tv Government Access Programming SFGTV October 27, 2018 3:00am-4:01am PDT
3:00 am
>> this is a regular meeting of the small business commission held on monday, october 22, 2018. the meeting is being called to order at 2:01 p.m. the small business commission thanks media services and sfgov tv for televising the meeting. members of the public, please take this opportunity to silence your phones and other electronic devices. public comment during the meeting is limited to three minutes perspeaker unless eyes established by the presiding officer of the meeting.
3:01 am
speaker are requested but not required to submit their names. please place speaker cards in the basket to the right of the lectern. speaker cards will be called in the order in which they were placed in the basket. initially, there is a sign-in sheet on the front table. sfgov tv, please show the office of small business live. >> 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 here 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 first top when you have questions about what to do next. you can find us on-line or in person here at city hall and best of all, all of our services are free of charge. the san francisco small business commission is the official public forum to voice your
3:02 am
opinions and concerns about policies that affect the economic vitality of small businesses here in san francisco. if you need assistance with small business matters, stall here with the office of small business. thank you. >> item 1, call to order and roll call. [roll call] >> mr. president, you have a quorum. >> great. thank you. next item, please. >> item 2, general public comment. allows members of the public to comment generally on matters that are within the small business commission's jurisdiction but not on today's calendar and suggest new agenda items for the commission's future consideration. discussion item. >> okay. do we have any members of the
3:03 am
public that would like to make comments on items that are not on today's agenda? seeing none, public comment is closed. next item, please. >> item three, recognition of peter kane, owner of body clothing. discussion item. >> okay. thank you, and commissioners, this is one of the fun parts of our job. and today, we're here to honor peter kane, owner of body citizen clothing in the castro. and to me, this is a very special day 'cause when i first moved to the city, and i started getting involved in castro issues in the neighborhood, peter dragged me and got me on the board and was bantering me
3:04 am
and pushing me. and we love peter. so i'll make this brief. on this monday, october 22, 2018, the small business commission is honored to recognize peter kane for his 29 years of business. peter's clothing stores have served as anchor businesses in the castro. peter served on the board of merchants castro for over ten years that included several terms as board vice president. peter continued his leadership by helping -- by serving on the membership committee and year-end holiday committee where the castro is known for its inmay fui infamous christmas tree and other decorations. he has established body clothing as a fashion icon store in san francisco. and one of the things that i want to mention about this, too,
3:05 am
is you know peter was the one that introduced children's clothing, women's clothing in the castro when there was no children's and women's clothing stores in the castro. and by changing up, that's why peter's store's continuing to thrive. it is this reason and many more that the small business commission is proud to recognize peter kane for his contribution as a businessman to the vitality of san francisco and the castro neighborhood. and i also have another proclamation here from supervisor rafael mandelman who could not be here today, but the san francisco board of supervisors recognized peter kane for his decades of service to the community as a merchant in the castro district. his businesses were anchor retail institutions which added to the vibrancy of the neighborhood and still do. for his work, the board of
3:06 am
supervisors extends its highest commendation and appreciation to peter kane of body and citizen clothing. so peter, on behalf of the san francisco board of supervisors, and the san francisco small business commission, come on up here. [applause] >> i want to give you these commendations, and thank you for everything that you've done to myself, the neighborhood. we have dan bergerac, president of the castro -- neighborhood castro merchants. dan, do you want to say anything here? >> peter on behalf of the board of castro merchants and the over 320 members of board of castro merchants, thank you for all of the efforts on our behalf. thank you for providing wonderful stores for the castro community to enjoy, and thank
3:07 am
you so much for all that you've done for the neighborhood. it's all appreciated, and it's all remembered. thank you. [applause] >> well, thank you for the honor. it's very much appreciated, and i love the castro. i've been there for 35 years, actually, because i worked for somebody else before i opened my own store, and i've seen a lot of changes, but i think we're in a good place, and i want to say thank you.
3:08 am
3:09 am
seeing none, public comment is closed on item number 3. next item, please. >> item 4, approval of registry business applications and discussion. action item. >> good afternoon, president adams, commissioners, office of small business staff. richard kurylo, legacy program business manager. sfgov tv, i have a powerpoint presentation. before you today are three
3:10 am
applications for your consideration for the businesses to be included on the legacy business registry. the applications were reviewed by me for completion, then submitted to the historic preservation commission on september 19 for their review. the h.p.c. heard the applications on october 17 and made positive recommendations to the small business commission. for each applicant, the s.b.c. has been provided a staff report, a draft resolution, the application, a case report from planning department staff, and a resolution from the h.p.c. there are copies on the table for the public. item 4-a is balboa theater. the business is a neighborhood theater that opened in 1926 in the outer richmond district. it was originally called the new balboa in order to distinguish it from a theater with the same name in the district.
3:11 am
in 1978, it was converted to a two screen theater. the current owners bought it in 2012. the theater shows a definition of first run films and classics. item 4-b is fireside camera. the business was founded as an independent proto store in the fireside district. in the 1970's, photography became more commonplace, so fireside studios added retail and changed the name to fireside camera. as a -- as retail became a larger part of the business, salespeople were hired, including jack shim in 1976,
3:12 am
edwinly in 1978, and spencer in 1984. item 4-c is house of bagels. the business opened in 1964 in the richmond district when there were no authentic bagels store in california. the recipe was brought here by sid nye chasey, a native new yorker. in addition to bagels, the bakery makes breads, cookie, and pastries. the curre all three businesses received a positive recommendation from the historic preservation commission. after reviewing these applications and the recommendations from h.p.c., staff finds the businesses have
3:13 am
met the three criteria to qualify for listing on the legacy business registry. there are three draft resolutions in consideration by the small business commission, note that a motion in support of the businesses should be a motion in favor of the resolution. in the resolutions, please pay close attention to the core physical features or traditions that define the business. once approved by the s.b.c., the businesses must maintain these physical features or traditions in order to remain on the registry. while balboa theater is theater, for fireside camera, it's camera store, for house of bagels, it's bakery featuring new york style bagels. this concludes my presentation. i'm happy to answer any questions. there are business representatives in attendance who would like to speak on behalf of the applications.
3:14 am
>> commissioners, do you want to go right into public comment? >> yes. >> i know that supervisor fewer is in the audience, so i'm going to call on you for public comment. thank you for the nomination. >> supervisor fewer: thank you. commissioners, so happy to be here today to represent two thriving businesses, small businesses in my neighborhood. first i'd like to speak about the balance bowl atheater. the balboa theater was constructed in 1926, and it has screened everything from silent films to modern classics for over 90 years. these small theaters, privately owned are now becoming more of a rart in san francisco than ever. i was raised in the richmond district and one by one have seen these theaters disappear from our neighborhood.
3:15 am
it has been an anchor for the corridor. i would also say another wonderful thing about the balboa theater, it not only serves the people in my district but all over san francisco that seek an experience of just a small family owned theater. and also, the balboa theater is very active in our merchants community. they host many fundraisers for nonprofits and so they're really institutionalized not only into our commercial corridor but throughout the whole richmond district, really supporting a lot of our nonprofits in our neighborhood. i strongly ask, respectfully ask that you grant them the legacy business award. another business that -- in my neighborhood that is being honored today or considered today is our wonderful house of bagels located at 5330 geary boulevard. i was raised in the richmond
3:16 am
district, and my own whichildre cut their teeth on bagels at house of bagels. they have a thriving business in other grocery stores, expanding their business to other retail outlets. it is a -- a real hub, i think the house of bagels, as we have seen bagel companies come and go in san francisco, the house of bagel has remained strong for one reason. they make a very, very good b e bagel. i request that these two businesses in my neighborhood be granted the legacy business because not only do i think they deserve it, but they are unique to not only san francisco but to the bay area. thank you very much.
3:17 am
>> thank you. the members of the public, anybody who would like to make comment on our three legacy businesses. come . >> my name is mike fuente, and i've owned the house of bagels for quite a number of years now. i also wanted to thank all the families of san francisco that have been coming to us for 56 years now, and it's always a great honor and privilege to hear from them, even when they're outside of san francisco and i meet someone from san francisco or from the city, and oh, i used to go there all the time approximate my parents and
3:18 am
stuff. like, thereat's a great thing t hear from all those people, in the richmond district, and keeping us to stay in business. so thank you, everybody, and thank you for the opportunity to be here. >> great. thank you. next speaker, please. >> hello. my name is adam bergeron, the owner of the balboa theater, with my wife, who couldn't be here today. it's been a pleasure to own the balboa theater and service the community and the city at large. thank you for this. i feel like the balboa is kind of what a legacy business is in this city. it's carried over from an olden time to a modern time, and
3:19 am
hopefully we're bridging the gap between modern amenities and kind of a nice, old time feel. we know our customers' names, we love our neighborhood, and we hope to support it for 92 more years to come. thank you. >> thank you. next speaker, please. >> my name is spencer pawn, and i'm one of the owners of fireside camera. rich did a very good job of talking about our stores. the only thing i have left to say is the retail brick and mortar business is very difficult now adays, especially photo, because you can go on-line and get things. it's been a very difficult time. we're just happy that the legacy program's considering us and think that it can help us in staying around because there's so few original san francisco camera stores left. there used to be tons, but in the last couple years, you saw
3:20 am
gassers close, you saw sf discount close. previous, there were those like the photo factory and such. it's just really depressing for us, but we'd like to thank you for giving us this opportunity. >> great. thank you. any other members of the public who would like to make a comment on item number 4, legacy businesses? >> my name is henry canilo. president of council of district merchants. these are the jewels of our city. these are the jewels that people want to come and see and enjoy. i think it's really fantastic that we have them, and we should have more of them. and help them sustain business, and i really, really am proud of them. i'm so glad you guys are around, and i hope you stay another 30 years. thank you. >> okay. any other members of the public?
3:21 am
seeing none, public comment is closed. commissioner dwight? >> i just want to thank all the business owners, and i especially want to thank supervisor fewer for her two nominations. it's an essential part of this process that the supervisors be nominating businesses, and so we encourage her to nominate more businesses and her fellow supervisors to nominate businesses on this district. we especially appreciate the work that you business owners go through in this process. i know rick is helpful, but much of the burden is on you, and i know that it is a lot of work to fill out these applications. it allows you to take some time to reflect on your history. as small biusiness owners, it's very rare that we get a chance to reflect on our history. so i hope going through this process left you with a document that you can share with your friends and family and appreciate for the next 30-plus
3:22 am
years, and pass onto your grandchildren, hopefully, so thanks very much for being here today. >> any other commissioner comments? do we have a motion? >> move to approve all three businesses as recommended by the -- by rick. >> second. >> motion by commissioner dwight, second by commissioner yee riley. roll call. [roll call] >> a motion passes, 6-0, with one absence. >> great. congratulations. [applause] >> next item, please. >> item 5, legacy business program marketing and branding. presentation, adoption of a legacy business program logo, and presentation of a legacy business marketing and branding program. discussion and action item.
3:23 am
presenter is osaki creative group. >> good afternoon, president adams and commissioners and everyone in attendance. my name is robert osaki, and we are very honored to presepresen the logo and also our branding design committee. first of all, i want to thank the san francisco small business commission for the opportunity given for us to work on such a great project. this means a lot to us.
3:24 am
branding review committee, regina, mark, rick, thank you for all your hard work and commitment over the last ten months. >> commissioner dooley. >> and commissioner dooley, i'm sorry. >> so today, we're going to present the process. robert's going to go over the process we went through over ten months. okay it's condensed because you guys don't want to go over our work, but it's a very good overview how we engaged the community, how we engaged the businesses, and ultimately how we came up with the logo that's going to represent all the great businesses here in san francisco, so i'm going to pass this onto robert riley to do the process and i'll unveil the logo. >> thank you for having us. as going over the background today it's just a little bit of the process that we go through with our general logo development. this was done with the committee, and we go through a six-day process on our brand development. one of the things that we always
3:25 am
start with whenever we're developing a brand is research. those cover our first two phases. we researched about the city of san francisco's culture and program goals with regards to the legacy business program. we researched on the -- all the businesses that were inducted into the legacy business program by researching out to them through some different surveys and interviews, moving forward through that. we then go through a design concept and direction development phase. that phase is where we work directly with the commission -- or the committee that was put together to kind of decide on what we're going to do and then how we're going to move forward. through that, we get feedback from the committee, and the selections, revisions, until our final direction was selected, and then after that, we're going to be providing the final logos
3:26 am
in all formats and files for not only the office of small business to use, but also the legacy businesses that belong to the program, as well. a bill lit how we approached our research was trying to get a better understanding of the legacy business program, the city itself. you can kind of see, we went through wihat the origin of the program was, what made the businesses unique, why the program mattered, who the program could affect, how the program would impact the city of san francisco, its culture, the history of the city, and kind of some of the design aesthetics from the city. and we used all of that to present the initial design concept. and what we did was in addition to kind of doing that initial research is we did send out 156 surveys to all of the legacy
3:27 am
business programs that were currently accepted into the program. that was back in february 2018, and we asked, you know, a series of 11 questions. i'm not going to go through all of them, but the main goal was to really understand the uniqueness that these businesses provided to the city and how they kind of affected what we were trying to develop and how to help represent these businesses because they're so diverse and so unique. i mean, even the three businesses that were shared today are, you know, very diverse businesses. it's not all just one type of business, so that was a really unique challenge that we had to over come and figure out, how to represent all of these businesses. some of the really great responses we got is that, one, a lot of the businesses -- every business said that they really appreciated the recognition and help from the city and being a part of the legacy business program. and then, the businesses kind of had mentioned in some key comments that, you know, they are long-standing pillars of the
3:28 am
community, and we really thought that that was a significant part to kind of build off of, as well. legacy business programs were looking for help from the legacy business program and how to create awareness, and so that's something we've been working with committee on, in not only the brand and logo, but some of the development phase that we're going to be helping out with. one of the big things they were also trying to do is not only communicate with tourists that are coming to the city, but residents of the city, as well, so we really wanted to find something that would resonate with both of those demographics. i think the legacy businesses really makeup the soul of the city, and i thought that was a great thing for us to kind of build off of as we move forward. we did interview ten very unique businesses in addition to the
3:29 am
3:30 am
. >> what we were able to do is come to a conclusion through working with that committee, and what i'm going to do is turn it over to kurt right now and he's going to go over the logo. >> so i got the fun part, the logo. you know, it's my pleasure and exciting to be unveiling the logo over ten months. a lot of people in the community and our design review committee, it's put a lot of effort, and so first of all, i want to talk about the inspiration, how we came up, you know, with this overview. it's about the history of the city, of course. the art, the deco, the architecture, and the influences of the san francisco, you know, the cityscape. all good brands and logos are
3:31 am
simplistic, bold, memorable, but also very timely. you know, we come up with keywords that we sort of follow throughout that process, and the keywords we came up with was diverse, colorful, historic, city, unique, and quirky. and that's what makes -- and that's what's great about san francisco, is the diversity of our city.
3:32 am
next element is the border, which is also like the badge, badge of quality which is known for distinction as a mark of achievement and membership. we felt the concept showed the city's willingness to protect the legacy businesses and representing legacy businesses achievement to see posted at their place of business. and what brought it altogether was the ribbon. the ribbon symbolize the city
3:33 am
and commitment to the leg aseize business. the color, the process we go through -- we go through a long process of color. the gold made sense. the color of gold symbolizes the 49ers. it also inspired the dome of city hall. gold is inherently tied to the origin, sewn in fabric of san francisco. the motion behind the gold is hopeful. so again, the gold also signals wisdom, courage, and passion. it symbolizes the optimistic courage it takes to start and
3:34 am
maintain a business. the commission, we're presenting the legacy business logo to you today, and we are very proud of the whole process and a lot of people were involved in it, and this is our logo that we're presenting that will represent all the great businesses here in san francisco. [applause] >> of course, it would be a symbol on different businesses, but you can just go through, i think, the applications such as retail bags. we're not saying these are things exactly, but just for visual purposes. banners, of course, window
3:35 am
identification. certificate, and, of course, plaques. thank you very much for your time today. >> okay. do we have any commissioner questions? commissioner dwight? >> well, no questions, just it w was -- well, this was a tremendous milestone. having this logo is the key to promoting this program. rick has done such a great job of bringing our first cohorts of legacy businesses into the program over the last two years, and this is really the milestone that allows us to start publicly promoting the program, and i'm really thrilled to be able to do that. and i want to thank my fellow commissioner dooley for participating in the process, and you know, as well as -- as our executive director dick
3:36 am
andrizzi. also our colleagues in the office of small business and other offices and diane matsuda. takes nine months to have a baby, we took a little longer to have this one. but the out come is tremendous, and i want to thank robert and his team who helped us bring it all together. this is a really excising milestone, so thank you. >> thank you, commissioner. >> do we have any other commissioner comments? commissioner dooley? >> i also just wanted to say thank you for your patience with us as we went round and round on all different ideas and projects, but i think you really listened to us, and we came up with really the ideal logo, so thank you so much. >> thank you so much, commissioner. >> any other commissioner comments before we go to public comment? >> and just 18 more years before my business can be one.
3:37 am
>> okay. do we have any other members of the public who wish to make comment on item number 5? seeing none, public comment is closed. okay. this is an action item. do we have a a motion. >> move to approve the logo as presented? >> second. >> motion by commissioner dwight, seconded by commissioner dooley. we'll do a roll call. [roll call] >> motion passes, 6-0, with one absent. >> great. thank you. >> thank you very much. >> and i also want to express my thanks to commissioners dwight and commissioner dooley and commissioner dick endrizzi, and rick, and everybody with sf heritage and oewd. this was definitely a group effort, and i want to just thank everybody. everybody was on the same page with the final, and that's
3:38 am
awesome, so thank you everybody. >> and rick, yeah, thank you. you did a fantastic job of taking us through this process. >> thank you. >> thank you very much. >> thank you. next item, please. >> oh, we can applaud that. [applause] >> item 6, it's a basis long to please bear with me. board of supervisors file number 180912, police and health codes. regulation of cannabis businesses. ordinance amending the police code by making a number of changes in the regulation of commercial cannabis activity -- >> oh -- >> -- including, among other things, one, defining ownership interest in a cannabis business, two, modifying the cannabis equity incubator program requirements, three, extending by one year the possible duration of a temporary cannabis business permit. four, authorizing the director of the office of cannabis to issue cannabis business permits to medical cannabis dispensaries
3:39 am
forced to discontinue operations due to a no-fault lease termination before december 31, 2018. five, modifying the order in which the director may review and process cannabis business permit applications. six, requiring cannabis business permit amendments when a change in ownership results in a decrease in equity applicants ownership interest. seven, revising cannabis business permit application requirements. eight, requiring khanna business businesses to comply with all permit conditions whether or not they are currently engaging in the permitted activity. nine, modifying the amount of khanna business th cannabis business that may be delivered or sold to a customer. and reducing from four to three the categories of commercial
3:40 am
activity required to operate as a cannabis microbusiness, and amending the health code by extending by one year the date on which article 33, medical cannabis act, expires by law. discussion and action item. presenter is nicole elliott, director of cannabis -- >> director elliott, just one moment. >> commissioner dooley? >> i'm going to reaccucuse myse. i am very involved in the cannabis industry. >> this would be for item number 6 and 7. >> right. >> okay. so might as well ask for a recusal for both items. >> i move that you be recused from items six and seven.
3:41 am
we do an all in favor. >> all in favor? [voting] >> you're recused. >> welcome. >> nicole elliott, director of office of cannabis. it has been almost a year since this legislation was -- became effective. in that time, we have accomplished a lot of things, and we have a lot yet to accomplish. what this legislation reflects is some revisions to article 16 based on our experiences implementing the article -- the article thus far. it is currently sponsored by the mayor, cosponsored by supervisor mandelman and cohen. i'm going to walk you through
3:42 am
the high spots of it, and then open it up for questions. so just quickly, the administrative requirements that we're looking at refining, and you should have an f.a.q. in your packets, administrative requirement, changing the -- refining the definition of owner to clarify that an entity, is considered a person for purposes of disclosure to our offices to the point of clarification further clarifies that all owners, including the individuals that may be part of an ownership entity must be fingerprinted for the conviction history review portion of the application. clarifies that applicants must have a business account with our tax collector at the time of application and this is in large part we we have a digital application that is pulling information from our tax collectors database. it removes some duplicative requirements, clarifies some
3:43 am
requirements around the community outreach strategy, and further clarifies requirements related to an applicant's financial interest. we have, since the beginning of this year, been implementing the city's equity program, and based on that, we are requesting additional changes be made to the equity program to further strengthen an equity individual's participation in this program, so it adds a definition for ownership interest to make it very transparent and clear to investors what we expect when it comes to defining ownership interest and what we believe that equity applicant is due as part of this legislation. further, it requires a permit amendment if an equity applicant will see a dilution -- [inaudible] >> provide to us the terms of
3:44 am
that saille or dilution. it restructures the permit criteria and prioritization process based on things we have seen and speerpsed thus far. first, one example is it creates another eligibility category for existing m.c.'s and temporary permit holders who are losing their leases due to no fault of their own. we are seeing this in a couple of circumstances again both on the retail side as well as the temporary permit side, those applicants who came in through or am nesty process, so it allows him to find a new location and apply in a temporary process through next year. further, it revises the processing conformity to allow
3:45 am
those operators forced to shutdown, moved them to third priority after our equity applicants and equity incubators. you'll recall preexisting nonconforming with those who came in through or amnesty process, they agreed to shutdown their locations because of where they were located or what they were doing would not comply with the regulations. at the end of the day is it takes everybody who's not in operation and it moves them to the top, and then, it keeps our existing industry functioning on temporary status as we move in -- those operators were not operating into operation first. finally, and most timely, no pun intended, it extends some timelines so that we can see our existing industry continue to operate on a temporary status. so it allows for the extension
3:46 am
of temporary permits through the end of next year versus the end of this year, it extends the time frames by which we may extend temporary permits from 90 days to 120 days. just as background, my office is extenting about 200 permit -- extending about 200 permits on a rolling basis. [inaudible] >> this is an extraordinary amount of administrative work that's being done behind the scenes to ensure compliance, and we would like to just lengthen those time frames from 90 to 120 days from temporary permits to m.c.d.s. it extends article 33 one more year to align the temporary permit extensions through the end of next year, and finally there's a provision in article
3:47 am
16. it's moved this to september 30 -- no later than september 30 of next year to allow recommendations to be informed by at least a year's worth of data. just to give you guys some context to why these permit extensions -- i'm sorry, timeli timeline extensions are being requested, this gives you a visual of the applications that are pending before our office right now. you can see we have 263 locations that are seeking 401 permits. and that is a lot of permits so with that, i'm happy to answer any questions you may have about this or any other questions about the trailing legislation. >> thank you for being on top of it, too, and this is not easy.
3:48 am
>> questions? >> no, simile, it's uncharted territory, and it looks like you're doing a great job of navigating us through the muddy waters. >> my job is massive, and it's a challenging one. >> you are tackling something that we are in uncharted territories, and i really -- i'm going to open this up to public comment. rick has a stack of cards here.
3:49 am
3:50 am
pain for past several years, and i've been -- need my medical marijuana to help me out with my pain. i was -- [inaudible] >> thank you. next speaker, please. >> i'm here on behalf of access love who i've been working with for about four years now, and i don't understand or i'm not up to par, i don't know what's going on with the cannabis here or not, but i would just like to ask and was very appreciative that you guys would consider to keep the program going to where whatever businesses are discarding of cannabis are still good, people who can't afford it for medical, medical, mental reasons. that's all. >> thank you. next speaker, please.
3:51 am
>> hello. my name is george ann ross. i'm a member of access of love and a san francisco resident. it's a pleasure to be here with my fellow city residents in our historic and beloved city hall. i moved to san francisco in part because of its reputation in part for openness and acceptance. as i see the intent of prop 215 diminished by the emergence of retail sales, i wonder why are we no longer accepting the most disadvantaged among us. the intent of 215, which was passed in 1996 was that the most in need of medications were not forced to go to unreputable
3:52 am
businesses. do we plan to put profit over people in this city? after working here as a paralegal and software q.a. engineer in the late 90's, i moved home to do cancer care giving for my elderly father in virginia for a few years. i cooked for him, took him to appointments, arranged his medication and so on. besides the pain discomfort he experienced as a result of having cancer, and enduring radiation and chemotherapy treatments, he also had severe arg argumentati arthritis in his back.
3:53 am
he took numerous medications. i know because i gave them to him. what a difference if i could have just given him a jaoint fo the pain in his back. california is a leader in this nation for innovative responses. small business relies on tourism, right, these legacy businesses we're talking about. make some of their profits off of the tourists, so why not include medical patients in that tourist recruitment? why should it only be the tourist industry that gets attention now. i myself am a cannabis patient for various reasons, and i just want to thank you for the opportunity to speak today. >> thank you. [please stand by]
3:56 am
programmed thing, so those kinds of patients need a place where they can go and commune with one another. that is human nature wanting to get together and share and just have a place to be so, you know, we need the compassion of programs to be able to continue here in san francisco and also to set up three or four places that low income patients can go and just be, medicate and get service. thank you. >> thank you. neck speaker. >> good afternoon. i'm the executive director of access with a love. it is a pleasure to speak before you. i will take off where we left off the last time we spoke before your commission which was about a year ago. i want to thank you, from the depths of my heart for including , in your recommendations commit -- compassionate care as a priority
3:57 am
unfortunately, we are not a priority and we are -- we are looking at a crisis in compassion. the state has vetoed a compassionate care bill that came through. it was basically a corporate welfare. it did not do anything for the current 5-7 standalone compassion programs that are historic. we talk about legacy today. these are compassion programs that go back over a decade that are now forced underground. we have patients not being able to afford their medication and turning to the streets. because opioids are actually now more affordable for pain then cannabis. i feel like we have lost our direction and our compass. while there is nothing that we disagree with with what is being presented today, it is what is not being presented. it is what is not moving forward
3:58 am
that is a horrible situation because it is at the heart of the matter. before the passage of prop 64, i took the risk of going onto the evening news and saying that this would, indeed, shut down compassionate programs. i am living through the worst i told you so i have ever lived through in my life. compassion programs have been shut down and patients are without access. this is the whole reason why all these 200 plus applicants are here, because patients fought for this and now we are told we are not part of this. so that needs to be considered in the equation of equity. in what lingo that is out there is called weed reparations. we are at the heart of weed reparations. the disabled communities of san francisco and we need to ask you today for the small business
3:59 am
commission did not let this leave this commission without your emphasis on patients as a priority and we would like to work with, in particular, the small business commission and the office of cannabis, i am getting these 5-7 programs a temporary permit as soon as possible. thank you. [applause] >> thank you. denise w. is here. victoria wong -- >> dory. my name is denise dory. i am a member of access of love. i am a 60 -- 63 years old and i am a oakland native. i am down in the bay area all my life. it cost me ten dollars a pound to grow this cannabis weed outdoors. it is a 5,000% markup. it is all profit. i'm not counting if you already own the property.
4:00 am
it can empower us instead we live in poverty trying to afford it. my cousin spent hundred $27,000 on products because he had a rare heart condition. he was bleeding from the mouth. practically every day. sometimes it was a lot of blood and sometimes it was a little. if he smoked hash, which was expensive, he had to have to watch what little blocks -- boxes a day to stop the blood. when he ran out of money, i had to help him. i only got 400 spending dollars a month. i had to help him afford the dispensary weed. the v.i.p. weed to. even before prop 64 it was too expensive. he spend 120 grand on dispenser products over a ten-year period. we couldn't afford to go anywhere together to enjoy the rest of his life. we couldn't afford to go anywhere to do anything fun. and he -- cannabis concentrate
81 Views
IN COLLECTIONS
SFGTV: San Francisco Government Television Television Archive Television Archive News Search ServiceUploaded by TV Archive on