>> this park is open. ♪♪

>> all right. hello, everyone. i'm san francisco mayor london breed and i'm really -- [applause] ex -- excited to be here today to swear in the future of san francisco. [cheers and applause] i want to start by thanking and acknowledging the board of supervisors joining us today. thank you for the president of the board of supervisor, are walton and safai who represents district 11 and melgar who represents district 7. thank you so much for joining us here today. [applause] and let me tell you, all of the supervisors and i, when we were kids, we probably, probably wouldn't have thought that we would be leaders of the city. [laughter] because we weren't as responsible as the young people

that we see here today. we were having a good time, yes. [laughter] we were going to school because we had to, yes. [laughter] but to take a step like this and apply to be a part of the youth commission is significant. it means that you care about understanding what it means to be involved civically. what it means to give back to your city, to your community, how you understand policy, how you advise people like the mayor and the board of supervisors on things that matter to all of you. it is significant because on top of the work that you're doing in school, your extra sir rick lar activities or sports or anything else and going out and hanging out with your friends and having a good time, you're also investing the time necessary in order to really make a difference in the city, but also make a difference in your future and so it really is

great to be here with all of you to swear you in today for the first time in a few years in person because we've had to do this event online for the past couple of years because of the pandemic and let me just also acknowledge that i know it hasn't been easy for you throughout this pandemic. i can't even imagine if i were in high school during a global pandemic and not able to hang out with friends or to show up to school everyday and to have that sort of environment and you did it online and you still are engaged in wanting to do something for your community. i want you to take a lot of pride in this role and i also want you to commit to this role to show up and to not be afraid to provide your input. i don't care how other people feel about what you say. if there's something on your mind and there's something on your heart and you believe in it, be fearless in your pursuit for what you believe is

important to change policy or to change things in san francisco. others may not always agree but we can also be respectfully disagreeable, make sure diplomacy is a part of the conversation, make sure respect is a part of the conversation because we are really all in this together as we learn from the pandemic and having diverse opinions, having diverse conversations. it's the hallmark of our democracy. it means that we are potentially progressing because there are things that you know that someone else may not know and your ability to share your experiences can make all the difference in changing that person's heart or mind on an important policy decision. you know, we have a lot of disagreements here at city hall. i'm sure you hear about them but we still know how important it is to work together because at

the end of the day, despite our disagreements, there are so many other things, more things we agree on than things that we disagree on. it means that we keep working hard in trying to get to that point where we can make great things happen for the city and county of san francisco. i'm proud of the work we do and just a quick example, free muni for youth, the people who served on the youth commission before all of you and some of you may have participated on the youth commission, it happened because advocacy for young people. when i was a kid, i didn't always have money for bus and sometimes we would get on the bus and the bus driver wouldn't tell us to leave because they knew we were trying to get to school. there are people who may be able to afford that pass fast or clipper card that you all now use but there are others who can't. and your role and your advocacy on the youth commission or the people before you brought that

to the attention of policy leaders like myself at the time when i served on the san francisco board of supervisors and a number of other people and we worked together to come up with the resources to make muni free for young people in san francisco. that is because of the advocacy of this body. it is a powerful body. one that i know each and every one of you will play a significant role in making such a difference in doing great things for san francisco. so i'm really excited, proud and honored to swear you in. so at this time, can we please stand up. to all of folks that we're swearing in. i see somebody's daddy standing up back there. [laughter] all right. please raise your right hand or how about this. how about you come this way, face the crowd and i'm going to

turn around because i know all your parents want to get pictures. [laughter] >> all of you guys face one direction or in the middle. yeah, in the middle. there we go. look at all these young people. yes! i love it. all right. are we ready? i don't believe you. are we ready? >> audience, yes. >> okay. please raise your right hand and repeat after me, i, state your name. do solemnly swear that i will support and defend the constitution of the united states. >> [repeating] >> and the constitution of the state of california. >> [repeating]. >> against all enemies, foreign

and domestic, that i bear true faith and allegiance to the same, that i take this obligation freely without any mental reservation. >> [repeating] >> or purpose of evasion and that i will well and faithfully discharge the duties. >> [repeating] >> upon which i'm about to enter and during such time as i serve as youth commissioner for the city and county of san francisco. >> [repeating] >> congratulations! [cheers and applause] >> all right. we're going to

take a picture here. we'll get a few pictures in just a moment because we have two special guests that's going to be saying a few words as well. oh, okay. all right. there will be plenty of time for more pictures but we want to have a few special guests say a few words and then that will complete our program. i want to also just express my appreciation to all the parents

and the guardians and the grandmas and the grandpas and all of the people who are here today to support their children and to support this amazing community because it does take a village and your support means a lot being here today. so, with that, i'm going to ask all of our young new commissioners to have a seat and i'm going to ask the president of the board of supervisors, shamann walton to come up and say a few words. [applause] >> thank you, madam mayor, good afternoon. >> [audience, good afternoon] >> welcome to the high lath of my day. i was talking with supervisor melgar and she was talking about how exciting this is and every time we see our young people step up and take leadership positions, that's a joy for us. you may or may not know, most of our movements start with young people. youth is usually at the center of the

big movements that happen in this country and in this city and across the world so being able to serve as a youth commissioner here in san francisco is a big deal. i want you to remember your oath and the positions that you -- you hold because this is a big deal and taken serious and the policies that you push for, when you knock on my door, you knock on supervisor safai's door and knock on the mayor's door and the policies you push to get implemented in san francisco are lasting policies to you're a part of decision-making for city and county of san francisco and you should be proud of that and we're proud of that and i want to say congratulations, i look forward to working with all of you. you can reach out to our offices, we will respond and set up a time to hear from all of the youth on the youth commission to see the things you're pushing and working on, so we can be supportive. thank you and congratulations.

[cheers and applause] >> thank you, president walton. i want to also ask a young person who actually served on this body to come forward. she served on the youth commission and is now a freshman at stanford university. ladies and gentlemen, welcome adrianna zang. [applause] >> thank you so much, mayor breed for the introduction and for supervisor or president walton for speaking. seriously, elected official support means so much and of course, thank you supervisor safai for being here. hello to all of the new commissioners, to parents, supporters, family, friends, first off, congratulations on these new commissioners. [applause] it is beyond exciting. my name is adrianazang and i was the

former chair of the san francisco youth commission and i was the district seven appointee by supervisor melgar. it has been an absolute joy serving on the san francisco youth commission. for the past two years, i was the district 7 representative and to be honest, i still remember that very exact moment i received the e-mail in which then president norman yee appointed me and i screamed, i cried, i yelled to my parents that i got on the commission and to all of the supporters here, you might think i'm crazy, you're probably right but i know all of these commissioners here today can resonate with that sentiment. truly bias aside, this commission is the best youth commission in the world. i mean, it's a huge statement and i will back it up, don't worry. um, for the past five years alone, i can name so many

achievements that have pushed san francisco towards a more just and equitable future. for example, mayor breed mentioned pre-muni for youth and the next thing is the 2020 ballot that lost by one percent and maybe we'll try again in the near future. we closed down juvenile hall. we created a participatory town hall that had over one hundred youth voices. i mean, how many commissions in the world can say they've included youth in which they are truly seen as equitable partners? and in san francisco, we have. and so that is because of your leadership and that is why i want to share, i promise to make it brief, a few of the lessons i have learn here for the past two years. to commissioners, staff and adult allies are here to support but do not be afraid to push for your belief. in this nation, we've seen the black lives movement. we've seen the

moment for social justice and climate justice and gun control, all led by youth and this is not because of some crazy conspiracy or crazy thing that youth have ideas, it's because you all deserve to be here. and you do have these ideas and i urge you to push for them. the second thing is ask questions. you are appointed for a reason and you deserve to be here, yes. but you are not here only because of what you know but also because of the potential for you to grow and learn and finally, take advantage of every single opportunity. i remember when i was in the vote 16 campaign, i was quite literately thrown into cameras and action and walk and protests, that was so foreign to me and i know it's foreign to many of you but it has been the most exciting and most growing period of my life. and so finally, to adults and the supporters and elected officials, you all know how

amazing these youth are and you treat us and you should treat us as genuine decision-making partners. i say this a lot and many of you have heard it but it's true. there is absolutely no downside to hearing from young people unless you're afraid of what we have to say, so thank you and congratulations. [cheers and applause] >> thank you. very impressive adrianna and we're happy you're doing well in school and those public speaking skills will probably come in handy in the future. [laughter] so, with that, i want to again say thank you all so much for being here today. really proud of each and every one of you, make sure again, that you speak up, you speak out, that you support one another. that you keep it positive and diplomatic, that you set an example for even the younger generation that's coming up behind you because they are going to be watching you and we're going to be

watching you but importantly, we're going to work with you on policy decisions that will hopefully make a real difference in san francisco, so congratulations and thank you all for being here. [applause] and now, picture time.

>> [inaudible] i'm a illustrator by day and a [inaudible] composition teacher. right now i'm practice by transscribing [inaudible] that is what i have been doing the past couple years, teaching myself. california college of the arts, illustration there has really great teachers. robert hunt, vance story taught me a lot. what i'm working on is a portfolio [inaudible] riding a donkey unicorn in the process. >> my name is dawn richardson and musician, drummer and drum teacher. i guess i would say i started my

professional path quh i started playing in bands and teaching drum lesson when i was in college. they were definitely not that many women that would do what is doing. in 198 8 i graduated from cal state los ang and studied mostly classical percussion and music education but at the same time i was in hollywood so played at night in rock bands so was doing two different things. >> the reason i'm [inaudible] the people. there is a extremely vibrant art community especially arounds the red poppy art house [inaudible] as a artist in the past 2 or 3 years there is a event called the [inaudible] every 3 months a free art music festival that i usually play at and just met

so many people. >> i was teaching a little bit and doing odd jobs like waitressing and going at night and playing in bands and meeting a lot of people. i chss in ban that had cool break jz get parts on tv shows or things like that. a friend of mine, we had mutual friends that got signed to a record deal in san francisco called 4 nonblaunds and i addition frd the bands and moved to the bay area. i think things are different now than 30 years ago, the world evolved a lot. it could be a challenge but have to know how to negotiate everything and sometimeatize is [inaudible] it was great to get to a point where i was just treated like another one of the people, a

musician not a female musician and that is always what [inaudible] >> you don't hear stuff on the radio [inaudible] i need to write music [inaudible] be more conscious in their decisions and somehow make that poetic so they will be convinced. i think i will do that. [singing in backgrounds] drawing and writing music since i was a really little kid and fortunate enough to have a good education in art and parentss who supported me. i hope my life will continue to allow me to do both. >> for me now having all male, female girls, boys students it shows the world has changed a lot and people areope toon open to a lot more than they were in the past. you can get a

deep satisfaction from responding a lot of year practicing in one thing and becoming really good at something. sometimes i think that it is better to get lost. you have to practice and become good at what you do, so if you have everything together then go out in the world and do what you do and then i think people weal accept that. [♪♪♪] >> i just don't know that you can find a neighborhood in the city where you can hear music

stands and take a ride on the low rider down the street. it is an experience that you can't have anywhere else in san francisco. [♪♪♪] [♪♪♪] >> district nine is a in the southeast portion of the city. we have four neighborhoods that i represent. st. mary's park has a completely unique architecture. very distinct feel, and it is a very close to holly park which is another beautiful park in san francisco. the bernal heights district is unique in that we have the hell which has one of the best views in all of san francisco. there is a swinging hanging from a tree at the top. it is as if you are swinging over the entire city. there are two unique aspects.

it is considered the fourth chinatown in san francisco. sixty% of the residents are of chinese ancestry. the second unique, and fun aspect about this area is it is the garden district. there is a lot of urban agriculture and it was where the city grew the majority of the flowers. not only for san francisco but for the region. and of course, it is the location in mclaren park which is the city's second biggest park after golden gate. many people don't know the neighborhood in the first place if they haven't been there. we call it the best neighborhood nobody has ever heard our. every neighborhood in district nine has a very special aspect. where we are right now is the mission district. the mission district is a very special part of our city. you smell the tacos at the [speaking spanish] and they have the best latin pastries.

they have these shortbread cookies with caramel in the middle. and then you walk further down and you have sunrise café. it is a place that you come for the incredible food, but also to learn about what is happening in the neighborhood and how you can help and support your community. >> twenty-fourth street is the birthplace of the movement. we have over 620 murals. it is the largest outdoor public gallery in the country and possibly the world. >> you can find so much political engagement park next to so much incredible art. it's another reason why we think this is a cultural district that we must preserve. [♪♪♪] >> it was formed in 2014. we had been an organization that had been around for over 20 years. we worked a lot in the neighborhood around life issues. most recently, in 2012, there were issues around

gentrification in the neighborhood. so the idea of forming the cultural district was to help preserve the history and the culture that is in this neighborhood for the future of families and generations. >> in the past decade, 8,000 latino residents in the mission district have been displaced from their community. we all know that the rising cost of living in san francisco has led to many people being displaced. lower and middle income all over the city. because it there is richness in this neighborhood that i also mentioned the fact it is flat and so accessible by trip public transportation, has, has made it very popular. >> it's a struggle for us right now, you know, when you get a lot of development coming to an area, a lot of new people coming to the area with different sets of values and different culture. there is a lot of struggle between the existing community and the newness coming in. there are some things that we do

to try to slow it down so it doesn't completely erase the communities. we try to have developments that is more in tune with the community and more equitable development in the area. >> you need to meet with and gain the support and find out the needs of the neighborhoods. the people on the businesses that came before you. you need to dialogue and show respect. and then figure out how to bring in the new, without displacing the old. [♪♪♪] >> i hope we can reset a lot of the mission that we have lost in the last 20 years. so we will be bringing in a lot of folks into the neighborhoods pick when we do that, there is a demand or, you know, certain types of services that pertain more to the local community and working-class. >> back in the day, we looked at mission street, and now it does not look and feel anything like mission street. this is the last stand of the

latino concentrated arts, culture and cuisine and people. we created a cultural district to do our best to conserve that feeling. that is what makes our city so cosmopolitan and diverse and makes us the envy of the world. we have these unique neighborhoods with so much cultural presence and learnings, that we want to preserve. [♪♪♪]