments. it is not a good area and it is not in our domain. however, would like us to acknowledge sausalito's concerns and to include the language to say we have heard it. it needs to be studied and needs to be addressed. we need to give our partners in the national park service our regard, and our respect that they have said they will do this work, and it is also legally required that they do so. it is as much as we can do, and we have endeavoured to understand their concerns to the fullest extent. >> thank you. >> any other questions? >> ok.

thank you so much for this prtion thank you so much working with everyone to come to where we are today. i especially want to thank my fellow commissioners for asking e hard questions, and really digging in and making sure that this was the best contract for the port, long-term. you know, it may have ruffled a few feathers, but as everyone said, over the past five years, this project has gotten better and better and better. could it get better? yeah. but we will not be too greedy i especially want to thank director forbes and her team for the patients and due diligence of crossing the tee's and dotting the eyes and making sure everybody's questions were answered and for bringing us all

together to get labor, national park service,ost o the city of sausalito together to make sure that this project could move forward. this will be a great project for the port of san francisco. and to havanyone come and invest $30 million in our pier is phenomenal. so i am happy that we were all able to work together. that, for the most part, everybody is happy. with that, commissioners, are you ready to vote? >> before you boat -- >> i'm sorry,. >> we are recommending two motions. the first would be to whether to approve the amendment for the resolution that they read into the record, and the second motion would be whether to approve the resolution as amended. [laughter]

>> with someonwould someone like the motion? [laughter] >> all in favor? i will make the motion to approve the resolution as amended. >> second. >> all in favor? and he opposed the resolution has passed. [applause] >> is there any new business? seeing none. >> motion to adjourn. >> second. >> all in favor? meeting adjourned. -

>> san francisco is known worldwide for its atmospheric waterfront where spectacular views are by piers and sight and sounds are xhanl changing we come to the here for exercise relax ball games entertainment, recreation

market, exhilaration a wide variety of contributions easily enjoyed look up the bay the waterfront is bing for activities boosting over 25 visitors every year the port of san francisco manages 7 may have million dollars of waterfront from hyde street and fisherman's wharf to the cargo terminals and name shoreline the architecture like pier 70 and the ferry building is here for the embarcadero and a national treasure the port also supports 10 different maritime industries alongside with the recreational attractions making san francisco one of the most viable working

waterfronts in the world but did you think that our waterfront faces serious challenges if earthquake to damage the seawall and the embarcadero roadway rising seawalls will cause flooding at high tides and major repai to a safe many of the piers the port is at a critically turnl point time to plan for the future of san francisco's waterfront this year the port is updating it's marts plan the plan working group to invite a wide variety of poichdz from they and bayview and other advisory teams to share their expertise if intense and maritime operations

the waterfront land use plan has guided the use and development of the lanes for the last 20 years major physical changes take place along the waterfront and now is the time to update the waterfront plan to continue improvements that will keep our waterfront vibrate, public and resilient the biggest challenges facing the waterfront are out the site an aging seawall along the embarcadero roadway and seawalls that will rise by 21 hundred to provide and productivity of tides seawall is built over weak soils and mud the next earthquake will cause it to settle several feet without the urgent repairs that will damage the promenade and other things we've been fortunate over the last hundred years less than one

foot of seawall over the next hundred years scientists say we'll have 6 feet of seawall rise imagine the pier 30/32 will be floated, the embarcadero will be flooded our transportation system is fog to be heavy impacts unfortunately, the port didn' have the financial resources to repair all the deteriorating piers let alone the adaptations for sea level rise. can't pay for the seawall port reinforcement or deal with the sea level rise on its own needs to raise money to take care of the properties at take care of the maintenance on the properties no way absent anti funding the issues of sea level rise or the schematic conditions seawall can be development.

>> as studies talk about the seawall challenges the working group is look at the issues please come share our ideas about recreation, pier activities, shoreline habitat, historic preservation and transportation issues and viral protection. >> we know this planning process will not have one question and one answer we need the diversity of the opinions how people feel about san francisco waterfront and want to hear all the opinions. >> the challenges call for big decisions now is the time to explore now and creative ideas to protect and preserve san francisco waterfront. >> now is the time to get involved to help to shape the future of our waterfront. >> we need the debate please come forward and engage in the process. >> this is your waterfront

nd this is your opportunity to involved be part of solution help san francisco create the waterfront we want f the future. >> this is really to dream big and i think about what our waterfront looked like for all san franciscans today and generations to come. >> get involved with the planning process that will set the fraction for what is coming at the port. >> find for in upgrading dates on the ports website. >> (ship blowing horn in distances) .

>> working for the city and coty of san francisco will immerse you in a vibrate and dynamic city on sfroert of the art and social change we've been on the edge after all we're at the meeting of landnd se world-class style it is the burn of blew jeans where the rock holds court over the harbor the city's information technology xoflz work on the rulers project for free wifi and developing projects and insuring patient state of at san francisco general hospital our it professionals make guilty or innocent available and support

the house/senate regional wear-out system your our employees joy excessive salaries but working for the city and county of san francisco give us employees the unities to contribute their ideas andenergy commitment to shape the city's future but for considering a career with the city and county of san francisc >> shop & dine in the 49 promotes local businesses and challenges resident to do their showing up and dining within the 49 square miles of san francisco by supporting local services within the neighborhood we help san francisco remain unique successful and vibrant so where will you shop & dine in the 49 san francisco owes must of the charm to the unique

characterization of each corridor has a distinction permanent our neighbors are the economic engine of the city. >> if we could a afford the lot hese we'll not to have the kind of store in the future the kids will eat from some restaurants chinatown has phobia one of the best the most unique neighborhood shopping areas of san francisco. >> chinatown is one of the oldest chinatown in the state we need to be able allergies the people and that's the reason chinatown is showing more of the people will the traditional thepg. >> north beach is i know one of the last little italian

community. >>ne of the last neighborhood that hadn't changed a whole lot and san francisco community so strong and the sense of partnership with businesses as well and i just love north beach community old school italian comfort and love that isha italians are a about we need people to come here and shop here so we can keep this going not only us but, of course, everything else in the community i think local businesses the small ones and coffee shops are unique in their own way that is the characteristic of the neighborhood i peace officer prefer it is local character you have to support them.

>> really notice the port this community we really need to kind of really shop locally and support the communityly live in it is more economic for people to survive here. >> i came down to treasure island to look for a we've got a long ways to go. ring i just got married and didn't want something on line i've met artists and local business owners they need money to go out and shop this is important to short them i think you get better things. >> definitely supporting the local community always good is it interesting to find things i never knew existed or see that that way.

>> i think that is really great that san francisco seize the vails of small business and creates the shop & dine in the 49 to support businesses make people all the residents and visitors realize had co things are made and produced in san >> 5, 4, 3, 2 , 1. cut. >> we are here to celebrate the opening of this community garden. a place that used to look a lot darker and today is sun is shining and it's beautiful and it's been completely redone and been a gathering plr this community.

>> i have been waiting for this garden for 3 decades. that is not a joke. i live in an apartment building three floors up and i have potted plants and have dreamt the whole time i have lived there to have ability to buil this dirt. >> let me tell you handout you -- how to build a community garden. you start with a really good idea and add community support from echo media and levis and take management and water and sun and this is what we have. this is great. it's about environment and stewardship. it's also for the -- we implemented several practices

in our successes of the site. that is made up the pockets like wool but they are made of recycled plastic bottles. i don't know how they do it. >> there is acres and acres of parkland throughout golden gate park, but not necessarily through golden community garden. we have it right in the middle of [laughter] >> get in there. >> mayor farrell: all right. there we go. [cheers and applause] >> mayor farrell: let us get

started here. first of all, i want to welcome everyone to city hall to kick off san francisco's aredy-- lgbtq pride 2018. let's give a round of applause, everyone. [cheers and applause] >> mayor farrell: i want to thank, first of all, the incredible people that made this happen here today. not only outside of city hall, but thank you to the volunteers who are making this month exactly what it is for the city of san francisco. special thanks to our own san francisco pride team and i want to acknowledge teddy witherington who is scheduled to be here. teddy, if you are here, or he will be here soon enough. i want to acknowledge him as well for being here. i want to acknowledge, there are a number of people up here as well. acknowledge the elected officials, alice randolph from art city officials board, carmen two, our assessor recorder, the woman of the hour, for sure.

[cheers and applause] clair farley from our office of transgender services. [applause] london breed, our president ofte board of supervisors. our treasured tax collector and our share of. [applause] so today, in san francisco, and throughout the month, we honour both individuals that have made a significant difference in the past that are doing it now in the present and will in the future, for our lgbtq community. we also acknowledge all the organizations that work with our community of san francisco on lgbtq issues that make san francisco who we are as a city. you know, as civil rights are under attack throughout our country, it is so important that san francisco stands tall above

every other place in america. that we, as a city, recommit ourselves to reject the ideologies of bigotry and hatred that come out of the trump otmirs throughout our country, throughout the world, at times. san francisco needs to remain a beacon of hope for everybody. i am proud to be the mayor at the city and county of san francisco that stands exactly for those principles. [cheers and applause] in san francisco, we stand up for our principles of diversity. we stand up for equality for every single person in our city, and we make sure that our city continues to be an example for the rest of our country to follow. you know, as mayor, and before

then as member of the board of supervisors, i've been able to witness the strength of our lgbtq community here in san francisco. we have fought many battles over the years. today, with what was a very narrow ruling out of the u.s. supreme court, but the rhetoric that comes with that, and what our lgbtq community must do to combat that and stand proud and stand tall. it is so important at the rest of us, as a ci stand with our lgbtq community. that is who we are as san francisco. along those lines, i want to make sure i let everyone know today, and announce officially, san francisco is joining with the rca of california and banning all business practices with the state of oklahoma. [cheers and applause] we will not -- we will not, as a

city, continue to tolerate other jurisdictions that discriminate upon our civil rights, and certainly with her lgbtq community. we will continue to stand tall as a city, and stoned -- stand tall for exactly who we are as people and residents in our city. you know, i want to acknowledge the contributions of our late mayor ed lee and the things he did for the lgbtq community as well. he founded the federal mayors against lgbtq discrimination organization. but he did so at the national level. he started the player. the first and its client in our entire country. and it has been a great source of pride as mayor to continue this legacy. last week, the supervisors and i

announced that the city of san francisco and i will be backfilling the four-point $2 million for hiv and aids funding that a federal government cut. [applause] together with claire farley, we have created a transgender advisory committee here in san francisco. and legislation that our board of supervisors was proud to pass through and i was proud to sign. creating all gender bathrooms in our sros acrossa city ofsan francisc and also signing legislation naming terminal one for harvey milk at our san francisco airport. [applause] it ish great pride i stand here as your mayor to kick off this month. and to be part of some amazing celebrations yet to come. woul like to say a few comments about the next person

who is going to be speaking. she is going to be the recipient of the teddy witherington award, which recognizes individuals for their long-standing, and lasting contributions to our lgbtq community in san francisco. kate kendall has served the executive director of the national centre for lesbian rights for 22 years. [applause] she has placed the ncl are at the centre of the civil rights movement in our country. under her guidance, they want the landmark equality case in 2,008 and was later part of the team that secured national equality in 2015. [applause] they have done problematic work around asylum, immigration,

around lgbtq people in prisons and transgender rights, poverty, issues for those that are part of our lgbtq community, and issues that matter for lgbtq people of colour. just last year, and clr -- nclr joined court people to file lawsuit challenging trump's transgender military band. it secured a nationwide injunction. that is what we can do when we stand together for our principles. [applause] i've gone to meet kate a number of times to get to know her a little bit, but she is a symbol of standing for social justice in our city, and it is with great pride that i welcome up kateenll to the microphone and pronounced today, kate kendall day in thecity of san francisco. [cheers and applause]

the stage is yours. >> thank you. i was not prepared for that. i really thought i was just ing,omjust like all of you to a flag raising. i didn't realize that i was going to be acknowledged in this way. what i want to say is that when i came to san francisco, 24 years ago, to start as a legal director for the national centre for lesbian rights, i thought i was coming to be the legal director at the national centre for lesbian rights. i never thought i would be the executive director, and i never imagined that a city could so transform a person and make them feel so embraced and so loved, and so welcome to, so supported that they could, ever day, and that is me i am speaking of, have my reach exceed my grasp in

what i thought i was capable of. this city, on the support of many people who are here, and many people who came before and who are no longer here launched me in so many ways, and i have often said, but it is so true, i get so much more than i gave and i am so grateful for this. grateful for the work i'm able to do. the fight will continue and someone else will lead nclr and they will be a bigger badass than me. that is what we know we need to. it is time to know when to lead and time to know when to step aside and let someone else lead and i'm excited for the next chapter for nclr and for this city, and for where we go as a country taking our country back as a place where all of us can live fully and freely and feel supported for who we are and and hate and discrimination and white supremacy and racism. thank you so much for this and for your support. [cheers and applause]

>> mayor farrell: thank you kate. up next, i have the pleasure of introducing someone who is q ityin sant of living histfo francisco. someone who has been the forefront of this fight for civil rights, for decades in our city. someone who has had the opportunity to be a leader outside of city hall and inside of city hall. and at this point, it is the only person on the board of supervisors that is part of the lgbtq community. please join me in welcoming up the great lady -- leader for our city of san francisco supervisor jeff sheehy. >> thank you kate i have a

certificate from the board of supervisors for you as well. [applause] just a note, under her leadership, nclr has led on these national court battles, but one of the most moving things i experienced was i was with my husband in a small town in florida, a lesbian couple, the woman who had been previously married to a man was having trouble getting rights for her child and who was there? nclr. small town, big towns, big issues, little issues, they have been there across this country. i salute you, kate. e nci . the greatest. [applause] so, this is an interesting pride to kick off with a supreme court decision against our community.

i recognize our acclaim this year and generations of pride and like kate, is passing down to new leadership and new activism in our community. the person who came up with that theme, larry nelson, the bonds that we need to create between those of us who are in the back of squad cars and lyingwn in streets, starting organizations in our community. those bonds need to be strengthened and renewed. we are at war. we are at war. when children are taken away from immigrant parents at the border and separated, when our community, i would transgender rights have been under assault from the beginning of this administration, and now we can't even bake a cake. we can't even get a wedding cake. what is this? 7-2. we have to recognize the threat to our community is immortal, it is not just asked. we have to stand with every other community in unison as we've done over the years to fight back these threats fr

this administration. [applause] [cheering] >> and we all have to identify the congressional district in california that we are going to be marching and walking and fighting for with democrats this fall. we can take back the house and start to stop this, but we have the work. [applause] remember we one the briggs amendment way back in the day with harvey milk. we went to places, small towns across california and showed them who we were, who we are, and show them our love. so, just to close out, i could go on and on, because that brought out the activist in me to see the supreme court decision, not that i haven't been fired up since i came into office, i do want to give a special shout out to gilbert baker. i don't know how many of you know, this pride is the 40th

anniversary of the creation of the rainbow flag. the first rainbow flag. [applause] the first rainbow flag flew 14 years ago, and now you can find it in every country in the wor world. that kind of creative, passionate activism is what we are here to celebrate and to continue. thank you all, and happy pride. [applause] >> mayor farrell: i would also like to introduce claire farley. thank you. the office of transgender initiative, lgbtq initiative, sorry. [applause] >> thank you. thank you. good morning everyone. i'm so happy to be here to celebrate and kick off pride with you all today. [cheers and applause]

i'll give it a minute. as we know, 2018 has been a challenging year, fight for basic human rights and lgbtq rights across the country. san francisco continues to be a leader in advancing the rights for transgender and lgbtq people. as our federal administration has it under constant attack. furthermore, our diverse communs acss san francisco bring us life and honour are under siege. with all of this, it can be difficult to remember what we are here to celebrate. although, when we look back at our history, we are reminded of the movement and the changemakers that never gave up. we have stood up and fought ba

back. we have fought back with our communitie through our resiliency, our community power, working together across communities to develop comprehensive programs, policies and actions that make us stronger and celebrate our differences. i'm so proud to work for a city where i can be out. and where i can be part of advancing the rights for tran an lgbtq people across our great city. whether it is spanning travel are contracting with states that past policies that allow discrimination, or assuring that we have benefits for everyone in our city, or making sure that we have all gender facilities, or developing districts that honour our san francisco culture. or that celebrate the legacy of our lgbtq leaders like renaming terminal one after harvey milk. we still have so much more work to do and i look forward to being part of this change. i am grateful for the late mayor

lee for appointing me and seeing the value in transgender leadership in our city. [applause] thank you to mayor farrell, city administrators, my team and everyone on the mayor's staff in the community for supporting me over my first six months. from constant to s.f. pride, san francisco is a beacon of hope and will continue for generations to come. today, we celebrated raising of the pride flag over san francisco city hall, and it is a reminder of the generations of strengths that came before us. harvey milk, julius truman, marcia p. johnson, and many more. and honouring the leaders of today, kate kendall, missed major, teddy witherington, cecelia chong, and many more. [applause]

today i have the honour to recognize the changemaker of our future. with ten years of service for our community, he is a writer, a cultural icon, a policy strategist, she is currently the lgbtq policy advisor for the san francisco human rights commission. she was instrumental in the name and dignity act for incarcerated transgendered people. she is a policy of fellow alums for the women's foundation policy institute and lead advocate on prioritizing safety for sex workers. she cofounded the constant cultural district, -- district the first transgender cultural district in the country. please join me in welcoming aria saiid. [applause]

>> good afternoon everyone. i don't want to feel alone up here. i don't want to feel alone. [laughter] happy pride. my name is aria and i am so grateful for the acknowledgement today and this month. i've been doing this work for ten years and i'm definitely having a full circle moments. i moved to san francisco in 2010 with $60 in my bag and got off the greyhound bus and i slaps on the san francisco bar and i used to walk maiden lane, and dream about being more than i was at that time. so i a so grateful for this acknowledgement. i also want to say that my work and in particular is about the promotion of the resiliency of black trans women.

i feel like... [applause] it's because -- it's because of the work of black trans women iel like we are free. forty-eight years ago at stonewall, it was a black s women who was a sex worker and he was homeless. marcia p. johnson who threw the brick at the police officers that started the riot. it is because a black trans women that we are able to celebrate pride, and i am so grateful to be soaking in this moment. thank you so much. [cheers and applause] >> aria, the supervisor has a certificate to give you as well. >> mayor farrell: i also have a certificate from the board of supervisors. thank you it so much for your years of work. thank you. [applause]

>> we also want to thank tom horn for making this event possible. thank you tom. [applause] we would not be able to celebrate this annual event without your support. next, it is my honour to welcome the leader behind pride and helps make pride happen every year. please join me in welcoming the executive director, jordan -- george ridley to help me kick off pride. [applause] >> thank you. thank you mayor farrell and thank you supervisors. i've asked the board president to join me up here today. [applause] honestly, i couldn't do my job without the support of someone like michelle. this is her third year as our president. it's my fifth year at pride. it is quite a privilege to do this. we are quite the team.

again, i need her by my side. i am glad she is here toas well. so, we are pleased to be here at the beginning applied month and honoured to be part of this flag raising ceremony. san francisco is looking very proud. i don't know if you notice, but this past week we installed the rainbow flag along market street and the energy in the city is clearly building to what i expect to be an enormous expression of resistance and hope and solidarity on june 23rd and 24th. i am lucky to work, yes. [applause] i am lucky to work with some dedicated and tireless individuals. we are a small team we are a mighty team. not everyone in the office or working on the event could be here today, they've got some work to do, however, there ar some ople who could join us. i would love it if you would raise your hand if you are on

the team, or on the staff, and volunteering. everyone give them a round of applause. [applause] >> i think, at this point i would like to recognize our board of directors who has been incredibly supportive of me and of the organization and the vision that we have. as i mentioned, michelle is our board president. i know a lot of our board members are here today and i'm super grateful for that. our vice president is here. [applause] our secretary is here. [applause] i'm not sure if our secretary, when -- secretary was able to make its. all right. we have more members here with us today. [applause]

dj grey. william walker. and other board mes that were not able to make it, elizabeth, yeah, -- lanyon, manuel perez, justin taylor, please give them a round of applause as well. [cheers and applause] pride is a perfect portrait of all the things that we love about san francisco. this year, we are expecting 270 contingents in the parade. that is on par it was last year market street is going to be so filled with community groups, activists, elders, children, companies, international and local, performers, celebrities and elected officials marching side-by-side down market street. is a massive organic expression of a million voices

simultaneously erupting as we march down market street and gather at civic centre. for all of those voices building to a crescendo that calls out in the name of strengths, solidarity, and unrelenting demand for equality. [cheers and applause] our theme this year is generations of strengths. as a supervisor pointed out earlier. i think you would agree that this years grand marshals and honourees are wonderful examples of the strength that is found throughout our communities. this is where i will ask for michelle's help. first, i want to acknowledge that kate kendall has been an incredible inspiration for me. [cheers and applause] i also want to thank you for starting out by crying, because i normally do as well. this is perfect. thank you. [laughter] with that, i will