welcome to our wonderful city hall.ncisco. no many of you know, too, there has been a lot of spotlight on our arab-american countries. people are wondering what it is that is going on. the whole world is struggling to find out what the right thing to think and do and understand is. here in san francisco, we have a tradition, especially when it comes to immigrants -- comes to emigrants, who they are, where they come from, and what they want to do. that's the beauty of being here in san francisco. it happened to my heritage. it's happened to many, many generations of visitors who come to this city. now it's happening for your generations of arab americans. it's our pleasure, and as the mayor of our great city -- i know it is felt at the board of supervisors that we welcome and celebrate our diversity. we do our best to understand, to dialogue, and to create more understanding. we celebrate that. that is our strength in san francisco. that's why we have these wonderful celebrations. thank you to the ensemble for sharing yo

some of the most wonderful and hardest days i have had as mayor of the city. ers out there, certainly the two i had the chance to be with in their last days, i want to thank you again for the wonderful hospital team we have and how we celebrated their lives by giving them the best we had. their families know that. on behalf of the city, again, another great example. we have really positive days to look forward to. in 2015,ç women get the most ld gold acute hospital opened up in oakland. we are on our way to that. we're working with contractors and vendors that are spending some $54 million to build the hospital, local dollar is going to local businesses to participate in the $877 million project. on time, in budget. yes, very important to do. we are going to be increasing the capacity of hospital beds. we will almost triple the size of the trauma emergency center. why? because we love the people here, the residents. we have theç capacity to grow. we have great corporate partners, and all of them that are here today, and there are many more that are not, but t

coming here and then getting to know what you did for this wonderful city. as i decided to embark on this wonderful journey, your endorsement was so wonderful. i will never forget you for that. i will be there for you, what ever you need. carlos moreno is someone that i have a very special place in my heart. carlos came from east l.a., at a place that i grew up in, and very familiar with, and a place that will always be close to my heart. not only did noi know about cars as an accomplished attorney, but he was a great friend of al a -- l.a. there was a great deal of segregation in the lapd, but moving forward, he came to us to make sure that we had a different place, an organization that reflected the communities that we served. a place where hispanic americans, african-americans, women, many others in the organization, would have an opportunity to rise based on their own excellence. it was then that i really got to know carlos and admired what he did. frankly, when this opportunity came, carlos was one of the first people i called. i said, can i have your en

i will measure my success by the safety of each street corner and alley in this wonderful city. [applause] every dollar we spend a locking up someone is a dollar that could have been spent on our schools and recreation centers. these are tough times with limited resources, and i will be thoughtful about how and when we use them. after 30 years in law enforcement, i have seen people who are extremely dangerous, but many more who are misguided. we can no longer afford to lock up those that are in demand -- for safety. it does not work, it doesn't make us safer, and we cannot afford it. instead, we must work to make better solutions to save those people, to save their faith come at and energy of the criminal- justice system, for those that are truly dangerous. we must be certain people committing rapes, murders, and other violent and serious offenses are series brought to justice and prevented from harming others. you have my commitment that i will approach our criminal justice system with a surgical component. we have an incredible opportunity to do things differently, here in san

city hall. and thank you, beach blanket babylon. what a wonderful performance. let's give her another hand. that was just fantastic. when i started being mayor of the city, i turned to our protocol officer and said, "you know, charlotte, we are going to do a lot of work this year, but these years forthcoming, as we work hard, i want to also have fun. isn't this fun? all right. [applause] this is our 50th anniversary of the wonderful song, "i left my heart in san francisco." tony, it is wonderful for you to be here and grace us and honor us with your presence. your 17 grammys are just so unprecedented. you just won two more this past week, and what a wonderful career. congratulations, tony. i want to thank our school of the arts. i want to thank our boys and girls choruses. thank you. wonderful performances. it is a fitting tribute that our boys and girls choruses and ouryouth -- our yout are here today to perform because they reflect tony's dedicated career to ensure the future of arts education. we have seen what he has done and seen what his support is, and he is encouraging youth to be le

city government. ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the hon. edwin m. lee, the mayor of san francisco. [applause] mayor lee: thank you. thank you for that wonderfulroduction 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 celebration by doing the appro

join all of you today to kick off this very important event, the 2012 black history month in our wonderful city for the 100%. ery

join all of you today to kick off this very important event, the 2012 black history month in our wonderful citycity for the 100%. everybody gets to live in our city and live with dignity. that is what i am going to be doing in all my years is making sure everyone can be here. [applause] we are recognizing the celebrates the spirit of our african-american experience, the contributions that everyone has made to our great city to make sure it is a diversity. that is why i moved here. it is why you moved here. that is why so many of her friends decided it would make their mark here in our city because of our diversity. this year's theme could be no less important. black women and american history and culture. absolutely. and it is particularly poignant that it highlights african- americans experiences through their patriotism, through their labor, leadership, motherhood, intellect, and artistic expression. all of us regardless of ethnic origin or social and economic background have benefited from the contributions of these women. in the american culture, menino of the historical accomplishments of

join all of you today to kick off this very important event, the 2012 black history month in our wonderful city for the 100%. everybody gets to live in our city and live with dignity. that is what i am going to be doing in all my years is making sure everyone can be here. [applause] we are recognizing the celebrates the spirit of our african-american experience, the contributions that everyone has made to our great city to make sure it is a diversity. that is why i moved here. it is why you moved here. that is why so many of

some of the most wonderful and hardest days i have had as mayor of the city. he firefighters out there, certainly the two i had the chance to be with in their last days, i want to thank you again for the wonderful hospital team we have and how we celebrated their lives by giving them the best we had. their families know that. on behalf of the city, again, another great example. we have really positive days to look forward to. in 2015,ç women get the most ld gold acute hospital opened up in oakland. we are on our way to that. we're working with contractors and vendors that are spending some $54 million to build the hospital, local dollar is going to local businesses to participate in the $877 million project. on time, in budget. yes, very important to do.

you have helped us after earthquakes to come back and revive the spirit of our wonderful city. you have designed the wonderful art pieces to raise funds for those who need that service. you help us to reopen. after earthquakes, you have helped us climb -- not half way, you have helped us climb all the way to the stars with the -- a nation of our cable cars. you have just -- i in your career, you have generated more love and more nostalgic for our bay area -- more nostalgia for our bay area than all the songs and all the movies and all the television shows associated with us combine. for that reason -- it is really for that reason, tony, that it is my pleasure if you would please come up, to declare today, valentine's day, february 14, 2012, as tony bennett day in san francisco. [applause] and also, on behalf of all of us and with all of our love and with all of our hearts together, to present to you the key to the city of san francisco. [applause] >> would you like to say a few words? you have 45 minutes. [laughter] >> well, i would like to thank mr. ralph sharon, my great frie

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