[applause] >> good morning everybody. good morning, it will work better to hold this. (indiscernible) it is 5 after 12. this is the last time stopped this long was the 1906 earthquake. it is in fact 11 o'clock, so we are starting. i want to welcome everybody here. i'm the rick the president of market street railway, a non profit muni's preservation partner. we get no government funding. we depend on donations from individuals and businesses who love and benefit from the historic cars that run on market street which we brought back 40 years ago, and the cable cars. we run the san francisco railway museum around

the corner on stuart street, so check that out some time. we are here as an organizer with sfmta of the celebration of 150 years of cable cars. we have great participating partners and i want to run down them quickly, around business groups, non profits and government agencies. china town (indiscernible) nob chinese historical society of america, the san francisco chinese chamber of commerce. (indiscernible) he was not feeling well. he was going to speak, but anyway, we want to recognize. if you want to speak in a few minutes, you are more then welcome. downtown sf partnership. fisherman's wharf. (indiscernible) 50th anniversary this year. want to thank them for the podium and the cool

lavender lemon aid you got a sample. pier 39. the san francisco chamber of commerce. city guide, historical society, board chair kevin o'brien is with us we think. san francisco public library with a great list of cable car books you can check out and by the way, all of this information is on our very special website sfcablecars.org. you can scan the qr code on the stickers on the cable car window and go right to that site. also, sf travel, sf heritage and last alphabetically, but hardly least, union square alliance. i don't know (indiscernible) we will have a celebration on the actual anniversary date august 2 and that will be at market. it is a really diverse group of people coming together to celebrate this focused on the past, some focused on the present, but all of us

have a commitment to san francisco's future and the cable cars will always be part of it. we are here to celebrate is century and a half of them. let's start with the city number one cable car fan, i have seen this with my own eyes, mayor london breed. [applause] >> thank you to the market street railway for all the work and advocacy that they do to make sure that the cable car and the various modes of transportation options that existed in san francisco are recognized in the way that we are doing today. how many of you are alive 150 years ago? [laughter] aaron peskin was not alive. you might have been actually. but you know what is amazing, 150 years ago, when we talk about san francisco,

its invasion and creativity, the cable car was invented in san francisco. everyone decided to follow suit after 1873 and august when the first ride andrew holiday decided that the horse and the carriage was not making it up our steep hills fast enough. most of us probably cant make it up those steep hills fast enough ourselves, but the cable car was our answer to that. what i think about san francisco and the invasion and creativity we are usually the first of many things. the invention of the cable car many fallowed, yes, the television and juke box and so many great inventions we enjoy today, but while others decided to fore go the cable car, san francisco decided to double down and in 1947, we have this extraordinary woman, fidel (indiscernible) who said no mr. mayor,

we are not going give up our cable cars. in fact, i'll rally all the women och san francisco, put it on the ballot and save the cable cars of san francisco and save the cable cars she did. [applause] and many many years later the first woman mayor of san francisco, diane finstein, knew there was a need to refurbish the cable car infrastructure and to make sure that the tracks and all the things they run along were preserved so we can see cable cars make it into the future to get to 150 years. she worked hard both public and private monies, came together and the infrastructure was invested in and look where we are today. cable cars are one of the number one attraction in san francisco. when they come to san francisco to visit, they want to go to the golden gate bridge and want to ride a cable car, and of course i got to also

throw in, there is no better food anywhere in the world then san francisco. so, while other people are trying to write us off, we are doubling down. to remind people of who we are and what we represent. this is not unfamiliar territory dealing with the challenges of the city, but the thing that we know as san franciscans most people don't know, this is where the invasion happens, this is where creativity happens. this is where we are reminding people why we are resilient and why we use the phoenix as a symbol to rise out of the ashes of challenges that existed in the past, whether it was earthquakes or a down economy, or changes to things because of a pandemic. san francisco continues to not be what we were, but to be something better. time and time again to continue to make sure that we are at

the forefront of new technologies of invasion while also preserving and respecting our past. the cable car represents that for us for now and into the future as san francisco begins to come out of a challenging time because of this global pandemic. the stories are still not written about how even though-there is 20top companies in the u.s. of artificial intelgence, 16 in the bay area and 11 in san francisco. the technology that will lead the future is happening in san francisco, while preserving maintaining and uplilfting the past and what makes san francisco so special. i want to appreciate all you for being here today. thank you so much to the downtown ambassadors, union square improvement district. fisherman's wharf, downtown merchants and other groups that

continue to make sure they are part of a vibrancy of what makes san francisco and all these beautiful people with us who are dressed to the nines to eare mind of the attire that used to be worn so we can feel what it was like back in 1873 when the people who were the first to ride the cable cars did so. it is great to be here, great to celebrate the opportunity for scf san francisco, so continue to support the city, ride the cable cars, enjoy the restaurants and know san francisco, we'll continue to be here. we'll continue to matter and we are going to continue to grow and celebrate all the amazing things that our city represents. thank you. [applause] >> there are 11 elected supervisors in the city and county of san francisco, and all of the cable cars

belong to one of those people. our board president, aaron peskin. aaron. [applause] >> thank you rick, and thank you to you and the market street railway association for your loving and careful and long stewardship of our cable cars and our street cars. mayor breed invoked the phoenix rising from the ashes and if there is a physical manifestation of that mythical phoenix, it is standing behind me. it is the cable car. it is the symbol of resilience and perseverance in san francisco. when they first started in 1873, really in 1888, the city burned down to the ground three times, and that was before the 1906 earthquake and fire. that was before the 1918

spanish influenza pandemic we didn't know about until a few years ago, and the cable car was a constant through all of that. this is the symbol of san francisco's resilience. and as rick said, all 11 members of the board are created equal, but i'm lucky and a little more equal because i represent the original part of san francisco, the northeast corner of san francisco, our china town, russian hill, north beach and downtown and what binds those all together, but our historic rolling stock. (indiscernible) was invoked and she comes from a proud line of bay area women like the three women who started save the bay that saved us from ourselves from

filling in the bay. (indiscernible) did exactly the same thing in san francisco and it is a lessen that has to be learned again and again. our propensity to mistreat some of the historic resources that makes san francisco the envy of the world never goes away. we must always remind ourselves of the lessens of the three women who saved the bay, the lessens of (indiscernible) and let me say this, yes, this is a tourist attraction, but it is also used by our local residents. i have been elected five times by the good people of the northeast corner of san francisco to the board of supervisors, and i know sharon is in the crowd and i know i'm turned out yet again and will tell the secret to my electoral success. in the

mornings this is a commuter vehicle and it delivers folks from nob hill and russian hill, and the upper tenderloin to downtown, and if you get on that thing at 7 o'clock in the morning and you hand out your campaign literature, you will be the next district 3 supervisor. in closing, let me thank the men and handful of women who operate these incredible vehicles, who have done so for 150 years. without your work, without your maintenance, we would not have these cable cars that are the envy of the world. thank you to the workers from the sfmta. [applause] >> beat you to that. i want the sfmta employees please put your hand up, including the retired guys like (indiscernible)

these guys do a incredible job and they really care. [applause] somebody else who really cares heads the downtown sf partnership, and that represents this area, helps keep it clean and safe and i want to bring him up now, robby silver. [applause] >> good morning downtown san francisco! it is still morning. i'm robby silver, the executive director of downtown partnership and leading economic recovery efforts for the 43 block district around the financial district and jackson square neighborhood. daily cleanings and safety services for three activations and creating new public spaces for all. in fact, we are standing in a area we will be reimagining some time in the next year. we are also standing in a important gateway for the downtown and

our city. downtown workers (indiscernible) and embarcadero transit centers. people come from all over the world to see the historic cable cars in action. this is just more then just a attraction as board president aaron peskin pointed out. the cable car lines support visitors, workers and residents from the downtown core through beautiful china town, nob hill and finally, van ness avenue. the top of california street is breath taking and really captures the best of what this city has to offer. when i got my drivers license and i will not tell what year that was, i thought i'll drive to san francisco. i hopped on the cable car and immediately transported to a different place and different time and felt the city's energy and decided i wanted to move here. i was transported to new time

and place, all cities change and evolve and it is time for san francisco to reimagine its downtown. can california street be the center of economic activity with art, with culture, with hospitality? yes. yes it can. the downtown sf partnership is here to serve the city and lead that. no hill is too steep for the city and downtown to climb. we must reimagine ourselves, it can be done and we are doing it together. thank you all and congratulations. [applause] >> cable cars both the original line that ran on clay and sacramento street ended in 1942 and the california line which enders are simnel to mobility for the china town community and i like to call up

don. donald is head of the san francisco chinese chamber of commerce and would love to hear some words from you. >> thank you. [applause] mayor breed (indiscernible) not just supervisor peskin- [difficulty hearing speaker] we have been gone through many many challenges over the years, and along the way, the cable car has been there with us. bringing visitors in china town. (indiscernible) i remember as a child in particular, the cable car on california (indiscernible) i'm very glad to have the city

bringing back this program to encourage more ridership to the cable car in celebration of the 150 years anniversary. thank you so much. [applause] >> thank you donald. now for someone who has maybe the second toughest job in the city beyond the mayors, stepping forward, the director of transportation for the city and county of san francisco, sfmta (indiscernible) >> thank you rick. [applause] since the gold rush in 1849, downtown san francisco has been through endless cycles of boom and bust. each of the cycles the people who made real money were not the ones chasing after the obvious things. levistrauss didn't make money off gold, he made money by taking cloth and

turning into tough pants for the gold miners. andrew holiday and his father came to san francisco during the gold and also did not make money off gold, but figured out how to make wire rope, which he sold to gold miners all over the state and then thought, what if i took the wire rope crazy technology and combined it with some weird new technology for hauling ore outlet of the ground and turned into technology for reinventing real estate in san francisco by hauling people up the highest hill. andrew holiday did make money off gold, he made money off using and reinventing older technologies to create something that people really needed. cable car technology. in every cycle of boom and bust, san francisco has

invented the next new technology that lead the world forward but not just by making money. we reinventing ourselves remembering who we are and why we are here and what attracts. that is socialability and joy and beauty. (indiscernible) cable cars are no longer the most efficient mobile technology, but they bring joy. they bring visitors to san francisco. they are at the heart of who we are as a city. as we move forward reinventing the next san francisco in this transition from bust to boom cycle, we need to remember that as we reinvent new technology, that we also anchor ourselves in our san francisco values and as a center of joy and social mobility. we are so grateful

to be caretakers of these amazing vehicles, and we are also excited and partnership with market street railway, downtown partnership and china town to offer a whole summer's worth of special events, celebrating the 150th anniversary of cable cars. i'm so grateful to our partnership with market street railway and (indiscernible) encourage you to visit sfcablecars.org in order to explore all the opportunities for riding. the $5 all day rate we'll have starting july 1 for the california line, tours of the amazing shops that our crews work in. when parts were out on these cars we cannot order from a catalog. they are hand machined. each one of these cars is rebuilt lovingly by a dozen different trades who have greater skills then any shop anywhere in the world. we will be doing-

[applause] they are amazing. also, if you are interesting every wn of the skilled trades we have job opening now. go to sfmta.com/careers to build your career at sfmt a. i thank you for coming out and hope you take advantsage of the tours and trips and special deals we are offering through the cable car system all summer long. thank you so much. back to rick. [applause] >> thank you. were your ears burning when he was talking about you? we have one more special guest. he comes to us from the past, but his legacy enders forever and that is mr. andrew holiday. andrew. this is microphone you speak into. [applause]

[laughter] >> hello everyone. i'm very glad to be here and i want to thank the (indiscernible) who brought me back to life here to be part of this event today. i wasn't supposed to mention the time machine, but anyway. i did receive a complement as i came up here. i was told i look very good for being dead 123 years. i believe my greatest accomplishment in life is to build a cable car system for san francisco. it didn't take very long for my invention to become part of the city reaching other streets such as geary, sacramento street and of course market street. by 1890 there were 18 cable car lines all making transportation easier for everyone to

get around. i'm very pleased to see one of my favorite cars here today, car 19, built in 1883. it looks as good today as it did then and i want to thank all those workers who continue to preserve it. i understand some dignitaries are going to ride this car up and down california street. you know, on my very first ride up clay street, we came to the top of the hill and looked at the bottom of the hill far on the steep incline and jumped out of the car and panicked and ran away so i had to take the lever myself. i want to assure you men and ladies, that won't happen again today. i paid a extra dollar. i want all you to take advantage of the beautiful cars that- (indiscernible)

no other city can brag that they have cable cars like these. they are a treasure and may climb these hills another 150 years. thank you very much. >> thank you mr. holiday. i want to do a quick shout out to our crew who i guarantee will not run away from the car. derrick johnson and calvin watts are our crew and standing by hiding somewhere but they'll be out. we are going to board now. firts i want to recognize my boss, the board chair of our organization, carmen clark. leslie rogers a board member, retired head of federal transit administration district. dennis talk to your friends about getting us more money, leslie. and wes (indiscernible) a retired superintendent of cable cars. we got a great board. now it is time for the

fun, so we can have the press and the mayor group will be on this platform here. that is for them, but others who are press and invited guests can walk down to the end there and they can climb on the rest of the car and then we'll let others on as we have room. press and invited guests and then we'll get going. [cheering and applause]

>> i am iris long. we are a family business that started in san francisco chinatown by my parents who started the business in the mid 1980s. today we follow the same

footsteps of my parents. we source the teas by the harvest season and style of crafting and the specific variety. we specialize in premium tea. today i still visit many of the farms we work with multigenerational farms that produce premium teas with its own natural flavors. it is very much like grapes for wine. what we do is more specialized, but it is more natural. growing up in san francisco i used to come and help my parents after school whether in middle school or high school and throughout college. i went to san francisco state university. i did stay home and i helped my parents work throughout the summers to learn what it is that makes our community so special.

after graduating i worked for an investment bank in hong kong for a few years before returning when my dad said he was retiring. he passed away a few years ago. after taking over the business we made this a little more accessible for visitors as well as residents of san francisco to visit. many of our teas were traditionally labeled only in chinese for the older generation. today of our tea drinkkers are quite young. it is easy to look on the website to view all of our products and fun to come in and look at the different varieties. they are able to explore what we source, premium teas from the

providence and the delicious flavors. san francisco is a beautiful city to me as well as many of the residents and businesses here in chinatown. it is great for tourists to visit apsee how our community thrived through the years. this retail location is open daily. we have minimal hours because of our small team during covid. we do welcome visitors to come in and browse through our products. also, visit us online. we have minimal hours. it is nice to set up viewings of these products here.

go good morning. the meeting will come to order. welcome back. as we reconvene the recess budget and appropriation meeting from monday, june 26th, i'm supervisor connie chan, chair of the committee. i'm joined by supervisors safai and shamar walton, our clerk is brant spar. again i would like to thank michael baltasar from vtv for broadcasting this meeting. mr. clark, do i have any announcement? thank you, madam chair. just a friendly reminder for those in attendance to please make sure the sounds, all cell phones and all electronic devices so as to not to rp