Mayor Newsom Celebrates Grand Opening Of Nektar Therapeutics Headquarters In Mission Bay

Today Mayor Gavin Newsom celebrated the grand opening of the state-of-the-art corporate headquarters of Nektar Therapeutics in Mission Bay. In October 2009, Mayor Newsom announced that Nektar had selected Mission Bay for its new 102,000 sq/ft corporate headquarters located at 455 Mission Bay Boulevard South, adjacent to the UCSF Life Sciences and Medical Center Campus at Mission Bay. Nektar brings 150 biotech jobs to San Francisco and is relocating all functions currently located in San Carlos to the new Mission Bay facility. Nektar Therapeutics marks the 73 rd life sciences company in San Francisco. Read more...

Mayor Newsom Signs Innovative Open Data Legislation

Mayor Gavin Newsom today signed a first-of-its-kind open data law requiring San Francisco’s City departments and agencies to post certain types of data sets to a publicly accessible portal at www.DataSF.org , codifying and cementing progress made under an executive directive in 2009. The open data ordinance passed the Board of Supervisors unanimously on Tuesday, and today Mayor Newsom invited new media and technology leaders to City Hall for a signing ceremony to celebrate this expansion of an important accountability measure for City government. Read more..

Mayor Newsom Joins Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Tom Steyer to Announce New Funding for Green Collar Job Training Program

Mayor Gavin Newsom joined Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Tom Steyer, Co-Managing Partner of Farallon Capital Management, to announce a $250,000 donation to create the California Advanced Lighting Controls Training Program (CALCTP), a public and private collaboration of statewide utilities, University of California at Davis, the community college system, and electrical workers and contractors that will provide hands-on green jobs training.  The event took place at Levi’s Global Headquarters where significant energy efficiency building retrofits were a result of green jobs training.  Read more...

Mayor Newsom Launches Installation Of New Citywide Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure

Mayor Gavin Newsom and the Port of San Francisco today joined Coulomb Technologies and MasterCard PayPass to begin installation of the first new electric plug-in vehicles (EV) charging stations in San Francisco with contactless payments. Located at Priority Parking’s parking location on Pier 27, the two EV charging stations are part of the ChargePoint America program that will allows EV drivers in the Bay Area to pay for parking and charging their electric cars quickly and conveniently by simply tapping their MasterCard PayPass card. Read more...

Mayor Newsom Breaks Ground on Bocce Ball Courts at Justin Herman Plaza

Mayor Gavin Newsom joined community partners including Laborers Local 261, salesforce.com, and Webcor Builders and seven-time U.S. Bocce Ball Champion Benji Tosi to break ground on two regulation size bocce ball courts in the south lawn of Justin Herman Plaza along the City’s waterfront. Read more...

Mayor Newsom Releases New Shape Up San Francisco Report Outlining City’s Comprehensive Strategies to Combat Childhood Obesity

Mayor Gavin Newsom released the year end The Mayor’s Challenge: Shape Up San Francisco  report that highlights City’s comprehensive efforts to improve health and wellness and combat childhood obesity. Under the umbrella of Shape Up SF, a public-private partnership that includes the Department of Public Health, the Department of Children, Youth and Their Families, and the San Francisco Unified School District, the City is taking serious steps to improve childhood health and address the root causes of obesity by providing healthier food and beverage choices and opportunities for exercise. Mayor Newsom also announced that he has submitted a veto letter to the Board of Supervisors rejecting the recently approved “Happy Meal” toy ban.  Read more...

Mayor Newsom Joins Veterans Connect to Link Military Service Men & Women with Housing, Jobs & Services

Mayor Gavin Newsom today joined the San Francisco VA Medical Center, Swords to Plowshares and other veterans’ service organizations for Veterans Connect to link San Francisco’s former members of the United States Armed Services with housing, education, jobs and other available social services. Veterans Connect is affiliated with the City’s successful Project Homeless Connect (PHC) efforts.  Read more...

Mayor Newsom and Members of the Board of Supervisors Introduce the 34th America's Cup Host City Agreement

Mayor Gavin Newsom, Board of Supervisors President David Chiu, Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi and other members of the Board of Supervisors today introduced San Francisco’s Host City Agreement, a final step in the consideration process to host the 34th America’s Cup. The Host City Agreement sets forth essential terms and conditions agreed upon by the America’s Cup Committee of the Golden Gate Yacht Club and the City of San Francisco in accordance with the Protocol for the 34th America’s Cup and the Term Sheet adopted by the Board of Supervisors by a vote of 9-2 on October 5, 2010.  Read more...

Mayor Gavin Newsom Statement on Board of Supervisors Approval of Happy Meal Toy Ban

Mayor Gavin Newsom made the following statement after the approval by the Board of Supervisors for the ordinance amending Article 8 of the San Francisco Health Code effectively banning the inclusion of toys from “Happy Meals”:

“From encouraging salad bars and exercise in our schools to allowing use of food stamps in farmers markets, no city in America has done more to educate our children and encourage families to make healthier eating choices." Read more...

Mayor Gavin Newsom’s Statement on the Passing of Alex Fagan Sr.

“I am very saddened to learn of the passing of former San Francisco Police Chief Alex Fagan Sr. San Francisco will always remember Chief Fagan for his loyal devotion to the men and women of the San Francisco Police Department and for his dedication to serving and protecting the people of our City. San Francisco mourns the loss of Chief Fagan, and his family, friends and all who loved and knew him are in our thoughts and prayers.” Read the statement...