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>> san francisco is a global city. i sit out and look out from my office over our magnificent skyline and i see it. we are at the crossroads of technology and trade, finance and philanthropy, education and medicine. the world literally beats at the path to our door with our world-class airport, incredible universities, newly renovated and modern convention centres, and probably, most importantly, the ecosystem. our ecosystem that encourages global business activity. however, as you learned a few years ago during the great recession which we all can remember, we cannot take that ecosystem for granted. it doesn't just happen. even here in san francisco. if we want to remain a global city, we need to embrace and encourage and energize all those

important ties that link our city to the rest of the world. so we remain competitive. we need the city's economic workforce development. that is why several months ago, a few brave souls who are in this room decided not just to continue the great work of these international programs, but to build a robust new platform. a new organization that will take the activities that we've already done to a new level. and be prepared to add on new ones, and new geographies over time. i am the director of global strategies and i am delighted to welcome you to the launch of the global s.f. [applause] i am honoured to serve as cochair of the organization along with my cochair and are incredibly great secretary.

we are lucky we have darlene to be our executive director's clause there is nobody in san francisco, nobody in california, nobody in america, or even in the whole world, including china, that is better suited to lead this organization. we are very lucky to have you, darlene. [applause] we have a really exciting program for you this morning, including a lot more discussion about global cities. you know, we are in city hall. it's important to reflect on the fact that our first program, china s.f., what you are mostly familiar with, was from rounded by then mayor answered to be governor gavin newsom. it was expanded to include latin s.f. and s.f. asia under mayor lee and we are starting a new chapter, a new organization with mayor mark farrell and mayor elect london breach. to start us off, is a real privilege to introduce a true

son of san francisco who stepped in at a time of tragedy for the city to become the 44th mayor of san francisco. mark farrell as mayor and previously supervisor, has worked tirelessly to improve our city and maintain a vibrant internationally connected economy, keeping san francisco a true global city. mayor farrell? [applause] >> mayor farrell: thanks for having me here today. i want to congratulate everyone on the launch of global s.f. pretty cool science here as well. you know, as was mentioned, building on what mayor newsom and mayor lee did in terms of our programs, we continue to attract businesses to the city of san francisco. san francisco has always been a leader on the international stage. and this is just a continued commitment to that. i want to say i very much believe in this. as mayor, as a resident of san

francisco, our city government needs to continue to reach out and continue to be a role player internationally as well. i just came back, last week, from a ten day trip to ireland and germany. i've been on many trips internationally as well as a supervisor and now as mayor. i believe it is something we need to be doing. we need to push the pedal forward as a city. and especially as we think about today. think about, as a country, as a city, when we have our president, our federal administration building walls, building tariffs, doing everything we can that really stymies what we are trying to do here in san francisco. we need to push ahead. that is why i am proud of what we are doing as a city. this continues the legacy, but it is so important in today's world and what we face out of washington d.c., but quite frankly also around the world. it is quite amazing travelling internationally right now i do what people are saying about our country and our leadership, that we continue to push forward to.

this is an awesome initiative. this will yield benefits for years and years to come. whether i'm the mayor or whether i am a private citizen once again pretty soon, i will be a huge supporter. thank you for having me here today. [applause] >> ok. good morning. as you all know, i am darlene, the executive director and thank you all again for coming this morning. i think you mayor farrell for your support and your remarks. thank you and i look forward to working with you, as mayor and as a private citizen. thank you. jantje. i am very delighted to be here today and as you all know, we have come a long way. as we mentioned earlier, in 2,008 with the foresight of gavin unit -- gavin newsom and n the brains of michael cohen is not here, china s.f. was created as a public-private partnership in the chamber of commerce. i still remember it when i was

chief deputy in the communications office that he announced he would set aside $2.1 million to establish a china desk. being the sceptic on warm, i said i will believe it when i see it. ten years later, 100 companies, and more than 100 jobs created and definitely more than $5 billion of foreign direct investment, global s.f. is an independent organization. our work will be on economic development. our job will be making san francisco and the bay area at the destination of choice for overseas companies. what we conduct local businesses with the rest of the world. i would like you all to please meet members of the global s.f. team. please raise your hands when i call your name. hannah lee, director of china s.f. [applause] leanne wong, program manager of china s.f. [applause]

joe lynn vallejo, director of latin s.f. [applause] laura jenkins, director of partnership. [applause] samba jiggers, director of special projects. [applause] alex fong, program manager. our youngest manager of the team. [applause] and by the way, i'm still hiring. i'm looking for a new director as s.f. asia. contact me if you want the job description. ok. to better clarify the organized -- organizational structure, because everyone is wondering, are you guys becoming global s.f. right now? what is china s.f. going to equally who are you? what are you going to be equally wanted to clarify the organizational structure. china s.f. and latin s.f. and s.f. asia operate as initiatives focused on their specific regions. reporting up to global s.f. global s.f. will start looking

at opportunities outside the targeted regions, whether they be in africa, europe, or the middle east, just to name a few. i would like to thank my founding board members, david kaufman who gave some really nice remarks earlier. he has been with us from the inception of china s.f. hands the land, might fearless cochair of china s.f. at the time. thank you for being with ass -- with us. and wendy wong who has kept me out of trouble in terms of numbers and finances. thank you. and the transition team for helping my team and i create an identity for our new organization and making today a reality. i would also like to thank the associates for donating their creative work. we have grown up and are ready to stand on our own 2 feet. we are now two blocks away from city hall which is really, really cool. we will be working in the courts space. we will be -- yes, we are.

we will be spending time on sectors important to the city and integral to its resiliency efforts. biotech, iot, syntax, food and beverage, real estate and infrastructure investments, to name a few. we want people to know that we are open for business. i look forward to meeting and working with all the members of the council core. some of you are represented today. economic development organizations representing different countries, in cities and counties throughout the bay area. i know we have representatives today from the peninsula and east bay. thank you for coming. and while we continue to build upon our existing partnerships created over the last few years, over the last ten years, sorry. last but not least, i want to remind everyone we are a nonprofit corporation. we are a bona fide five o one c three. no one is our fiscal agent. we are taking donations anytime. [laughter] >> laura is accepting checks. our biggest sponsor will be this

city of san francisco. as a partner in our business through the form of a grant. the initiatives will continue to receive seed money to do the great work they have been doing over the years. we are really proud of that. with that, i will stop talking and i will let the panelists today talk to us and tell us why san francisco is a global city and show us how diverse our businesses really are. thank you for coming. [applause] >> i would like to now introduce and welcome our panelists. want to call your name please come and take a seat up front. susan person, is a research director of northern california at jl l. we next paragraph sophie o'kelly the chief operating officer at decathlon. if you have not been to the shop, you have to go on market street right next to the four seasons. they have the best products and are really good prices. and last but not least, kristin durham, a really good old friend

of mine. she's deftly the pro in our space but she is the director and office to the c.e.o. please welcome them. thank you. [applause] >> good morning, ladies pick first to balk back i wanted to note we actually have an all-female panel. isn't that awesome. [laughter] [applause] i think it's incredible, because, especially when we talk about the me too movement, but also in a city where we value diversity, to actually have women in positions of leadership, to me makes me cry. anyway, thank you. and then we have talia hart. she is here today. she is the president and c.e.o. of the chamber of commerce.

please welcome her. [applause] we will continue to work closely together, even though we are quote "-right-double-quote divorced. [laughter] , separates. anyway, we are here today to talk about why san francisco is a global city. i wanted to start with susan, the research person. could you tell us, what are the key indicators for a global city? >> a global city is a city that has business and produces goods and services that go internationally and touch all parts of the world. i think that there are at least six key indicators of what makes a global city. number 1 is the people. san francisco is a true melting pot. we welcome everyone. i think, also, we welcome them but we welcome though -- their cultures. as a result we have restaurants, and cultural events and all kinds of things that reflect the variety of people here and who they are. access is another key part of

that. our great port and airport make us easily accessible for everyone, for people to come and go and for goods to come and go. education is another key aspect of that. our world-class educational institutions produce highly educated people and a workforce that innovates, that thinks ahead what else. we have, obviously our technology is very innovative here. we sponsor a lots of startups and unicorns and more established tech companies whose products, goods and services, once again, touch all parts of the world. we also have tourism. people come to san francisco and they see what a great place it is. our beautiful environment, and they want to stay or come back. and of course, not to forget finance. the finance here is world-class. we have financial institutions from all over the world. we have big banks and we have

venture capitalist and private equity and lending everything that goes on here. that makes us able to do everything else. >> thank you, susan. sophie, she is from france. do you agree with everything that susan said, and, you know, we know that decathlon has been a really good in china, but what made you set up shop in san francisco. >> i agree with what you said, susan. [laughter] yes. decathlon has more than 1300 stores worldwide. china is a very big market. why san francisco? san francisco, for us is a city where all sorts are represented. we proposed more than 70 spots in our offer. we need the feedback. we think that in san francisco we have the passion and the culture for sports and we will obtain great feedback on all of the products we have to propose. there's also a wonderful innovation culture here. our first store we opened on

market street is, to us, a lab. we are using san francisco as a lab to modernize what we will do in the u.s. once we have come to the right conclusions. we are testing many things in that story. we are testing mobile system payments, retesting the omnicom is reports where we can make sure all of our customers have a project at -- product at any time, anywhere, when they need it with any device. this is the best place to do this over here. we are obtaining great results. >> that's good to know. my next person, kristin, i wanted to ask you, since then desk was conceived on a desk in denmark. why, and how did the founders decide on san francisco? >> i think that the factors that susan talked about definitely played a role in the minds of our founders. the company was founded in 2,007 in copenhagen. and by 2,009 we were already here in san francisco.

i think that for the founders, you know, there was some consideration of the city. they made a brief stopover in boston after they had raised their first money, but in many ways, san francisco for us has been an inevitability. the talent, the access to financial capital, and just having an environment where people know how to build business and how to build it quickly and how to scale it globally with something that, you know, when we saw the product starting to get adopti adoption, it made sense to double down in san francisco, and build a team that would take the company forward from here. and so, you know, that was, now, eight years ago. seven or eight years ago today. we are 2200 people worldwide. about 800 of which are in this city. we continue to increase our footprint along market street

because the things that hold true for us, you know, when we were a small private company, even now that we are public, are still true today. we can hire diverse workforce and we can get a variety of skills and talent in that enriches our business and makes us better able to design software that serves all of the customers that we want to serve. >> that's good to know. innovation seems to be here here. one word i'm hearing and resonating really well. but susan, can you touch on what makemake san francisco a globaly for the future? >> we have an international research department and we produce all kinds -- we compare markets all over the world and one piece that we put out is what we call our city momentum index. san francisco and silicon valley, it was put out in the last few months. they ranked number 1 and watch what globally. what this index looks at his innovation and how to take it to the next level.

by k. obviously, because san francisco, this area ranks high because of some of the things i mentioned before, the number of tech startups we have which are fuelled by our great universities, professors and students, partnering and students graduating and going out on their own and having really invested in great thoughts on products that they want to produce and introduced to the world. so it has to do with, you know, the education. it has to do with the number of startups. it has to do with the number of unicorn companies that are not yet public but valued over a billion dollars in phantom starch in san francisco. we are the top producers of those companies. looking ahead, you know, we see san francisco as a place -- it is a place where these companies are fostered, and with change occurring at such a fast pace in the way we live and work today, san francisco was really at the

forefront of all of this. i think that that's really what gives us the momentum to be a city of the future. next i will ask kristin. in your mind, what make san francisco unique? >> there are a lot of things, right? there's lots of things about the city that makes it unique. when we think about it in the terms of our business, while we have built our nd centres in our global offices, we've expanded our sales force to be in a region as well. i think that very much, is still at the level of understanding of product and technology innovation, you know, those products projects still remain here in san francisco because we have the opportunity to hire talent out of universities and also to be able to bring in engineers and product designers

and product marketers who have experience, you know, doing these things for decades now, right? as san francisco has been, you know, not just on the edge of the original silicon, you know, but the internet, and now what we are moving forward into which is a world of apps and connected devices and things like that. i think for us, you know, san francisco is still really unique in that regard. i think that, you know, how did san francisco become unique? i think a lot of it is, you know, and cultural in terms of the openness that the city has to welcome people in, to welcome business in and making this an environment where you can get connected and you can get the help that you need. it's very unique. and the ability to work with the city to continue to improve, you know, the communities that we are in. and in no other city, have we

had that level of partnership. trust is really important and developing culture within the company, and being able to create a culture that is lasting and that is focused on, you know, helping employees be empathetic and be in the community and really giving back and working. for us, you know, that partnership with the city has been a very unique. on the fun side, right, our employees love that, you know, we had a large float at the pride parade on sunday, you know, it's a great opportunity for us to be out in the community in that way. and a lot of other initiatives like that that don't exactly exist anywhere else in the world. i would say, from our customer's perspective, we are developing a new center to bring executives and from around the world. san francisco, for them holds this, you know, magic as being a

real center of global trade and not in the obvious ways that perhaps hong kong, or london once where. this is where the world comes for innovation. we get to benefit from that and also be in a part of that flow however, it looks. >> really interesting. partnership i am hearing a lot, right? we are still diverse and have a great culture. let's talk about retail now. sophie, what do you think -- how do you think things will change, and what is retail going to look like for the future, especially in san francisco? >> i think we have seen there has been a big change in retail in these recent years. i think you will agree with me on that one. we see that online sales are becoming the very predominant on the retail market. that there is a big bank occupancy rate in san francisco. it is hard to find real estate. big boxes, notably. we have surface area between traditionally 50,000 and --

15,017,000 square feet. is not an easy thing to find in the city or the bay area. players the question of how do we position ourselves? what do we want to do it san francisco? and when we will be expanding at a later stage, where will we rest with the model we are building here? we are a city-based model. wingfield that, today, our customers that we call our users, our ambassadors. everyone has to be ambassadors of our different products. they need to have a convenience that they want to have. they need to be able to purchase online or in the store, with the best quality service they could have. they also need to feel they have a personal dialogue with us that we are actually there with them doing sports with them in their communities. we feel that the retail activity, and the specific locations will take less space and we will highlight what we can bring online, and our stores will be a window to our

e-commerce. what we are trying to engage in is the community. it is a really important word we share. to be in the community with our sports users so they can have access to our products online and meet us in our story. >> thank you. let's touch on that too. what trends do you see? you guys talked a lot about what we see different in the retail space. the thing is, i wanted to talk about trends in products. >> sure. is a very interesting space over here. our products are starting to be known. wif we have our own designprodu. we feel that there is something that we have to explain about products that are technical, but are affordable compared to other products that can be very, very technical and great products, but nothing -- not just on the same way. for us there is a real story to

tell about who we are and how we sell our products and how we design them. it san francisco it is demanding in terms of what type of products you can offer. our big challenge is to make an offer that is perfect for san francisco. we feel it is one of the most demanding markets in terms of sporting goods. because of the variety of sports we can practice here that is our aim. that is why engaging in our communities and the sports world is very much targeted on communities and talking to people. it is very important to make sure they have the right offer. >> san francisco is a demanding market. susan, how does san francisco -- how are we competitive compared to other cities in california? and in other gateway cities in the u.s.? >> it is all about the talent here if you look at the statistics, the proportion of people with a college degree in san francisco is higher than the

national average. it is higher in san francisco than the east bay and the south bay. it is also the millennial workforce. san francisco has, i think, 30% of people in that 22 to 27 age range we hear about what a low unemployment rate san francisco has. companies are really challenged to hire the people that they need to grow and to grow their businesses. i think that one of the things that makes companies globally, and companies around the country feel like they have to be here is because the people here are very talented. we have the talent that people want to hire. young people want to live here because it is a great place to live, you know, the whether, -- the weather, the culture, the diversity, everything, you know, the places you can reach in a few hours. you know, you can go skiing or

to the beach. all of the things that are available here that make all of us want to live in this area, i think like a draw that talent. the talent draws the businesses because they, you know, want to grow. >> that's good. good to know. i feel old all of a sudden. >> the thing is, with that in mind, what does san francisco offer to compete in the global market? the city itself has been a great partner. can you elaborate on that queen. >> yap garrick at the same time, there is a lot of talent here locally. it is challenging, right? san francisco is more expensive than it ever has been. the ability for our employees to live in the city, you know, is increasingly complicated. i think that for us, that is aware we really look to the city organizations, ideally like global s.f. who will help bring the kind of thinking about how

do we develop in an economically inclusive way which, you know, is a concern for a company, even like ours, which is growing well, you know, i think it something that we can't turn a blind eye to. the willingness of the city need to engage in that conversation, like i said, our office is at six and market. if any if you walk down a part of market street, you see the challenges of homelessness and drug abuse, and that, you know, these are super challenging thing is on the city continues to be there and work with us on that to help those people and to make it inclusive, even on that small scale. it is really important. taking that sort of commitment to the city as a whole and the economy as a whole is really encouraging. it shows the city has bought in to making all of a successful. >> great. sophie you have something you want to add to that? >> no, i agree with what kristin

said. i think there is really a big change that's happening in the city. i think that many companies are coming to the city. we are located inside the city. and also in oakland because we have a warehouse in oakland. i went through that area and it is really great to be able to develop and expand inside san francisco which is a wonderful city. and we like being in the city. that's why we chose to have our first store inside the city which is not what we usually do. we really wanted to be inside san francisco. is a great opportunity to be inside the city. >> that's great. i think we have members here as well. i hope you heard all the comments today. we will continue to work with you all caps clearly. kristin, sophie, we definitely appreciate you have chosen san francisco to be your headquarters, at least to have your office here. and the chamber and the city look forward to continue to work

with you. is there anything else any of you would like to add? any questions from the audience? otherwise we are moving right along to our next speaker so we can have champagne. [laughter] opa. thank you. sorry, yes. >> sorry about that. i am james bridgeman. the cochair of the san francisco zurich city committee. the comment is to put a plug-in for sister cities. we have 19 in the city and we do a lot of work with bringing businesses here. we could go on for a long time on that. my question to you is how do you workers afford the cost of apartments and things like that in the city. a two bedroom apartment cost more than $500,000 a month -- $500,000 -- $5,000 a month. >> as an incredibly tough challenge. i think homeownership or homeownership affordability is less than 15%.

i see people that are on my team struggling to figure it out. if you are young, you have a roommate, you know, there were headlines the other day about $117,000 considered low income for a low income family of four, which is astonishing. i also think that, you know, people figure it out. there's definitely a housing shortage. not just in san francisco, not just in the bay area, you see this happening in other markets all over the country. maybe nowhere so severe as it is here. we see people, you know, moving further out living in the city with roommates or all the things that people do. it is definitely a huge issue that is impacting businesses. we do see people moving out of the bay area. those people -- we also see

people moving in. the people moving and have higher incomes. so it's certainly a challenge. >> we have developers in the room today too. note this, please. any other questions from the audience? no? ok. we are moving on. thank you ladies. [applause] i would like to introduce our next speaker who will be closing our program. hans gallant. >> thank you. thank you for placing me between the champagne and the panel. [laughter] very briefly like i'm honored to be here today. and very grateful for such a big audience to focus everyone's attention on the launch of global s.f.

from its very inception, san francisco has been an international city. angel island and alcatraz. with landmarks of immigration and native occupation. they are just want to have the many reminders of our area's international past. today, my migration to the city is positive. largely due to international arrivals. san francisco has always been, and will always be international. much of the conversation today, however was about the topic of san francisco's competitiveness as a global city. when i personally first arrived here, i too was raising this question, and turned to my friends asking, what does it take for san francisco to be competitive as a global city? interestingly, i got two answers. the first one was, isn't it already? or the second one was, why

should it be? these two answers highlight a polarization of views that, at this juncture in the history of san francisco, is not uncommon. they als.they also illustrate ts complexity. the conversation about san francisco's competitiveness park is a global city today, illustrates that competitiveness itself, and the sustainability is not a foregone conclusion. this opportunity for great work to be done. there's opportunity to embrace and integrate and leverage the precious assets the city is endowed with. it is diversity. it is talent. it is natural environment. business and political community, but above all, it is culture and it is spirit. having the support of mayor farrell and mayor elect london breed, the city family, as well as international consulate trade

officers, and sister cities, global s.f. will have the unique ability to bridge it from the public, into the private sector. both locally and internationally. all in an effort to create jobs to support harmonious development, to balance it against the goals of sustainability, resiliency and protecting what makes this city special. the organization is having a great start and a great team. all ingredients for success. it also has a tall order to fulfil. a tall order that can only be achieved with your continuous and generous support. please join the city and my fellow board members darlene, and her team, in supporting global s.f. to support -- to start today by raising a glass. [laughter]

>> we have champagne in the back. >> here, you can have mine. global s.f. talk too much success in the omission, you become a much studied example with your local and global impact. me you truly make sense -- make san francisco the best place -- place for business and life. may you do us all proud to. off you go, global s. off -- global s.f. [applause]

. plause] >> my name is dave, and i play defense. >> my name is mustafa, and i am a midfielder, but right now, i am trying to play as a goalkeeper, because they need a

goalkeeper. >> soccer u.s.a. is a nonprofessional organization. we use sports, soccer in particular to engage communities that can benefit from quality programs in order to lift people up, helping to regain a sense of control in one's life. >> the san francisco recreation and park department and street soccer u.s.a. have been partners now for nearly a decade. street soccer shares our mission in using sport as a vehicle for youth development and for reaching people of all ages. rec and park has a team. >> i'm been playing soccer all my life. soccer is my life. >> i played in the streets when i was a kid. and i loved soccer back home. i joined street soccer here. it was the best club to join. it helps me out. >> the tenderloin soccer club started in the summer of 2016.

we put one of our mini soccer pitches in one of our facilities there. the kids who kpriez the club team came out to utilize that space, and it was beautiful because they used it as an opportunity to express themselves in a place where they were free to do so, and it was a safe space, in a neighborhood that really isn't the most hospitalable to youth -- hospitable to youth playing in the streets. >> one day, i saw the coach and my friends because they went there to join the team before me. so i went up to the coach and asked, and they said oh, i've got a soccer team, and i joined, and they said yeah, it was he for everybody, and i joined, and it was the best experience ever.

>> a lot of our programs, the kids are in the process of achieving citizenship. it's a pretty lengthy process. >> here, i am the only one with my dad. we were in the housing program, and we are trying to find housing. my sister, she's in my country, so i realize that i have a lot of opportunities here for getting good education to help her, you know? yeah. that's the -- one of the most important things that challenge me. >> my dad was over here, making some money because there was not a lot of jobs back home. i came here, finish elementary in san francisco. after that, i used to go back to my country, go to yemen, my country, and then back here. last time i went back was a couple years ago. >> i came here six months, i

know nobody. now i have the team has a family, the coaches. amazing. >> i'm hoping for lifelong friendships, and i'm super inspired by what they've been able to achieve and want to continue to grow alongside them. >> i love my family, i love my team. they're just like a family. it's really nice. >> street soccer just received a five year grant from the department of children, youth and family, and this is an important inreflection point for street soccer u.s.a. because their work in our most important communities is now known beyond just san francisco recreation and park department, and together, we're going to continue to work with our city's most vulnerable kids and teach them to love the beautiful game. >> i want to tell everybody back home, i hope you all make

it over here and join teams like this like street soccer u.s.a., and live your life. get a better life. >> right away, just be patient, and then, everything will be okay. >> good afternoon everyone. good morning and afternoon. i am the director of international trade and commerce in the mayor's office. it is an honor to welcome all of you here for this special occasion. special welcome to the counsellor core who is here with us today. and a special welcome to the many chairs of our sister city committees and to the other city officials who are here from so

many departments. and to all of you in the general public. it is an honor to have you here. without further ado, i'd like to turn this over to the man whose idea at this project it was. our mayor, mark farrell. [applause] >> mayor farrell: than >> mayor farrell: thank you, mark. isn't this awesome? [applause] i am very excited here. i talked to our office of protocol, about my first week in office as mayor. i said why don't we have one of these poles with our sister cities? he said you know what? we can make this happen. here we are. two weeks before leaving office. this is an awesome way to go out. i want to say how proud i am to be here as the mayor of the city of san francisco. on the mayor of a city that prides itself on our sister city relationships. especially in this era today with the federal government, where we are building walls, we are tearing down relationships.

we are literally creating tariffs. here in the city of san francisco, we are leading the way in a different manner. we are leading the way building bridges between our different countries and different cities throughout the world. our sister city program in san francisco, it dates back to 1957. with the inaugural sister city of osaka. it was done just a year after president eisenhower in 1956 started the sister city program in our country to really get citizens involved amongst different cities throughout the world to build those bridges and between our different cultures and in between our different countries. we are literally, now in san francisco with 19 sister cities from 8-z-letter. we are so lucky and so blessed to have so many amazing volunteers and individuals working in the city of san francisco for our sister city committees and for our sister

city relationships. and a few quick funds statistics about our sister cities. if you haven't been able to look at the kilometre clock up there, the shortest distance from san francisco is a court, in ireland. there's a lot of people here from there. the longest one is bangalore in india. our smallest sister 60 -- sister city is in italy. it is the namesake of st. francis which our city is named after. i looked up today, a population of 26,000 people there. be due at a large and small here. we have bangalore, shanghai, sydney, paris, but we do it across the entire little world. thank you for coming here today. this is an awesome monument that will last forever here in san francisco to really talk about and exemplify how we believe our role in international community will always stand and how important our city believes it to be.

again, thank you to all of the volunteers. many of you are here today. thank you to all the consular generals for all of your hard work. i want to give a special recognition to anita lee, mayor lee's wife. she is here today. mayor lee was a huge support of our sister cities. he went to so many of them. we went, last year with mayor lee and anita to sign the sitter -- sister city agreement in kiel which was signed recently. a special recognition to our chief of protocol who is back with us. [applause] and thank you again to mark chandler and certainly the person who i had the initial conversation with, matthew. thank you for all your hard work on this. and last, but certainly not least, thank you to our department of public works. and the s. of nt s.f. nta sign u

have made this happen. in any case, thank you for being here. this is a great celebration and we can always come visit here going forward into the future. with that, i would like to introduce a gentleman who has been, there he is, right behind me. he has been the longest, i believe the longest serving chair of a sister committee or the longest-serving chair of the sister committee of osaka. again, it was our first sister city relationship in san francisco. the gentleman is literally a stalwart in our japanese community here in san francisco. i would like to bring up alan oka moto. [applause] >> while. being introduced by the mayor. that's pretty cool, isn't it? i did not expect that. anyway, before i give my very, very brief remarks. i would just like to acknowledge charlotte again. the chief of protocol. you know, the other day i overheard a conversation between

mayor willie brown and mayor -- the mayor of san jose. willie brown -- norman said, i have an airport named after me and willie brown said, i have a bridge named after me. charlotte has topped them all. she has the stairs on the rotunda of san francisco city hall named after her. how cool is that? also, since i am giving out some thanks. we should give great thanks to mark chandler. the director of international trade. without him, our sister cities would not be able to function. mark, thank you. and then, again, as the mayor said, the right hand man the does all the hard work, matthew. thank you. [applause] you know, i am so honored to represent the 19 sister cities that san francisco has. excuse me.

as the mayor said, i am the cochair of the san francisco city association. the cochair with me is kathleen. [applause] and the heart and soul of the sister city, the hardest working person, the most important person is our executive director. as the mayor said to, osaka is the oldest sister city relationship that we have. last year we celebrated our 60th anniversary. we hope to go for another 60 years. the mayor mentioned that in order to provide better relations between the united states and japan, president dwight eisenhower asked the current mayor at the time, george christopher to establish the san francisco socket sister city association. the mission statement of the sister city is very similar to

all the other sister city association's. we were attempting to build bridges of friendship and commerce between the two great powers of the pacific rim. san francisco, and osaka. i know that we will continue on despite anything that anybody has said. san francisco and the osaka relationship will continue far into the future. i know everybody is anxious to get to lunch, so i just wanted to mention the other sister cities and their chairs. they are all here. everyone likes to hear their own name. if you would allow me to mention their names, and please, i apologize for the pronunciation. some of these are pretty difficult. anyway, we have frankie gillett. amann jordan.

richard r. menino. james hurley. is that correct? >> mayor farrell: german. >> i apologize. kim when. arthur will tell. hannah fleck. christopher carew ski. carmen colette. thomas horan. candace bender.

james brigham and gmo tail costanza. i think all of you for attending and thank the city of san francisco for this wonderful sign. thank you. [applause] >> mayor farrell: thank you allen. and for all of your hard work. i want to say special thanks to day to all of our police officers who are here and chief scott as well in our police department. thank you for being here. thank you to all of our officers. i would like to bring up the person who keeps our city clean. he has been responsible. this is his land here that we are able to put the statue on. please welcome up mohammed knew rue. [applause] >> thank you. it takes a village to really put together a project and to this project, when we got the call a few months ago from the mayor's office of protocol, we went to

work and our partners donated the pole to us. and our friends at m.t.a., the sign shop, they had the responsibility of, you know, making all the science. and then it came to our shop where we had to figure out the order of what the signs go. our division of architectures and engineering, they helped put all these signs into the correct places. they went through several different iterations. and then, of course, our operations department. our building shop came and builds the foundation, and we still have to come back and finish it. a big hand to all the city family for coming together to make this happen. [applause] also, as part of our public works, we are leading the charge were several agencies to make market street really the street of the future. market street is a project we have been working on for several years.

we are close to completing a design. that design will include the redo of the holiday plaza itself. some of the ideas out there is actually two make over this plaza. it will not be a sunken hole and create a lively space. but also make it much easier for people to get on the cable cars and the buses i get to where they are going. holiday plaza is ground zero for public works. we spent a lot of time trying to make sure all of the designs were in the works and they come to fruition. with the leadership of our mayor's office and the sister cities, this would not have happened. i am proud to be part of this project. a few names of people i should think. kevin from bvr, he lives -- he literally made sure we got this done on time. a big hand for him. [applause] and greta jones who oversaw the details to make sure this happened. i'm excited. this adds another beauty to our

city and lets people know how far you are too many of our sister cities. charlotte, i know we are working on getting a few more sister cities. i'm looking forward to that. lets havlet's have a great day. thank you very much. [applause] >> mayor farrell: thank you. again, thank you to all the consulate general's who are here. charlotte, do you want to say a few words? will this one work? can you get up? [laughter] >> let me come over there. [applause] want to fight? >> mayor farrell: absolutely not. [laughter] >> you should see what the other guy looks likely it happened in new york. be careful where you go. it won't happen in any of these cities. i really wanted to thank the mayor. he's been a mayor for a very short time, but he has done some wonderful things. this, for us, in protocol and

the sister cities, tops the list. it really says that, you know, san francisco is a city of many, many nations. that is what makes us so great, and this brings people together. as you know, the sister cities are for exchanges and culture, business, art, science, it goes on and on. what it is really about is about friendship. and you think about all the things that are going on in the world today, and we need more friendship. these committees that work so hard, and they represent the constituency of their particular countries, in this city, and in exchange with the cities across the way, so many miles away. but these may be lots of miles, but really, our hearts, and our arms are very close to the cities that our sister cities. may friendship rained with all the other things that are going on. and san francisco is a city that

is a friendly city. we can do it better than anybody else. right, mayor? >> mayor farrell: yes. >> all right. [applause] anybody want to fight? [laughter] >> mayor farrell: one more round of applause for our chief of protocol. [applause] again, thank you everyone for being here. to our consular general for your service. on behalf of your countries in the city of san francisco, to all the volunteers. the sister city committee heads and all the volunteers behind its. so many department heads are here as well. and a city family. this is a monument for years to come. let us take with us today the idea, the mission, the spirits, and the city of san francisco. let us build bridges. let us not build walls. let us carry with us the values of san francisco. thank you everyone. [applause]

the june 20, 2018 meeting of the san francisco board of appeals. board president frank fung will be the presiding officer tonight. he's joined by commissioner ann lazarus, commissioner dale honda, and vice president swig will be absent tonight. brad russy will provide the board with any needed legal advice this evening. at the controls is the board's legal assistant, gary cantara. we will also not joined by representatives from -- be