i'm louis lieuman the executive directortor san francisco fleet association. together again in san francisco for fleet week. there was a late decision back in june from the board of directors for the san francisco fleet week association, we struggled with whether we were going to have a fleet week or not. we had to make that call because it takes a long time to organize an event like this and usually we start in november of the year before for the next fleet week. it's a late start. we had a big discussion. and we decided we're going to do it. we're going to take the risk because we trusted our leaders, mayor breed, the department of

emergency management, the department of public health, all of the people who gave us the guidance as a community and it's san franciscans that were smart enough to follow that guidance and here we are, the only live in-person fleet week in the entire nation here in san francisco. thank you, mayor breed. thank you to the leadership, and thank you to san francisco. fleet week's already started. there's ships already at the piers. yesterday, we had a fabulous program with the boys and girls club. a big basketball clinic down in front of [inaudible] which will be hope for tours. of course, we're all -- we all know about the air show. san francisco fleet week air show presented by united. united stuck with us as did the blue angels. they committed early. they said if you are having a

fleet week on the ground, we are having a fleet week in the skies and they are going to be here with their brand new f-18 super hornets, amazing plane and joined by united and redbull and a whole lineup of participants. you can go down there for free and watch. buy the premium tickets with premium sitting. those tickets are, by the way, almost sold out. so if you want them you have to get them. we have the neighborhood concerts. you just got a sample of it right here. [ applause ] the full navy band southwest is here in town. and they break up into smaller bands and they're going to be in just about every neighborhood you can find in san francisco. check out the website fleetweeksf.org and see where

and when they're playing in your area. the ship tours are going to be taking place. you've got to go down there. greet the sailors and marines. say hello to them. welcome them to our city. they are excited to be here in our city and explore the streets of san francisco. the canine program. the dogs of the military, police department, fire department, and array of other organizations bring out their dogs to show their skills. it's a great neighborhood event 10:00 a.m. this saturday. check out fleetweeksf.org or monitor our social media @fleetweeksf. i'm going to introduce mayor london breed. thank you, mayor london breed. >> well, i don't know about you, but i feel like our city is finally coming alive again

after such a challenging almost two years. and when i say two years, it's leading up to this global pandemic. and, in fact, we missed out last year on seeing the incredible blue angels fly over the skyline of san francisco, but we did have programming for fleet week virtually and we went to treasure island to the coast guard base to kick it off, but it still wasn't the same. even though fleet week happened virtually, what i missed most is being around the people and welcoming the folks from the navy, from the coast guard, from the marines and also doing the incredible work they do in san francisco on preparedness. now, we know we talk about excitement around fleet week and the blue angels, but we also have to keep in mind that this is also an opportunity for

us to come together with the port of san francisco, with the fire department, with the police department to talk about preparedness and how we continue to work together so that if and when -- not a matter of if, but when there's an earthquake or a disaster in some capacity, we know we can count on the folks from the military to come through and help us weather the storm. we take this as an opportunity to work together and i want to appreciate the work of many of the city department directors that are here with us today including our fire chief janine nicholson and the fire department, we appreciate you. chief scott is not here, but i want to appreciate the police department and the work they continue to do to keep us safe as well as along with dr. grant colfax and the woman the

department of health. and the director of the port, thank you to our port partners and president of the port commission kimberly brandon for being here with us. you know, we had a lot of work to do and it was very challenging work to do, but let me tell you, it was all worth it because we are celebrating in san francisco. yes, we need to deal with preparedness and disasters and pandemics and other things. and we will come together to do that. but fleet week is opening a new chapter in san francisco. i don't know about you, but i still think about when i was in high school at gallaleo high school and the planes practicing to get ready for the air show. the air show is coming back with the blue angels. the parade of ship and ship

tours which are incredible. i don't know about you again, but those ship tours were like the highlight for me. and, we have this band that's going to be performing all over san francisco in various neighborhoods. i miss live music and, yes, i used to play the french horn, i may not be that good anymore, but i'm willing to take a chance and see if i can join you and i may need a couple of practices before i jump in. but the fact is, they're going to be going to neighborhoods. they're going to be performing for the people of san francisco and we are so very grateful. so for the activities and all the things that are happening for fleet week, please, check out the website and make sure that you participate, you attend, you follow the covid restrictions so you don't get in trouble. you make sure that you do your part because we're still in a pandemic. we're still in a pandemic, but san franciscans, we're at 82% of the folks in san francisco

vaccinated. and that's really why we're able to have fleet week in the city. but more than just fleet week, just next week, i mean, just tomorrow right down the street, guess who's going to be playing their first pre-season game? the san francisco warriors. i mean, the golden state warriors. and, one of the first parades in so long, the italian heritage will be this sunday. we have incredible tables all outside. people are eating, hanging out, waving. so make sure on sunday you stop by the italian heritage parade and celebrate with us. and i've also got to send out a big shout-out to the san francisco giants who are in the playoffs. and i just want to make sure the folks in l.a. know that the giants are actually number one

in the series. so this friday, i heard that "beat l.a." yes. so friday and saturday, they'll be games. they'll be all kinds of activities in san francisco. the city is going to be bumping and all of you are going to be all around our city enjoying it, enjoying our restaurants, staying at our hotels, visiting our neighborhoods, and just do one thing for me. make sure you remember we were in a global pandemic where we had no choice but to protect 1 another. we had to stay home. we had to obey many protocols and we're still doing that in some capacity today. but, ultimately, we're still able to come together like we haven't been able to do for the last 16, 17 months. so let's make sure when we're

out there we're remembering what we didn't have at one point and appreciate where we are and let's celebrate it. let's have a good time. thank you all fur being here. looking forward to celebrate fleet week with all of you. and, at this time, i want to introduce because we are at crane cove park which has a rich history in san francisco with the military and world war i and world war ii and the person who's responsible to keep this place beautiful and nice and clean and available to all of you and hopefully we can add a skate park one day because i like to roller skate, but our port director lane forbes. >> thank you so much, mayor. and welcome all of you to crane cove park and to fleet week. it's absolutely wonderful we can be here to celebrate. i'm here today with my commission president kimberly

brandon and we broke ground on this park. it was wonderful to provide open space to this neighborhood, the dog patch community who actually designed this park. this is a park designed by and for the neighborhood and the mayor came out and under her leadership, we were able to open up this space for people to enjoy the nature while they were all of us struggling from the pandemic. when we had our last fleet week in person, i made a joke that it was diane feinstein, our first mayor who was a woman who saved fleet week and now mayor london breed, our second mayor who is a woman, is so good and prepared for fleet week and i made the joke that women just know how to prepare better. but how would i know that we would have a global pandemic that none of us were expecting and that our mayor would act really quickly, more quickly

than anyone else acted and that she would follow the science the whole way and not question it. and how did i know that our mayor would be so successful that we would be the only country in the whole nation able to post an in-person fleet week and that we'd take the risk to do so and we'd be safe enough to pull it through. now, my tenants, 500 of them, the commercial folks, the retail, the people-moving facilities we have, excursions, crews, we've suffered so much and our tenants and businesses are so eager to get people back to san francisco. and we're talking so much about the inner connectiveness about being prepared and honoring our sea servicemen and women. this was all for shipbuilding for the war effort. a heavy industrial industry

here with these wonderful vessels that provided our security. how did we know now that our tenants would be so eager to see the visitors that come back in great numbers during fleet week and so many locals are coming down. we've had press articles about the war re-opening, pier 39. how our local small businesses are benefitting from this event and how they will be nurtured by people returning. so i think covid has laid bare how inner connected we are and how much we really have to think about community and its entire inner connectedness. and how i was right, women are better prepared. welcome to fleet week. [ applause ] and now i have the honor of introducing a very important person to san francisco port, the captain of our port for the coast guard, newly in the position, a great

leader, let's welcome captain taylor lamb. >> thank you, director forbes, for that great introduction. what a pleasure it is to be here with you today as we kick off fleet week 2021. on behalf of the district commander and all of our members across the state of california, we could not be more excited ton here as we highlight our u.s. military, u.s. navy, marine corps and coast guard members, our emergency first responders, our emergency management professionals and certainly the greater maritime community at large. on that note, i'd like to quickly convey our sincere thanks to the critical partnerships here in the port of san francisco as we work daily to ensure the safety and security of not only the public but our marine transportation system. on the note of safety, i'd be remiss if i didn't remind our

boating public, please ensure you have enough life jackets for all passengers on board and a v.h.f. radio. it's the best means to contact the coast guard for any time of maritime emergencies. with that, we are really excited and looking forward to a safe and enjoyable week of events and look forward to introducing you to some of our nearly 4,000 active duty coast guard members here and assigned to the bay area and some of 0 our visiting coast guard units such as robert ward. it's a 154' state of the art designed ship capable of conducting a myriad of missions. search and rescue, operations just to name a few. we thank you, mayor breed, for your leadership and all of our partners here across the region. thank you so much. [ applause ]

i'd also be remiss if i did not introduce a very distinguished leader admiral u.s. navy. admiral. >> hey, everybody. thank you so much. thanks to the mayor. thanks to these distinguished colleagues for letting me be up here. i'm honored to represent the sailors marines, coast guard men and women that i hope you get a chance to meet this week. i'll start out by saying wow. it's great to be here in person. i'm so happy fleet week was able to execute because of the city's preparations and for me, it feels a little bit like a homecoming because the last time i had a fleet week experience, it was here in 2014. and i was part of the crew on that. it was awesome. it was epic. probably second only to meeting

my wife for the first time. sorry, that's just where things go. it's because of the hospitality of the city. i'm super excited to bring the young people and show them what fleet week is life for the first time in their careers. so this year, fleet week is going to be epic. we've brought a slew of ships. the u.s.s. john mccain. and we're going to have a pretty big amphibious assault ship, the mount rushmore. we're going to have aircrafts and boats. it's not just the navy. it's the coast guard, support services, first responders. we're setting up a disaster relief village over in marina green. this is all about showing you the type of capabilities we have to work together with the city in times of crisis. navy and marine corps band. every day they're at a

different venue. we've got parades. we've got parades on the water. we've got parades on the land. we've got an air group. i don't know who they are. the blue angels. have you all heard of them? [ applause ] i'm a helicopter guy, but they're kind of cool you've got to admit. and the most important thing, i'm bringing a lot of young sailors, marines, coast guard men and women and we're telling them to get out and about in the community. ya'll clap for them, please. [ applause ] so they're getting beaten by your youngsters in sports. they're working with dogs which is a cool initiative, but the main thing i want them to do is get out and talk to ya'll about who they are, what they do, and why they serve because that's what fleet week is all about. it's about civilians celebrating their military, but it's also what we're all about.

it's really important. so we missed 2020 because of covid, we overcame that. absence makes the heart grow fonder. so this year is going to be epic as i said. i think it's going to be the best fleet week ever. i look forward to seeing you out there. it means a lot to me personally. it's a good feeling. i'm not going to lie, but also to our military families to see themselves and being recognized like this. and now i have the honor to introduce -- i'll pass the mic to our executive director mary ellen carol. thank you so much. [ applause ] >> thank you, admiral bayes, for that introduction. thank you, mayor breed. and it's such an honor to be here with my esteemed colleagues.

it's also a thrill to be here and not talking about covid and not telling you what you can't do, but just really to send the message to have fun and, of course, be safe. but on a serious note, we do -- my team and i are part of fleet week. that is so important to us and the partnership and the planning that we do with our military partners. so we really focus on all different things. this year, we focused on air support and activities for san francisco in a seismic event. the possibility of us becoming an island for all intensive purposes for some period of time is real and so our marine and our air support with our military is critical. on a day-to-day, the coast guard provides us with help on our waters, around our bay. as a surfer and a bay swimmer,

i personal appreciate it in case things go awry but during nature events of course. this year, we have -- last month, we did exercises with all of our partners and the u. s.s. tripoli. and a lot of the people from d.m. had an incredible day at moffet field and really experienced the capabilities that the military brings to us and those relationships that we make. these relationships with these people that we make every year is going to make our ability to respond so much better. later this week, we have the seniors seminar and that's where we're really going to exchange our lessons learned. we are so proud of our covid response and so much of that goes to the leadership of this

woman right here, our mayor. the fact that we have 82% of our folks vaccinated is entirely the reason that we're all here being able to do fleet week. so thank you, mayor breed. [ applause ] and thank you to everybody in the city who contributed to that. so we're going to talk about the things that worked for us. we're going to talk about a lot of other things. virtual op's, when that needs to happen. mental health which is a real issue and problem for us and a lot more. so i hope everyone takes the opportunity to come out to the senior leader seminar. the only other thing i have to say is just, please, have a wonderful time, be safe and welcome to our service, our servicemen and women. it is our honor and our privilege to welcome you to our city and we hope you have a wonderful time. thank you. [ applause ]

>> thank you, mary ellen. thank you to all of our speakers. thank you to elaine forbes and the port of san francisco, which is a whole community of people who helped to make the work of fleet week easier for the planners. the wharfingers. the people have just been flawless throughout this whole planning process. and thank you for this beautiful park. it's beautiful. crane cove park. and i cannot leave the stage without pointing out that our chairman of the board retired major general mike might retired marine corps is the guy who pulled this back together in 2010 to recessitate fleet week. thank you, general, for all of

your support. i think we're going to conclude the conference. we're going to have the speakers gather in front of the stage for a photo-op and we're going to gather for q and a if anyone desires. thank you very much.

francisco. >> my name is fwlend hope i would say on at large-scale what all passionate about is peace in the world. >> it never outdoor 0 me that note everyone will think that is

a good i know to be a paefrt. >> one man said i'll upsetting the order of universe i want to do since a good idea not the order of universe but his offered of the universe but the ministry sgan in the room chairing sha harry and grew to be 5 we wanted to preach and teach and act god's love 40 years later i retired having been in the tenderloin most of that 7, 8, 9 some have god drew us into the someplace we became the network ministries for homeless women escaping prostitution if the months period before i performed

memorial services store produced women that were murdered on the streets of san francisco so i went back to the board and said we say to do something the number one be a safe place for them to live while he worked on changing 4 months later we were given the building in january of 1998 we opened it as a safe house for women escaping prostitution i've seen those counselors women find their strength and their beauty and their wisdom and come to be able to affirmative as the daughters of god and they accepted me and made me, be a part of the their lives. >> special things to the women that offered me a chance safe house will forever be a part of the who i've become and you made

that possible life didn't get any better than that. >> who've would know this look of this girl grown up in atlanta will be working with produced women in san francisco part of the system that has abused and expedited and obtain identified and degraded women for century around the world and still do at the embody the spirits of women that just know they deserve respect and intend to get it. >> i don't want to just so women younger women become a part of the the current system we need to change the system we don't need to go up the ladder we need to change the corporations we need more women like that and they're out there.

>> we get have to get to help them. >> this is the disability and aging committee. i am the commission president martha knudsen. to facilitate teleconferencing to reduce the risk of covid-19 transmission at public meetings. ordinarily, the brown act sets strict rules for teleconferencing. the governor recently signed ne