>> voice of translator: it benefited the low income family and the children had a good head start for their schooling. [speaking foreign language] >> voice of translator: lots of people benefit with these legislations, and we are surgeon that president norman yee will do a good job. thank you. [speaking foreign language] >> voice of translator: the train travels fast depending the energy and dedication of the train's head. >> thank you for your comments. thank you.

[laughter] >> i am a deputy public defender and native san franciscan. ms. miss ronen possesses personal traits that we have seen in great leaders. above and beyond basic qualifications for the job, she has consistently advocated for righteous civil rights, causes such as women's rates medical care, criminal justice reform and education. these are things that advance all of humanity forward to, all of us, all san franciscans, for all of the supervisors in all of the districts. she has integrity that she habitually demonstrates when she does good, when nobody is looking. not because she's going to get some benefit or political favor, or personal gain. she does it because it is the right thing. is the human thing.

regardless of how inconvenient it may need to her. -- it maybe to her. she has consistently been courageous, which inspires us motivates us makes us wonder why when she has health care, she has education, and she has had women's rates. -- women's rights. she has not had to abandon her political point of view because she is so courageous when exercising her diplomacy. she has never had to give one up for the other. let me say that politics is not about being like-minded, it is actually quite the contrary. it is about finding the complementary interfaces among our differences and how exciting with the thought to be. let's think for a second the thought of mayor breed and miss ronen working together to bring the two halves together to make

san francisco whole. see how she has opened up the doors to city hall to all san franciscans. >> thank you for your comments. [applause] >> next speaker, please. >> good afternoon. my name is rosario. i am with district 11. i'm here to congratulate the newly appointed supervisors, matt haney, rafael mandelman, shamann walton, and gordon mark, but i'm also here to support hillary ronen. i totally believe in her. she is 100% for the city of san francisco. she fights for affordable housing, she works with homelessness, she also is not afraid to clean up a station. she has so much integrity, she is a negotiator, she will work across the board, she worked with our city and she is really deeply committed. this testimony of all these

people that have come out to speak on her behalf shows how much san francisco sees her power and her fierceness, and i know she will get the work done because she already has. she worked for a supervisor for six years and then she did her years as a supervisor and a totally support her. i hope all the board of supervisors will give her your vote too. thank you. >> thank you for your comments. next speaker, please. >> good afternoon, supervisors. i i'm with that latino cultural districts. congratulations to all the new supervisors. it will be an exciting 2019. i wanted to do what everyone has been saying about hillary ronen pick one thing that stands out for us in the mission district, we are a community and crisis, we are a neighborhood that has been experiencing a lot of displacement and gentrification. hillary has been able to help negotiate during these tough times, especially with developers bringing a lot of differences to the table finding a median that everyone can agree

on. that really stands out for me for hillary. the other piece, the culture district legislation that was written by hillary has benefited all neighborhoods in san francisco and at this point, we are getting calls from texas, chicago, san diego, looking at the model here. this is someone we can look up to. someone who will take what is happening in san francisco, and it will grow nationally. i think we need to support our supervisor, hillary ronen. thank you. >> thank you for your comments. next speaker, please. >> hello. my name is bob. supervisor ronen, this is pretty cool, all this praise and always kudos, and you are not even dead [laughter] >> i thank you all should vote for her because she is the best. >> thank you. [laughter] [applause] >> next speaker, please.

>> good afternoon. i want to strongly voice my support for supervisor hillary ronen. i'm not going to repeat why, that has already been said, but there's something very disturbing, and actually downright shameful going on. trying to pin a woman because she is or was -- outspoken, because she fights for the rights of others, i wonder if that would be happening if it was a man behaving that way. it wouldn't. there is a lot of sexism going on here come on, you are supposed to be better than that, okay? supervisor ronen will work with the mayor, but i don't want to just someone who can work with the mayor. i want someone who has the courage to stand up to the mayor when necessary on behalf of all of san franciscans.

go, hillary ronen. [cheers and applause] >> thank you for your comments. next speaker, please. >> good afternoon. congratulations to the new supervisors. i'm from district six. my name is deborah. i am going to -- fortunately or unfortunately, echoed the sentiments of all the people that came before me, and urge the supervisors to vote for hillary, because i genuinely believe that she is the best person to sit in this seat. that seat has power, and that seat has importance, and that seat is a valuable seat that we need a woman sitting in. we need a woman butting heads with another woman. i think that it's incumbent upon the city to recognize that norman he is a great person, and he brings a lot of sterling qualities, but at this moment in time, and in history, i believe that hillary is a person to be

sitting in that seat. thank you so much the neck thank you for your comments. next speaker, please. >> him from district five. i urge you to vote for hillary ronen for president of the board we have a progressive majority on the board of supervisors. congratulations. now please stop the inviting. this division does not bode well for the progressive community who finally achieved a victory full of possibilities. please don't squander this moment. hillary ronen should be the next president of the board of supervisors. she is experienced, a tough negotiator, she is fearless and tireless. she is an unabashed and and confused aggressive. of those are the characteristics needed for board president. it is a leadership role, a big picture role, in negotiator role she has been effective in bringing people together in her district, in epicenter of conflict, where she has faced deeply opposing interests. surely she can be effective in dealing with disparate interests

among the supervisors. i am deeply appreciative of normandy. he is an honorable, compassionate, effective resident representative. but we need a strong, dynamic leader. there are powerful forces that have, and will continue to undermine progressive san francisco values, particularly economic justice. we need a leader who will strongly resist those forces. that is what the people of san francisco voted for in november. these come together, support hillary ronen for board president his. thank you. >> thank you for your comments. next speaker, please. >> supervisors, congratulations to all the candidates who have won. my name is dennis, and i am a native san franciscan. i have supported almost all of the supervisors that are here over the years, and they stand in support of hillary ronen for president of the board board his the reason is simple.

you look at a vote of two people i know them both, i really like norman he -- norman yee. i'm also a district five representative. i have also supported sandra lee fewer in district one because i think she is fabulous. and i have supported a number of others if you, including matt haney, and mandelman, and so on, but i think what we need now is exactly what laurie just described. we need leadership at a time when we need to move forward on a progressive agenda that has been so undermined by the likes of ron conway and willie brown, and others in this city. money and tech have done that, and the leadership in this city has been all too often compliance, or not resistant enough. i think it is pretty clear that hillary is willing to be that kind of leader, and it is a leadership role.

as somebody who is a labor negotiator for 17 years, and i did to do a lot of hard bargaining, is always a question of not compromising the values and the important things that were required from members of the workforce is, and i think that she would also not compromise those, and would work with all of you in order to achieve the best possible results, we need to push back, and you need a leader who can push back, and i really like norman yee, but that is not who i think he is at this point. and i think this is where hillary is at this point in her spirit thank you. >> thank you for your comments. before the next speaker speaks, 15 members of the public are standing in line comprise the remainder of the public comment, but i will say, if there are individuals from route -- room 263 who want to come up and speak, now is your opportunity to get in line. next speaker, please.

>> good afternoon. my name is felicia. i'm a tenant organizer for central city s.r.o. collaborative. i am here in support of hillary because we all know that if matt was up for president today, i would vote yes for matt, but we all know he will be extremely busy fixing the problems in the tenderloin, south of market area , so he will be too busy. hillary, you got it. >> thank you for your comments. next speaker, please. >> hello. congratulations to everyone. >> can use the microphone a little closer. thank you. >> there you are, okay. i'm up here today to support hillary ronen. when i moved here, i worked on the mark leno campaign, and got to know hillary really well, and i think that she is somebody who , lest we forget, has stood up and advocated for a lot of people sitting in the seats, i

think it is time you return the favor. she is the person for the job. thank you. >> thank you for your comments. next speaker, please. >> high, good afternoon. my name is magic, and i have been an activist focused on issues and not on people, so i am supporting hillary because of something she said to me a while ago. and what my deepest concern is, is about the children who are being separated from their families, and i will not stop until san francisco gets i.c.e. out of this city. sandra fewer gave her worried that she would present a resolution to abolish i.c.e., and hillary, when i asked if she would support such a resolution. this is my deepest concern. when i first spoke to the woman, there were no children that had died. two children have died now. two children have died in america. the problem is not people

crossing the borders, it is corporations that freely go to any country, exploits their population and their labor, cap next rates of poverty that these people are driven to come here to be helped. since we cause these problems, we need to help them. in our own mission district, the owner of a story of a story has been investigated. he is a citizen. because he is it from africa still shift -- it was not created for that. we need to get i.c.e. out of this city, and stop them from harassing our people. on that because i. support hillary ronen. thank you. >> thank you for your comments. next speaker, please. >> good afternoon. congratulations to all the people who have worked so hard to get here.

my name is, i am just here is a citizen of san francisco. i have great admiration and respect for norman yee, but i am here in support of hillary ronen character because moderate and conservative powers have certainly shown that they are really passionate about forcing their agenda on our safety, with millions of dollars being poured into our district elections to try and buy our supervisors' seats, and they have been defeated time after time because of the passion of working san franciscans to reclaim our city, investing a lot of time and energy since we don't have money to elect a progressive board like the one we have here now. it would take passion, as well as intelligence and experience to move this city in a more compassionate direction, for all of the children, and homeless, and working poor. i believe we need a strong woman 's voice and the president 's physician, especially with the majority of men on the board now. we all would benefit from

hillary ronen's leadership on the board of supervisors. thank you. >> thank you for your comments. next speaker, please. >> hello. happy new year everybody, and many congratulations to the new supervisors. i am, lipscomb -- we wrote a brief letter on thursday evening to the board about this procedure today. it is signed by betty traynor, was a president of the board, and jessica lehman, who is the executive director. dear supervisors, senior and disability action works closely with the board of supervisors on policy issues and city budget decisions. we have a stake in the election of the next board president. we hope you will take a moment to consider our concerns. based on our experience of the past 20 plus years, we believe it is important that the president be someone with experience on the board, someone who has a clear track record,

the president should be someone who focuses on the needs of marginalized communities, far more than the needs of corporations, far more than the needs of corporations and developers. and someone with demonstrated commitment and ability to put together complex programs for public benefit. while honoring the different branches of the government, the president must, of course, work with the mayor, in at the same time, maintain political independence, and at the same time, maintain political independence. thank you very much. >> thank you for your comments. next speaker, please. >> good afternoon, supervisors. kelly hill, and i am in support of hillary ronen for board president. bold ideas, strength, and resolve in the difficult policy debates are the leadership qualities that are going to move this city forward to. in the years since taking office , she has taken the baton like an olympic runner, and sprinted out was speedy,

strength and purpose. she has accomplishments in leadership and they have been bright moments and beacons of hope in the district, and easily visible for the greater good of the city. district nine is an amazing cross-section of the amazing cultures and people from all walks of life that make this city so great. to know work on legal rights, and repent -- represent this community for many years qualifies want to be a leader on this high level for all of san francisco. no other district has hosted three navigation centers. affordable housing is the most important debate. she understands the issues of gentrification, as well as cultural place keeping in the mission and throughout the city. those of us in the district have been inspired as new stories come up with bold ideas, problems solved, and legislation enacted by supervisor ronen. those who of us have volunteered

for our community have an amazing ally in the supervisor. she and her staff have been accessible, incredibly responsive, and have been ready, willing and able to bat for us in our community and our city. i urge you to elect supervisor ronen for board president. thank you. >> thank you for your comments. next speaker, please. >> congratulations for all the new supervisors and happy new year to all the supervisors. my name is and. i am a citizen in san francisco for over 40 years. supervisor norman yee, he has worked on behalf of san francisco for the past 35 years. i respect his work. he also worked for an organization and worked in san

francisco. norman yee really cares about traffic safety character he supports zero traffic. he cares about our senior citizens, public health, and public housing. norman created a better life for family and our children. he has been successful to provide school education for all children in san francisco. i myself, and many of my friends really supports supervisor norman yee to be the person on the board of supervisors. thank you. >> thank you for your comments. next speaker.

>> good afternoon. my name is sherman sharman, i have lived in district for and i am here in support of norman yee as the chair. norman had been born in san francisco, living here for all his life, he knows about the city, he understands the city's problem, and he is always for young children. spearheading childcare, and also senior centers establishments. i believe he is a fair and outstanding leader in our community and in san francisco. i am in support of him. thank you. >> thank you for your comments. next speaker. >> i live in district three, i work with the homeless. i have spoken here before on many issues. i'm here to support hillary ronen. i'm not against anybody, but because hillary has exhibited

courage, courage that is rarely exhibited in politics ever. when she spoke so eloquently about the insidious effect of money, not only in san francisco , but in all progressive politics, it was not just we are progressive city, and like all cities, we have people here who want to exploit us in a good way. you want to build streets, they want to build buildings, the unions want to have jobs, these are all good things, but when it affects us profoundly at the government, at city hall so common people like me and all of us here who are activists in the neighborhood can no longer participate in an honest and transparent process, we need is someone like hillary, not only to speak eloquently to all of us as citizens, spread to all of you as fellow politicians, as fellow supervisors. i believe the moment that she spoke about ron count -- conway and other people who have such a profound influence in the santee in the city, is a moment i hope none of us will ever forget. it was an emotional moment. and for those of us were activists in the neighborhoods, we were reminded why so often we

are disenfranchised, not permitted to prove dissipate and everything that is happening at city hall. i have been told by supervisors, friends of mine, that what matters in politics is money, and i'm naïve to think that anything else will ever matter. that is a sad comment on who we are as progressives, because i know money matters. we all have to pay our bills, eat, find a place to rent, to the point is, as progressives, we have to go around that insidious effect of money and politics, and only one person, i believe, is willing and able to do that, and that is hillary ronen. i thank you all for being our supervisors and caring enough about the city to take your time and energy, and take risks for all of us, and please vote for hillary today for board president. thank you. >> thank you for your comments. next speaker, please. >> if we go the way of hillary, kelly put this up, i would like to read a portion that would be appropriate. >> san francisco government t.v.

, please. >> norman is the lesser of the two evils. if we go the way of hillary, it will be the way of the nazis, to tell you the truth. i will read a portion here on page 77. calm down, now. let's have some respect. the isis is trying to protect us that is what they're trying to do. -- the i.c.e. is trying to protect us. that is what they're trying to do. another thing is, come on. god made us male and female. we all know that. some mail -- members of the public can't allow him to be met most of us are not homosexuals but some made us homosexuals. some females are lesbians and some are not. even in san francisco, most females are not lesbians, but they are females. we know it constitute -- what constitutes a female, and we know what constitutes a male, and this is why jesus said, in

the beginning, god made them male and female, and what god has joined together, not man can separate hillary ronen called somebody a man but kept calling them a he or she and gave them accolades for wearing a dress and high heels. there is no such thing as -- >> members of the public. >> let me finish. the powers and the word of god. you can't run from god. he is here. he is everywhere. he is invisible, but he wrote the word of god. but the train, i don't have much time. the train is one of world war ii 's most bizarre happenings. the 35 cattle cars loaded with more than 1,000 of budapest's wealthiest jews -- >> next speaker his pleas. to the members of the public, we

may not like what everybody says , where they have a right to share their thoughts. >> i'm glad i work with teenagers that are willing to fight racism, sexism and homophobia like that in san francisco. [cheers and applause] >> hello, supervisors and esteemed clerk of the borrower group name is kylie and i am a director the san francisco youth commission. the commission is a chartered city commission were 17 youth between the ages of 12 and 23 are appointed to advise you as supervisors, and the mayor as the unmet needs of people in san francisco. to the newly elected supervisors , congratulations back in seconds, your district youth commissioners are fulfilling their policy and budget work this term, and we look forward to working alongside you for the rest of the year. new commissioners and youth commission staff will be following up with your offices to connect with you and your aids. we are located on the third floor of city hall in room 345, and hope to see a lot of you there thank you to the rest of the board, and the legislative aides for your support of the

youth commission, as well as for our youth in san francisco. thank you. >> thank you for your comments. next speaker, please. >> good afternoon everyone. my name is chris. first of all, congratulations class 2019, really happy you are all there, i am actually speaking -- when i would like to speak to my support for hillary, i have worked with her for years now, before when she was in the labor program, and after that when she was at david compost's office, and especially now when she has been such a strong support around issues of tenant protections and criminal rights -- community rights. [laughter] >> i do think that this is a time where this past year we were under attack on so many fronts, and i want to speak to that, actually, which is who will be able to be able to bring these issues to a forefront, who

will be able to push back on the federal level, when these cuts are happening, or the shutdowns, on these cuts are happening, both in public housing, also in terms of the i.c.e. attacks, in terms of the general homophobia that has taken over the whole nation, who will be able to do that, i really strongly support hillary in that way. i would like to say that i have been around for a while, and more importantly than this vote, it is the unity we need to have going forward. if anything, the speaker before, the wonderful thing was his he brought us all together in unity that feeling you had about what he was saying, is what you need to carry forward to moving forward. it does not matter who is voted, honestly, it means you need to figure out how to work better together, and we need to support you in doing that. i hope that moving forward with all the divisions, we will lead you to what has brought you to this office but to work with us

in the community, and change the world to what we want to see. >> thank you for your comments. [applause] >> i am the mother who was murdered and happened in hayes valley was simply just trying to cash his check. i just want to congratulate mr shamann walton for winning the supervisor his each. i truly care about the community the reason that san francisco as a whole, the reason i want to speak about is when jeff adachi -- they gave him a fundraiser,

and i went to attend, and i looked up, and hillary had her son there, i think he is about five or six, something like that , and usually when we are here on this battlefield, it is always a negative opponent, even though we had issues, i had never seen her. and when i saw her, i gave her a hug, and i was like, why am i giving her a hug? but i felt something very beautiful about her. i felt she was a mother, i am a mother, and i felt your love, and i love coming towards you. i knew that was for a reason. i choose hillary. thank you very kindly. >> thank you for your comments. next speaker, please. >> let me see here. how should i start. welcome to city hall, all unit characters. my name is ace, and i've been on this case.

these people out there didn't want me on in this place, that it is no mystery, just check black history. i've been working on some cases with a lot of conspiracy, some people don't like me, but i'm here, i'm patriotic. welcome to city hall y'all. [laughter] my name is ace, and i am on the case. first of all, hillary, i'm supporting you girl, you have done a wonderful job. you have no working real close with peskin, he is one of the master -- master legislators, so i know you will be guided right, and i'll be watching you too, all right while welcome walton, welcome to city hall. you know what we will do about these walls, right while and all the rest of you here, i am from district five. i just want to say one thing. when you take a leadership role, this is supposed to be a

liberals city, but it is just split up just like congress. you have progressives, you have moderates, but my message to you all today, the progressives and moderates, you have to get together and solve it. what is that while the black population is going down. i am fearful that my generation that's under me, we will be nowhere around here we have gavin, we have london, we have what's his name, paul black -- thought -- blackwell, and we have a supervisor, we need to get together and solve the problem. my name is ace, i'm on the case, welcome to city hall y'all, i call this silly hall. i will have a new t.v. show this week in city hall. see later. >> thank you for your comments. next speaker, please. >> congratulations to all the newly elected board of

supervisor supervisors. my name is larry yee and i am asking for your support for norman yee. i have known him for about 40 years, and i have known pretty much most of the board of supervisors here. i'm asking you guys to support him, he has been an advocate for children's services. as you have heard earlier, i.c.e. is taking in immigrant children. it is a very sad thing. it hurts me in my heart. as you know, norman has advocated for children's services when it came about in the tenderloin. he stepped up to the plate. not only that, he went to the school board. eight years he sacrificed his time making this a better place for us in the city. following that, he went up to the board of supervisors here. as a senior supervisor here in the labor, i'm a retired labor

for 40 years. i think seniority counts. please consider your votes and congratulations to you all. >> thank you for your comments. next speaker, please. >> i'm glad i did not have to follow ace immediately. i think what matters to a lot of us is how you go about choosing the leader among you. several of you have dedicated your lives to public service, and we are indebted for that. i think it matters less to the individual that you choose then how you go about it. this is an opportunity for you to show all of us what progressive leadership looks like, and how uplifting and transformative the process can be. i urge you not to say things

publicly that you can't take back later. we have to work together tomorrow. we have to get work done tomorrow. so think carefully about that today. you are showing us by your words and your actions what public service can and cannot be. i urge you to think carefully about that. we need you to lead us in being better. that is the time for heroes and heroines. it is now and we knew -- we need all of you to uplift us in this moment we have be better for each other, and to be better for our city. please, i urge you to do that for all of us. thank you. >> thank you. next speaker, please. >> an afternoon. my name is brooke all over here i am an attorney and activist.

i was general counsel of san francisco pride for 15 years. i am council for the united farm workers union. i'm not speaking on behalf of any. i'm here speaking on behalf of hillary ronen congratulations to all of you. i work very closely with hillary on the formation of the latino cultural district, and in formulating cultural district legislation that has been around the city. that has made a tremendous difference for all of the multicultural citizens. hillary worked on that very effectively with a bought -- broad spectrum of the population bringing people together and bringing the legislation forward she is an effective legislator. she has an effective administrator. she has put together an outstanding staff, and she's been able to bring together a broad coalition. she has been aggressive and fitting her desire to be board

president. she has received criticism for that, and i think all of you have criticized her for that. is much as i wanted to congratulate you for public service, you should be ashamed, because it is absolutely fine, well, and good for people that want to take on more responsibility, more authority, to tell others that they are standing up, and will do that, and are willing to take that position. that is a good thing. if you have any concerns whatsoever about hillary's ability to work with a large number of people, i thank you can set this aside, because the proof is in the pudding, at each -- i ask each and every one of you, if you're considering not voting for her, to change your vote. change your votes now. change your vote for the rest of the afternoon, and please elect hillary ronen as the board of supervisors president. thank you very much. >> thank you for your comments. next speaker, please.

>> board of supervisors, thank you and thank you to everyone within the gallery, thank you for the opportunity for me to speak. i am with the chinese-american democratic club and i am here to speak on behalf of norman yee as a candidate for the board of supervisors, the presidency of the board of supervisors. we have known norman for a very long time. ever since he was at the school board, he has always had an open door, listening to the concerns of my organization, and as well as parents. and while on the board of supervisors, he has always had an open door in bringing people together to be able to create solutions for the city. we think that he has both the experience and the ability to bring people together in order to have a successful board within san francisco. that we hope that you will also support norman and his candace

it -- candidacy for the president of the board of supervisors. >> i will make the last call to public comment. if there any other speakers, usher them into the room. otherwise, we are at last call. >> thank you. [speaking foreign language]

>> true law is of universal application. it is summoned to duty by commands and reverts from

wrongdoing by prohibition. it does not lay its commands on good men, but will not have any effect upon the wicked. it is a sin to alter this law to repeal any part of it. it is impossible to abolish it entirely. we cannot be freed of his obligation by senate or people, and we may not look outside ourselves for an expounder or interpreter of it. there will not be different laws now and in the future but one law should be valid for all nations and at all times. there will be one master ruler over us all, that is god for the author of this law and his everlasting judge. whoever is disobedient is fleeing from themselves, and by reason of this very fact, they will suffer the worst penalties, even if he escapes, which is considered punishment. back to you, madam clerk. >> thank you for your comments. president? >> thank you. thank you. it is wonderful to be here, and i always said that being a member of the board of supervisors was the job of a lifetime. i am a little jealous because

aaron peskin has had to two lifetimes. [laughter] >> earlier, one of the public speakers who is a colleague of mine in the city government looked out at this group, and she said i don't know many of you, and at this stage in my life, i want to say i feel very blessed that i know everyone in the horseshoe, and i have enormous respect for you, and i know that the class of 2019 is going to bring experience from the school board and the community college board of trustees, an important labor and social movement for someone who had a job like i had as a legislative aide at the board of supervisors and county clerk. as a testament, can i think the family and loved ones that are here today? i think this is in some ways, an example of how difficult it is to be members of the board and the sacrifices of family members

and loved ones have to make. i want to thank you for being here, and those were not ready to stoke able to stay. i'm here to give testament for my colleague at the city, hillary ronen. and i got elected, i inherited many difficult problems, and i went to sleep for 12 weeks, at i reached out for hillary and she came and we swept -- swept together for four months. as you can imagine, 16 and myths -- 16th and mission is a very divisive area. there is much anger about it, polarity, frustration and a belief we couldn't do things. just picking up a broom over the course of those four months changed us in the city to step up and do the things that needed to be done. there was a woman that lived on a small corner of pavement in front of the burger king for over three years. i felt that as a woman, hillary would make a better connection, and she did. she persevered week after week until this woman was moved into housing. people have talked about her support for navigation centers.

beyond that, she went to san francisco to get state money, which is hard to come by to support homeless services. >> thank you. thank you for your collegiality, and i want to wish all of you the best and know we will move forward strongly with a great board of supervisors. thank you. >> thank you for your comments. [applause] >> are there any other members of the public would like to provide general public comment? seeing none, public comment is closed. all rights. back where we left off. we will not proceed to the discussion on the nominations, and then to the election. before we get to the election, i will provide the principles for the actual vote, and so we have two names denomination. we have supervisor yee and supervisor ronen. before we proceed to, i would like the nominees to, on the

record, indicate whether they accept the nomination, starting with supervisor yee. do you accept the nomination? >> yes. >> thank you. supervisor ronen? >> i do. >> both names are on the floor. i will begin with supervisor peskin figure at the top of the list on the roster. the discussion is now open. >> thank you. to the incoming members of the board of supervisors, congratulations, welcome to supervisor stefani, elected in her own right, congratulations. to supervisor mandelman who now has two times in one year now gained before your seat, congratulations. to the family and friends who are gathered here, and to my former client -- former colleagues, clients, that would be pretty good. [laughter] >> a few observations.

this is the seventh time that i will have voted for board president, and only the second time that there was a contested race in the 11 years over 18 years that i have been an on and off again member of the board of supervisors. i want to start out with the notion that these are the problems that we would like to have. these are a tremendous set of choices. this is not a set of choices that supervisor marr mar had to deal with between one progressive candidate, and one moderate candidate, we have two very good choices. and interestingly enough, we all supported either because we were good or we were lucky, ultimately it was the voters who did it, the same five individuals who our new colleagues and i were continuing colleagues, and i think supervisor yee and supervisor ronen and myself got all of us supported mr haney, mr walton,

miss stefani, and mr mandelman. these are the problems we like to have, and i think back to a contested election that i participated in wherein i did not win. i withdrew from the contest. when it was over, we were all friends again, moments after and to this day. i count sophie maxwell and matt gonzalez, matt won that contest, as my friends ten minutes after that election. and to this day. i want to associate myself with the comments of mr wilson and mr rosso that in ten minutes from now, and for the next many years and hopefully for the rest of our lifetimes, we all need to be friends back and work together. that is the message i want to impart. it is about issues, it is about legislation that we pass, that is -- we are legislators. we are lawmakers. that is the measurement that we

should judge ourselves by. way i wanted to say that. there are many things that go into how one casts a vote in an election like this. i have known hillary ronen when she was one of the greatest board aids for one of the greatest supervisors. we work together on all sorts of things, sanctuary city was under attack. hillary and david campos would come to my office in north beach we work together on airbnb. i supported norman he when he ran for school boards and made the mistake of not supporting him when he ran for supervisor. that is a true fact. this is kind of an embarrassment of riches. i know all of his work in the community, and there are many narratives. i'm a supervisor who represents the northeast corner of the city many of my constituents who hail

from one of the most incredible neighborhoods in chinatown were here today to express their sentiments. there are narratives around gender, narratives around race, narratives around age and experience, and all of that goes into the personal decisions that 11 people are going to make. i am going to -- both of these contestants in this incredible pageant supported me when i ran in 2015 against mayor lee's pick for that vacant seat, and i thank you both very much for that. i'm going to cast my vote with supervisor yee, but i have profound respect for supervisor ronen, and i wanted everyone to understand the various things that go into making that decision, but in ten minutes, and for the next two years, and six years, and hopefully for the rest of our lives, let's work together for a progressive agenda for the city and county of san francisco. >> thank you supervisor peskin. supervisor ronen. >> first of all caps i wanted to

thank everyone who came out today to voice their opinion about this board president see. it was a very beautiful and a very humbling experience for me. i have to say that i feel so lucky every day to be able to do this extraordinary job, and represent my community as a supervisor, but like he said, there very few people get to hear such lovely things about them while still living. so that was -- i just want to know one of the most extraordinary expenses of my life. i thank you and all of my constituents, i thank you, all of you fears labor leaders who have urgency for change for a very similar way that i do and thank you for coming out and expressing that today. i want everyone to know that prior to walking in here today, norman he and i hugged each other and told each other that we love one another, and that we

respect one another tremendously , and it's just the truest thing in the world. norman and i love each other, we respect each other, and that will not change ever. we will be fine no matter what happens today. unlike supervisor peskin, i did support norman he when he was running for supervisor a while ago. so it is interesting how things change. i also want to thank the families that sat through this all. i'm so sorry. you just want to celebrate with your family members, and you are getting a little taste of what our lives look like at this board of supervisors. i'm sorry, i will try to get you as quickly to your celebrations as possible, but thank you for sitting through this all with us , and briefly, i wanted to say why i want to do this job. when i was first elected, when i sat two years ago in the same place that you are sitting in

this room for the first time, i said that i want to use my position on what i see the fundamental fight for san francisco, and that is to shift wealth, and to shift power from the ultrarich, in the corporate elite, to the vast majority of people in our city. i want to shift the wealthy people of color, i want to shift wealth to the working class families, i want to shift wealth to the lgbtq community, i want to shift wealth to seniors in this city, and i made that val, if you remember, i had the unfortunate luck of being elected as -- the same night as the president does the current president of the united states. i made that val vow the same week our country was reeling from the shock and the horror of this new tramp administration. i was filled with dread that our country would move in the opposite direction of everything that i believe in, and everything that i believe san

francisco represents, and it has happens. we are moving in that direction. in contrast we are watching right now the triumphant arrival this week of many fresh newcomers. not only here to san francisco city hall, but also in congress. nancy pelosi got her gavel back, holly lilia. [laughter] -- hallelujah. we have young and bright and vibrant women who are unapologetic and unafraid, and yes, they are difficult, but it is because they are fighting for what they believe in. they are fighting for what is right, and they are sick of the way that politics works in back rooms, in secrecy. they are being upfront, and honest about who they are, and what they want to, and very are refusing to accept that it is impossible, that human beings can live with dignity, that human beings have enough food to eat, that human beings have a right to a home, that human beings have a right to equality

--dash a quality education. aoc, i am a big fan of an follow-on social media. she is unapologetic about that, and so am i. we feel a sense of urgency to make change, and that is why i am running for this position, but it has been a hard process. it's been, quite frankly, a sexist process. i have been told, not based on my achievements, not based on my record, not based on the type of person i am and how i conduct myself as an elected official, because of my personality traits i've been told i'm too difficult , i've been called crazy, i've been told i do not know how to bring people together, i don't know how to compromise, which is bull shipped, i do all of those things, but i have been told that. i want to tell you right now that if my colleagues elect me board president today, i am so excited to lift each and every one of them up. i am so lucky to be surrounded

by amazing rock stars that i love. i love each and every one of you i cannot wait to work with centrally fewer on two projects that she is now championing, the office of racial equity, in the san francisco municipal bank here. i cannot wait to work with catherine stefani on her incredibly strong and brilliant commitment to gun-control, enter advocacy to put safe dose but state and federal legislation to make our streets and our homes and our schools safer. i can't wait to collaborate with erin peskin. we are going to wean this the city off their dependence on pg and e. and we will accelerate the next phase of clean power power s.f. i cannot wait to work with gordon mar again, we have been working together for 20 years and bring family services to the west side, including a new city college campus in the sunsets.

i cannot wait to work with valley brown as she works with the mayor agreed to create a long-term solution to the crisis of people living in rvs and in homelessness and our city, i can't wait to team up with matt haney to create real solutions to homelessness, because we do know that the center of the crisis is in the tenderloin, although the mission of the bayview aren't far behind, and make sure that we clean up the streets of the tenderloin, soma, and the mission. i can't wait to rally alongside norman he does norman yee and bring true universal childcare to the city and create a strong safety net for low income seniors. i have an 18-year-old father who i have been helping to care for, and it is needed. he is a champion for that that i deeply respect. i can't wait to support supervisor mandelman in developing effective and humane solutions to the crisis of people living on the streets, and living with mental illness, and shamann walton you and i

will join forces on pushing affordable housing for our low income residents and cleaning up that shipyard, and finally, i thank you had one of the first green deal pieces of legislation in the city. no one called it that at the time, but legislation that creates new jobs, good jobs for working people, and stops climate change and cleans up our environments. we have an extraordinary board. i want to serve it, i want to help to lead changes to the most fundamental problems facing our city, and i want to do it in collaboration with my colleagues , and lift each one of them up along the way. i would ask for your support and your vote today. thank you. [applause] >> thank you, supervisor. thank you supervisor ronen. can you please remove your name from the roster. that is the one thing they didn't give me control over is to remove names from the roster. supervisor mar while.

>> good afternoon new colleagues , family, friends, general public. i'm excited and nervous to be casting my first boat as a member of this board, is a first decision, i have to say the board presidency has been a bit more complicated than i had anticipated. [laughter] >> a given the november election outcome, i think the really strong and clear will of the voters for unified progressive leadership on this board and in this city, but i think for me, it is a reminder that one of the great responsibilities of every decision you make -- decision we make here on the board, and also no decision we make here is going to be easy or straightforward. i've known supervisor yee longer than i've known any of my colleagues on the board. i have worked with him as well. we have common roots as advocates in chinatown, you know , for children and families,

and immigrants in the city. i have full confidence that he will be a fantastic president of this board of supervisors. i am supporting the supervisor ronen for board president. but for all of the reasons why and those that were highlighted in the many votes as it spoke out during public comment period thank you so much you came out and showed up today to speak out about the important decision, and about the steps we will take i did want to add a few of my own points. i have known supervisor ronen, as she mentioned, for many years , and worked with her way back when i was a director of the chinese progressive association. she consistently fought on behalf of immigrants, and the most marginalized low-wage workers in the city, organizing to get unpaid back wages, particularly for domestic workers and day labourers. supervisor ronen has never lost

sight of the people she served. from when she served as chief of staff for supervisor campos, and in the last 20 years, and she has been elected to the board. she was instrumental particularly in supporting every day working san franciscans in the passage of the latest minimum compensation ordinance, working hand-in-hand with our labor leaders, and labor unions in the city. i wanted to acknowledge that i am one of three men joining the board of supervisors, as three women in their terms. it is very important that we support women in leadership roles at all levels of government. finally, i wanted to say, and conclude by saying supervisor ronen has fiercely and consistently stood up for her values, and she brings a crucial perspective in under representative voices that we need in our leaders. >> thank you cost plus. >>er