this is still a great city. walking together with senator feinstein to the white house, we had that talk about how great the city was, when she redid that investment in the cable car system, used the compassion of the the city to recover from low market death. weav

city family. you are joining a great department. we want to make sure we do our best. you are joining a world-class department of firefighters, paramedics, and all the other wonderful things that we do. i want to impart that i am personally appreciative of the sacrifices you have made thus far. i will also appreciate everything you do from here on. i will do my best to continue leading this city and making sure we recognize all of the contributions made. we want to keep this city family close so that we can depend on each other whenever we have times of need. i want to signal to the public and your families that this is a day we want to remember as one where we celebrate your entry to this department, how you got here, all of the sacrifices, and make sure that you know that you are serving the best city in the world. thank you very much. [applause] >> thank you, mr. mayor. [applause] >> good morning. thank you all for coming today. this is a beautiful looking group of people. give them a hand. they have been through so much in this training facility. i am so happy to b

and he was tailor-made to lead this great city. as a former city administrator, he knows the city inside and out. he has spearheaded sufficiency measures, moved towards greater government services, prepared for emergency management in times of disaster, and work toward inclusion of all people in this multi-cultural city. he is so well-respected that the board of supervisors unanimously appointed him. this is quite a statement in the tumultuous political times. with that, let us all welcome and a yearly -- well, mayor lee. >> thank you. good morning. we're honored to was the asia- pacific economic cooperative cooperation here in our great city. i want to welcome you to san francisco, which was recently named the greenness city in north america. this gathering is the perfect opportunity to renew our push for the future that is independent from foreign oil, and to take the steps necessary for a more secure, sustainable, and prosperous future. we're doing our part here in san francisco. san francisco is proud to be a transit-first city.

this is still a great city. walking together with senator feinstein to the white house, we had that talk about how great the city was, when she redid that investment in the cable car system, used the compassion of the the city to recover from low market death. we have the same challenge in front of us. i want to make sure that you know every day my commitment will be to make sure people's investments, whether it is families they create here, whether they bought a house that is more expensive than any part outside of new york, or whether you invested in a small business or medium-size business, or part of a larger investment, or you want to tap the great work of course we have here, we need to make good decisions in this city. we need to focus and concentration on economic stability. we need job growth and job creation. you have my 100% commitment to do this every day diamond office. thank you. [applause]

substancive, more significant and they decided to reach out got a that built the city hall and the opera house in that greatvisiting, 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 into

it is great to be in the city of san francisco because we are doing everything right. i know they only gave me 10 minutes this morning. i could probably talk for hours about what we're doing in our city to make sure it is economically strong, but finally have 10 minutes, it is going to be about jobs, jobs, and more jobs. [applause] that is what we have to do in this city. i want to speak on the state of our city's economic climate. in order to have a city that is, as you have heard me say time and time again, that is safe, solvent, and successful, we need to invest in our residents, in our businesses here, and in our city. that is why jobs and our business climate are the top party is that my administration will continue to push very hard. that means creating and retaining jobs and creating the conditions for businesses to start and grow and prosper in our great city. today, san francisco's unemployment rate is 9%. while that is the third lowest in the whole state, we can still do better than that. i would like to turn that 9 right on its head to a six. that is where w

now, turning our attention to the annual conference, the reason why we're all here in this great city. let's focus on what's ahead for the conference this week. the program is designed to provide you with information and resources that you can take back to your cities and put directly into action. we are here in san francisco to learn from the experts and each other over the course of the conference. both the on-site program and the conference-at-a-glance page you received at registration will help you navigate the sessions, meetings and events. look for an expo map to identify the 240 companies exhibiting in this year's expo. i know you won't want to miss the expo tomorrow and friday where you'll find many products and services that can help your city. if you'll permit me to to make a shameless commercial plug, please look at page 34 in your conference program and circle booth 908. here's the reason for that. we're plugging this booth because it's ours and all of yours. it's california communities and u.s. communities. these organizations provide important products and services to ci

really give them the pride for working for the great city. ongratulations for making it on the wall. lee, john, to have this tradition, welcome our great chief. [applause] >> since you are the last one that has been hung on the wall previously, you two work so closely together, could you say something? >> i am no where near as good looking as joanne. kind of down the line there. joanne and i have been friends forever. i played football with city college with her brother dan who was the coach. talk about a great person to be able to follow. she has been so supportive. i have learned so much in my short time on how to be a good chief. she is modest, gracious, everything that you would want to have. i just hope someday people will think of me the way that i think of her. [applause] we have a surprise hear from senator mark leno, who i believe has not made an endorsement yet. would you like to make an announcement? >> speaking of better looking -- >> it is my pleasure to join mr. mayer and our chief on this auspicious occasion. i think all the kin

exciting to be here as council general of san francisco in this beautiful city, especially on a day like today. it's really great. you've been in amsterdam. in 1969 i learned and have reason for you to come back to that beautiful city soon. i'd love to work with you on a relationship between amsterdam and san francisco because there's so much in common between the two cities. and a lot of things that san francisco can learn from san francisco and the other way around. and my hope for these two days is that we will have something out of it as well and i'm sure we will have something out of it as well. and you probably will not remember amsterdam in the 1960's and the 1970's. i'm old enough to remember amsterdam in the 1970's and it was all different at that time. there was a lot of congestion, a lot of cars in town and it changed. it changed by changing the culture, changing policy and implementation of policies with hard work and i think hillie talens will show some figures and numbers about the travel that we did in the nether land as well. and about the economic benefits that investing in bicycle infrastructur

but we are so fortunate to be situated here in the city of innovation, with its rich resources of the magnificent waterfront. many ties to asia, our great educational and research institutions, and just a wonderful entrepreneurialism, inventive culture here, a true city of dreams and ideas. with all of the complexity in some of its politics, certainly. many things you will hear about, i do not want to reiterate during the headlines so much. but the announcement from salesforce about its mission de kamp last year certainly have a trigger effect, a big impact, followed on by the america's cup announcement -- the america's cup announcement. we will hear more about that in the wide-ranging attack. there is a twitter of fact and renewed look at revitalizing the market. the wrecking ball tipped around the transbay terminal, and there is work in progress, significant progress has been made there. that is a whole new neighborhood within the city that will build up. announcements of the moma expansion, the ucsf cardiovascular center at mission bay completed this year, and a hospital under way. the master developer announced great strides with tr

and workers and investing in our communities and rebuilding the infrastructure of not only our great city much of that is reflected in the leadership of nancy pelosi and the leadership that we are looking forward to in the future come this november adds we vote for real change. -- as we vote for real change in this country. i can't help myself. you know, i'm a little bit biased on the topic. it's also a celebration of our community in san francisco that is a living example of lily coit's contribution. the stew ards of our community, the people like ann halstead, ken bailey, the friends of pioneer park, who oftentimes have stepped up when government cannot and kept this place maintained, vibranted -- and kept the elected officials focused on the importance of coit tower to the life of the city not only in its picturesque back drop but it's also a very proud symbol for san franciscoans and a very vibrant part of the life of our city so i want to thank all of friends and neighbors that helped not only today but every day are organizing a contribution to coit tower. a big round of applause to

great cities regret not building subways. the rest of my items i will submit. >> thank you. supervisor mirkarimi. supervisor mirkarimi: i have one item. i would like to ask the city attorney to resuscitate a piece of wood solution that we sponsored nearly two years ago and that was to call for moving the san francisco police department crime lab under the cao so it would be in independent jurisdiction. considering this spate of stories about scandals that have compromised the integrity of the crime lab and the drug lab, and the fact that the national academy of sciences has come up with a report recommending to all metropolitan government's they'd move to crime labs to an independent jurisdiction, i had decided because of the disinterest and the resistance in different corners of the city government to revive that legislation. i am making a public request of the city attorney. >> thank you. supervisor elsbernd? supervisor cohen? supervisor cohen: thank you. i am proud to co-sponsor with supervisor wiener legislation that would establish a commission to review practices and m

city. we can be a great bicycling city. we look forward to your help. i want to invite everyone here, please come and invite friends to tomorrow night's closing ceremony. as hille mentioned, we're now going to lock these good folks in a room for two days to help us come up with exciting and doable, that's important, implementable plans for mid market street, for polk street and the wiggle route through the lower haight. they'll be coming back miraculously tomorrow night at 6:00 p.m. to share their design ideas with all of us. this is open to the public. 6:00 p.m. tomorrow night at the war memorial building in the green room just across the street, across van ness avenue. please come, and you will learn what the dutch experts and what our local experts and stakeholders think we need to make san francisco a truly great bicycling city, which i am sure we can do. thank you so much for coming today. we appreciate your enthusiasm and hope to see you tomorrow night. [applause] >> we are going to start today first talking about the data and then after that, we

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

a city with transit so great you don't need your car. buses every 10 minutes, truly save by claims all over the city. let's make really magnificent every effort -- every underground station covered with murals and mosaics, every bus shelter a work of art. transit so great you don't want your car. now, only the rich can afford to live here. but another city is possible. let's declare a moratorium on building houses for the wealthy. we have 24 billionaires'. that's enough. we need housing for poor workers, middle-class families, artists. these people are the backbone and soul of san francisco. they deserve to live here. where will the money come from? a few ideas -- one, a municipal bank of san francisco will get the interest on its own pension funds instead of giving it to bankamerica. second, dumppg &e to have public power. that would give us lower rates. 3, the rich must pay their fair share in taxes. money is being sucked upward as i speak. let's bring it back down. taxes the rich. duh. in this era of white -- right wing at renters and

this is the city where great american industry has come back to life and the industries of tomorrow arethis is a city where people brave and bold, courageous and clever are dreaming up ways to prove the skeptics wrong and write the next proud chapter in our history. that's why i wanted to be here with you today. because for every cynic and every naysayer running around talking about how our best days are behind us, for everybody who keeps going around saying no we can't, for everybody -- [crowd chanting yes, we can] >> for everybody who can always find a reason why we can't rebuild america, i meet americans every day who in the face of impossible odds, they've got a different belief. they believe we can. you believe we can. yes, times are tough, but we've been through tough times before. i don't know about you, but i'm not scared of tough times. i'm not scared of tough times because i know we're going to be all marching together and walking together and working together and rebuilding together, and i know we don't quit. i know we don't give up our dreams and settle for something less. w

know where the university of chicago where great university medical institutions you know just a great city and so you know people to watch untouchables you doesn't bother you know you met must commanders to be on and you know this is even some advise that you discuss something when we all of a star said there was a hand on a course many people start talking about traffic and traffic is a problem for all the big urban areas in the next ten or fifteen years almost eighty percent or more people believe in urban areas it takes one hundred years of america to be urbanized this world be urbanized in less than twenty five years or thirty years and that is amazing we talked about environment we talked about how the environment is economic sense environment of the land the air in the water which is really important for a city we talked about traffic we talked about economic development housing you talked about emergency police and fire and other things and mayors get together we talk about best practices what works and what doesn't work and the mayors are closest to the people and so they have to d

city hall. i think it is a great idea whose time has come. the work the youth commission did last year working with community organizations and youth from around the city was exceptional and worthy of action on our part to make sure it gets done. i wanted to say thank you for that. i want to acknowledge other folks who have gone on to public office from the recent youth commission. jesse is on the city council berkeley. exceptional things are going on that you will have access to in terms of government service. it is not just working as elected officials. nonprofit workers, julie has had an exceptional career serving in people. we have nicole in the back to used to be a staffer at the youth commission who is now doing a lot of great political work. you may know her. i want to say thank you for taking on this leadership role. i look forward to working with you over the next year. i work very closely with the youth commission. i am very excited about the things we can do together, crafting legislation, approving budgets, insuring the young peopl

french haitian he found a city and today we welcome immigrants from all over the world into our great city and so that you you diversity is it has a strength but also can have its weakness and i say whatever happens in the rest of the world it should not bother you here in america and that doesn't mean there's ethnic religious or racial differences there will be but you try to really work at it we form a human human rights commission human relations so there are very proactive in any activity in the city of chicago so they're out there with i have an agent really and i have in a span of community i have a. community i have. arab community. i have the chinese asian we have all different committees set up so we can help new immigrants who arrive in the city chicago is or were also known in russia to movies as a gangster which. again says in chicago are are a legend today well in moscow the gangsters are still alive and st petersburg even says that right now it was once labeled the gangster capital of russia a couple of years ago so so did you did this you see some similarities with the chica