>> first let me acknowledge paul we left outside. he is under the tent, which is good. he is an ambassador. cudos he is amazing. [applause] thank you and to acknowledge another doctor carol tang director of the children's creativity museum. put a nice roof over our heads appreciate it, carol >> welcome to the yerba buena gardens a beautiful garden i'm

scott ruiz the new director for the yerba buena community benefit district and the gardenace conservesancey. thank you for having me both organizations are dmited improve thanksgiving yerba buena neighborhood. yerba buena is a u neefk neighborhood. culture, convention and community meet. we have world class museums like this amazing children's creativity. the amazing moscone convention center. hotels. educational snoous institutions the yerba buena gardens. small businesses, restaurants and live/work senior housing, et cetera . yerba buena is a diverse and unique community. i want to highlight this museum bring your kids back. i have young kids it is an amazing place for 2 to 12 year olds to experience education rotating common when is you are

done here today. i was going to send you out to the carousel we can do the carousel is outside and check out the museum. look at the mufb lab if you can it is neat. >> a couple other things i want to acknowledge mandy hall from the sftid and paulita eliot. [applause]. and paulita eliot from block by block. [applause]. those 2 amazing individuals create third degree program. we are honored have this program and this here a year later. we all know and you will hear more. the oranges jackets are amazing and they make such a presence in our community. yerba buena and everybody in the city. thank you for your hard work. i know you are not here to hear

from me. most important person. london breed, our mayor. [applause]. >> thank you, scott, it is great to be here and you know i should have worn my orange jacket today t. is actually in the car now. sometimes when i want to go out there and support the community and have conversations with just visitors and i will 3 it on when i'm out cleaning up the streets i wear that orange jacket. people will stop and ask me questions. which is nice. they don't ask because i'm mayor because they see that orange jack and it is really something this i will tell you is one of the things i'm most proudest of as mayor. because i had a chance to talk to some of you over the past year. and what i was most excited

about is number one, so many of you who have grownup in san francisco and your love for san francisco. and how you have told people like the best places to eat. not the places that typically tourists go to at the whar and downtown but places in neighborhoods that still exist. places all around the city. you give them a different perspective of san francisco. when i travel, i wish i could find someone to give me nadifferent perspective. i gotta say, i get so many letters not always good letters but for this program, it is probably the program this i gotten the most good letters from visitors and people who travel to san francisco from downtown. and i make my staff give me them to read because i want to have i good day. and i have a good day when i hear about the stories where i think i don't want to say names

but there was an ambassador who someone had an experience with a family member approximate a medical issue they let them use their cell phone ask stayed with them to make sure that that family got connected with another family member. and it is just things like that that make this program unique you alwaysment to help. i see you all talking on the talking to visitors on the corners. walking with people. trying to point out the directions to go in. and the thing i love most you always have a smile on your faces. >> and makes a difference. you know, we have been through a challenging time this global pandemic hit us hard. can you imagine having a really bad day and you walk up and you see someone and you just smile and how good that makes you feel.

it makes you want to ask for directions even though you can use your phone. it really invites you in to have that conversation. that conversation leads to a great experience in san francisco. we are not going to let everyone determine what the story is of san francisco with all of the posts that oftentimes target and focus on the negative things. when we will do is elevate the experiences of what the downtown community ambassador program has done in neighborhoods throughout san francisco. that is the story of san francisco. talking about the personal experience that you have about our city and also making the recommendations to the people who live and visit. we have a convention going on now. and many of those convention goers sent letters in the past about this program. and how they had a great experience.

because i will tell you there were conventions that were having second thoughts about whether or not they would come back to san francisco. and because of you, they not only came back to san francisco but are looking toward the future of returning to san francisco after their conventions. this means so much support. this means the ability to pay for programs and do all the great things we do in san francisco. you are an important part of this work. i can't thank you enough for your commitment, work, for your advocacy, for everything that you have done to really turn this area around because last year, you know and this year to an extent; there was uncertainty whether or not people would return to work. and we are still struggling with that. but people still come to san francisco for skroengzs and to visit and to ride the cable cars. where i always see an ambassador

at the cable car location. where do i get a ticket. what do i do. where are the best stops? i appreciate mta but not mta answering the question its is all of you that are telling folks where to go and how to get to lombard and look over and the beautiful views of san francisco park and the golden gate bridge that is meaning. . this has not happened before. we did not have you all over a year ago. and the experience was much different even before the pandemic. i'm glad to be here with so many folk who is believe and support this program. but i'm glad to be here with the people who show up every day rain or shine. to be of service to the city that you all know and love. i can't be more proud to celebrate a year of this program and hear here is more years to

come. thank you very much. [applause]. thank you mayor i'm matt dorse the district 6 supervisor. for those of you visiting welcome to district 6. this is a district that credit includes high traffic and visited destination in our south of market neighborhoods including mosconi. west field shopping center yerba buena gardens. these destinations attract thousands of visitors a year. remind people how important that is. in 2019 san francisco had a record shattering year in tourism it was 26 million visitors that is the state of texas. coming to visit our city. 10 billion dollars in economic activity. and supporting 82,000 jobs for

san francisco. this is really important. and the work that our ambassadors do is bring us back. you know the thing they think about you know i know that we can be down sometimes as we come out of covid. if you look at the seal of our city t. is a phoenix. we come back. that is the civic creed of san francisco. and we are on our way back and doing it, i think one smile at a time. what i love about the ambassador program, happy anniversary to all of you. i will say as a new interiors it is niez to know how popular you are. the k bd's are well regardd and it means so much to residentses and as well as to our visitors. to see a smiling face, welcoming

presence, knowledgeable person who can answer a request where something s. that is how we will come back and i do feel a little eni havous i'm on the board of supervisors the least popular there is a public comment caller who every week reminds us that the 12% think we are competence. it is humbling and i really appreciateow popular you are and i hope you see it. and i do. to say to the public. when you see people out here ambassadors whether in orange or blue or white or green. you am see a lot of them and you will see people pick update street who is work for the community benefit districts. say hello and thanks. it means the world to our city. we are coming back. and i want to say how grateful i am as a supervisor i will do everything i can to stand with

the mayor to make sure we have the funding for this we need. and we are funding our cbd's and bringing our city back to get better the numbers we had in 2019. and with that, it is my pleasure to welcome john anderson the general manager of the marriott marky. >> thank you very much. i appreciate your leadership in district 6. i get to chair the [inaudible] and the general manager of the san san francisco marriott marky. this neighborhood is important to the ambassadors. a year ago we stood here not far from here in yerba buena and introduced the san francisco welcome ambassador program. thanks to the support london breed, it has been successful, would you agree? good. today over 4 million welcomes later it is i pleasure to say

and celebrate the success of the program to see how far we have some on the road to recovery. in quarter 3 of this year san francisco recorded the best tourism quarter since the pandemic started >> the san francisco market achiefed 70.5% occupancy, daily rate of 230 dollars. last year in quarter 3 it was 51% occupancy and 168 dollars of average daily rate. we have a ways to go to reach 2019 record tourism year it is important to celebrate mile stones the program has been successful and measures to support the economic growth in san francisco. i want to thank all the ambassadors for important contributions to make the visitors and residents feel welcome are safe and cared for in san francisco.

the ambassador program is well received by planners and convention goers. it has been crucial in helping bring book conventions to san francisco. last 12 months we received e mails raving about experiencing with the ambassadors. who are thrilled receive cal travel endorsement of the welcome ambassador program when they awarded at this time 20 upon 22 visitor experience award last month. congratulations. [applause]. this would not have happened without the support of mayor breed and the welcome ambassador program. thank you, mayor breed, we appreciate it. [applause]. before i turn the microphone over to rodriguez i encourage the business community representatives to open your doors to the ambassadors. they are walking the streets and greeting guests they use the

restroom. of kick feet and up get a drink of water. welcome your doors to anybody in orange. we appreciate you, thank you very much. [applause]. >> thank you, john. i'm marissa rodriguez the union square alliance the heart of our city thank you very much our ambassadors. we don't beat without your support i receive e mails telling us the great stores. we are the part of town that is home to hotels, theatre, restaurants, visitors. it is not without the support of our ambassadors that we will not be able to receive back all of the san francisco. of you reminds them it is safe and the accomplice to come back and celebrate the greatest moments i want to thank patrick who kept me dry moments ago.

it is acts like that that i hear about. the small things that people appreciate you feel welcomed. the community feels welcome and feel like they are stepping into san francisco living room they have you to ask questions and talk to which i want to thank all of the individuals here today this is a racial fabric you may not realize ambassadors you are supporting. i want to thank block by block. handy hall for her program. i see ken with the conventions without which our heart would not beat. thank you and supporting them. i see our hotel and cbd community. and there are so many people here that count and rely on you. we can't do this without your

support. they are all here to support you. i can't imagine. this is one year that you have been here and changed lives. and right observe the holiday season come again. we are excited for a big blow out in union square. of course, winter market and the ice rink is opening today. yes it is opening today i know you will all be there i want to thank our mayor for all of her support and all of you. it does not happen without great vision. i want to thank you, mayor and certainly to our board of supervisors for recognizing the importance of that, too. we do better when we work together. our ambassador in blue appreciate you in union square. thank you so much. with this i like to welcome up moanna. [applause]. >> hello i'm moanna saul

[inaudible]. and i have been with the welcome ambassador program since the beginning. one year ago. when i applied for this position, as a welcome ambassador i did not know what to expect. all i knew was i was going to make a difference i look forward to greeting commuters on their way to work. school kids crowding the 30 and 8 bus. saying hello to cable car conductors and welcoming our visitors to the great city of san francisco. i think that this program is important because we help a lot of people. we give dreksz. all types of recommendations. and also guide many folk who is are in san francisco for a convention to the mosconi

center. we also offer and provide different resources for the homeless and just anyone who is in need. although i have been in an san francisco all of my life this job hped mow to be kinds always. many visit because of the diversity and we are the heart of the bay area. to the current and future welcome ambassadors, thank you for your hard work and your dedication when you are out in the field. rain or shine, our orange still is bright. [applause] >> thank you, mayor london breed and the city of san francisco for funding this amazing program. it is making a huge difference

for visitors, locals and businesses in the areas we cover. also, to all of us ambassadors that enjoy the job. thank you. [applause]. >> thank you everyone for coming and thank you for staying here even though it rained heavy out there. i'm mandy from the sftab the director of the welcome ambassador program. thank you to our speakers to mad am mayor, maona. supervisor dorsey, john and scott and your team for hosting us today. it has been a privilege to work with and get to know the team overnight past year. it is gratify to receive all the fantastic e mails that i get. and to share them with the team. these are a reminder of the amazing work they are doing.

and i know that it shows how much they are appreciated. thank you all of you for all that you do. all your hard work. ? this includes paulita the director of the program near block by block. . [applause]. before we close the proceedings and you will get to ride the care set, hopefully and cookies we have cookies to share. i would like to recognize the upon 20 team members been with us from the beginning the guys that you see behind us. not all 20 are here but -- [applause]. thank you all of you for all your hard work. and thank you also to everybody else on the team of in the office or out on the streets

every day you do an amazing job. thank you. [applause]. and then just to conclude my bit here, one person has been chosen as ambassador of the year. uh-huh. this is i surprise to everybody. [laughter]. she was chosen for strong work ethic. being a great example to coworkers. always as a smile and goes above and beyond to provide great service and also share her knowledge and enthusiasm with fellow team members. moanna, would you like to stem forward. [applause]. [applause] so, thank you, moanna.

congratulations. this is your certificate and will be goodies as well >> you are being recognized as ambassador of the year for 2022. >> thank you very much. >> thank you. [applause] >> you're watching san francisco rising with chris

manors. today's special guest is mary chu. >> hi. i'm chris manors, and you're rising on san francisco rising. the show that's focused on rebuilding, reimagining, and restarting our city. our guest today is mary chu, and she's here to talk with us about art and the san francisco art commission. well come, miss chu. >> thanks for having me. >> it's great to have you. let's talk about art in the city and how art installations are funded. >> the arts committee was funded in 1932 and support civic review, design investments and art galleries.

projects we have are funded by the city's art enrichment ordinance which provides 2% of construction costs for public art. >> so art is tied to construction. there's been a great deal in the southwest of the city. can you talk about some of the projects there? >> sure. our city has some exciting projected in the bayview-hunters point coming up. one artist created a photo collage. in the picture pavilion, one artist formed a collage of her one-year residency coming together with residents, and

anchoring the new center is a landmark bronze sculpture, inspired by traditional ivory coast currency which the artists significantly enlarges to mark that it's a predominantly african american community in bayview hunters point. >> are there any art installations around town that uses light as a medium? >> yes. the first is on van ness between o'farrell and geary. it's funded with the m.t.a.s van ness geary street project. another project is for the central subway.

it is one of ten artworks commissioned for the new line. it's over 650 feet long, consists of 550 l.e.d. panels between the powell street station and the union street station. it's called lucy in the sky, and the lights are patterned with unique sequences so that commuters can experience a unique pattern each time they pass through. >> perfect. what about the early day sculpture that was removed from the civic center? >> this is a question that cities have been grappling with nationwide. following the removal of early days in 2018, there was a toppling of statues in golden gate park as well as the

removal of the christopher columbus statue. we are partnering with the parks department as well as the community to engage with the public to develop guidelines to evaluate the existing monuments and memorials in the civic arts collection and evaluate the removal of a monument or statue but also installing new ones. >> finally, it seems like the weather might be nice this weekend. if i fancy taking a walk and seeing some outdoor art, where would you suggest i go? >> well, i would suggest the embarcadero. this work was commissioned with funds from the fire station 35.

this suggests the bow of a boat and the glass panel surrounding the structure depict the history of fireboats in the bay area. >> and where can i go from there? >> then, i would walk up to the justin herman plaza to check out the work of the art vendors. then check out the monuments like the mechanics monument. also, be sure to check out the poster series, installed in bus kiosks along market street, which features four artists each year. >> well, thank you. i appreciate you coming on the show, miss chu. thank you for your time today. >> thank you, chris. >> that's it for this episode. we'll be back with another show

shortly. for san francisco t.v., i'm chris manors. thanks for watching.

>> when i first started painting it was difficult to get my foot in the door and contractors and mostly men would have a bad attitude towards me or not want to answer my questions or not include me and after you prove yourself, which i have done, i don't face that obstacle as much anymore. ♪♪♪ my name is nita riccardi, i'm a painter for the city of san francisco and i have my own business as a painting contractor since 1994 called winning colors. my mother was kind of resistant. none of my brothers were painter. i went to college to be a

chiropractor and i couldn't imagine being in an office all day. i dropped out of college to become a painter. >> we have been friends for about 15-20 years. we both decided that maybe i could work for her and so she hired me as a painter. she was always very kind. i wasn't actually a painter when she hired me and that was pretty cool but gave me an opportunity to learn the trade with her company. i went on to different job opportunities but we stayed friends. the division that i work for with san francisco was looking for a painter and so i suggested to my supervisor maybe we can give nita a shot. >> the painting i do for the city is primarily maintenance painting and i take care of anything from pipes on the roof to maintaining the walls and beautifying the bathrooms and graffiti removal. the work i do for myself is

different because i'm not actually a painter. i'm a painting contractor which is a little different. during the construction boom in the late 80s i started doing new construction and then when i moved to san francisco, i went to san francisco state and became fascinated with the architecture and got my contractor's licence and started painting victorians and kind of gravitated towards them. my first project that i did was a 92 room here in the mission. it was the first sro. i'm proud of that and it was challenging because it was occupied and i got interior and exterior and i thought it would take about six weeks to do it and it took me a whole year. >> nita makes the city more beautiful and one of the things that makes her such a great contractor, she has a magical

touch around looking at a project and bringing it to its fullest fruition. sometimes her ideas to me might seem a little whacky. i might be like that is a little crazy. but if you just let her do her thing, she is going to do something incredible, something amazing and that will have a lot of pop in it. and she's really talented at that. >> ultimately it depends on what the customer wants. sometimes they just want to be understated or blend in and other times they let me decide and then all the doors are open and they want me to create. they hire me to do something beautiful and i do. and that's when work is really fun. i get to be creative and express what i want. paint a really happy house or something elegant or dignified. >> it's really cool to watch

what she does. not only that, coming up as a woman, you know what i mean, and we're going back to the 80s with it. where the world wasn't so liberal. it was tough, especially being lgbtq, right, she had a lot of friction amongst trades and a lot of people weren't nice to her, a lot of people didn't give her her due respect. and one of the things amazing about nita, she would never quit. >> after you prove yourself, which i have done, i don't face that obstacle as much anymore. i'd like to be a mentor to other women also. i have always wanted to do that. they may not want to go to school but there's other options. there's trades. i encourage women to apply for my company, i'd be willing to train and happy to do that. there's a shortage of other women painters.

for any women who want to get into a trade or painting career, just start with an apprenticeship or if you want to do your own business, you have to get involved and find a mentor and surround yourself with other people that are going to encourage you to move forward and inspire you and support you and you can't give up. >> we've had a lot of history, nita and i. we've been friends and we have been enemies and we've had conflicts and we always gravitate towards each other with a sense of loyalty that maybe family would have. we just care about each other. >> many of the street corners in all the districts in san francisco, there will be a painting job i have completed and it will be a beautiful paint job. it will be smooth and gold leaf and just wow. and you can't put it down. when i first started, it was hard to get employees to listen

to me and go along -- but now, i have a lot of respect.

>> the chair called the meeting to order. if you could please rise if you are able for the pledge of allegiance. >> i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, and to the republic, for which it stands, one nation, under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> president elias, if i can call roll. [roll call] >> you have a quorum. also here we have chief scott from it san francisco police department and