addressed. if there is an action and prop 26 applies, the threshold would be higher. it would be a supermajority. but i can't say at this point. commissioner dooley: and then i wanted to make a note when you were here before the commission, the commission had made a specific request to reach out to all of the merchants associations and provide a presentation on this that are in the northeast quadrant proposal and in the last review of the list on the website, still a majority of those merchants associations were not on that list. >> it was not an understanding that we were to reach out to all of them. we did reach out to several and we did reach out to several community groups in that area as well. i apologize, i did not understand that you had requested that we reach out to all. we have also reached out to self organizations that are sort of umbrella organizations and also pulled in, discussions with others.

you're correct. we have not made presentations to every single business organization. again, one of the things that we recommend as part of the next step is additional outreach so that more people have an opportunity to weigh in. commissioner dooley: and then in relationship to the next phase and you have heard from the commissioners that there is great concern about the economic impact and there is various ways to take a look at the economic impact and to take a look at jobs affected. i don't see that listed in the timeline as a key criteria of something to be noting in your timeline. so between 2011 and 2013. >> on the next page, the presentation to the transportation authority and there are two major items listed and adoption of the report and then advancing further study, one of the

things, in fact, it's the first thing listed is a more detailed economic evaluation. and those are the things that we think or rather that we have heard through outreach and would also recommend need further analysis and more detailed analysis in the next phase and we agree with you is essentially what i'm saying. commissioner dooley: ok. just note that it would be, if you're going to be doing this report it would be great to also see that economic analysis as a core component in that as well. >> thank you. president yee riley: commissioner kasselman. commissioner kasselman: i have one last question and it has maybe a few parts. but commercial vehicles, like taxis, i don't know if they actually quality as commercial. they're fees are already very high. >> we considered an exemption for taxis in this phase of the

analysis. commissioner kasselman: how about other commercial vehicles that are making deliveries to small mom and pop grocery shops? will they have that $3 fee that they will then pass on to the store who gave you delivery? >> so, again, at this level of analysis, we did consider that, but we also considered that the $6 cap would be a benefit to those types of commercial vehicles. this program is another thing that would help mitigate some of those. some some of the outreach that we have heard, one of the things that have come up is potentially considering a tax benefit or a tax break for local businesses, particularly san francisco businesses or businesses within the zone or within a certain distance of the zone that would have some sort of tax break that is equivalent to some proportion of the potential fee and that is something that we would recommend be analyzed in the

next phase of analysis as well. commissioner kasselman: how about a florist that delivers flowers in the early morning and he or she might have to do a number of trips between the floral shops and the hotels downtown -- >> they would have to pay the fee just once. commissioner dooley: just for the public, how much, what is the budget for the first study? what was the budget? >> it was about $1.3 million and it was funded $1 million through the federal government, through a program called the value pricing pilot program and that program is specifically dedicated to having local, regional, or cities look at this idea of congestion pricing or other types of pricing mechanisms as part of a comprehensive transportation strategy. commissioner dooley: are any

other bay area counties or cities doing a similar project? >> not of area wide road pricing. there are other cities that have high occupancy toll lanes which essentially is they price single-occupancy vehicles so they can use hotv lanes or they have implemented parking pricing. >> so $300,000 was funded by the city and county of san francisco? >> half of that was funded by the city and county of san francisco, but not actually through the city and county but through the prop k transportation sales tax which has an expenditure line item that is specifically dedicated to demand management strategies. the other half was contributed by the bay area toll authority. commissioner dooley: the bay area toll authority. that's both bridges? >> the bay area toll authority

manages all of the bridges except the golden gate bridge. commissioner dooley: it's the bay bridge, all of them -- >> except the golden gate bridge which has its own management district. commissioner dooley: this is funded by no san francisco dollars, just part of the sales tax dedicated towards transportation? >> no. commissioner dooley: and what is the budget proposed for the next phase? >> i actually don't have that number off the top of my head. it would probably be about $1 million for the environmental analysis and depending on how it's scoped, it would include additional studies as well and so that may either reduce or increase the budget. we would also expect to be competitive for a different type of federal grant program that is aimed again at focusing on transportation demand strategies or pricing strategies.

vice president clyde: is that next million dollars coming from the same group of funding sources? >> it could, but it doesn't necessarily have to. we would have to evaluate, we would have to apply for funds from different sources and hopefully be successful but there is no plan to use, i assume you mean general funds there is some funding still in prop k for again demand management strategies and so that one potential source that we would absolute seek to leverage other sources. vice president clyde: thank you. president yee riley: thank you. any more questions? if not, public comment, please. >> at this time the commission is now taking public comment. public comment is limited to two minutes. >> good evening. since you're looking at this, is this going to be something

that has to be, a report that is being adopted or being presented from the small business point of view, the areas that they're looking at, whether it's the northeast quadrant or the whole city or whatever, almost every merchants association within those areas that are affected has not been contacted. i know the polk street merchants, the two merchants associations have not been conducted, chinatown, chestnut street, union street haven't been part of this. you would think that if it's a basic thing that you go to the basic groups, number one. number two is again you can't see it, i couldn't see it until i was online and going through 58 pages on line this weekend, even i have a life, but some of the things in there, there was a retail study. they went out and studied,

talked to people going out and shopping three spots around union square. there is whole other parts to this. what about the people that are working and shopping within polk street, within chinatown, not coming from outside, but just within another area. you would think they would be talking to those basic people. that's what this commission is charged with. i think you should be looking at that. what really concerns me also is who is going to get exempt on this whole thing. commissioner o'conner talked about taking his kid to and from school. what about the teachers that have to come every single day to school? are they going to be exempt or are they going to be charged? they shouldn't exempt. of course, this building and all of the state buildings and all of the federal buildings, will the state say all of our employees will be exempt and since the state, city, and fed

workers comprise the largest amount of workers, what is that going to do? some thought. you're exempting whole areas of the city. president yee riley: thank you. any more? go ahead. >> if i could just respond briefly to those concerns? we have actually briefed mr. kordell so i'm glad to see him here giving comments as well. we did reach out to some of the organizations that were mentioned and in some cases also to community groups in that area and through the marina associations and to other groups as well and also the retail study that was conducted was not limited only to the union square area. that was certainly the focus, but as i mentioned, we did include other areas so we could understand some of the other impacts including columbus avenue and we have also conducted the studies through parking, through our parking

management study. the final thing i just wanted to clarify, we did not consider exemptions for city workers in the analysis. we considered next for emergency vehicles, taxis at this point. we would say that the discount program, much like other aspects of the program would need further study in the next phase of the analysis. thank you very much for your time. president yee riley: thank you. any more public comment? seeing none, public comment is closed. commissioner dooley: i have to say the north beach merchants association was not reached out to and they have been in existence for a long time. i'm not sure the north beach chamber of commerce are on the list as well, but those are the two main right in the center of north beach areas and the other just commissioners. the way word gets around, i mean, if we have an area -- i

made a joke about drawing a moat around north beach. let's drawing a moat around north beach and the city is taking it seriously and they are going to draw a line around our neighborhood. the northeast section is just -- anyway, the northeast section is just, why it's being singled out is -- i don't need to know why it's being singled out. i'm just saying that giving people one more reason not to come back across into our neighborhood, it's not limited out in the wider world to oh, it's only during these times. it's a pain in the butt to go, we're not going. i mean that's just how general public opinion will translate in my opinion. president yee riley: director? >> i just wanted to respond to

commissioner clyde's comment. working with commissioner dooley the last time we were here we actually did a presentation in north beach. she suggested we go to the north beach meeting and we did that with commissioner dooley. president yee riley: director. >> i want to make a comment for the record and that is as our, we're beginning to hear from many of the businesses through the small business assistance center and taking a look at things such as this, not only do we have businesses that are subject to impact fees in this particular area and adding to this, i think what we're beginning to see is that even as a business, well financed formula retail, i mean we're making it harder and harder and harder for low income businesses to come into certain

areas. so in effect, it's a subtle red lining and i think that we really need to take a cautionary note of such things as how they overlay and i would like to see this in the economic analysis as to how this type of fee will affect a business in relationship to all of the other fees that they have that are unique to the particular area that they're in, that's in this area. so i just, i think that while i think we think it's well intentioned and well good, but also london is an extraordinary expensive area to live in. the one where the congestion pricing area is one of the most expensive. some of the impetus was in protecting the art that was there, that was being corroded by the diesel emissions.

we don't necessarily have quite that in san francisco. so i mean, while i think in the economic analysis, we have to take a look at what is going to be the forecast in 10, 15 years in terms of who can afford and live i terms of who can afford and live in these particularly vulnerable areas. thank you for your feedback. president riley: anything else? >> one last comment. the exceptions with you have, or the exception list, is very small right now. the thing that will probably have to be widened a little bit. people who as part of their trade commute across the city -- i just do not think they should be all of a sudden subject to this new tax, if we want to call it that, or whatever.

i would rather see it directed to people who were getting into their car on a whim because they can afford to do so, or whatever. but people who are doing what they are doing because it is essential and should not be subjected to this, in my opinion. that is to the comment i would make. >> thank you. you have heard public comment. you have heard all of our concerns. thank you for your presentation. we will continue to work with you. you have heard our request to outreach to all the merchant associations as well as the business organizations. if you need help to get a contact, i believe our director can help you. >> i would like to take advantage for that. i appreciate your feedback. >> commissioners, you made a number of comments regarding

things like economic analysis, putting emphasis on that. are we going to provide any comments to that affect, or are we going to just take this as informational and be involved in moving forward? >> it is up to you whether you want step to crack -- to draft formal comments, or the transportation authority, the authority board. >> let us go ahead and do that. >> the primary concerns i heard in terms of taking into consideration this initial step would be in the next phase to put emphasis on economic analysis in terms of particularly small businesses. president riley: and i think

commissioner o'brien had a good point in terms of the list of exceptions. commissioner o'connor: we are not assuming there is going to be a second phase study, if there is. >> ok. president riley: thank you. >> item 8 presentation by a member of the barbary coast conservancy and the center for the beverage arts. the barbary coast conservancy of the american cocktail, presenter a san francisco cocktail week, preserve the cultural heritage of saloons and the cocktail in the bay area also breaking california's culinary philosophy and tradition with special events, publications, and educational seminars. president riley: welcome. >> [no audio[inaudible]

what we have done so far and what we exist to do. i only elixir saloon in san francisco come here in the mission district. my partners own part of cantina and comstock saloon and the absence room -- absynth room. we came together for years ago to create san francisco cocktail week. we have run that successfully for the last four years as a weeklong event to focus on the fact that the san francisco cocteau community and its history and culture are not only vibrant and strong today, but historically significant to the

culinary culture of the city. we basically took our success in the last few years and kept it going by creating a nonprofit in order to run it and to get a bank account and to work with different companies across the industry in order to fund it year after year. we have become a leader in it, having created the first cocktail week. that is not emulated around the country by events such as the manhattan cocktail classic that happens in may and portland cocteau week -- portland cocktail week that happened recently. honolulu does one. i believe boston is working on one. it is celebrating the cocktail culture. the evolution of cocktails in the last five to seven years or so, maybe as far as 10, has been quite rapid, and has fueled a

big burst in small business evolution in the bar industry, and also the evolution of the bar portion of the restaurant industry. we have also worked with the golden gate restaurant association and sf chefs in the past few years. will we wanted to do was to engage the public in another arena outside of our bars, a non-commercial environment where we could educate sentences about the deep history we have the goes back to the mid-1800's and the saloons that evolved here. that culture, up until prohibition and through prohibition and beyond, but significantly up until prohibition -- how that impacted the cocktails and cocteau culinary culture around the world, and how we have once again brought that back and

taken a lead in the world as far as the advancements we made, the drinks we make, and the spirits we work with and make in the bay area, our cooperation with the winery's -- wineries and chefs to spur a lot of business, but also cultural impact. in creating that, we took that success this year and we signed a lease and opened a beverage education and events center, which recall the -- which recall the -- which we call the boothby center for the beverage arts. he was a saloonkeeper and an assemblyman in the 1800's and wrote the first published cocktail book, the bartender's guide, back in that time.

we take stories like that and many more, stories like my saloon, elixir, which is the second oldest continually operating a saloon location in the city, since 1858, or the house of shields, which is reopening this week. the comstock saloon has been brought back to being a saloon. those kind of things plus the characters involved in the drugs involved, in gauging the public. -- the characters involved and the drinks involved, engaging the public. we want events not just during cocktail week. as an entrepreneur and the owner of the elixir for the last seven years, i started thinking it was also a good way for us to start stepping forward and working with the city government in order to engage them in the conversation as well. we could make more connections

between the entrepreneurs that really drive this forward and drive a lot of revenue for the city, a lot of tax revenue, and connecting with our chefs and the evolution of the culture there. if you have not noticed, in the last year or two there have been an amazing amount of new bars and restaurants that have been opening and not closing. i am not a statistician or a politician. i am an entrepreneur working to open my second car and to consult with my clients on growing their businesses. i just want to do what i can to bring the conservancy into an involvement with the government, where we can help more entrepreneurs to create more bars and restaurants, create more beverage products, and do more on an entrepreneurial level. i just wanted to get out here today to introduce the

conservancy and see if there are ways we can work together in your efforts that i have been hearing about streamlining the processes of starting businesses and starting bars and restaurants in particular. we discussed a couple of times -- regina and i met and spoke. i did not have a whole lot today. i had a number of significant bullet points -- mostly to introduce myself and see where we can go from here. president riley: thank you. commissioner kasselman: when is the barbary coast conservancy cocktail week? >> san francisco cocktail week. it is around the third week of september. we have not set a date this

year. this past year, we did it the 21st or 22nd. it started around may 13, which the museum of the american cocktail in new orleans promoted in 2006. may 13 was world cocktail buffet, the 200th anniversary of the first publication of the word cocteau. the reached out to jeff, duncan, and myself, and people in san francisco and around the country to try to throw events to celebrate that. we said why just do one event on monday -- let's create an entire week ending date republic in seminars, cocktail parties -- we said why just do one event on one day.

let's create an entire week including seminars, cocktail parties, and all kinds of things. as other cities started developing cocktail weeks, almost in competition with us, we started to realize it made more sense for us to move our week to september, when we had better weather, more produce rolling through the streets, and are not in competition with anybody else nationally. we can help bring more business to the city from around the country. commissioner kasselman: how are you marketing the event? >> it has been very word of mouth. we are a volunteer-run organization. the first year, jeff, doug, and i funded out of pocket. the second year, we went to spirit companies and raised sponsorship money, and sold tickets to various events. the third year, we raised more.

we continue to go to beverage- related companies as sponsors for the events. now that we have the boothby center open, we are looking to reach out to other businesses in san francisco to fund us by using the center and providing a space where they can come, have fun. we have started doing cocktail classes and have already been doing corporate team building mixology 101 classes for google, facebook, mckessen, volvo, and a number of companies. we are trying to reach out to not beverage companies as well to broaden the spectrum and get them to understand what the conservancy is, as well as cocktail week. our hope is that by reaching out throughout the year in these kinds of events, we can get more people involved in cocktail week, which would also become a

bigger event and get bigger and bigger every year. commissioner kasselman: can you tell me about hours of operation? how would someone is a you can find out about you? -- how would someone to visit you -- someone visit you or find out about you? >> we are an event space and we are trying to create our own defense. we do have sfcocktailweek.com, a site we have used for past events. you can look at that and see everything that happened this year. we have not been able to update that yet. a volunteer bartender wrote that site. we also own barbarycoastconservancy.com, but have not had the money to build that web site yet. we have a facebook page to communicate.