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

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

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.

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.

Be willing to make bold decisions and be willing to make glorious mistakes. Learn from your mistakes, but you've got to be willing to make them first.

While I am humbled by the widespread encouragement of so many and hold in the highest esteem those who serve us in federal office, I know that my head and my heart, my young family's future, and our unfinished work all remain firmly in the State of California - not Washington D.C. Therefore I will not seek election to the U.S. Senate in 2016.

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