a pride. >> hats off to the water quality team because between them working on late nights, working on the weekends when the schools are closed, and working as a partner in the school district for the times they found a higher lead sample, they worked through to address that, so the team went above and beyond and is continuing to do that today. >> all right. hello, sunny day. [cheers.] so, so excited to be here with each and every one of you. i am sorry for those we don't have chairs for. we didn't expect a big crowd, but when you talk about the city budget, i guess everyone shows

up. i am so glad to see the residents here. thank you to everyone who joined us on the tours earlier of the unit. today we, of course, through the tours saw the challenging conditions that people are living right in this neighborhood, just a few miles from our thriving downtown, and yet a world apart. as someone who grew up in public housing, i have lived these conditions. i know these conditions. i don't expect everyone to understand the challenges of public housing the way that i do or the way the residents of sunny dale do, but i do expect everyone to put in the time to understand. i wanted department heading and elected officials to come see for yourselves the hard work that we have to do. thank you to everyone who joined me today, especially the members of the board of supervisors and

we have the president with us, norman yee, thank you so much. [applause.] thank you for being with us. supervissupervisor per visor gor and earlier we had supervisor safai, and he had to take off. why aren't you in your seat? you know, today is not just about the investments we are making in our up coming budget, it is about the commitment behind those investments. commitments to communities like s un nydale for those who have been left behind. san francisco is a city with a heart but we also have to be a city with a memory. a memory not only for the commitments we have kept but

also the ones we have failed to keep. for too long our public housing communities were one of those failed commitments. we are changing that with our programs where we have rehabilitated over 2500 public housing units. [applause.] and through hope sf, which is revitalizing and france forming communities in hunters view and right here in sunny dale and with the reconstruction of the long overdue transformation of the san francisco housing authority. we are building and rehabbing housing, creating stronger and healthier communities and investing in the people who live there. we owe it to them to keep our commitment and make a difference for this community and those across the city.

with every decision we make, i want to make sure that equity and accountability are at the forefront of our minds. we have to be focused on people in all neighborhoods, like the people who live here, who for too long have been living with broken pipes, mold, infestations, dilapidated conditions. people like breanna, a third generation resident. she and her three sisters have lived through the conditions you saw today. despite these challenges, breanna is a leader in her community, and she is fighting for the next generation. she has not given up on this community and we will not give up on you. we have to be accountable to the

thousands of residents across the city living in public housing and our low income communities. our budget would be accountable to them both by continuing our work to improve the conditions here and our continued commitment to provide funding to keep thousands of housing authority residents secure in their homes. yes, joyce armstrong and happy birthday. also by recognizing that we need to do more to keep people in these neighborhoods safe and supported. for too long this was not a safe community. families were torn apart by violence, gunfire, crime, tragedy, frustration. this community has lived with that. that is why i wanted to come here to acknowledge the past, yes, but also to make a commitment to a better and brighter future.

to make communities like this safer. it is not just about enforcing the laws to make sure we have more officers on the streets. it is about giving people opportunities and investing in changing peoples' lives. [applause.] it is about interrupting the cycle of violence and despair. that starts with doing more for our young people and so that the next generation can transform their futures. offering stipends to teachers who commit to teach in public schools facing those challenges. and fully funding free city college so that everyone has a path to higher education.

[applause.] we are expanding public health recreation and nutrition programs for kids, including mental health services to provide support for kids experiencing trauma so that he can build up their lives and thrive. all of our young people, no matter where they live should have access to the amazing opportunities that this city has to offer. (applause). and as we work to support the next generation, we also must do more to help those who sadly are living on our streets. in this budget, we are following through on our commitment to add 1,000 new shelter beds by 2020. we are also using our funding to create 820 new units of permanently supported housing

over the next two years. however, reducing homelessness means more than just creating places for people to go. we need to do more to prevent homelessness and keep people housed. that is why we are adding $5 million to increase homelessness prevention and diversion efforts. we are fully funding our tenants' right to counsel so they have a right to legal defense when they are threatened with eviction. we are providing housing for transgender who are 18 times more likely to experience homelessness than the general population. we are creating a new five year pilot program to provide rental

subsidies -- subsidies for seniors to keep them secure in housing so that rising rents don't force them out of their home in the first place. with these commitments, we can keep people stable, keep them housed and prevent homeless necessary for ever becoming a part of their live. we are helping those with mental illness and substance use disorder by adding 10 new behavioral -- 100 new behavioral health beds including 50 at san francisco general for homeless residents with mental health challenges and 50 beds for those suffering both mental health and substance use disorder. [applause.] combined with the 100 beds we announced earlier this year,

that means we are committing to 200 new beds for our most vulnerable residents. there is the most significant expansion of behavioral health beds in a generation. and, chief nicholson, we are expanding the emx emergency response crew helping those on the streets suffering mental health and substance disorder issues. this will provide coverage 24/7 so the city can help people every day of every minute. these are some of the investments we are making to help our residents today. we have to be accountable to the next generation. we have to have vision and not

lose sight of what is going to happen to san francisco 10 and 20 years down the line. we know the crisis on the street is not just about a place for indoors or mental healthcare. it is about housing. the costs of housing are too high. we know these challenges did not develop overnight. it won't be fixed overnight. it is going to take fundamental change. let's start increasing funding for affordable housing. i am proud to be working with so many members of the board of supervisors to place a $6 million affordable housing bond on this year's --

$600 million affordable housing. thank you, president yee, for working with me on this. it will be on this year's ballot. this is the largest affordable housing bond in the city's history without raising property taxes. [applause.] we are providing support not just for low income households and seniors but also for middle income residents. we are increasing investments in the budget to add over $140 million for the production and preservation of affordable housing so we can buy moreland, fully fund more projects and preserve our much greater rent control housing stock. [applause.] all land through this bond our current budget, our previous spending and other efforts over

the first year since i have been in office, we have identified $1 billion in new funding to build, preserve and support affordable housing. [applause.] thank you for your help in building housing. this builds on top of the over $900 million that we already have committed to build and support affordable housing throughout our city. however, our support for housing can't just be about funding. if we are ever going to make a difference on housing, we have to make changes to how we build housing. we can't fear solutions that make it easier and faster to build housing. if we say we support affordable housing, our actions have to

follow our values. we have to cut the red tape to barriers not just for some affordable housing and not just for some homeless shelters but for all housing for everyone. [applause.] and was we build we must expandr transportation and infrastructure to support outer neighborhood goes like here in the southwest. every neighborhood in our city needs better and more reliable access to public transit, and they need better and safer streets. this budget adds $30 million to fund transit operations, including speeding up the purchase of new light rail trains and modernizing the train control system so we see fewer

delays in the subways and so that we know that we can get to where we need to more faster and more reliable. (applause). we have also added $2.5 million for vision zero improvement projects to make our streets safer. we have seen too many traffic related deaths on the streets. this funding will help double the pace of the protected bike lane and make the streets safe are for pedestrians on the most dangerous corridors through the capital plan we will spend $130 million over the next two years to improve our roads. this will get you excited. that means fewer potholes. [applause.] and smoother rides for buses and bicycles and drivers.

you are the one who have given us the potholes. we will invest in strengthening the support for cultural centers, libraries, health centers, public safety facilities and improving parks and open space. we will also continue to support improvements to making neighborhoods cleaner, safer and more vibrant. we are adding $12 million to our existing cleaning budget to expand our street cleaning in the tenderloin and soma and chinatown. we are fund being 80 more big belly trash cans and adding new pit stops including expanding the hours so people can use the bathroom with dignity. this is on top of $74 million that we spend every year to keep

our streets clean and not only are we going to invest money in keeping san francisco clean, we are all going to make sure people know we won't tolerate dirtying up our streets. we are supporting our plan to hire more police officers to get more officers out walking the beats in the neighborhoods and we are going to continue the work to reduce violent crime, property crime and auto break-ins in the city. we are committed to $9 million to support small businesses and commercial corridors which builds on the work to streamline the bureaucracy that gets in the way of growing businesses. our small business owners should focus on serving customers not navigating the bureaucracy of city hall.

these are just some of the priorities we are funding in this budget. i am proud of the investments we are making and proud of the city we are working to build. i really want to thank everyone who put time into helping with this budget including the budget team and budget option director kelly. thank you for your hard work and thank you to ben from the controller's office and your work. thank you to harvey rose and the budget afternoon r analyst -- analyst team who is not going to touch the money i am proposing in the budget. you know, so many people have been working tirelessly day in and day out to get the budget done, and i am so excited about this. i want to end by talking about a

young man named wallace pullet. we are so proud of wallace. you know, life hasn't been easy for him. he grew up with the violence i talked about earlier. he faced challenging times, including his own challenges with the law. unlike so many others, we lost to violence or the criminal justice system, wallace worked through all of those challenges. he is now focusing on doing what is right including raising his daughter right here in sunnyda sunnydale. now, just down the hill from here is a construction site. it is the first new building being constructed here at sunnydale as part of hope sf. it is a bright sign for the future of this incredible

community. wallace is a member of this construction team. he is building up this beautiful new community with his hands and with his heart. he is being accountable to himself, his daughter and his community. he is being accountability to the next generation so they have a sunnydale to grow, live and thrive and building a better san francisco. i am committed to this community. i am committed to this community because people likua like wallae committed. let us remember our job is to be accountable to everyone in the city, not just those who have time to show up and advocate at city hall. we have to be there for those who have hope, those who need

hope, this budget is part of the commitment and represents is very best of our values in this city. by keeping those commitments, we can and we will build a stronger, more resilient san francisco, a city not just for some, but for all of those in san francisco. thank you all so much for being here today.

- working for the city and county of san francisco will immerse you in a vibrant and dynamic city that's on the forefront of economic growth, the arts, and social change. our city has always been on the edge of progress and innovation. after all, we're at the meeting of land and sea. - our city is famous for its iconic scenery, historic designs, and world- class style. it's the birthplace of blue jeans, and where "the rock" holds court over the largest natural harbor on the west coast. - the city's information technology professionals work on revolutionary projects, like providing free wifi to residents and visitors, developing new programs to keep sfo humming, and ensuring patient safety at san francisco general. our it professionals make government accessible through award-winning mobile apps, and support vital infrastructure projects

like the hetch hetchy regional water system. - our employees enjoy competitive salaries, as well as generous benefits programs. but most importantly, working for the city and county of san francisco gives employees an opportunity to contribute their ideas, energy, and commitment to shape the city's future. - thank you for considering a career with the city and county of san francisco.

>> 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. >> good evening, everyone, and thank you for joining us here tonight as we celebrate the accomplishments of the late mayor edwin lee who will be forever documented in the city archives. i was honored to be in chinatown earlier today to present mayor

lee and the city he loved, a summary of accomplishments, 2011 through 2017, to our city librarian, michael lambert, and even though one book cannot fully convey what ed lee did for our city and what he gave to our city, it is a critical -- it is of critical importance to record his accomplishments and document his legacy, and his place in san francisco's history. [cheers and applause] >> as you know, previous mayoral administrations compiled and published accomplishments at the end of their tenure, but because mayor lee tragically and unexpectedly passed away, almost two years before the end of his second term, the record of his administrative accomplishments and highlights had to wait. that is because when faced with unspeakable tragedy, mayor lee's

apartment head, his staff, and his friends knew that we had to do what he would want us to do, and he would want us to take care of the city, which we did, to provide a smooth transition to mayor breed, then mayor farrell, and now back to mayor breed. [laughter] >> and to keep the people of san francisco as a higher priority, even while we grieved. we now have had time to reflect on nearly seven years of his administration, and today, we are gathered here to memorialize his leadership and contributions , affirm his legacy , and celebrate the man and the mayor, and who he was. please take time to read through the book. it details his work on critical issues that he faced in the city , also very familiar because we are dealing with these issues today, the need for more housing at all income levels, housing

for homeless, providing clean and safe neighborhoods, building a resilient city. improving local and regional transportation, fighting climate change, introducing innovation and new technology into city government, strengthening the city's social safety net and vital -- fighting for civil rights, equity, inclusion missed the back draft of national attacks on our civic value, all while celebrating san francisco. none of this happened in a vacuum. we have to remember that mayor lee's administration began amid a backdrop of national, economic uncertainty, record unemployment , and overwhelming city budget deficits. this book puts his accomplishments and administration in historical context and details his work to stabilize a city struggling through the great recession, putting people back to work, and protecting city services. i would like to give a special thank you to our hard-working committee, former mayoral staff,

department heads, and colleagues to help get us over the finish line. i would like to thank selena song, our project manager extraordinaire. [cheers and applause] >> a special thank you to mayor lee's chief of staff steve kava and jason elliott. [cheers and applause] >> as we were breve -- grieving, jason had the presence of mind to start collecting all of this information that went in the book today, and we appointed kate howard to collect it, and i want to thank kate howard. [applause] she was the chief of staff to mayor lee, his great strategic advisors and communication team, christine, tony, and deirdre. [cheers and applause]

>> mary jo who helped put this event together tonight, and many more. [cheers and applause] >> thomas lee who did the great graphics, jay, caitlin, cairo, lee may, olga, francis, and marc -- and martha who put the table cloths out in the colors of all the great sports teams that mayor lee loved, the giants, the warriors, and the 40 niners. [cheers and applause] >> he was a champion and leader for all. he had a track record for bringing people together as evidenced by the way people -- by the array of people you see here tonight. i want to thank you for joining us. up next, i would like to introduce our mayor, london breed. [cheers and applause]

>> hello, everyone. good evening. i had a prepared speech, but i decided to deviate from it because i was looking through this book, and i saw this picture with mayor lee and michelle obama. let me tell you the story behind the picture. we were at the salesforce conference, and we were listening to the fireside chat, and of course, it was michelle obama, so we were all excited and giddy, and afterwards, you know, they usually have the photo line, and so the mayor and i, i jumped on his bandwagon, of course, deirdre, i thank you were there, and is it okay, we need to get you a picture with michelle obama, let's go, let's go, i was like his staffer, because i knew how to do that, too. so i am bringing the mayor up,

and we are standing in line. and i said wait a minute, this is the mayor of san francisco, and all these people -- this is the mayor of san francisco, we are way back here, and i start seeing people, and i start getting those folks to come over to help us. basically, i said, we are going to the front of the line because , you know, he has to get back to work, this is the mayor of san francisco, everybody, so we cut in line, and then someone sauce, and they moved us up to the very front, and guess who was the first person to take a picture with michelle obama? was actually me. [laughter] >> but the point is, the point is, the mayor was so gracious, and that was the kind of person that he was. he would have stood in that line , he would have stood in that line and waited, he would have taken a picture with everyone who would have asked him, he would've had conversations with anyone

because that was a kind of person he was. he would very -- he was very gracious, and over the course of the time that i worked with him as a member of the board of supervisors, again, it was, okay , this is what i want, and then it was like, okay, mayor, i will do the press conference on my own, i will take all the credit for it, you don't mind, do you? and he would always say, go ahead, because the work was more important to him, the results of the work that we were doing to serve the citizens of this city, it was more important than who got the credit. and that was so -- what was so amazing about him as someone who wasn't necessarily a politician. he was just a person who cared about doing good things for people. he cared about doing good things for san francisco. he cared about making great things happen for the people of san francisco. many of you, you either work for him or work with him, you cared about him because he genuinely, not only cared about the work

you were doing, he cared about your lives and what was going on in your lives, and how your lives were impacted by the decisions that we were making in city hall every single day. so it is really a fitting tribute to have this documentation to just really recognize and put into perspective all of the work that he has done, and as someone who is now in the position as mayor, i have to tell you, it is a newfound appreciation for mayor lee and what he did, and how he worked with people, and how he basically, i don't know how he tolerated all the stuff that he did. [laughter] >> but it is a newfound appreciation for what he did to keep the city going, and to take this and look at the number of jobs, and to look at the climate change, and all the different initiatives, and all the work, and how much of an impact that it has not only had on the citizens of san francisco, but

people follow san francisco's example in other cities throughout the country. the things that we did here are many of the things that other communities are now trying to duplicate, and his leadership, his forethought, his inspiration , and what he did to get the city to this point has been absolutely amazing. we were so lucky to have his leadership, to have his support, to have his guidance, and yes, on occasion, to have his not so funny jokes. [laughter] >> which, you know, and nita would just laugh and rolled her eyes a bit, but that was her boo , so she had his back. and to all the folks here that worked for mayor lee over the years, thank you for your service, thank you for the work that you did when we lost him, and you all just rose to the occasion. it was not about personalities, it wasn't about politics, it was

about the work and moving the city forward, and taking care of san francisco. thank you to anita and your family for just allowing us the opportunity to work with him. i remember a time when i would come to his office to meet with him and you would be right there and i said, i will just be five minutes, and you said okay, you always said yes. you are always very supportive, and i'm so excited that naomi and her team had the foresight to come together to create what i think is a great documentation of his work, and we also know that even now, and most mayors probably wouldn't say this, but even now when i'm cutting those ribbons, i know that was because of the hard work of mayor lee. a lot of the fruits of his labor were now start -- we are now starting to see come to light because of the new housing, because of, you know, the chase center that will be opening this

year. all these incredible things that he made happen in san francisco, and this is the only time i am going to not take credit for those accomplishments. [laughter] >> so thank you to everyone who is here tonight to celebrate, you know, our mayor, mayor lee, and his amazing legacy for our legacy -- for our city, and i know his birthday was may 5th, and i see our former fire chief is here. [applause]. >> she retired on his birthday as a tribute to mayor lee, again , i saw you, you are the best boss -- best boss ever. he was a great boss, he was a great friend, and he was a great human being, and we all miss him every single day, and i want to

thank all of you for being here for this special tribute to mayor lee and the work that he is done to make san francisco a better place for us now and for generations to come. with that, i would like to introduce the person who basically, i mean, steve, you have been in city government forever, i can't even believe you are retired now, but he has come out of retirement to occasionally assist me every now and then, and he said i wasn't as nice as ed lee in terms of being a boss, but, you know, i am working on it, actually, no, i'm not. [laughter] >> steve was mayor lee's chief of staff, as you all know, for so many years, and he was like any typical chief of staff, he was always telling us know, and what we couldn't do, and yelling out is about money and how irresponsible we are, and we have to take care of the citizens of the city, and then

we would go ask mayor lee for something, and he said sure, you can have that, you can do whatever you want. he was the good cop and steve was the bad cop, but for the purposes of protecting the city, he was definitely a dear friend to mayor lee. steve kava. [cheers and applause] >> thank you, mayor breed. she is absolutely correct, mayor lee was a lot nicer. [laughter] >> he actually paid me when i worked for him, when i work worked for her, she doesn't pay. [laughter]. >> it is so great to be here tonight, and nita, to see you, and to see a lot of familiar faces and friendly faces. it is pretty much every day i think about mayor lee ones something comes up in a drive-by something. today was no different. i got a text this morning from tony winnick a.

and tony said, i forgot, can you speak tonight at the event? and he followed it with, and it will be short, and i said, it will be short? no, if mayor lee was here, that would be like taking a slope all over home plate with him to bat, and he would hit that comment out of the park with another short joke, and for the years i worked with him, i heard a lot of short jokes. i heard a lot of jokes, and the person who enjoyed those jokes the most was the mayor. [laughter] >> he would laugh and laugh, jason, and all the rest of us would be trying to get to work, and he would still be laughing about those jokes. but i miss his laugh, i miss it every day, but today, we're here

to talk about his legacy, his amazing legacy, and one of the things people don't realize is if you look back at his history as mayor, he was ahead of the time. yes, he became mayor in the midst of the great recession, 40,000 san franciscans where without a job when he became mayor. that was the issue of the day, not for him. he had a big job, but he thought about them and their jobs, and the fact they didn't have one. and how does one raise a family, how does one take care of themselves. when you talk about income inequality, if you don't have a job, what does that mean? he went right to work. he went right to work here. an area of town that nobody paid attention to. he put something in place that allow this economic prosperity,

that to this day, the longest economic prosperity in san francisco's history is still going on. [applause] but guess what? i think mayor breed has a huge task at hand and she has been doing a tremendous job on the issue of housing, but who started that housing initiative nobody else was talking about it mayor lee, the housing trust fund in 2011 when he was interim mayor. he did the most difficult thing when it comes to governing, he just decided to do it by consensus, it is not easy bringing the people of the city into one space, into one room, with all different voices, and try to get them to agree. you all know that. you guys try every day to do it. he was a master at doing it. he was a master because of who he was, his personality, the fact that nobody was offended by

him, nobody was offended by him. he didn't offend anybody. he allowed you to open your mind , to come in and know that something good can happen from this. he did the housing trust fund, and he did something else, mayor breed was his champion with this , he decided to make sure that all those folks living in public housing weren't separate from san francisco, they would be part of san francisco under his administration and forever. [applause] >> mayor breed is keeping up the good work. he also, by the way, was the first person in san francisco that said, we should raise the minimum wage. december of 2014, a lot of people take credit for that now, but he is the one who announced it, do you remember that, jason? in 2014, the first one out of the box to say we need to now start addressing this issue of income inequality, and he did that. he did so much more.

the fact that this city has never had the world-class entertainment center like the chase center that is about to happen, i mean, this city, san francisco, didn't have one. it is going to have one because of one person, ed lee. [applause]. >> we should all thank him for that. and so i could go on and on, and that book goes on and on about the great things that he did, but he would be really mad at me right now. he would be saying, i didn't do it, steve, they did it. he wouldn't want the credit. he wanted you all to have the credit, because guess what? he valued public service, and he valued public servants, he didn't disgrace you or disparage you, he knew, from his own history what you do every single

day to make this city and this society a better place. he honored you every single day by the way he carried himself, his steadiness, his lack of selfishness that he had, the selflessness that he had, it was truly amazing. he was the mayor, but the man is also someone that we should all look up to, how he conducted himself in a very stressful environment here in city hall and other places with the issues that he had. he never, never reacted negatively to the staff when the stress was on him. he took it all in himself. he bore that burden himself. he was quite the man, i will never forget him, i don't think any of us will ever forget him. his legacy, which is in that

book, is also in our hearts, you know, i was trying to think what words can really say about mayor lee, and ed lee the public servant. there is a famous speech that a senator from massachusetts, i speak a little bit like him, but a senator from massachusetts gave at a convention speech in new york. and he said, for those who's cares are our concern, the cars, the work goes on, the hope still lives, and the dreams shall never die. thank you mayor lee for making so many dreams come true. [applause] >> that was beautiful, steve. next up, i will call annie chung

from self-help for the elderly. [applause] >> thank you. when mayor lee made -- when you made the statement about ed never takes credit for anything, and he is just so humble and modest, it reminds me of a similar story that the mayor always comes to our thanksgiving lunch that we give to about 3,000 seniors every year at self-help, and so that year, we were waiting for him, you know, for the car to drive him, and sometimes, just the mayor came in from another event, and then that day, i didn't see any police car, no escort, you know, no staff, and ed was just walking across the street from

nation street, so we all said, mayor, where is your car, where is your driver? he said i gave them the day off, and i just drove myself. after the event, we said, can we escort you to the car? and he said if i can't walk to my car in chinatown, i couldn't go anywhere. [laughter]. >> i said, that's right. so naomi, you asked me to say something about ed today, and i have been to a lot of events, i've been to a lot of memorials for ed, been to a lot of celebrations, and i think, steve , you are right. every day we walk by his tree near the asian art museum that mope planted, a lot of us where there that day, and we walk by the chinese newcomer's school in chinatown, and we walk by places where we remember him playing

ping-pong with walter right there, and so every day, there is something in our city and in our community, and in our life that we think of mayor lee. he was an extra, extra special person. i knew him from the late seventies when i started to work at self-help, and he was an attorney at the asian law caucus we were both assigned to make sure that the public housing tenants are living in decent and safe housing, so he placed -- he played the lawyer's part to sue the housing authority, and i play the social worker part, which is to support the tenants with whatever they want. i think that dedication and commitment to the people who are not as fortunate as we are in this room, has always been part of ed's d.n.a. he always fought for every case, and protected the unreserved,

the minority, our seniors, our families, and our youth in the community that needed his help. i remember when he became mayor in 2011, as interim, then 2012, the first thing he did was to ask me, to make sure that i bring to him and whatever the seniors are lacking. he said, make sure you call me or let me know what the seniors need, and almost immediately, the state started to cut the number of very essential senior programs, like the health centers that were threatened to close down, and ed did what he promised to when we brought the problem to him. he asked kate, at that time, and steve to backfill the state money that we were going to lose to make sure that the seven centers remained in san francisco to serve the very needy and handicap --

handicapped seniors. so i worked with mayor lee on the immigration issues that steve mentioned, on the minimum wage with jason, and with a number of issues that many of us in this room are friends and colleagues, but more friends to add, and he would -- we would do anything that the mayor asked us to do. that's how much we trusted him, that's how much we loved him, and that's also how much he, in return, loved and supported all of us in the community. naomi, i don't know if i'm supposed to share this, but i thought that, as a tribute to mayor lee, for the last 13 months, our community has been working quietly with naomi, karen, and steve on renaming the international terminal after mayor lee. [cheers and applause]

>> we thought that being the mayor of san francisco, and having done so much for the airport, and making san francisco and international international, well-known famous city, this would be an easy task we had lunch with you and naomi, and we said, let's collect the signatures, we submitted it to the airport commission, and we should be able to get the international terminal renamed. many of our cochairs are here tonight, walter, norman, henry, and malcolm. we collected 22,000 signatures within two weeks. it is an easy ask. nobody said no. along with the letters of support, and a short strategy that steve and naomi and the community had advised we

submitted these, and the airport -- at the airport commission, and then we were told there was a process in renaming and dedicating anything at the s.f.o., even for mayor lee. so 13 months went by, with many, many scenarios and schemes, and the airport staff worked very hard. i was appointed on the special advisory committee, there were nine of us. many other commissioners, and we were at a standstill, we were -- we couldn't accept any of the schemes that the airport staff, at that point, had recommended, and then we were looking to anita and the girls to give us some green light as to how much compromise we should take, but in all of that, steve, naomi,

karen, i remember what you said constantly that if the mayor was here, he would not like to see as fight over this, he would be the first one to say, no, i don't need it, don't go through all this to rename the terminal after me, and that is just the way ed was. but the good news is, we got nine votes at the may meeting from the special committee, so unanimous, and on june 4th, we are taking the resolution that the committee approved to the airport commission, and i'm hoping that it will be a unanimous vote on june 4th, and anita, that would be our birthday gift to our mayor and to the family. when we walk in in the future, in the near future, in the departures hall, in the international terminal right in the center, you will see