thought out and really honors the small-business community of san francisco. there are several local businesses to have something there, and that is why i am including it in my report. thank you. president o'brien: thank you. commissioner dooley? commissioner dooley: i will be brief. i attended the meeting about the cvs pharmacy is, and i used the opportunity to bring up some issues around formula retail and the coach, and that prompted the president olague to call for a joint meeting. this brings the merchants, the

residence, fire, police, everyone together under one roof, and supervisor chu was the host, and everyone got together and asked him a number of questions about what was the most concern in the neighborhood, is about was the most interesting. on may 4, i attended a meeting on polk street between the owners of a building there regarding ada compliance. two of the tenants were being sued, and it was very refreshing to see them getting together with the owners to see what they could do, and i but that was a very exciting way to deal with a big problem, so that is my report. president o'brien: next item,

please. clerk: item number 20, general public comment. president o'brien: next item. clerk: item number 21, new business. president o'brien: any new business? seeing none, next item. clerk: item number 22, adjournment. president o'brien: the meeting is

captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- supervisor avalos: army on? good morning. welcome to the city operations and neighborhood services committee.

could you share the announcements bill -- been of >> all persons attending this meeting are requested to turn of cell phones and pagers, please submit copies of materials for the file and items recommended out of committee today may be recommended by the full board tuesday of next week. supervisor avalos: please call item no. 1. >> item #one. resolution authorizing the san francisco public utilities commission to accept and expend a u.s. environmental protection agency administered grant in the amount of $669,000 for the cesar chavez sewer system improvement project. supervisor mar: thank you. >> good morning. members of the committee, in the project manager for the cesar chavez sewer improvement project. this resolution before you

authorizes the acceptance and expansion of the $659,000 issued from the u.s. environmental protection agency to assist us in funding the cesar chavez sewer improvement project. we were successful in obtaining a previous grant for this project of $477,900. for this additional grant we were given a total of $1,146,000 in federal support for the project. the caesars shot as improvement project is a very important improvement project as it provides more capacity for this area that has experienced historical flooding. we are very excited about this project, excited that we were able to win both of the grants for the project, which will help

to provide local support. supervisor avalos: thank you very much. where is that located? between 1 01 and mission? what is the length of that will be covered? >> this is phase one of the project, sewers system improvement. phase two would be streetscape improvements. the street scape goats from hampshire to burrow. supervisor avalos: it is not all being done concurrently? >> basically they are doing the plumbing first before the

service improvement. the streetscape will start at hampshire and we will keep ahead of them so that they can fix this or first before the street improvements. supervisor avalos: the timeline that we are talking about? >> for this project we are expecting to break ground in june or july but about nine months behind us. supervisor avalos: the experience with the length, partially funded by mtc and the funding sources, transportation authority, we had major sewer improvements that were done along their. i saw destruction along that line as a psychologist for two years.

i was wondering what we should do to make it concise, so that there were not too many gaps in the length, so that people did not experience a lengthy disruptions. >> the two projects are consolidated into 24 months. we are working closely with dtw to minimize the disruption to the businesses and we are committed to holding a public meeting every three months to address any issues and see what kinds of issues we need to handle in the field as quickly as possible. supervisor avalos: we will move

on to public comment for this item. there is no one else but city staff, so we will close public comment. we can move this item forward with recommendation? thank you. madam clerk, please call the next item. >> item #two. resolution authorizing the san francisco public utilities commission to retroactively accept and expend a u.s. department of energy administered grant in the amount of $951,500 to conduct a brown grease recovery and biofuel demonstration project. supervisor avalos: very good. >> good morning. my name is terry leigh. i have been the project manager for the biodiesel demonstration. the resolution before you would allow the city to retroactively except and expand approximately

$951,500 in department of energy funds for demonstrations. awarded in 2009, the department of energy became very busy in awarding and expanding the american recovery and investment act funds to route 2002. which is why we are now able to accept this grant. these funds would allow for boundaries, restaurant trap ways, to be converted into clean burning biodiesel. it is important for the city because the san francisco public utilities commission sewer department spent $3.5 million each year addressing greece

blockage in the sewers. in addition, fed and cisco has successfully transitioned its vehicle fleet from diesel to cleaner burning biodiesel. this demonstration furnishes technology that would allow the city to recover what is considered waste greased out of the city, converting it into a clean biodiesel. we are excited to once again get grant funds. we would appreciate your support. thank you. supervisor avalos: we will open this item for public comment. seeing no one else, we will close public comment. moving forward with recommendations. supervisor, you have worked on the ordinance? supervisor mar: thank you for

this great work, making ground greece into biodiesel. i hope that other cities adopt this model as well. thank you. supervisor avalos: moving forward without recommendation -- without objection. that is our last item? >> yes, mr. chairman. supervisor avalos: we are adjourned. thank you very much. >> thank you. good morning, everybody. thank you for coming today.

we are going to highlight once again the importance of san francisco putting local residents back to work and reviving our local economy. as some of you may recall, last september, we announced the city would have its own modified version of the federal jobsnow program. because congress failed to act, the city partnered with local businesses to keep san franciscans working, and we call it jobsnow2. as a result, we have partnered with over 100 businesses and employed over 500 local residents, with 70 of them working in the private sector. today, we are here to announce we still have a lot of financial opportunities for private citizens to participate in the jobsnow2 program and we will continue to help put san franciscans back to work. we would like to increase and

focus this jobsnow2 program on local small businesses. local businesses are missing a great opportunity to use this resource to their advantage. this increase of subsidy we are seeing today could help small and medium-sized businesses expand and reduce overhead. jobsnow2 will reimburse employers for the first $5,000 of wages paid to an employee hired from the eligible job seeker pool, which would cover two to three months of wages. a pretty good deal for participating businesses. it reduces the risk of hiring new employees, which would be a big plus for any business, and getting more san franciscans working is a plus for our entire city. this program, the jobsnow2

program, it is funded through june 30 this year. there will be approximately 250 to 300 jobs that could be subsidized by this time. we are here to announce we have still got money. we still that enthusiasm and an opportunity. we are focused on local small businesses. we have done well with the public sector and non-profit sector. today, we are announcing the availability of these funds to entice our small local businesses to take advantage of this program. with that, i want to introduce trent rhorer, our head of the human services agency. and he will in see the rest of the speakers. >> thank you, mr. mayor. good morning, everyone. i am trent rhorer, director of

the human resources agency. as the mayor said, we've had tremendous success with jobsnow. we employed over 4100 low- income, unemployed job seekers, as well as folks who were receiving unemployment. this was underwritten by more than $60 million in federal funds. unfortunately, expired september of last year. we revive the program using more than $9 million of state, local, and federal funds to help the same pool of unemployed job seekers. two-thirds of the program has been successful. we've been able to place over 460 people in public sector, subsidized positions, as well as with our nonprofit partners in the city. i think the shortcoming of jobsnow2 was on the private sector side. we initially designed the program to offer private sector, principally small businesses,

$2,500 to hire an individual. we had about 70 placements, and with the help of my colleague who is standing behind me and my staff, we doubled the subsidy amount. that is what we are announcing today, that small businesses -- or any business in the private sector in san francisco -- can avail themselves of $5,000 in a wage subsidy, provided they hire an individual screens through us and referred to them. there is room for probably 300 or more placements through the fiscal year. given the wage level, we think the $5,000 will carry a small business two to three months and in terms of the person they hire. in similar to jobsnow1, believe the private sector will recognize immediately the value of the individual they have hired.

over 70% of the businesses who participated in the first program said the employees increased sales. and many of these employees were kept on after the program ended and the private sector pay their salaries. we hope the same thing happens here, that they add value to the company, and they are retained after the $5,000 subsidy goes away. behind me, i have a champion of jobsnow1 and jobsnow2, providing feedback to my staff on how we can benefit the people of san francisco. we also have an employer and employee of both programs to talk about it, but before i introduce them, i would like to introduce one of our leader proponents and partners and advocates on the board of supervisors, board president david chiu, who will say a few

words and then we will turn it over to the participants in the program. supervisor chiu: thank you. i am very excited to be part of this announcement, because i was an elected official, i used to run a small business. we all know one of the biggest challenges facing us is our unemployment. i should mention, my mother used to say "there is no such thing as a free lunch." i think that jobsnow2 is as close as we can get to that free lunch between now and june 30. jobsnow1 was part of the federal stimulus that we got from president obama. it was remarkably effective. we created over 4000 jobs with 800 companies which brought $55 million of new activity into our local economy. we were all extremely disappointed when congress decided not to continue that program last september.

but i am very happy that because of the partnership with the mayor's office and with mayor lee's commitment to jobs, with hsa, and private sector leaders, we've been able to move this forward with state and local and some federal funding. i particularly want to single out scott, who pointed out our numbers have been lagging in the private sector. he brought this to our attention. what we really ask you, our media partners, is to give the word out. there is still be potential for hundreds of jobs to qualify between now and june 30. the latest estimate is 300 new jobs that could be created if companies take advantage of what we have got here. with that, i want to thank all the partners here as well as our friends in private sector and small businesses we hope will be using this program to put our

people back to work. >> good morning. i am the founder of small business california. but i am also an employer. everybody knows that small business is the engine that drives the economy, nationally. they hired two-thirds of the net job increases. it is really important that this information get out to the small business community. as a little background -- i did hire a person from jobsnow, the first portion of it. cecilia has been with me since january 2010. i did so because i knew at some point within six months to hear a was going to have to hire another employee, and this gave me the opportunity to hire someone earlier than i would have done otherwise.

and she turned out to be just a fabulous employee. my assistance -- my assistant claims person in our office. she does a tremendous job. i think there is tremendous opportunity to increase from $2,500 to $5,000. it is an enormous benefit for small businesses. i would like to ask the small business community in san francisco to look at this program and see what opportunities are out there for them. to that extent, i gave to tony lugo information on a job that was available, and hopefully we will take advantage of the subsidies. thank you. >> thank you, scott. coming from the human services side, where we focus 90% of our time and effort on the clients we are serving, we are not used

to being in the economic development business. this program really is that. certainly among small businesses. 80% of our placements in the first program more small businesses. i will give you a story about a gentleman i met at one of our events of last year. he runs a car wash. this is in the east by. he told me he was hesitant to expand. he did not want to take the risk to expand. it just means more staff, right? more people to wash cars. he said jobsnow came along and he doubled his staff. he took that risk because he was not going to invest anything. he doubled his revenue. and when the program expired, he kept those people. they are still working. his business is thriving. there are dozens of examples like that there really -- at least in our world where we are so excited about getting 4100

people placed in jobs, we certainly need small businesses to stay in business, and also to grow and flourish. we have an example here. a company called book bog. -- book big. charlotte is here to talk about her experience with jobsnow 1 and 2. i think she brought a couple of folks she hired through the program. >> hello. i am one of the four founders of book big. we are a book rental service. we encourage children to develop a lifelong love of reading. using our company, they can take out books and give them as long as they like and return them when they are done.

the truth is that reading is key. the truth is that finding the right books is key to finding a successful reading experience. the other truth is that kids who enjoy reading do better at school and life afterwards. working part-time and unpaid, we were able to build a product and service, and began shipping it to friends and family. we first began to be aware of the program in march 2010, and we thought this was a great opportunity. through the first program, we have been able to hire a total of six employees, four of which remaintamara and tashina williams. we also have two other

employees. they are single mothers and need jobs. they have shown a commitment to our business. the program has been crucial to our business. we found it to be a smooth and easy business. our representative, roxanne, has been incredibly helpful. one of our employees started in april 2010 and began by assisting me in shipping books. she is extremely dedicated and the real assets. she has proven to be flexible, multitalented, and an essential member of the team. we plan to keep both employees on long-term. the benefits of these programs are not just financial. we have seen how each employee's improves their self-esteem in having a job. i feel proud of the process, and the city is doing a great thing by helping struggling companies.

hiring these employees through these programs helps focus on growing the business. over the past year, we've shipped over 25,000 books to kids and help pay for 11500 kids to read more regularly. we think the program is the best support in helping grow the business. we are thankful for the opportunity to employ these four great individuals and help their families. thank you. and i will introduce toshina williams, our most recent employee through jobsnow2. >> good morning. in a single mother of a divide- year-old boy. for a year, i was unemployed and frustrated because i was having

a hard time finding a job. what became very hard for me because i could not provide for -- life became very hard for me because i could not provide for my son. after being on calworks for some time, i was referred to the jobsnow program. i was able to better my interviewing skills and even got help with interviewing close. through this program, the program was four weeks long, and i was offered a job as a shipping and receiving assistance. after learning more about the company, i learned that this was opportunity to introduce books into my son's life. before i worked for them, i had a hard time getting my son interested in books at all. now we enjoy reading together. now we enjoy reading together. i enjoyed working with book