san francisco is a forward- thinking city. with that, i want to bring up the director of the department, melanie nutter. >> good morning. i am so pleased to be here today to celebrate this environmental milestone. as you have heard, we would not be here today without the broad coalition of support and the ongoing collaboration that came together around ensuring we could reduce carbon emissions from our taxi fleet coming here in san francisco. the san francisco department of the environment is proud to have been a partner in insuring san francisco's taxi fleet is the greenest in the nation. first, on the policy front, in 2007, 2008, our department staff work with the taxi commission and cab companies to create the green tax ordinance. this collabotion resulted in a performance standard, requiring taxi companies achieve over all the emission reductions each year without mandating specific models. as long as each company's fleet met the required performance standard at an average level of greenhouse gas reductions every year, the

particularly these individuals causing all the trouble. >> really quickly, how much responsibility do you think city hall has? city hall allowed them? threw them out and then said you can come back? and was that sending a mixed signal? >> well, i think how the city leadership handled this from the beginning, i think you know very well that many of us had very different opinions about how the beginning should be handled. i think the important thing is that now we are all on the same page, committed to restoring peace and frank quillty to our city -- peace and train quillty to the city. political tweeters fired bat >>> i'm not concerned about the very poor, we have a safety net there. i'm not concerned about the very rich, they're doing just fine. >> political tweeters firing back at a republican presidential candidate. that is just one of two memorable moments from mitt romney. the other one, a high profile endorse transmit donald trump. >> but did -- endorsement from donald trump. >> but did it help or hurt? and we turn to our political insiders. will he ever live this poor people comment down? beca

san francisco is a forward- thinking city.h that, i want to bring up the director of the department, melanie nutter. >> good morning. i am so pleased to be here today to celebrate this environmental milestone. as you have heard, we would not be here today without the broad coalition of support and the ongoing collaboration that came together around ensuring we could reduce carbon emissions from our taxi fleet coming here in san francisco. the san francisco department of the environment is proud to have been a partner in insuring san francisco's taxi fleet is the greenest in the nation. first, on the policy front, in 2007, 2008, our department staff work with the

we commend supervise -- supervisor avalos for making sure that when thinking about the business of the cityiness relationship is more than money. it is also how transpires and affects communities. one of the things we're looking forward to similar to what kevin mentioned, we do think this rfp should be replicated and extended to major companies doing business with san francisco. essentially again, not to repeat previous comments. the presence of financial institutions to create great value and opportunity if done responsibly. we're looking forward to see how this transpires and affect communities within san francisco. we have been part of the process with community reinvestment coalition, acce and other partners to create this framework for assessing financial institutions. i look forward to developments moving forward. thank you for having us. and for doing this great work. supervisor kim: thank you. prentixx i am in district 11. i recently opened a credit union account and i was asked where i had heard of the credit union. i explained supervisor avalos had attended an acce demonstration a

we commend supervise -- supervisor avalos for making sure that when thinking about the business of the cityiness relationship is more than money. it is also how transpires and affects communities. one of the things we're looking forward to similar to what kevin mentioned, we do think this rfp should be replicated and extended to major companies doing business with san francisco. essentially again, not to repeat previous comments. the presence of financial institutions to create great value and opportunity if done responsibly. we're looking forward to see how this transpires and affect communities within san francisco. we have been part of the process with community reinvestment coalition, acce and

city. what i was thinking about all day long was how wonderful our city is. fact that tony bennett has sung about our city, and i just kept thinking, why do we do this? why did you come out so much? you'll love this city as much as i do. çpeople of all levels, whether you are working for a great institution or you are working with a different company or you were just a volunteer and someone who cares about somebody else, you do what you can. when we can organize and city government to provide that to opportunity, and whether it is a haircut, how can we provide training, how can we get you some eyeglasses, how can we set you up on e-mail -- q different parts of life we live normally may not be available to everybody, but you are here to make that available. when i think about the otani bennett is singing to, i think about you. -- when i think about who tony bennett is singing to, i think about you. it is a city of people to know how to do things for other people. that is what makes me so proud to be the mayor of this city. i am willing to sacrifice everything

with you it is all right by me because you make me feel so brand new i what do spend my life, thinking city- thanking you city time, or budgets good or bad we will make it together, whether we are together helping whether times are good or bad, happy or sad and ♪ it is so hard to say goodbye to yesterday ♪ and this is the last day of the fast path. sail away. and ♪ i got the city on a string been sitting on a rainbow i have got a string around my finger what a city life in the city is a beautiful thing, as long as i hold this strain of if i would ever let this city go i have got the city on a string, sitting on a rainbow what a city i am in city love, city gov ♪ president chiu: thank you. next speaker. >> good afternoon, i am peter were field with the library users association. we work for better libraries for everyone. i was glad to hear what supervisor talking about museum preservation and another one talking about honoring many types of music. and historical jon knight cultural society with a famed artist. latinos, african-americans, caucasians, and local community history sits on a san

there was no limit on the total expenditure the city has to undertake in this project. i think we need to make sure that we put a cap on what the port is required to reimburse the event authority. the issue of what benefit the city will actually get from the america's cup has been a moving target, and when that moving target is such that they number of spectators is being reduced and potentially the number of jobs that are being created could be reduced, and the economic benefit could be significantly lower than what was originally proposed, i think we have an obligation to make sure that there is no blank check that is left here on the table. we need to make sure we put a cap on what is expected of the port of san francisco. i also think we need to make sure that we comply with good business practices. the city paying an 11% interest rate is not something that to me makes a great deal of sense. likewise, we should benefit from the sale of condominiums along the same lines that the port does with any kind of a deal. i think we need to make sure that at the end of the day, we as

whatever the case is, that decline in population is a healthy reminder that even the most forward-thinking citiesou, everybody, and happy black history month. >> thank you, supervisors cohen and mirkarimi. just want to announce also that thanks to the efforts of lamont bishop and others, we do have for the kinseys proclamations or certificates of recognition for shirley and bernard kinsey from senator leno's office, is ash asem blipman ma and we have those and had present them to them later in the program. we'd like to now turn to the -- to our presentation by the -- i'm blanking -- the omnira institute, who will perform for us at this point. the mirror institute. ♪ [drumming] ♪ ♪ [applause] [drumming] thank you. omnira institute. they're going to be porping around at a number of locations in black history month. check them out on line too. they do a phenomenal piece of taking frick music and showing parallels in aof -- some of the african-american gospel. when you can sing those two things in tandem and how they relate to each other. columbia of other mentions we have. naomi kelly was with us. p

we commend supervise -- supervisor avalos for making sure that when thinking about the business of the cityiness relationship is more than money. it is also how transpires and affects communities. one of the things we're looking forward to similar to what kevin mentioned, we do think this rfp should be replicated and extended to major companies doing business with san francisco. essentially

i have always loved this city. i thinkhat san francisco is -- it represents the best of what this country has to offer. it is a place that welcomes people from all over the world, from all over the country, and is a place that not only tolerates, but actually increases diversity. it is a place that is forward thinking in terms of how it looks at issues, and it has always felt like home. as a gay latino man, i felt this was a place where i could be happy. >> why did you get involved? supervisor campos: i think a lot of the past to do with my being an immigrant. i am very grateful for all the opportunities this country has given me. only in this country could someone like me have an opportunity to go from having nothing to go to stanford, harvard law school, and to be an attorney. it really is a way of giving back. i really believe that when you are blessed with the opportunities that this country gives you, that you have an obligation to give back. i really believe in public service. i could be in the private sector and mak

that right off, -- runoff, to start developing negative attitudes and it divides the city in a way that i don't think it's healthy for the city. we were able to present ideas to get people excited without having a run off. i would like to be able to continue with frank joyce voting. i believe we have already have the experiment of with and it has worked in a lot of ways. as supervisor campos mentioned, the great diversity that is on the board of supervisors is a great example of how right choice of voting has been good for the city. last year we had mayor lee when an election with an enormous voter turnout from the chinese community. the story of disenfranchisement i don't believe is the case. they came out in droves to support merely. in my district, there was an office that was empty because they had ever won at the polls already. there is a lot of things that worked with ranked was voting, people voting in droves to support candidates. we were very savvy about how their votes laid out. that is where my vote is going to go today. i do appreciate the discussion. there is a lot we can do to make sure

there are a lot of lots that have city car share in them. >> i do not think that we have talked to the city car share. there might be ways where the parking lots, if they are secure, they don't have to be attended. they can have the car shares of its unsecured, that might be away. commissioner adams: two more questions. my other question, instead of hiring a security guard, what a>> we had a meeting in supervisor chiu's office, and there are a number of entertainment venue holders, and at that meeting they expressed more than interested - -of an i -- more of an interest in staffing. commissioner adams: my final question, ouare city lots subject to this? >> no. commissioner adams: the reason i am saying that, a l halfot -- bwe have a lot behind the castro theater. we have gates and everything, it keeps getting smashed down and i would like to know from your office, they are 24 hours for the most part. we try to limit the hours and we have had problems. the city is going to make private owners do this, why doesn't the city require it for their own lot? the marina is 24 hours. a lot of th

>> i think the city attorney's response was right. the city attorney articulated a situation where we are looking into the future, and we are unsure about what the numbers would be. when we collectively did was limit the bucket so that once the bucket was empty, the bucket was empty. that got us around trying to come up with numbers where it was our crystal ball verses the city's crystal ball. we have a bucket of is a fine. we have limited its from 44 gallons down to about 20, and we have done the with the partnership and we hope to have in years to come, so we are in the strongest position impossible to believe a cap exists, and we believe it will work. we do not believe there is lack of clarity. >> when we look at a crystal ball, i do not think we anticipated expenses going up to $110 million, and it seems to me the bucket has gotten a lot larger. i am looking at how large it has grown to that we could tell people this was level of repayment they are going to get for it. >> i just want to respond a little to what you said. one of bu

i do think a large part of our problems in the city are financial, economic. nd, i did think i would be able to add a lot of value, and that is why i decided to get into politics. >> where do you place yourself on the political spectrum? >> i have to say, i'm one that has been trying to get away from the political spectrum dialogue in san francisco. i would just say, generically, i think i am in the middle. i'm a moderate person. nationally, i think we are a little bit left in san francisco, but i think i am a socially liberal person. that is what i tend to practice what i preach. >> what did you learn campaigning for supervisor, and was there anything that surprised you? >> that is a great question. i have never run for office before. i am new to the political world. for me, the learning curve was the best he could be. there were a lot of lessons to be learned in running a race in san francisco. a few that stick in my mind -- money does matter. raising money. that is the simple, somewhat unfortunate fact of life. i think really having a message that resonates

i think that is something that would be worthwhile to do, and i think it puts this city where the city should be at and we can come together in a final agreement, but i do not think we are out of kuwait or we can get to this take-it-or-leave-it type of discussion. we have gone through an incredible investment. we can get to something, but it needs to be mutually agreeable. >> one thing that has happened is that san francisco was awarded the america's cup. it was awarded the america's cup on the basis of a deal, and the point that is being lost here is that after discussions of trying to put the meat on the phone, we are looking to change the deal, and i have to tell you we are very uncomfortable with that. >> and we said what we could live with us a city by our decisions, and we expect five those are adhered to, but when we had changes the happened after december, i would like to get to a point where we can agree together about making the go forward. i know there are additional costs the did not come op. i would like to have the discussed again so we can have a better understanding abo

we hope you will join us in a city we really, really love. we do not think we are second to anyone. san francisco is often known as the kansas city. -- as the can-do city. we also believe we are a can-do city. our futures are so links to each other that we will rise and fall together. thank you for coming, so many of you who did come. please join us on a first friday, and join us for some of the best art galleries and restaurants. it is basically a party downtown. if you are coming early, give my office a call. we pour a little bit of wine on the first friday and invite you to stop by the mayor's office, if you are looking for real estate. fred can help you any time. we often will show people around on first fridays. >> thank you, mayor quan. to introduce for the q&a portion, and again, hold your please welcome dan angell, president and ceo of golden gate university, who will introduce our moderator. >> recently, i saw a sign coming down the highway, and it sent a simple message. it said paradigms' may have changed while in flight. a lot of changes going on very quickly. at golden ga

think probably everybody up here did. everyone felt very positive that this was something we needed to see happen in the city. i think what has been very challenging, and what this legislation is trying to do, is recognized this balance between uplifting historic preservation, which is tantamount to what a lot of people love in san francisco, why people flocked here -- this natural, unique character and neighborhoods. existing historic districts. i do not think there is any debate about the purpose and the goal of what we are trying to achieve here. obviously, the devil is always in the details. that is where we are having issues about coming together on this. the perspective from the planning commission is that whenever we implement needs to conform with the general plan, which is bigger than one historical issue. every day, we decide a lot of items that have conflicting needs, in a lot of cases. we have to make a decision we think is best, depending on the general plan, to advance and francisco. looking at whether or not the planning commission should have say on that -- we do not diminish the expertise the

i think we're in a very difficult city. we have tons of permits, tons of different apartments to go through. i wish there were a way to streamline the process, just to make it easier for them to be here in san francisco. >> what are your thoughts about expanding the tax breaks, giving business to other areas in your district? >> i talked a little bit earlier about raising taxes and raising revenues and fees, and for me, the tax exemption is something i do not philosophically supports. yet, i often represent part of san francisco that has been neglected for decades, and that is the midmarket corridor. we have over 3 million square feet of commercial real estate. a lot of it has been vacant for decades. the building twitter is going to be using, it has been vacant since 1968. we have to start looking at what tools do we have to revitalize the area, and what i like about this legislation is we are not just giving a tax break to come in. you have to create jobs. you pay your payroll tax base, but if you move to midmarket and cr

my district encompasses the ethnic and economic diversity that exists throughout the city. i thinky district is emblematic of the entire city. you can find every political perspective you can possibly want in district 3. oftentimes, the interests of my district and the city are aligned. i do not have to think about those differences quite as often as some of my colleagues may have to. >> let's talk about the budget situation. we have been faced with some tough budget decisions again, including where to make cuts and whether or not to increase taxes. how will you approached these hard choices? >> our budget is one of the very top challenges facing city government right now. over each of the years i have served, we have had to balance budget deficits that were around $500 million. this year, we're facing another budget deficit of almost $400 million. fortunately in recent years, we have had some ability to do some one-time budgeting tricks that allow us to balance the budget that do not exist this year. in past years, we've received federal stimulus money. we received more monies fro