out this morning. we want to thank burst upon dr. eddie chan, the ceo of the northeast medical services center, whose facilities we are using this morning. we will be hearing prefer march from mayor lee fallen by president chu and supervisor cohen, and two community leaders. fallen by that, we will be introducing the permanent community ambassadors team. interpreters from my staff are here, so if you need language assistance, they are here. without further ado, i want to introduce mayor lee. we will hear first from him because he is the person that conceived of the community ambassadors program last year following a series of high- profile assaults, and has continued to provide leadership to the ambassador program appeared mayor lee. [applause] >> good morning, everyone. about one year and a half ago, supervisor david chiu and malia cohen, along with former supervisor sophie maxwell, and the police department, commissioners, including commissioner joe marsh, we met with various members of the community. particularly, district 11 and district 10, talking about violence on our sambar . the community, including a number of resident groups, had appealed to us to come up with some better ideas on how to keep the community safe. being the public safety was the number one concern among everyone, particularly during the very tense situation that occurred a year and a half ago, and as we deliberated within the city administrator's office, we concluded community policing had to take an additional improvement, if you will, by embracing what the community wanted to see. particularly on the muni lines, in areas where there might be isolation that occurred in those areas, subject to activities that would end up being -- resulting in violence. after several months of meeting with this idea, we met with members of the community that said, if you hired from our area and if we use the jobs now program, and if we used the city program to embrace it and got training through the police department, we could come up with this idea of the community ambassadors program. we did that for one year. i am standing in front of a great group of san francisco residents, people who have stepped up, who wanted to not only work with the city administrator's office, work with the city as a whole, partner up with the police department, police commission, community organizations in the bayview hunters point, a partner up with our supervisors as well who sat in on all these meetings to make sure that we had the funding for this, at least partial funding. and then a couple of corporation that i wanted to personally think this morning. at&t, lennar corp.. they stepped up and said this is such a wonderful idea of a public-private partnership aimed at making sure that hot spots along the t line and san bruno were going to be safer. to have 12 residents of san francisco, many of them living in district 10 speaking a total of eight different languages and communicating with not only the operators of our municipal transportation agency -- i see deborah johnson here this morning. thank you for being here. 311 as well as department of public works, the whole sfmta organization, police department, board of supervisors, city administrator's office, working together, have produced an opportunity in a public-private relationship to hire these 12 individuals. we have done a pilot program and the results are stunningly positive. when you engage the public, when you engage the ridership of muni, engage people in the community and ask what they are most concerned about, public safety is always on their mind. along with the board supervisors, we work to create this idea that residents of san francisco, and what they are doing today is they are not only on the streets, but they are at those spots where we have had a history of activities that were negative, people hanging out. if a resident were not able to speak english and did not understand that they should not be isolated by themselves, you have extra eyes and ears in those areas, and that debt -- that resonated with people to get information not just on the arrival of their most needed muni lines but also just inquiries about where they could get information about the clipper card, healthy fret -- san francisco, ideas of how they can access city hall, other programs. these became important topics for the ambassadors to absorb themselves, share that information in a multi legal way. and i have to thank them because they are a brave bunch. these are people who wanted to be trained through the police academy, they got that training route former chief, now present chief's officer, to go through the academy and get updated constantly. they got the backing of our police commission to make sure they were truly ambassadors. non law enforcement residence but equipped with knowledge and cell phones that are provided more free by at&t so that they can help make important calls. if they see something wrong or out of place, they can do that on behalf of modeling will residents in this area, and to allow information to be shared among everyone. just to have the presence of 12 more people along this corridor, in hot spots where people feel more isolated, is extremely important. i want to thank adrienne and her staff at the office of the civic engagement. i know linda young is here representing the soviet minister's office, for working together with the community ambassadors program, with the staff, community agencies that are here today, constituents of supervisor chiu as well as maria cohen, and the police chief and his staff, making sure these areas are not only looked after, and permission is shared, but also that the presence there is one that is positive. in addition to being present, vital information can be shared with people who ordinarily might not understand what is going on in a particular area but the basic information. this program has been successful. adrian has reports on 22,000 transactions sharing information over the past year that we declared to be the pilot first year. because it has been so successful, david chiu and malia cohen protected some funding in the budget for that, but we combine that smartly with funding from lennar corp., who is also making a big investment in district 10 as well. i want to thank both supervisors for their support, and also the office of civic engagement. we are realizing this program as a permanent launch, one that will embrace the community but one that will continue this important public-private relationship we have bill it -- between our police department, first responders, and also with residents of san francisco, residents coming from the baby you and poured a lot area now engaged with us in a multi legal way, creating conversations, directing people, and making sure they feel safe, as well as our safe along these lines. so thank you. [applause] >> thank you. the next speaker is cheap greg certification. before he became the chief of police, as captain of the bayview station, he was extremely supportive and receptive to the idea of residence of the district and working with the police department to make the community saver. it is my pleasure to introduce chief greg sur. [applause] >> thank you, adrian, mr. mayor, supervisors. the number one party of the sanfrancisco police department is a reduction in violent crime. we know we cannot do it alone and we made great gains in the debut over the last few years through our partnerships with community that we have made and continue to make. one of those partnerships with with the ambassadors that stand behind me. as the mayor said, we went through a particularly tough stretch last year where we needed some help. getting multi-ethnic embassadors speaking a total of eight languages providing a visible presence in addition to our own, the richard citizen, encouraged collaboration and informing residents, was inviable. now to find out that these in the eye of -- ambassador that have been so special to us are to become permanent is unbelievable and a tribute to those who made it happen. again, it has been a pleasure to work with the ambassadors, keeping everyone informed and safe. they were care and live here and they have a stake to make sure this is a safe neighborhood for their children and everyone else's, their families as well as everyone else's. although they appear to do their job effortlessly, their job is not an easy one. the reason it looks easy is their passion for doing it. we are looking for having them and i look for to our continued relationship. thank you, a drink, mr. mayor, supervisors, for making this happen. [applause] >> thank you. next is someone who was one of the original architects of the ambassadors program. not only has he been a champion of civil rights and language access, which is the distinguishing feature of the ambassadors program, it is my pleasure to introduce the president of the board of supervisors david to. [applause] >> good morning, and thank you for being here for this wonderful announcement about the continuation of a program we know that works. i want to take a moment to talk about how we got here in the first place. we had to come together because last year we had some horrific crimes that victimized some members of our community. these were crime that opened up some significant tensions in the community and also opened up memories of past crimes that have been happening in these neighborhoods. we need to take a moment to remember this because what was also wonderful about what happened last year was our community came together. i see so many of you here -- dr. marshall, i remember these meetings that we had. so many of you that came together to say enough is enough. as a community, we have to think of new solutions and we have to put our money where our mouth is. with the inspiration of our then-city administrator ed lee and his staff, with our san francisco police department, with my former colleagues sophie maxwell and now working with malia cohen, the community came together to put forth an idea of putting an incredible chondria of young, diverse, linguistically-proficient individuals -- the men who women -- the men and women who stand behind me -- to make sure our families, seniors, and young people are safe. this is the type of best thinking that we have when the private sector and public sector and nonprofit sectors come together. i want to thank other local nonprofits that have been working for years to think of creative solutions to be a part of this. when we come together, we are at our best in the city. i could not be more pleased to join the mayor and my colleagues, supervisor cohen, all of the city officials, the chiefs in being able to talk about a program that should hopefully make us say for decades to come. we will keep working. we all recognize that this program is only one part of other programs that we need to think about here. we need -- we know that the south is part of the city needs more resources, and i for one, along with all of us here, know that we want to fight to bring them. thank you for being a part of this community. >> thank you, president chu. from the first moment she stepped into the district and became supervisor of district 10, malia cohen has been a refreshing and enthusiastic supporter of ambassadors. we work closely with her office on a daily basis to court and our efforts. it is my pleasure to welcome supervisor cohen. [applause] >> good morning, everyone. you heard the long list of think use. i would also like to the knowledge our police captain from the bayview as well as a single side. this is the manifestation of community policing behind me. we have come to thank all of our elected leaders. but i am here to especially thank and pay my respects to the ambassador's themselves who have completed their technical training. not only will they be bringing safety to the san bruno avenue corridor, but they are making a fashion statement. you see these wonderful new jackets that they will be wearing. it is not easy, trust me. it is not easy to preach and bring safety first while you put it -- while looking good. i want to applaud the ambassadors for doing a good job. i think this is a fantastic example of our local hire ordinance at work, and i want to also added knowledge that this is a response from the ground up. this is an indigenous response to public safety. the answers to our streets, bringing safety to our emerging corridors does not necessarily rest solely in the hands of the police department, but in all of our hands. when we see a crime, we must remember to report it. this particular program started many years ago, i believe in 1995. what you see today is a program that has taken language access, a desire for community policing and public safety, and matched it altogether. i am here to say thank you. i am humbled by the dedication and commitment we have found in our latest san franciscans. thank you. [applause] >> thank you, supervisor. you have heard many times that violence has no place in any community. dr. joe marshall, the founder of the omega boys club, vice- president of the sentence to police commission, is a national recognized expert on violence prevention. omega is one of the primary partners of the ambassador program. they also provide much of the training for us. it is my pleasure to introduce dr. joseph marshall. [applause] >> i will add to my list of thank yous to the university program. the only thing i have seen that is as universally loved is this guy. let me tell you about something supervisor chu said -- president chu said -- chiu said, when that gentleman was killed, and that warren was brought of the tea line. i know there was a lot of consternation in this district. i was at city hall. sometimes, you can make -- what is the phrase, lemonade out of london? sometimes you can turn something positive. i remember sitting in my office and somebody came together and said we have to do something. mayor lee, you were there. i want to throw out a name that you have not heard. chinese a part of an action. he was with me every week. duane johnson of the mayor's office. this idea of community ambassador is -- came to the fore. at that time, chief gascon, and we want to keep him there, but we want to do something different. you could call that the urban core what ever you want. we thought this would be great, this would be fabulous. but it is wanting to come up with an idea, another to make it come to fruition. we went to the board. i remember talking to president chiu on the phone. chemical this off? guess what, we pulled it off. [applause] that is something that just does not happen. everybody universally loved this. i was here at the launch last year. i thought it was great. i knew it would do well. for once, the buying mission data proves that it was even better than we thought. to have this continue once again and now to be permanent is just a great thing. i happen to know them pretty intimately because they spend a lot of time with me. i will buy for all of them. and omega is one of the community homes for the ambassador. it is sort of community ambassador week. they will be at the police commission on wednesday night, on my radio program on sunday. we will get them out as much to the public. this is one of those things that everybody should be proud of. all the partnerships involved. the city of sanfrancisco has come up with a winner. they have a tough job but a job that they are embracing and that they will do well. thank you very much. [applause] >> thank you, dr. marshall. chinese for affirmative action has been ahead of the curve on many issues, including race relations, civil rights, civic participation, and language access. jenny lamb is the director of community initiatives and the first asian-american to serve on the sanfrancisco redistricting task force. we want to thank her for her leadership on these issues. [applause] >> good morning, everyone. thank you to the office of civic engagement for this opportunity to join the launch of today's permanent community ambassadors program. as we have heard, the community ambassadors program emerged during the time of crisis in san francisco last year in 2010 when a series of attacks on seniors occurred at muni stations here in the southeast. chinese for affirmative action, along with our partners, including dr. joe marshall, sharon hewitt, marlene tram, others who came together to really address the concerns of residents. we stood together and demanded change. the city responded. you want to thank and lee, now mayor ed lee, and our supervisors for their big ship and support. many hours were spent collaborating. not only amongst advocates and service providers, but the residents themselves. every day we hear from residents the openly -- they openly expressed their struggles being limited in this profession and how difficult language is to services and knowing their rights. language access is critical, and we will continue to work to make the city as accessible to all residents. now it is time for our communities to heal. we know that when communities come together to work toward positive change, the more understanding results. as a city, we can not become complacent. it is through programs like the community ambassadors that neighbors get to know when each other, where children and families do not live in fear when they step outside their homes. all residents deserve to be safe, respected, live with dignity, no matter what they but they are from. we call on the city to continue investing in programs that foster a tangible jobs and educational opportunity, cultural understanding, and ensure safety for all residents. congratulations to all the community ambassadors for their commitment and passion to making sanfrancisco a better city. [applause] >> thank you, jenny. before we introduce the ambassadors, we would like to make a special thank you to some of the community advocates who have really pushed and inspired us to do better, and not just once, but every day, i hear from at least one of them. you have already heard their names, sharon hewitt, marlene tram, roger 10, eddie tseng. [applause] thank you so much, you are our inspiration. now we are going to introduce the community ambassadors team. as mayor lee said, in 2010 last year following a series of high- profile assaults, community activists demanded action. our city leaders responded. not only responded, but excelled because of their commitment and leadership. so we have concluded in june a successful yearlong pilot with very positive results, and more important, the community felt like they were a part of this program. this is all about the community, regardless of how panty the uniforms look or how many praises you hear from people. it is about the community. so i want to introduce the program lead. the project manager for the ambassador program. richard. [applause] and someone that we call the ambassador of the mission. felix fuente. the field supervisor. as mayor lee said, the program employs 12 residents of san francisco. a very diverse. they speak eight different languages. cantonese, mandarin, spanish, a wine, samoan, and english. the majority of the embassadors live here in district 10. two live in the excelsior, one in the sunset. the ambassadors conduct their work in pairs. these teams that are really multi-ethnic provide a role model david to the community. i would now like to introduce the two team leaders. we are very proud of them and the rest of the ambassadors. [applause] >> my name is ashley chang. i served as ambassador in the first year of this program. if you have written on the t in the past year during peak hours, chances are we have already met. i have seen the difference that we can make in this community, especially for modeling will and it limited english speaking residents. we are all happy and excited to be back in full operations. thank you for all your support. for those of you who i have not yet met, i look forward to talk to you soon. now i will have my other team lead introduce herself. >> my name is niasha vincent. a lifelong resident of district 10. i have always wanted to serve my community, so i'm happy to be an ambassador with this ongoing program. our job is to pretty much make sure the residents feel safe and informed with what is going on with the community. i am going to pass it back over to ashley who will introduce her team. >> let me introduce my six wonderful crewmembers. cindy, and elena, have your, sue, and terry. they will be working with me to help make this a safer neighborhood. thank you very much. [applause] >> on the tea line, we are going to have jessica, leo, theresa, and will. [applause] we are already to serve the community and we look forward to working with the residents here in the bayview and district 10. thank you. [applause] >> two short thank you and then we are done. the mta has been a key city partner for the city embassadors program. i just want to recognize deborah johnson. she has been invaluable to connecting our program to muni operations, helping us in countless ways, big and small. she is currently the acting executive director and ceo of the mta. happy to call her a friend and colleague. thank you, deborah. also here today is the external affairs director for at&t. at&t provides the cell phones and services provided for emergency calls by the ambassadors. we could not exist without the help of deputy city administrator linda young. she is also the cfo. she makes sure we have all our resources. so this concludes our press conference. media kits are in the front of the room. thank you very much, everyone. [applause]

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