actually happen and remain open to having the community continue to advocate for what the community needs. thank you. and thank you for coming here. [applause] >> commissioner hillis: thank you.

>> good morning, please welcome san francisco gay men's chorus, performing "singing for our love ." [♪] ♪ we are peaceful loving people ♪ ♪ and we are singing,, singing for our love ♪ ♪ we are young and old together ♪ ♪ and we are singing, singing for our love ♪ [♪]

[♪] [singing] ♪ [singing]

[singing] [singing]

[singing] [cheers and applause] >> please welcome, chris verdugo , executive director of the san francisco gay men's chorus. >> good morning. on behalf of the board of directors, staff, and about a tenth of our singing members that are with us, it is an honour to welcome you to our new

home for the mayor's first state of the city address. as we begin to envision this space over a year ago, our intention became clear, we wanted to create a centre where lgbtq artists and organizations could come together, a space where they could collaborate and incubate new works pack and affordable and safe space, a place to present master classes and lecture series, and to host a middle and high schools aged students with our educational programs, rhythm, reaching youth through music, and the it gets better showcase pick a venue that would house a state-of-the-art broadcast facility so we could transmit these incredible transformational and inspiring events to a global audience. a space that espouses the san francisco values of diversity, acceptance, equality, entrepreneurship, and creativity a home where art and activism come together, and it is my honor to welcome you to that

space today. [applause] our new home, and the nation's first-ever lgbtq centre for the arts is a continuation of what began over 40 years ago on the city hall steps. that moment where 99 men raised their voices in anger and sadness, but also in hope, singing the song that you just heard, singing for our lives, and thereby sparking an lgbtq arts movement that would eventually spanned five continents. that is why this isn't just our home, it is a home for all of the san francisco arts community and the nation. no one understands this better than the mayor. as executive director of the african-american arts and culture complex, and she transformed the struggling center into a vital, sustainable community resource. she understands, yes.

[applause] >> she understands that arts and culture are at the forefront of social change, and we are honored that she chose our new home for her first state of the city address. [applause] >> please join me in welcoming, mayor, london abbreviate. [cheers and applause] [applause] >> thank you. >> thank you. [cheers and applause] >> thank you, everyone. thank you so much. thank you. thank you.

thank you all so much for being here today. thank you to the san francisco gay men's chorus for opening up their new home, this amazing, national, lgbtq centre for the arts. what i love about this center is that this chorus has invested their time and resources in creating something beautiful, not just for themselves, but for the entire lgbtq and arts community around the country. this is a place that celebrates what is best about san francisco , and that is what i want to talk you about today. for too long, our safety has been the subject of a drumbeat of negative media attention, national stories claiming that san francisco has lost its way. however, streets are dangerous slums, our housing is unobtainable, how temple workers battle for our city's up soul. like most narratives, their elements of truth here, we have failed to build enough housing,

we do face a homeless crisis, as we grapple with mental health and substance use on our streets of course, we acknowledge the challenges we face. the question is, what do we do next, hang our heads and give up cloth concede our problems are too great and the soul of our city is lost? anyone who thinks that, anyone who thinks that is what we will do knows nothing about this city [applause] >> this is san francisco. we don't throw up our hands, we take to our feet. we don't wait for guidance, we liked the way. this is a city that knows how. the innovation capital of the world his. [cheers and applause] >> the national leader on lgbt

and immigrant rights, environmental protections, healthcare, and so many other causes. the place where my angelou rang cable car bells -- the place where my angelou rang cable car bells and the place where a girl from public housing became mayor [cheers and applause] >> our congresswoman is speaker of the house. our former mayor just became governor. another is the california senior senator, the state's lieutenant lieutenant governor, controller and treasurer are all san franciscans. [cheers and applause] >> our former district attorney could even be the next president [cheers and applause]

>> it is time that our city holds its head up high again. it is time we believe again. yes, we have our challenges, i see them every day, just like you. i'm frustrated just like you about the issues that face our city, but i'm also motivated, because there is no problem we caps off together, no challenge we won't face together, there is , as president clinton said, nothing wrong with san francisco that can't be fixed with what is right about san francisco. [cheers and applause] >> homelessness in san francisco has, for decades, been described as a sad reality, an impossible problem, just part of our city. i don't accept that they are just a few years ago, he only had to walk a few blocks from city hall to seat tent encampments lining our sidewalks

, clips covering whole blocks on division street. today, those encampments are gone. that is partly because we have been working to build more shelters, more housing, and help more people. in the last six months, since i have been in office, we have built three navigation centers, with 338 beds, the fastest expansion of shelter beds our city has seen in decades. [cheers and applause] >> and we've helped nearly 1,000 people exit homelessness. 1,000 people in six months. [applause] >> yes, we have a long way to go and so much work to do, but we are making a difference in people's lives. when we open up to the bryant street navigation centre earlier this month, i met a woman who

had just moved in. she is battling addiction and breast cancer. on the streets, her medication kept getting stolen, she couldn't get healthy, now she is inside, and she is working on getting housing. at bryant street, she gave me a hug, and she said she is hopeful , and so am i. if she has hope, others can too. that is the difference. she is excited about the future, and i'm excited for her. if she can have a hope, and others can too. i've already announced my plan to add 1,000 shelter beds by 2020, enough to clear the shelter bed waitlist. [applause] >> we also are declaring a shelter crisis so we can get these shelter beds builds now, and i want to thank supervisor supervisors brown, haney, mandelman, supervisor stefani

and walton, for joining me in recognizing our bureaucracy shouldn't stand in the way of one single thousand beds. this is a huge step, we know, but it is not enough. we know we have around 4,000 unsheltered people in our city, sleeping in our streets, in our parks, in the doorway is, or in vehicles. we know that it's a travesty, but it's one we can take on. in the next four years, i want to create enough shelter beds, step up housing units, homeless housing units, and housing subsidies for every person who is currently unsheltered. that is 4,000 more placements for people. no more excuses, no more status quo and let's be clear, every part of our city, every neighborhood must be open to being part of the solution. [cheers and applause]

>> to get there, we must move forward with my proposal for our windfall funding. $185 million for homelessness, behavioural health, and affordable housing. [cheers and applause] >> with this investment, we can add 310 new shelter beds, 300 units of housing by master leasing units, freeing up hundreds of beds in the shelter system. complete funding for a 255 unit building for homeless seniors and adults, and get started on hundreds more. now i know there are other budget priorities, and they are important. let's be clear. every dollar we take away from what i propose is one bed, one lost home, one more person on

the streets. i will continue to work with a board president, norman he -- norman he -- yee and the board of supervisors. working together, we can tackle any impossible problem. the crisis on our street is not just about homelessness. people suffering from mental illness, they need more than just housing. often they are actually housed. these people need help, since i took office, we have added 50 mental health stabilization beds , and i'm committed to opening up 100 more this year. [cheers and applause] >> our healthy streets operation centre is out there every day helping those suffering from substance use disorder, getting them connected to treatment and shelter, to help those who are

truly suffering get real treatment. i've partnered with supervisor raphael mandelman on conservatorship legislation because when people can't care for themselves, we have to do better, and we have to care for them. [applause] >> we have to revamp our entire approach to mental health. to bring together all of our mental health programs under one focus, i am creating a director of mental health reform. [applause] >> this person will be responsible for better coordination of mental health care for those suffering in our city, this person will strengthen the program we have that are working, nts, cut cut the ineffective program because

clearly there are things in this city that just aren't working, and shouldn't continue to be funded. [applause] >> we need to build people's lives, not shuffle them from emergency room to emergency room , from jail cell, to jail cell. our criminal justice system is not a mental health solution. [applause] >> to do all this, we need a vision and leadership, so today, i am announcing that i have hired a new director of the department of public health, dr grant kovacs. [applause] >> the doctor is one of our own,

trained at ucsf, you were to the department of public health as a director of h.i.v. prevention and research, before leaving to join the obama white house as a director of national aids policy he knows our city and its challenges, and he is ready to get to work, and he knows that we need to get zero h.i.v. infections in san francisco. [applause] >> we need to reach our most vulnerable populations, particularly are african-american and latino communities who are not seeing their h.i.v. infections drop as others do, this means getting everyone, and i mean everyone access to services, treatment, and preventative medications like prep. [applause]

>> and i'm confident that dr kovacs will get us to our goal. we are also confronting san francisco's other allegedly impossible problem, housing. housing. we have to produce and preserve housing, and keep people in their homes. i will continue to support the rights to civil council which we funded it last year's budget with $5.8 million so every tenant who needs a lawyer can get one, and through our small sight -- his most -- small site acquisition program, will fight to preserve rent-controlled buildings to keep people in neighborhoods secure. [applause] >> people like ms. miss wu, and 99-year-old woman who has been living in the same building in the richmond district for the past 30 years. or building was going up for sale, threatening her home, and

that of every senior who lived there. i met her with supervisor -- supervisor fewer when i visited her home, the building that we helped purchase and make permanently affordable. ensuring that she and her neighbors wouldn't have to worry about where they were going to live. [applause] >> as we keep people in their homes, we have to build more new housing. lots more. [cheers and applause] >> in 2018, we built around 3,000 homes. that's not nearly enough. we have to get better, and that's why i've already hired a housing delivery director to deliver projects faster, and implement policy reforms that cut the times to get permits in half. i've directed the department to

end the backlog of hundreds of in law units, and make it easier for people to build them going forward, and passed legislation to prevent the loss of thousands of units in the pipeline. if we are going to be in san francisco for all, we need to be a san francisco that builds housing for all. that's why i'm moving forward with the 300 million-dollar affordable housing bond so we can continue to invest in badly needed affordable housing. [cheers and applause] >> across our city, we have projects like the balboa upper yard that are ready to build. that is 131 units that just need funding, but it's not just about investing, we have to break the barriers to building housing so our dollars go further and we get housing built faster.

so today, i'm announcing a charter amendment for this november's election, to make all affordable housing and teacher housing as upright in san francisco. [cheers and applause] >> if an affordable housing or teacher housing project as proposed within zoning, then build it, and build it now. no more bureaucracy. [applause] >> no more bureaucracy, no more costly appeals, number not in my neighborhood. it is simple, affordable housing as of right because housing affordability is a right. [applause]

>> this is how we create housing for all san franciscans, and i will continue to work with our state legislators, our regional partners, our new governor, because housing affordability isn't just a san francisco issue , it is a crisis throughout the state of california. we won't always see the results of these efforts immediately, it may take some years to his see some changes, but then we have started to build more aggressively 20 years ago, we wouldn't be in the situation we are in today. [applause] >> we might have inherited a problem decades in the making, but we cannot be the ones who pass it on to the next generation. [applause] >> as we grow, we must make our streets clean and our communities safe. since my first day in office, i have been out walking our neighboured neighborhood.

this is not okay. it is not healthy. and while there is much more to do, we are working every day to stop it. it is no secret i have put in a lot of focus in the tenderloin and the south of market. i am committed to improving these neighborhoods. so far, we have doubled the number of beat officers in midmarket. we have added pitstops, big belly trash cans and street cleaners. we have increased enforcement against drug dealing, and expanded outreach by our healthy outreach operation centre. i know we have more to do, but people are starting to see a difference. families are coming to the new playgrounds at civic centre. i met a young family with two small children who came from sunset. they told me a year ago that they never would have gone to the playground there. too dirty, too run down, to many needles. now the new café on the playgrounds are now part of their saturday. this is a start.

a first step towards making our public spaces clean and safe. we have also seen our investments in community policing yield results. last year, we had a 18% drop in homicide, which coincides with a major reduction in gun violence for the second year in a row. in fact, we had a 25% increase in firearm fees, and a 30 5% decrease in gun violence. [applause] to put it simply, more guns off the streets, fewer crimes in homicides involving guns. we also had a nine% reduction in property crimes, including an 18 % drop in car break-ins, and a 13% drop in car thefts.

we are, at last, reversing the carved reagan epidemic through the great work of our police department, we are working a dip -- making a difference on violent crimes and property crimes. more officers in our neighborhoods, and investments in cleaner, safer streets are all important. as we address these issues today , we also have to think about how to prevent them from happening in the future. we have to confront the root causes of crime and addiction, which means addressing inequity and poverty. [applause] last year, working with our public defender, we made san francisco the first city in the country to eliminate punitive wasteful court fines and fees. [cheers and applause] >> these fees did nothing more

than drive people into poverty, or worse, back into prison. we will continue our work to give the next generation opportunities back and prevent them from ending up in the criminal justice system in the first place. we are working our city build program to address the shortage of construction workers and give people good paying jobs. we are launching new jobs and helping to train new munimobile drivers to get more people on the street so we can get san franciscans where they need to go faster. we have tech s.f., healthcare academy, and hospitality initiatives, all of which train people to work in our city, and as a former city in turn, who at 14 proudly worked at a nonprofit , answering phones and helping young family is, and doing paperwork, i am particularly proud to have launched opportunities for all

so that we can get every high school students -- [applause] scene -- >> so we can get every high school student in san francisco a paid internship, because unlike the president in this town we pay people when they go to work. [laughter] [applause] >> this program will help our kids now to earn money, to learn new skills, to keep them from going down the wrong path. these young people will be exposed to opportunities they never knew existed. they could see a future in an industry they never had access to. they could see themselves making a difference in a world in a way that they never thought possible . they will flourish, and we will grow our workforce right here in

san francisco. [applause] >> will continue to lead the way on so many other important issues. we will protect the environment, and fight climate change. yesterday, we all know pg and tee declared bankruptcy, and there's a lot of talk about what this could mean, but let's talk about what we know. san francisco knows how to run a clean power system, and we are going to get to 100% renewable energy by 2030. [applause] >> if this bankruptcy provides an opportunity for public power, supervisor peskin, we will take it. [applause] [laughter] >> i will be working with the city attorney, dennis herrera, and supervisor peskin to make

sure that whatever happens to pg and e., we are prepared to. i'm also working with city attorney herrera to address questions around the testing of the hunter at's pointe. [applause] >> we need to be clear and transparent with the public about this project. along with supervisor walton, we have requested that ucsf, and u.c. berkeley put together an independent team to review the procedures for the retesting of parcel a and g. [cheers and applause] >> these are trusted institutions. they will provide an independent analysis so the public can feel confident in the results. we also have to break the gridlock that is on our streets and create a more functioning transportation system. people may continue to choose to

drive in san francisco, but that can't be their only choice. i will work with supervisor peskin on a measure that will charge our ride hail companies to relieve congestion on our streets. [applause] >> we have to keep pushing forward street facing invasion zero projects, including building protected bike lanes on high injury corridors, like the one we are building by upside on valencia street that made it so hard for you to get here. [applause] >> we will also continue investing in helping our transgender residents with housing and services, and to those in washington, d.c. who continue to try and erase transgender people, it won't work back not here in san francisco. [cheers and applause]

>> now more than ever, as the president continues to fear mongering about walls and slander our immigrant communities, san francisco is proud to stand as a sanctuary city. [applause] >> we are a city that is surrounded by bridges, not divided by walls, and we will stay that way. [applause] >> when i took the oath of office six months ago, i never pretended i could solve all of our problems. i believed we could solve them working together. i believed in a government for all of us, and i still believe that we are working to turn the tides, and i hope every san franciscan can feel the difference when you see our

public works crews, our -- out power washing the sidewalks and picking up trash, i hope you feel the difference. when you see our police officers walking the beats in the neighborhood, and talking to the merchants and the residence, i hope that you feel the difference. when you see our homeless outreach team and public health workers helping people suffering on our streets, i hope you feel the difference. when you see a new shelter open, a new affordable housing project go up, or a new bike lane that gets finished, i hope you smile and feel the difference. i hope you believe with me that you hold your head high and take pride in our city, and what we can do together, because we are san francisco. we will meet these challenges, and we will continue to light a better way for the future of our city. thank you all so much for being here today. [cheers and applause] .

>> neighborhood in san francisco are also diverse and fascist as the people that inhabitable them we're in north beach about supervisor peskin will give us a tour and introduce is to what think of i i his favorite

district 5 e 3 is in the northwest surrounded by the san francisco bay the district is the boosting chinatown oar embarcadero financial district fisherman's wharf exhibit no. north beach telegraph hill and part of union square. >> all of san francisco districts are remarkable i'm honored and delighted to represent really whereas with an the most intact district got chinatown, north beach fisherman's wharf russian hill and knob hill and the northwest waterfront some of the most wealthier and inning e impoverished people in san francisco obgyn siding it is ethically exists a bunch of

tight-knit neighborhoods people know he each other by name a wonderful placed physically and socially to be all of the neighborhoods north beach and chinatown the i try to be out in the community as much as and i think, being a the cafe eating at the neighborhood lunch place people come up and talk to you, you never have time alone but really it is fun hi, i'm one the owners and is ceo of cafe trespassing in north beach many people refer to cafe trees as a the living room of north beach most of the clients are local and living up the hill come and meet with each other just the way the united states been since 1956 opposed by the grandfather a big people person people had people coming since

the day we opened. >> it is of is first place on the west that that exposito 6 years ago but anyone was doing that starbuck's exists and it created a really welcoming pot. it is truly a legacy business but more importantly it really at the take care of their community my father from it was formally italy a fisherman and that town very rich in culture and music was a big part of it guitars and sank and combart in the evening that tradition they brought this to the cafe so many characters around here everything has incredible stories by famous folks last week the cafe that paul carr tennessee take care from the jefferson starship hung

out the cafe are the famous poet lawrence william getty and jack herb man go hung out. >> they work worked at a play with the god fathers and photos he had his typewriter i wish i were here back there it there's a lot of moving parts the meeting spot rich in culture and artists and musicians epic people would talk with you >> good morning everyone. let's start the celebration of this beautiful amazing building. i'll begin by introducing myself. i serve director of public works for the city and county of san francisco.

today, we're going to be celebrating this amazing fire station. how about a big hand for the fire officials. [applause] today is an exciting day. not only for our fire department but for the entire city of san francisco. every time we open a new civic building for our first responders, we are providing a safer san francisco that will be prepared when the disaster strikes. this new fire station, which was built from ground up, replaced one that failed to meet today's building codes and first responder needs. the new fire station meets national accreditation and seismicresilientcy standards.

like to thank our city administrator. i like to thank the public works engineers and architects who designed and managed this project. a special shotout to the project manager. our city architect edgar lopez and roebuck construction, give them a hands. they really had to work hard. thank you. of course, all of the voters in san francisco that made this possible. this funding was passed in the 2010 earthquake safety emergency bond and this is the first of the full complete fire houses that the city has produced. isn't it beautiful?

the bond which funded this upgrade is a voter-backed initiative and aimed to strengthening earthquake resiliency. public works takes great pride in overseeing some of the city's crucial capital and improvement projects. with the support of voters we can componen continue to work on world-class facilities to many diverse neighborhoods. at this time, i now have the honor of introducing our mayor london breed who has been champion making sure that san francisco is kept safe. join me in welcoming our mayor london breed. [applause] >> mayor breed: good morning. i'm so excited to be here today.

it's always a good time when you're able to come to a new place a new an improved place where some of our most important services take place. the people who are first responders, the people who helped to protect the city and county of san francisco, whether it's a disaster, whether it's a fire, what have you, they deserve beautiful space where they also feel safe. today, we are opening up just what is a beautiful fire house. couple of years ago, i was there when we cut the ribbon on fire station one and also i'm looking forward to finishing the new station 49 where our e. e.t. and paramedics will have a safe space to respond to emergencies in a timely manner. today is just really a commitment by the voters through

the issa bond that provided an opportunity to make sure that we have the funding necessary to rebuild this incredible fire station which we all know was not in the best shape. we also know we have other fire stations that we need to repair all over san francisco and i can't wait to cut the ribbon on station five this year. you know, building a resilient city and dealing with the challenges that we know exist and the possible earthquake and other challenges that are yet to come, we have to think about the future. how do we make sure that our public safety folks are in building where they feel safe so that they can respond to emergencies to help people in need all over our city if the time comes. as our population increases and

our city grows, we need to ensure that we have the capacity and the resiliency to survive in the future. i want to thank you for being here today. to thank the chief and the san francisco fire department for their work and also president of the fire commission as well as steve covington who is also joining us here today. thank you to local 798 and members of the fire department. i know the former president is here, thank you tom o'connor for being here and so many others. this incredible neighborhood, thank you for your patience during the time of construction. last but not least you want to thank the 33 members of the fire department who are actually stationed at station 16. thank you for your patience, thank you for allowing this process to occur and the

inconvenience that occurred more importantly, you continue to do your job without complaint during this process and made sure that our city remains safe. we want to thank you all for being here. i'm looking forwardly to cutting this ribbon and opening this fire house and the best is yet to come with so many other opportunities throughout our city. thank you again for the voters of 4 san francisco for investing in our public infrastructure. we'll continue to make sure that we invest endollar wisely and you see the results in places like this. thank you all so much. >> i will introduce the interview of the district. >> i don't know if any of you

have the chance to see state of the city yesterday. you should watch it, it will make you proud to be a san franciscan. mayor breed said something yesterday that nothing wrong with san francisco that can't be fixed what's right about san francisco. today is an example of that. i want to welcome everyone to district one. i want to acknowledge all the people here who's leadership and hard work was vital to it project. thank you to our amazing san francisco fire department and chief joann hayes white and to our fire commission president and fellow fire commissioners to our service. thank you to public works and our director for delivering this incredible project and doing it on budget. it was definitely worth the wait. finally, i want to thank the residents of district two and san francisco for your support and commitment to prepare a resilient city. we know this project could not

have been possible without passing the bond in 2010 and 2014 and your commitment to earthquake safety makes all the difference in the world. it was worth the wait like i said. fire station 16, originally built in 1938 has been a home for the firefighters who proudly served geldengate valley and marina for the last 81 years. it's not just a building. i lived in this community for 18 years. it means so much to the people who live around here. i'm a mom i have a 14-year-old son and 9-year-old daughter. my son is in boy scout, we've been in this building with the firefighters teaching them about emergency preparedness, teaching them about fires and it means so much to the community. i can't tell you how many times we've dropped off cookies and

brownies. i hope they were good and probably not if i made them. there are so many other people that have done that. we are so excited to have this station up and running again. i live just down the street, everyone morning when i'm going to work, i drive by here and i wave to the firefighters. they wave back. it means so much to have this as a part of our community. it's another example of san francisco pushing us to be prepared as possible in the event of an earthquake and we know in san francisco, earthquakes are reality. we continue to have to be prepared over the past several years, we have made massive investments in our most critical safety and emergency response infrastructure cruing our -- including our new fire station and improvements to emergency firefighter water system. for the safety of all san franciscans, i look forward to continuing to work with mayor breed and all city departments to continue making our city safer and more resilient. i want to introduce my old boss,

former boss, naoimi kelly our city administrator who is vital so our city and county of san francisco. >> good morning. this was very exciting for me today to pull up and see this beautiful fire station. as you all heard, the city of san francisco, especially if you group up here and grew up here, we think about resilience all the time. we think about our private assets. on the public side we have a 10-year capital plan we're looking at all our vital public facilities and the fire faces are vital along with our police stations. we pass earthquake safety response time in 2010 and in 2014. we're looking again for another

bond. we have been very thankful to the voters because they see that we accomplished what we're doing. they know that we are not issuing new debt without paying down old debt. we have oversight bond committee that is making sure we deliver on those projects. we're united. we're united with the fire chief, local 798, department of public works, board of supervisors and the mayor-in what are the priorities for this city. not only that as we talked about -- with live in earthquake country. there's 73% chance of 6.7 magnitude earthquake by 2043. the mayor directed us to look at our private assets. as you know, we adopted an ordinance that impacted the marina district to make sure our private asset are strong.

we want to make sure not only we survive this earthquake, we reoccupy our buildings and get back into our lives in san francisco. that is why we're all here today and i want to thank all of you for supporting our earthquake safety emergency response bond. it's for the people of san francisco. [applause] >> thank you naoimi. we'll hear from our fire chief who calls me all the time, checking on all the projects. she's a project manager herself in addition to all the work she does. >> thank you mohammed. i have his number on speed dial. i did want to say, first and foremost, welcome to new station 16. it is something we anticipated for quite some time. the quality is amazing. i want to take a full tour around. this is a public building all of you are welcome.

neighbors and anyone from the public will be happy to show you around our new station. good morning to everyone that's gathered. we're very proud to have reopen this station. it's brand new. definitely want to have lot of thanks. i know you heard other people thanks. i want to thank our mayor london breed. she always been a champion for public safety. thank you very much for that. from executive branching to legislative branch, also champion for public safety. always has been and that -- i wanted to thanks you both. as mentioned three fire commissioners are hear.

d.p.w., it's an incredible team. we work with them all the time on projects. edgar is here today as well as charles. thank you very much. roebuck construction, thank you for the work they did. quality craftsmanship. before going on too much further, support services, that's a division in our department. they get all the work done. under the direction of the assistant deputy chief, this project would not have come to fruition. he was strong advocate on what they wanted. he worked with captain steve.

both of them had incredible construction knowledge. i have my command staff here, the neighbors, we want it thank you. we know it's a long process. there was some hardships along the way. thank you very much for your support in public safety. this project in particular but in general the voters on the bonds have been supportive. last but not least, we have our members. there's nine of them working here today. today's officers -- all the members, i looked at the roster today, i hired every single one of you. as i look forward to your retirement, it's time. i hired all these people that are working here today. thank you very much. you were hugely patient. they kept this neighborhood in mind and kept this neighborhood safe responding from different areas. we made it work. we always do. there's one person in the back,

i wasn't going to recognize him. i wasn't sure if he was here. he's amazing to me. that's our chaplain, father john green who recently -- thank you father green for being here. he wouldn't want anyone to know, he was very ill earlier this month and really huge that you're here today. if it fits in the time limit, at the conclusion, i like to have father green to join us to give us a nondenominational blessing. i like to thank san francisco, mayor and myself and others, native san franciscan, that is president of the fire commission. thank you everyone. >> good morning everybody. thank you very much chief hayes-white. she will retire very soon.

15 years as the first woman chief of the san francisco fire department. i wanted to definitely acknowledge our mayor mayor breed, champion of the fire department. also former fire commissioner, also supervisor from my districting in japantown district five. this is all part of a collaboration from the bond through the voters through the collaboration to the supervisors. we all appreciate that. i wanted to recognize that today. we have the vice president of the fire commission francine covington. we wanted to acknowledge joseph who's the neighborhood supervisor who remind us constantly that station 16 is his neighborhood. fire station as well. it's very important in 798 is represented as well.

we thank you so much. we look forward to the work. this is the greatest example of san francisco which is collaboration and taking care of public safety. we also have mr. kendall coleman. thank you so much for all your contributions. thank you for the neighborhood in terms of your patience. thank you for being part of san francisco. thank you for this beautiful day. thank you. >> are we ready to cut the ribbon? father grown, will you come up u come up and say a prayer for us. then we'll cut the ribbon.

>> we'll pray that the scissors work. i thank chief hayes-white for her kind words. i liking to meet that father grown some day. sounds like a nice guy. for all those who work at station 16, may this house always been a sign of safety and service for this neighborhood. amen. >> okay. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1! streets.

>> (speaking foreign language.) >> i wanted to wish you a best wishes and congratulations the community has shifted a lot of when i was growing up in the 60s and