>> good morning, every one. hello. thank you so much for coming to today's press conference mayor, conference and our lunar year the year of the dragon.

san francisco has a special place in history, in december of 1992, san francisco watched the city where the historic unveiling of the first-ever lunar new year took place in this entire country. and since 11992, we have many national first days and national ceremonies. but whether we get the first day or not, we always have an unveiling as part of our lunar new year celebration. it's very excited. last week i was very comfort to join seattle to join the postal state for the unveiling of the lunar new stamp. it was attended by 300 people by eduardo who is the president of the retail of the postal service.

vod me and the public that lunar new year is the most successful program in the commemorative stamps. we are very happy to keep up with the tra kissing. --tradition. today we're gathered today, although the stamp is already out there, but it's our tradition in our city to unveil the stamp for every one in the san francisco bay area. so without further ado, i would like to introduce our mayor, maryland on --our mayor, london breed who has unveiled a lot of stapp p. >> mayor breed: hello welcome

and welcome to unveil this stamp. it's an exciting time filled with so much joy and excitement, especially after coming out of this global pandemic. it has been very difficult and for whatever reason, i feel like even though, we have the worse of it behind us, this is the one of the first years that i feel like people are actually coming out and coming together differently than they ever have before to celebrate lunar new year. i was at events in china town, in the richmond and in the bay point where they were celebrating lunar new year in a joint celebration together. and it's been great to see and these places have been packed with people. so the excitement is in the air and i could not be more excited and proud to be here today to celebrate a time honor tradition for the past 30 years here in san francisco, thanks to the leadership of cludine

chang and the organization that has been doing a lot of work during the month of may and lunar new year to bring communities together. thank you for all your amazing work. we have a number of other special guest from across the api spectrum from japan town to tenderloin, to the various groups who will have activities and events all over san francisco including our city liberian, michael lambert which will be a number of great events so make sure you check out the san francisco library system and look at all the activities and events and things that are going on in our libraries and in our park. it's going to be a good time in san francisco. and lion dance, mean, man these folks know how to put on a performance. right now this is a relaxing moment, even though it takes a

lot of strength to hold this dragon up, they're going to be performing all over the city and doing all the exciting things that they do. and clearly they're a lot younger than the rest us, because they have the energy and strength to do it. we're joined by a couple of people, and i want to again recognize clawdene more being here and post master, i'm so happy to get hor land, he's behind the most exciting parade, the lunar new year parade that will be happening in san francisco on february 24. book up all the hotel rooms and come to eat and enjoy china town and all during the month of may. there is something for every

one. so we're excited to have you here, as well as our city attorney and thank you to our police commissioner larry yee representativing chinese consolidated benevolent association. so we're happy to kickoff the year of the dragon which represents, strength, courage, and it represents progress. and i must say that this city has made significant progress. we know that this pandemic is not complete xlaoe behind us, but during the piem we experienced challenges in our api community with a rise of api hate and making an effort in our program, ambassadors protecting our communities, coming together to do what is necessary to keep people safe

with our police officers, as a result since 2021, we have seen a 90% decline in api hate crimes in the city of san francisco thanks to the work who are here today. [applause] because we want people to come out to all the neighborhoods of san francisco, our seniors and our grandmas who we love so much, they have to feel safe in the city and the work that we're doing together is ensuring that, especially during the lunar new year. we're cleaning up the streets even more. we're puting out all the various activities and food and fun and festivities, you're going to see smiles all over the city and county of san francisco because of everything that we have done and we'll continue to do to ensure the success of lunar new year of san francisco and the unveiling of this stamp really kicks it off to full gear.

thank you all for being here. with that, i would like to introduce our city attorney, david chu. [applause] >> thank you, madam mayor for your leadership and for being our chief cheerleader when it comes to the lunar new year. let me start to the api federation, andclaudiaeven year after yae, you work. and we celebrate lunar new year the right way with the postal. and the line dance meet troop the access or and i were talking how we would like to dawn those polls poles, but

we'll be doing some arm curls with our law books to be ready, is that right, walkine? when i was little, i collected stamps but when i was growing up, there were not stamped that reflected our culture, our api heritage, our inclusive diverse beautiful culture that is the asian pacific community here in the united states. and when i think about how different it has been over the years that generations of kids get to be reflected in something as common as the stamps that we put in the letters. my son who is p, is slightly

obsessed with stamps because of course he's my son. and for me to share the year of the dragon stamps is going to be excited to him, but it means that just as i learned about black history and women's history and other aspects of american history from the stamps that i observed in the 70s and 80s, he will learn that and more. i want to thank the post master and the leadership of the postal service for uplifting who we are as americans, uplift who we are as asian pacific americans and uplift who we are as san franciscans. with that, thank you so much and do i bring you back claudiadine or madam mayor? come on back madam mayor. >> mayor breed: thank you so much for your leadership. and i want to recognize some of the leaders here, nelson lum is

with us as well as steven lee our port commissioner and night life champion, lions deny will be packed all throughout lunar new year. grace herothi thank you from jam an town, ron lee, good to see you, i saw the hawaiian shirt is always good for any occasion. elvin louie and al perez, thank you for being with us commissioner perez and so many of our wonderful leaders as well as our commissioner a raoen lee rylee, we appreciate what you do on boards and commissioners and activities all around the city. and with that, i want to introduce the post master, i was going to say post master general but just post master from the united states postal service to help introduce and talk about this stamp douglas

smith. >> good morning, every one. thank you mayor breed for the kind words, claudine, i don't think there is any place in this country that represents what we provide with the stamp and in this city, although we were not first, i think we're always going to be the most important so thank you for the words. it's an honor to be here as we celebrate the year of the dragon. i would like to thank the speakers for your support. as a post master of san francisco, i'm proud to recognize this meaningful stamp that is val owed by those who celebrate the lunar new year as well. it's a time when families get together as you have done today

to celebrate the celebrating of our stamp. as one of america's oldest public institutions, the postal service is proud to celebrate through our commemorative stamp program. likewise, i'm proud to say that the workforce is one of the most diverse in america. sxl that's appropriate since we serve the most diverse customers on the face of the earth. ours is a world culture, which is why it's so important that our stamps reflect the rich multi cultural traditions. for more than three decades, they celebrate the lunar new year. in fact the lunar new year are the collection right side the most exciting releases the postal service has had. that's no surprise that more than 1.5 billion mark the event. the success of the series is a wonderful reminder to bring friends and family together in

the spirit of celebration, a tradition of course is what lunar new year is all about. this year's stamp showcases the only mythical creature in the chinese zodiac, dragons are considered by many to be welcome harolded of hope for the future. it's also been said that people mourn during the lunar new year tend to have the features. enterprising, wise and powerful, are the traits. i'm proud to say that i was born in the year of the dragon in 1964. i hope you know that we have quality, wisdom in our judgment and good luck and good fortune. the stamp, the 5th in the lunar new year series, created by

camille chu, sevensers the beautifully adorn mask used in lunar new year parades, on the long tradition of paper cut folk art cuts created during this yaefrment the mask was constructed out of hand painted paper and and used flowers and tassle. gold and red, gold representing prosperity and red good fortune. you can purchase this stamp in our places, and from the convenience of your home at u.s. ps.com. as you add the stamp to your collection, or use it to mail your lunar new year greetings, it's our hope that the year of the dragon brings peace, and comfort to you and your families. thank you again for the opportunity to be with you today and i would now like to ask mayor breed and our participants to come up and

help me unveil the 2024, year of the dragon forever stamp. [applause] >> mayor breed: all right, join us in the count, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1! [cheers and applause]

>> thank you, everybody. hello.

>> who doesn't love cable cars? charging emissions and we're free which we're proud of you know, it's not much free left in the world anymore so we managed to do that through donations and through our gift shops. you got a real look and real appreciation of what early transit systems are like. this was the transit of the day from about 1875 to about 1893 or later, you know. cable car museum is free, come on in. take a day. come down.

rediscover the city. you can spend as time you want and you don't have to make reservations and it's important to be free because we want them to develop a love for cable cars so they do continue to support whether they live here or other places and people come in and say, yes, i have passed by and heard of this and never come in and they always enjoy themselves. people love cable cars and there's none left in the world so if you want to ride a cable car, you've got to come to san francisco. that what makes the city. without the cable cars, you lose part of that, you know, because people who come here and they love it and they love the history ask they can ride a cable car that has been running since 1888 or 1889. wow! that's something. can't do that with other historical museums. rarely, have i run into anybody from outside who didn't come in and didn't feel better from knowing something about the city. it's a true experience you'll remember. i hope they walk away with a

greater appreciation for the history, with the mechanics with people are fascinated by the winding machine and i hope the appreciation, which is a part of our mission and these young kids will appreciate cable cars and the ones who live here and other places, they can make sure there will always be cable cars in san francisco because once they are gone, they are gone. it's the heartbeat of san francisco that founded the cable and the slot and without the cable cars, yeah, we would lose something in san francisco. we would lose part of its heart and soul. it wouldn't be san francisco without cable cars. [bell ringing]

>> good afternoon. everybody. i'm san francisco mayor london breed and i'm so excited to be swearing in janet tarlov to the mta board with her family, her friends, people from the merchant's association and so many folks that she's had an opportunity to develop relationships with to the council of district merchants and so many of our communities. the glenn park community. food is a unify but your

establishes in glenn park was something of an institution. it still is, the grand canyon -- did i not say that right? i think it's the grand canyon. the canyon market. which i loved going in there and talking to the people because many of the people that work for you and still work there, you know, they handle food and the community with such love and care. and that is a special thing to have especially in a big major city like san francisco. but more importantly, this body -- the mta, it's important that we have people who are on boards and commissions that have an understanding of what it feels like to run a small business in sphrbltion. that understands what it feels like when decisions get made and

small businesses prosper because of those decisions. it's important that when those decisions get made that you have a voice of understanding, offer reason of experience as a small business owner at the forefront of the decisions whether it's to move from where it was, where it's to tear up the streets like we're doing now in a couple of neighborhoods and businesses are impacted because people are not happy maybe about parking and we have no we haven't made alternative plans and how it impacts their family. i know, mayor, i know. but just having that diverse voice of reason on the mta body is so critical to the success of the organization. so that we don't encounter some of the hiccups that we run into in some of these neighborhoods.

construction is challenging, change is challenging, the decisions have have to be made with our huge transportation network to ensure that buses and bikes and different modes of transportation are able to move around the city safely and efficiently is an important component of what the sfmta does especially around its construction projects and having a bigger understanding of how it impacts people's lives is critical to the success of this organization and changes necessary to move san francisco forward. i'm excited to have you serve on this body. we appreciate your willingness because it's a lot of work, a lot of hard decisions and there are a lot of people with a lot of opinions but more importantly, there are people that care. they care about the city and the changes that we are implementing

and they want to ensure that these situations that occur are a win-win for everyone. and that's what i think you bring to this body is the possibility of a win-win solution oriented decision making in order to ensure that small businesses are at the forefront of the conversation. with that, i will turn it over to jeff tumlin. all right. jeff tumlin, the director of the sfmta board. [applause] >> j. tumlin: thank you, mayor breed. the success of muny and small businesses are inextra bli linked. they're there because there is a muni line there. small businesses depend on mobility to get their customers

and goods delivered to the districts and muni depends on the riders that we generate. here in san francisco, we're challenged by some of the greatest amount of work from home. our downtown stations are only at 35% of their pre-covid ridership. in our neighborhood commercial districts, almost all of our lines are back at pre-covid ridership and some are as high as 130% of pre-covid ridership in part because of the creativity and importance of our neighborhoods. we understand that our future is dependent upon small business success and we're eager to learn from janet and the community in which janet knows through the city in order to help us be better, how do we make the mobility system work safer.

how do we make it easier for people to get around by all modes of transportation and how do we foster commercial success in san francisco particularly among our small and locally-owned businesses which is one of the most important reasons why all of us love living here in san francisco. i'm honored to have you be my boss and i look forward to many years of working together. thank you. [applause] >> mayor breed: okay, for the moment we all waited for. i'll do it this way so your family can hear. all right. please raise your right hand and repeat after me. i state your name. >> i janet swear do solemnly

swear. >> mayor breed: to support and defend. >> j. tarlov: to support and with defend. >> the constitution of the u.s. government. >> to support and defend the city of san francisco to support and defend and i take this freely without any mental reservation brd or purpose. >> or purpose of evasion and i will dwell and faithfully discharge. >> mayor breed: the duties. >> j. tarlov: the duties upon which i am about to enter and during this time as i serve as member of the san francisco

municipal transportation agency >> mayor breed: board of directors. >> j. tarlov: board of directors. >> mayor breed: and the parking authority commission. >> j. tarlov: and the parking authority commission. >> mayor breed: for the city and county of san francisco. >> j. tarlov: for the city and county of san francisco. >> mayor breed: thank you very much. [applause] i'll continue right now. there you go. >> j. tarlov: thank you. >> mayor breed: congratulations and thank you for serving.

>> j. tarlov: i would like to say a few words. i'm not as practiced as the director and the mayor, but i prepared some remarks. thank you -- thank you very much, mayor breed and the san francisco board of supervisors. i'm truly humbled and honored to be trusted with this responsibility. it was a great pleasure to work with the mayor's office through the nomination process, in particular jean eld berg, gelsy and alex were generous with their time and insight as i prepared. i'm also grateful for the time chair eaken spent with me and director tumlin and the many other mta staff members who took the time to bring me up to speed with their important work. i would also like to thank my

family and friends here to support me. richard, max, elliot and nancy, i love you all. i'm so grateful for my colleagues on the board of the glen park merchants association to tony and the best vice president ever marianne delarry. thank you for all you do and i can't miss carolyn from the glen park association who braved the rain to be here. i would not be here without the rules committee, [indiscernible] sharkey and paul terry and sam who was not able to be here today. i would definitely not be here today without the encouragement of the board of the san francisco council district mer tants association. there are many other people i would thank, but instead, i'm

going to express my gratitude by working as hard as i can to successfully fulfill my responsibilities as a director of -- of the sfmta board and work for the work for san francisco, residents, students, workers and visitors. providing safe, reliable, clean and well-maintained modes much transportation, motorists, pedestrians, bicycle riders, disabled folks and seniors is the awesome tax that the sfmta staff, maintenance borkers and operators dedicate themselves to every day. i'm honored to join you. although i will always strife to serve all of san francisco's many and varied constituents, i will bring my own 16 years of

lyft experience owning and running canyon market and natural goods grocery in glen park. businesses on the commercial corridors whether they realize it or not are independenceable partners with the sfmta in managing the flow of people, goods and services throughout the city. i hope my business will bring students for collaboration with the small business community to the work of the sfmta. thank you all very much for being here. [applause] >> mayor breed: thank you, janet, for your work on this body. i hope you're strapped in and ready for the ride. it will be something else but rewarding had you see the great work that you're able to do

while serving on this body. we appreciate you and everyone for being here today. thank you all so much and let's get back to work.

[music] >> san francisco is known as yerba buena, good herb after a mint that used to grow here. at this time there were 3

settlements one was mission delores. one the presidio and one was yerba buena which was urban center. there were 800 people in 1848 it was small. a lot of historic buildings were here including pony express headquarters. wells fargo. hudson bay trading company and famous early settlers one of whom william leaderdorph who lived blocks from here a successful business person. african-american decent and the first million airin california. >> wilwoman was the founders of san francisco. here during the gold rush came in the early 1840s. he spent time stake himself as a merchant seaman and a business person. his father and brother in new orleans. we know him for san francisco's

history. establishing himself here arnold 18 twoochl he did one of many things the first to do in yerba buena. was not california yet and was not fully san francisco yet. >> because he was an american citizen but spoke spanish he was able to during the time when america was taking over california from mexico, there was annexations that happened and conflict emerging and war, of course. he was part of the peek deliberations and am bas doorship to create the state of california a vice council to mexico. mexico granted him citizenship. he loaned the government of san francisco money. to funds some of the war efforts to establish the city itself and the state, of course. he established the first hotel

here the person people turned to often to receive dignitaries or hold large gatherings established the first public school here and helped start the public school system. he piloted the first steam ship on the bay. a big event for san francisco and depict instead state seal the ship was the sitk a. there is a small 4 block long length of street, owned much of that runs essentially where the transamerica building is to it ends at california. i walk today before am a cute side street. at this point t is the center what was all his property. he was the person entrusted to be the city's first treasurer. that is i big deal of itself to have that legacy part of an

african-american the city's first banker. he was not only a forefather of the establishment of san francisco and california as a state but a leader in industry. he had a direct hahn in so many things that we look at in san francisco. part of our dna. you know you don't hear his anymore in the context of those. representation matters. you need to uplift this so people know him but people like him like me. like you. like anyone who looks like him to be, i can do this, too. to have the city's first banker and a street in the middle of financial district. that alone is powerful. [music]

[music] hi. i'm san francisco mayor london breed i want to congratulate sfgovtv on 30 years of dedicated service as a broadcast channel for our vibrant city. you played a critical role during the pan dem and i can worked keep residents informed. adapted to changing situations that allowed our residents to engage and participate in government. thank you for 3 decades of informing and inspiring and connect the people of san francisco as the voice that

>> good morning, the meeting will come to order. welcome to the february 15, 2024, regular meeting of the government audit and oversight committee of the board of supervisors. i'm dean preston chair of the committee i'm joined by vice chair catherine stefani, our clerk is here. madam clerk, do you have any announcements? >> clerk: yes, public comment will be taken on each item. when your item is called, please speak and line up on the right. you email them to the