i think i've grown in my entire adult life, so it's been eye opening and a wonderful learning >> good morning. my name is sophia, i am a founding chair of women's rights san francisco. [applause] this is the first time i am the emcee, and the first time i am at an inauguration. it is the best one.

it is my distinct honor to be the m.c. of the inauguration of san francisco's assessor recorder, carmen chu. loblaws. we have many distinguished guests in attendance today who had like to acknowledge. welcome to mayor london breed. [applause] former mayor, willie brown. [applause] >> mayor act no -- agno. [applause] >> mayor frank jordan. [applause] >> mayor jordan's wife, windy baskin jordan, and the wife of

the late mayor ed lee, and anita lee. [applause] >> the controller. [applause] >> on behalf of our u.s. senator , dianne feinstein, jim lazarus. [applause] on behalf of u.s. senator kamala harris, daniel chan. [applause] >> state assembly member david chiu. [applause] >> on behalf of state assembly member evan lowe, patrick aarons [applause]

>> san francisco board of supervisors peskin, tang, brown, he, mandelman, and walton. [applause] the treasurer. the city attorney, dennis herrera, district attorney georgia gas stone, and his wife -- george gus cohen -- george gascone, and his wife fabiola. the former assessor, mabel tang.

[applause] >> city college board members, rizzo, randolph, selby, and lee. [applause] >> bart board director, janice lee. [applause] >> honorable judges, tang and lee. [applause] >> former california state senator, art torres. [applause] former district supervisor, bevan duffy. [applause] >> as well as the many commissioners, department heads, and community leaders who have joined us this morning. [applause]

to begin this morning's ceremony i would like to introduce the lincoln high school jrotc drum corps. [applause] [♪]

[applause] [♪]

[♪] [♪] [applause]

[applause] >> how amazing was that? thank you all so much. we definitely did not need a wake-up call. that woke me up for sure. i did not have coffee this morning, i am awake now, we are good. thank you, carmen. i first connected with carmen when her team e-mailed to me prior to the first women's march

, with a simple ask of what can we do to help? the first thing i did before i replied was google, what is an assessor recorder? [laughter] >> i'm sorry, carmen. once i educated myself on the recorder's role, i connected with carmen. i never have really known any politicians before, and it was very refreshing meeting carmen. she was authentic from the beginning, very passionate, driven, and she had some of the best work ethic i've ever seen. we have a lot -- we have some similarities. we both grew up as daughters of immigrants, and we are most the -- both the first in our families to go to college.

she is truly about inclusion and intersection analogy. she supports and mentors women, especially women of color to be leaders. she is a mentor to me, and she mentored me today by making me face my fear of public speaking. thank you, carmen. as our city's assessor, carmen's work generates revenue that supports vital city services, and public education. during her time in office, she has let her department to excel beyond businesses usual. under her leadership, the office has vastly surpassed revenue expectations, bringing almost half a billion additional dollars into city budgets. this funding goes to support our city and facing some of our toughest challenges.

carmen is active in the community, host educational forums for san francisco families, seniors, and first-time homeowners to help them understand property taxes, and a state -- estate planning. at a time when we have so much divide, and we need people to become more civic lee engaged, as she started the w. challenge, a nonpartisan effort to encourage women to register to vote. i know her best as a supporting force for women's march san francisco from the beginning. she was a true embodiment of women empowerment, and what we need to see of all over. it is now my pleasure to introduce our state controller, betty he -- yee, a lifelong

california in the group in san francisco, she has over 35 years of experience in public service. specializing in state and local finance and tax policy. she was elected to this job in 2014 after two terms on the state board of equalization. she was reelected last november. she is the tenth woman to be elected to statewide office in california history. [applause] >> she will now share some remarks and lead us in our pledge of allegiance. [applause] >> good morning. i am really thrilled to be here, and i was just thinking as we are all gathered here to celebrate the accomplishments

and to support the continued work of our accessory -- accessory recorder, how i can actually speak about carmen as someone who knew her when. i first met her when she was a student at the golden public policy school. i was a member of the state board of equalization at the time, and was invited to guest lecture one of her classes. and as classes would go, there were lots of questions about what i did as a member of the board, lots of questions about politics, lots of questions about what some good career choices might be, and i remember carmen asking specifically about my own journey and giving her advice that whatever you do in public service, and particularly in serving in any kind of public sector role with any municipality, the state, federal government, get some finance and fiscal experience under your belt.

i never thought anything of that conversation after that. [laughter] >> and she actually did it. we meet so many young people who have aspirations to serve in public service, and so many young people are afraid of numbers. i actually find them fascinating , as carmen does, but she really has excelled in her discipline. and as someone who serves with the highest degree of excellence , but more importantly , the highest degree of integrity. i think we are all here because we are celebrating just what a stellar public servant we have in our accessory recorder here, but more importantly, her role in continuing to mentor others, and mentor others to come into this discipline because we know that something -- some of the more important decisions that we make as a matter of public policy, have to do with the allocation of resources, and how we maintain the integrity of our regular -- revenue systems. fast forward to now, being the

accessory recorder, i enjoyed a working relationship with carmen was still at the board of equalization to really partner with her on a number of initiatives, and to be able to say to her, we are a true partner is administering the property tax for the state of california. what a tremendous job she has done. i also have tapped into carmen's strengths. she has served on my committee on county tax collecting procedures, and nobody likes to talk about taxes. does anyone here like to talk about taxes? what would you like to do is make the experience of our systems more pleasant. more recently, and this year again, i will partner with carmen to make sure that those who are eligible to apply to the property tax postponement program so we know that those who are not able to fulfil their property tax obligations are not kicked out of their homes. that they can really look at how

to postpone that payment until -- at a later date, and stay within the comfort of their homes. thank you for being a great partner and a great public servants, but more importantly, being a great leader for the city and county of san francisco [applause] >> at this point, i would invite you to pleas stand and join me in the pledge of allegiance. >> i pledge of allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, with liberty and justice for all. thank you. >> thank you, controller he --.

yee. >> our next speaker is the first san franciscan and african-american mayor in the city's history. her priorities advantage as mayor include tackling the city 's homelessness crisis, adding new shelter beds citywide , expanding mental health and substance use programs, creating more housing for all san franciscans, and keeping the city's streets clean and safe. please join me in welcoming the 45th mayor of the city and county of san francisco, mayer london breed. [cheers and applause] >> thank you. it is really exciting to be here today, and it is truly an honor to serve and swear and a person

who i have a tremendous amount of respect and admiration for. when i first started on the board of supervisors, carmen chu was still on the board of supervisors, at i thought, oh, my goodness, i will get to work with her. especially because one of the reasons why i decided to run for the board of supervisors in the first place had everything to do with the budget and ensuring that we were allocating resources to the things that i especially cared about in our community, and as soon as i got on the board of supervisors, you are off to become the next assessor, because ed lee had appointed you to be the assessor recorder for the city and county of san francisco, and in some ways, i thought, that makes sense, carmen his incredible. she's good with numbers. she understands the budget to, she is fair, she is balanced, and she is also tough. this woman has done an incredible job with this office.

she is squeezing every dime out of every body so that we have sufficient resources to allocate this money for the purposes that we know are important to citizens in the city. so we owe carmen a debt of gratitude for her hard work, and especially for the windfall we all continue to hear about. the 400 and 15 million dollars. and carmen doesn't ask for much, she just wants to make sure she has sufficient staff to do her job, and she is also leading this office into the 21st century by making sure that a new system is developed that is going to not only make it easier to collect taxes, but more importantly, to make it easier for the public to have a better experience with the assessor recorder's office. i appreciate the fact that not

only is she doing an amazing job with this office, but she is making it more efficient, she is of course, trying to do it in a way that saves a lot more money, and also, i think what's important to note is as she works hard for our city to generate the much-needed revenues to address many of the priorities that i have as mayor, and the priorities that we all share, we should remember how hard this office works to do just that, and what an incredible leader, not just for the assessor recorder's office, before the city and county of san francisco, as was mentioned earlier, her work on the w. challenge to encourage more women to register to vote in san francisco, her work around mentoring young women on a regular basis, including supervisor katy tang who took her place on the board of supervisors and so many other

women, i want to thank carmen for always being there for people in the community throughout san francisco. when she is asked to participate in any effort to, whether it is the retirement board, and the work she is doing their, or just sitting on committee to address some of the challenges that we face, she always says yes, and rises to the occasion, and brings with her and incredible knowledge and understanding of the city, knowledge and understanding of what we need to do to address these challenges, and so it is truly an honor to be here today to swear in the assessor recorder for the city and county of san francisco, ladies and gentlemen, please welcome, carmen chu. [cheers and applause]

>> all right. okay. are we ready? let's go. please raise your right hand and state your name after me. >> by, carmen chu, do solemnly swear, that i will support and defend, the constitution of the united states, and the constitution of the state of california, against all enemies foreign and domestic, that i bear true faith and allegiance to the constitution of the united states, on the constitution of the state of california, that i take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation, or purpose of evasion, and that i will well and faithfully discharge the

duties upon which i am about to enter, and during such time as a hold the office of assessor recorder for the city and county of san francisco. >> congratulations. [cheers and applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, carmen chu, the assessor recorder of the city and county of san francisco. >> thank you. [applause] >> thank you so much for being here today. you know, i first started working for the city when i was 26 years old. the golden years. [laughter]

>> as my husband would say, it took the best years of my life. [laughter] >> it first came about because a good friend of mine told me about a job that they were looking to hire. i can still remember it. i don't know if you are here in the room, she gave me my first informational interview. i think she was at a bus stop waiting to go home. i still remember that. in my first official interview, i was hired despite having a big wad of blue gum in my mouth. thank you, ben rosenfield, i know is in the room who hired me , and overlooked that. if someone told me at that time that i would be a supervisor, or that i would be assessor, or i would ever have to run for office or speak in front of people like a crowd this large, i would say absolutely no way, and i think as my own family knows, i was actually quite a shy kid when i was growing up. but here we are today, as i a start my second term in office.

first of all, i know taxes and talking about taxes in the morning is a sure way to get you all to wake up, but try running for office while you are talking about taxes. it is even worse. it is true. but, you know, my husband says, what do i say this morning? and he says why don't you start off with a joke. people take me too seriously. it never works. i did ask a good friend about what i should do and he said, maybe you should say something like a plan. so when no good jokes arise, maybe a good plan -- upon is something that would be sufficient. i really did have to assess this past term and record our successes. but i do have to speak a little bit about the work of my office because i do want to take the opportunity in front of you to tell you how much i value, and

value the work of my office pick the men and women who work day in and day out to do all of the work that i think betty, and london spoke about, our mayor spoke about. they are the auditors, the appraisers, the analysts, the managers, the public service -- servants who work tirelessly every day. their work is unseen. you don't see them on the streets, but their work has an outside impact. it is outside in the resources that we have to help the people who are most in need. they are the people who brought in half a billion dollars over expectations in revenue. they are the people who grew san francisco's total property tax roll in two years in a fair way. not squeezing every dollar out. it is fair. who worked to drive the 415 million-dollar windfall that we are seeing. i say good luck to those on the second floor. with what you will do with that hot potato.

who are on track to eliminate a backlog that we hadn't closed in over 25 years, and who in the next few years, will completely overhaul an outdated property tax system and deliver a better service for san francisco. most times, we all stand here when we are elected and we tell you about how we will change things and what our vision is. and we do change things. we make our mark on our public city and our city. but i also want you to know today how much each and every one of you actually changes all of us. and public service, it is a people you meet, the experiences that you share, the struggle that you share with us, the people who challenge you, those who stick with you, who shape who you become, and there are many people in this room who have been with me from the very beginning. people in my old neighborhood, i still live there, but in the district that i represented who have come today, folks in the merchant corey doris, folks on the boys and girls club who make very little go very far.

people continue to fight for justice no matter where and when that happens to be upon us. there is a story present or variance that i admired day today, the league of women voters, the chinese chambers, my family association -- [speaking foreign language] -- and all of the family associations who are here. thank you so much for being here the bar association, i have to thank all of you for helping out with the family wealth forms we have put in helping a thousand people to get access to financial care. this is something that matters to people's day-to-day lives. the armenian national committee, all of the folks who have helped the united educators, the labourers, the firefighters, the folks who have helped to fight for fair taxes in the state with me. i thank you for all of your work , and making sure i remember why it is that we do our public service. thank you so much.

[applause] >> but you don't stay in public office for a decade now without also losing some very good friends, and today i really want to make sure i recognize some of the folks in the chinese community who we have lost. some titans in the community we have lost. it is a community that is incredibly important to san francisco and our history here, and also to me personally. ed lee, as you know, is someone i am certain, if you were with us today, he would definitely be here. you would definitely have a good joke to share, and have personal memories to also be able to relate to you. he was someone who never forgot his roots. someone who cared about making sure our public housing was fixed and we paid for affordable housing. someone who cared deeply in public education because he understood that at the end of the day, no matter where you are

, who you are, where you came from, education was the way up, a way out, and that is something that i always, always remember. i do miss him and i know many of us do. i want to thank anita for being here today. [applause] >> you know, there are other titans that we have lost also. controversial figure,, for someone who meant a lot to me as well, rose pack, dave, as you know, when he first was appointed to be supervisor, way back in the day when i had absolutely no idea what i was walking into, by then gavin newsom, no governor newsom, she was one of the first people who came out to support me without really knowing who i was, and she did that because she had the strong belief in the idea of representation, and the need to make sure that the people who represent us in government, the

people who work in government really should also not only look like us, but also have the same experiences and share those struggles that we have had, because that makes a difference in terms of what you see on the streets, she has left a hole in our city that has yet to be filled, and i miss her as well. i thanked rose for everything that she has done. [applause] >> that's why i think today when we think about san francisco and what this means, we have a lot of swearing ends in a lot of states swearing ends. just yesterday, we would have a number of people who will get sworn in today to take on the home and leave this great city. why san francisco is so important, and more important than ever is because we still lead with our values, and with our hearts. because as sons and daughters of immigrants, we know what our immigrant community means to our city, to our nation, and we

reject all of the things that would try to vilify, and divide us. because when we hear those kinds of comments, it only makes us work harder, and makes us work longer and stronger. to say that is not a country that we came and that we are part of. we are a country of inclusion that understands that our diversity is what makes a strong i diversity is what makes our country unique. and because san francisco still represents that, with all of the beautiful people that i see here today, and the leadership that is here today, i have a lot of hope and optimism of what we will see in the next few years. [applause] so i am going to close because there is refreshments, and you have been standing around for a while back but i do have to thank a few people who are in the room, and bear with me. it will go pretty quickly. to my family back who is here, i

love you all, my own parents couldn't make it today, unfortunately, this is my adopted family. the family i married into, and they make being part of the family so easy, in fact,, we go on vacation every christmas in one big band. a 15 person van, to las vegas. [laughter] oh, yeah. grandma, grandpa, young people, we are all in it together. if they weren't so wonderful, it would not be possible. so i want to say thank you for loving me, and for accepting me into the family, and of course, for my husband, scott, who i forgot to mention in my first swearing in. [laughter] >> he is really amazing. [laughter] yes, yes. [applause]

of course, to all of our mayors, elected officials are here today , i want to thank you for coming here and honouring me with your presence. i know your time is precious. to my own office staff, i want to thank you. my deputies. to my front office team, i couldn't ask for a better front office team. they are an amazing group of young women and men in the past. nicole, vivian, michelle, isabella, eddie, i want to say thank you. thank you to make campaign team. and of course, my last shout out has to be one of my favorite supervisors. katy tang.

[applause] >> today is her first day of freedom. but i would just want to say, it has been an amazing journey to see someone grow, and i just hope that all of us in our own capacity can do the same for other people. when you see talent and you see such wonderful potential and great people, let's help them be successful. let's help them to lead san francisco. because we need more people like her to help the city. thank you very much for coming, and i am ready to get back to work. [applause] [♪]

>> the goal is simple. it's to raise women's voices. >> learn a little bit about what you should be thinking about in the future. >> we had own over 300 -- over 300 people who signed up for the one-on-one counseling today. >> i think in the world of leading, people sometimes discount the ability to lead quietly and effectively. the assessor's office is a big one. there are 58 counties in the state of california and every

single county has one elected assessor in the county. our job is to look at property taxes and make sure that we are fairly taxing every single property in san francisco. one of the big things that we do is as a result of our work, we bring in a lot of revenue, about 2.6 billion worth of revenue to the city. often, people will say, what do you do with that money, and i like to share what we do with property taxes. for every dollar we collect in property taxes, about 68 cents of it goes to support public sstss, our police officers, our fire departments, our streets, our cleaning that happens in the city. but i think what most people don't know is 34 cents of the dollar goes to public education. so it goes to the state of california and in turn gets allocated back to our local school districts. so this is an incredibly important part of what we do in

this office. it's an interesting place to be, i have to say. my colleagues across the state have been wonderful and have been very welcoming and share their knowledge with me. in my day-to-day life, i don't think about that role, being the only asian american assessor in the state, i just focus on being the best i can be, representing my city very well, representing the county of san francisco well. by being the only asian american assessor, i think you have a job to try to lift up and bring as many people on board, as well. i hope by doing the best that you can as an individual, people will start to see that your assessor is your elected leaders, the people that are making important decisions can look like you, can be like you, can be from your background. i grew up with a family where most of my relatives, my

aunties, my uncles, my parents, were immigrants to the united states. when my parents first came here, they came without any relatives or friends in the united states. they had very little money, and they didn't know how to speak english very well. they came to a place that was completely foreign, a place where they had absolutely nobody here to help them, and i can't imagine what that must have been like, how brave it was for them to take that step because they were doing this in order to create an opportunity for their family. so my parents had odd jobs, my dad worked in the kitchens, my mom worked as a seamstress sewing. as we grew up, we eventually had a small business. i very much grew up in a family of immigrants, where we helped to translate. we went to the restaurant every weekend helping out, rolling egg rolls, eating egg rolls, and doing whatever we need to do to help the family out. it really was an experience growing up that helped me be

the person that i am and viewing public service the way that i do. one of the events that really stuck with me when i was growing up was actually the rodney king riots. we lived in southern california at the time, and my parents had a restaurant in inglewood, california. i can remember smelling smoke, seeing ashes where we lived. it was incredibly scary because we didn't know if we were going to lose that restaurant, if it was going to be burned down, if it was going to be damaged, and it was our entire livelihood. and i remember there were a lot of conversations at that time around what it was that government to do to create more opportunities or help people be more successful, and that stuck with me. it stuck with me because i remain believe government has a role, government has a responsibility to change the outcomes for communities, to create opportunities, to help people go to school, to help people open businesses and be

successful. >> make sure to be safe, and of course to have fun. >> and then, i think as you continue to serve in government, you realize that those convictions and the persons that you are really help to inform you, and so long as you go back to your core, and you remember why you're doing what you're doing, you know, i think you can't go wrong. it's funny, because, you know, i never had thought i would do this. i became a supervisor first for the city under very unusual circumstances, and i can remember one day, i'm shopping with friends and really not having a care in the world about politics or running for office or being in a public position, and the next day, i'm sworn in and serving on the board of supervisors. for many of us who are going through our public service, it's very interesting, i think, what people view as a leader. sometimes people say, well, maybe the person who is most outspoken, the person who yells the loudest or who speaks the loudest is going to be the best

leader. and i think how i was raised, i like to listen first, and i like to try to figure outweighs to work with -- out ways to work with people to get things done. i hope that time goes on, you can see that you can have all sorts of different leaders whether at the top of city government or leading organizations or leading teams, that there are really different kinds of leadership styles that we should really foster because it makes us stronger as organizations. >> take advantage of all the wonderful information that you have here, at the vendor booth, at our seminars and also the one-on-one counseling. >> i wouldn't be where i was if i didn't have very strong people who believed in me. and even at times when i didn't believe in my own abilities or my own skills, i had a lot of people who trusted and believed i either had the passion or skills to accomplish and do what i did. if there was one thing that i can tell young women, girls, who are thinking about and dreaming about the things they

want to be, whether it's being a doctor or being in politics, running an organization, being in business, whatever it is, i think it's really to just trust yourself and believe that who you are is enough, that you are enough to make it work and to make things successful. >> my s.f. dove -- government t.v. moment was when i received a commendation award from supervisor chris daly. then we sang a duet in the board chamber. [singing] >> happy anniversary san francisco government t.v. happy anniversary to you.

happy anniversary san francisco government t.v. anniversary, anniversary, happy 25th anniversary to you. [♪]

>> we will begin a musical performance. we will let you start us off. [♪] [singing]

[singing] [singing]

[singing] [singing] [applause]

>> i want to welcome everyone to the swearing in ceremony for jeff adachi to a fifth term here congratulations. it is quite a accomplishment. [applause] >> we are honored to have maryland and breed in attendance pack and she will be making some remarks and swearing jeff in shortly. i also want to recognize in attendance, the former elected public defender who is here. [applause] jeff served in that capacity for 22 years, and also the longest

serving chief attorney in office 's history. [applause] >> perhaps our most important, i guess we could say criminal justice partner is in attendance district attorney george gus kony is here. [applause] >> thank you for always taking our phone calls. [laughter] >> let's see, we have our judicial officer, judge roger chan here. [applause] , and i know shamann walton is here who will be sworn in for district ten supervisor. it is an honor to have you here. [♪] >> i'm looking around to see if i'm missing any of the government officials.

if i have missed anyone, i'm sure mayor breed, or jeff will introduce them. let me just say, for those who don't know, the public defender was founded in 1921. it is unique in california and that it is an elected position. the public defender is. most counties elected district attorney but the public defender his district osha's attempt is appointed. we have found in san francisco that this independence is critical to allowing us to vigourously represent our clients without any kind of interference. each year, our office represents 20,000 next-door individuals who cannot otherwise hire their own attorneys. we do this work now with just over 100 attorneys, and over 80 support staff. mayor breed is a longtime ally of our office.

she is a native of san francisco , and grew up in plaza east in the western edition. she understands the important role that the public defender plays, and offering a much-needed balance to our criminal justice system. as mayor, she has embarked upon, i think it could be called a very ambitious program to try and get city services and departments to address some of the most intractable problems in some of our more neglected communities. and the public defender is in attendance. they know these issues pick these issues like homelessness, mental health, substance abuse. and of course, we wish her success in addressing these issues with compassion. mayor breed and jeff have known one another for a long time. for those of you who were at the swearing in four years ago, you know that the then supervisor came to swear jeff and, or to

speak at that swearing in. she was in a contest at the time , angling to be the board president, and she was able to do that successfully later that day. shamann walton -- [laughter] we have a good track record now if you can come through. we are very grateful for the support that she has given your office, and please welcome her as well. [applause] >> thank you. i'm really excited to be here today because i have known jeff for a really long time. i was just a kid and he was already an adult. [laughter] >> but as matt said, i used to live in plaza east public housing, also known as a

projects, out -- also known as out-of-control projects. some of you remember peter and jeff and they remember back in the day some of the clients that you all represented which included many of my friends and family numbers. plaza east was out of place you would not walk through, especially someone who is not african-american. the thing is, he spent a lot of time there, because many of his clients were there. he was always allowed and he was always allowed -- some of you remember the tunnel. they say oh, yeah, who are you looking for quiet do you remember those conversations, and he wasn't afraid to come into the community, work with the community, and figure out ways not only to represent his clients, but come up with creative solutions to prevent them from even interacting with the criminal justice system in the first place. when i was serving as executive director of the african-american

art and culture complex, jeff, along with a few others came up with this amazing idea of magic. the magic program. and mobilizing adolescents, youth and our community. we created more magic in the fillmore and the be magic for bayview magic. a program that helps to work with young people at an early age, to open the doors to opportunity and make sure that they never, never engage with the criminal justice system in the first place. it has changed so many lives. the program that he has helped to implement, the program that we help to fight for when there were threats to cut funding, and didn't understand why the public defender's office was hosting a social service program. and they had a vision. they had a vision to change lives. he had a vision to really push forward and reform our criminal

justice system. it was definitely an honor. when i became a member of the board of supervisors, to work with him on so many reforms, but especially our most recent -- recent initiative between the legislation that he helped us spearhead, and we got it through the board of supervisors, and now it is a national model that people are looking at all over the country, and the way that we address what we know is a clear inequity in our criminal justice system, which crippled so many people who have served their debt to society, and deserve a second chance, and then they get out only to find out out that all of a sudden, they have to pay these ridiculous fees and fines that they had no idea existed. this is an injustice that jeff has worked his entire life to try and protect. he has done so many incredible things. including hiring some of the best attorneys anywhere. sorry, george, with his attorneys are kicking but