stay with us for the transportation authority board meeting which will begin shortly after this meeting. this meeting is now adjourned. [gavel] kz >> wonderful, i'm david perry, welcome to the 75th anniversary of the saving of cable cars.

women save the cable cars. let's have a round ever applause. [applause] , i want to introduce melissa rodriguez. >> thank you for joining us today. i'm excited to be here. it's a warm day. it's beautiful. we're all back together here at the cable car turn arounds. i'm marisaa rodriguez, we're an organization whoa whose mission is to create a beautiful environment for all of our members and our community. all of you here warms our heart especially as we celebrate this important day. we're here today to honor our cable cars. and most specifically, we're here to honor a champion. a woman in 1947, at a time when

women weren't standing up to bee establishment. this woman fraught to save our beloved cable car. today we're celebrating the 75th anniversary of that event. and so behind me, i have some wonderful women leaders and of course, male allies as well who continue do the hard work to save our community, to bring us back after a difficult time and of course, to further support this very important asset to our community, our beloved cable cars. freedo had a vision and understood the important role of the cable cars to our community. not far long ago, the business improvement district set out to do a survey to find ut when visitors come to san francisco, what do they want to see?

those bells behind us tell you they want to see the cable car more than visit the golden gate bridge. she understood the importance of that. they wanted to take away the cable car in 1947 in the name of progress. of course good intentions. if you look behind you, you can see an historic monument as a super bus has it was called in those days. this bus was supposed to replace or cable cars but she said no way. i want to thank the market street railway association for bringing us this landmark, but also for bringing us this day. i want to thank rick lohseer who i know is here. rick, wave your hand. it's his leadership and his organization and team that brought us here today. can i i want to stharchg the union square alliance and my team as well. i think i see folks from our

team. i saw ben horn. thank you, and our other team members as well. it takes a village to do so much for our community. i also want to acknowledge the strong women leaders behind us. you're going to hear from some of them today. before i go through the list, i want to acknowledge individuals here starting with julie birch kirchbalm. shawna, thank you so much. ashley goshmire of the hotel across from the ferry building. lori lincoln, the v.p. for san francisco travel. and executive director of the mid market.

i don't know if she's here. carmen clark board chair of the market street railway. [applause] darcy brown executive director of san francisco beautiful. president fisherman's wharf. melissa marketing in james town. did i mention lily representing the chinatown merchants association. i see mandy hall as well. karen sly, thank you for being here as well. and no pivot to our male allies. i see rodney baum here from the chamber waving. we have jeff tomlin director of transportation. i often see alex bastion hiding

there. thank you for being here. roger maranka, where are you? hi, roger. local 258. randall spot. the executive director 069 fisherman's wharf. david louis, i saw him here earlier. the general manager offer the hyatt hotel. without further ado, i want to welcome a very special guest, someone who really needs no introduction, but what is important is is this san francisco native understands and loves or cable cars. she is someone who is fight the

fight every day for our city as we come out of a very difficult time. we're super fortunate to have here today to acknowledge this day. i want to welcome our mayor, london breed company. >> hello. which one is the microphoner in? okay. i know they're all mine row phones -- microphones but only one where you can hear the sound. i'm grateful to be here today to celebrate this historic occasion. and when we talk about san francisco as a whole, we always talk about how resilient san francisco is because of our ability to not only survive through earthquakes and pandemics, but our ability to thrive. during the late 1800s, the inventer of the cable car, you

know, it was said that they invented the cable car as a result of seeing the horse and carriage struggle up san francisco hills. what a challenge it was. and so this cable car came to be and as a result, san francisco, i think, because of this and so many other incredible events and milestones has been known as an innovative city, a place where things created, a place where people look to for ideas and i want to thank market street railway for protecting and supporting and engaging and making sure that history is not forgotten. today we celebrate 75 years of saving the cable cars in our city. [indiscernible] who would he know in 1947 when the mayor

roger lampman said we're going to change -- we're going to get rid of cable cars and bring in other transportation options. she stood up during a time when oftentimes women were ignored and neglected. and she said, no, i'm going to pull together all my girlfriends and we're going to stop the cable car from being really vanished in our city. as a result, she fought and she won and the cable cars remain. and then in 1979, our first woman mayor, dianne feinstein, she not only raised private money because of how much it cost to create this system and to enhance it, she raised private dollars matched with federal dollars matched with city dollars and she -- it should be attributed to her as well the fact that the cable cars are still here today. why is that history important?

as you heard from marisaa rodriguez, one of the things that people talk about most when they visit san francisco is where are the cable cars? this line on this street is always packed for people waiting hours in some cases to ride the cable cars to see our beautiful hills and beautiful views and what makes san francisco one of the most iconic cities anywhere if the world. i remember during the pandemic and how we had to make some changes in our city. and changes included closing town temporarily the cable car. jeff tomlin, the director of the mta, he knows we had this conversations on a regular base. when are the cable cars coming back to ?rks we're inviting visitors back to san francisco. one of the biggest

disappointments wa was when they showed up and where are the cable dismars. the cable krars open. what that dmon descraits to so many of us is how important they are. how our transit on exprairts thank you, roger for being here from labor, how our transit operators show up every single day to give people, not just visitors, but san franciscans a wonderful iconic experience rain sore shine. and so today, we celebrate this milestone. we celebrate women, not, it's not women history month, but we are celebrating women nevertheless and the advocacy of women and what women represent and what we bring to the table in terms of our leadership and our involvement in our transportation network. even though there might be a man who runs mta, there are a lot of

women that work behind the scenes to get this work done. we honor their work, but we also honor the legacy of those who came before us to make sure that this iconic cable car remains an important part embedded in the quality of life that exists in san francisco. thank you all so much for joining us here today and with that, i would like to introduce gwyneth gornd who works hard to help create transportation opportunities that work for all san franciscans. ladies and gentlemen, please welcome gwyneth imorden. >> thank you so much. i can't tell you what a wonderful and amazing day this is. it always seems advocating for their families and community.

women have always stood up in injustice and. we often think progress means leaving things behind thattero that are old fashioned. the commissioner understood the role of cable cars and part of our future. it took another woman, dianne feinstein to make sure that the cable cars continue to thrive. i feel so fortunate to chair an agency that has such an iconic identity. we were doing work on the lines and got letters from people all over the world saying i'm coming to san francisco for the first time from australia, my lifelong dream is to ride a cable car. that's how iconic it is. when i was in my 20s, i took the cable cars every day.

i would see all the locals and you have people running down to catch it. it was such a community. people think the cable cars are only for visitors, but it's a local line. they know the regulars and try to like wait a few minutes to let them get on. i also love sometimes working here and taking the cable car home. whenever i get off add hyde and jackson, i feel look i live here. cable cars are special and iegennic. the great maya anglou worked the cable a cars. they were crucial for the cities and world. i want to thank everyone for

being here today. we have to keep the cable cars thriving for now and the future. thank you for organizing this. come on forward. [applause] these ladies -- this is what it's about. continue to empower women. >> she is a strong woman here. she's been working the cable cars for 12 years straight. [applause] thank you for that.

i've been here 13? >> i've been here 20. i praise god and we love our job. thank you. >> we thank you for your work. >> thank you so much gwyneth and i also want to let everyone know hashtag sf cable cars. take notes and hashtag. round of plaza. we also have from the chinatown community development center jane cheng as well as [indiscernible] who is commissioner of belle view. i'm happy to welcome a partner in preserving and enhancing our public transit, shirley chang. >> thank you so much. good morning, everyone. good morning, everyone.

thank you so much for having me. mayor breed, chair rodriguez, gordon and clark and honored guests. thank you for ine including me, iement executive director of the san francisco county transportation authority. thank you for including me and the agency in this wonderful event as well as pioneering women. she took on a male-dominated government and business community to save the cable car one of our most precious gems recognized around the world. no wonder "national geographic" named san francisco one of the tomorrow sedations for 2023. another list san francisco son. she mobilized other women who joined her campaign. thanks to her efforts in 1947

ballot initiative to save the cable cars won in a landslide, i think 3-1 based on what i read. i'm powd to be part of this all-women line-up of speakers that led this activism 75 years ago. the transportation authority has been around half that long. one of our former executive directors appeared today, carmen clark. i'm honored to be one of her successors and working with my colleagues. a round of applause for our director of transportation. julie. >> as rick noted, our cable car system was highlighted as high tech back then. it replaced the horse-drawn carriage ask they're still a marvel today. they're iconic and functional.

we couldn't get through our daily lives and tourism without it. weld the pleasure of the transportation authority to sport cable cars over the years providing over $35 million to pull down the big federal dollars. the infrastructure bill passed last year, the leadership of president biden and vice president harris. we have lezzie waters here. helping us to security big dollars and we have to appreciate our speaker nancy pelosi for helping us win the state and federal grant. as a reminder, more funds are includessed in the measure l on the ballot and we must keep this going. it's before the voters in a couple of weeks. it's a pleasure and honor to help preserve our cable cars for future generations.

our pride ask joy and a distinct product of women's leadership. here is to 75 more years of cable cars in san francisco. >> and let's keep the spirit alive. let's hop on a cable car to the other end to keep the party going where my counterpart, randall scott and team. they have something for us there. thank you so much for joining us. another round of applause for our mayor. all our esteemed imes and the cable car. thank you. >> any excuse to ride a cable car, right?

[cable car rings] ♪♪

[cheers and applause] >> five, four, three, two, one -- [applause] [cheers and applause] ♪♪ >> i have been a cable car grip for 21 years. i am a third generation.

my grand farther and my dad worked over in green division for 27. i guess you could say it's blood. >> come on in. have a seat. hold on. i like it because i am standing up. i am outside without a roof over my head and i see all kinds of people. >> you catch up to people you know from the past. you know. went to school with. people that you work with at other jobs. military or something. kind of weird. it's a small word, you be. like i said, what do people do when they come to san francisco? they ride a cable car. >> california line starts in

the financial district. people are coming down knobbhill. the cable car picks people up. takes them to work. >> there still is no other device to conquer these hills better than a cable car. nobody wanted to live up here because you had to climb up here. with the invention of the cable car, these hills became accessible. he watched horses be dragged to death. cable cars were invent in san francisco to solve the problem with it's unique, vertically challenged terrain. we are still using cars a

century old >> the old cable car is the most unique thing, it's still going. it was a good design by then and is still now. if we don't do something now. it's going to be worse later. >> the cable cars are built the same as they were in the late 1800's. we use a modern machinery. we haven't changed a thing. it's just how we get there. >> it's a time consuming job. we go for the quality rather than the production. we take pride in our work and it shows in the end product. >> the california line is mostly locals.

the commuters in the morning, i see a lot of the same people. we don't have as tourists. we are coming up to street to chinatown. since 1957, we are the only city in the world that runs cable cars. these cars right here are part of national parks system. in the early 1960's, they became the first roles monument. the way city spread changed

with the invention of the cable car. >> people know in san francisco, first thing they think about is, let's go is r. my name is debra alvarez rodriguez. i'm the deputy director in san francisco. my background is one in which i have spent the entirety of my life committed to finding solution to poverty and addressing the issues of

inequity so people and communities can have accesses to resources and financial freedom. one thing true anode dear to my heart was the power of business ownership in creating pathways to financial freedom. we have still in infancy. we had over 100 entrepreneurs come and start their businesses. some are food trucks. some are restaurants. some are in farmer's markets and so farther. that's an incredible legacy and record to build upon. this was the perfect opportunity for me to come back home, you know, come back to the neighborhood and take my skills and networks and resources and put it backseat in service of the community. given everything with racial reckoning and pandemic it was time for me and everyone else that had the opportunity to

leave and get educated to come back home. we have a opportunity to grow our impact in terms of the number of people we serve and how we serve them. we grow our impact in taking the money we make with our entrepreneurs and circulate those resources back interview the community for community development. the third thing is we have a opportunity to have an impact on public policy in terms of the policies and practices the district has been notorious about interms of inequities. all of those are just the beginning of what is possible in terms of growth and impact. ♪ [ music ] ♪♪

>> good afternoon. welcome to the october 24, 2022, regular meeting the land use and transportation committee of the san francisco board of supervisors. i am supervisor melgar, join by vice-chair supervisor preston. and supervisor peskin. and the clerk is erica major. we like to acknowledge (indiscernible) and jeanette from sfgov tv for