forward, giving the restaurant's more of a chance to go in there. they can pay a higher rent for the retail store. it always has to be kept in mind. president o'brien: any further public comment? public comment is closed. >> it is a generalized - - agendized as an action item. >> i move that we approve this with the addition of the change of the language just to save heatin theg -- the heating equipment would be used for the non-prepackaged food and goods. president o'brien: do i have a

second? >> i'll second. president o'brien: can we have a roll call on that ? >> file with modification. that modification being that the reading of food -- reheating of food would be the limited amount of non-packaged foods. and a second by commissioner kasselman. roll call? on that motion -- [roll call vote]

that motion is passed. president o'brien: congratulations. we should have you back here again. i will make the proposal later on. i would like to dedicate an evening to nc-20. we'll talk later. >> [inaudible] >> thank you very much. president o'brien: next item, please. >> we are going back to item number four. the approval of the january 11, 2010 meeting minutes. the draft january 11, 2010 minutes. president o'brien: move to approve?

motion by commissioner riley, second by commissioner clyde. pardon me, commissioner dooley. >> without objection. >> item five, approval of the february 14, 2011 meeting minutes. president o'brien: motion to approve? >> i second. >> without objection. president o'brien: sleeping on the job here. motion item approved. >> want some coffee?

>> commissioners, the director'' report. and this is the small business assistance center, an update on the department programs and opportunity to make announcements regarding small business activities. >> first, an update on the assistance center. we have the february totals for this year. we were below 20%. we are still averaging with january and february combined, an increase of 4% over 2010. i want to highlight, we have a youth works intern in our office. in april, i will have her come to the commission and introduce

yourself. may is her last month with us, but she has been a valuable asset. there is a list of a couple of college in terms that we will be getting for the summer -- interns the we will be getting for the summer. i am very excited about her as well. she will help us work with the ada elements. they continue to grow. and we have not really had the opportunity to do a real the -- good chronological tabbing. whether they have settled, had to close that kind of information.

the assistance with the small business center has worked with those that have received a lawsuit. the contact point will get another understanding and help with the direction on how to move forward with what they are faced with. i will talk a little bit more about that in just a minute. please don't refer to the director's report for the dates. may 16 is the kickoff for small

business week, and commissioner atoms, feel free to try men as the co-host -- adams, feel fee ree to chieme in as tehe co-host. we were hoping to do the award recognition at the breakfast, but we are not going to be able to do that. it will be great to have you their present from 5:30 to 6:00 until the kickoff, before the event opens. we will present the awards, and from 6:00 to 8:00, it will be the event for flavors of san francisco. gosh if you have not been there, it is a great event. -- >> if you have not been

there, it is a great event. i am just amazed every year that i have been going to flavors. i am amazed at how big this event gets. it brings a lot of small businesses together, not only neighborhood restaurants, but it is great in that working event. it has really turned into its own. >> the commission was one of the key members of starting small business week. commissioner o'conner, you were probably the only commissioner here at the time. we stay outside the d.c. -- of d.c. they do have the president

attend. and again, we have the board of supervisors recognition. this is a reminder to know that we are not going to be able to do that this year. the golden gate business association, they traditionally have their small business expo, and they are moving it during small business week. they think this is a more appropriate time to be conducting the expo. what i would like to focus on in the -- is the shock-your- neighborhood program to highlight retailers that are retailing sf-made products. and encourage retailers to think

about considering carrying sf- made products. we will be happy doing a consignments trial. there is an affirmation in the packet that talks about this. we will be doing a joint promotion to help promote sf- made products. and the sidewalk sale as well. they're hoping to bring additional energy and attention to marketing. also, we will be highlighting shop-your-neighborhood day. >> director? what kind of outreach effort do we have of the then other than g

the communities? [inaudible] >> other outreach is pretty much done through other merchant organizations. >> in your packet is an email we sent out that talks about how to market its. this year, wells fargo will put it on their atm's. it is really unique this year. they will be promoting shop- your-neighborhood.

we are really doing targeting and outreach to the business owner. we are really targeting the consumer to support small businesses. we are working to find ways to really reach out to the consumer. lead to the sidewalk sale, the marketing and promotion that we will be able to do, the ability to partner with sf-made. because of staffing capacity, we rely on the merchant organization to organize how they want to construct their merchant corridor activities

for the day. >> we try to contact chinatown and we did not have much luck. >> some neighborhoods, i don't know what it is. it doesn't kick in. there are certain parts that is like a big event. the neighborhood actually expect that. -- expects it. >> we translated information about the sidewalk sale to spanish and chinese for the organization to be able to distribute to those merchants in the area that might not necessarily be members. we are very dependent on somebody being in that neighborhood kind of organizing

the activity. >> we have a lot of people that are not members of the merchant association that participates in a sidewalk sale. the key is that free permit. the permit is expensive. we used to do three a year. >> maybe i can work with the art reached committee to see what we can do. >> i would be happy to help with you and reach out. getting that information, having got one point of contact person, we have a person that is out there working it.

>> commissioner riley, join us at our next out reach meeting. we have two on the committee. by the way, as we are discussing this, i have heard over and over how valuable shop-your- neighborhood is. every event we do, it pays dividends throughout the year. >> lastly, we are reminding them that they can participate in flavors. thanks to commissioner dooley's recommendation. the merchant organizations were inviting them again to organize

and the restaurants in their area. and we will highlight them per neighborhood. so i encourage you with any merchant groups. they receive this information. and to let them - --- remidn nd them it's there. i hope you have read the bulletin. it has just increased the wage subsidy. which is great. if you need information on that, let chrysomelid we will provide it for you. you did receive the presentation of a couple months ago on that. i have not been able to read

this early -- thoroughly. they will send notifications to 300,000 new service businesses that de mayo -- they may owe use tax. they alerted our office to this. >> existing businesses? >> in your packet is the press release. president o'brien: this is the issue where people are bringing in goods and not paying taxes on that? right. >> as opposed to collecting it from the source.

and that, commissioners, i think you have received information. they are proposing to deal with that. an update on ada presentations. the working solutions was very interested in receiving information to figure out what they are doing. they are one of the very first mirrors involving loan fund -- mayors involving loan funds. how can they better prepare their businesses that are receiving loans from them about this particular issue? we have the 1-page information sheet and the tax credit deduction information in several languages including english and the supplemental information

going out to restaurants. there was a supplemental mailing doing some quick highlights of what the ada is. be concerned. and contact our office. and what we're able to assist them with. that went out in six languages. that helped with the renewal for the food industry. today, i just received an e-mail from the department of justice that they are revising the requirements for ada that goes into effect. there are new regulations that will be dealing with public accommodations including stores, restaurants, shopping malls, sporting arenas, doctors, dentists, hotels, jails, polling

places, and the emergency prepared this shelters -- preparedness shelters. we will communicate with the department of building and inspections to help them sort of co-opt some of those codes. and make sure we -- the next step is anytime there is new regulations, we are sending out notification to the businesses on what they are. if it was eight years ago, there might be some new things that they need to be aware of. and also, the department is doing it out today -- an update. the current booklet is about 20 years old. a quick review of the legislation, just a couple of

highlights. commissioner kasselman had brought up the point of sale legislation from last year. i did not get an opportunity to send it out. make a note that that particular feet came up during the budget process. we have been detected at the eleventh hour. san francisco was one of two counties that did not have that fee. i wanted to bring to your attention the difference of what originally would have been. as part of the budget process, a business would have had to pay $189. the annual registration fee was $75 per business. and $14 per station fee.

a fairly significant reduction. the yellow pages, it is still in committee. your comments were considered by the planning department. the planning department -- the planning commission also directed to the mayor's office and to really take a look at in putting -- inputting our input. upper market, casthat is still n changes. mobil foods, a week ago today,

dpw opened for the public space which is sidewalks and streets. i really want to thank them for the work they did to really prepare the mobile food businesses and the application process. it went relatively smoothly. there are a few follow-up issues that they will deal with. >> i was curious if you could share with us what response they got. i was just curious how many people applied for various permits. >> i will get a response. as of today, i think they had 40. if i understand correctly, those were primarily new applicants.

the existing applicants will need to renew with them. that is where we might need to focus. i'll ask for an update. >> is there a cap on the amount of permits? i was intrigued on how people were camping out to apply for their permit. >> i think it was about locations. the first to be able to get a location. >> a strategic location. dpw asked about doing a lottery, and they said it has to be first-come, first-serve. they are still trageting -- targeting march 25 the

effective date for the outreach events. please let chris know and we will get back to you. i am sure you have seen some information that they are just about ready to launch it. thank you. we will have a presentation for you at the april meeting. i know they have been doing some presentations at the merchant's association. the rest will let you read. the calendar item on the week before last, leader pelosi's office assembled a small business access to accredit panel -- to credit panel. mark cyrus from wells fargo,

lily lowe from [unintelligible] and the ceo of opportunity fund. and they were interested in filming it so it could be aired between commission meetings. it will be aired on sfgov tv. what does health care reform mean for your business? i think we forwarded that information to you. on march 24, they are doing a panel for small businesses that as a general overview. i will be speaking on the services that the city provides. and the commission retreat, you will be beginning a draft agenda very shortly.

one last thing i want to make note of that in regard to steven cornell's comments. it is recognized that the nc-20 controls have made a difference maintaining unique merchant corridors. this might be something that we have a somewhat of a discussion with directory, what is not happening at the city level is doing some kind of economic consumer trend about online shopping. it seems that with the on-line shopping is happening is the daytime commercial retail.

if more consumer spending is happening there, what does that mean for the daytime commercial retail in terms of being able to exist in brick-and-mortar. what happens to that space? these are just some questions. what can you not ? -- not do online? that may be a question that this commission wants to ponder a little bit. asking the city to take a look at some economic trans because as we move forward with more planning issues, things that are coming up from our supervisors

or dealing with the report, not really understanding that trend as it relates to the daytime neighborhoods. our commercial businesses, are we going to be able to make something solid, educated decisions? >> just a comment on that. an issue i brought up with the commission was the unfair and unlevel playing field between brick and mortar businesses and on-line businesses. not only were broken water businesses and disadvantaged -- -were brick and mortar businesses disadvantaged, we