San Francisco businesses face many challenges, including high rents, regulatory burdens, and the rising cost of workers compensation insurance and employee health plans.

Accessing capital to start a business can be a daunting process, especially for entrepreneurs who start out with a great idea, but have no real familiarity with the business world.

As mayor of San Francisco, I will provide the vision and work hard to make San Francisco a beautiful, well-planned city with excellent housing and transportation options.

San Francisco lags behind other communities in providing a vital, vibrant and ecologically sustainable urban canopy, as well as open space in the city.

The 21st Century has begun as an era of uncertainty, with a heightened focus on security and public safety.

Historically, San Franciscans have not valued street trees as much as other communities have.

San Francisco has long been a leader in the arts, nurturing generations of painters, sculptors, poets, novelists, playwrights, film-makers, and performing artists and innovators of every kind.

City government can and must help San Franciscans prepare for emergencies in order to avoid tragedy where possible and minimize loss of life and property when emergencies occur.

An arts education helps build academic skills and increase academic performance, while also providing alternative opportunities to reward the skills of children who learn differently.

Like any small business owner, I experienced the pressures of building a company from the ground up – developing a business plan, balancing the books, meeting payroll and building a customer base.

As Mayor, I will use my experience to make San Francisco a place where small businesses can thrive.

We recognize that the arts are an essential part of San Francisco’s cultural vitality.

San Franciscans know we live in the most beautiful city in the world, a jewel on the edge of the Golden Gate.

During the 1990s, San Francisco lived through one of the most intense economic booms of its history.

Street and park trees provide tremendous benefits to cities.

Involvement in the arts engages kids in their community, improves self-esteem, reclaims at-risk youth, and builds the creative skills that are required of a 21st century workforce.

We can build new housing while preserving the quality and character of adjacent residential districts and ensuring infill development strengthens the surrounding neighborhood.

The value of an arts education is widely accepted, especially in California.

The arts can play a vital role in revitalizing neighborhoods, using and improving vacant space, bringing new jobs and new sense of opportunity, and improving public safety by generating more foot traffic and more eyes on the street.

As Mayor, I will fully support my Arts Commission and its professional selection committees so that they can commission a full range of public art that is daring and, when appropriate, daringly traditional.

Cultural tourism surveys consistently rate San Francisco’s art industry as a core reason for visiting.

As Mayor of San Francisco, I will work hard to ensure that, in the event of natural or man-made disasters, San Franciscans are prepared and our City is protected.

But living in uncertain times does not mean San Franciscans must live in fear.

San Francisco businesses face many challenges, including high rents, regulatory burdens, and the rising cost of workers compensation insurance and employee health plans.

San Francisco can no longer afford to be a city divided between downtown and neighborhoods, with a downtown that becomes a ghost town when workers go home for the evening.

Livable neighborhoods with a vibrant street life will stimulate our economic life as well.

As Mayor, I will lead city government, businesses, and community groups to support innovative projects that will make San Francisco streets and public places vibrant and healthy.