. >> good afternoon, kate breen, director of government affairs. it sounds like in the next hour you will have more of this. on behalf of the sfmta executive team, and having known ed for, we figured, 20 years at this point, i'm here to express our gratitude and appreciation to ed for his leadership and support during the past eight years. what i am struck by with everybody's comments is this consistency of the qualities that i'm going to talk about. there is no wavering on the depth of these qualities and characteristics that ed has shared with us as our leader. as we consider the qualities that ed has demonstrated, it was easy to craft, very easy, and very quickly, a lengthy list that will fully qualify him for a coveted sfmta award, which you will be getting. you always wanted it, you know that. as our director, he has led with his values first, including mutual respect, a dedication to equity, sustainability, and fundamental ethics. with qualities that are more impactful in how they are modelled by the person, rather than expressed in words, it