>> this is the regular meeting of the small business commission monday, may 21, 2018. the meeting is being called to order at 2:10 p.m. small business commission thanks media services and sfgov-tv for televising the meeting, which can be viewed on sfgov2, channel 78, or sfgovtv.org. members of the public, please take this community to -- opportunity to silence your phone. public comment is limited to 3 minutes per speaker. speakers are requested but not

required to state their names. completion of a speaker card, while optional, will help to ensure proper spelling of names in the written record. please place speaker cards in the basket to the right of the lectern. they will be called in the order in which they were placed in the basket. >> it is our custom to begin and end each meeting with a reminder that the office of small business is the only place to start your new business in san francisco and it's the best place to get answers to your questions about doing business in san francisco. it should be your first stop when you have questions about what to do next. best of all, all of our services

are free of charge. it's the official public forum to voice opinions and concerns about policies that affect the economic vitality of small businesses here in san francisco. if you need assistance, start here. [roll call] >> mr. president, you have a quorum. >> general public comment. allows comments on the standard jurisdiction but not on today's calend calendar. >> do we have any members of the public that would like to make

comment on any items that are not on today's agenda? seeing none, public comment is closed. next item, please. >> item 3, recognition of todd rufo as director of office of economic and work force development. discussion item. >> the todd rufo roast. we didn't tell you that. this is the best part about this job. todd rufo was appointed director of economic and work force development august 9, 2012. the office of economic and work force development budget for 2017/2018 was $60.7 million. and todd oversees a staff of 131 people. under todd's leadership, the

office transformed to a leading agency of its kind in the united states that strengthens the economic vitality of san francisco by strengthening the businesses and work force. todd brought impact-driven leadership with multiple agencies, private and nonprofit sector partnerships. under todd's leadership, helped small businesses start, stay and grow in san francisco. and some of their accomplishments that happened under todd was the san francisco small business portal, which guides business owners through permitting and legal compliance, mayor lee and todd also created small business solutions teams. they launched sfbiz connect and created san francisco's first buy local campaign and shop and

dine in the 49. oewd oversaw the creation of 130,000 jobs in san francisco. and when todd came in, remember, we were in a recession, and look at what you've done. and you've contributed to lowering san francisco's unemployment rate from 6.9% to 2.1%, the lowest in the city's history. todd also won the 2016 james irvine foundation leadership award for reviving urban manufacturing to create middle class jobs. todd was a proponent of equality-driven work force programs bringing living wage careers for san francisco and low-income communities to initiatives like the mayor summer jobs program, youth jobs, tech sf, city build, and since 2012, the mayor's youth jobs initiative has connected 41,000

san francisco youth into internships and job opportunities. 81% of the youth everybody served are from low income neighborhoods. under todd's leadership, they oversaw major developments, including the transbay terminal, treasure island, sf general hospital, mission rock, plumbers union, pier 70 and new chase center. oewd leadership, launched ser invest in neighborhoods initiative that strengthens commercial corridors and neighborhoods across the city and facilitates the community benefit districts. since its creation, over $85 million has been invested in san

francisco corridors and small business. i would like to present a certificate of honor from the small business commission to todd rufo. places and best of luck. >> thank you. i appreciate it. [applause] >> commissioner adams, let me begin by saying, thank you so much for that and the entire commission for this opportunity and this honor. you know, i feel like i've had the opportunity and fortune and honor to work with each of you and this commission to do everything that we can for this city, which we care about and love so much. everything that as the commissioner was reading through, that long list, i was thinking about each of you and the conversations that i've had with you about your priorities here at the commission, but also the stake holders, whether small business, local manufacturer,

neighboring commercial corridor, merchant association or group and then i was thinking about the team members, many of whom are sitting here today, who are really the reason that we were able to do so much. it's to them that we should -- that i really see this honor and this recognition. joaquin torres, regina, what user done on the business portal. and the work creating open nsf to help to facilitate business permits. rick, the work you are doing, on the legacy business program. the list goes on and on. i think my main message it all of you is that the important work of the department of oewd will continue. it will continue because of your guidance and your advice and your policy leadership, but it will also continue because of the amazing talent and team at oewd.

with that, i want to say thank you for the recognition and opportunity to be here today. [applause] i'm used to being up here for tough questions, so looking forward to sitting down. >> well deserved. with that, do we have public comment? >> henry kanell. todd has been a really great lead leader. commissioner adams, you spoke of what he did with his leadership to make it what it is or the small business to be successful. as we all know, small business is the backbone of the community. and because it's people like

todd that make us what we are. secondly, also, i would like to really appreciate the collaboration that's come between shop and dine 49 and district merchants. it has put small business on the map as well as the council. todd, thank you very much. also, all the best to you. congratulations. have a great time in new york. great city. i loved it when i was there. enjoy your stay over there. and i hope to visit you one of these days and we'll have a drink together. thank you. >> good afternoon. steven cornell. i want to add everything that henry said and what the president -- commissioner adams said. i've been doing this for a long time and it's always a pleasure to have somebody in government

that i feel helps us out. and i thank todd and his team that has helped us do that. it's really great and i'm sorry he's going to leave. thank you. >> thank you. >> scott halgary. i would like to echo the thoughts about todd. he's been terrific to work with and as steven said one of our major efforts is to bring small business to the table and he's done a great job reaching out and bringing discussions. so thank you very much, todd, and all the best to you in the future. >> thank you. >> good afternoon, commissioners. joaquin torres, deputy director

of economic work force development. with the limited time i have, i want to echo from a staff perspective how extraordinary it's been to have such an incredible boss and also someone who cared deeply. i think maybe more than any other director at the economic and work force development office about both community and neighborhoods in a very significant way that was felt not only by the people that he was directing, myself included, but community members across the city. it's rare when you get someone who is such a believer in professional development, who helps you build your team. i want to thank you and the representatives behind me that recognize such a great leader for our city and county of san francisco. thank you for making this happen and making this space.

>> thank you. any other members? seeing none, public comment is closed. again, thank you, todd, for everything. san francisco's loss is new york's gain, but we'll see you still. don't worry. okay. next item, please. >> todd, i also wanted to thank you for your contributions to the city and to help us. i know that every time i come to you for help, you come through very nicely. so good luck with your new endeavor. we'll miss you. >> director. >> thank you. i wanted to extend my appreciation. it's been a great pleasure to work for you and with you and i've learned so much. you've been a great mentor and i

think, you know, commissioner adams just really spoke to the bredth of what you've been able to accomplish. your passionate, economic development and economic development at all levels of business and employment and while i think the city, it's a loss for us, but i'm also very excited that if you're able to accomplish 1/4 of what you have been able to accomplish here in san francisco in sort of the rural parts of the u.s., it's to the u.s.'s gain and to the world's gain of what you have to offer. so looking forward to that. >> commissioner zouzounis. >> thank you. i wanted to say, ever since i started on the commission, you

were open to who i was trying to reach, and you kept that in mind through your -- the last couple of years and really brought those perspectives whether it was in the immigration roundtable with the mayor or what not, you helped me get the perspectives where they needed to be heard, so i appreciated that. thank you. >> i have one more request. would todd come up here and take a picture with all of us? >> yes. >> marianne, will you do the honors?

>> do you want to go up there? >> okay. next item, please. item 4, approval of legacy business registry application and resolution.

knights' catering. richard kurylo, presenter, legacy business program manager. >> good afternoon, commissioners, small business staff, richard kurylo, legacy business program manager. sfgov tv, i have a power point presentation. before you today is one application for your consideration for a business to be include on the legacy business registry. the application was reviewed by me for completion and then submitted to planning department staff on april 4. the historic preservation commission heard the presentation may 2 and made a positive recommendation. for the applicant, the commission has been provided a staff report, draft resolution, application, case report from planning department staff, and a resolution from the historic

planning commission. there are copies on the table for the public. the applicant is knights' catering. the business began as knights' restaurant in october, 1963, at 234 mccallister street and quickly became a popular eatery in the civic center neighborhood. they became to be relied on for business needs, which prompted the expansion of citywide catering. they moved in 1978 and 1989, at which time, the business focused solely on catering. a rent increase forced them to move to south san francisco. despite being located just outside of city limits, knights' business was still very much in san francisco, catering to san franciscan s. they continued to secure and pay

for city regulation certificates. by 2004, business was able to return to its founding city and establish headquarters in its current location at 2255 mendle street. the mcgoverns son and daughter bought the business in 1996. in 2004, maureen and her husband, bought the business outright and are the sole owners. knights has helped many again raugss celebrate births -- generations celebrate births and weddings and disaster relief in 1989 earthquake and catering for pope john paul ii's visit in 1987. knights' catering received a

positive recommendation from h.p.c. staff finds that the business has met the three criteria for listing on the legacy registry. a motion in support of the business should be a motion in favor of the resolution. in the resolution, pay close attention to the physical features that define the business. the business must maintain these to remain on the legacy registry. for knights' catering, it's catering. this concludes my presentation. i'm happy to answer any questions. and there are representatives that are in attendance that would like to speak on the application's behalf. >> great. let's open it up. public comment. do we have anybody from knights'

catering? come on up. >> good afternoon, commissioners. thank you for taking the time to see us. >> my name's molly. >> my name's grace. >> daniel. >> i need to have you speak into the mike. >> my name's molly. >> my name's grace. >> daniel. >> and i think my husband, adrian is lost somewhere. these are the continued legacy of knights' catering that are working with us part time and some full time in the business as well. and we -- my parents worked very hard to take knights catering to a level where we're known and

recognized throughout san francisco and i'm excited at the prospect of being able to continue that legacy through san francisco. for the past 55 years, we've been welcomed in san francisco homes and businesses to cater many special occasions. as a result, we've had the great pleasure of developing longstanding relationships, some have spanned many generations. we've been honored to change the san francisco communities and proud to have knights' catering considered. it allows us the opportunity to maintain a permanent place in the hearts and fabric of the people we serve and this glorious city we call our home. thank you for taking the time. >> thank you. any other members of the public who would like to say anything? go ahead. come up here.

>> they don't know me, but i know them. they're one of the finest traditions in san francisco. they're the go-to caterer for anything and everything you would ever want in san francisco. they've evolved with time. i'm the communications person for economic and work force development. when i saw your name on the list, i was really touched because they catered my father's funeral and my father was a san francisco police officer who died in the line of duty. so when i saw it, i was touched, because in the hardest time of our life, we reached out to them and with very few support from our house, they actually catered the most unbelievable funeral for my father. and when i think about them and i think about them and all the work that they do here in the schools, i think about how easy and wonderful they are to work with, but really how they've

consistently produced quality, quality, quality catering at a very reasonable price in san francisco, which is not something that's always easy to do. for this quick minute, i'm ma e marian thompson. i want to thank them forking the go-to for everything. thank you. >> thank you. any other members of the public? seeing none, public comment is closed. commissioners? commission commissioner. >> we dabble in catering once in a while. it's not easy. the personal relationship is probably what makes it the most successful. i commend you on that and keeping that legacy in the city. >> commissioner riley? >> i love reading the history and looking at the beautiful

pictures that you provided. thank you. >> commissioner dooley? >> i want to say it's a pleasure to add such an obviously deserving group of people to the legacy business. this is what it was designed to honor and support, so welcome. >> do we have a motion? >> i move to approve. >> second. >> there's a motion by commissioner riley, seconded by commissioner dooley. roll call. [roll call] motion passes 4-0 with two absent. >> congratulations. [applause] next item, please. >> item 5, presentation and possible action to support pet-related businesses regarding efforts to maintain their

businesses. businesses in the castro and noe valley, small businesses, smaller, locally owned independent pet stores and groomers are working to prevent possible closure. >> good afternoon. i'm rick french. >> who is presenting? you are separate from public comment. >> okay. i'm rick french. daniel burgerak -- >> thank you. >> i'm just going to -- since sage put this power point thing, i'm not sure if it's going to work. it's not going -- she assured me it was wasn't going to be her summer vacation on the slides. i'm the owner of the animal company, along with my wife, ellen. and we're -- as far as we know, oldest independent small

business pet shop in san francisco. it's been there for 43 years. and there is a threat for all of us with a chain store, 13-store chain coming up from l.a., to really infringe on the neighborhood, not only just because of the type of business that they run, but in noe valley, it's what makes noe valley unique. it's small, little stores, people love to walk up and down the street. when you get an organization like this with rapid growth, a lot of money behind them, it's like opening up, you know, a home depot, but on a smaller scale. and there's a reason that there's an ordinance for not having chains in certain areas of the city and so we're looking for your support and your help to -- next month, in 30 days, we

go up in front of the planning commission, hoping to deny them a conditional use permit, which is what they are going to need. i'm sure some of you know the story of this. maybe i should -- so we do need your support. the idea is for them to get a conditional use permit, they have to show a need and a desire and we've seen in the neighborhood, there is no desire. we have a lot of support. we have a lot of petitions. i have a couple hundred petitions here. you just push the buttons. we have an on-line petition of at least 1,300, almost 1,400 petitions. and we have on-line petitions. it's that the community is

behind us. we have tremendous support, good customers, and the threat to all of our businesses that we've establish established, it's a big concern. it will change the flavor of the neighborhood. what you see up here on the map right now is noe valley and the blue outline. the red circle is basically a half mile. and all those little, red squares are residents that have signed a petition and that represents not any of the on-line petitioned, but just the written signatures, which is upward of 400 to 500. that blue star is my store. it's kind of a ground zero. and if you look to the right, all the red supporting our stand and then that little, blank spot. and that's where they want to put their business, in the old

radioshack. and based on the growth they've had, they're going to -- how many stores? >> they've opened nine stores in the last two years. >> so their growth is tremendous. they have a lot of money behind them. we're just a bunch of little, small businesses trying to survive. and so with that, i will -- we don't think there's a desire. sage will talk to the -- daniel will talk. >> yes. >> he's a better speaker than i. i would like to leave these with you, if you care to have them. >> yes. i think we already -- >> there you go. >> those are some of the letters. >> okay. great. we'll put them in for the record, too. >> will you work the computer for me? good afternoon, president adams and commission. i'm the co-owner of mud puppies scrub. my business partner is here with us this afternoon. in addition to being a small

business owner in san francisco, my unpaid gig is president of the castro merchant association representing over 300 merchant members in the upper market-castro neighborhood. i will speak about the necessity of adding a formula retailer to 24th street. within 1 1/4 miles of the potential location there are 22 small pet stores or grooming stores and half are lgbt-owned. they provide merchandise and services for the community. this community trusts us to take care of their furry children and it's a responsibility we don't take lightly. a review of healthy spots website shows no products that

we don't provide. we pride ourselves on using locally made products, this includes our shampoo, which is a san francisco-based business. many of our treats are made in the san francisco bay area and are small business enterprises. healthy spots likes to say they have unique grooming services and they specialize in grooming services. however, they've been unable or unwilling to explain what that is. correctively the groomers in the area of 300 years of experience. most of our customers are able to get same-day appointments. the days we're at capacity, support the days we're not. another grooming destination is simply not necessary.

it will dilute the existing shops struggling to stay in business in this very expensive city to do business in. in addition to the formula retailer not being necessary, to let the commission know, the board of castro merchants has voted in opposition of the conditional use permit and i urge to you vote against it as well. thank you so much. >> hi. i'm sage cotton, co-owner of v.i.p. grooming and v.i.p. scrub club. my partner is here today as well with me. and i will speak to -- we've heard there's no desire and no need. and i will speak to how this company will harm our neighborhood and, we believe, the entire city. i will try to do both at the same time. first of all, most of us know the arguments for why traditional chains are not desired and will hurt small

businesses. they proliferate and erode community character. they don't look to be competition with the local businesses. they look to take over and take over the neighborhood and be the only game in town. typically, they will enter a market sporting deep discounts. you have to remember that chains can have a loss indefinitely or as long as they need to take that loss in order to put smaller businesses out of business because they cannot take the losses. also, new chain stores can only be successful at the expense of existing businesses. they don't bring in new customers. they only shift customers from one place to another in a small,

confined neighborhood where there is no harm, no desire, like there is here. but one point that often gets overlooked that i want to point out specifically here in san francisco, and this is a quote from a speech by stacy mitchell, institution of local self-reliance, "a community that loses its local businesses to national chains risks losing other development opportunities. new technologies have enabled many companies to operate virtually anywhere in the world. google, linked in, yelp, twitter, i could go on, they didn't come to san francisco for our balmy weather and beautiful beaches. they came here because we're unique, diverse, we're out-of-the-box thinkers. they come here because they gravitate toward unique experiences and san francisco is a unique experience and that's because of the small businesses

that are here and made it that way. we want to keep san francisco unique so we can keep those businesses wanting to come here and set up shop. let's talk about healthy spots and why they're so harmful. healthy spots has a lot of advantages. they get discounts on the products that they buy from their wholesalers. they have the exact same wholesalers as the animal company and noe valley pet, but they get it at a discount because of their buying power. they have the property of 13 other stores and deep-pocket investors to lean on to support them. they don't live here. they will not circulate in the local economy. they will not be making decisions based on local values, but corporate needs, and don't pay our cost of living or contribute to the local economy. as a chain store, they don't have to worry about a local

business opening up next to them because they have the advantages and deep pockets. no local pet business will take the chance to open up near them ever again, because they won't be able to make and profit and survive next to a chain store like this one. with the unfair advantages, they can do a couple of things. they can undercut the competition, sell less and make more money, they can engage in a practice called dumping. dumping is when you flood the ma market with free or reduced services so others cannot maintain their business. the chain store can then dictate price and quality of the services. this is what healthy spot has done time and time again in l.a. and here's a quote from michelle rivera, who owns a pet business

down in l.a. "rather than build their own clientele, healthy spot has used predatory practices to steal clients away from us and other pet businesses. the first six months, they offered multiple coupons, major discounts for food and grooming and free daycare services. this is deliberate techniques to steal your customers. this type of practice, which is legal, is disturbing and unethical." they show that they're in line with the san francisco general plan. number one on the general plan says that existing neighborhoods serving retail uses be observed and enhances and future opportunities also be enhanced. since all of our local stores carry the same products and none of the stores are at capacity, there is no market demand for

this store in noe valley. this healthy spot will not create a new customer base. they must take from the customer base that's already here, which means they will take it from existing stores, which will harm existing neighborhoods serving retail uses. as a chain, healthy spot has advantages over small, local businesses and will use those advantages to harm the local businesses. furthermore, not only will they harm existing businesses, but they will harm future businesses from coming in. once they come into our city, to noe valley, we'll never see another local pet store or grooming shop open up here again. and that's really bad to think of. matter of fact, we believe they've chosen the spot they've chosen exactly for this specific reason. they're right in between the animal company and v.i.p. grooming, two of the longest

running pet businesses here in the city. again, from michelle rivera, "they have investors with deep pockets. they plant themselves next to long-established businesses and under cut them and do this while insisting their nice guys. in my opinion, keep san francisco's neighborhoods healthy and keep healthy spot out." they will drive up rents. double parking. they're right on 24th street. double parking is already a huge problem on 24th street. people will be picking up and dropping off their dogs all day and picking up 40-pound bags of dog food. they will have insta-cart picking up for delivers. our local stores have thought about this. they're right off the main drag, so they will not impede traffic in the neighborhood. they've thought this through. healthy spot is right on that main drag and will cause more problems there. they don't fit in with noe

neighborhood charm. they have bright lights, big signs, big colors. they're not charming like our neighborhood is. they're not part of the local pet community. they have deceptive practices as a corporation. for one example, we feel they came in here and instead of looking at, you know, where are they needed in the city, they said, where are the most successful businesses? who do we have to pay to get into that neighborhood? they subscribe to the pay-to-play thinking. we see here with sfcdma on their responsorship page, we see healthy spot as one of their sponsors. they're not a merchant in san francisco yet. i don't feel it's appropriate for them to be sponsoring merchant organizations. talking to them, sure, but sponsoring them, i don't think that's a fairway of trying to get into our city. they also had a petition.

they started their own. so you can see their on-line petition that said, "as a token of our appreciation, we'll email you an offer for a free bag of treats." they went to delores park and noe valley farmers market with a petition and we heard this from some of our customers and you can see the conversation on the other side of the screen. "he claimed that the signature has to do with helping pets in the city." it was collecting names to support a southern california pet chain. perhaps most importantly what rick said earlier, they've opened nine of their 13 stores in the last two years. that's one store every three months. this is an extremely aggressive growth pattern.

we have every reason to believe they will do the same thing here in san francisco, meaning, if they get in here in noe valley, we'll see them opening a new store every few months in a knew neighborhood. so in two years, you will see nine to 10 of these healthy spot stores in every one of our small neighborhoods and start to see massive closures of our small pet businesses. so we've come here today to ask for your support in helping us have the planning commission deny the conditional use permit to healthy spot. new industry seeks out one-of-a-kind businesses, animal company, noe valley pet company, businesses that will be threated and most likely forced to close if healthy spot is allowed to open. businesses, the likes of which if forced to close, no one will ever see again in noe valley or perhaps the rest of the city.

please help us to keep noe valley healthy and healthy spot out. >> thank you very much for your presentation. and thank you very much for contacting this office and coming and voicing your concerns because this is what this commission is all about. this is a -- we're under attack. commissioners, do we have any questions for the group to begin with? or do you want to hear public comment first? okay. we'll open it up for public comment first. do we have members of the public that would like to speak on this matter? >> good afternoon. i'm steven cornell. i'm the legislative representative of council district merchants. we've not voted on this particular matter, but in the

past we've voted twice national or regional pet businesses wanted to come to san francisco and we have consistently said, we don't want them. it will not work in our city. san francisco has put in various laws and restrictions, either through the permit process or through the formula youth process. and this is a perfect example of why those laws are in there. large chains, as we heard a few minutes ago, are not interested in making money in the individual places. you are looking for a piece of the pie. they want to increase their share of the pie and they will do anything they can. having a new pet supply coming into the city will not mean more people will get a dog or a cat. it's going to take their existing pets and spread it out

thinner. somebody will take the business. so we urge you not to have the businesses come in. thank you. >> thank you. next speaker, please. >> scott hawkey. i would like to echo what commissioner adams said. when this commission was founded, i was very involved in creating this commission. took 14, 15 years to get it passed on the ballot. this is the type of issue that this commission was created to address. there doesn't seem to be a need for this. there seems to be neighborhood servicing that are fulfilling the need to the community.

and that's what the commission is trying to say. we don't need healthy spot to come in and disrupt or put out of business the businesses. so i ask you to oppose this conditional use. >> great. thank you. >> i'm the owner of cotton basics in noe valley and i'm very much opposed to chains coming into our neighborhood. i think they totally take away the unique character that we have and the neighborhood that even customers tell me that they really enjoy coming to an area where they can deal with a shop in a unique business and interact with owners and i think it's very important to keep chains out of our area and san francisco neighborhoods. thank you.

>> great. thank you. >> hi. i'm mitchell burge, small business owner in san francisco. i'm here to support other small business owners. we are under assault from e-commerce. one of the things that we manage to continue to provide is services like grooming, not offered by amazon. so to have external shops coming in and taking from a shrinking pie and take services away from small, locally owned businesses is not something that would be a good service to the city or to the existing businesses. so hopefully you guys will support small business and help us to turn away the conditional

use permit. thank you. >> thank you. >> good afternoon, commissioners. christopher faust. i have prepared a statement because i get flustered and it's just better. >> that's okay. >> dear fellow san franciscans, i oppose approval of healthy spot pet store proposed location on 24th. it enjoys an economic advantage over one-of-a-kind pet stores. they would replace businesses by sheer scale, not offering better quality or selection of products or services. our small brick-and-mortar businesses are under pressure from on-line retailers already. we need to do more to help them survive. let us not approve healthy

spot's plan to drive them under. as a neighbor, i like that our local shop owners are responsive to the neighborhood conditions, goals, and sensibilities. it goes beyond the selling of goods and services and extends to shared community and family experiences. they're a social destination unto themselves. they're what helps to make our area a walkable neighborhood. our shops continue to survive because of a customer base that enjoys the personal experience of dealing with their neighbors. are we to offer that customer base for sale to the highest bidder like some commodity? that's exactly what we would be doing by approving healthy spot. let us stand up for our neighborhoods and opportunity. san francisco's independent merchants deserve support, not simply because our neighborhoods need character, but because our

community need cheese characters as familiar neighborhoods. we need the personality and friendliness that says, this is my home, not just a collection of houses and stores that can be anywhere in america. and, finally, we need young adults to know that san francisco will continue to have opportunities for them as merchants. thank you. would you like me to leave this with you? >> thank you. we'll be glad to add it into the record. thank you very much. any other members of the public? seeing none, public comment is closed. commissioner dooley. >> thank you for your presentation. it was really great and i hope that others in the future -- because there will be others -- will take a page for your book and come to us with the same clear needs. obviously, we've seen this whole story before.

we know what happens. you give one person a c.u., they knock maybe six, seven, eight storefronts out. so what kind of bargain is that really? one new store friend versus knocking out and leaving vacant other storefronts. i support your work in this. it really is what makes san francisco unique. we don't need to have the same thing on every corner, even though that pleasure is extremely high. i applaud all of you here for standing up and saying, no, in your own neighborhood. because that's what's counts, is the neighbor and no outside force should be coming in to be that destructive. >> commissioner zouzounis.

>> thank you for the presentation. it makes me feel proud to be part of the small business community. i think we can continue to be that advocate. let the supervisors know that they cannot keep passing anti-retail legislation without applying the same regulatory logic to e-commerce or big box retailers and not understanding our context. the most important piece of this is the context, who you are, be the different forces at play. we need to keep providing that. and we need to echo our fellow commissioners. we need to be that vehicle. let's continue to work together and i support the issues you brought to us today. >> commissioner riley. >> thank you for the presentation. it looks like you did your home work and your presentation is so

detailed, we don't have to ask a lot of questions. i assume you will present the same information to the planning department. thank you. >> i would like to echo what my fellow commissioners have said. this commission was established for small businesses in san francisco. sometimes we forget about that, and i will admit that. we have to preserve these small, independent businesses. i would like to make a motion at this time to speak to the importance of preserving established small, independent businesses like the pet service

industry here, and encourage the formula retailer to go open up in other parts of california, where there are not a lot of small businesses or neighborhoods where there are no pet grooming services. and i would like to make a motion that we support the small pet community in opposing this c.u. in noe valley. >> second. >> motion by commissioner adams. seconded by commissioner dooley. >> may i just -- i'm sorry, president adams. so we're making a motion to support the pet businesses in noe valley or pet businesses -- >> citywide? i would say citywide.

listen, if they will not be in noe, they will try the castro. if it's not the castro, they will good to the marina. and then not the marina, to richmond. i want to give a loud voice to this company that the san francisco small business commission supports its small businesses and our small pet food and grooming businesses in this town. >> i think we should specifically add something to the motion because the folks are going up in front of the planning commission that is saying that in particular -- >> in particular the 24th street. >> and using the criteria for -- >> citywide. >> and under the conditional use criteria that availability of other similar retailers close by, essentially the neighborhood. >> can you read that back?

>> no. [laughter] >> can you read that back? >> well, i didn't specifically write it down, but commissioner adams made the motion that -- >> to speak to the importance of presidenter advantage established small, independent businesses in this particular industry, pet and food service industry, and to encourage opposing the c.u. specifically for the 24th street, but i want to get the message out that we're supporting the small businesses citywide. if they fail here -- this is the type of business that they will start to go into other neighborhoods and we'll find ourselves here back again. >> perhaps maybe the recommendation -- if the commission is interested in specifically stating to the planning commission that maybe

the recommendation starts out with not granting the conditional use for this particular location and then add the consideration for citywide impact and implications. >> yeah. >> for formula retail and our neighborhood serving districts that are also well served by existing local businesses. >> okay. >> thank you. >> so we have a motion by commissioner adams, seconded by commissioner dooley. roll call. [roll call] motion passes 4-0 with two absent. >> and we'll get a letter to the planning commission on your behalf here. thank you. [applause] and, again, thank you for contacting us. because this is what this commission is about. we're here to service you, we

are your customers, and it's all about small businesses in san francisco. and, trust me, you know -- you said it the best, i wish the board of supervisors would hear this sometimes. with e-commerce and everything out there, it's vital that stuff like this, you contact our office. thank you, daniel, and rick and ellen, sage and lindsay, thank you for coming. thank you for doing this. i can't appreciate this enough. so thank you. okay. next item, please. >> item 6, directors report. update and report on the office of small business and small business assistance center. department programs, policy and legislative matters, announcements from the mayor and announcements regarding small business activities. discussion item. >>