they call it entire window complexes with a contiguous you know advertising -- >> embarcadero during the super bowl. >> right or the windows downtown. >> can i ask you provided a review for the commission on -- >> yeah, so some of the signs that would be considered general advertising sign considers are signage that advertises a product that is only incidentally sold there so if a convenience store as a coca-cola advertisement in the signs that is a general advertising sign whereas a sign that advertising the business name is not. >> is there a size restriction? can a business have a certain amount of frontage of their building going -- because bars have -- >> [inaudible] >> signs for beers and could

be considered general advertising so do we have -- >> i'm not aware of the size restriction. what i understand is a series of examples and i know that after 2002 there were the contest promotions and a bunch of replastered posters and at the top it would say "go into so-and-so's store for a poster" and general advertising signs and that is currently being litigated and there is also -- somebody tacks up a sign on the gate that is considered a general advertising sign and of course the billboards and wall mural, coca-cola wall mural is another example and besides that lee was referring where it comes dangles down the side but i don't think it's as much and i will check on this but i spoke

with somebody of the general advertising sign program and he didn't mention a size requirement. it's about the function and whether the product is a primary product. >> are we talking about outside signs? >> yeah. >> not inside a store or anything? >> or window sign. >> every liquor store in the city has beer and -- >> that covers it. >> the reason is first to clarify so people can hear your testimony and understand the application of this law to their business, correct? >> correct. >> so is it the conclusion so that we don't misstate the facts that general advertising sign -- although is not the purpose of this law -- i mean we are targeting the bigger signs could have an effect on smaller businesses with smaller signs

as long as they're under the definition of general advertising sign, correct? >> that is correct. i want to make the point too that this legislation doesn't change the definition of general advertising sign. it doesn't change the legality of general advertising signs. what it does is it altders the penalties so the city can go after what we consider general advertising signs. >> so as a policy under this proposed amendment we don't discriminate between the small and big fish. everybody is in the same pot so you get a shorter notice for penalties and hit with penalties regardless of your size and what your general advertising sign may be, correct? >> i think that is correct and for small businesses if the concern they're not going to be able to mitigate the violation or remove the general advertising sign in question there is a procedure there

where you can appeal for reconsideration, buy yourself more time and remove the general advertising sign if you want to go that route. there is that flexibility that president dwight was discussing where you can -- if that is a certain there is a way to get the general advertising sign down and probably work with the city in order to do so effectively. really this is trying to get at like we saw at embarcadero, the sky rise building that was covered in a verizon advertisement and we didn't have the tools necessary to get that down in a manner of time and we were receiving complaints about it and this was indus piewtablely a blight on the city skyline. >> i don't think there is dispute about that. i think what we want to clarify for our constituents is how it could be used, how it could affect our constituents and we also know

that when there's a financial incentive so this is going to dramatically increase the city's financial incentive to enforce because the city makes money doing this as they do giving out parking tickets and when the fine for a particular type of citation goes up you fine the people's job it is to give them out and be sort of lauded if not rewarded for how much they can collect they get aggressive and so we don't want to see an aggressive -- this to result in some kind of aggressive behavior by the city like everyone's going "don't worry it's business as usual." it's not and certainly there is a new incentive in place and we get the intent, but the unintended consequence can be quite different and this is where we get into -- you know our role here is to help advise

legislative aide, supervisors and the mayor's office when we identify something in a potential piece of legislation, lawmaking, that might not have been considered because we all know that it's much more difficult to undo a bad law than it is to pass a bad law so much of our responsibility here as commissioners is not just to look out for our constituents per se but assure that the city passes good laws and in our role in our particular expertise is how those laws affect small business so as you take a law around a prospective lay -- legislation using law as this and you get two perspectives and the pers you get here is just wondering how does it affect the groceries, the manufacturers,

retailers, the service providers who happen to be advertising a variety of things whether it be items on sale, new products, new promotions, things of that nature and does it open up to a potential liability in terms of increased fine or accelerated you know window or a tighter window of compliance and so that's what we're getting at and i guess i am not yet satisfied that i -- i mean i know it when i see it but what i want to know about is what i don't know when i see it and how you know -- i mean an enforcer is going to look at it in a particular way and i want to know how they will look at it and not a citizen and obviously draping something on one of the biggest buildings in the city is a violation but are the little signs a violation? i don't think we have gotten to that today. we're not krit sighing the legislation but --

criticizing the legislation but trying to get at some of the nuisances that weren't contemplated and perhaps there is a way to write into the legislation to protect something we didn't consider. >> i have another -- >> sure. >> just continuation of what our president said. for small business violation because we're talking about a very short window of three days, can have a devastating consequence on the lease because it involves the landlord. it can violate the lease and terminate the lease. it can cause immense damage, just a benign situation can mushroom into a huge situation -- >> especially if the landlord is trying to get rid of something. >> exactly and the penalties accruing within three days and the violation of the law and maybe a big problem and small

issue and for a business can wipe out the business. since we're here to talk about the perspectives -- >> i am beginning to understand i think if i am following sort of how this could metasicize into a problem that could put a business out of business or to cause it to lose its lease. it would have to be such a situation where the small business owner didn't receive the notice adequately or was unaware of the violation. let the time pass or otherwise couldn't remove the general advertising sign in question in a 3-5 day period or file a document with the city to the effect they needed to remove a sign within that period, and then let penalties accrue so it would be such a case of negligence and looking the other way from the notice of violation that the penalties would accrue and just to address the notion this could be a revenue

generating or might be a revenue generating scheme for the city i don't think that is what this is at all, and to think that would be a bit cynical, not there isn't a lot of cynicism abounding in this building but i hope this is not what this is for. this is not revenue generation and -- >> that and naivety are two sides of the same coin. >> fair enough but a small business not removing the general advertising sign or address it within 3-5 days there must be flexibility or ability to file a petition for reconsideration for the business to buy the business additional time to address the notice of violation and again the fees do not accrue at the time the notice is issued. i understand

we're shortening the time substantially but to get at the extraordinary bad actors like verizon that projected its advertisement up and down the entire welfare a skyscraper and get at that within the window of the relevance of that advertisement to them. i mean the super bowl was a unique circumstance but i don't think a terribly unique circumstance and the advertisement in question was a short period of time and 30 days to remove it was nonsensical and not make sense and you use this legislation as a sword where the city can step in and say this is bad and we will enforce against you now, and not a situation where we are penalizing small businesses who for very legitimate reasons do not have the capacity to remove the violating sign in question. >> again i think you're preaching to the choir with this and we agree with the intent.

i think we're trying to get at the unintended. >> right. >> commissioners i did pull up from the planning code a definition of the general advertising sign from section 602.7 if you're interested in me reading it. it's not in the legislation. i brought this up online. >> [inaudible] >> so it's a sign legally erected prior to the effective date of section 611 this code so that's the time frame of no new signs are allowed which directs attention to a business commodity or industry or other activity sold or offered elsewhere on the premise which the sign is located or to which it is affixed and which is sold offered or conducted on such premise only incidentally if at

all" so i would hope that -- i mean i think the question of incidentally so for a bar that offers a particular type of beer and they have that -- that would not -- my guess it's not incidentally because they have it all the time. >> with you a walgreens that sells coca-cola has a full length window advertising that perhaps that was a site, a situation -- >> according to the general advertising signs program unless it is a coca-cola store that product is sold incidentally at that store. >> so i think we need to really understand from the planning department. >> what the incidentally means in this context. >> my question is for that purpose and clarification of the general advertising sign is. >> right. >> that would help us

understand the impact -- >> absolutely. >> -- on small business since the purpose of this law is not to affect small business. >> right. >> but to go after the bigs offenders, correct. >> correct, so the aspects of the code they think are relevant this sign advertising something off site or that is sold only incidentally to the business which that advertisement exists and then the question becomes what that does mean? what is meant by incidentally? and that would further this conversation and i don't think i have that information. >> i think a sweep stakes or contest -- >> let's kind out what it is. >> you know i think it would be very useful if you could let us know. >> i am happy to do that, absolutely. >> that would be great. >> did you have a comment? >> yeah. i know there is something in the planning code -- >> i thought you already went.

go ahead. my thing is not working. go ahead. >> [inaudible] >> anyways i want you to repeat the three to five days responding so what do you mean by responding? do they have to take down the thing or respond by filing a petition? >> so within three days or five days if the notice of violation is served by mail and three days if served by hand the business must file for a permit application to remove it in question and correct the violation and straightforward and direct approach taken or they can request a reconsideration for the violation that is the subject of the notice. >> okay. >> okay. >> commissioner. >> yes, i believe there is code for how much a window can be filled up with advertisement kind of referring to the question of space and there's a

little confusion on the retail end too and i am curious if this is mentioned if that part of the code i think 70% of the window can't be covered with ads so i am curious about that piece of the planning code and that is somehow written in or by product to be regulated by this? >> that i can get to you as well. so whether there's an additional regulation in the planning code governing how much of the window can be taken up by the advertisement in question and the question what it means to be incidentally sold at the place of retail. >> lee you're going to be an expert on signage. >> oh i am quickly. >> you give us a quick tutorial. >> i will do so and clearly need more time. >> commissioners anything further before we go to public comment?

>> commissioners in response to one of the previous questions if you look on page 12 it discusses how the square footage of the sign compares to the penalties per day. >> amount of penalties? >> correct, b. >> in [off mic] >> right. so a sign of 100 square feet or less would be a $100 per day violation. that would escalate to 500 per day after five days and then -- yeah. >> that's a ten by ten sign roughly. okay. again i mean it doesn't really get at sort of the definition that -- >> right. >> [inaudible] [off mic] >> great. okay. any other

questions? okay. any members of the public that would like to comment on this item? seeing none. public comment is now closed. so commissioners want to take action or would you like to request a little more information? >> more information. >> okay. if you will indulge us we would like to get a clarification on kind of what is allowed and what is not for small business? >> absolutely. i thank you for your perspective commissioners. >> thank you. >> well thank you. >> thank you. >> all right. >> all right. let's go to item number 5. is that right? >> item number 5. correct. presentation and discussion for proposed rules and regulations to administer administrative code two a-2 43c. the rent stabilization account. discussion and possible action.

presenter is regina dick-endrizzi executive director of the office of small business. >> commissioners i handed out a presentation to you and they're over on the side table. i'm going to verbally walk through. this isn't a action item but to give you an idea what will be under consideration for your final review at the next commission september 26 meeting. there is still a few things i am waiting clarification on from the city attorney on. this one has a little more legal sensitivity since there are specific laws governing landlord tenant relationships, so the following the same sort of guideline as guidelines for the business systems grant one what is the scope? sort of talking about identifying the rent stabilization grant and where that is defined. the

application timeline. it's that any landlord that files an application after january 1, 2016 there is no specific time period during the year. during the year a landlord can file for an application at any time of the year. the amount of the grant -- excuse me, before i move on to the amount of the grant and landlords are then required once they have been awarded the grant they're required to reapply every single year to reverify certain requirements are still standing relationship to the lease. the grant amounts are spell the out as per proposition j and that is. >> >> i mean it's $4.50 per square foot up to 5,000 square feet so if there is up to 5,000

square feet and fully funded it's $2,205,500 annually that a property. >> >> 22,500 that a property owner may receive in rent subsidy. >> can we add in 450 per square foot per year and that turns out 450 is actually a monthly number for some people. >> right. >> in terms of increase. people are seeing the rents jump in some locations and just clarifying that and oh my i can get my rent covered. >> right. >> yeah, 450 per year, per square foot per year. >> and it notes how the allocations are made and of the legacy rent stabilization made during the fiscal year to the

qualified landlord so we will -- so basically what's in the fund if a business -- a landlord applies there is funding there then the landlord receives funding. then when it comes to reapplying or when it comes to after the first year of operation if there's sufficient funds in the legacy business stabilization account to pay all grants during the fiscal year to the qualified landlords from prior years and there is a distinction between prior year recipients. the grants to the new qualified landlords are made out in amounts for the legacy business -- from the legacy business rent stabilization grant after subtracting amounts necessary to pay all the grants from the fiscal year prior so to the qualified landlords from

the prior years. and if there aren't it will be prorated. what i have put in here is that if a qualified landlord from a prior year fails to apply for a grant in the subsequent year or fails to qualify -- oh no this is already in there. fails to qualify in the subsequent year the amount of the funds are paid to the previously qualified landlords available -- so basically if somebody -- if the landlord fails to qualify or does not reapply then those funds will be available to other grant applications. what i have added is that you know in the event that a landlord -- the office of small business -- well, i put in here the office of small business will notice the amounts of the annual

grants to the landlords and will receive -- sorry, my glasses aren't that great, annual grants to the landlord and will -- and the landlord should -- sorry. let's see. oh the office of small business will notify basically the landlord and the tenant should the landlord reapply or the reapplication be denied and that's to make sure that the business is aware that the rent subsidy may not be available. the office of small business will annually notify both the landlord and the legacy business of the amount granted, so again if there is any reason we have from the prior years if we have more applications than funding available than those amounts are prorated so it could

be that one year a landlord may get the full subsidy, the full grant amount and the next year they may not so we want to make sure that both the business and the landlord receives this. >> it's rather precarious. >> subject to the same three year limit? >> no. because basically the landlord has to agree to engage with the ten year lease so it's a ten year -- >> [inaudible] [off mic] >> ten years, yes. >> what i want to just clarify this issue is if a qualified landlord enters into a lease does not have the guarantee although qualified throughout the term of the lease to get any funding, so this kind of a precarious situation. >> yes, it is. >> so -- >> they may or may not get it.

it depends on the funds available. >> yeah, if we over draw the fuptd funds they may get less of the entitlement if any. >> if any. so we're convincing the landlord to enter into the lease but not guaranteeing the landlord will get 450 or any. a there is no minimum amount and that is an issue. >> so the new lease is written in such a way if they don't get that that the additional expense is passed on to the -- [inaudible] >> right. >> now it's all going to fall on the -- ultimately it will fall on the business, the lessee, sorry, because the small landlord they don't miss these things. they say "okay the city says they will give us the money. if they don't give it to us it's not coming out of my

pocket but your pocket and i did the application to get you a break tenant so the tenant is the most precarious position here because they have no control or real control of the landlord applying every year. the landlord may decide it's a pain in the butt. i'm not doing it im. they could back out that way. from my understanding it's discretionary for the landlord to apply every year. >> right. and so -- actually so the part i had trouble reading because of the budget funding cycle so it says "the landlord shall notice -- i mean the office of small business will notice the landlord no later than july 30 kind of what their funding amount will be for their next grant cycle, so in the application requirements just i would like to quickly review those is one just like

with the business assistance grant the landlord, the property owner is good on all their financial obligations and filing requirements with the city. the landlord is not related by ownership either directly or indirectly to the legacy business to which the landlord leases the property. the terms of the lease are ten years. and criteria of the lease -- there's a total of the square footage in the lease it specifically distinguishes between what as stated in proposition j, the improvements area separated out from the common area space, so that way we can confirm the amount by square footage of the area that the grant can be awarded to, so that has to be spelled out, and if it's not in

the lease then an addendum needs to be signed by the landlord and the legacy business. that the rent owed for ten years is listed in the lease by addendum signed in the lease so it's listed year by year either in the lease or aa dennum signed by the landlord and the legacy business. that there are two clauses in the lease or addendum that denotes in the event the landlord is awarded a rent stabilization grant the amount is subtract friday the amount owed. >> >> the first year that the grant is awarded the landlord should shall the legacy business not more than ten days after receiving the grant and notice the business that the grant amount the landlord should be awarded and that one that denotes in the event the

landlord is denied the grant stablization grant or not funded to the fullest amount allowable the business acknowledges they're responsible for the non funded part of the grant so we want to make sure that is very clear and that is clearly understood between the landlord and the legacy business and signed before they apply for the grant. >> so commissioner tour-sarkissian maybe you can answer this so on the business i find out that my landlord a, decides not to reapply the next year or b, has been denied the full amount so now it's on me can i break my lease because i signed this lease? my ten year extension assuming i was going to have for the next ten years this rent? >> i think there is a covenant

-- implied covenant and fair deal [inaudible] so i would assume that your landlord is going to be fairly dealing with you and with if qualified would make the application in a timely fashion. >> okay. let's say just the case of the office of small business says no we've given away too many of these grants so you're not getting the 450 this year. you're getting two ducks bucks and the landlord says i'm going to pass that on to the tenant and the tenant says that is make or break for me. i am living on the edge. i have to break my lease. the landlord says you're not breaking the lease. >> if in fact the provision is included in the lease that would be a violation of the lease by trying to -- anticipate tory terminating the lease so that may be a problem for the tenant

but that issue should be clear in the lease that in fact if the landlord has no access -- doesn't have access in the future -- [inaudible] >> yeah. >> the tenant may be able to give you know -- [inaudible] [off mic] >> the problem with this is there is an asymmetry to the law and that is that the landlord and the tenant are being asked to enter into a contract that has a legal term and that term is required to be ten years -- >> [inaudible] >> minimum of ten years so we required this term over here but we only signed up for an annual renewal and the asymmetry you demanded one thing of the parties involved but the third party, the city, is not party --

is not participating in the same commitment. they're only committing to what the budget allows and you know what? the budget could go to zero because they could decide not to fund this any longer as well. you know this is going to come up with reevaluation whether this should be funded continually so we could over extend -- you know we could make more grants than we have and support for the 450 level but the city could dial back the funding to impair our ability to make good on the $4.50 grant we made even if they're within the limits we have today, so this asymmetry then results in a bunch of legal stuff; right? because now we have to create a bunch of new language for leases and that aren't free; right? it will be a boiler plate. maybe the

commission should recommend that language so -- for of course the lawyers to decide whether they want to adopt the boiler plate but know there's expenses associated with this and there's risk so i just think we need to -- again here we are in looking at legislation going hey you know there's a flaw here. it's a fairly significant one and so i mean all we can do now is point it out and recommend potential remedies should these things happen and i have to say i think it's highly likely there is a scenario where we decided to give more grants under pressure from the sponsors, the mayor's office, the supervisors to make sure we give a grant to a new person that comes before us, a new business and we have already given all the grants we can. well, we have to give a grant to this company, this

business so take a little away from everybody else to even it out and the ripple effect goes out to those in the program. >> yeah, i think we need to clarify whether we need to accept more applications when we run out of money. if we can stop accepting new applications to keep the other once whole. >> we're allowed to over subscribe it. there is nothing written into the law that we have to -- that we can't over subscribe and cannot dial back the -- you know i should say give pro rata shares to everybody so i think this is -- you know -- >> maybe it's something we should recommend. >> i mean we should certainly point out -- >> should we further refine i am throwing this out. >> we're brainstorming here. >> as to why the landlord was denied. the question is they

can be denied for lack of funding or -- >> [inaudible] >> right. >> not paying taxes. could the landlord turn around and say i am guilty of not qualifying. you're going to pay the difference. so there has to be some shades of -- you know -- we have to think about the details. >> yeah. >> but it's a problem to say to a landlord you're going to get funding the first year but we're not sure we will give it to you however you have to enter this type of lease of five years or five and five so we ought to think about what type of clauses should be included in the lease for the landlord to be qualified. >> i mean it's really a discivic center for a landlord to apply every year. it's onerous. you like to move a lease and move on and you sign

leases with long-terms if you want to move on for a long time and you don't want to worry about it. i want year three years or five years and don't want to revisit it and i have to figure out if the office of small business has the money and subject to the whims of what legislators do with the money with the budget and i just feel like if i were a landlord i would kind of go i will take a pass on this right now and i will see where it goes. >> if the landlord is not in violation of the lease they should expect to get the funding available at least. >> sure. >> but i don't know what other conditions we have we are to impose on the landlord. >> yeah. i mean -- this is not meant to be cynical. anytime you're entering into a legal agreement you do everything you can to eliminate

every possible contingency; right? every possible kind of thing. you want to cover everything. that's the point of writing a legal document. when you don't care about those things you shake hand and we're all good and a lot of people live their lives doing handshake agreements and not getting burned but the minute you write it down the opportunity to get burned is there because now it's in writing and these are the conditions so we're causing an uncertain condition here, this legislation causes an uncertain condition which has to be written around or i have every reason to believe -- well, i have every reason to believe that the government will behave the way it behaves and that is it behaveos the budget it has and if we go off the cliff in the city on the budget which even our chief economists are telling us we're headed there

then things like this are the first to g this is discretionary. this will get cut as well as other things and it's a small number too and take a way a million dollars there and a million dollars there and it's a rounding error and not for the people that get involved in this but a error for the city and there is a possibility it doesn't get refunded or it's static and we get a lot of demand and we get asked to over subscribe. >> yeah, there are two sets of -- if i may say facts. one is in which the landlord is qualified but cannot receive the funds, and the question is who pays for the difference? >> right. it's simply not available. >> or the second set of facts where the landlord does not qualify for reasons because he

caused the disqualification and then what happens? so we have two sets of facts to consider. >> yeah, one is out of the landlord's control because it's subject -- it's the funding side. the other is within the landlord's control but they could fall out of compliance intentionally or unintentionally and who pays the -- >> so if they fall out of compliance sort of intentionally or unintentionally that's not due to budgetary reasons but one they're not current on their taxes or for any reason they falsified information then are you recommending that there's a clause in the lease that says that allows the business to be able to get out of their lease? >> no. not getting out of the lease but not having to pay the difference. if the funds are

available -- funds are available the landlord causes the disqualification he or she shouldn't be able to turn around and seek the difference from the [inaudible]. that's something i would want to explore with the -- [inaudible] >> right now we're just exploring these -- >> [inaudible] [off mic] >> i mean it's a work in progress and of course you know it's been left to the -- this is very common. it's left to the enforcing body to figure out all the -- oh we didn't think about that. >> exactly. >> and we're working through it right now. >> that is an obvious exception. >> right. >> now if the landlord is assuming that he or she will be getting the funding and the funding is not available then who is going to pay the difference? >> yeah. >> it's another issue and so you know -- and this kind of

yearly qualification makes things complicated. >> yeah, it does. >> my concern is we should be able to fund when the funds available. if we don't have money then we shouldn't accept any new applications. >> right. >> we have to make sure that the landlords committed to the ten year lease to keep them whole. >> right. and my general feeling is that these amounts are so small that of course -- you know our inclination is going to be give the full amount because it's a tiny amount; right? i mean it's 37 cents a month. okay. 37 and a half cents a month on someone that might be looking at a lease that is $3, $4 a square foot so it's not a lot of money. i mean it would be kind of weird to have someone say i am looking for this relief. i need more but i will take what i can get. well, we will give you a dime. no,

we're going to -- you know and not knowing how long the line is out the door, right, our inclination will be if we find a qualified qnd we will give them -- candidate we will give them 37 and a half cents a year because we don't know how long the line is. if the line is long we're pressured to give out more money. if the line is short no harm or no fowland the expectation and external everyone promoting this and setting this we will have a long line of people wanting to participate in the program which means we will get pressure from the sponsors and they are by definition the board of supervisors and the mayor's office so we're going to come under political pressure if you will to give to everyone in the line, and at some point we will run out of money and we will go give us more money. good luck

with that request or we will stop giving out money and then back into this situation. the office of small business is not doing their part to tend to the legacy businesses in san francisco and so they will be kind of -- well, we don't have the money. it's going to be kind of a back and forth so i think again you know look we're just on record here as identifying that this is -- this is a problem -- this is a potential issue. it may never happen but there's a high likelihood that it will. we just have to acknowledge it's a possibility and that do we want to go about making recommended language for tenants and landlords to put in their leases to consider these possibilities and maybe have the board of supervisors do some kind of legislative addendum. although

this is something that the voters voted so i don't know how you -- >> has to go back to the voters. >> anyway, i think it's -- i am not complaining. i am just reporting the news and i think the report is that we've got here some challenges ahead of us in properly executing or executing this legislation in the spirit in which it was intended. >> and somebody who reads leases for a living we also have to make sure that the businesses applying can afford the rent. >> right. >> i mean -- i mean we have the landlord part which, and you made the best comment of all because once a landlord, and i dealt with those guys too. once they signed a lease they don't want to hear from you in ten years and just want the monthly check and a lot of them in san

francisco and as we were talking about it what was going through my mind a lot of these landlords are these trusts that are overseas. >> right. >> how are you going to deal with them? that's the one thing i was thinking about because you know they have management companies that deal with them, but you know do they have to reapply every year? but i want to make sure that the tenants can afford this even with or without the grant. i'm not going to give a grant out to somebody standing line that again has to do with with our legacy fund you know money that just going to be thrown out the window. >> just think about it. okay. you're going to get -- the tenant will get this lease agreement i just went through

this with renewing the lease. the landlord sent me a lease "you might need to review this with my attorney." with my attorney? it's a lot of pages and i'm going not paying the attorney to review this. i will do it myself and there is a timothy what the landlord spends on the lease and one time expense and they don't want to do it every year and it's expensive for them too because they're much more able -- i mean that's what they do. they have lawyers write leases. they're accustomed to that expense. as a small business owner i hear the complaints from small business owners they complain about a hundred dollars fee. >> right. >> they're certainly not going to want a lawyer -- even an enexpensive lawyer at $250 an hour spending ten hours

reviewing a lease so that's -- you know this idea you're going to get this great benefit but the expense of getting it can be almost negate the benefit. >> so commissioner dwight i guess -- i think i am hearing a concern if it's not made easy for the landlord then we run the risk of a landlord not reapplying which then can affect -- >> or just not wanting to apply in the first place. i think that's more of the point. the landlord goes in knowing okay here's what i have to do and reapply every year. i think we should figure that out and what it means. hopefully it means what i said last year is still correct. can i sign and be done and not go through a lengthy process every year because i don't know why a landlord would want to do that and then then

we have all these other issues swirling around what happens if, right, on the renewal, if it doesn't happen? >> initially the lease has to qualify. >> yeah. >> so you have an initial qualification requirement so should be an application. >> yeah. >> i assume if the landlord is not in violation of the lease it should be pretty much automatic. >> one would think. >> one would think. >> so if we make it burdensome we will hurt the tenant because the landlord may miss a date and turn around and blame the -- so that's an issue. >> right. i think what i am hearing is that perhaps we look at -- rick and i look at our ability -- what systems we can set up so we have automated

notification 60 days out from the renewal period set up online renewal so it's easy for them. >> so back in the envelope how many of these rent stabilization grants were you planning to give out? >> back of the envelope -- >> 50? 100? ten? >> under ten annually. >> under ten a year. okay. >> i mean -- under ten a year and that's just because -- >> i am just trying -- [inaudible] >> in terms of that is coming after the recommendation with not doing a survey but a recommendation from the invested neighborhoods team who deals a lot talking to property owners so signing a ten year lease is a big deal for a property owner to do. >> sure. >> so -- >> i have not seen a ten year lease in my short -- [inaudible]

>> all of my leases are ten years. >> are they? all mine are three or five. >> okay. but we shall see after the first year of what that -- >> okay. i just wanted a ballpark. >> and on another note on that too. the landlord -- you know he's want to keep -- if he has a good tenant he wants to keep them there. >> yeah sure. >> some landlords will work with the tenants. it does go both ways. >> i think part of what i hear i want to make sure we're including what additional things may need to be in the lease for you know so there's clarity about the vulnerability of the funding. >> yeah. >> that you know both for the property owner for the business to understand. >> full disclosure. >> and that's identified in the lease or through an addendum if the lease has already been

signed. before the landlord files for an application so that discussion is clear, has taken place. >> i mean it's clear if the funding is available the landlord is going to be inclined to qualify the tenant, but the tenant may not be qualified as said by my colleague here that in fact we would be qualifying somebody who cannot afford the rent if the funding is not available. that may hurt the tenant. >> yeah. >> so that has to be included in the lease. >> so it will be -- so we're working with the city attorney but you know to have those clauses to make sure that they're in the lease or addendums that they're clearly understood. maybe we need to make -- maybe as you said

commissioner dwight write out recommended clauses that address those specific vulnerabilities that each year the grant amount may change. >> yep. by definition this legislation is designed to help the most vulnerable small businesses in our city so the idea -- so we're not going to see a parade of people who are like "hey man i want a little extra money because who doesn't; right? ." we're going to see a parade of people saying "i'm going to go out of business if i don't get this" so to your point as the banker if somehow city hall falls down on the commitment we don't cause people to go out of business and likewise we need some certainly if the landlord doesn't follow through on their side of the

bargain that the tenant isn't irreparably harmed. >> right. >> and also if the funding is not available we have to give some flexibility to the tenant not being able to afford that extra amount. >> yeah , right. >> -- that would have been available from the city and if not available in that fund we ought to give some -- you know kind of flex thex to the tenant to get out of the lease. >> because one would expect the testimony of the small business that receives any benefit under this -- whether it's rent stabilization or any fund that the testimony will be "wow, it saved my business." that's what we want and the point so the implication, the corollary to that it went away and destroyed my business, so we have to be mindful they're two sides of the same coin that we're saving -- potentially saving a business but to pull

away the support would be potentially destroying a business and someone's livelihood. >> and to save the business we cannot make it difficult for the landlord. >> right , right. >> you have to make it relatively easy to get into the program and stay in the program. >> yeah, otherwise people won't even try. >> okay. so i think that's great, the feedback you provided, and we will continue to work with the city attorney and i think also solicit continued involvement with you commissioner tour-sarkissian since this is your area of expertise as well so that we in the next week get these detailed ironed out. >> commissioners any other comments before public comment? okay. do we have any members of the public that would like to

comment on this item? seeing none. public comment is now closed. let's move on to the next one. >> okay. item number 6 update on the legacy business program discussion item. our presenter is richard kurylo legacy business program manager. >> is this working? excellent. president dwight, commissioners, staff, good evening. richard kurylo program manager. i have a report of the legacy business program for the month of august 2016 and sfgtv i have a powerpoint presentation. for today's report i'm going to be discussing statistics, major accomplishments, press, and major upcoming activities. there's a report in your binder and also a report on the table for the audience. statistics

nominations we received ten in august, 13 since the beginning of the fiscal year which was july 1, and 91 since the program started. applications received nine in august, 13 since the fiscal year began and 52 program total. and just so you know sometimes we received nominations without applications or vice versa so that number is not always the same. application fees we received $300 in august, $50 per application. $500 since the beginning of the fiscal year and $2,000 program total. applications reviewed by the historic preservation commission. ten in august, 19

this fiscal year, and 19 since the program began. and applications reviewed by the small business commission 19 in august for the fiscal year and for the program total. businesses placed on the legacy business registry. 19 for august for the fiscal year and for the program total. and i have the statistics that i just went over and very easy to read table and you can see in the handout. okay. major accomplishments. in august we presented 19 legacy business registration applications to the small business commission and included all 19 businesses in the registry as you know and further submitted five legacy business registry applications

to the state historic preservation for review. regarding rules and regulations we researched the definition of business regarding to the business registry includes non-profits. small buisness association affirmed the non-profits and we adopted criteria for disqualification for the registry. regarding the legacy business grant we presented a draft of the grant guidelines and applications to the small business commission. the commission had in-depth discussion and provided feedback and we submitted the draft legacy guidelines and application to the city attorney's office for review. for the rent stabilization grant we complooted a draft which you discussed earlier of the guidelines and applications and we submitted the draft rent stabilization grant to the city

attorney's office for review prior to presenting it to the small business commission at your meeting on september 26. in general regarding the grants we researched getting future recipients with vendors with the city and county of san francisco. the website was revised to include legacy businesses that were included on the registry. and there was a lot of press in august. we had seven major articles regarding the approval of the first nine legacy businesses. three are here. four more on this page. they're in the chronicle, head line and other publications and three major color articles following the legacy businesses and one is about legacy neighborhoods and a little different but i thought that was very interesting. and

then major upcoming activities for september 2016 and beyond. later letters of recognition and congratulations to all of the approved legacy businesses will be going out. rules and regulations for the legacy business grant will come before the small business commission on september 26. rules and regulations for the stabilization grant will come before the small business commission also on that day. five legacy business pligz applications for the small business commission review will occur on october 3 and 4 more will occur on october 17. and then we will be doing logo and brand for the registry. >> of the nine applications that are going to come before us have they been vetted by the historic preservation -- >> no, not yet. >> not yet. so pending they will come before us if they pass-through -- >> even if they're not

recommended by the historic preservation commission they still come before this body but without their recommendation. they give their opinion on the application so all nine will come before us and we're not sure what the commission is going to be saying about them yet. >> okay. all right. >> yeah just a reminder there's the hpc is just an advisory recommendation. >> all right. >> like your recommendation to the board of supervisors is advisory but you are able to make the final decision. >> okay. very good. >> any questions? >> thank you very much. any questions? >> thank you. >> commissioner adams. >> i just want to say richard this is awesome. this is a great job. i think this is the first report on legacy business and you have accomplished a lot. you should be proud of yourself. this is really, really good. and it is -- you know getting press all over the city and

stuff, and i just think it's great. i think you're doing a great job and i feel like we're right on track with this now. >> yes thank you very much for all your effort. >> thank you. >> we'll open this up for public comment. are there members of the public who would like to comment on this item? seeing none. public comment is now closed. thank you richard. all right. move on to the next item. >> all right. item number 7 approval of meeting minutes. this is an action item. and we are considering august 22, 2016 draft regular minutes meetings. january 25 draft regular meeting minutes and january 26 draft regular minutes. >> commissioners any comments on the minutes? >> i have one. on the january 25, 2016 item number 9 i think integration process of legal business application. i

think we meant to say legacy; right? >> okay. we will confirm that. >> eagle eye. nice. >> so this is on the january january 2016 -- >> item number 9. >> january 25. >> yes. the dates are almost identical. >> yeah. >> it's confusing for us. >> oh right. it should be legacy. >> thank you very much. >> i missed that one. >> darn it. >> okay. >> okay. any other comments commissioners? >> i move. >> all right. >> i second. >> okay. >> all in favor. >> aye. >> all opposed? okay. by a vote of five to nothing, two absent the minutes are approved. >> oh we -- >> would any member of the public like to comment on

these? if so we will reconsider our vote. seeing none. public comment is now closed and the vote stands. okay. >> okay. >> okay on to item 8. >> director's report update and report on the office of small business and the small business assistance center update on the department programs recent announcements from the mayor and introduced policy matters and update on legislative matters and announcements regarding small business activities. discussion items. >> commissioners just to let you know that the board of supervisors has returned and is in session and last week, last tuesday was their first meeting after recess. i think that there's one item of note that was introduced which was the legislation on the transportation demand management which you heard, you had a policy discussion a couple of meetings ago. i also want to

let you know that minca is developing an internship program for the office with emphasis and focus on work for the commission, so i just want to give her a minute to talk about that internship program and to introduce lois who is sitting next to her. >> great. so i am partnering with the office of the mayor and i have our website is updated to have our own internship application solicitation on our website which has been updated and it focuses on the policy and legislative and commission trakts as well as we did accept applications through the office of the mayor. this queer year we were one of three or four of the mayor and selected several interns and we considered them

and lois is one of them and working with ngos and all things with us and minutes to briefings and what's the last thing? to briefings to trackings so he will help us out with the new legislative session in the board of supervisors and we're very fortunate to have talented interns come our ways these days. >> that is great. how long of an internship? >> fall semester with possibility of extension. >> when does the semester end? >> mid-december. >> welcome. you're the stand out among hundreds if not thousands of applicants. >> millions. >> that's fabulous. we're delighted to have you. fantastic. >> you will be seeing him and then to move on to another intern nicholas fer goazo who

is not here but he's going to be working on a project where we're to be tracking the soft story and the ada so just a reminder with the soft story the tier four buildings are the ones that are primary concerns for us, the ones that have the ground floor commercial buildings, so submittal of the permit applications must be done by september 18 but we are seeing there are a number of property owners that are already engaging in the projects and they're to have the completion of their work done by 2020. supervisor tang's ada for the entry ways then the buildings that we're concerned with read ones the highest vulnerable ones are the ones with one or more steps so the property owner is to file

plans for remediation starting may 18 in 2018 and have it completed by february 22, 2020 so there is some over lay. i have been working with the department of building inspection. they sent a mailer to all the tier four property owners on the requirement for supervisor tang's entry way requirements, so the project that nicholas is going to do we will begin a catalog of all 900 properties that are tier four properties. they're various stages they're in taking pictures of their entry ways so we can track those that get remediated through the soft story and also track if the work is being done with the tenant still able to retain in the

space, the soft story work with the tenant in the space, if the business has to shun down for a period of time or the work is done between leases so because there's discussion of moving out after 2020 to start applying the soft story retrofit to smaller size properties and we want to understand sort of the scale of the impact of that program, and then starting in january 2017 i had some conversation with the bar association and we're going to start putting together some workshops to make sure that we provide businesses with the opportunity to discuss with legal experts sort of kind of what is in their lease and how they may need to negotiate especially dealing with the ada improvements like who might ultimately be responsible for paying for the tenant

improvements that though the property owner is required to submit the plans but based upon lease it could be the business that is required to pay for it, and last week i met with several of the business leaders in the group that meet with the mayor with ben rosenfield to hear about upgrades they're doing to the data systems around contract and procurement. it's titled financial systems project so currently each department has their own means and mechanisms of tracking their procurement, you know what primes are awarded the contract, what primes are working with what subs and some track whether the payments are happening on time, some don't, so the controller's office is working on a universal system that all departments will utilize so we can really track the performance of our procurement program and the payments being made to the primes and the primes making

their payments to the subcontractors and it will be much more transparent and visible so subcontractors can see when a prime is paid by the city so we will be able to have better data and tracking and this will also help us sort of track the amount of money that is being -- that is going to our lbes and small businesses so we're looking at -- they're looking at a july 2017 implementation date and they have certainly offered to come and make a presentation to the commission at any time between now and then if you want get a briefing on just exactly the full extent of what is being expected so let me know if you want to wait until it's close to implementation or if you would prefer to have an early briefing. as noted at the last meeting the adult use of marijuana act or proposition 64

you know o wed and in partnership that minca is doing kind of track being what the effects of this. some -- phase one deals with the growing of marijuana and phase two which is later, a longer phase in deals more with the edible components, so with the growing aspect we're going to have to take a look at our definition in the planning code around agriculture and it's a pretty broad definition so that could have implications. we are hearing of pdr spaces that are being held off the market with the anticipation of the passage of this regulation, so again just sort of kind of monitoring the potential effects economically and especially the effect it may have with our sf

may businesses. and then legislation as i said last week the transportation demand management ordinance was introduced so that will likely be referred to the commission for hearing and input, and then the medical services -- legislation that you have heard, the medical services on sacramento street. that's yet to be scheduled in land use as well as the polk street formula controls and the retail arcade market and you heard that before the recess and at least the medical services and arcade will be schedule thursday month or early next month. >> >> we are waiting to get a status report from supervisor peskin's office on the polk street. and then just a report that there are ten meeting minutes remaining that we have

to get caught up on so just to be safe averaging a two additional minutes a meeting in addition to the previous meeting minutes -- previous meeting minutes then it maybe another five minutes and then we will be caught up, and then lastly just want to note that this thursday is a sort of national touring small business expo that is the primary head for this expo is bill walsh and so and it's at the cal palace and exhibitors and workshops so i will be attending not the whole thing but take a look. i am very curious and they're having it there and what the attendance is

like and two of the workshops that stand out to me. they're calling for shark bait so having a discussion of some of the businesses on shark tank and talking about their experiences and the another one is how to use disruptive innovation to build a seven figure business so those are two that stood out for me that are non typical workshops so note wg small business week coming up for 2017 the met ree ion is under renovation this year so we can't use it for our kick off events so this gives us an opportunity to may be rethink a little about what we do and we're going to be meeting -- commissioner dwight and myself and sba will meet to what we might do for next year so with that that concludes my report unless you have

questions. commissioners. >> i have a quick question regarding the soft story retrofit. i know there are some buildings that applied for funding or loan from the city prior to this recent one you're talking about and they haven't heard back from any of those entities about -- . >> is that part of the pace program and pay it back through the property taxes? is that -- >> i don't know specifically but i know there were options and earthquake retrofit fairs and that the city contracted with and i am wondering if there is a timeline you're aware of? >> i'm not and that's good to hear and we use that for property owners to pay for the entry ways with the ada so i will look into that. >> thank you. >> any other comments or

questions commissioners? okay. any members of the public to comment on this item? seeing none. public comment is now closed. next item. >> item number 9 commissioners reports allows commissioner president and vice president and commissioners to report on the recent small business activities and make announcements that are of interest to the small business communities. discussion item. >> i was a tour guide for an airbnb event in dog patch last week and i want to give a shout out to airbnb. they have the events for hosts and not just hosts in the neighborhood but from other neighborhoods to make them aware of neighborhoods within the city that they can recommend to the people that are staying with them to go check out, and i think that whether you're in favor of airbnb or not i think that the company is doing a really proactive job in trying to reach out to small

businesses to kind of you know create a dialogue between hosts and businesses to make the experience for those who like to use airbnb in the city and not directing to the regular tourist places but making them aware of the secret and perhaps hidden gems in our city so good on them and i just happen to be the host -- or i was the tour guide for the airbnb event in dog patch and we had 65 people show up. i was impressed with airbnb's outreach and they also sent ten people over and did a great job of putting it on and this weekend i intended the renaissance entrepreneur center and pop up yard and they had a good selection of the companies there they were assisted and nicely done so that's all i got. anybody else? >> for vice president i went

to a local take. it's a store that sells items from local entrepreneurs. they sell bags and opened a local take store, their second, on ninth avenue in the inner richmond. the owner is jenn myers. she has another one in the castro at f market turn around, and there was a lot people there and a lot of local business -- she sells a lot of goods from a lot of local makers, sf made folks. >> good shout out to jenn. she does a good job of local sourcing products and not because we're one of them and a great selection and eye. >> and it was very busy and for the record give her a shout out for what she does at local take in and good for her to

expand into other neighborhoods. >> that is fantastic. anybody else? okay. well anybody members of the public like to comment on this item? seeing none. public comment is now closed. on to the next item. >> item number 10 new business allows commissioners to introduce new jend items for future consideration by the commission. discussion item. >> commissioner zouzounis. >> yeah, i have sort of a short list and obviously we can note them for planning future meetings for a while so i want to see a presentation from the department of public health on the implementation of the tobacco density law. it's been a number of months since it's been implemented and i still think there's a lot of confusion and it's pretty confusing law, so note that, and then also from the department of public works i would like to see a presentation on kind of the operation and

jurisdiction of some of the fees that they have on retailers regarding public nuisance and liter and that would include but not limited to homeless and cigarette butt clean up because i am curious if there is an overlap between what is cleaned up, the funds for community district benefit districts and what is being paid for into the dpw and i am curious if there is any overlap in that funding -- >> does this relate to -- i was speaking a small business owner he received a fine from the city because the boxes he put out for recycling were stolen by homeless people and taken to their encampment way far away and the city came down on him for littering because his name was on the boxes and so he got fined several hundred dollars.

this is a small shop and there was nothing he could do. it was $360, something like that. a, egregious fine and the magnitude and out of proportion but furthermore the stealing of things putting them out of things and out for recycling and they show up someone else is nonsensical so we ought to shut that loophole down. >> that is silly. >> yeah, i think that would be included and it goes with some of the work that the business leaders group -- >> if we want to schedule that we should reach out to business owners that have experienced this. this is purely anecdotal and i don't know more than i heard. >> [inaudible] [off mic] >> i said dpw and i had the umbrella. i want to specifically about the fee that retailers are paying especially

tobacco license holders into cigarette butt clean up. >> okay. >> but i think while we have them here i think we should address all of those fees, regulations that they have that they all fines, licensing, permits, all of that. >> transparency on it. >> okay. >> i would like to see a presentation on the proposed grocery tax -- sugar tax and have a discussion on potential repercussions. >> it's legislation on the ballot and we have restrictions. >> we can't talk about it? okay. what about state bills that might affect us locally? >> you can -- so the commission can always receive an informational briefing and you can ask questions to get clarification but you cannot have policy discussions. >> okay.

>> should the ballot measure pass then the commission can receive presentations and have policy discussions on the potential -- the effect of the passage of the legislation. >> so what if there's a state bill that passed the legislature and i am curious it has to do with public contracting and ab2844 so i am curious to see how that will affect public contracting at the city level. >> okay. i mean that isn't a ballot measure -- if it's passed or working its way through then the commission is able to have a discussion about that. it's just items on the ballot that the commission has to be very mindful about not having policy discussions but can have informational briefing. >> okay. >> so you said ab2844. >> yeah, it's public

contracting and potential criminalization of political boycott. okay. >> thanks. >> all right. anybody else? okay. any members of the public like to comment on this item? seeing none. public comment is now closed. next item please. >> i think our slide is next; right? >> indeed. get my script out. all right. once again to remind everyone that the office of small business is the only place to start your new business in san francisco and the best place to get answers about doing business in san francisco. the office of small business should be your first stop when you have a question about what to do next. our advice is free. can you visit us online or visit us in person at city hall. so if you need assistance with small business matters start here. ta da. next. >> excellent. item number 11

is adjournment. >> i motion to adjourn. >> i second. >> all in favor. >> aye. >> all opposed? okay. our meeting is adjourned at 7:21 p.m. >> [gavel]

>> we're here to raise awareness and money and fork for a good accuse. we have this incredible gift probably the widest range of restaurant and count ii destines in any district in the city right here in the mission intricate why don't we capture that to support the mission youths going to college that's for the food for thought. we didn't have a signature font for our orientation that's a 40-year-old organization. mission graduates have helped me to develop special as an

individual they've helped me figure out and provide the tools for me that i need i feel successful in life >> their core above emission and goal is in line with our values. the ferraris yes, we made 48 thousand >> they were on top of that it's a no-brainer for us. >> we're in and fifth year and be able to expand out and tonight is your ungrammatical truck food for thought. food truck for thought is an opportunity to eat from a variety of different vendor that are supporting the mission graduates by coming and representing at the parks >> we're giving a prude of our

to give people the opportunity to get an education. people come back and can you tell me and enjoy our food. all the vendor are xooment a portion of their precedes the money is going back in >> what's the best thing to do in terms of moving the needle for the folks we thought higher education is the tool to move young people. >> i'm also a college student i go to berkley and 90 percent of our folks are staying in college that's 40 percent hire than the afternoon. >> i'm politically to clemdz and ucla.

>> just knowing we're giving back to the community. >> especially the spanish speaking population it hits home. >> people get hungry why not eat and give >> we are joined by very special guests in the room. we have aicate orivist who is comcaest president of media relations. we have [inaudible] who leads internet essentials. aaron low with sf connected. danny chung director of self help for the elderly. [inaudible] community technology network and marie joblong for community living program. a shout out to those folks for all their hard work. today we are informing about the impact of internet essentials in california, a state that benefited the most in termoffs people adopting

this program as we try to tackle the so called, digital divide. internential essentials is essentially no the pent intended low cost adaumgz program in the country of its kind and there is no question there is a incraedbly deep need for internet access p. staggeringly so when you hear more about the numbers mpt . i had a front row view reporting in other communities, it is the same thing. we see the evolution and role of technology and specifically the internet playing a larger piece how we operate in the day to day. this come tooz the contra dictionoffs sill convally. all the entrepreneur growth and outside the box thinking and creativity stemming and coming with silicon valley on one hand and on the other hand we have

huge populations of people who don't have access to people to p with internet. populations that comprise entire states. it is quite actually a disconnect when we have someone we stand so strongly for on one hand, which is progress and equality and on the other hand, we have so many people who lack the basic resources. a journalist i cannot imagine how my job would function without the internet t is essential for everything i do and at 2 a.m. when i whipe the sleep out of my eyes and trying to figure what is going on around me and what i missed the first thing is get on a computer and go to nbc news or cnn and look at my phone and see what happened. it is like oxygen for journalist. it is important as many know for communicating with the people cloest ist in

your lives, friends, families and making doctors appointments and paying bills, typically it involves access to the internet. there are so many reasons people are not connected that we'll talk about today. from the cost of service, to the cost of the device and lack of access to dejtle lijerary training. perhaps no one understands this more than cathy davis exectelevision director for george daceive senior residence, please welcome, cathy davis. [applause]. >> hello i'm cathy davis and executive director of bayview senior service and you are in the brand new dr. george davis senior center! hey! at first i want to acknowledge the board of directors of bayview senior service, they are there at that table. i see linda richer son,

mrs. nixon who is our vise president. dr. churchhill may be somewhere and reverend hall they are the winds beneath my wings and keep the agency organized mpt i appreciate the staff here. i see fuleasha. i see frank and a lot of staff working hard and we cooked a luvly lunch for you in our brand new state of the art kitchen thanks to john harris over there at the mayors aufs of community development, he got the money for the kitchen! so, we want to acknowledge and thank all our community partners but today our best and most exciting community partner is comcast. comcast is our neighbor. they are there on bay shore. you can throw a walk rock and see them and they have been nothing but

spectac yrm helping with the move in with the building and what they bring to there seniors today. i want to thank scott and david and the whole team from comcast. i want to thank the community departments on aging who helped us connect people to the internet. i fs thinking today how important education was to dr. davis. learning something new. you are never too old to learn something and when you get a computer and you get to see the whole world at your feet, you can learn something new every day. we are really excited about this opportunity and i know he would be thrilled. he would also be thrilled because his herey jackie jorner kersee is here and he was a track fanatic. he is beyond thrilled to see her here today. i want to thank everybody who came today. we will curve lunch quitely so we can get on with

the program and i get to introduce one of the best friends to seniors you can have and that is our mayor, mayor ed lee, who believe me, between him and i we worked our magic to make the building. he is constantly listening and trying to adapt and improve service for seniors. he supports for opposition i to get more money for senior service and a true frn to seniors, so without further introduction i want to thank you mayor lee for coming on out. [applause] >> isn't cathy wonderful? thank you cathy davis for your leadership! it is great to be here along with supervisor mu alia cohen. how did you enjoy the olympics? wasn't that great? we have in my opinion

one of the best role models national spokes person jackie joining joyner-kersee is with us. did you bring the metal? 14 of you got? i don't know how many, but it is double digits or up there. i wanted to wear one and take a picture. we'll do that with the warriors, right? the warriorwise the gold metals, we will do that. i'm happy to see david cohen from comcast again. david and i see each other a lot at u.s. conference of mayors where he talked to mayors across the country how corporate partnerships can help making sure the cities are more equitable and not producing the

gaps even though all our cities like san francisco want to be leaders the internet, leaders of technology and innovation but there is something always challenging us here and it is called the digital divide. everybody knows what that word is? digital divide is folks that don't get all that technology apperates and all the training to go with it and we don't want our communities to be divide in that way and that is why comcast for the last 5 years has created this wonderful program not just on their own, they created the partnerships that go along with the program called, internet essentials and this is where the community becomes invaluable because you have agencies like self help for the elderly, george w davis senior center, community living

campaign, you got the community technology network and you got department of aging and adult services all working and collaborating together to make sure there is no digital divide. because as important as it is for a city to be modern and have all this technology and we have wifion market street that is free and 33 parks that are wifi, that won't reach everybody. i got to get folks that live in public howing and senior housing, all over the city connected up because what we learned over the years is that particularly for our seniors, is that if you feel isolated, if you are not connecting with families and friend you have known thoferb years, if you can't go to neighborhood public libraries and get access or you don't have access to our community colleges, that isolation will work against us. that is why we wanted to be here today at this george davis

center because the modern senior centers are the ones all connected up and we want to have that as part of our dna and senior centers across the city and all the different programs we have and that is why i ina big supporter of proposition i as well because dignity is making sure you goat get your fair share the cities budget, right? yes. i want to be here today celebrating the community partnerships that comcast helped us support and we are doing it also from city government because sf connected is our program that linked up our department of aging and adult services and they also with formation like comcast and others create adfoundation in which the internet essentials can be supportive and successful and in fact, when comcast launched this about a year ago, it focused on seniors

they chose san francisco as one of the launching pads and it is my understanding given the foundation we created, we are one of the best performing internet essential successs for our seniors in all of the country. give yourselves a really good applause there. in fact, i'm looking over at the computers, they look so nice. you better keep you eye open because i may grab one of those when i come off the stage because these computers that link up and hook up the affordsability which is a great part of the digital divide that sometimes people say technology is out of our-reach because it isn't affordable. internet essentials makes that gap happen. it is kind of like having free muni for seniors. isn't that helpful? yeahx you

get on that bus. we spend millionoffs dollars on a network we ought to help those that cannot afford to get on there use it. we will have more housing in our city. how like more housing like gw davis housing here? 120 units. the computers are much more essential these days and that is why it is important we embrace this opportunity. the other thing that i think has been really exciting particularly for jackie jorner and dave cohen and compast is that they are workwalk working with hud to make sure all our low-income residents regardless of age get access to the internet in an affordable and very solid way. i already learned that our public housing residents section 8 residents will also be reached with this internet essentials. this will be critical because hud is

supposed to promise not just the housing but it isn't always about just the brick and mortar and know folks in the room know that. it is about healthy meals and being connected up and having programs you can interrelate with and if youment to dance and sing and just have friends, that is what connectivity is about. it isn't just the housing, it is all the other things that make the quality of life valuable to all of us and this is what i joined are sfr visor cohen on that we want the whole package for our seniors and low-income youth z low-income residents to be connected up, to have good job jz connected with families and make sure there is no digital divide in our city. are you with me on that? alright. you heard it all from me already but we'll continue working. i have more housing to build and more people to be

connected up and more programs and cathy promised me on a good day she will make that bbq for me as well. thank you very much. [applause]

>> alright folks, mayor lee thank you very much. thank you for your leadership and lifting up the community. thank you for inspiring so many pictures that will go on social media and as soon as everyone is hooked uch up we will start trending. mayor lee used the same words as cathy davis and talked about partner ships and

the fact partnerships work because there are so many actors whether it is governments, non-profit groups, educators, it all works toorkt to create the product. but how did we get here? who had the vision? we are fortunate to have joining us all the way from comcast corporal offices, the individual who recognized the issue of the digital divide needed to be addressed. he took it apoun himself to do his part and have comcast do his part and breed a culture with employee tooz do their part. he developed the vision and took the lead creating internet essentials which is now 5 years in go tg into 6th year. this had such a profound impact on so many families mptd the visionary internet essentials, the senior executive vise president and chief diversity

officer, ladies and gentlemen, please welcome, david cohen. [applause] >> i'm glad you went after the mayor because the microphone is at my height now. thanks very much everyone and good morning and welcome and thanks for having us here today and interfering a little in your day. it is wonderful for me to be back in san francisco. i have done 4 internet essential events with your mayor in the last 5 years and today i want to especially thank cathy davis for hosting us here today. i like coming to this place because you can tell cethy is not quite sherbet her level of enthusiasm to this facility. not really. it is fantastic to hear your enthuse amp and what a incredible facility you have here. cathy worked through

mayor administrations to make this a facility a realty and i want to congratulate you, you have done a fantastic job. [applause], so this is noted, we started this internet essentials program 5 years goy in 2011 and over that 5 year period of time we and it isn't just we comcast, it is comcast, the non-profit partners and governmental partners, the library partners and school district partners have been able to connect 750,000 families or 3 million low-income americans to the internet, most of them for the first time in their lives. that is a major accomplishment and it is by far the largest number of sign ups in any broadband adoption program by any private or public sector

program. we are in california and the third year in a row california is the number 1 state for internet essentials connections. we have-worth a hand. california we connected all most a half million low-income residents of this state to the internet and here in the bay area between oakland and san francisco all most 40,000 low-income resident in the bay area. so,-[applause] so, a year ago i came to san francisco and we announced the launch of a pilot to extend internet essentials eligibility which was originally tied to families with school age children eligible to participate in the national school lunch program to low-income senior population. this is one of 5 cities in america. i never like

correcting mayors, it is bad form butd on this correction mayy will be happy. san francisco isn't one of the best performing cities in the low-income senior pilot, it is the best performing city. [applause] so rsh we have been able to sign up 2 thousand low-income seniors in the city in the past 11 months and it is beginning to have a major impact in san francisco senior population. again, as with classic internet essentials, this would not happen without a real partnership between the mayor and the city and non-profits and infrastructure created around the senior population in san francisco. so, because i think a video is saying the picture is worth a thousand words of video, maybe

worth a million words. we prepared a short video to show the impact of the senior pilot right here in san francisco, so let's run that video. >> my son gave me the [inaudible] about 2 to 3 weeks ago and it is [inaudible] >> today we do everything with internet. we don't know the internet it is hard to connect with the world. learning computer skills we feel more confudent. squee have a ways to go but narrowing the digital divide among ethnic groups and [inaudible] >> when comcast announced there is a [inaudible] a lot of seniors [inaudible] then quh

come to the classes to learn. >> i learn a lot and not only from the computer but learned thew use my i pad. >> i want to learn more because it is interesting and i want to [inaudible] >> i think combination of not understanding the rel vens and largely fear caused some people to be reluctant to go on line. our goal is to help people understand they can go on line, not with absolute safety but relative safety and take advantage of all this great technology. >> i go on pintrist and when i finish a project i share it with my friend. >> each class is its own social network. we see the [inaudible] go for lunch afterwards. >> our age it is really important. we cannot just sit at home and [inaudible] >> it is a joy to us seniors

have when they are connected, when they look forward to each day, look forward to connecting with friends and look forward to learning something new every day. >> [applause] >> as the mayor said, we are also announcing another significant expansion of the internet essentials program that started with families with children eligible for the national school lunch program. san francisco expanded that to low-income senior jz now we are also expanning to all seniors who receive hud housing assistance. people in hud housing receive section 8 certificates or other forms of hud housing assistance. whether you have children or whether you are a senior, if you receive hud housing assistance you will be eligible for internet essentials. nationally that is another 2

million homes eligible in the bay area. it is all most 40,000 additional homes eligible for this program between oakland and san francisco and california the number one state in the country in terms of eligible hud housing assisted families with 190,000 families now eligible to participate in internet essentials. so, there is no better way to understand the impact of this than to look at the life of one person and mr. putranko in san francisco is one of the first seniors to sign frup the pilot program and he was good enough to let us follow him around for a day and do a short video about his life and the difference internet essentials has made to him. so, let's roll our second video. >> i was born in south ukraine.

my mother and father had to work, so all day i was alone. all day sit in side [inaudible] there is a lot i see [inaudible] i learned about internet essentials and [inaudible] looking for information on line. the internet is very important for communication. i can connect with my friends and students. they talk about that and [inaudible] it is very good for me. my sons are always asking me, what are you working on? are you [inaudible] i like

to post pictures of my paintings and my life on line so [inaudible] so they can show people what their father does. i don't need much anymore. what i would like is a high quality life. this is very important to me now. my youngest son is a opera singer and he goes all over the world. i don't get to see him perform. now i can watch his concert on line and i [inaudible] [applause] >> so, it is stories like that that inspire all of us at comcast and all our non-profit partners who want to make the program more successful and make sure every senior in san

francisco, every low-income senior in the country has access to the internet and enjoys life the way mr. putrarngo is doing so. the other purpose being here today, is to announce that we are giving $200 thousand in grants to bay area non-profits to keep building on the success we had over the past year. so, here in san francisco we will extend grants to our existing senior pilot partners, seft self help for the elderly, community libing campaign and technology network so they do the good work they have been able to engage in. we will give a new series of grants to partners in neighborhoods throughout the city to expand awareness around our recent expansion of internet essentials to public housing and these groups include bayview senior services, chinatown community development center, the felten

institute and the mission housing development corporation. so, congratulations to all of those organizations and thank you for our partnership. [applause] i have one last announcement. one last substantive announcement and one last introduction. my announcement is one that should be of interest to everyone in the room. so, show of hands-i know you are all moving into your new units of g dairfbs center, how many are living or moving into units here? most of the room. now embarrassment to this, but how many of you have computers now in your units? laptop or desktop. only a few. all most none. let me tell you what we will do here today,

in about a hour the answer to that question is going to have every hands in the room go up because when we leave here today all these computers you see behind here, comcast is donating a free computer to every resident of the george w davis senior center. [applause] we want to make sure you are have all the tools to make this place live and hum to the vision that was designed into this building and we will do our best to bring the internet to all of you. i saw a few people here who were not libing here and we want to take care of you too so we will have a raffle for people who don't live at this center, if you sign up for internet essential we will have a ra