really give them the pride for working for the great city. congratulations 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 k

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] there is really, only one boy... one girl... one tree...

proud americans and we are very proud that we are a descendant of a people -- people who greabuild great citiesdamascus, they wrotbeirut, like, and much more. we are here in our city hall to proclaim that we, as arab- americans, have a lot to offer. we are ready to go towith everyt of all the residence for our beloved san francisco. thank you, sir. thank you, mr. mayor. we're looking forward to work with you to make this wonderful city even better. [applause] >> [speaking foreign language] i am ross mirkarimi. thank you dearly for bringing me up. i have been in office since 2005, but long before i was elected, this is a commemoration, a recognition that i am very proud to be a part of for many years, because i am iranian-american, the first iranian-american elected to office in san francisco. said there is a great affinity between our communities and one that i have not lost sight of since taking office when we were the first city hall in the united states and opening our doors for the persian new years. many in our community have celebrated together. this is not an occasion i would miss. very

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.

cities are the cornerstone of our great state, and this year's conference theme is, cities standing strong for cities. we are stronger individually when we are strong collectively, and that is precisely why your league of california cities exists. we are 482 separate cities, but the league's efforts for all california cities ensure that each city is stronger. it's our strength together that has been instrumental in the league's advocacy this year. last year, we successfully passed proposition 22 which provided strong protections for local revenues. did you know that this was our fourth, or depending on how you count, if you include 1998 and 1999 at one and two, fourth or fifth straight victory at the ballot box. your league has truly become a powerful force in the state political arena. [applause] but who would have guessed that just a few months later, in january of this year, our newly elected governor would announce his intention to eliminate redevelopment agencies throughout california in a way that clearly violates the new california constitution. in the process, his proposal would ha

i am very excited to do that on behalf of our great city. it is a city of diversity and strength.t to present something i have wanted to do for some weeks as we talk about how to really give celebration. i know there are a couple of people that i wanted to help recognize on their behalf. we had a moment earlier this year with the passing of maurice vela. i wanted to recognize him by providing the proclamation to his family who is here today. >> carlos, eddie, rose. [applause] >> thank you. >> carlos, eddie, rose, i want to welcome you to the stage and express our great appreciation for the family of maurice vela. we are working to preserve and improve the mural at bernal heights in his name. we're doing that with the love of the city for his leadership. please accept the proclamation declaring latino heritage month celebration day on behalf of your father and husband. thank you very much. [applause] we also want to honor another great leader in our community. i have had a chance to meet him and see the product of his work. the family of eric, please step forward. [applause] please

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

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

i have lived are around the world in london, new york, paris, all cities with great subway systems. s what this city needs. it is only going to get more expensive. i do not know where the opposition have been, but everything is going up, and the longer we wait, the more expensive it will get. and the city -- it is the economic powerhouse of northern california leading us out of this recession. this project means thousands of quality jobs going up in chinatown and north beach. i like to go over there with my kids. it is really difficult right now to park. all the mechanisms are in place to monetize and manage the project -- a monitor and manage the project. there is no reason to hold it up at this time. the report talks about increased costs. the longer we wait, the more expensive it is going to get. supervisor campos: thank you. next speaker. >> the transportation solution's defense and education fund. we are transit advocates working primarily on the regional and statewide level. we have opposed the central subway for years because instead of being a well-designed, cost- effective t

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] [older man speaking foreign language] richie! richie! [speaking foreign language] yo

it has been a tradition and it is also something we chairs, being part of a great city and country. i want to make sure we understand that this has been and always will be our opportunity to honor the men and women in our military for their dedication and devotion. san francisco will always carry on this tradition in the best way possible. thank you all for coming. [applause] this is also a celebration of the 100th anniversary of the very first navel-aviation exercise to take place in 1911 right off the san francisco bay. there is so much more to recognize. we have the return of the uss carl vinson. that is special for us. in 1984, mayor feinstein help us celebrate and adopt it as one of our own in san francisco with its crew. we have made it our own. i want to welcome them back. i want to make sure you know that our navy personnel have been so much a part of the tradition. they have shown their dedication by working with our local nonprofits and communities to build stronger community ties. we have the blue angels that will be appearing later on. anita asked me what the airplanes w

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

. >> i am on the to be running for mayor of our great city. i served for eight years on the board of supervisors representing district 8, but i was also director of neighborhood services for five and a half years, and i ran the city complete department, and i always said an angry customer was my best asset in helping to see what was working and what was not working in our city. it might be streetcar that did not show up or was 30. it might be a pothole that caused a car to break its axle or a bicyclist to break their elbow or a family struggling to make it in san francisco like my family struggled as i was raised by a single mom growing up in new york city. i think our city could use someone who has run the city's complaint department to be mayor of san francisco because i believe that fixing the big picture is about having the basics work. about you walking out of your home and having that bus be on time and clean and a pleasant ride for you. about not having someone drunk and passed out on the street as you are trying to walk to school or wo

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

but great cities regret not building subways. i happen to think we should not i happen to think we should not just do it in chinatown.

but great cities regret not building subways. i happen to think we should not just do it in chinatown. i hope someday our vision is to continue on, to connect the entire city. we know that in 15 or 20 years, traffic on our streets will double. when we are all sitting in gridlock in 10 years because of decisions that may or may not be made today, i think we're going to regret that. [applause] >> all right, thank you. >> should we let everybody weigh in on this? >> yeah. >> yes, i would like to -- [inaudible] oh, ok. what are you going to say to the people in the southeast of the city? quite frankly, people in the southeast of the city are going to be worse off. they will lose the direct connection that the t made to market street and bart and muni. there will have to go to union square and then walk back through a tunnel three football fields long to get to the station. i would say to the people of the southeast of the city that they are really going to lose with the central subway. the truth is that the mta's own statistics on ho