Mayor Edwin M. Lee today delivered his 2013 State of the City Address at College Track, a community-based organization in the City's Bayview that prepares San Francisco youth for college. Joined by civic, labor, business and community leaders, Mayor Lee outlined his vision for San Francisco's continuing recovery and success with investments in job creation, workforce development, housing, transportation and education in his first State of the City Address.

"The State of our great City is vital, resurgent and strong," said Mayor Lee. "We invested in job creation, workforce development and we made tough choices on everything from pensions to budget tradeoffs. And, we did this the San Francisco way, through consensus and collaboration. We put the people's interests ahead of City Hall politics and, as a result, we are stronger. We are also stronger because of the creativity and perseverance of our people, because of the fiscally responsible path we have taken; and by embracing innovation and new ideas that have, in turn, attracted new jobs and new investment in every neighborhood of our City." Read more.

Watch the State of the City Address on YouTube.

 

Mayor Edwin M. Lee today announced San Francisco events to celebrate the National Day of Service, President Barack Obama's call for Americans to honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on the holiday weekend celebrating his birthday as a way to get involved in the community and support diverse neighborhoods of San Francisco. 

"As we celebrate the tremendous leadership of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. and the second term inauguration of our first African American President, I call on the residents of San Francisco to consider volunteering their time as a way to recognize and honor the memory of Dr. King and to celebrate this historic day," said Mayor Lee. Read more.

Today Mayor Edwin M. Lee and Supervisor Malia Cohen celebrated the completion of Phase One of the HOPE SF Hunters View public housing project, the first of five public housing sites slated to be redeveloped as part of the City's HOPE SF initiative, and welcomed 25 San Francisco families (14 former Hunters View public housing families and 11 new families) to their new homes in one of the most ambitious, nationally-recognized public housing revitalization initiatives. 

"Today, we are delivering on a promise to the residents of San Francisco's public housing," said Mayor Lee. "By rebuilding Hunters View and other sites like it, we are providing hope to families and transforming communities at the same time. Five years ago under the leadership of Mayor Gavin Newsom, San Francisco made a bold step by launching the HOPE SF initiative that is revitalizing our City’s most distressed public housing sites." Read more. 

Mayor Edwin M. Lee today introduced a supplemental appropriation which includes the release of $7.2 million to backfill State budget reductions and to protect the City's social safety net for its most vulnerable residents, including children and seniors. 

"Even in a challenging economic environment, we have balanced our budget, made tough decisions and, most importantly, planned for the future," said Mayor Lee. "We are now in a position to protect critical City services and programs and offset cuts from the State to some of our most vulnerable residents. However, it is critical that we judiciously maintain and spend our reserves, especially with the threat of more than $40 million in Federal sequestration cuts looming." Read more.