receive a contract or future contract. what is your perspective on whether we need to build in more protections for so-called whistle blowers that raise these issues? and by the way, i'm raising this because i don't know if contractors here would feel comfortable raising this so it's important for me to ask the question. >> president chiu, we have met with the community-based organizations and they have brought up that issue and we are aware of instances. going forward, we will address that, hopefully with your leadership. >> potentially with legislation or some policy changes? >> it may -- i'm not sure how the city attorney will rule or how we will work towards something that could work for everyone involved. >> okay. one last set of questions and then i do want to move to public comment because we do have a lot of folks here today. there has been a lot of

discussion about whether right now 30 years after 14b has gone into effect whether we're really thinking aggressively enough in how we achieve our goals. there have been suggestions we ought to have city-wide goals for lbe participation. so, for example, there have been some who have suggested a 40% goal of all city contracting dollars staying with local business he. there has been other suggestions that we ought to set aside at least 10% of our contracting dollars exclusively for local competition and other businesses. our ordinances should not apply to funded city contracts, but public lands that require approval. what are your thoughts on the various proposals that are floating around on how we can really put a little more teeth into our ordinance? because i think for many years there is just frustration that we're not making the progress we need to make. >> thank you, president chiu.

we also did discuss that at length with the community based organizations -- sorry. the presentation from the community based organization is very innovative. it's very, very good. i mean, we were very happy to hear about the different aspects of the presentation. they did mention that the 40/20 -- the 40% overall goal, it could be aspiration goal and we would be setting goal on an availability basis which is very detailed how we set goals based on the lbe availability so that the contracts, prime contractors will be able to meet that goal. but that would be something to also look into, the 40/20 aspirational goal. >> i think this is probably [speaker not understood] conversation and i want to hear from the members of the public on this.

let me make one last comment, how 14b relates to other city laws and programs. for example, the local hiring ordinance that supervisor mar and i were happy to support supervisor avalos on moving. we know that impacts small businesses in ways that are different from how it impacts larger businesses and we have to think about how the constellation of programs that we have sort of work in tandem. so, i just want to mention that. because the time is late, what i would like to do if it makes sense, colleagues, is to go to public comment. i have a list of about 18 members of the public that wish to speak on this topic. and, so, what i'd like to do is call them up in batches sw let me first call up doug chen -- >> forgive me. >> i'm sorry. >> just briefly. my name is megan keegan wallace. i am [speaker not understood]. i just wanted to clarify a couple pieces in the powerpoint. i know this is complex information and there's been a lot of back and forth about what data we have available,

what it looks like, when it's going to be available to the public. so, just jumping back really quickly, it's been a long day, but on item number 14 you had a question about percentages by department and dollar amount. so, there are dollar amounts on this sly. this was presented differently than when you had seen the hrc data before. there is a lot of data on this program and we were trying to package it in a way to attempt to simplify how you might see some of that information. so, the third column of percentages, the fourth column is contract award dollars to lbe prime -- >> i'm sorry, the third column where it says dollar amounts, that's actually percentages. >> i'm sorry. i'm sorry, 14 -- can i put it up? no, it's not up. let me see see if i can get back up to it. ~ it's on the screen now. the third column is percentages. the fourth is dollar amount of

contracts awarded to lbe prime in million. and the dollar amount is the contract awarded to lbe sums. >> what percentage of all dollars for the airport have gone to lbes? because that number is not on here. 65% of the contracts awarded went to lbe from what i can gather. only 26% of our dollars went from lbes from another part of your report. >> the 26%. i do not know where the 26% is from. >> i had pulled it from the report that you guys had issued at the end of last year. i don't know -- i mean, we can go into this, but i think what i'm interested in just under that 65%, 65% of our dollars, it's 5% of all contracts. yes, but you can take the 5.3% for lbe primes and compare that to the total on the bought many

of 167 and i could do a percentage for you quickly to see what that would be. the other piece, and i'm happy to talk to you about that in greater detail. >> actually, as i just do the back of the envelope calculation, [speaker not understood], and then it looks like the total -- actually, what is the total amount awarded to the airport? it's way more than -- >> it's about 3%. >> okay. so, if i could just pause for a second there, you're saying that the percentage awarded to lbes at the airport representative 3% of the total dollars? >> there is one caveat. this chart doesn't include contracts over 20 million. 14b has a capital of 20 million.

there is one part that is a larger amount but doesn't fall under that threshold. the actual amount for the airport -- actually percentage, sorry, dollar wise is about 15%. >> okay. so, let's assume at 15%, that's i think the frustration that i'm experiencing right now. we're looking at you showing us percentage dollars, 65%, 81%, 74%, suggesting that a majority of these dollars are actually going to lbes but in reality 15% of the dollars are going to our community. by the way, i know i'm sorry you're in the position you are right now because i know you've been doing this very recently, you're crunching members not to make this point at this moment, what we're looking for is really a good understanding of what percentage of dollars are

going to our local and small diverse communities and i think the numbers are far lower than what we have here. the frustration is not being able to get a snapshot of what that looks like. >> that is why we're excited to be able to be here making the changes to 14 b, and for having this discussion. the other piece that i wanted to raise, the spa ~ timeline for getting all the departments on the six months. because it is a new data system i've been helping the contract monitoring system with the integration of the data system with other departments. i don't know if there was some confusion how the question was posed, but there will be a little bit of a lag in the kind of robust nature of the data that's available in the system because you have to get all the departments on board, entering

all the information inaccurately, and we have a very strong process in place to kind of monitor and audit the number of contracts that are being entered into the system and making sure that is the actual number that is out in the universe that should be in there. so, it will take a little while to get that process running smoothly. so, [speaker not understood], but within six months we'll have the contract [inaudible]. >> that's great news. that's better than five years. and my suggestion is that the faster you can get data out, even with the caveat that it may not be the most robust or the cleanest data, i think it will just help let us all know that transparency and accountability is coming. i do want to thank you for the work. i know this has been immensely challenging for the three of you to get a handle on, so, i look forward to supporting you with that work and hopefully getting you some more resources to do that work. >> why don't we now go to public comment.

let me first ask mr. doug chan, and let me call up other speakers. ~ [speaker not understood]. fred jordan. diana [speaker not understood]. stanley chu. [speaker not understood]. and [speaker not understood]. and each member of the public will have two minutes for public comment. mr. chan. president chiu, members of the committee, thank you very much for this opportunity to address you. i'm here on behalf of the council of american asian byness associations it represents member asians and [speaker not understood] here in the bay area. today you're going to hear from diverse hard working byness owner how our city's contracting law serves as values, such as [speaker not understood] in procurement of goods and services and the

promotion of smart economic development policies that not only keep our city's dollars closer to help but help to [speaker not understood]. 35 years ago when my unemployed father had some years before started an auto parts business with a loan from the very pregnant wife of $132, one day he asked me to tag along with him to deliver some parts after a city-owned vehicle yard at third street. upon arrival, my dad exchanged mare antries with the fleet boss and then instructed me to hand over one pair of shock absorbers and two pairs of auto light spark plugs. right back, i asked my dad, dad, why is this delivery so small, what did we come out here for? he said, because that's all i can sell to the city. and, so, my dad never managed

to breakthrough that barrier he himself described as a little boy's network. now, the notorious german practices of the recent past are behind us. the overarching inquiry is whether or not the current law remains fit to assure not only equal opportunity and not the convenience of bureau cats, and also how you as supervisors can measure progress. how do you define progress? and what are the systems of public accountability to make sure that we don't have this big lapse that we've had? you know without data there is no accountability. so, what we're trying to do here is make the law work for everybody. this is a collaborative process and we look forward to working with you as well as the other members of the city family. so, thank you very much. >> thank you. i have called up a number of names. if folks could line up on the

right-hand side of the chamber, and let me continue to call other names so that we can get the flow going. mr. president, you have a copy of extended opening statement, i'd like to lodge with the clerk. >> absolutely. copies for you. >> okay. let's hear from our next speaker, mr. chiu thank you, president chiu. good afternoon, supervisors. my named is alex chu. i am the president of the american association of cpa firms, council of american business association. i'm here to talk about a couple of items that have been raised. first one is the need for an antiretaliation legislation. there have been many instances of city department heads and project managers retaliating against minority owned lbe firms for simply making inquiries into how decisions are made with respect to

contract awards or making inquiries as to whether or not the lbe ordinance has been properly apply. in many retaliations, it has resulted in loss of income to firms and owners. also, such retaliations have resulted in cutbacks in employees. because of the prevailance of such retaliation, individuals are afraid to speak up about the lack of opportunity. people are afraid to report the failures and refusal to apply the lbe ordinance on the part of department heads and project managers for fear of retaliation. people have even been afraid to come and testify at this hearing because of the fear of retaliation. such retaliation should not happen anywhere, and in particular, it should not happen here in san francisco. san francisco need an antiretaliation legislation to

people eyes officers and employees who engage some such retaliation. such legislation may be modeled after the state statutes that protect whistle blowers. we will be happy to work with you on such legislation. the next topic i would like to briefly talk about is the need for an oversight committee or oversight commission similar to the human rights commission. i don't think a advisory committee is sufficient. >> thank you. thank you. >> next speaker, please. hello, president chiu and board of supervisors. i'm stanley chan. i'm speaking on behalf of asian american contractor association as well as value fire protection. i'd like the city -- i want to say the city needs to set

consistent policies and goals to keep san francisco's construction dollars here in san francisco. we need to set policies and goals so that all city departments will strictly adhere to and make accountable -- be made accountable. i'd like to speak about my terrible experience with the sfmta, mta anyway. we teamed up with -- a first tier contractor to bid on the job on the subway, and we were successful bid to [speaker not understood]. but for some reason our contract was torn up. they kept the first tier prime

and threw our bid out. we spent a lot of time working on the bid and it will take away a few years of work in the future from us. we need to regard the importance of benefits for the local economy that can be generated from participants [speaker not understood]. the way we let it go the way it stands, this mta is about to award one of the largest contracts ever in san francisco. essentially no local business participation and no local minority business participation at all. this contract is worth upwards of $840 million.

this -- without participation, this amounts to taxation without representation of all the san franciscans. the central is up way will be built and maintained by the local monies for years to come. our local community should be derive some benefits throughout the project especially from the very beginning where it impacts the most. and this project, i must go by san francisco, what happened -- the concept of project san francisco built by san franciscans. i urge you to support the lbe community. thank you. >> thank you. next speaker, please. good afternoon. my name is spencer [speaker not understood]. i'm owner of baf specialty and i live here in san francisco. i think it's an important role

for the byness enterprise program, un[speaker not understood] public works construction and service contracts. when a nonlocal contractor is brought in without a true commitment to local businesses, he reluctantly and ungrudgingly unbundles those and can lead to a different experience. [speaker not understood] pier 27 cruise terminal, public safety building and san francisco general hospital. and a lot of time i've been in business, i have never encountered a company i've worked for a hostile as the one i've worked for on the project

works currently. [speaker not understood] and troubleshoot on-site issues, misrepresented my company information on this, and taking [speaker not understood] over contracted to my company and try to impose back chargeses for the scope taken over without following proper procedures. these actions have been communicated to the cmd and we [speaker not understood] but this is a slow process. every step of the way this company has worked against us and not with us threatening my company's existence. i have never felt like we were a partner with them, but somehow we were just a competitor. what i'm saying is that i think 14b needs some teeth, some enforcement mechanisms, and opportunities for lbes but protect local businesses from look nonlocal contractor threatening taking over at first chance and potentially driving lbes such as mine out

of business. i believe the intent of 14b in the city's leadership is [speaker not understood], but without protections more lbes will be at risk from home -- who bring in smaller contractor to bring in what they see as the work. thank you. >> thank you. next speaker, please. my presentation is in the form of a letter and i have copies here for all of you. thank you, president chiu, for giving us this opportunity. my name is diana la comb, i am president of the associated professionals and contractors of california. today i am representing the san francisco african-american chamber of commerce, asian american architects and engineers, national [speaker not understood] of america, hispanic contractors of california to name a few, and

also benness members. today, however, i wish to focus on issues ~ relative to concerns of contracts with the city and county of san francisco. one of our major concerns is that billions of dollars in design and construction of public facilities and infrastructure have consistently gone to out of state companies. they have continued to do so. these companies have little or no interest in investing in san francisco. it's san francisco homeowners and byness he that bear the brunt of high taxes and high rents. this morning charles schwab announced it is leaving san francisco. why? because of the high cost of doing business in san francisco. what does that say about small business?

some member business he asked us to bring attention to experiences they've had as lbes contracted with the city. one of the largest complaints is the lack of communication. it seems that the city departments, that the contract appliance people don't speak to the primes, the primes to the subs. and nobody knows what's going on. this lack of communication needs to improve and joint very much tour contracts as well. ~ venture they are made to pay a higher percentage of what they are even considering. i'm just about done. and, so, i think we need to look at that. >> we give the same amount of time to everyone. we can't extend it. well, you've got the letter. i'd like to see that you guys look at the recommendations. >> we'll look at the letter

with recommendations. thank you. next speaker, please. >> and let me also ask so that folks can continue to line up, miguel garza, ann cervantes, [speaker not understood], and george chang, and eric lou. if you want to start lining up. first let me say my name is james l. mc gee, i'm with the san francisco african-american chamber of commerce and i am the treasure. these comments are on behalf of fred jordan who couldn't remain the full period of time. i will be short. took some of our major concerns, it will be a little redundant, but with regards to the lbe report, it seems the new department and division have no committee oversight. it seems to be just a part of the city administration office.

when the lbe and mwe and hrc, it what a community advisory council which was disbanded, i assume because it moved to cmd. now there is an lb, ~ lbe advisory council. i'm sure that will help. [speaker not understood] chapter b ordinance, there hasn't been a quarterly report and david chiu asked that question. the port does not include all of the city departments. you addressed that in some of your questions. there's no overall annual goal for lbes and no lbe project by project goals. the percentage of dollars presented are only for the fire departments which you addressed earlier so i won't continue. [speaker not understood] were awarded, former contracts, 100,000 in professional service

contracts, 100,000. not subject to the new contract monitoring dollars awarded were contracted from bid documents submitted by the winning primeses, couldn't find any information on the dollar amount impact on change orders throughout the life of the contract. and i'll just finish by saying that the report, we're very happy the report was done since it's been quite a while. and we showed up with maria cordova [speaker not understood]. so, thank you very much. >> thank you very much. next speaker, please. good afternoon, my name is marcus leon with marcus leon construction. i've been in business 12 years in san francisco. i'm born and raised in san francisco. i'm second generation san

franciscan. my son is third. [speaker not understood]. i have yet to reap the benefits from this program. i've gone for two years, three years, going to these prebid meetings and got nowhere. i spent 24 hours to processing these bids. i looked at them hard. after two years, one of the coordinator saw me and said, hey, mr. leon, you've been here a long time. wish you come here every year a couple years, all your subs had to be lbe. i said, fine, thank you for the chance. i turned around at that meeting, the local contractors who came there, they were not [speaker not understood].

i didn't ask why. they just wouldn't touch me. that was fine. i went back to my office and went to [speaker not understood], and online there were all lbe members. they said it was not worth my time. after that i pretty much gave up. i think that if you look at the lb list and 150 people, how many of them have contracts? it's just too hard. it's too competitive. i don't see it working for me. in two years, the only contractor that came out got a contract with the city. thank you very much. >> thank you. next speaker, please. president chiu, supervisor avalos, my name is eric lou, thank you for your time to listen to this presentation. i have two points to make. the first point is that i'm

really sorry this matter, this issue is really not a sexy issue. and looking at the room, it's really difficult to get some emphasis behind this. but i really want to emphasize how important this matter is. supervisor avalos, you did a -- you supported and put out the ordinance for local hire, which is absolutely amazing. we all supported it. but you have to realize, however, is the lbe community is the conduit for success of your local hire program. we don't want local hires to be black people. we don't want local hires to be the guys it who take the trash out. we want true trades men. the only true trades men are the lbe that is here today. it's not a sexy issue, but it is an important issue. we need the middle income jobs to support the middle income families that are going to live here. the second issue i want to make

is garbage in and garbage out. the data we've gotten is unfortunately difficult to make sense of. so, at the end of the day, the data that we get, we can't do very much with it. so, therefore, we're just calling it garbage in, garbage out. the problem is that the information is too complicated. just make it simple. we need a simple auditable program that can work for all of us. so, that's why we're looking at a proposing a simple 40% number that can be audited on a budget basis at the end of the year. that's all we're asking for. thank you very much. >> actually, we thought the local hire legislation would have lbes getting works. they will promote that legislation as well, but there is clearly more we need to do to support specifically lbes. thank you very much.