>> clerk: this is the regular meeting of the small business commission held on monday, august 13, 2018. the meeting is being called to order at 5:34 p.m. small business commission thanks media services and sfgovtv for televising the meeting which can be viewed on sfgovtv 2 channel 78 or live streamed at sfgovtv.org. members of the public please take this moment to silence all phones and electronic devices. public comment during the meeting is limited to three minutes perspeaker unless otherwise established by the presiding officer of the meeting. speakers are requested but not required to state their names. completion of a speaker card, while optional will help ensure proper spelling of speakers'

names in the meeting. please place speaker cards in the basket to the right of the lectern. additionally, there is a sign in sheet could ton the front t. >> good evening, and president adams absent. i am your master of ceremonies tonight. so welcome. it is our custom to begin and end each small business commission meeting with a reminder 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 to your questions about doing business in san francisco. the office of small business should be your stop when you need to know to find out what you need to do next. best of all, our services are free of charge. small business commission is your official forum to invoices your opinion about matters that

affect small businesses in san francisco. if you need assistance with small business matters, start here at the office of small business. thank you. >> clerk: item one, call to order and roll call. [roll call] >> clerk: mr. vice president, you have a quorum. >> all right. your next item, please. >> clerk: item 2, general public comment. discussion item. allows members of the public to comment generally on matters that are within the small business commission kaerz jurisdiction and not on today's calendar and suggest new agenda items for the commission's future consideration. >> do we have any members of the public that would like to comment on something that is not on our agenda today. miss gwen kaplan, come on up. >> gwen cap lynn, north

business district business association. so hello, commissioners, and i just wanted to thank you for serving and representing the small business community. it means a lot to everyone. the thing i want to talk about is the possibility of a small business summit or a small business conference, and i'm very much in favor of this. as a matter of fact, the last small business conference that was held in san francisco, i was the president of the commission. and i have to say, it was a big success. it fit our agenda, it brought a lot of attention to our business, our problems, our challenges, and the things we can do particularly to get the attention of the department heads, and the mayor and the mayor's staff. so that is what i am here to talk about in public comments.

>> okay. thank you very much. >> thank you. >> do we have any other members of the public that would like to comment about something that is not on today's agenda? welcome. >> well, i'm getting some smiles. that's a good start. thank you very much. thank you. thank you. i'm peter, king of masterpiece theater. and actually, i've stopped in to see an immigration meeting, but there's no one there. i thought well, it's all about business, one level or another. and, you know, california, we're the most powerful state in the world. we're the most powerful state on the planet, and if we would just get the rainbow warriors and the rest of us with true hearts together, we'd be standing upon granite. and i was given a mission with a cosmic position in the celestial position to do the best i know how to bring people

together for the most beautiful thing that ever will be, the most beautiful thing that ever we'll see, which is the 40-day freedom strike prophecy. and it's scheduled for this full moon. it's going to be our high noon. and it's a matter of people getting together to change the weather forever. they say israel's the promised land, but it's true, but it's not a spec of dust across the sea. it has another name, ariel, which represents the world. california represents the world, and northern california is it. we are the heart and soul and center of the new promised land to be that must be opened up by the new 40 day strike prophecy. where we pay no mortgage, pay no rents, pay no more to the justice system. the government servants, they're not serving us, and it's time to know that we're

all tired of being divided by cultures, by colors, by ethnicity, by causes. but the issue is all the same. we've been a nation serving two masters that maintain all disasters, which is why we knew see the third past with the iron rod of god with all these fires against the great state of california. i am peter, and i'm here to say that the prophecy includes the 40 day strike which breaks free from the blood flow, which is the industry of oil, which is the industry of slaughter house, which will be kind forever from the whale to the mouse. and i can solve any problem, homelessness, jobs, anything. it's a piece of cake after this 40 day strike because one of the many things that'll happen is we will look each other in the eye after not paying

anything, and we'll pay 25% of what our mortgages and rents were before, which just opened up 340,000 new jobs in california, because we can go to a 20 hour workweek. this is for all the immigrants, so we can change it for the better. i can say it because the authority is mine, and thank you for the authority of blessing me with your time. >> thank you very much. do with we have any other members of the public that would like to comment on some things that are not on today's agenda. >> i am carlos gomez. i am here mostly to reinforce what he was talking about in reference to working with the small business summit. i think it's really important because the last one that we were able to work more together and represent and supporting more small businesses. so i just want to make sure we

go on the same page and make sure we include that so we have better representation of the small business organizations. thank you. >> awesome. thank you. do we have any other members of the public that would like to comment on something that's not on our agenda today, either in prose or rhyme? >> i'm not that eloquent. steven cornell, counsel of merchants. i did also what carlos and gwen would say. i was at that summit quite a few years ago. i thought it was quite good and i got a lot out of it, and i'd like to urge you to go forward with it. thank you. >> okay. thank you. do we have any other performers out there, any other member of the public that would like to comment or perform on something that is not on today's agenda. seeing none, public comment is closed. next item, item three. >> clerk: item three, approval of registry minutes and

applications. the applicants are balboa cafe and. >> commissioner hayes-white: -- and hayes street grill. presenter is richard kurylo, legacy business manager. >> better be good. did you write a poem for us today? >> i am not doing poetry, nor am i memorizing what i have in front of me. it's a canned presentation. good evening, richard kurylo, legacy program business manager. sfgovtv, i have a powerpoint presentation. before you today are two applications for your consideration for the businesses to be included on the legacy business registry. the applications were reviewed by me for completion and submitted to planning department staff on july 10 for their review.

historic preservation commission heard the applications on august 1 and made positive recommendations to the small business commission. both applicants you have been provided a staff report, a draft resolution, the application, a case report from planning department staff, and a resolution from the historic preservation commission. there are copies on the table for the public. item 3-a is balance owe acafe. the business is a restaurant -- balboa cafe. the business is a restaurant that opened in 1913 despite a sign above the door that says 193. originally a working man's saloon with a saw defendant floor serving sandwiches in the corner. it's been operating continuously for 105 years in the cow hollow neighborhood. the business has become more sophisticated over the years.

in 1980, famous chef dangjerem tower came on for years helping to establish a proper bar menu. in 1986, gavin newsom's group being required the calf eye. the menuwas overhauled but still features the balboa burger. behind the mahogany bar, the bartenders still mix the featured like manhattans and martinis but still feature classic cocktails. the second is hayes street grill. it was established in 1979 in hayes valley whi hayes valley while davies hall was under construction. the restaurant was successful from the beginning, serving both lunch and dinner to the

performing arts and civic center communities. the business was founded on the principle of supporting local farmers, food producers and suppliers and presenting personal attention to its customers. in 1982, the grill expanded to the building next door. two of the founding parlt ners are still owners today, richard sander and patricia unterman who continue to operate hayes industrial grill. both businesses received a positive recommendation from the historic preservation commission. staff finds the businesses have met the three criteria to qualify for listing on the legacy business registry. there are two draft resolutions for consideration, one for each of the legacy business registry applicants. note that a motion in support of the businesses should be a motion in favor of the resolutions.

in the resolutions, please pay close attention to the core physical features or traditions that define the business. once approved by the small business commission, the businesses must maintain these physical features or traditions in order to remain on the legacy business registry. for balboa cafe, it's restaurant and bar, and for hayes street grill, it's restaurants. this concludes my presentation. i'm happy to answer any questions. i believe -- i know there are business representatives in attendance, and they may wish to speak to you on behalf of their application. >> commissioners, any comments before we go to public comment? all right. do we have any members of the public that would like to comment or representatives from the businesses that would like to comment today? come on up. don't be shy. is that you, lance? i saw you in the picture there, and i -- you know, i -- it feels unusual to be on this side of the wooden bar from

you. i have been to balboa cafe more times that i can even remember. no -- no comment, lance? nothing on behalf of balboa cafe? come tell us how long you've been there at least. you're not a legacy, but -- [inaudible] >> 20 years now at the balboa cafe, tending bar, and add it is a unique privilege to watch the comings and goings of this f fabulous city. it's a fabulous institution and great place and plate stop in and have some burgers with us. >> you have a -- and please stop in and have some burgers with us. >> anyone else?

seeing any further public comment, we'll turn it over to the commissioners. any public comment? >> through the vice president, just want to review the hayes street grill resolution. i think the physical features and traditions, we might have the wrong thing listed. so i just want to make note on the record to have it reflect what you presented. >> we have a cut and paste error? core physical features for hayes street grill, there's a restaurant. that's what i have in the resolution. is that what you mean? >> the draft resolution -- i have physical features and traditions that define the business, and then it has a -- looks like a listing of magazines or press that they were featured in, unless i --

>> okay. wait a minute. >> sorry about that, rick, but i just want to make sure that we don't have to come back for -- >> oh, okay. yes. yeah, that is -- those are -- i did copy the wrong set. that's the publications that they were in, so i can replace that with the bullet points from the h.p.c. >> okay. >> but the one right below that that says restaurant, that is correct. so we can note for the minutes. >> good catch. >> thanks for catching that. >> so just with the approval from the commission, just to note the amended -- or reflecting the correction for the resolution for hayes street grill. >> well, i will chime in on behalf of president adams.

i know he was instrumental on getting balboa cafe involved in the process of becoming a legacy business and on the registry. he was unable to be here today, but i'm here he would be very profuse in his beiaccolades fo the balboa cafe, in addition to the hayes street grill. these are great nutritions. any other comments? commissioner. >> i've been to both restaurants, and i like the food, and i like the service, so i might bump into you one of these days. >> some of the friendliest bartenders in town. all right. if there's no other comments, do i have a motion. >> i will move to approve both the balboa cafe and the hayes

grill. >> i second. >> okay. we have a motion -- >> i can just make sure we reflect the motion correctly with the amendment. >> with the amendment. >> with amendment to the bullet points on the hayes street grill. >> motion by commissioner yee riley, seconded by commissioner corvi. we'll do a roll call. [roll call] >> clerk: motion passes, 5-0, with two absent. >> awesome. [applause] >> thanks for coming out, lance. i don't go there on friday and saturday nights anymore, but if you're ever serving breakfast on sundays, that's when i go now with my wife. >> a lot's changed. >> yeah. all right. next item, please. >> clerk: item four, review and develop recommendations to

the small business and jobs executive summary. small business and jobs executive summary was created from a july 14, 2018 policy summit held by mayor breed. the office of small business is to provide the mayor with a set of recommendations. discussion and possible action item. >> so commissioners, just to, again, give context and format, so the mayor held a policy summit on many different topics, but one of them was small business and jobs. commissioner adams attended, and i also would like to just recognize sunshine powers -- sunshine, can you -- who is a hayes street merchant and also on the -- is it copresident of the hayes street -- vice president of the haight street merchants association. and sunshine or sunny presented

on behalf of the business community to the mayor on sort of the final priority. so i just want to make sure that if there's any questions about the summit and what was discussed, you also have sunshine here to be able to ask questions to, as well. so the context that we have been given direction from the mayor's office is -- and it wasn't individual tot office -- to the office of small business, but it was sent to the office of small business as well as other departments was to respond to the recommendations. so it is in essence, a majority of the response, if we were a regulatory agency, how would we address these concerns? but because we're not a regulatory agency, we don't necessarily oversee or regulate

many of the issues that were identified from the small businesses -- or that core -- that section, then -- but are there things that we could do or very specific recommendations that we can make to the mayor to -- and/or help sort of set some recommended priorities of things to address? so because the executive summary was what was sent out, it is to your prerogative as to whether or not -- and i've -- and for the public and for the commissioners, i've just -- i took a quick -- a quick attempt at sort of proposing ways in way the commission could set some recommendations. i hope -- i sent out the survey

from this. from this is what got condensed into the executive summary, so hopefully, you took time to be able to read the summary to also sort of pull items that you think are priorities but i think, you know, mr. vice president, if the best way is to -- what i did was sort of take a -- try to divide it up between small business and jobs and then -- small business and jobs. and then, what were the challenges, and then, a section on ideas and best practices. and so we could take it item by item? some of these items listed have some overlap as i see it, but as street improvement, maintenance, disruption, disrupting businesses, and then, also sfmta impacting access to neighborhood

corridors. so a couple recommendations that i, you know, have made is small business commission can draft resolutions requesting the mayor or the board of supervisors or departments to take action, and so that's one particular action that the commission and the office can do? a recommendation is also for the mayor to issue some executive directives. and so one -- an example of the fire item is requiring departments that are involved in infrastructure projects to include funding for construction mitigation in the project. also to include a directive to oewd and o.s.c. to develop some baseline in what should be involved in construction

mitigation. also, staging and contractor parking is always a big topic, so directing departments to work with their contractors in minimizing the amount of staging and parking taking up on our neighborhood commercial corridors. and then, you know, sort of taking a look at what has happened with central subway that if -- to bring in -- and this is an example. you're not obligated to adopt it. but if there is an error and a delay created as a result of a contractor's responsibility, that in the contract, there is a formula of which, then, they also need to pay into construction mitigation funds to help -- to help keep funding the mitigation efforts for those small businesses during

the extended time frame that is to, umm, complete the construction project. also, taking a look at the small business round tables, their summary of priorities, the office of small business can develop some recommended set of procedures for early engagement for the mayor to include in its executive directive and also to provide support for supervisors. and then, the last item under number one is small business commission can draft a resolution for presentation to the board of supervisors requiring that the county transportation authority staff to include -- excuse me, i didn't complete this -- in its budget construction mitigation funding. and the reason i have that in

there is in support of supervisors is the governing body to the sfmta. if the mayor executed an executive directive as to whether the transportation authority's mandated to follow that executive directive or takes it as an optional, so just to ensure that there's -- we're dealing with it on both sides. so i -- so i -- i -- i guess we can either go down bullet point by bullet point, and if there are ideas of which you think the office and the commission can take to deal with each item that's listed in the executive summary, we can do that. if you want to take public comment to hear some direction, we can do that, as well. >> yeah. i'll defer to the other commissioners. i don't know that it's necessary to go line item by line item if we just document

ought to the public right now, assuming we have all reviewed this, and we might want to make some recommendations about the content of this document, and if it has also been read by the public, there might be someone in the public that wants to make a recommendations about it. but i'll defer to the other commissioners, if you want to start some discussion about it. >> recommend we open public comment. >> all right. so why don't we open it up for public comment and we'll reserve our comments for after that. do we have any members of the public that would like to comment on this item? mr. cornell, welcome. >> thank you. >> steven cornell, counsel of district merchants. i would like to ask that you add a few things to this particular report that seems to be lacking. >> okay. >> about 1.5 years ago, maybe a little bit more, mayor lee

caused a conference or all day workshop amongst business leaders in san francisco and we came up with priorities that small businesses want or need into the city, and i think we should incorporate some of those. a lot of those are incorporated in the summary that happened, but one of them that's significantly not there is a seat at the table is something that we asked for for years that we're constantly not part of the whole city when it comes to legislation, any kind of requirement, a seat at the table would be something, and that is something that was universally adopted at that all-day meeting. the second thing is in our city charter, under transit first policy, the first part of it, it will read -- and i think it

should be added to this, also, and it's always neglected. it says, to ensure quality of life and economic health in san francisco, the primary objective of the transportation system must be the safe and efficient movement of people and goods. and i think that whole concept should be pushed again. it is in our charter, and it should be part of this summary that's given to our new mayor. thank you. >> thank you. do we have anyone else -- any other members of the public that would like to comment? mr. hague, welcome. >> scott hague, public merchants california. i would echo what mr. cornell said. number one issue, a seat at the table, and that has not changed. that's still a major issue, and

i think the commission should ask the mayor to ask the departments and the supervisors to go to the small business commission and look at the input on things that they're putting forth that affect small business. and ideally, the input should be while the policy is being put together, not after it's been finalized. one of the major complaints of small business is we're brought in late in the process. and you saw that with the fpla. and surprisingly enough on that, not a single supervisor brought that to the commission due to the efforts of regina, it came before the commission and others. but that should be something that the mayor should ask the

supervisors to bring this before the commission, before that type of -- well, certainly, before the commission, period, ideally, before policy is developed. the second thing is, and it was a recommendation, is buy local. and i'd like to see the commission recommend the buy local policy, working, obviously, with shop and dine, because it already exists, but expanding shop and dine and taking it to the point of encouraging employees to buy local and encouraging departments to buy local. as you all know, the numbers are very significant there, and the numbers of the city and assistance to businesses is really important, and

hopefully, the commission could recognize that. thank you. >> thank you. kevin. >> hello. everyone, my name is aaron estevel. i am a merchant in then park. -- glen park. i just saw the agenda this evening. i've been involved as a merchant in san francisco for many years now. just want to point out that a lot of our contractors are also small businesses, and make also along with recommendation, some consideration for l.b.e.s under chapter 14, i believe it is. and san francisco tends to be a bit punitive when they get extra powers on, you know, mitigation costs and things like that, so i just wanted to bring that up along with your guys's recommendations, okay? thank you.

>> thank you. >> hello, again, carlos gomez. hispanic chambers of commerce san francisco. i would more like to reiterate what steven and scott are saying in terms of participation. when we aren't on the menu, we aren't at the table. the most important is we have all representation from businesses and organization in anything that has to do with the creation or the support or the development for small businesses because the fact is that when it comes down to have people that may or may not have the expertise in writing contracts or incentives that will affect the economy of the small business, i think it's important to be sure that we are included in the process. i want thank you for the work that you're doing, the work that you're going to have

coming in, but i want to make sure you represent the small businesses organization. thank you. >> sunshine, come on up. >> >> hi, everyone. i'm sunshine powers. now that you know me, you can call me sunny. it's not easy to have businesses in san francisco. it used to be the easiest city to have a small business, and now it's the hardest to have a small business. and small business is a backbone of who we are as a city. the points that i touched base on at the policy summit were the following. we have an absurd amount of vacant storefronts here in the city. there only be $765 charge, you know, a year, to these

landlords, that's not okay. i highly recommend that the small business commission encourages the mayor to up this price instead of having it be a year fee, have it double after a certain amount of months and then double again, and maybe, also have you all work with people who are graduating from college who are interested in pop ups, if you want to see if they're into owning a small business so that we could fill some of these vacant storefronts, but also create another generation of strong business owners that can take this city into the future. being on the corner of haight and masonic, i've had eight years of road construction, every year, including five gas leaks during my busiest time. and again, all the road

construction happens in the three months that i normally make all my money in because i lose money in all the other months. why it is not -- why d.p.a. or m.t.w. doesn't work more with the merchants in the area is beyond me. and if m.t.a. or d.p.w. was a small business, i don't think they would survive with how they act. it's like they do one project, and then, they tear the whole street up again, and they do another project. it should be more concentrated. and since we do have the highest minimum wage but also the highest cost of living, i implore the small business commission to encourage when we're building this affordable housing that a percentage of it goes to people who work in the neighborhood to encourage small businesses to have employees,

to keep our costs down, do business better, and ensure that our businesses keep ongoing. thanks very much. >> thanks very much. >> hi there. i'm bob quinones. i'm the executive director of the counsel of merchant organization, and i also run the west portal merchants. we touched on a lot of -- i was on the policy transition team, as well, and we touched on a lot of great points. i just want to highlight activation in these merchant corridors, the way that stores are attempting to pull customers into their stores, we should be doing this on a street wide level as well, so as we all know, this is an

activity rich city. there's festivals every weekend, and we know what happens. it pulls people from one area to another. some corridors are doing this very well. others need help. the fact is we're not really getting a lot of help from the city. the fees that are assessed are really high. sfpd fees, m.t.a., bus reroute fees, they really affect our effectiveness, how to activate these neighborhood corridors, so i just want to put some attention on that, as well. thank you very much. >> thanks very much. do we have any other members of the public that would like to comment? >> my name is ryan. i wasn't planning on speaking, but i read that thing, and sunny, you inspired me. i'm on the san francisco board of democrats, and a few others.

i live in the castro, and it breaks my heart to see all these small businesses go out of business and then vacant for years. you guys are smarter and probably have heard this problem, but i just want to reiterate what she said and put my stamp of approval and, you know encourage you to address it. but. >> thank you very much. appreciate it. all right. someone out there hasn't said anything yet. all right. no other members of the public want to comment on this item? all right. seeing none, public comment is closed. commissioners, do we have comments? commissioner zouzounis? >> sure. thanks, everyone for your input, and it's exciting to see some of the democratic club be involved in this conversation because small business doesn't often have a lot of representation when -- in some of those electoral heavy bodies. so some stuff i want to add on

and comment and highlight. so it's -- you know, some of the summary talks about how san francisco small businesses need to be involved more in advocating for housing and other greater community projects. i think part of that is that we are involved, we just don't have p.r. around it, showing, you know, whether it's merchant groups sponsoring things, like internships or events or just the revenue from the taxes we pay and what those fund? so i would say that we need, you know, better p.r. to show the community involvement that small businesses work on. i like the highlight of better interagency collaboration with oewd and office of tax and treasurers office. i think brainstorming tools in which we can hold other departments accountable to the conversations we have around small business is something

that this commission can brainstorm so what kind of actual accountability tools for other departments involved in that conversation. more tech support for all business, that's something that's come up before, especially the immigrant owned, and little harder to reach businesses, how to involve themselves of on-line platforms, which ones to vet. i know in the convenience store industry, we're constantly being hit with scams, and there's, like, a lock of resources for how to deal with that. i was just talking to someone. there's an e.b.t. scam going around, so a lot of the stores that work with the federal government, e.b.t. systems, there's( there's predatory scams going on. i like the workforce small business connection resources for how to become a workers' cooperative, and i like that we identified areas of the workforce. you know, people who have

priors, youth, that sort of thing. i would like to see that paired with industries that those people are working in and how to support those industries because we don't really have a breakdown of -- trying to find the way that that was on. -- page that that was on. we don't really have a breakdown of the sector where those constitch -- oh, yeah, here it is, targeted communities closely aligned with communities identified by the office of economic and workforce development, so those communities, where are they already working, so how do we support that industry and make sure that that workforce doesn't become more vulnerable, i would like to do that. and i think that that's it for my comments. >> okay. any other commissioner comments? >> well, i agree with some of the speakers talk about, like, especially a seat at the table, they've been talking about it for the past couple of years.

and so far, i don't think we have a solution for that yet, so maybe that's something we need to work on. and also, the charter, i think that that's developed, but we should include it into our recommendation. >> yeah. maybe -- maybe some outreach -- as we get new supervisors, i think it's important for us to reinforce the reason that this commission exists and why it exists on, you know, because the voters approved it. and so it's -- their very constituents that we're here on their behalf and at their behest, and so we have an obligation to, you know, to recognize this commission and to do the things that this commission is here for, and that is review legislation prior to its enactment as to how it affects small

businesses. so it would help, as we get new supervisors, to have some kind of an indoctrination program, a new one, an orientation, why we exists. everyone knows why the planning commission is here, everyone knows why the ethics commission is here, but not everyone knows why the small business commission is here, so that could be something we could look into. >> through the vice president, so i -- in reading this, and this has also been an issue with the round table, as well, or something that was discussed and -- it's -- it's under, i think, item number nine in the first section, insufficient resources for technology needs for small businesses to develop efficient interactions with city agencies. so this could be a commitment

that this office can commit to or say that it will take a specific action on and what the time frame period is, but we have had some discussion around working with the tax and treasurer's office to identify alternate e-mails. so -- and this could be something that we work out with the tax and treasurer's office when a business registers so when that business registers, both the office of small business could send an introductory e-mail because i think a lot of times with the permitting and opening issues is there are many businesses that we still get engaged with but sort of down the road and say i wish i knew about you, so there's still an ample opportunity for our office to improve and increase its outreach to the business -- to newly opening businesses to make sure that they understand

and nknow what resources are here for them. so this could be one thing, a recommendation that we could make to the mayor. and then, of course, is the mayor knows about it and is supportive of it, then, we will get that much more support in making that happen. i also -- there's been -- there was lots of discussion around streamlining permitting and the engagement in the permitting process and communication, and so i don't think many businesses know about 49 vanness, which is going to be the new facility and offices for d.b.i., d.p.w., d.p.h. will have some resources there, the planning department. so many of those agencies are going to be in one building,

and on the second floor is going to be a -- one floor for all permitting for those agencies. so we're also going to -- the police department is going to be there, the office of small business is going to have a small seat -- excuse me, a small space there. d.p.h. is going to be there, the entertainment commission. so all the regulatory -- key regulatory agencies -- and fire is going to be there. so that's going to have a streamlining component. but what this also brought to mind is we're starting to discuss the technology that's going to be developed and established with 49 vanness is a need to ensure that it's integrated with the on-line business portal. you will be receiving, at the end of the year -- this has been delayed because the assistance that the portal team provided to the office of cannabis, but more applications

going on-line, being able to submit them on-line and pay for them on-line. and that integration with those agencies through the business portal. so if that's an interest to the commission, then, we can make that recommendation to ensure that it's a recommendation. we can't mandate the department of technology work to integrate, but if that recommendation is made to the mayor, then perhaps the mayor can make that. >> sure. that's a reasonable recommendation. commissioner ortiz-cartagena. >> sure. definitely i agree with everything. there should be some cultural sensitivity, because all small businesses, we're minority and we're fighting the same fight, but in my neighborhood in the mission, language is a barrier, culture is a barrier, and being sensitive to those neighborhoods in particular, or

in chinatown or any neighborhood, the city should have the obligation to know the culture and the community they're trying to serve, and the impact they're having. again, just like president dwight said, we are the voice of the small business, and for supervisors not to bring things to our attention prior to them seeing it, that's not cool. so definitely take this into account, letting the supervisors, like you said, president dwight, no what we are and what we're here for. and i guess the last thing is try again in this -- and everybody says it, everybody that's attended, but making sure that other departments don't operate in silos. if the sfmta has a project, make sure the d.p.w. knows because they have to have an impact. sometimes there's been studies when they do project, and they said yeah, there's going to be a loss of about 20% of small business, and that's not acceptable. they don't have to make payroll, they don't have to make lease payments, so they have to be conscious of that,

and that's what we're here for. >> any other commissioners like to comment? >> can i just -- >> commissioner zouzounis in. >> -- follow up on that? i think i agree and something that the community that i come from, sting operations and enforcement is an area of -- where cultural sensitivity needs to be part of the conversation, especially in light of immigration laws and the travel ban. i think a conversation with sfpd and department of public health. and we've had sting operate -- like, two sting operations or one sting within several months in which we have undercovers coming into my family's store, and we've had reports some other businesses that -- comments about people's religion have been made, so there's definitely complaints, and there's not really an avenue about how to make complaints around enforcement and cultural sensitivity

issues, so i'd love to have that be a topic, as well. >> any other commissioner comments? all right. so there was a discussion item. >> so commissioners, i also will be working with oewd to create recommendations to the mayor. so i will take your feedback, incorporate it, and then -- and then send you a set of recommendations. i -- in addition, i just would like to just hear -- also get a little bit of a response from you in terms of also making a recommendation for vacant storefronts. in addition to prices and things of that sort, i think the city needs to also

understand the cost of doing business is also preventing business expansion, as well, and the challenge of hiring people from some feedback that i've heard from other businesses, so they're choosing to expand outside the city and not within the city. and then, the other element, since we have it on our to do for the legacy business program in developing guidelines, we're first going to develop guidelines on how to do vertical divisions so that you can separate out the commercial space and the -- for mixed use building and the residential space in the t.i.c.s, but to also move into supporting commercial condos in the vertical subdivision so that we can condoize just the commercial space and not the

residential space. and incentives because as commissioner dooley has talked about for many years that there are long-term vacancies where the property owners just not choosing to rent the commercial space. so if we can develop some kind of incentive to help them go through those vertical subpositions and create commercial condos. >> okay. all right. great. so you will make the latest changes and updates and pass that onto the mayor's office. next item. >> item five, update and report. updates on the small business commission. updates on policies, announcements from the mayors and small business activities. >> thanks to all of you who came out tonight. thanks very much. >> discussion item. >> commissioners, i just have a very brief oral report.

so if we do not -- there's -- i just -- commissioner adams has question questioned this, whether we might want to have a meeting at the end of august. we do not have any legislation scheduled, and our next legacy business presentation is the first meeting of september, so i might be reaching out to you on that. so at one of the september meetings, we will be presenting -- i'll have rhea present to you a program that we are putting together from the a.b.e. from that additional $4 that we're collecting to help support small businesses that are being required to comply with the accessible business entrance program by their property owners, so we have some funding and -- from that $4 so we're developing a program that we'll be able to disburse that with which to

help our small businesses. and then, i have mentioned that we are relocating our offices from 110 to 140. i have now been given that november is the date that that is happening, so just to let you know that. and then, for our september meeting, we will be hearing three pieces of legislation. there's been some updates introduced from the department of public health around the massage regulations. supervisor tang has -- has introduced some new legislation, again, just focusing on district four to allow for flexibilile uses and multiple uses in business locations. [please stand by]

in the mission that is gentry find and all that, it's a good example. we highlight the negative, but it's a good example to highlight the positive and make money.

i wanted to give a shoutout to my kids at home, love you guys. [laughter] >> all right, there you go. >> get ready for bed! >> any other commissioners want to shout out to their families? all right -- i don't have anything to report. do we have public comment on commissioner's report? seeing none, public comment is closed. >> item 7, new business, allows commissioners to introduce new agenda items for future consideration by the commission . before they come to the commission, they are planning on having meetings with merchants. at least three of them. one in the mission, one in chinatown and one in the tenderloin.

they're contradictory pieces of legislation that is impacting the implementation of the ban on flavored tobacco. so there is going to be going back to the drawing board a little bit in those conversations. and one of the policy tools we need to think about is how to give the city the tool to buy back tobacco licenses. right now, there is a law that alcohol licenses, type 20, type 21 can be bought back by the city, but there is not the option for tobacco licenses. and also part of that conversation is how do we hold other departments accountable to this conversation because there is tangential fee schedules on tobacco, the department of public health and dpw are part of, and fee streamlining as a

mitigation is going to be another tool i think this body needs to brainstorm. so please keep in mind, i'm going to be part of those meetings and i would love support. the first one is planned at the end of the month. we can talk offline about that. second thing, new business, i would like there to be more information about how to prepare merchant or merchant organizations for potential rfps for the city. there is going to revenue from the sugary beverage tax and we should try to support merchant organizations to get some of that money. if there is a tool or workshop we can do or presentation, that would be awesome. >> president adams: does that involve lbe? no? >> commissioner zouzounis: they'll have to be registered nonprofit or entity of