>> okay. you want us to take the picture. >> and we're going to do more afterward. >> well, thank you. you know, i'm like the biggest cry baby. i have all these emotions that always show up but i want to thank you and one of the things that makes me so proud is to see london and the woman and the leader, i mean, are a courageous warrior in the woman she has become. so if you ever do anything for everyone i don't know why i'm

here, but i do know that in my very young life, i was taught that it was always about service, it wasn't about you and my mom said this is not about you and when you're little, you don't understand why it's not about you because you think you're everything and my grandpa used to always say, if you want something to change, go do the work. and that's all i know is doing the work. but i just wanted to say there's so many wonderful women in san francisco doing so many wonderful things and for you i'm very grateful because many times, we do them together. so i'm very grateful for that. i'm thankful to my friends who hold me up, lift me up. my partner steve who gets the

brunt of my anger at home. not at him. thank you for always supporting me. thank you to amanda, my daughter. and a person growing up saying i'll never have children, it was the best thing i've ever done. but i just want to say that when you think about, i want to tell you, one of my favorite quotes and you've heard it before but it's a tenant by which i live and exist. service is a rent you pay for living and i always ask people, have you paid your rent today? if you can't answer "yes" when you leave here, you need to go pay your rent. even if you put a down payment on a bigger place, you know,

because the world needs you. we're just in such desperate times. you know, the world needs you and no disrespect, but if you want a job done, give it to a woman. no disrespect and those of you men that are here and the women, you're probably yeah i know. i know. you don't want to hear it. thank you so much. i'm so proud of you. i'm proud of your courage every day and i know this isn't an easy job, but i'm proud of you. to my fellow honorees, thank you. i'm just proud to be in your company and just know that we are not finished yet. so thank you.

>> all right. i'm just feeling good already. our next honoree is my next friend who is equally amazing and sophisticated. i've got to say i've heard about dd and her. when the de young museum was getting built and the whole ventilation system on the ground. they said, no, we have to make sure they're just small enough to dee dee's heels don't get stuck in the vents. i said i know that's right, take control and get it done. dee dee has been an institution

in san francisco for as long as i can remember. the work she has done is people have heard about how she single-handedly raised all the money to rebuild the beautiful deyoung museum today. she continued to give to over 100 organizations annually both large and small. but i do know what her favorite organization is and it has a lot to do with her canine babies, an organization that she has been giving to for so many years, they recently honored her for her philanthropy. and the thing i like about dee dee is when you call her, she didn't even know who i was and

she still took the time to talk to me. and this was before i was an elected official or anything else. she wanted to know more about the organization and what she could do and she's like that with everyone. yes, she looks amazing all the time just like b. wright. but, again, another woman who cares about giving back but she consistently vests in san francisco and as i said, whether it's our cultural institutions like the deyoung, like the opera, like the symphony, there have been times i'm at events and the whole event is sponsored by dee dee and she's not even there.

because she always makes herself available to give. to give up her time if she can, but also give up the resources to support the causes that, of course, are worthy. and when i think about how fortunate we are in san francisco, how fortunate we are to have dee dee and her desires to want to be that person to contribute and support, it's important for me to make sure she knows how much she's appreciated. i remember when the new millionaires came to san francisco. she feels as though when you

have it, you have to make it a responsibility to help somebody else's life. for continuing to serve the city and making sure that she is spearheading a lot of the major causes that keep the opera, the symphony and the ballet, these incredible world class institutions here in san francisco that are recognized all over the world and they're like that because of dee dee. so, today, let me just honor you and let me make sure i don't forget the other thing. we honor you because as a woman in philanthropy, dee dee doesn't ask for anything. all you do is ask for something that's going to make san

francisco better. it's never about anything personal. it's always about how do you change the lives of people in san francisco. how do you work on this project. how do we get this done, how do we clean up this, how do we make things better. so today, dee dee, we honor you because of your commitment to san francisco and i know you don't do it for the recognition. i know you do it because you love to do it. i know you love san francisco. and we are so fortunate and blessed to have you as one of our well-known, well respected citizens of the city. and so on behalf of the city and county of san francisco, we honor you today for women's history month. thank you so much for your

philanthropy. so this is your little gift in there. >> well, london, thank you for everything. i have to say i have been a grown-up in san francisco because i didn't come here until i was a grown-up and i've known a lot of mayors and some have been really fun, but no one's been fun like london. nobody is the breath of fresh air and you know when you call her or she calls you, i always just sort of get a dog, put it in my lap and think this is going to be nice and relaxing and funny and i laugh and i laugh and even if it's something serious, we find something to laugh about, something that's good. i have to say when i was 14, i was growing up in washington, d.c. and one day, my father said to me, "do you realize

that you could grow up to marry the president of the united states. you could be the first lady of the united states." and i said to him, "daddy, i'd like to be the president." [cheers and applause] >> well, that didn't go over. in those days. in the late '50s, early '60s absolutely didn't work. my father at first was horrified and then he laughed. that's really she's so funny. so i have to say, i listened to him because he used to always say, "you were lucky enough to be born in the good right bassinet, now you have to give back." and he always said that to me. it took me into my early 20s to figure out what he was talking about because i lived in the city with a building called the

capital. and i couldn't understand how you possibly could spend it. those are the two things i kind of live by. i have to say as far as the president goes, i'm very pleased to live in a time now where i have two beautiful, smart granddaughters. one is here today. i am absolutely convinced either one of them could be president if they wanted to. at least they have that possibility which my generation has not. i have hit more glass ceilings and glass walls, even some glass floors that most people that you'll ever meet because i couldn't understand why i couldn't go where i wasn't supposed to go and often that was in a room full of men and i will never forget being introduced to an important dignitary from china when we were building the deyoung.

i was standing next to my husband who was alive at the time and harry said i'd like to introduce you to the chairman of the board and the guy puts his hand right out across me to my husband. i thought, that's interesting, isn't it. i guess in china, they don't have chairman who are women. my husband had a very good sense of humor and he directed his hand and said i'm so happy for you to meet my wife. i thought, lessons learned. this is the way it is and we have to work very hard, very carefully and try not to irritate as many people as possible and find a way to be sure that women have the opportunity they may not want to do some of these things, but we just need to have the opportunity to do that and, of course, i agree with brenda if you really want a job, well done. you should find a woman. and i'm happy you found all of us, london. thank you so much. [ applause ]

>> don't you just love her. so now i have the privilege of honoring merriam -- merriam m.. i met merriam at her house that larkin street was holding focused on ending youth homelessness. the rising up campaign has beenen about raising millions of dollars to get to a point to end youth homelessness. we're talking about kids who are in their early 20s as well

and a passion of hers has been to focus on the challenges of homelessness for children, for families, for young people and she's been consistent in her advocacy and i was really not only impressed by her work, but also her excitement for the work and it wasn't just about raising the money or giving the money. it was also about being apart of the various committees and rolling up her sleeves and being actively engaged on the ground with these various organizations to understand what they're doing and how we can make a significant impact. and the nitty-gritty, and the nuts and the bolts. and i thought to myself, goodness, this woman is amazing. and she's the chair of the opera gill. she's still involved in the arts in san francisco. she still is actively engaged in the san francisco bay school and other various causes, but i

know that her desires to help address homelessness in san francisco for young people is something that she is never going to walk away from because it's important to her and until we're at a point where we end homelessness in san francisco, we know that we have an advocate in merriam. and so i am so grateful that she is actively engaged in the city, in this capacity that i found you at this event. she wasn't i don't think trying to get involved in the world of politics. she was just trying to do her part and you know what's very interesting is when you're out there doing the work you never know who's watching and part of why you do the work is not because of who's watching, but because of what you care about, what's near and dear to your

heart. so for all the time and the resources you spent as a native san franciscan caring about this city, investing in youth homelessness, investing in the arts, supporting our city in various capacities, we are so grateful for you for your time, your commitment, and, yes, you've been hiding out a little bit too long, but we're bringing you to the surface, merriam. and so on behalf of the city and county of san francisco, thank you. and congratulations. we honor you for women's history month. >> wow. it is truly an honor to be

recognized amongst these legendary women with woman i've looked up to for quite some time and mayor breed thank you for your leadership in this city and for your continued support and trust. for all the efforts that we all do for our beautiful city that we love. you set an example for everyone and we are truly grateful for that. you know, my father talking about family anecdotes, when i was younger, he said you have to be stronger than everybody else around you because if you have a husband who leaves you with five kids, you need to be able to take care of yourself. luckily, that did not happen and i ended up with a very supportive husband who is always supportive of all of my efforts on a daily basis and as

you mentioned, mayor breed, i love our city. i love every inch of our city and i believe that every single one of us is here because we truly believe in our efforts to enhance and preserve our -- what we want to do for the youth and for investing in early education and celebrating the strong legacy in arts and culture. so we're all here i think with a common theme of our love for san francisco and i really appreciate this recognition. and someone said if actually we had an all-women group chat late at night inspired by ruth

bader ginsburg who always stood strong and recommended to act virtuously, then our world would be a better place. so thank you again. >> thank you. and last but not least and she couldn't join us here today, i wanted to honor susie tompkins buhl. she's really been an extraordinary person in san francisco. a person who supports and uplifts and pushes women in office. she's supported programs like emerge. she is really when it comes to

getting women elected. she does what's near and dear to her heart is the environment and making sure this is a better place we leave for our children. i'm proud of san francisco and its focus on equity and our plans around our new environmental climate action plan. they are the professionals and they should decide what happens around san francisco. it centered around making sure that communities that have been disenfranchised like the bayview hunter's point and i know we have some women here today that they are at the

forefront of the change we need to make in san francisco. and susie believes very strongly in not only focusing on the environment, but making sure that equity is at the center of the decisions that we make as a city and as a country. she believes again firmly and supporting and uplifting women and she is consistently doing everything she can to support those causes. now i've got to tell you, i became a big fan of susie once she found out i was the founder of the sfree. i don't know if you remember the spree outlet we'd go to this free outlet that was off of 3rd street near mission rock. you guys all know it.

yes. but she took her resources and used them to support causes that mean a lot to uplifting and supporting women and we are so grateful for her work and wish she could have been with us here today but she's here with us in spirit. to congratulations to susie tomkins buhl for her work in san francisco. and so with that, we are going to bring an end to our program but we see the man of the board of supervisors joined us late. but he's here nevertheless. supervisor asha safai, thank you so much for joining us. and i just want to say as i know kimberly ellis mentioned earlier, it's been a tough time in the world. it's been a tough time with what happened during covid. it's been a very challenging

time we know with what's happening sadly every single second in ukraine. we know that there are people in this city and this world who are suffering, but i have hope. i have hope because when i look around even the group of people that i see here today, i know so many of you from various points in my life and the consistency and the involvement that you all continue to do in the city is going to help transform it for the better. yes. it won't be easy, but we're not going to give up. we're going to keep fighting. we're going to keep working hard. and because we have these extraordinary honorees with us here today, i know that we're

going to get to a better place one day at a time. i want to thank all of you for joining us and celebrating women's history month in san francisco. and i feel really good right now. so because of i feel so good right now, i want to invite all of you into the mayor's office where we will have champaign, and a few appetizers and enjoy 1 another because after two years of a global pandemic, i'm just happy to see your faces. so thank you all so much and please talk with us afterward. thank you.

>> good morning, everyone. my name is jeffery tumlin, and i am the executive director of the sfmta, and welcome to the new van ness avenue. this has been a very long time in coming, but i am so proud of the results that all of my teams have produced. the new van ness avenue is a part of our efforts to reimagine san francisco streets, to rethink our streets to allow them to move more people as the city grows, and to prioritize the people with the fewest mobility choices, and that is what we're steadily delivering all over san francisco, so these projects include some obvious components like the bright red new transit only lanes that are built of

2 feet thick of red concrete that's red all the way through. it includes rebuilding everything of the overhead power structure, including 375 new trees and 4,000 drought resistant new shrubs, but the best part is the undergroundwork. we dug up and unsnarled 150 years' worth of crazy utilities, including 10,000 feet of communication fiber optics lines, 18,000 feet of sewer pipes, including 19 century brick sewers, 25,000 feet of water pipes, and 5,000 feet of ductwork to power our buses and power signals. rebuilding all of these utilities and strengthening

them for earthquake resistance means we will not have to do that again for another 150 years, and i am so glad for that part of the project. this project was the result of -- okay. we could not have done this without a very, very large team, so i'm going to go through and thank some of our partners, and i will miss some. so thankful for the transit commission, to the san francisco county transportation authority who is our funding and planning partner, to mayor london breed and the board of supervisors who have prioritized this project again and again for over a decade. to the planning department, who helped us reimagine the space, to public works department, the

public utilities commission, who helped us reimagine the under ground staff. to the arts commission, who helped us choose the art, to the city attorney's office, to the historic preservation commission, particularly here in the civic center area, to the mayor's office on housing development, but we also owe a very strong debt of gratitude to the folks who live and work along this corridor. digging up this entire street to replace 150 years of utilities resulted in some major disruption and impacts as a result of the construction, and i really want to extend my gratitude and sincere apologies to all of the business owners

and residents along this corridor. thank you for your patience. you put up with years of noisy and disruptive work at all hours of day and night. we have learned a lot of lessons from this project, and we are already applying this lesson to other projects, so i also want to thank, in addition to the residents and business owners for their patience, i also want to thank the people who worked on this project. i want to thank everybody for their work along with hundreds and hundreds of people, but particularly those people who have spent the last decade making this happen.

from the san francisco transportation authority, i want to thank tilly chang and bob masis, and then, i want to particularly want to thank walsh construction and all of their technical subcontractors for being out here delivering this work, including the ballet dance of rebuilding the mission and south van ness intersection. so thank you to all of those people for really making this happen. so it's very, very exciting to finally be here. this is a very big year for the sfmta. we completed the first phase of the geary rapid project earlier this year. we completed the first phase of rebuilding taraval and the el taraval this year, and indeed, we're going to open the central subway later this year, in the fall, and i'm so happy to be

here, finally opening the van ness area bus rapid transit. so without further adieu, may i introduce the mayor of san francisco, london breed. [applause] >> the hon. london breed: wow. what a big deal in san francisco today. thank you so much, jeff, and thank you -- let's give another round of applause to the great san francisco symphony for that beautiful rendition of "i left my heart in san francisco." yes, our hearts are in san francisco today, and today, because of that, we are rolling out the red carpet. no, this is not an april fool's joke, this is finally done, because it has been a long time coming. the people of san francisco, the voters of san francisco approved this back in 2003, and

the work began to look at how we were going to reimagine what van ness boulevard would be in order to provide efficient transit and safety and all the things that we need. when i think back to the history of van ness boulevard and what it represented after the 1906 earthquake, when i used to walk up and down these streets and catch the 49 to the 47 to galileo high school, not too long ago, it was auto row. this city was built mostly to accommodate vehicles, and over the years, we've seen a significant shift, people using various modes of transportation. but also, because we are a city who pride ourselves on making sure we are good stewards of

the environment, we noticed something. 47% of greenhouse gas emissions happen in this city because of vehicles, and we need to make changes. we need to make our public transportation system more efficient. we need to make sure that we improve our infrastructure so that different modes of transportation be moved around san francisco in a safe and efficient manner and at the same time having positive effects on the environment. yes, this project took a very long time, starting when i was on the board of supervisors in 2016, but you know how that is. even scott wiener was on the board of supervisors. bureaucratic years take forever in this city, but guess what? i feel like we're opening it right on time after dealing

with two years of a global pandemic, so please forgive me if i don't recognize you anymore. as we begin to reemerge, i can't believe how strong and resilient this city is. we've endured so many challenges in our city's history, but when we're able to complete challenges like this, we celebrate, but we also understand the value of what this will mean for people to get around this city, for the commuters that come all over the bay area -- golden gate regional, and the folks who catch muni, and the kids who try to pretend to get to school on time at galileo -- this is going to be a meaningful change, reducing the travel time by 30%, making public

transportation more attract attract -- attractive to people. that's our goal in these various transportation projects, so as we reopen, we have to make sure we can get people around efficiently and safely, and i am so happy that this is finally getting done because now i can catch the 49 to the house of prime rib and get there in a timely manner. now we can make sure that we support all of these businesses. yes, the city came together and provided millions of dollars for grants for small businesses, but it clearly was not enough, and so now, the real work began -- begins. using this system, enjoying the

public art, commuting back and forth to wherever we need to go and supporting the businesses along van ness, but i want to say to the kids of galileo, don't get off before it's time because we don't want this transit system to be a way to let you do what you're not supposed to be doing. i want to thank the county transportation union, the people who live along this area, work along this area and have businesses along this area. we owe you a debt of gratitude for what you've endured during this time, and i think this is a shining example of san francisco and our resilience of what we've had to endure the

last couple of years. we are going to continue to host the cleanest and the greenest fleet and move san francisco in a direction where we meet our climate goals, and we make sure that we provide transportation that makes this the priority in san francisco, using public transportation as the priority in san francisco to get around because it is more efficient than any other mode. thank you all so much for being here. we appreciate everyone that's participated in this project. [applause] >> thank you, mayor london breed. fun fact: in 2001, i was quoted by san francisco columnist john king in a newspaper story in the chronicle talking about san francisco bus rapid transit, and the mayor, at the time, i don't know -- at the time, upon reading this article, tried to fire me over the radio. thank you, mayor breed, for

your support strong of transit in san francisco. meanwhile, the author of this recent legislation would have saved -- shaved significant time off of transit in a year. senator scott wiener. scott? >> i am so excited. as a 25-year muni rider, i've seen the good, the bad, occasionally the ugly. i love the subway, i love trains, but in my heart, i am a bus person. and buses, you know, get really neglected a lot of times. it's the large majority of transit here in san francisco, is buses. we need to find ways to make

buses faster, more efficient for people. they shouldn't have to live by a subway line to be able to use transit. they should be able to use transit everywhere, and buses are the way to do that, and rapid area transit is the way that we do that. this is just incredibly exciting. when you look at the future of san francisco, we need a lot more housing. we need to put a lot more housing here in san francisco so that people can be paired to live here. but we have to have more and more trouble transportation to support it because if it's just a bunch more cars, the geometry

doesn't work. we need to put it all together to make this the most amazing and sustainable city in the world. this has been a real team effort. when you look at the work that's being done here on van ness and other amazing transit projects in the city, i had the honor of chairing our county transportation authority, and we worked really hard with the mayor, with then-supervisor breed to move this forward, but we also worked at the state level, and i want to really thank and acknowledge our entire current and former state legislative delegation, our city attorney, david chiu, who we really miss in the legislature. let's hear it for mr. chiu. when he was on the board of supervisors, his district was right along van ness, and he

helped guide this along, and working with phil ting, the chair of the assembly budget committee, we've worked hard to get more funding in san francisco. we're getting more and more momentum to have the state be a better partner to counties and cities to make sure that we're adding more transit. so this is amazing. congratulations to everyone. we learned a lot from this project. it can -- it will not take this long in the future. we're working, as jeff mentioned, on legislation to dramatically streamline bus and rapid transportation. let's get more of it, let's get it done faster, and congratulations, everyone. thank you. [applause] >> thank you, senator wiener. one of the places that the bus will take you to is the san

francisco opera, and so i am very pleased to introduce elisa sunshine and andrew king from the san francisco opera. [applause]

[♪♪♪]

[applause] >> over 40% of california's greenhouse gas emissions come from the transport sector, and of that, the vast majority of

personal driving. and in addition, here in california, we're no longer demolishing low-income neighborhoods in order to widen highways, and yet, the state is growing. we are growing jobs, we're adding people. california is still a land of opportunity, and so i am utterly delighted to watch new leadership at the state department of transportation who's working to reimagine the state highway system in order to move more people rather than just moving more cars and to help the state achieve its greenhouse gas emissions goals. so i am very honored to introduce the california secretary of transportation. >> thanks for the set up, director tumlin, to have me come after that performance. how in the world do you top

that? so when you schedule an event on april 1, and and it has the history that this event has, immediately, the thought is, is this real? is it actually going to happen? everybody can see today what the fortitude of mayor breed, director tumlin, it is real, so kudos to everyone for making this happen. i'm the secretary for transportation for the state, here on behalf of governor newsom. he would have loved to be here because he loves

transportation, but he was busy this morning. we know what this is going to mean as far as reduction in travel time throughout downtown san francisco and the region, so efficiency is a big part of what we're going to gain from this. number two, the environmental benefits. environmental benefits are going to be huge. environment impact, nearly 50% of greenhouse gas emissions come from transportation. transportation is the largest, the biggest culprit of our environmental challenges in this state, and projects like this will improve that. it definitely will improve that. it will address it. and finally, thirdly,

equitable. we know how much senator wiener mentioned it before -- how much of a challenge it is to afford to live in this state, but we are coming up with solutions to make it less costly, more equitable for people to be able to move about is exactly the direction that we need to go. so kudos for people moving in the right direction but to actually be able to deliver this project today. i city -- see ray from caltrans team. our district director, thank you for your leadership.

city and county staff, mayor breed, congratulations on an amazing day like today. thank you again for having me here. thank you very much. [applause] >> completing a project of this magnitude also requires strong managerial support, so i am proud to introduce supervisor raphael mandelman. >> supervisor mandelman: director tumlin, you actually got it done. congratulations. but you know what got it done?

the union workers who show that sustainable projects and union jobs go hand in hand. there were lessons to be learned, mistakes not to be repeated, but this project will make a difference in the lives of san francisco every day as transit riders whiz past cars stuck in traffic carrying students, construction workers, seniors, tourists, and anyone wise enough to choose transit first, this project will make a difference for our quality of

life. the transportation authority is proud to have helped lay the groundwork for this day by leading the planning and environmental review phases of the project as well as providing nearly $45 million to support every phase of the project from planning to construction. these funds were from the transportation authority's half cent sales tax, proposition k, which included $500 million for muni and other projects when it passed in 2003. as we look forward to another critical transportation funding source in november, i want to thank san francisco voters for their consistent support of transit first investments like this one. yeah, give it up for the voters. [applause] >> supervisor mandelman: in the case of the van ness improvement project, this investment paid off multifold. local city and sales tax leveraged $120 million in state

and local funds to support this project. so we want to thank our friends at the f.t.a.s and at caltrans for their partnership over the years of this project. finally, i do want to recognize our transit authority staff who are instrumental to the development phase of the project. tilly chang and our deputy director of planning, rachel hyatt, and our deputy for policy and programming, anna la forte, whose staff supported each phase of the project. and i want to thank michael short who was the manager of

the e.i.r. under rachel and flew in from north carolina to be here with us today. now that is love. i would be remiss if i did not acknowledge my colleagues on the transportation authority board who made it out here this morning, commissioner stefani, commissioner melgar, commissioner safai, and commissioner haney. so with that, congratulations, everyone. san francisco's coming back on transit. [applause] >> as we've already mentioned, this project took way too long, and it also required digging up the entire street curb to curb to unsnarl a mess of utilities

completely down the street. i am therefore very pleased to introduce our final speaker, one of the -- one of our favorite business owners in the corridor, joseph betts, who is the owner and manager of the house of prime rib. mr. betts, please join us. [applause] >> thank you very much. i'd like to just is you, commissioners, for inviting me. you know, there's not much to say that's not already been said, however, i'd like to tell you my point of view. yes, it was difficult, but there are two people that i'd like to thank. katie mccarthy from the city. she informed me what was going on. we had a meeting before things started, and during construction, she always informed me when i called. the answer was right away, and this way, we could plan.

we were not blindsided. another one who i really appreciated to work with is david costello. he was the best. again, a lot of things have been said already that i don't want to repeat, but there's one thing i want to say, an old saying. you forget the price, but you don't forget the result, and the result is beautiful. when you look at van ness, the trees in the middle, the bright striping in the middle, it looks great what you have accomplished. thank you. [applause] >> so thank you all, and i also want to thank a few additional people for their strong support

throughout this project. city attorney david chiu, jose cisneros, treasurer, ralph remington from the arts commission, and our entire m.t.a. board, almost all of whom are here, manny yekutiel, fiona hinze, sharon lai, chair borden. thank you to all of you. now, who wants to cut a ribbon so that we can actually start service on this corridor and get on a bus and ride to

galileo high school with us? one thing that i do want to remind everyone if you are going to get on a bus, which is going to start running in about five minutes, please do wear your masks. we'll be going to galileo high school where there will be some additional activities. get on the bus. >> the hon. london breed: well, we've waited long enough. everybody join us. five, four, three, two, one. [cheers and applause] [♪♪♪]

>> chair mar: good morning. the meeting will come to order. this is the april 14 meeting of the public safety and neighborhood services committee meeting. joining