500,000? the problem is that all the department heads need to understand -- first of all, you're making us prove we are black. you're making us prove that we are from here. i know how the work. if you are mad at them because they're telling you that you don't have anything you can always reach back and say that you don't see the certification. these contractors come into our community, tell us l.i., find us some good people that are certified, put us on there and don't give us work for five years. i have done everything right. i went to the program, i live out here. i don't know what more you want me to do. i am a woman, i am black, i show

my certification. i am black. i work here. the sooner i get on to waste water, i am tired of bob and harland kelly. so the disconnect from them, bayview hunters point, district 10, the people that are always out here with the burning flame, the people that went all the meetings for model cities and hunter's quapoint, i was the kid in the backseat. i am certified. they can identify with me. they turned back a contract where you could go there and look at the plans and they would put you in connection with the people. she told me -- what happens

left? how do we find out about transportation authority? i am interested. we have no plans, we were getting them from bdi. where do we get plans for that? once bdi closed, we stopped getting them. [applause] >> can i say a word? i'm over here. yolanda. i don't know if my e-mail attachment came through, but the fire in the back of the room, the next upcoming contract is the construction management for the bus storage facility.

which is a small contract, $80 million worth of construction, probably less than five construction management that is going out now. that is not 2017 or 2015. the other -- that is next tuesday. they will be coming out a weaker so after that and there will be more pre-proposal meetings. i am aware that bdi closed. there are no plans associated with it. the construction packet will be going out with plans. we will find a way to put them out here in your community. i am happy to talk with you about suggestions of four locations -- where a location is. >> [inaudible] >> ok. ok, i think we've had that plan

on the list before, but i will make sure that it stays on there when there are contracts with the plans. this is an rfp you can get from the website. >> i wanted to piggyback on what yolanda said. i hear this all the time, it is hard for anyone to get work with the city. when they talk to these, they don't know if they are listed on the contract and if they find out that they are, they are never getting word. and 3, the most important thing, when they don't get work, they don't get paid time leave. if you can't pay it financially, that is very tough. these are challenges that we can

probably -- city families can look at trying to do something a little better. we have been working with other departments. since they have a lot of work, one of the things we're trying to initiate based on the late calvin hayes was the construction center. we are trying to take the leadership to bring here and we will try to have it in such a way that we look at napoli the -- not only the puc projects, but we'll identify, look at the packages, and with technology, we are going to e-mail you or send you a text. most people don't have time to look into website. we are looking at ways that we

can disseminate information to people, that is something that we are closely working on. the other thing is that when a contract with us up, how we are requiring that they sign their level of participation. a lot of times they don't know if there are listed. we are requiring that on the contract. the only thing based off of what yolanda said, if we can do a better job of letting them know when these services will be anticipated or needed, we have long-term contracts for five years or something like that. it will be nice for them to know if the work they are performing is up front, towards the back of the contract, or in the middle.

i think that we can work with certain groups to try to improve the way that we do contracts. i hear a lot and i think we can do better. >> i have a question. it is more directed toward contract compliance. is there a way to legislate this? like the local higher initiatives? -- hire initiatives, a good faith effort? is there a way to begin to move legislation to hold contractors more accountable or increase the transparency between them? >> i think that we probably need to get the community and some key departments stakeholders to

talk about the barriers and see what we can actually do and what we can do without legislation, and what are the things that we legislate? a big problem with a lot of small firms, especially when they start getting work is the cash flow. you start depending on these big companies to pay your payroll because you don't have the cash flow. the city requires that they submit an invoice once a month. some department takes a month to pay. you have two months of pain year-old staff. i kind of understand that that is difficult. we should break it down, what are the barriers before you get certified? sometimes bonding, we can talk about all this stuff.

we have a dedicated group looking at barriers for getting contracts and once you get a contract, what are some of the barriers that make you survive? everyone who comes into my office, i have been trying to solicit ideas of how we can do better. >> thank-you. >> mr. al curry? and we'll close with the -- >> [inaudible] >> sure. sure. ma'am? can you -- >> good afternoon, my name is al curry, al curry trucking.

mr. kelly, you -- yes, ma'am. mr. kelly, you sort of hit on it a few minutes ago. my question to all the different agencies up here, i want to thank all of you for coming. i have been in the trucking business for about 35 or 40 years. i have been right here in this area. one problem is the payment and you are just beginning to hit on that. years ago, when it was set up, we were being paid a 30-45 days after we submitted the invoice. there is a rule in the payment of saying that we would get unpaid as small businesses whether the contractor got paid or not. my question to you, why hasn't

that been forced for all of the different agencies? i have worked for the department of public works, the puc, i haven't been paid for july on crystal springs. i just got paid for june and up on the hunters point project. that is happening all the way around. i have a line of credit, but the line of credit only goes so far. so what are you guys going to do to make sure that we as a small businesses can take in order to stay in business? you guys are creating opportunities for us to get these jobs, but we can't stay in business if we can't pay. we can't afford to carry big businesses. so what are we going to do to try to increase payments to us

on time? >> i think one of the challenges that we looked at, some of these companies don't submit monthly invoices. the package two or three and when asked, where is my money, they say the city has its. they call me and i am looking, web corps for example. you worked on 525 with me. one of the things that we are working on, we are moving to online invoices, and one of the things that we are doing is that we will turn it on next month. if they list you as a sub, we will notify the they have been listed and how much. if you have the issue with how much you are enlisted for, you

need to talk to them. the second thing is that once they are paid, we actually deposit into their bank accounts, we notify them that they have been paid so that you can go and collect. everyone is calling because they blame us. that is the system we are putting in place. the contractors don't like this, but we are trying to be transparent. as far as you mentioned, 10 days, i think the theme that we are trying to make sure that happens is that they pay the subs within three days, and that is what we are trying to make happen.

>> i am glad to hear what the puc is doing. we need to follow their lead with automated notifications. what we have noticed is that they are not billing us on time. and when we pressure them to submit their invoices, they will say that they are carrying 27 or 30 subcontractors and we're waiting for two of them to submit their paperwork. that is a big problem. when we get wind of it, we addressed it. they don't like to do it because it creates a lot of additional of the minister of work. when we learn about it, we pressure them. we make about 90% of all the payments within less than 15 days. we have a high record of

extraditing that. but we can talk to them afterwards and figure out how we can implement some of their practices. >> we are very much aware of the issue. one of the things that takes time on the applications is the review process. please get submitted by contractors on the fifth of the month and there can be another five days, 10 days of review. we have changed our policy and asked for a draft to be submitted no later than the twenty fifth of that mother, meaning they you know what work you have done up until that point and we will let you project the rest of the month so that we can start the review process. the way all the approvals and everything are in place. we are very much aware of this problem. there are things that we can do to brake the -- break the

rigidity of this. it is a slow turnaround to get everyone comfortable with that, but we are working on it. >> housing authority? do you have a prompt payment policy? >> our contracts are paid, they are established with each contractor. we pay within 30 days. if that is something that sounds like it is of interest to local businesses, i can take it back. at this point, we pay within 30 days. >> on the central subway project, we are committed to complete transparency and will post to the day that invoices were submitted had when they were paid so that all of the

subcontractors have access to that information and to know when invoices are submitted. they know to go to the prime contractor. additionally, they will know when it has been paid. finally, we have access to compliance officers that handle the proper payment issue so that if it is not being paid, they can contact the compliance officer for assistance and they will investigate it. %zgv>> we have one more. >> i believe suppliers fall under the same requirements as subcontractors do.

i wonder if you have any mechanisms in place for suppliers to go through -- it falls under the definition of a subcontractor. >> some of the things that we have done, you have miles of diameter pipe. we typically pay when it is installed. they deliver it in the warehouse and have to wait until the contractor installs it before we pay. of a sudden, there is no material. one of the things we have looked at is for suppliers, and we will pay a portion of the money.

what? so maybe we can talk about -- how you know, we can try to be creative. >> the other entity then you could possibly talk to would be the purchasing department for the o.c.a. the are responsible for the procurement of commodities. >> [inaudible] >> we can talk about it as far as participation.

>> we have been talking a lot about the trade packages. for every contract, we list of all of those so that the subcontractors and suppliers know who to submit bids into to approach for other opportunities because a dozen and -- we published the list of the contact information so that you can call them. all of them require temporary toilets for field staff and they have hired that service. they should be looking at all of the projects. >> you hear that the trade packages are going to keep coming. we're working in different models of delivery and we have a contact of information whether

it is a design builder. you will have it before this -- before construction even starts. i know that there has been a general service trade packages that include the type of work the you do end the taking bids on those types of things. you guys talk about contract compliance hasn't payments and stuff. who watches you guys? i am a woman own business. i have done all of these certifications and there is an ongoing contract for the city had a contractor was given that and charges what he wants. i had tried the opportunity. i have a small business, i can't afford a lawyer. i have been trying to do business and i have been denied.

tell me, where do i go from here so that i can have the opportunities that everyone else has? anybody. the port authority? the housing authority? >> we will have one last person. >> i am going to be very quick. i would like to say that the majority of us here are contractors, consultants and we offer professional services or whatever it may be. we are accustomed to getting paid at the very end of the 30 days. not to be disrespectful, but it would be really great if we can get all of our checks on time.

you get paid, i am assuming, every two weeks. imagine how it would be to get paid every 60 days and you're trying to run a small business. that is the first thing i want to say. just to be mindful of that, i wanted to follow up -- we have come to these meetings and events and we talk about what we want and what we don't have. i don't know if you heard, he basically said that he would want to talk or some of the other departments here will talk to small business owners. we are in recessions of the way that we used to run businesses are not the way we are running businesses today. i am a little afraid to get some contracts because i am hearing that their payout is 90 days or so. of the contract that we do have,

it is every 15. following up with mr. kelly, i really want to make sure that some of these other contractors that are larger than my business is today, that they can sit down and talk about other ways of how we can actually get more business and make sure we are getting paid on time. and any other concerns that these small business owners have right here, not just in this community, but overall. we have a tendency to forget. as some mentioned, lines of credit can only go so far. >> one final speaker, mr. robinson. >> i just wanted to address the panel, and particularly the young lady that works for the mayor's office of economic workforce, this is not good

faith. this is title six. pertaining to -- talking about the jobs, to be in the improvement of that. the perfect example is the mta. they promised that they would build three parking garages. we have one. they did parallel parking, but not the three parking garages. the city of san francisco is in violation when it comes to federal dollars. if you don't know the law, you can't address the law. i this want to make people aware that we don't have to beg for these jobs. we have an entitlement.

>> perhaps you and i can have an offline conversation. >> this is not an attack, we have the killing in september 24 as of 1956 with matthew johnson by san francisco police officer and 45 years later, on the same thing. we are still looking for opportunities. it sounds good, but it is not being implemented. who is holding this panel accountable to the law? someone has told the panel accountable. if i am going down the street 65 miles an hour, i am in violation of the law. the city, county, san francisco is in violation of the law of title 6. >> thank you for all the great questions.

for closing, which have our commissioner. >> i want to thank his supervisor cohen for posting this. this is actually the beginning of a dialogue between the community and the departments in your supervisors. i want to thank the panelists of the department for coming. and giving the information that they did. i would like to thank you for coming and also for welcoming us to your community. we basically -- our goal in this district is very important to us right now. all of us see the high unemployment over 30%. we see the opportunity for

development in here. it probably has the largest opportunity for development in the entire city. what we're doing, we do the certification, we like to basically find the small businesses, identify them, certify that. we are also responsible, one person questioned who is looking after if i have a complaint about a contract, where do i go? you come to us. we will look into it for you. we will also work with the department's, and on the ordinance, the few things we talked about, i will be talking about profit payments for years.

just like when you mail a package, you can go on line with the tracking system, that is the ultimate goal. the ultimate goal is to get there. it is basically your lifeline, there will get the payment as soon as possible. we have worked about alternative dispute resolution so that you don't have to pay an attorney.