if ever there was a symbol of how this great city takes care of its family, it is this building. i want to say thank-you to mitch katz, who at as the mayor has said is the best of the best. he is a remarkable leader for the city. under challenging times, he manages a health-care city -- a health care center with great grace. thank you again. to the great city family, to the board of supervisors, to my colleagues in the state legislature,, it is a thrill to be with you. to. cutler, who is here representing the wonderful residence. we are thrilled you have this beautiful home in which to live. this is really full circle. laguna honda was first challenged because it was seismically unsafe. it was the unchallenged because it had 30 person wards, and that was unacceptable. and so the work again. we said "yes we can," and now we say yes we did. we transform laguna honda into a remarkable long-term care facility for the residents of this great city. i was really privileged to be able to carry legislation. it was not easy, but we did come up with 200 million more dollars to put into this

you are part of the fabric of this extraordinary community, the great city and county of san francisco. i just want to thank each and everyone of you for making this city what it is today, such a special place, and a beacon, i think, of hope and light for so many others. in that spirit, in that state, and with that let, let me recognize formally today -- in perpetuity, i hope that i will not be the last major to be setting forth these proclamations for decades and decades to come, but mike, why don't you come up on behalf of the community just to recognize today in san francisco the city and san -- the city and county of san francisco with the wonderful list of contributions and a congressman is that i will spare you but are nonetheless are part of this proclamation, and recognize today, october 8, 2009, will forever be known as arab heritage month in our great city. thank you all very much. [applause] >> so today is the first day of arab heritage month. i want to remind people that i have calendars. we have a calendar that prints out cultural events that are happening all over san fra

[applause] >> san francisco has a great elected city family. i want to acknowledge the president of the board of supervisors, president david chu, supervisor maxwell, subp-- superviser chiu, jose cisneros, the former mayor -- we are all proud to have you here. thank you. we have a special supervisor because he represents this district and has been looking out for laguna honda since he was elected. we are very grateful to him for that and for all he did to make today house -- to the possible. police help -- please help me recognize supervisor elsbernd. >> good afternoon, and welcome to beautiful and sunny san francisco. i would also like to single out and think my friend and colleague and recent father, supervisors mirkarimi, who is over there with his son, for all he has done. there are a few more things that i would like to offer. we are going to hear from one of the two directors of the laguna hospital foundation, and i would like to single out the volunteers who are also here. thank you to the volunteers. [applause] for more than 50 years of

substancive, more significant and they decided to reach out got a that built the city hall and the opera house in that greatu visiting, come down 8:30 to 5:30 monday through friday to city hall and enjoy one of the most remarkable civic institutions anywhere in the united states. it was done by arthur brown. designed by arthur brown, who came up with this concept. people thought for years that this, and i kid you not, and i know the chief will talk a bit more about some of the legacy and the hysterics and a lot of the rumors about what this was purported to be designed on behalf but i'll leave that -- and no, it's not what you were thinking. that is shameful, really. just not right. but the fact was there were a lot of rumors about this, including the rumors that it was filled, i kid you not, this is a true story, and if san francisco, all of you that love those san francisco stories will probably believe it, they thought it was filled with tomato sauce. it was a big part of the rumor and folklore around coit tower and that it had secret pipes -- this is a true story -- secret pipes that would be pumped int

city. he will no longer raise his sword higher than the kugar of priests. great is the grief of those who mourn for dimusi. anani wept for dimusi. gone is my husband, my sweet husband. gone is my sweet love. my beloved has been taken from the city. oh, you flies of the steppe, my beloved bride groom has been taken from me before i could wrap him with a proper shroud. the wild bull lives no more. his shepherd, the wild bull, lives no more. dimusi, the wild bull, lives no more. i ask the hills and valleys where is my husband. i say to him, i can no longer bring him food. i can no longer serve him drink. the jackel lies in his bed. you ask me about his reed pipe. the wind must play it for him. you ask me about his sweet songs. the wind must sing them for him. satur, the mother of dimusi, weeps for his song. once my boy wandered so freelly on the steppe, now he is captured. once dimusi wandered so freely on the steppe, now he is bound. the ewe gives up her lamb, the goat gives up her kid. my heart plays the reed pipe of mourning. in a place where he once said my moth

with a great host city, like san francisco for this facility, we think we will attract the best from all over the world. with the california transportation team that put this together, the initial legislation by john burton who allowed this to take place, the high speed rail authority, it has been phenomenal. but you do not just show up for the ribbon cutting. we are here because of the final portion added to this as well, the recovery act. the obama administration insisted we needed to move this country forward, and throughout the country, there were many who said that the recovery act was too big. now of course, the year and a half later, they say that it should have been larger because the economy is struggling. no matter how big, the speaker of the house said this needs to be a recovery act that can speak to today, in terms of projects that are ready to do with this economy, but they have to be large enough to embrace the future. we have to put people to work in a way that will embrace the future 30 years from today. that is what this project does. that was the house and aren't.

a city is only as great as its people. san francisco is a great city. and its cultural life is only as great as its artists and the creativity, inspiration and things they bring to the life here. we are glad to be able to call him one of our own. [applause] >> good morning, my friends. [speaking chinese] >> i'm really honored today to share this moment with everybody here in san francisco , to actually have this ceremony of this giant god from the orient to san francisco today. [speaking chinese] >> he wasn't expecting that the mayor is so young and handsome and has such good taste of art. [laughter] [speaking chinese] >> he was hoping last night that the mayor can honor him as an honorable citizen of france -- san francisco. [speaking chinese] >> in about five years ago, i actually spent more than 10 years to go performance art, and i was really young and energetic. and i have a strong hormone in my body, so i want to use them all. [laughter] [speaking chinese] >> now i am 45, and the level of my hormone in my body has gradually lowered down, but i want

like so many other nights in this great city, tonight is special. not just because of the award being received, which honors otter this from generations who have made this city great and have been made great by the city. no city invites the hard to soar like san francisco does. and renowned san francisco and may have set a better when she said the some of them -- synonym for san francisco is inspiration. most people think that cities inspire leaders and leaders inspire cities, but i would like to add that artists inspired cities and cities inspire artists. who knows which in print -- which inspiration comes first? it does not really matter, what matters is that happens. right here in our city, generation after generation. we are proud to participate tonight in the recognition of one of music's greatest artists. to continue to fulfill the pledge from one year ago to expand the coverage of the arts and support arts in our community. we want to thank you for allowing us to move out on this rewarding mission, thanking you for the opportunity to serve ton

this is a great city, and in 1961 i had flown out to visit michael mcclure and stay with him. i was a single mother and came out on a prop plane that was supposed to get me to san francisco but got me to burbank, a little distance away, with a 4-year-old daughter. and i knew this was where i needed to be. coming and going was -- it was in my books. a move that permanently and thought of it -- my crazy husband, we took him back to the east coast. i shipped him to india and moved back out. i got a house at the panhandle of the park for $300 a month and have been here ever since. i think of it as the city, but the city to meet its most the people. very, very, very different kinds of people and poetry happening, all of the music and arts. it is just a wonder. you can never be board here. you can never not find out something. i am willing to jump into that and be of used to it. and most of all, to just serve poetry. i had a dream a week ago. it was shown to me that all the work ever written is -- we are writing on the same, one, big piece. and it does not matter where we stop, beca

we need the best ideas from around the world to move our great city forward. so welcome to our friends from europe. again, thank you for all of you here in san francisco that care passionately about this and i look forward to working with all of us to move this movement forward. [applause] >> thank you very much, supervisor. our next speaker was an elected member of the brussels parliament representing the green party. she was also minister of social affairs, health, and equal opportunities in the government before starting her political career in 1993, she worked in the european level in environmental and social organizations for 10 years. as a politician, she focuses particularly on the development of economically depressed areas which despite their assets face challenges like poverty, unemployment, and a lack of development. she believes these neighbors are a key to a vibrant and prosperous brussels. please. >> i'm happy to be here and as far as i could take note is the situation for cyclists as well as in oakland as in portland as in san francisco -- excus

every day they help move people around our city, they're great ambassadors and do a great job entertaining visitors to our fine city. we have two members from the mta board, bruce oka and malcolm hideke here today. i'd like to thank our judges. we have judges representing a lot of president businesses here in the union square area. with that, to all the mta employees and fine citizens of san francisco, thank you for joining us today and thank you for your support. >> matt ford, ladies and gentlemen. the bell ringing competition is a two-part event today. we have professionals competing for a number of prizes in the coveted title of world champion bell ringer. for the amateur portion we have executives from some of our local media outlets competing for first, second, and third place trophies. the competition started with preliminaries. 37 contestants went through filling out the paperwork and a chance to proceed to the finals. all cable car crews were invited to compete. this year they have six finalists competing here at union square, competing against the two-time current champion mr. leo