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

[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

city of san francisco is using the most innovative technology available. these devices allow people to remain out in their communities, doing things like shopping. it is great to be able to walk as a pedestrian in this city and cross streets safely.>> did. i am delighted to welcome you to the richmond library. it is a wonderful space. thank you. [applause] i'm very honored and feel very privileged to have the library be at the center of the selection for san francisco's poet laureate. this is my second experience under mayor nredom, -- newsom. i want to thank you for a couple of reasons. first and foremost to bring the announcement to the richmond. it is an opportunity to preview this beautiful library opening tomorrow, a grand reopening of the richmond library. the first in the city, from 1914 cricket -- from 1914. this is no. 10. we are on a roll. secondarily, it is a port -- important because the poet laureate has a tradition people, and this library -- what better place to celebrate the announcement are new:gloria? with me, gavin newsom, who will do the honors. >> it was an extraordinary commitment the public made when it passed not one bond, but two bo

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

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

mine used to teach hearing people say this is a great city. i asked what happened. -- i am used to hearing people say that this is a great city. he said that he had never seen poverty and homelessness like he saw. he said we don't have this in germany. i have been to several other cities in the u.s. and they were not like this at all. i think that this project is capable of improving the traffic in this area and increasing our image which is something that we need to do. thank you. >> thank you. >> good afternoon. i live in the east bay and i work in san francisco. i will comments on what the previous speakers said. i remember long ago when the project tore up market street and the promise of what it was going to look like when the project was completed. all of all zero of sidewalks, the brick. the area really looked good. a lot of the project has been offered up and frankly this is one of the last and possibly best hopes. i also have in-laws and family who have come from other parts of the country. when we walk around this part of san francis

being here in this great city with this great leadership is once again the proof that we are on the cutting edge. thank you for the vision of the transportation secretary as well for recognizing that. [applause] >> thank you. now it is with great pleasure that i introduce senator barbara boxer, who from the beginning, has worked on the transbay project. a forceful advocate for families, children, consumers, the environment, and state of california, barbara boxer became a u.s. senator in 1993 after 10 years of service in the house of representatives. elected to a third term in 2004, she received more than 6.9 million votes, the highest total for any senate candidate in history. a liter on environmental protection, she is the first woman to chair the u.s. senate's environmental and public works committee. she advocates forcefully for clean air and water and the fight against global warming. in addition, senator boxer also serves on the senate foreign relations committee, commerce committee, is the democratic chief majority whip, and serves on the committee of oversight and investigation. she

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

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

this reminds me of how fortunate i am and how much i love this great city.o have starts of the system for a generation. i want everyone to recognize today as the former mayor and dianne feinstein's leadership. it was her leadership as mayor that preserved these cars. they were on the press at this of going away. -- press thprecipice of this gog away. cable cars connect us to our proud past. this is an expensive endeavor. i know that things come at a price. this investment into this cable car was roughly $800,000.

this reminds me of how fortunate i am and how much i love this great city.o have starts of the system for a generation. i want everyone to recognize today as the former mayor and dianne feinstein's leadership. it was her leadership as mayor that preserved these cars. they were on the press at this of going away. -- press thprecipice of this gog away. cable cars connect us to our proud past. this is an expensive endeavor. i know that things come at a price. this investment into this cable car was roughly $800,000. it was a lot of money. it was worth every penny. it could be possible to bring these together. these are historic cars. you cannot bring a new cable car and bring some plastic and refurbished sheet rock. you have to bring it back to its original glory. we will put some local dollars up so this was not a bigg

it is happening now, and it could be happening everywhere else, not just in the great city and countyf san francisco. >> welcome to "culture wire." i'm your host meg. for years, free jazz concerts have been providing entertainment in downtown san francisco. people pay local musicians to perform for lunchtime crowds. the goal is not just entertainth. people in plazas are trying to create neighborhoods. what began as a forum for performers who were paid by passing the hat has become a program that provides wide exposure and more than 500 paid gigs annually for local musicians. from july through september, people in plazas produces almost 300 free performances in the lunchtime hour. the mission of people in plazas generates social congregation. and by having these events, we encourage people to make these plazas everybody's neighborhood. >> recently, the san francisco arts commission was awarded a $ 250,000 grant for the national endowment for the arts. to establish an arts district in the central market corridor between fifth and 10th street. throughout the yearing the arts commission w

it is happening now, and it could be happening everywhere else, not just in the great city and countyf san francisco. >> welcome to culture wire. did you know the city of san francisco has an art collection consisting of 3500 objects? the collection ranges from painting and public buildings to murals, and from bronze busts in city halls, to cite specific structures. at this time, many of the large works are in desperate need of repair, and a long-term innovative solution is needed to make sure these public treasures will be cared for. >> the story of the arts commission program begins with ruth fromstein. 2010 marks her 50th year as an art dealer. at the helm of the county, she had represented some of the most notable of bay area artists, and continues to look for new talent. >> the artists that i represent, what do i choose them, if asked to do with a background of what the gallery is about. i love the idea of finding new guys and watching them grow. it is the old fashioned way of having a nunnery, which is having a stable. what you have is loyalty to them, artists are loyal to you.

it was a great city to grow up in. i have to tell you a quick story here. to elementary school when it was called washington irving, i thought the rest of the world was like that, because we were 97% chinese, all from the same province in that elementary school. in my world, it was like this is the way it is. when i got to high school, it dropped down to 33%. then i said this doesn't look right here. then i worked to the work world. i was recruited at u.p.s. a guy said would you like to get a job? we said who? he said with u.p.s. >> we said who is that? >> this is 38 years ago. and they have done their job of diversity of hiring people back when it was not popular for doing the diversity work that companies do today. it is great to be here today. o.c.a. is a great asian advocacy organization who was instrumental in partnering with other organizations to get the asian heritage month. i think you heard earlier it was one week to a month. it was a great time to be involved. o.c.a., a 35-year organization was in the forefront of getting those things to happen.

city. we are living in tough economic times. i hope the board will please support the request to proceed with this project. it will be a greataddition to chinatown and to san francisco, a city of love, peace, and