it is important to identify and promote and businesses. we are not a chain bashing organization tree we like to highlight that for every $100 spent, $68 recirculates in the local community. the same 100 at a chain, $43. in 2007 we commissioned a study to see what would happen if san franciscans shifted their spending from chains to local stores trade we did not consider the internet which takes all the -- almost all the local money out. a shift in 10% would create 1300 new jobs and to run million dollars -- dollars in increased activity. i would like to serve on the small business -- business commission to help promote the local first efforts. it is important the board have a store that is a brick and mortar retail store from. there are thousands, probably

tens of thousands in san francisco and i am not sure their voices are heard. kypykykkykykykkk get away. i have a supportive family, to partners at the store and a great staff which would allow me the time to serve. that is it if you have any questions. i am happy to tell you more. >> i havsupervisor kim: i have o your store and it is an iconic business. i was impressed with your application and the thing to have the same period in terms of the small business commission i was particularly thoughtful about what you were saying in terms of how san franciscans can shift even 10% of spending and how that would create jobs. how these small-business -- to view the role in helping to do some of this awareness raising and how do plan to include local

small businesses to do that? >> i think through my activity in sf -- i know the grocer and someone who owns their own hair salon. i know hundreds -- i am connected to a wide range of people. out reach will be one of the most important things. if they did they would be able to gain thousands of members instead of hundreds. i think what i can bring is a network of small businesses, real retail store fronts who do not have necessarily have the time to come to meetings but care about their communities. >> i was very struck by that date of point. even shifting 10% of spending could help create 1300 jobs in

san francisco. i appreciate your bringing that up. >> we chose that number knowing it is hard. you can always buy something local. i am sure there is a pharmacy left or two. it is hard to buy certain things locally so we wanted to pick a realistic number. if you walk to work and by a couple of coffee at starbucks, if you go one block out of your way and shopping locally owned cafe once every two weeks it makes a difference. i would like to see the board lead by example and source the office supplies locally and try to drum up some publicity. use the power of your offices to call attention. >> i agree. are there other questions? supervisor campos: i want to think anyone who wants to come forward to serve the city and i appreciate everyone who

submitted an application. i also see one of the members of the small business commission and appreciate the service. -- that they provide. i have to be honest. one of the concerns i do have around the small business commission is that there is a disconnect in my view from talking to a lot of small- business owners in my district. between many small-business owners and the small business commission. one of the challenges is, how do as a small business commission become relevant for some of these businesses? it is a number of businesses but it includes many women, minority-owned, immigrant-owned businesses that do not interact a lot with the small business commission. i am wondering if you can say something about what your interest and thoughts are in terms of reaching out to those

communities. >> i do not have any of the answers. that would be a group effort necessarily. one of the pleasures of district elections is that you know your residence and you know your small business owners. i would rely largely on the board of supervisors and their staff to help reach out to those communities. that is my short answer. return to use -- for support. supervisor kim: next, monetta white. same format. again, your experience in terms of how it is relevant to the small business commission. also supervisor campos'question.

>> good afternoon. i am a small minority-owned business owner. we have approximately 29 to 35 employees. we own a restaurant. i had all the operations of our business from h.r. -- head all the operations from a jar to marketing. 18% of our work force comes of code as well as a% san francisco residents. i have been in business for four years, going on 5 this year. our business has been able to survive in one of the worst financial meltdowns of our time. i believe i have learned how to do what it takes to run a business and survive. the reason for my interest for

being appointed to small business is to help small business get the information they need that impacts their business. to improve our reach to the small business community. particularly where it relates to minority small business. to represent the diversity on the commission from the minority point of view, that to the hospitality industry. to help be a better liaison for the district and i agree with supervisor campos. there is a disconnect. in my neighborhood. i want to be part in resolving that issue. to answer when i would do, i am a people person. you have to get out there and

talk to people. you have to get into what is going on with them and their business. a partner with organizations like women's initiative. you have to get in there and use those groups to get the message and talk to people, small business community. why i think i would be a good candidate, i am a business owner. am active in my community. i sit on the parking corp.. a like working with people. i was a big part science guarding of the fillmore cpd, heading the marketing to get the fillmore on the map. i know i can do the same for the commission. thank you. supervisor kim: thank you. supervisor farrell. supervisor farrell: thank you. how many employees do you have?

>> reim range depending on our season anywhere from 29 to 40. fasupervisor farrell: we're trying to get representation of true small businesses. people have a different definition of what that means. we have worked with merchants in the mission and talking with them. a large part of the small business community, even smaller than yours. we want to make sure they have a voice. we appreciate that. >> with green apple he has 28 employees. supervisor farrell: thank you. supervisor kim: i want to follow-up, local hire is something we talk a lot -- about a lot. we encourage businesses to local from -- hire from local neighborhoods. i was wondering if you could

touch on that. you do work with young people and if you could talk about how the small business commission could help. >> i know that since 1300 came about, it was -- i feel like we're in this community. it is our social responsibility to do something for the use in our community. i think the commission could put some program in place that has small businesses, work with youth organizations and -- in their neighborhoods. in my case i work with the kids -- we tried to do something with a entrepreneurship with them. summer programs with the farmers' market, working in our office and other businesses can do that as well. >supervisor kim: thank you.

as much as we can work with our small businesses to make connections with our local residents and used to make sure we are employing them. thank you. next, mario west. >> thank you for giving me a chance to talk about my qualifications. i was born and raised here in san francisco. parmele the past president of loudoun business network. comprised of 40 merchants in the mission district. the purses -- purpose focuses on education to the business merchant's trade we hope that at many seminars -- help with many

seminars and tried to educate business merchants on different aspects of running a business, anywhere from the benefits of incorporating a business to why they should be reporting their employees to the edd and irs. i loved working with the business community. as far as my background, i have been an auditor for the state of california for about 14 + years. worked for the board of equalization. part-time with the edd for three and a half years. i am aware of what the business community needs as far as education. a big advocate of education going back to my dad used to work for lack -- lulac. at helping businesses understand regulation and why they should be following the rules appropriate to their business. i love doing that. some of the highlights of my

career have been i did work in them mortgage brokering from 2001 through 2007. i did start the first chapter of the national association of hispanic real taylor -- realtors in san mateo. we hosted many seminars on predatory lending try to not the consumer understand the different aspect of their loan origination paper so they would not basically go ahead and signed papers and not completely understand what was going on. i have also worked in the community as a tax consultants. based on my experience i have worked with different attorneys in handling cases in front of the board of equalization. a lot of minority businesses do not have it will recommend -- representation when they get audited. thank you once again. since all three of you are attorneys for collaborating with the different consultants in the area. also, we would like to say that

i have worked -- work with -- worked with eric arguello. we are trying to get merchants involved and get them understand what their rights and responsibilities are. i am open to any questions from the board of supervisors. supervisor kim: i am not sure your address this, but how many employees are in your business? >> we are at about four or five employees. supervisor kim: thank you. are there any questions from the board? supervisor avalos: -- supervisor campos: thank you. i wonder how you make the small business commission more relevant to what is happening with some of the minority owned or woman net owned businesses? >> it is about how we -- through

buthe network we have -- my position if i do get elected to small business commission is to do more outreach. i never saw any of the small business commissioners in my district and would love to have someone come in and try to educate the merchants and make sure there understand what the rules and regulations are in the city. supervisor kim: are there any of the questions? thank you. >> i would like to thank the people here came here to support me. nextsupervisor kim: next, forest gray. >> i am forest gray.

we are a microbrewery. we are a manufacturing company. most of us have left. we had craft artists and beer and destroyed them across the country through our disturbing networks, predominantly in urban markets. we have been doing business for 15 years. we employ currently 19 people. most of those folks, all live in the city of san francisco. i am married, i have been married for 16 years and i have to the young children. -- two young children. my company has contributed greatly to our community. we are open on friday and saturday evenings from 4:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. that has evolved into a family-

friendly environment which is a rarity in san francisco. we get dozens of kids a week with their parents. they'd draw a chalk drawings on the side lot and have a great time and it has created an atmosphere that is unique. as a result of all of this, we have had a very positive impact on the community. we, the neighborhood quite a bit. crime has down -- gone down. we spoke with the captain at the annual meeting and i asked and he said the crime stats have gone down in our area. people can leave their cars in the parking lot. we have managed to get taxicabs back to hunters point which they were not coming there when i started opening. our residents are excited about what we're doing. they have a place to go and they do not have to go into the city proper. we have been active in the neighborhood as well as the city.

we contributed to causes such as the boys and girls club which is an amazing organization. the rotary club, i am a previous past president of the rotary club in bayview. i engaged someone in legislative policy. i was involved in the alcohol tax. that was -- there were books in favor of that. there is concerns we had about that. i think why i am here, in a unique position. i believe based on my experience that son -- san francisco small business is on the ropes. it is difficult whether you have one employee or 20 or 50 to do business. it is a difficult climate. i am here to contribute my time to serve you, to be someone who is a sounding board to try and reconcile our ideology we have here. we have so many great ideas we want to implement.

over the course of the year we have been here, there has been a distorting further away from what it costs to pay for these programs. we are not generating the revenue we need. what i want to be is the person that can help make rational decisions. my strength is critical thinking. i have seen a lot of laws that start out with great intentions and they end up creating loopholes and situations that end up creating the opposite effect with what the legislation intends to do. that is why would consider to be my strength. in terms of priority -- priorities, the number-one thing would be the tax structure in the city. payroll tax is a job killer by definition. we have -- compare us to surrounding cities, we have the most expensive tax structure and overall structure in terms of doing business trade we need to look at that. not to say we do not need taxes,

we do. there are other things we can do. that would be a big priority of mine. and as well as creating legislation that has been drug through and difficult questions have been asked. some people do not want to answer or ask them. i would say that is my strength. supervisor kim: thank you. you employ 19 people? >> that is correct. supervisor kim: i am a big fan of speakeasy's. you employ local factories. i know mark dwight got appointed to small business commission. by the mayor. we're glad to see that representation is being made on the small business commission. if you could talk about one challenge uc in helping to remanufacturing, local manufacturing in san francisco and what arts -- some steps the city could take to ameliorate that? >> manufacturing, there is a lot

of employees typically. that would be one. just the overall regulation that is going on. there is a lot of regulation we have to comply with and try and make it more business friendly. try to make the process to start a business more friendly. i had a discussion -- this is san francisco beer week. you should get out there. it is on sunday. i was at an event last night. we had a bunch of circus freaks and what not. it was crazy. i was speaking with a gentle man who runs several prominent restaurants and bars and we were discussing how long it takes. it takes one or two years to start any small business in the city and that is ridiculous. it should not take that long. i think that is my position. whether it is manufacturing -- i am not here to represent

manufacturing, i am here to represent all small business. whether you have a one person minority business or a 50- person large mall business, we face a lot of the same problems. it is a difficult climate. i would look at it as it is -- as a broad stroke. supervisor kim: thank you. are there any other questions? thank you. next, william ortiz-cartagena. thank you for being here. i heard you had some unexpected circumstances to deal with. we appreciate you being here. >> i thank you. i was born and raised in san francisco. after a lengthy hospitality career which was under the mattress above cit,.

i saw people in my community not being able to be employed so i started gentle parking. with the thought of bringing parking service back to the city which i love. what happened is it transcended as i reached out to a lot of troubled youth and we expanded to 50 jobs currently. we have three parking lots. -- across the city. it is important for people in the small business commission to be approachable. one of the things you said is a grant or through the minority- o andwned businesses -- owned businesses. i am approachable. my parents were immigrant merchants. it is essential for us to have people who truly represent san

francisco. we're different. the commission should be diverse as the city of represents. if you have any questions. supervisor kim: are there any questions from supervisors? could you tell us how many people you employ? >> 50. supervisor kim: i know you have done a lot of work to connect small businesses to community organizations. i was hoping you could talk about that. >> certainly. i will give you an example. i started a bitter project where we took underutilized garages and parking lots they had and said we can make some money for the school district. we did this partnership and saved each school to teachers' jobs by the funds that were there. we thought creatively and raised funds for the school doing business things. another example is, i have

patricia rodriguez back there. who wanted to get nto parking. it is typically a man's industry. she has her own company afraid we were parking cars for her under her company. sf parking. we are an opportunity. >supervisor kim: thank you. we can help support some of our public entities. it is an amazing relationship we will continue to capitalize on. i know that you had also been one of the concerns over and over is how hard it is to start a small business here. in particular for our communities of color and immigrant communities, it can be challenging. you have any thoughts around what the commission can do to address that issue? >> one of the funniest things as we have a ton of resources. i love this city. the problem is, you do not know

they're there. organizations like mera, i -- indeed approachable people, grass-roots people that know the community. i am not a small-business owner in san mateo. i live in district 10. i am in -- out there everyday. it is letting people know. we have the resources. this is an amazing city. supervisor kim: thank you. either other questions? thank you. next and last, we have henry karnilowicz. >> good afternoon. i appreciate to have the opportunity to come here and speak to you about my application to the small business commission. i have well over 30 years in the construction business and i have been a member of the south of market project area committee

for over 10 years and likewise in the south of market business association. apart from that i sit on the san francisco council of district merchants from the -- i am the treasure. i served on the chamber of commerce. while on the south of market budgetary committee advisor board we -- i was on the economics committee. we were the ones who would advise on could to help out in getting the business started. one of the ones that we brought on about funding. it was a small theater on the corner of sixth and howard. they had to go in and do it themselves. the developer said you need to go to raise so much money and otherwise we cannot help you.

i said there's no way in the world we can do this. so they need to have some support. there is also the store fronts and the passat improvements. signs and all that are instrumental in supporting this and getting the proof for that. i only have a small business. i have 15 or 20 employees. we're down to five right now. every time this comes out we hire more people. one of the experiences i do have is in permitting. i spend a lot of time at dpw, health department, with restaurants and coffee shops and hardware stores. you name it. this is where i find i am an asset to the small business commission. a lot of people -- they have no idea what to face.

and it is tough. ada, accessibility, what type of accessibility? who d.c., what you do? i have learned how to do this. i want to make it easier. want to see it much easier. for conditional use, i have restaurant where helping folks serve in north beach. it cost them $1,700 to come. all -- not only is it taking money but time. in the meantime, a lot of these people when they reach the space they have no idea what they're getting into. there will say, i will give you three months and it did not have to start paying rent. they are into it for six or nine months and they are paying rent. that is where i come in.