>> >> clerk: supervisor safai. >> supervisor: aye. >> clerk: supervisor stefani. >> supervisor: aye. >> clerk: supervisor walton. >> supervisor: aye. >> clerk: supervisor chan. >> supervisor: aye. >> clerk: supervisor haney. >> supervisor: aye. >> clerk: supervisor mandelman. >> supervisor: aye. >> clerk: supervisor mar. >> supervisor: aye. >> clerk: supervisor melgar. >> supervisor: aye. >> clerk: supervisor peskin. >> supervisor: aye. >> clerk: supervisor preston. >> supervisor: aye. >> clerk: there are 11 ayes. >> supervisor: thank you, without objection the resolutions are adopted. madam clerk please call item 37.

>> clerk: resolution commending michael p kelly for his decades fs to the city of for instance and wishing him well in his machine deserved retirement and to declare march 10 mike at p. kelly day. >> supervisor: he is retiring from his role in the department of public works. he was born and raised in district 7. he graduated from reardon high school and subsequently began working as an asphalt worker and promoted repeatedly and became a superintendent of street prepares and he was accident

free for 25 years. mr. kelly has give jon back to the community with more than just streets. he organized the annual toys for tots program for 10 years and even dressed as santa claus to distribute clothes to young cancer patients in hospital. he'll be missed by his friends and co-workers at the dpw and i'd like the board of supervisors to honor mr. kelly for his leadership service and dead cake to the city and -- dedication to the city and congratulations on your retirement. >> supervisor: i'd also like to be added to the resolution as well. with that said, madam clerk, please call for item 37. >> clerk: supervisor roanen. >> supervisor: aye. >> clerk: supervisor safai.

>> supervisor: aye. please, add me as well. >> clerk: supervisor stefani. >> supervisor: [no audio] >> clerk: stefani absent. supervisor walton. >> supervisor: aye. >> clerk: supervisor chan. >> supervisor: aye. >> clerk: supervisor haney. >> supervisor: aye. >> clerk: supervisor mandelman. >> supervisor: aye. >> clerk: supervisor mar. >> supervisor: aye. >> clerk: supervisor melgar. >> supervisor: aye. >> clerk: supervisor peskin. >> supervisor: aye. >> clerk: peskin. >> supervisor: aye. >> clerk: supervisor preston. >> supervisor: aye. >> clerk: supervisor stefani, were you able to join us? >> supervisor: yes. aye. >> clerk: there are 11 aye.

>> supervisor: without objection the resolution passes unanimously. madam clerk, please call item 38. >> clerk: >> clerk: a resolution supporting california assembly bill no.367 and urge the either -- ethiopian to allow access for humanitarian age and urge the united nations to take a full and independent investigation into the atrocities and provide efforts to protect civilians in the region and address the humanitarian crisis.

>> supervisor: this addresses humanitarian crisis in tigray. i want to give updates. there's a big community here in san francisco and in the bay area are hurting and called attention for the crisis. in addition to the suffering of those in tigray the community here in the united states in the bay area suffered from media, internet, phone and electricity blackouts in tigray that have connected them from the region leaving them unable to reach their family and friends even amidst reports of widespread human rights violations, killings and displacement. after we introduced the legislation last week we hosted leaders to help give a platform to the voices and heard in excruciating detail what the community is going through.

the very next day the new york times obtained and reported on an internal u.s. government report showing quote, ethiopian officials and militia are leading a systemic campaign of ethnic cleansing in tigray in northern ethiopia, closed quote. things are developing fast and getting worse. on monday the u.s. requested that ethiopian and others pull out of tigray and the request was refused when we asked why the resolution of a corner of the united states was significant they said the same thing that so many marginalized communities have said that san francisco leads the way when it comes to coming to the defense of the oppressed and forging new paths forward and i want to

thank many other members of the bay area and community for working with our office for sharing their stories for their courage and for inspiring others to learn and to act. my district is home to many in the san francisco ethiopian community including a well known tigrayan businesses all touched by this crisis and i want to thank my co-sponsors, supervisor walton and haney and melgar. thank you for your co-sponsorship and urge all cleg -- colleagues to support as well. >> supervisor: thank you. madame clerk please call the roll on item 38. >> clerk: [roll call]

>> clerk: there are 11 ayes. ? thank you, madam clerk. without objection this resolution is adopted unanimously. madam clerk, please call item 41.

>> clerk: [reading ordinance] >> supervisor: supervisor peskin. >> thank you. i'll make a motion to refer this supplemental to the committee for more discussion and look forward to hearing a presentation from the comptroller about some of the changes proposed. i want to briefly explain the resolution and refers the authorization from may of last year to streamline covid related government contracts during the public comment is closed. it was written to make sure the mayor and department could respond to the uncertainties and the emergencies of the public

comment is closed. the 35th supplemental has cove contracting an revises the original authorization to eliminate the requirement that such contracts be submitted to the mayor and the board and waving the requirement of sufficient contracts be submitted to the commissions overseeing the department. the supplemental also allows approval and advanced waiver for covid related contracts and allows the comptroller to adopt short term contract unrelated to covid response without competitive solicitation. i spoke at length about this

with our comptroller and i appreciate his time in looking forward to learning more about what has been approved and trying to understand the reasons for the revisions to the process that are before us and my staff has been in contact with the mayor's office and the controller and spoke with president walton as well as and heard no opposition to proceeding in this fashion to have it in committee before the board acts. i also want to make clear i reached out to the city attorney and confirmed sending this to committee will not impact the exercise of powers under this supplemental which is in full force and affect until this board take action and that will not change by virtue of us

hearing this in committee. i also want to make clear by sending this to committee i am not in any way stating that there are problems with the policy set forth in the supplemental or suggesting there's been abus of -- abuse of the powers of the supplemental but instead as we enter into year two of this crisis as the chair of government audit and oversight committee, i want to ensure we have solid policy in place it prevent contract and abus and looking forward abuse and looking forward to the discussion in committee with the mayor's office and comptrollers and my colleagues to better understand how the emergency power has been used during the public comment is closed and the reason for the proposed changes and ask it be referred to tto.

>> supervisor: you don't need to make a motion.changes and ask i to tto. >> supervisor: you don't need to make a motion.reason for the pr and ask it be referred to tto. >> supervisor: you don't need to make a motion.for the proposed k it be referred to tto. >> supervisor: you don't need to make a motion.the proposed chan be referred to tto. >> supervisor: you don't need to make a motion.proposed changes referred to tto. >> supervisor: you don't need to make a motion. >> supervisor: professor peskin. >> i'd like to associate myself with the words. >> supervisor: so noted. we'll move item 41 to the first opportunity to be at gao. thank you with that, madam clerk. >> clerk: i -- >> supervisor: i wanted to associate myself with the comments of supervisor preston. i really appreciate you taking the leadership and in your role as the chair taking a deeper look at it.

a year in makes sense and appreciate you for doing this. thank you. >> supervisor: thank you, supervisor ronen. with that said, madam clerk, i believe we have no imperative agenda items. >> clerk: that's correct. we've disposed of all the items on the agenda. >> supervisor: read the in memoriam. >> clerk: today's meeting will be adjourned of the following beloved individual on behalf of supervisor walton for the late miss tina crinnen and for the late dr. cesar churchwell. >> supervisor: thank you, i plofe -- believe we have no more business and seeing no other business and in honor of the kickoff of women's month i leave you with a quote, a third

generation japanese woman and congress woman of hawai'i. we have to build things we want ib our life and country based on our own personal experiences. to make sure that others do not have to suffer the same discrimination. it is enough to be consistent with the majority but it's more often more important to be ahead of the majority and this means being willing to cut the first in the ground and stand alone for a while if necessary. as there are no further business, this meeting is adjourned. e of violation

of their j.a.m. permit. that happened, cafe envy. next up is dawn pizza. this business has been out of compliance with their j.a.m. permit and they are operating outside of their approved hours. amplify sound and entertainment can happen for six-hour period of time each day. they were issued notice of violation originally on the 12th of february.

then we received another sound complaint and we discovered that they were still operating outside of their approved j.a.m. hours. we did issue a citation for this. hopefully the business is willing to comply moving forward. i would like to bring to your attention scope davino. they have a gym permit. we have been receiving sound complaints from a neighbor. we've been receiving sound from them for a number of months. the inspector respond to this sound complaint over the

weekend. he took a sound measurement in realtime and the band was in compliance with their j.a.m. permit. there are no violations of the j.a.m. permit observed at that time. i think it's important to briefly set the stage or paint the picture of what is occurring in this situation. letting know that scope of davino's owner has been very willing and eager to comply with the j.a.m. permit condition amaking concession to try to mitigate concerns of the neighbors or the neighbor about the problem that's being expressed. the owner has been making concessions. they have rearranged the location where the band perform. they are conscientious of their time. they log their own sound limit. they have their own sound meter. they are monitoring their sound

levels. i think it's important to note that the neighbor does have wishes may not be able to be accommodated as far as what j.a.m. permit allows. six hours of amplified entertainment everyday of the week. scope davino doesn't have that. they are utilizing up to six days. there was a gap in the health order which allowed entertainment to occur prior to j.a.m. permit existing. the neighbor has expressed concerns that scopea davino was out of compliance. we didn't have a permit in place to manage -- search the j.a.m. permit was allowed to be applied for, they try to come in

compliance. if you have questions, we can talk about that. i wanted to brief you on this situation and let you know that's something that we are working on as easy stuff. last business that i like to mention is curio, they are being creative in their outdoor programming and looking really cool. we did get a sound complaint about their show last week. we will be working with them moving forward. that might be on the docket. that's all that i have. i know it's a lot of information and i'm happy to answer any questions if there are any.

>> when you get the j.a.m. permit, do you send is sound limit right away or is it determined? >> good question. with the j.a.m. permit right now the standard language and this is very much subject to change, the standard language is that the business is to be at ambient sound level from 50 feet away. there's a lot of variables. it might be less than 50 feet or if there's no neighbors around, it could be much further than 5. that's just a general sound limit that we're giving. >> it's like the majority of j.a.m. permits have that limit. it's not until we start getting complaints that we figure out what the bigger scenario might be. for context, pre-covid, what's listed in code around outdoor amplified sound is limited so it

doesn't exceed ambient at 250 feet. so much farther. just for perspective, 50 feet is like a cross -- if you have your speakers here and it should be at ambient from across the street on a regular side street. >> basically, until you get a complaint, that's when you set a limit for them? >> potentially more specific one either with like db level or we're saying you can go up to -- for example, the midway. they don't have neighbors there. for example, the chapel or curio kaitlyn mentioned. they want to start having live entertainment performances where there's an actual band four times a month. we're looking into conditioning

that permit administratively with louder sound limit for those special events to accommodate it. it's kind of a dance. you have to figure out what works between the permitholder and the neighbor. i think kaitlyn and the inspectors are doing a fabulous job. >> president bleiman: it seems to be quite a bit of work. i'm just hoping in the future we get to keep this thing. i'm going even after covid. i'm just wondering -- i guess it will evolve as it comes. >> we'll have updates for you in forthcoming meetings about shared spaces pain where that's going and how we plug in. you'll learn more. there are things that are happening. we are discussing how we can

potentially move forward. >> president bleiman: okay, thank you. good job. any more questions? i have questions about scopedavino, can you remind me how many time times we've gone out to visit? >> this year we've been once. the complaints -- the responses we were making were pre-december shutdown. i would say about probably three to five times that we were out there and witnessed in compliance. >> every single time they've been in compliance? >> correct. >> president bleiman: we have a limited amount of resources in

lot of places. at what point we'll find somebody in compliance over and over again? do we have a official policy on that? >> we don't. it's challenging. it's been case-by-case. there's been issues with precovid where this is the case. you visit numerous times and you're able to prove that the venue is in compliance but there's still mediation problems. at some point you may hear from a neighbor at a hearing. we go out three times in a row

for complaints. they're in compliance but there's sound limit each time. you tend to scale it back. but that doesn't mean you're not going to hear from the other party involved. >> that make sense. i wondered if -- it sound like they're in compliance. i wonder if -- i'm sure you're in communication with that finished. -- neighborhood. personally, i edon't want to speak for commissioner falzon. we had issues like this before. from a police standpoint after a few calls that result in nothing. they divert the resources elsewhere. i like to see our resources used in places that need it because

there's so much going on in the city now. i want to go on the record saying after five visits within compliance responding to a complaint as far as i'm concerned, there's much better use of that. >> it's also just beyond that. if we brief you as a commission and you believe -- if you want to bring a certain permit to hearing regardless of compliance, you have the ability to do that with these j.a.m. permits just as a reminder. you have the ability to call upon me to bring a permit in for potential reconditioning. we really try to handle things with mediation. this neighbor has expressed they don't like the level of the sound. they don't like the bands that are playing and it's the same three bands that play. they don't like the frequency.

the j.a.m. permit allows for seven days a week s. hours a day. they maybe using it six days a week, 36 hours a week. that's the only place i could see potential reconditioning if that's what the commission wanted. we're trying to maximize business ability to offer entertainment during the emergency. >> just to clarify on the j.a.m. permit, they are eligible for six days a week but only in three-hour increments per day. they're not utilizing the full six-hour time frame. that's allowable under the permit. it's just for three hours a day everyday but monday. >> from 6:00 to 10:00 p.m. >> it's tuesday through thursday 5:00 to 8:00, friday 6:00 to 9:00, saturday and sunday 4:00 to 7:00.

>> okay. i'm going to leave my opinions at the door. [laughter] >> it's not an agenda item. sounds like they're in compliance to me. >> you can absolutely discuss it in the realm of enforcement though. >> sound like they're in compliance for me. businesses are struggling for their lives now. three hours a day small price to pay to help a business survive. that's my personal view. any other questions? is there any public comment on the deputy director's report?

>> clerk: i'm checking the chat. there's nobody with their hands raised. >> president bleiman: thank you very much deputy director. next agenda item is number 5, which is update on the city's economy from ted egan. the chief economist with the office of the controller. >> good evening commissioners. it's my pleasure. i'm going to try to share my screen. i have a brief presentation on the current state of the city's

economy. i'm going to cover the items that i think interest to this commission for which we have data. i know that's less than the number of things you wish to ask about. feel free to ask me anything you want. i may tell you we don't have the data. i do want to walk through about the current state of the city's economy and in particular, your industry. if that's coming through, i want to start with our highest level indicator how the city labor market is doing. weapon only have data through december of last year. there's a bit of delay in 2021.

we'll get january data soon. the data shown is we had huge drop in jobs. roughly half of those jobs were back as of december. the regional unemployment rate went from 2% to north of 12%. it went down for most of the months following april. there was an uptick in december as well as a drop in jobs in december associated with the second wave. i would expect january numbers come in, we will see job growth again. i think we're going to continue to see job growth until the end of the pandemic. one of the major features of the shock in terms of the structure city's economy is how it affects

high wage versus low wage workers. the blue line is the professional services sector, one of the largest sectors in the city. its monthly job total is percentage of where it was last january before the pandemic. as you can see, it experienced a fairly mild drop of about 5% by december 2020 that industry completely recovered. the restaurant sector lost about 70% of the jobs in april and had only recovered to about 60% of the pre-recession total. which means 40% of the jobs in the restaurant were still lost as of december. this is the city industry that's most sensitive to changes in the

public health control. in october, when there was a reopening, there's 6000 jobs added in that sector. they were lost again more than that were lost by december. we have a limited ability to look at industry detail within the entertainment and nightlife sector. essentially we got two sources of employment data. one of which comes out every month. it's for two counties and doesn't have lot of industry detail. the one that has lot of industry detail for san francisco, we don't have data on that yet. this is what we have that's current. the blue line here, this whole sector is called arts entertainment and recreation. the part that's most relevant is performing arts and venues. that sector has not seen recovery at all. unemployment there is still down more than 60% from the

pre-pandemic period. other major elements of nightlife are obviously restaurant businesses. we have detail on that. as i mentioned before, both full service and limited service. eating places have seen some recovery but that recovery lags into end of the year given the increase to covid case load that we saw and the additional shutdown at the end of the year. i want to take a step back and provide some more city wide economic context. the pandemic is a global phenomenon every city in the country suffered economic shock because of covid. san francisco economy done worse than other cities. one of the reasons is that san francisco residents are staying home. there's data from people cell phones from global mobility that shows how much people are

spending out the home compared to 2019. it shows that san francisco more than any other city, people are staying home. you're not out shopping and you're not out at the venues and doing other things outside. there's bigger economic visit there associated with taking the public health guidance seriously. many hotel occupancy is down. we've lost -- office workers are staying home. the downtown sales tax data showing loss about 70% year over year. not much recovery there. this issue that i'm raising on this slide is something that's san francisco specific. that is health migration.

there's been a number of journalist made clear that information act request to the post office to find out how many people are moving in and out of san francisco. this is the story from couple of weeks ago. at least 35,000 more people have moved out of san francisco in 2020 compared to 2019. it's not a number of people moving in that's left, it's the number of people moving out. we clearly seen little bit of an emptying of the city. i think these numbers could be on the low side. we could be -- we could have lost 5% to 10% of the city population. right there, in addition to all the other factors in consumer spending, we have a smaller population than we had at the start of the pandemic. this is also showing up in apartment rents. san francisco seeing biggest drop in apartment rent that's

tracked by the major rent brokers. this is data from apartment list. the good news, i guess, by january and now we have february in hand, we're starting to see little bit of recovery. february had a small increase over january. january is left over from december. we may have hit bottom in the apartment market and then that is going to be very closely tied to the migration data. when we get more migration data, we'll see people stopped moving around end of the year and now the question is, how long until we see a recovery? we have some additional data on small business closure rate. this is additional data from the opportunity incites through the harvard. it's coming from a credit card processor or payment processor. they're looking at the number of

businesses who aren't making payments, registering electronic payments compared to the year before. this is done across the country. san francisco is again relatively worse than other cities. at least in the hospitality business, is worse than others and not really showing sign of recovery. still down around two thirds of businesses not open or not making payment compared to the pre-pandemic period. i wanted to end with a positive story. the forecast of covid case load for the state of california from institute for health metrics at the university of washington, forecasting throughout the pandemic. they are basically showing that

in california, the hospitalizations are down. that's known by the public health people. in combination of effective of the vaccine stopping the spread of the virus and increasing number of people getting vaccinated, it's reasonable for us to start forecasting the next recovery in the second half. i feel much more confident about saying that now than i have than any other period in the pandemic period. let me just close with some thoughts and may be outlook for

the entertainment and nightlife industries in the city. the city's economy performed worse than other large cities in the united states over the past year. that's a question -- that's a matter of public health restrictions, out migration, we rely on tourists and we rely on office workers. until office workers and hotel guests return, we're likely to see an elevated unemployment rate in the city. we've seen extremely high levels of office tenants and big tech companies, putting their office space on the sublease market and not lot of takers that the

point. what that means is, we're going to have fewer people in downtown than we are used to having pre-pandemic. even though the city is giving all clear. this is recipe for slow recovery. businesses have walked away from significant leases. i do think that part of the reopening san francisco broadly and recovery of the city's economy broadly hinges around perceptions of quality of life and things to do in san francisco and amenities in san francisco in which entertainment businesses are vital. i do think that one of the

things to push people out of the city in the past year is the fact that everything is closed. when things are open and there are things to do in san francisco, that will get the ball rolling in a positive direction and will give people and workers and ultimately tourists a reason to come back to the city. i think, however, we will not see full recovery until we see recovery from the offices and hotels. let me stop there and i'll be happy to take any questions. >> president bleiman: mr. egan, is there online? is this already published? >> it's not online now this particular version. i shared it with dylan and

you're welcome to post it. >> president bleiman: dylan, i guess you send the link. i lot to get a copy. i have an upcoming meeting with another group about the congestion of soma. i like to use it as data. before the pandemic, there was a major congestion. i don't think we have to worry about this. especially after listening to this report. in your opinion, i guess when we have this recovery, how long do you think it would take us to really get back to the way it was? as long as it's your opinion. >> i will give you both of mine. i think people -- maybe we're

not going to come back to downtown or maybe we're going to think about works from home permanenting, when you walk away office leases, there's going to be reset in the office market. the office owners want those buildings still. there's going to be a market incentive to find tenants. what we saw end of the dot-com crash, it took a long time. just because the dot-com went away, it didn't mean bunch of other industries wanted to come to san francisco. it's still expensive.

we had much slower recovery since the early 2000 recession. i think there are many tail winds for the tech industry as a whole. i'll mention couple of things. we've seen more venture capital in san francisco during the three quarters of the pandemic than we saw the three quarters before the pandemic. entrepreneurs in san francisco, they're getting funded at rates during the pandemic that are higher than they were before the pandemic. people are still working from home, that's a vote of confidence from investors in san francisco tech.

we're seeing hiring by the tech companies in san francisco back to pre-pandemic levels. now they're working from home. they're not shifting that hiring to their office. on this migration issue, there's a lot of speculation, well, everybody is moving out of california. they don't like the taxes or whatever. that appears not to be the case. people are moving at a higher rate, they are moving to places where they move out of san francisco to like nearby suburb counties, like sacramento or

l.a. i do think that a lot of people are going to look at the rents which are down over 25% in san francisco. that can come back pretty fast. that can be people saying, i'm never going to get another chance on a rent controlled apartment in san francisco. rent stability does a lot for people. i wouldn't be surprised if we saw brightness in the apartment market in the spring. at which point, the whole issue is, you're back in san francisco so you're not living wherever you are.

i do think it will take some time to absorb the office space. it can take a few years. i don't think the fundamental competitiveness of the city has changed p.p.p. it wouldn't surprise me to see a pre-pandemic economy back by 2024 or 2025. >> president bleiman: i think you're kind of on the mark for that. when i was set up by my first club in sumter market in 1999, there was that big boom. it only lasted for a year or two and then it was dead for so long. but it came back. i guess the city leaders will have to kind of bring some more incentives again. like you said, we are better in the tech sector. those of us who did invest in stock market and things like

that, that's why the investments are coming back because there's deals now. i think it's not done. i know it will take time. we can't lose our entertainment and nightlife venues. it's very important for recovery. i hope there's still that fun for supervisor haney's to help these venues to continue. looks like there's a light at the end of the tunnel. we're getting excited. this third round of outdoor dining and indoor partial is really helping the spirits come back. i'm hoping it's three years. >> one of the questions they

asked, are you closed now and they ask are you planning to close permanently. at any given moment, during this pandemic, more than 40% or 50% of small businesses san francisco are closed. the number of businesses saying they are closing permanently is 5% less than 10%. that's true in san francisco than it is nationally. for businesses that are forced to close, some sort of hibernation is in order. you're looking for a vote of confidence to say i think people will come back. i think that this is a real business again once i'm allowed to reopen. >> lot of the restaurants are just taking a break. i heard the buzz some of the star chefs.

they are bored. we got to do our part to keep them motivated and give little bit more incentive. people will come back. >> any other questions from commissioners? >> thank you so much for that thoughtful analysis. for me the most troubling aspect is the out-migration. so many other small businesses depend on consumers. i wanted to know what you thought we can do in our limited capacity to help with the recovery.

>> no one really knows about the out-migration. i think it's good news that most people move to the suburbs. if you're living with three roommates who you're not related to and you're worried about -- [indiscernible] that's a reason to move away. i think reemphasizing the message of safety, reemphasizing the message of reopening and just reminding people about san francisco, it's going to be the right time for that. it's going to be true for residents as well as for tourists. >> that's great to hear. entertainment will be the draw for bringing back some of that migration, to have a culturally flourishing city. thank you.

>> president bleiman: anyone else have questions? >> when all the tech people moved out, do you think that people will move into the city who are really into live music again into rock and roll and going out? >> i'm just joking sort of. it's a good question. san francisco obviously, has benefited traditionally from waves of young people moving in the city for no particular economic reason. there are times when that's hard and there are times when that's easier. this is one of those times. like i was suggesting before, i do think there could be a gold rush mentality about san

francisco apartments in 2021. i don't know who's going to feel motivated to move to san francisco. people starting a band and san francisco feels like an affordable and more relaxed place at the moment compare to other places. we can have another moment for that cultural. i can see that happening. >> what's what i'm hoping. i was talking with bar owners, we were talking about how after the crash in 2008, even in 2003, 2004 and 2005 and in 2010, there's so many people who worked in service in the city. your entire staff lived in the city. they go out a lot and they spend a lot of money at restaurants and bars and nightlife then slowly they got priced out to

the point where i had hundred something staff and fewer half of them were able to actually live in the city. they were commuting. it was a different scene. it will be interesting to see. >> we have seen during the 2010 sort of movement of low wage workers who work in san francisco to live there. it doesn't look like low-wage workers moving out the city. the people who have their jobs, the tech workers seem to be the ones leaving. obviously there are eviction moratoriums for folks who own

their homes. there are mortgage forbearance programs. those keep getting rolled back. the good news is, people are keeping current on their debt. their rent debt. lot of low-wage workers are struggling to pay the rent. they are liquidating their savings. when the public health emergency is over and if the federal government draws the line in the stimulus and says it's time for eviction moratorium to end and start talking about a payment plan and that money is there for people. then you may start to see people saying, despite that san francisco rents are down 25%, i can't afford my place anymore. i'm worried about that. frankly, the service workers who live in san francisco, many of them can't afford an apartment.

they really need to have income security around the place that they live now. if you still have elevated unemployment at restaurants and other low-wage industries, it's going to be difficult. i have concerns about that as much as i get the point that big rent reduction opens the door to new people moving in the city. >> any further questions? i'm going to open this up to public comment. >> clerk: there are no hands raised. >> president bleiman: we want to thank you so much for such a thoughtful presentation. it was really helpful. strangely helpful. fantastic. >> i think this is going to be the worse presentation i will share with you for a long time.

>> president bleiman: thank you again for joining us. >> thank you. >> his slides are in the shared fouledder -- folder for you. >> all right everyone. >> president bleiman: the next agenda item is number 6. update on nightlife business assistance in response to covid-19. the legendary ben van houten. >> thank you. i truly do not deserve that level of introduction. dylan, you're going to bring up

the slide deck? >> yes, let me do that. >> i have a short update on some of the federal state, local efforts that are ongoing and obviously happy to to field any questions. i wanted to start out with status updates. the governor signed legislative package that provides a number of different release measures including several for small businesses. first off on the california small business covid-19 relief grant program, that's the program grants up to $25,000 for small businesses impacted by the pandemic. application windows were in january and february and application period closed, there was significant amount of uncertainty among businesses

about whether they were going to receive these grants and lot of folks got wait listed. the good news is that there has been $500 million allocated to that program and the new legislative package that the governor signed provides $2 billion for that relief grant program. there's some optimism that businesses who have not heard anything recently about their relief grant application that hopefully, those folks will get some relief through the additional money being provided. traditionally, the governor announced fee waivers for restaurant and bars for their liquor licenses. two years for liquor license businesses. the way that will work operationally has been after businesses receive their renewal notices, qualifying business can apply for a waiver with a.b.c.

there's an f.a.q. page on the a.b.c. website. jumping on to the next slide. in addition to financial relief, there's really flurry of legislations happening now, beginning of the 2021 california legislative session. i highlighted two bills here that have been introduced. there are a number of bills that touch on nightlife, entertainment, outdoor activities, outdoor dining, there's a lot of ideas out there. this is not meant to suggest there are only twos but to highlight two that are on our radar. sb314 from sandra weiner does a

lot. including establishing a permit program for a.b.c. so that businesses can continue to do alcohol service that they've been doing through the emergency relief. great to see that being proposed to be permanent. additionally, 314 will create new type of liquor license for entertainment venues especially in place like san francisco where we have a hard cap on restaurant and bar licenses. that's an exciting piece of the proposal. additionally the bill would adopt open consumption areas on public streets if they chose to do so under the terms that localities could adopt there.

there are a number of different reforms and really innovative ideas to help businesses share premises or share a common consumption area also some reforms around the liquor license application process. sb389 from senator dodd. enables restaurants to continue sebbing to go alcohol beverages. as carbon drafted, it would enable restaurants to continue to serve to go alcohol and would allow to go mixed drink, cocktails with meal service. i highlighted here would not extend to bars. that's something i'm sure the bar community is already

thinking about and i think it will be an important piece of extending that relief beyond as the pandemic continues and hopefully after it is done. next local relief efforts, update here i think it was couple of days after the last commission hearing i presented at. the mayor announced a commitment to allocate $1.5 million of the previously announced relief grant money for entertainment venues. our office o.w.d. is working hard to get a relief grant program up and running to get that money appropriated and to make that happen. in that process, there will be grant funding specifically for entertainment venues.

more to come on that. the second box is about the venue recovery fund. that legislation was approved by the board of supervisors last week. there doing that in consultation with our office with the entertainment commission and industry stakeholders. there's forward momentum on the recovery fund. i'm sure more news in the future. finally, part update. this is the federal grant program that our entertainment industry worked really hard to advocate for. it's really has become all the

more desperately needed in the months since the federal relief legislation was adopted end of december. there's no new information on when an application will be posted, what the application timeline will be like. i saw headline that some members of congress have reached out to the s.b.a. expressing concern about the time it's taking to get that program off the ground. these are core steps businesses can take now. really most importantly is to register with the federal

government system for award management. which is a process that can, according to the s.b.a. take up to couple of weeks. really making sure that a business registered for that system in the business need dunn and bradstreet number. if they have one, they can request a dunn and bradstreet. in addition, business should be regularly check the frequently asked questions document. it can help inform people about where the program is heading. finally to gather any documents that will be needed in order to apply for a grant. documents showing number of employees that your business or had, showing the extent of the revenue loss, diagrams maybe needed to see if you meet all the requirements being an entertainment venue. lot of this is mapped out on

s.b.a.'s page. there are steps that businesses can take now. they should check out our oewd relief page. there's going to be preactive applications. given in part urgency of the need and also i think industry members concerns that they are even $15 billion is not going to be enough for the scope of the

need that's out there. i think that's the end of the slides. only other thing i would add is that the federally relief package currently being discussed in congress, has at present, a relief program of grants for restaurants and bars. there was a piece of legislation last year. the restaurant act that was as introduced this year. with that, i will stop talking and open for any questions,

thoughts to assist. >> president bleiman: anybody have any questions? >> good report. do you know anybody that really got the grants? the state grants that we first applied for? have you heard of anybody getting those? >> i have heard of businesses getting the grant. i don't want to go off anecdotal. given the massive expansion of the funding, to wait and see about in terms of having any sort of final conclusions about where the money is going. i do know that lot of folks have been very frustrated by the lack of communication, or limited communication on that program. which, i think, on some level, it's unprecedented effort for the state to -- given number of

businesses and number of sectors that have been impacted by the pandemic. >> the communication is better. we get an updated e-mail saying it's still on the wait list. i'm just curious. we got to be patient. >> yeah, i think so. >> president bleiman: questions? commissioner lee, i got one of the california grants. >> commissioner lee: you're one of the lucky ones. >> president bleiman: it was about 70 in our bar group that applied. i think two of us got it. >> commissioner lee: two out of 70. >> president bleiman: thank you ben.

that was a good report. my question -- if i want to share this information with others -- i know said there's lot of places to go, is the slide show available? >> i don't know that it's posted anywhere. you're welcome to send it around. >> president bleiman: i love to. i think this is really helpful. >> clerk: i will post it. >> president bleiman: cool. thank you very much. appreciate it. looks we have some something to look forward to. is there any public comment on this agenda item? >> clerk: standby. there's nobody in the queue with

their hand raised and no phone calls. >> president bleiman: thank you very much, ben. see you soon. we are getting to the final agenda item tonight. which is number 7. commissioner comments and questions/new business request for future agenda items. what you got everyone? >> commissioner lee: my only comment is based on these two reports. the industry got to figure it out for themselves. you can apply for all these grants and everything but in the meantime, just do what you got to do to survive out there. whatever you guys can do. funding will come. who knows. we might all get vaccinated by

then. >> president bleiman: other agenda items we like to see in the future? >> you have a reminder right? >> i want to remind -- [indiscernible]

>> commissioner lee: every year we have to do the sunshine training? >> every year, commissioner. [laughter] >> president bleiman: just pick the most restrictive option. it's always that one. any other comments? that's it for me. i don't have anything specifically. we are going to keep our eye on save the stages act because it will be nice to know how everybody is doing given the grants that they may or may not be producing. is there any public comment on

this agenda item? >> clerk: there's nobody in there with hand raised and no call. >> president bleiman: all right. we'll close public comment. i will go ahead and adjourn this meeting at 6:47 p.m. thank you very much everyone. see you in couple of weeks.

parks and places of communicated and thanks to the mayor and the department of technology and supervisor farrell and google. we had a very very unique partnership that was able to bring wifi to our most heavily used parks and squares. >> parks in particular are really important way of life and quality of life and so is connectivity.

bringing those two things together in a project like this is right on target with what san francisco is and wants to be. >> it's all about breaking apart the divide. the people with expensive data plan can have access to information and economy. this is really breaking down the digital divide and giving people across the spectrum the opportunity to information and giving them mobility and freedom. >> particularly by investing in connectivity in park spaces we are also ensuring the connection to digital inclusion opportunities and parks are designed for all neighborhoods. >> people are on the move. they are no longer chained to their desk tops at home. people can accomplish a lot and we prefer them being here an enjoying the outdoors and nature. given

all the mobile community and mobile information that's available. we thought it was important to make it for our parks acceptable for everyone and give everyone the opportunity to live and to work and be at the parks at the same time. >> our full mission in life is to give them access to the internet, give them access to information. in san francisco you don't have to be bottled up in an office. you can be around and enjoy your work anywhere. it's great for the local community here and it means a lot to me. >> in the park, you are people that can teach you about the trees in the park and you can go to parks and recreation .org and having wifi in our parks makes it more accessible. if you want

more information about how to enjoy wifi in san francisco parks, go to

(clapping) ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ celebrating the wow. turnout this is our third annual to celebrate pride we notice we didn't have community event for pride. we actual had 19 we had godzilla and are you ball weird names i think its unique we're able to have special event we're all women that relax and have fun

you know everything is friendly and kind we're all equal i'm happy that

. >> you're watching coping with covid-19 with chris manners. >> hi. i'm chris manners, and you're watching coping with covid-19. today, my guest is phil

ginsburg. he's the director of the san francisco rec and parks, and he's a national rec and park ranger. thank you for being here. >> hi, chris. thank you for having me. >> i've heard you have an exciting new exhibit that features social distancing and is outside, so it's safer. can you tell us a little bit about it? >> the golden gate 50 anniversary wasn't the celebration that we hoped for, but when life deals you lemons, you hope to make lemonade, and we tried to engage people in the park in different ways. behind me is what we did. it's a public exhibit which has transformed peacock meadows

into an enchanted forest of other worldly shapes and lights. it's to close out golden gate park's 150 years and to allow people to have outdoors socially distant fun. >> great. and what are the hours, and when can people go see it, and are there access for wheelchairs and strollers? >> well, it will run until february 27, and the ways are wheelchair accessible. it will close in time to make the city's curfew. we're not supposed to be gathering. we're not supposed to be

celebrating out there, unfortunately. it is a beautiful exhibit and is one that can be seen from the sidewalk or you can wander into the meadow, but we ask that people be really mindful of the circumstances in which we find ourselves. the most important thing for us is to be safe and healthy. do not show up with other households. come and see it, get a little taste of the holidays and leave so other people can enjoy it. if it's too crowded, comeback because it's going to be around for a while. >> how long does it take to walk around the exhibit? >> well, you could be there for five minutes or 15 minutes or longer if it's not crowded. it's about in an acre of meadow, but it's very visible even from a fully accessible

sidewalk. you'll get a sense of it. basically, there are sculpted trees, and it's gorgeous. i got an opportunity to visit it over the weekend. the conservatory of flowers is there, and then, we have our amazing spreckels temple of music which was recently renovated and lit up in lights. >> i have information that it was created by a local artist.

what can you tell us about it? >> well, it's a new concept, but the lights were previously installed in a park in toronto and also in las vegas. the installation has been paid for through private donations to the golden gate park's san francisco 150 campaign. it reflects a culture steeped in science and history and culture. >> i can't wait to visit it. safely, of course. >> wear masks, distance, sanitize, and don't gather. >> well, thank you for coming on the show today, mr.

ginsburg. i appreciate the time you've given us today. >> thank you, and thank you for giving so much attention to golden gate park which has been so wonderful for us during covid and deserves a lot of extra love and attention on its 150 anniversary. >> and that's it for this episode. we'll be back with more information shortly. thank you for watching coping with

[♪♪♪]

>> thank you to the youth performers of lion dance me. hello, everyone. my name is claudine chang, and i am the president of the a.p.a. heritage foundation. today is the first day of the year of the ox, so happy new year, and welcome to the virtual celebration with mayor london breed. it has been part of san francisco's tradition that the mayor release the commemorative stamp, and mayor breed will be doing just that later in the program. i'd like to now say a few words in chinese now.

[speaking chinese language] >> so welcome today to today's virtual lunar new year celebration. this is to promote the asian and pacific islander culture and celebrate the chinese new year. this is a very special time when families come together, but this year, we must celebration in a new way because we are in the middle of a pandemic, but nevertheless, celebrate, we will. at this time, i'd like to introduce carmen chu, city

administrator of san francisco. welcome, carmen. >> hi. my name is carmen chu, san francisco city administrator. [speaking chinese language] >> even though we can't come together in person, it's so important to make sure we come together in cultural tradition. it's the year of the ox, and the ox is known to not only be positive, but hard working and honest. especially when we're facing covid-19, it's important for us to all power through it and to see the light at the end of the tunnel. of course, many of us would be

going out to eat and to our favorite shops during this time. we can still do that, and let's continue to support our local small businesses during this time. of course, we want to take the time to recognize the artwork that are going to be all across the city. we're going to have 11 ox all across the city that showcase san francisco's heritage. we hope that you find them across the city and really enjoy them. and without further adieu, i'd like to introduce speaker of the house, nancy pelosi, who has been a fearless and tireless leader on behalf of all of us in washington, d.c. >> hello. it is joy to send greetings to san francisco's chinese community during the year of the ox. it's been a privilege to work closely with claudine, including our years marking

this festive season with a lunar new year stamp series. lunar new year is a time for celebration for families over here and around the world. over the years, i've made many memories in san francisco's lunar new year with my family. this year, the year of the ox, is recognized for hardware, honesty, and integrity. let us all embrace these characteristics as we strife to meet the -- strive to meet the challenges facing our community and our nation. while the pandemic has forced us to celebrate virtually, we continue to mark this time celebrating our aapi neighbors. we applaud the biden-harris

administration recent executive orders condemning shameful acts and condemn the violent acts against the aapi community. we will continue to reafirm what san franciscans always say: the beauty is in the mix. on behalf of the you stays congress, i offer my best wishes to you all, for your heads filled with blessings, peace, and the love of our families. happy lunar new year. >> thank you, speaker pelosi, for your comments. and now, i want to introduce our next speaker, mayor london breed. she has been at the forefront of our covid response. >> the hon. london breed: thank you, carmen, for the introduction. and congratulations again on your new role at our city

administrator. [speaking chinese language] >> the hon. london breed: hi. i'm mayor london breed. i'm excited to ring in the year of the ox with all of you. thank you to the asian american foundation for allowing us to ring this in together. our sister city committees and council core committees are working tirelessly to promote cultural and economic exchanges with our sister cities in the asia-pacific region. we have the best chinese new year parade because of the hard work of the chinese chamber of commerce, and we get to experience fetetivities year-round thanks to the chinese historical society, and the a.p.a. heritage foundation.

although we will be celebrating lunar new year's differently this year, our communities will be strong and resilient. it will be a challenging time for all of us, but the year of the ox will bring us strength and perseverance. thank you to everyone for putting together the on-line lunar new year celebration guide. part of the tradition includes the unveiling of the lunar new year stamp with our local postmaster, which we will do in just a bit, but for now, let's go back to claudine. >> thank you, mayor breed, for your new year greetings, and before i talk about the stamp, i saw that two members of the

board of supervisors are joining us to give us lunar new year greetings: supervisor connie chang and supervisor gordon mar. thank you, supervisors, and let's start with connie thank . and now, i'll start with a greeting in chinese.

[speaking chinese language] >> supervisor chan: i wish you all a happy and healthy chinese lunar new year. we know if we continue to stay vigilant and celebrate virtually, then we better protect all family members and make sure that the year of the objection is happier and healthier than the year of the rat. thank you, everyone, and happy new year. >> supervisor mar: hello, everyone. i'm very proud to join with my city leaders for this virtual lunar new year celebration. like everyone, i wish we were starting the year of the ox with the annual festive event at city hall, but we've had to find creative ways to continue our cultural traditions during the pandemic. for many asians, lunar new year is the most important holiday

of the year, and despite our continuing restrictions to protect public health, lunar new year traditions peel more important than ever. thank you for following our health guidance in finding new ways to gather and celebrate with family this year. happy year of the ox, everyone. i am now turning the program back to claudine chang to tell us more about this year's commemorative year of the ox stamp. >> thank you, supervisors connie chan and gordon mar. as i have shared earlier in the program, this has been one of lunar new year's traditions in san francisco that the mayor unveils the lunar new year commemorative stamp. the u.s. postal service releases a stamp based on the

sign of the zodiac honoring the chinese tradition of celebrating the lunar new year. and let's welcome san francisco postmaster abraham cooper. >> well, thank you, claudine, for that warm introduction, and hello, everyone. i'm happy to have this opportunity to introduce and join in the celebration of the second stamp of the lunar new year's series year of the ox. the ox is believed to symbolize hard work, diligence, honest

industry, and persistence. these are attributes that we strive for daily at united states postal service, and i have great faith as a community that we will only strengthen those attributes in the year ahead. over the years, we have established a proud tradition of introducing many lunar new year's stamps in the city of san francisco. we hope to continue that proud tradition for many years to come. on february 2, you can purchase this stamp at your local post office or from the convenience of your home at usps.com. i look forward to seeing you all at city hall next year and celebrating together with wonderful food, laughter, and company. i wish you stay safe, stay healthy, and have a prosperous new year. now it's my pleasure to introducing mayor london breed who will do us the honor of

inveiling this -- unveiling this year's stamp. >> the hon. london breed: thank you, postmaster cooper. i am excited to continue this tradition. now i'm honored to be unveiling the year of the ox stamp as we ring in the new year. wow, what a beautiful stamp! you can purchase these at your local post office and add them to your collection or use them to send to your friends and family in the mail. the year of the ox is going to bring us good health, safety, and prosperity, and this stamp represents just that. [speaking chinese language] >> the hon. london breed: to close today's celebration, the a.p.a. heritage foundation has prepared a short performance video for you. please enjoy. [speaking chinese language]

>> hello, everyone. i'm liong, and in one minute, you'll see some beautiful dancing. i love chinese new year because i get [inaudible]. i'm so excited about the year of ox. it will be a strong year. my mom used to tell me if i eat all my meat, i'll be as strong as an ox, but that can't be true because i've never seen an ox eat meat. you will have a better year this year than last year. i want to join mayor to wish you a happy new year. [speaking chinese language] >> now let's start the show.

[♪♪♪]

[♪♪♪]

[♪♪♪]

[♪♪♪]

[♪♪♪]

[♪♪♪]

[♪♪♪]