behalf of those people and this beautiful city and the bay area's restaurant industry. but also one of the things, it is while i think we've had difficult challenges and i feel like the association and the board of directors of the ggra have taken those challenges on in a very positive and meaningful way in really trying to do right by the city in my time at the association, so, i've been very proud of what we've been able to accomplish. you do have to look back at the end of the day and think about what makes san francisco great in that particular job that i had, and at the end of the day my job was to make sure you were well fed and well drunk in san francisco. i can't do that, i might not be doing much of anything. so, we've had great partners to work with. regina has been such a great partner. i've known her since her time

at the board of supervisors as well. we were aides together. and to watch her growth on behalf of small business in the city, and to have played a small role in making to make sure this office was properly funded and staffed so that we could do this work in the city, that's another area where i'm very proud. so, thank you for this. it truly is a very special thing to me and i appreciate it very much. and i continue -- i look forward to continuing to work with many if not all of you in the future because i will be working around and doing community work and doing -- part of, you know, part of my new responsibilities will be a broader sense of systemic sustainability and how you can integrate economic sustainability within communities. and part of that aspect is working with small business -- working with small businesses to invest in those because that's how you build that social and economic fabric.

so, i look forward to continuing to work with you in the future and thank you very much. >> thank you. >> thank you. [speaker not understood] >> [inaudible].

>> okay, next item. >> that brings us back to item number 10, discussion and possible action on preparation for and documents to transmit to the sfmta board of directors in advance of a joint meeting of the small business commission and sfmta board of directors on december 9, 2013. this is a discussion and possible action item. >> so, commissioners, we have our joint meeting with the sfmta scheduled for december 9th. so, i wanted to take the opportunity to review with you -- to get some of your goals and objectives of what you would like to accomplish with the hearing. we did have the one meeting in may 6 with sfmta director ed russ kin. so, outlined in your packet ~ are a list of those recommendations.

we've color-coded them. there's been other recommendations that have been put forward. the yellow are the recommendations. and then in listening to the small businesses in other meetings, there's additional recommendations that are listed after the blue section which are some questions. so, i wanted to find out from you -- we have the list of recommendations. the one that aren't at the top of the page, are you interested in moving them to the top of the page to present to the sfmta board, some of the reasonings for the recommendations? i've put some bullet points for some of the reasoning for the recommendations based upon comments that i've heard. do those reflect what your recommendations are?

and then, christian, may i borrow your packet? i'm missing my section of -- i'll share -- >> actually -- >> we've got it. >> and then also -- so, there is for the sfmta, what would you like to have, some questions -- what question do you have? what presentations would you like to hear from the sfmta staff and what discussions would you like to have with the sfmta board as we have this joint meeting? and, so, i think for me it's a little more clear on, you know, what we -- what some of your questions and issues you want to present. now, the sfmta board, you know, most commissions or many commissions, they have municipal codes of which they govern themselves by.

they have different things, you know, that we have the san francisco's transit first policy that govern them self-by in terms of making decisions. ~ this commission is an advisory body so we don't quite have that same sort of structure. so, i'd like to hear if there are things that you would like to have presented to the sfmta board either for reading materials or as a presentation regarding small business to present at that joint hearing. so, we don't necessarily have to answer every -- you don't have to provide absolute answers today, but this is kind of an ongoing discussion. we will be meeting -- we will start meeting with the sfmta's board secretary to start orchestrating the meeting and getting the list of presentations that need to be

had to allow staff on both sides to be able to prepare for that. so, i just want to open it up and get your feedback and direction on what you would like to accomplish. >> commissioner ortiz. >> first of all, i want to thank both of you for comprising that. i read that, it's very thorough, a lot of ideas we've had, seen them on paper, that's awesome, thank you. as i started reading it, i started seeing that we started like kind of focusing maybe on like certain things that are more like specific detail specific. one of my things that just popped up and it never came to my head when we were, you know, having these conversations, is when i was in business i was part of the lbe program and my experience with sfmta with the lbe program was excellent with their off-street parking division. so, i know now, you know, working with a lot of community organizations and small

businesses that the sfmta is one of the biggest contractors in the city because they say muni and various other departments. i was just wondering since my experience was good and i hope my business to grow back then ~ helped my business to grow back then, i was wondering if that's the case for other departments in the mta [speaker not understood] lbe [speaker not understood], requirements and municipal codes can be very daunting. is there resources like in the off-street parking division with the sfmta to -- for lack of better words -- nurture first-time businesses that are participating in a city contract with sfmta? >> that's great. >> um-hm. >> commissioner dooley. >> i think, you know, because we're getting so many infrastructure projects and a lot of new building, i think it's really important to address loading zones. >> yes. >> i think it's a huge issue.

if mta wants to also do new projects change streetscapes, they really need to address the impact of eliminating parking if that includes eliminating loading zones. they need to have part of their plan be able to mitigate and allow commerce to continue. that goes to the question also of, you know, before they start working on infrastructure project, they need to look at all -- >> this is [speaker not understood], yes. >> yes. that to me is one of our largest things. and i also think it's important to discuss the possibility of allowing more parking structures because if you're going to take the parking away, you know, we need to have someplace to have folks who drive, for whatever reason -- not everyone takes the bus. maybe they're coming from out of town [speaker not

understood]. we get a lot of visitors. we have to have some parking [inaudible] if we're going to take it off the street, we have to put it somewhere else. >> and even though we have the transit first policy. but i do want to piggyback to what she said about the loading zone is what i hear all the time, especially with all these new projects on valencia street. i'm hearing it a lot now with -- now that that's been redone, divisadero, now that that street has been redone. it's like i hear all these merchants, they find out who i am, they start complaining about the loading problems. >> right, columbus avenue. >> columbus avenue. yes, that's one i would really like to address. >> okay. >> i don't think they think about that. >> they were planning to move all the loading zones on columbus avenue. well, there's like a million restaurants that come every day. as it is with the parking spaces, people are double parking. but, you know, business has to -- people have to receive

deliveries. >> all right. so, you would like to hear -- receive presentation on their policies and design approach when doing these major infrastructure projects and how they give consideration to loading zones. >> what you have here i think is great. i just think we all need to prioritize what we all want to here. and if there is a way we can all look at this for the sake of time and get, you know, send regina and christian what we would like to see on that, i think that would be very helpful. >> and then are there things that you would like to ensure that we present to the sfmta board -- i mean, sometimes i do think we live with this on a day-to-day basis, but it is important for other entitleies

to understand sort its to understand the cumulative effect a business incurs doing business with the city from all the permitting, you know, sidewalk, having to repair sidewalks ~, graffiti, you know, the various -- cumulative sort of impacts of different city agencies interfacing with them, regulating them. and, so, to understand that that is the view of which this commission does come from when it's taking a look at the lens and deciding to address issues that are affecting small business. >> i'm particularly happy to see you mentioning the small business should have an equal place at the table along with the bicycle advisory board because we don't at present. i feel like we are really an

afterthought and, you know, we are a huge economic driver in the city and we need to be at that table. >> everybody says we're pro small business, but when it comes to this they're not. this is what we need to address. i do know that in the quarterly meetings that's been addressed, [inaudible]. >> do you know if that happened? i know that the small business request to have a member on the mta board. >> i think it's still on the table right now. i know he said -- the mayor was wanting to interview the people personally. so, commissioner ortiz. >> following the same sentiment, it's like items 2 through 4, item 3 that you mentioned, is just more of the theme that we need presence -- representation at the sfmta. the loading zone is a perfect example. have they come to somebody that's in the trenches, a lot

of headaches for business e and themselves. ~ it's more of a general theme items 2 through 4. hey, we're a big pack or in the city. you've got to listen to us. >> i think also we've seen too much that the small business community ends up being reactive because they're not at the table. >> right. >> and that is not a good thing that we're always saying, oh, my goodness, they're taking all the parking away, or, they're closing the streets down. we need to be at that table so we know. yes. >> again, i think of the five item, topix listed on this list here are good. ~ i don't know how much time each one will take. but the ones that are not on the top of the priority list, maybe we can have materials to he review rather than a live person. >> [speaker not understood].

>> so, is there like a top 3 in terms that we should have a presentation in terms of maybe the transit first policy and definitely have a presentation on that, parking? >> [inaudible]. >> which would include all forms of parking, green zone. >> right, yellow zone. >> do you think there will be enough time to cover those? >> all five? >> yeah. >> i don't know, i'm asking the question. >> well, we're going to be meeting a little bit earlier for this meeting. i do know that. >> 4:30 will be the start time. >> they're all very important, in my opinion. >> yeah. >> i think that we just really in general have to emphasize the inclusion of small business. >> yes. >> in all of these decisions. that is our number one message here.

>> [speaker not understood] the quarterly meeting with the mayor. >> okay. and if there's any additional thoughts or information that you personally would like to get to be able to read ahead of time, e-mail both christian and i will facilitate getting that information to you. and we're starting to accumulate some information and we'll be sending it out this week in a packet for you to read. so, the strategic plan, the capital plan, that information, we'll be making it available to you. >> great. let's open this up to public comment. do we have any members of the public who would also like to comment on item number 10? seeing none, public comment is closed. next item, please. >> item 12, directors report, discussion item. >> thank you, commissioners. i'm going to be very brief due

to time. but just a couple things i do want to highlight and that is we have officially launched our kiva zip program. so, right before the meeting we finalized a press release with kiva zip. so, i will be forwarding that on to you. and i do think that we might have our first lender. our first borrower, i should say. and i will send you that information. you do have attached some of the criteria which we're using as our internal guide in making the recommendations. we are starting out with just three borrowers for right now just to make sure that we don't overcommit ourselves. we're doing a good job doing vetting and making referrals to kiva as a trustee. with that, i would like to by the end of january have a total of three borrowers that we have up on the site. and then i do want to say that

we are getting close finalizing some of our outreach for material in the gross receipts. we will be doing an official campaign launch, the city, in january. so, and we will be having a full presentation for you at the january 27th meeting. and then i think lastly what i just want to identify is that the holiday seasons are coming up. so, i've provided you a list with all of our economic development organizations who are doing gift fairs and their schedule. so, they take place in the first two weeks of december. so, if you have an opportunity to make sure that you do stop by and take a look at them and visit them. so, i'll let you read the rest and that concludes my report unless you have any questions.

>> any questions, no? okay, next item, please. >> item 13, legislation and policy committee report. >> we are meeting after this meeting today, and the item that we spoke at our last meeting was presented earlier today. so, i have nothing else to report. >> thank you. item number 14, outreach committee report. and the committee chair i believe had to leave the meeting. >> okay, next item. >> then -- >> go ahead. >> we did meet -- i don't have any notes in front of me. we did meet last week, two weeks ago, i'm not sure, and we discussed the bridge program that we heard today. so, we knew about that, which was great. the results. and then also we have -- is there anything else? >> working on the unsecured property. >> yeah, working on the

unsecured property taxes which christian has looked into for us and we're most likely going to get that reviewed. >> yeah, we've contacted the relevant departments asking them for their input on the possibility of updating the amount or at least a study and see if an update would make sense. >> okay. >> item number 15, president's report. >> i don't really have anything to report other than the castro merchants will be having their annual christmas tree lighting ceremony on monday, december 2nd at 6 o'clock at castro and 18th street. and it will be a shop the neighborhood night that monday night. >> item number 16, vice president's report. >> nothing to report. i did attend the universal health care meeting that we've

been following closely and i've asked the office staff to look into that for the businesses, the 20 to 49 employees which is of concern. so, that's pretty much all i have to report at this time. regina, do we have any update on -- >> we do not have any update at this point. >> okay. >> item number 17, commissioner reports. >> do we have any commissioner reports at this time? seeing none, next item. >> item 18, general public comment. >> do we have any members of the public here who would like to make a comment on any future meetings of this commission? seeing none, public comment is closed. next item. >> item 19, new business. >> any items? seeing none, next item. >> item 20, adjournment. this is an action item. >> do we have a motion to adjourn? >> i move. >> i second. >> all in favor? >> aye. >> meeting over.

thank you, everybody. the meeting adjourned at 4:29 p.m. [ adjourned] >> hi today we have a special

edition of building san francisco, stay safe, what we are going to be talking about san francisco's earth quakes, what you can do before an earthquake in your home, to be ready and after an earthquake to make sure that you are comfortable staying at home, while the city recovers. ♪ >> the next episode of stay safe, we have alicia johnson from san francisco's department of emergency management. hi, alicia thanks to coming >> it is a pleasure to be here with you. >> i wonder if you could tell us what you think people can do to get ready for what we know is a coming earthquake in san francisco. >> well, one of the most things that people can do is to make sure that you have a plan to communicate with people who live both in and out of state. having an out of state contact, to call, text or post on your social network is really

important and being able to know how you are going to communicate with your friends, and family who live near you, where you might meet them if your home is uninhab hitable. >> how long do you think that it will be before things are restored to normal in san francisco. >> it depends on the severity of the earthquake, we say to provide for 72 hours tha, is three days, and it helps to know that you might be without services for up to a week or more, depending on how heavy the shaking is and how many after shocks we have. >> what kind of neighborhood and community involvement might you want to have before an earthquake to make sure that you are going to able to have the support that you need. >> it is important to have a good relationship with your neighbors and your community. go to those community events, shop at local businesses, have a reciprocal relationship with them so that you know how to take care of yourself and who you can rely on and who can take care of you.

it is important to have a battery-operated radio in your home so that you can keep track of what is happening in the community around and how you can communicate with other people. >> one of the things that seems important is to have access to your important documents. >> yes, it is important to have copies of those and also stored them remotely. so a title to a home, a passport, a driver's license, any type of medical records that you need need, back those up or put them on a remote drive or store them on the cloud, the same is true with any vital information on your computer. back that up and have that on a cloud in case your hard drive does not work any more. >> in your home you should be prepared as well. >> absolutely. >> let's take a look at the kinds of things that you might want to have in your home. >> we have no water, what are we going to do about water? >> it is important for have extra water in your house, you want to have bottled water or a five gallon container of water

able to use on a regular basis, both for bathing and cooking as well as for drinking. >> we have this big container and also in people's homes they have a hot water heater. >> absolutely, if you clean your hot water heater out regularly you can use that for showering, drinking and bathing as well >> what other things do people need to have aren't their home. >> it is important to have extra every day items buy a couple extra cans of can food that you can eat without any preparation. >> here is a giant can of green giant canned corn. and this, a manual can opener, your electric can opener will not be working not only to have one but to know where to find it in your kitchen. >> yes. >> so in addition to canned goods, we are going to have fresh food and you have to preserve that and i know that we have an ice chest. >> having an ice chest on hand is really important because

your refrigerator will not be working right away. it is important to have somebody else that can store cold foods so something that you might be able to take with you if you have to leave your home. >> and here, this is my very own personal emergency supply box for my house. >> i hope that you have an alternative one at home. >> oh, i forgot. >> and in this is really important, you should have flashlights that have batteries, fresh batteries or hand crank flashlight. >> i have them right here. >> good. excellent. that is great. additionally, you are going to want to have candles a whistle, possibly a compass as well. markers if you want to label things if you need to, to people that you are safe in your home or that you have left your home. >> i am okay and i will meet you at... >> exactly. exactly. water proof matches are a great thing to have as well. >> we have matches here. and my spare glasses.

>> and your spare glasses. >> if you have medication, you should keep it with you or have access to it. if it needs to be refrigerated make sure that it is in your ice box. >> inside, just to point out for you, we have spare batteries. >> very important. >> we have a little first aid kit. >> and lots of different kinds of batteries. and another spare flashlight. >> so, alicia what else can we do to prepare our homes for an earthquake so we don't have damage? >> one of the most important things that you can do is to secure your valuable and breakable items. make sure that your tv is strapped down to your entertainment cabinet or wall so it does not move. also important is to make sure that your book case is secure to the wall so that it does not fall over and your valuable and breakables do not break on the ground. becoming prepared is not that difficult. taking care of your home, making sure that you have a few extra every-day items on hand helps to make the difference. >> that contributes

dramatically to the way that the city as a whole can recover. >> absolutely. >> if you are able to control your own environment and house and recovery and your neighbors are doing the same the city as a whole will be a more resilient city. >> we are all proud of living in san francisco and being prepared helps us stay here. >> so, thank you so much for joining us today, alicia, i appreciate it. >> absolutely, it is my pleasure. >> and thank you for joining us on another edition of building okay. good afternoon. members of the public, fellow commissioners and staff. let's call this meeting to order at 1:35 p.m.. madam secretary?

>> president courtney, here, commissioner moran, here, commissioner torres? here. vice-president ann moller caen is here and francesca vetore is here. >> approving of minutes of october 22nd #shgs 2013. moved and seconded. any comments from approval of the minutes? hearing none, public comment is closed. all in favor say, "aye". >> aye. >> the motion carries.