that will keep our city solvent. finally, we cast ourselves with what lorenzo talked about earlier -- how to continue making the city successful. i want you to know that we understand that our city is no longer a stagnant city. it is a growing city, a city that's population is growing. companies want to come here. they want to employ our residents. they want to help us grow. so we have focused on what we can do to sustain those jobs and make sure our city is successful. we have our america's cup that is slated to occur here in 2013. what a wonderful opportunity to continue to make that event grow. it is no longer a national event. it is an international event and reminds us how much we are as an international city. we continue to embrace our local hire program. thanks to the before your supervisors, i am working extremely hard to make sure it is not just construction, but we have a spirit of local hire in every company that here. we have apprenticeships programs reflected in our budget that will allow our department o

students who will talk to you in their own terms about how they feel a city can be safe, a city that can be solvent, and a city that can be successful. if i may invite zack parker to please set up to the podium. he is 8 years old. he is going into the fourth grade at sherman elementary school. he likes playing basketball and drawing. he will be visiting yosemite and his family in oregon over the summer and attending summer camps. thank you for coming today. he is joined by his mother. go ahead,. >> hello. [inaudible] mayor lee said he wants the city to be safe, the word means more than one thing. will walk to school, play outside, or go shopping with our parents, but it also means that we should also help people who need food, the doctor, or a place to sleep. the whole city is stronger when we make sure we can all feel safe. today, we are hearing about how we can grow a stronger, healthier, safer san francisco for all our city's families and children. [applause] >> thanks, zack. next, to talk about a solvent city, i would like to invite and 11-year-old just graduated from harvey milk civil rights a

i also want this to be a solvent city, that we have programs to pay for and afford. we cannot afford to go into debt so that we leave every year in front of us with unpaid bills. that will just make the city more difficult to manage. this is why we're doing a couple of things this year differently from other years. we are talking about trying to plan better with this budget, to think about the five-year financial plan for the city. if you plan better, just like you do at home, if you plan a budget better, you will get the things that you need. if things happen and you do not plan for them, and you should have seen them, you -- we will always be in trouble. i am looking for something that will make us solvent in the future, this is the pension system that has been eating into the general fund. a good third of this at increases in the pensions and the employee costs that we have not taken care of. part of the long-term solution i am working on is to make certain that the whole city family is working on a plan to lower the deficit as part of the increased costs. we will

that's reflective of a principle to make our city solvent. nally i want to make our city successful. successful means basically reaching back to what brought all of you here to san francisco, what made you come here whether you're immigrants or people who moved from another city, people who moved just across the bay to come to san francisco. what made you attracted to the city were things that attracted me. good housing, good schools, good events, good cultural institutions that are reflective of all of our diverse cultures. all of those things that made our city wonderful, including being part of an international city, a city that understands all of the diverse cultures that we represent. i know many of you came and struggled to be here because you know the city is a wonderful, wonderful city to raise our families in, to raise your kids in. your kids are like my kids. we're very proud of this city, because it is so great at all the cultural institutions, so wonderful in its support for its education. we want the city to continue being success

so a safe city, a solvent city, successful city are the principles i am sharing with everyone while we make tough decisions that are bound to come up, and i want to make them with your concerns in mind. thank you. supervisor campos: thank you. that was a brief introduction to some of the key figures in city government, department heads, and everyone else who is here who will just introduce themselves. >> my name is phil ginsberg. i am the general manager of recreation and parks. -- my name is phil ginsburg. [inaudible] thank you. >> [inaudible] i am mayor lee's budget director. it is my job to work with the mayor and board of supervisors to make sure we are going to balance our budget every year, as we are required to do under the charter. i appreciate all of you being here and look forward to hearing your thoughts on the budget. [applause] >> [speaking spanish] i am director of health. [applause] them a good evening. -- >> good evening. i'm from the department of children, youth, and their families. [applause] >> i am from the department of public works. dpw is responsible for designi

, and successful -- ouone -- i want our city to be safe, solvent, and successful. i suggest to you that we have a new level of conversation at city hall. it is welcoming of a good business climate. weak balance that with the services we need to have. we will make sure -- we will balance that with the services we need. we will balance that with the services we need and the challenges we have. having said that, the three ended $6 million deficit is hard to fill when we do not have all of the economic solutions. -- the $306 million deficit is hard to fill when we do not have all of the economic solutions. we still have nervousness about the state and federal governments will do that might make it worse. we have all of that. i depend a lot on the city staff to help me figure this out to build in some reserves that we can use in case things get out of hand so that our own budget and reading can be presented in an honest way. i know what brought you here tonight. i am willing to listen to every one of your opinions tonight and make sure that we have been refl

a solvent city is the most important thing i can contribute. we need to make sure that we balance the budget and we have had to reform for you in a most serious way. we will try not to confuse you by having other ballot measures. we're striving to have one. that is what i get to do. not going to another office. i am not trying to win votes or anything. after having a safe and solvent, i want a city that is successful. what made you come and buy a house? it is because you felt the diversity of san francisco. we have the ability to attract -- we have of events in our parks that just attract so many people, but are affordable to our residents to have a world- class city that can win the america's cup. we have to have those programs and those traditions. that is what brought us. i want a city that is successful. i will stand for a city that is growing old and not paying attention. we need to do all kinds of things to make sure that we have transportation systems, our communications are modern, and i want a city that is safe, solvent, successful. a

a safe city, a solvent city, and a successful city are the themes i have given our departments to work with. and as we go through the balancing our budget, i said at the outset, there is no magic to it. we have to make some tough decisions coming up. after we make those tough decisions, is like going to be any easier? nope. the governor has plans to realign things that going to hurt us. i do not believe for one second that realignment means it comes with any funding to realigning burdens that will come to us. then the federal government is going to get there. we have already seen the community block grant funds that were going to be heard in many different ways, so we are bracing for that, trying to come up with ideas to make sure our cities survives and survive as well. with that, no more speeches. i am all ears to your concerns, making sure the you know we are working closely with you and your supervisor to make our process transparent and sensitive to all the ideas that you have. thank you very much. [applause] supervisor wiener: thank you. now, why don't we hear from the mayor's bu