office of advocacy region ix. >> good evening commissioners. my name is yvonne lee. i wanted to thank commissioner riley for offering me this opportunity to share with you what is the office of advocacy who we are and what we do. we were established in 1976 by congress to represent the interests of small business. we have 10 appointed regional advocates. i am responsible for region nine. besides we as a regional

advocate serve as the eyes and the ears of the small business and represent their voice in washington. in our washington headquarters we have a team of attorneys. their job is to monitor and work on regulations. and work with agency regulators on regulatory concerns. we also have a team of researchers. they regularly produce data and research and report to inform the public of the contribution and the status of small business. one of the reports is a yearly report to the president. this is the 2010 report on the small business economy. we also produce an annual state small business profile. i am sure that many reviewed this. this has all of the 50 states. in addition to that we have a

lot more other reports. we are the independent voice for the small business within the federal government. our responsibility is to help insure environment that enables the small business to sustain and grow their business. as you may know the smallest businesses which are 20 employees or less, they pay about an average of $10,585 per year just to meet the federal regulation requirements. this is 36% higher than the larger counterparts. one example small manufacturors have to spend about $22,000 a year to meet e.p.a. regulatory requirements. this compares to $5,000 that

the large manufacturing firms pay per employee. this is a staggering competitive disadvantage that small business have to face. for the past fiscal year advocacy saved over $15 billion in regulatory costs that small businesses would have to pay if we did not get involved. how can we achieve this? we work by listening to and speaking for small businesses on the economic burden that federal regulations will have on their businesses. a recent example is the 1099 form. all of you are aware of that. when the i.r.s. proposed businesses to file 1099 forms with any vendors that they do business with over $600 we heard from the small businesses who told us that this was a

bookkeeping nightmare and economic stress on the business. they would have to hire additional bookkeepers just to meet the paperwork and the additional financial cost they would have to occur would not even increase the bottom line in increasing their business. we convene at a roundtable bringing together small business representatives and stakeholders to solicit their comments on how to deal with the concerns they have. we met with the i.r.s. commissioner and other stakeholders. as you know today the 1099 reporting requirement is repealed. and this one involves osha. they recently proposed a noise abatement regulation to protect workers and manufacturing firms

from hearing damage. this rule would have required businesses to purchase new equipment or to put together very costly upgrades. from listening to the small businesses, they provide a viable solution which is earmuffs. this same problem that could have a solution that could cause a small business either $10 or millions of dollars. again, advocacy roundtable bringing together osha and small business representatives and ultimately osha decided to withdraw this rule. small businesses, they win because they -- their concern was being addressed. osha also won because now they are working with the small

business community to come up with a very flexible solution without compromising the integrity of the intent of the regulation. and this is what we do. as an independent office we don't represent the president. we do not represent the views of congress. we represent small business in this country. in doing so congress gave advocacy back in 1976 our power as a watchdog of the federal regulatory flexibility act. this act requires federal agencies to examine the effects that any proposed rules and regulations may have on a business' economic impact and to require these agencies to look at other ways to ease any unnecessary regulatory burden that small businesses may face.

we do this by convening roundtables as i mentioned earlier to enable the small business to articulate the concerns and most personal recommendations. we also submit comment letters to federal agencies just to encourage them to examine and explore other ways to meet their regulatory requirements. since august of last year we submitted 32 comment letters to 19 federal agencies. in order to be an effective advocate we have to be good listeners. that is why i very much appreciate this opportunity to address with you and to this extent the small business community and other stakeholders of the city and county of san francisco to really share the concerns and perspectives.

and as you all know small business is the cornerstone of the economy. we are at a really critical time. this is really critical for us to make sure that we can encourage small business growth by easing and reducing any unnecessary regulatory burdens. and i look forward to working with the commission and the small business office and to a larger extent the small business community in the city to see how we can work together to move the small business forward. thank you very much for this opportunity. i am open to any questions that you may have. >> thank you very much. that's very informtive. >> thank you yvonne. diunderstand was there somebody

in the appointed position prior to you or was this position vacant for a while? >> because the chief counsel has to be appointed first before we are appointed. after that, then all 10 of us were appointed this january. so, there was a two-year gap. and prior to that my predecessor was working out of arizona for eight years. so that might be the reason why that -- >> congratulations. we work closely with the district director. just one note to advocate on behalf of our small businesses. i am sure that you may have heard about the small businesses and the a.d.a. lawsuits and the department of justice has just recently come

out with new guidelines in their booklet. we have seen many small businesses where english is not their first language. and they are not going to be translating the new booklet for small businesses into spanish and into chinese. so i would really appreciate any advocacy you can communicate to the department of justice about how critical it would be to have those booklets translated into spanish and chinese. it is a key resource for us to explain the americans with disabilities act to small businesses. >> as you know the fastest rising small business is minority-owned business. in california the number is really, really increasing. many of them are first-time immigrant business owners.

they are new to how to navigate the regulatory enforcement process. and we recognize that. and since last year our office has been working with the d.o.j., department of justice on the a.d.a. compliance. and one of the suggestions that we have is that because of the vulnerability of a new set of growing small business community that we have strongly urged d.o.j. to conduct outreach and to provide educational and informational information in different languages. we have made that request several times. in fact as late as a month ago

when they released the latest proposed rules we had reminded them of the importance of providing outreach to small business community directly. because we also understand certain small business communities do not sit in front of the computer to read what are the regulations. the one to one interaction is really important. so we had made the repeated request to d.o.j. and we are very optimistic that we will be -- because we have submitted to them information about small businesses, stakeholder organizations so that when they are ready to provide the outreach, provide the educational seminars then they would be able to reach out to the broadest small business and

in particular the most vulnerable small business community that we see fit. >> commissioner riley. >> thank you very much for the presentation. and i think that it is good news that you are here. you mentioned roundtable. who do you -- how often do you have these roundtable discussion and who do you invite to your roundtable discussion? >> how we came up with the roundtable is when we hear issues, and that is why it is so fortunate partner with you. oftentimes when you ask small business owners, and by the way when people hear we are from the s.b.a. the first question they ask is do we have any loans to grant. we say we are the independent. we have no money. but by saving them money through regulatory flexibility

also save them money. and more personal it allows them to really grow and to really focus on what they do best, which is to create better opportunities for themselves. the second thing that they say is we don't want any regulations. we know regulations are here for good reasons to not only protect the consumers but the business owners. there are regulations that really harms their growth. and if it harms them, it helps other folks, too. so if we continue the dialogue we work through you and through your staff just to get a gauge at where things are. a.d.a. is a perfect example. 1099 another example. it came from the community. saying we are being hit by this. chances are that small businesses across the country

are facing a similar challenge. a.d.a. is unique because california, because of the density of our area. especially from minority business owners. but in general when they feel that there is something that really has, you know, basically keeping them from really growing their business. so, if they have certain issues that they want to share with us and we take a look and say, hey, we are hearing this from atlanta and from washington. let's bring everybody together. again it is the small business voice we represent. usually if someone brings up a.d.a., right now a.d.a. is confined to california. maybe we can put together a roundtable in california. and i know that other business

groups have asked for that. in order to bring together the roundtable all we need is some issues to take a look at and that we would bring together stakeholders. unfortunately right now we are holding it in washington because our experts, our researchers, economists and attorneys are all at headquarters. usually after the roundtable we, as regional advocates will report back to our stakeholder asks say that we have these issues. do you have other perspectives that we can share with our team. and that is how we engage everybody. we don't want certain groups to be left out from this process because it is very important that we have diverse experiences and diverse perspectives. so that when the regulations or the rules are finally made then it truly represents the

perspectives of the small business. thank you. >> thank you. >> hi. i just noticed all of the information and contacts are in washington, d.c. is there a regional contact? >> yes. my office is in san francisco. i can give you my card or folks can call us at 415-744-8493. or you can email me directly. i share the office with the district office in market street. >> commissioners, we can send out yvonne's contact information to you. >> thank you. >> any other comments from commissioners? no. >> may i make a final comment?

i will give you a call. i want to see what we can do about the roundtable. so i would like to give you a call to talk about the possible roundtable for the statewide for the a.d.a. and what we can do. so, thank you. >> thank you very much. >> don't go away. >> are you available to a merchant association meetings and chamber meetings? you are. i think it would be very helpful to attend those meetings so you can hear our concerns. >> i would love to attend in the event that you are cohosting so that it lets people know that we are all on the same team. it is fortunate let people know that. this is not a federal issue or a san francisco issue, this is

a small business concern. i would welcome any opportunity . if there are any meetings you are hosting we would definitely want to go together with you. because business owners, they work long hours you know. we don't want them to come to meet with me and then another time and another two or three hours. we can have everybody together to get the information out there. i think that would be very helpful and it would be very productive for everybody. >> are you coming to our small businessweek? >> sure, why not. if i am not on travel. >> director will give you the information. >> are you available thursday morning? >> sure. >> ok. i will be in touch after. >> ok. great. thank you again. >> any other comments from commissioners? ok. public comment, seeing none, public comment is closed. this was a discussion item,

right. next item, please. >> item number 8, discussion and possible action on an sbc resolution supporting small businesses that may be displaced due to the americas cup racing event and facilities. ex plan torre document draft sbc resolution titled "resolution supporting small businesses displaced by the americas cup racing event and facilities." would you like me to begin or read the draft resolution? >> i think a brief introduction was it the last commission meeting? >> yes. >> the commission brought up to draft a resolution so we have this before you. after hearing what your thoughts and what you wanted to

do in regards to the potential displacement for small businesses in the resolution. it is drafted for you and it is there to either amend, approve and then we will send it out to the corresponding departments. >> go ahead. >> the following findings and resolutions were adopted. this is just the draft text should you choose to adopt. resolution supporting small businesses displaced by the americas cup. the seevent an important sporting event that will have importance to the local economy, create jobs and will bring positive changes to the san francisco waterfront,

whereace an unintended consequence of the race facilities can be the displacement of a number of san francisco small businesses. many of the potentially affected small businesses are destination businesses and contribute to the character and vitality of the city. the small business commission recognizes that the disaccomplicement of many of these businesses may be a necessary consequence in order to hold this international event. when relocating businesses will face significant up front permit, entitlement and impact fee costs, including fees charged by the planning department, department of building inspection, department of public works, sfmta, public utilities commission and other city departments. the office of economic and workforce develop andment the port of san francisco have dedicated staff including a dedicated point person to work with the americas cup race

event authority in producing this event. therefore be it resolved that the small business commission requests that the office of economic and workforce development, the port of san francisco and the americas cup event authority take efforts to minimize the number of small businesses affected by the america's cup event, be it further resolved that the small business commission request that the office of workforce development and the port of san francisco provide dedicated resources to assist affected businesses. thereof be it further resolved that the small business commission request that the office of economic and workforce development, port of san francisco and other city departments assist affected businesses in relocating to new locations and negotiating leases, including special assistance for businesses that have business models that require location on or near the waterfront. be it further resolved that the

small business request that the planning department, department of building inspection, port of san francisco, san francisco public utilities commission and other departments provide steam lined permitting and entitlements in order to allow businesses to relocate to their new locations. be it further resolved that the small business commission request that city departments waive or the americas cup event authority be responsible for all permit entitlement, impact and other fees and costs associated with the forced relocation of businesses. >> ok. thank you. lots of people want to speak on this. >> yes. and i just wanted to make a note that the port of san francisco started making plans in working with the businesses on relocation and has started working with the plans.

and they are in communication on working to assist businesses to relocate in other port properties. but i do think that what is good about this is that any of those businesses or other businesses are not located on port property or should they relocate off that we are extending the commission is extending its support to ask the city to support these businesses and their relocation. i just have one technical. the last thereof it be resolved needs to end with a period. >> ok. commissioner adams. >> whoever wrote this did a fantastic job. i really like this. and i would approve this without any changes. i think that it is well done.

>> i would like to actually thank chris schulman, the language and the director as well. i think the staff did a great job honoring the intent and wording it really well and fairly. so, thank you chris. >> thank you. i agree. >> just a great job. i would like to add the health department to the line of thereof it be resolved. and other departments. because that is a major department. since we are hitting all of the major departments i would likecn the last one? commissioner: i would like to add that. it is such a great department involved in so many businesses. that is my only suggestion. president o'brien: thank you.

commissioner kasselman? commissioner kasselman: do they already know that they have to start relocating? how is this working group >> support is engaged with those in the area -- how is this working? >> upwards is engaged. -- the port is engaged. those conversations are already happening. as we go down the road, there may be others, but the board is engaged with those that are definitely known to be impacted. commissioner kasselman: what about those on the periphery of the construction? construction vehicles, things

going on that would impact them? >> at this point, i do not know, and i do not know how far along in their planning process they are, but it sounds like it would be nice to bring forward the america's cup event authority as inappropriate person to provide the commission with a presentation on that. -- is an appropriate person. president o'brien: maybe it is already in the language there, but do we not talk about a dedicated resources -- resource? they were going to b.p. go to people -- going to be the go to people.

>> i believe depth -- that -- did you want to address that is you have the resolution? >> on the second be resolved, we mentioned that the borders differences go provide dedicated resources, and there was concern about whether a dedicated point person was appropriate or if we just have dedicated resources that we can work with as opposed to one. person may never be able to capture all of those resources. president