my name is michael farrah. i'm the senior advisor to mayor newsom, and i want to welcome you all to city hall to celebrate the second -- what will hopefully be forever -- arab heritage month celebration at city hall, so thank you all for coming. [applause] as you probably know, tonight is a difficult night for many people. the world series is going on, and i'm here to report to you aid is 0-0 so far, in the second inning. we will have it on during the reception. before we get started, i wanted to recognize and bring up two elected officials to speak briefly, supervisors avalos and mayor, who have always stood with the community -- supervisors avalos and mirkarimi, who have always stood with the community. they have consistently had their offices open when we had an issue. they're being here means a lot to us -- their being here means a lot to us. now more than ever, we need to be friends with government, and knowing their door is open to us is appreciated. [applause] supervisor mirkarimi: good evening. i'm ross