[applause] thank you, mayor lee. this next guest is someone i have interviewed many times on the subject when he was mayor of san francisco. he is very passionate about it. today might be another accomplishment that he may be loud report to being at. please welcome lieutenant governor gavin newsom. >> thank you. [applause] nice to be back. wonderful to see you all. thank you, mayor lee, for your stewardship of this program. president chuiu, everyone here gathered for this milestone. i had the unenviable task of going back to read some of the cliffs that were said to me after we made this announcement, and it was remarkable the condemnation we received. i am glad i never read any of that. maybe i would have been dissuaded. now we have 92% of taxicabs alternative fuel, leading the nation, proven what can be done. there is an old adage. once a mind is stretched, it never goes back to its original form. you have to show people evidence, show people it is possible. you appreciate it more when you are no longer mayor, i app

[applause] mayor lee: thank you very much. thank you. >> thank you, mayor.l general. the board of supervisors reflects the increasing dominance of asian americans in government and politics. the sleeping dragon has awoken with four asian-american members of the board of supervisors, and the first asian american to serve as its president. please welcome president chiu, carmen chu, supervisor kim, and eric mar. president chiu: i wish you could see yourselves as we see you. we are chinese, japanese, and caribbean. we are south easton, southeast asian, and filipino. i want to thank the leaders in our community who are here with us tonight, leaders of our benevolent associations, our business associations, and our commissioners. we cannot do what we do in city hall without all of you. we know we have come a long way. it was not long ago that chinese americans were excluded under our city laws. when japanese americans were interned. when filipino tenants were evicted from the international hotel. when the fbi investigated our community. for us to stand here now is

out further ado, i want to ask mayor lee to come up and say a few words. mayor lee: thank you. thank you for your great leadership. we would be dryer if the subway was built. we would be right here. i'm looking forward to it for the work that is about to happen. right behind me, you see this. i cannot be prouder of our mta. they're moving on this with the funding, with the schedule. they have been working hard with the neighborhood. we have the president of the chinese society here today. she has artist and a sense of old and new and it is reflected behind me. a vision of what the station will look like, and also the sense of history that this represents, only in transportation, but for this community. david represents the modern san francisco as the board president and also as a our supervisor in this district. of course, clearly, the chinese- american supervisor for this district 3. very thankful to him. working with the chairman and making sure this continues to happen. we have some challenges with central subway. we have straighten them out. we step forward and continue to

of the recipient of this year is a man of the year award, our mayor, mayor at least pujols -- mayor ed lee. [applause] the mayor is the chosen one. not because you have the title of being the mayor. the mayor was the chosen one because over the last 30 years, he has a history of promoting justice and advancing equal rights and opportunities for women and minorities in the city and beyond. when he graduated from law school across the bay, and instead of adding to a corporate law office, he decided to work for the asian law caucus, fighting against discrimination, against women and minorities. when he became the first asian- american to be in that position in this great city, again -- that was less than three months ago that when the mayor was sworn billion, he took every opportunity he had to advance women. when there is an opportunity to appoint a member to the board of supervisors, and for those of you who do not live in san francisco, that is our city council. among the list of qualified candidates, he elected christina olague . i believe supervisor olague is with us today. [applause] an

lee, the mayor of san francisco. [applause] mayor lee: thank you.nk you for that wonderful introduction and thank you for being here. it is the seventh annual celebration. sydney already explained our history, what president carter did for us, and what we are doing for ourselves, joining the whole city and region in celebrating asian-pacific portage month. i am so grateful to the board of supervisors for this whole four months of leaving this great city. i will say once again as i have said through many corners of the city, whether it is a town hall meeting or just your regular family association dinner, the hundreds i have been too -- i really feel proud of our asian community as a whole for allowing me to serve this great city and for all the years of struggle and coordinating and push to keep the doors of government open and to keep opportunities for many generations of asians to serve this wonderful city. thank you. i continue to thank the board of supervisors for this historic vote that happened in january. saying that, i want to kick off the c

mayor lee: thank you. as you know, this profoundly affects local jurisdictions to serve communities in need. that said, i'm proud of our city's responsibility of solving this problem in spite of the state. in spite of the work already done along with committee numbers of the existing redevelopment projects, we have moved decisively to transfer all the agency's affordable housing assets and functions to the mayor's office of housing. this was the first priority for me. to insure future resources for affordable housing in the absence of the agency, i have directed the office of housing to lead a group to explore the creation of a housing trust fund. second, we have created a successor agency under the city administrator and have appointed an oversight board to ensure we can seamlessly move forward with major project areas in mission bay, hunters point shipyard, and portions of the transkei. by moving quickly and decisively, we have maintained the -- portions of the transit bay. these project areas are the fu

mayor. edwin m. lee was sworn in on january 8, 2012 as the 43rd mayor of the city and county of san francisco. ed lee is the first asian- american mayor in san francisco history. [applause] mayor lee was elected on november 8, 2011 by the people of san francisco while he was serving as interim mayor. appointed unanimously as successor mayor by the board of supervisors on january 11, 2011. while serving as interim mayor, mayor lee championed balancing the budget to keep san francisco safe, solvent, and successful. reforming city pensions, economic developments, a job creation, and public safety as his top priorities. mayor lee has worked hard to keep the economy and economic recovery on track, create jobs for residents, and everything that supports a thriving economic climate like parks, transit, housing, quality of life in the neighborhoods, and public safety. mayor lee's focused on job creation, taking responsibility for building san francisco's future. for helping each other and that government more ef

mayor lee, your staff rocks. thank you so much.now what i do open, each and every single one of you can come every single one of you can come and check out blue bottle coffe

mayor lee, your staff rocks. thank you so much. i know what i do open, each and every single one of you can come and check out blue bottle coffee and single origin and chocolate. thank you. [applause] >> all right, in addition to all those departments that i mentioned earlier, i want to thank mohammed nuru from the department of public works to build ginzberg from rec and park, adrian, jose, von, tiffany, and lenita from the community challenge grant. and juaquin. thank you. portola, portola, portola neighborhood. thank you for coming out to the portola neighborhood today. [applause] >> you can see that it is amazing. you can hear that it is refreshing. you reach for it because it is irresistible. and the taste. simply delicious. san francisco tap water. it engages the senses. 311 is an important resource for all san franciscans. all san franciscans. should [horns honking] announcer: the first step to getting into college is finding someone who can help. for the next steps, go to knowhow2.org.

thank you, mayor lee. thank you to everyone that the office of economic and workforce development who made this grant possible. we are extremely excited to be part of this incredible collaboration, especially because it brings us together with partners who we already have, like mozilla and city college but will also bring us closer to some partners who we are looking for two meeting. also at salesforce, which is our data base. so thank you, salesforce. [laughter] it is my pleasure to introduce one of our adult students. she let me know that she actually just finished one of our city -- certificate programs last friday, and she has a lot to say about what has been provided for her. i cannot be happier about all we have been able to do for her. thank you. [applause] >> thank you for having me here and inviting me to join you at this press conference. i moved to san francisco about two years ago, and i did not know a lot of people. i knew i wanted to be a video editor. i applied and applied and cannot get the

we want to congratulate you, mayor lee, on your inauguration and election. and mayor kwan we are so thrilled you are here again. certainly, both of you have been very preoccupied, so to speak. with many challenges that you really did not foresee that we met last year, and many opportunities as well. our tradition is to alternate this event between the two cities from year to year. last year, we hosted the event in san francisco, which is why we are here at the oakland convention center this year. so thank you for being our gracious host this year. we are delighted that mayor lee traveled across the bay to be here in oakland. doesn't this convention center look fantastic? it has been a great renovation throughout. really terrific asset for this city. i hope your year is off to a good start. i personally feel rather optimistic as we talk to the many businesses we interact with every day and every week. this morning, we're going to start our program with two speakers who will share information about the economy, the outlook for real estate and investing, and the

mayor lee, your staff rocks. thank you so much. i know what i do open, each and every single one of you can come and check out blue bottle coffee and single origin and chocolate. thank you. [applause] >> all right, in addition to all those departments that i mentioned earlier, i want to thank mohammed nuru from the department of public works to build ginzberg from rec and park, adrian, jose, von, tiffany, and lenita from the community challenge grant. and juaquin. thank you. portola, portola, portola neighborhood. thank you for coming out to the portola neighborhood today. [applause]

also, i never thought had -- would have the opportunity to introduce the mayor of san francisco, mayor ed lee. i just a to introduce the mayor. that is awesome. we also have a bunch of other special guests today. i would also like to introduce david chiu, president of the board of supervisors. thank you for coming. the mayor does not come along. he has a policy. supervisor carmen chu is also with us. we are also lucky enough to have supervisor mark farrell as well. maybe he is having a pastry or something. there is a lot of traffic between here and city hall. that is a bad joke, i know. we also have supervisor eric mar here with us this morning. all the supervisors are sitting together. we are also lucky enough to have the chief of protocol for the city of san francisco charlotte schultz. last but not least, we have tony sun, chair of the asian arts commission. that's good started this morning. i am going to get off the stage and and things off over to jay hsu. he is going to tell us a little bit more about what we're doing today. >> someone needs to hand me the remote. terrific. brand implem

[applause] >> thank you, mayor lee. and to welcome their -- mayor jean quan, ed wasserman, who is very active in this community. [applause] >> i want to join in the welcome to all of you here on this valentine's day, a day for all of us to cherish our loved ones, including our love of our cities, which is what we're talking about this morning. wendell rosen is a law firm founded 103 years ago in oakland at 12 and broadway just across the street. we are still at 12 n. broadway. we have a little better view 24 floors up, and we are proud to be in oakland, and we are growing in oakland. we brought three new partners in last month, and we think we will bring three new partners in this month. on your tables is a tool kit that you can use, and a few words about the breadth and ability of the lawyers in our firm. we are proud to occupy oakland. we have just signed -- renewed our lease for 52,000 square feet, and we are here for the feet, and we are here for the long haul.