>> 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]

♪♪ >> van ness avenue runs from market street to bay street in san francisco. south vanness runs from south of market to cesar chavez street. originally residential after the 1906 earthquake it was used as a fire break. many car dealerships and businesses exist on vanness today with expansion of bus lanes. originally marlet street was named after james vanness, seventh mayor of san francisco from 1855 to 1856. vanness heavy are streets in santa cruz, los angeles and

fresno in his honor. in 1915 streetcars started the opening of the expo. in 1950s it was removed and replaced by a tree-lined median. it was part of the central freeway from bayshore to hayes valley. it is part of uses 101. it was damaged during the 1989 earthquake. in 1992 the elevator part of the roadway was removed. it was developed into a surface boulevard. today the vanness bus rapid transit project is to have designated bus lanes service from mission. it will display the history of the city. van ness avenue.

>> my background is in engineering. i am a civil engineer by training. my career has really been around government service. when the opportunity came up to serve the city of san francisco, that was just an opportunity i really needed to explore. [♪♪♪] [♪♪♪] i think it was in junior high and really started to do well in math but i faced some really interesting challenges. many young ladies were not in math and i was the only one in some of these classes. it was tough, it was difficult to succeed when a teacher didn't

have confidence in you, but i was determined and i realized that engineering really is what i was interested in. as i moved into college and took engineering, preengineering classes, once again i hit some of those same stereotypes that women are not in this field. that just challenged me more. because i was enjoying it, i was determined to be successful. now i took that drive that i have and a couple it with public service. often we are the unsung heroes of technology in the city whether it is delivering network services internally, or for our broadband services to low income housing. >> free wi-fi for all of the residents here so that folks have access to do job searches, housing searches, or anything else that anyone else could do in our great city. >> we are putting the plant in the ground to make all of the

city services available to our residents. it is difficult work, but it is also very exciting and rewarding our team is exceptional. they are very talented engineers and analysts who work to deliver the data and the services and the technology every day. >> i love working with linda because she is fun. you can tell her anything under the sun and she will listen and give you solutions or advice. she is very generous and thoughtful and remembers all the special days that you are celebrating. >> i have seen recent employee safety and cyber security. it is always a top priority. i am always feeling proud working with her. >> what is interesting about my work and my family is my experience is not unique, but it is different. i am a single parent.

so having a career that is demanding and also having a child to raise has been a challenge. i think for parents that are working and trying to balance a career that takes a lot of time, we may have some interruptions. if there is an emergency or that sort of thing then you have to be able to still take care of your family and then also do your service to your job. that is probably my take away and a lot of lessons learned. a lot of parents have the concern of how to do the balance i like to think i did a good job for me, watching my son go through school and now enter the job market, and he is in the medical field and starting his career, he was always an intern. one of the things that we try to do here and one of my takeaways from raising him is how important internships are. and here in the department of technology, we pride ourselves on our interns. we have 20 to 25 each year.

they do a terrific job contributing to our outside plant five or work or our network engineering or our finance team. this last time they took to programming our reception robot, pepper, and they added videos to it and all of these sort of things. it was fun to see their creativity and their innovation come out. >> amazing. >> intriguing. >> the way i unwind is with my photography and taking pictures around the city. when i drive around california, i enjoy taking a lot of landscapes. the weather here changes very often, so you get a beautiful sunset or you get a big bunch of clouds. especially along the waterfront. it is spectacular.

i just took some photos of big server and had a wonderful time, not only with the water photos, but also the rocks and the bushes and the landscapes. they are phenomenal. [♪♪♪] my advice to young ladies and women who would like to move into stem fields is to really look at why you are there. if you are -- if you are a problem solver, if you like to analyse information, if you like to discover new things, if you like to come up with alternatives and invent new practice, it is such a fabulous opportunity. whether it is computer science or engineering or biology or medicine, oh, my goodness, there are so many opportunities. if you have that kind of mindset i have enjoyed working in san francisco so much because of the diversity. the diversity of the people, of

this city, of the values, of the talent that is here in the city. it is stimulating and motivating and inspiring and i cannot imagine working anywhere else but in sannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn >> let's begin. we'll start off with 90 second opening statement in order. welcome, candidates and thank you for participating. introduce yourself. tell us which neighborhood you live in and why you are running for district 6 supervisor. i will start with ms. billie cooper. >> hi. everyone i'm ms. billie cooper. i'm a 53 year old [inaudible] >> use the microphone.