>> august 23, 2021. the meeting is called to order at 4:30 p.m. the small business commission thanks media services and sfgov tv which can be viewed on sfgov tv 2 and sfgov.org. the phone number is on the screen new south wales the access code.

you will be connected and hear the meeting and discussion, but you will be muted and in listening mode only. when your item of interest comes up, dial star 3 to be added to the speaker line. if you dial star 3 before public comment is called, you will be added to the queue. when you are called for public comment, please mute the device you are listening to the meeting on. when it is your time to speak, you will be prompted to do so. best practices are to call from a quiet location and speak clearly and slowly and turn down the device you are listening to the meeting on. public comment during the meeting is limited to three minutes per speaker unless otherwise established by the presiding officer of the meeting. an alarm will sound once the time is finished. speakers are requested but not required to state their name.

sfgov tv, please show the slide. [text on screen] >> i would like to wish a happy birthday to commissioner ortiz-cartagena as well as

commissioner dickerson. call number 1. >> clerk: that is call to record and roll call. [ roll call ] >> clerk: mr. president, you have a quorum. >> chair: thank you. will you please read the land acknowledgement. >> clerk: the san francisco small business commission and the small business staff acknowledges that we are on the unceded ancestral homeland of

the ramaytush ohlone, who are the original inhabitants of this peninsula. in accordance with their traditions, the ramaytush ohlone have not ceded nor forgot their responsibilities as the caretakers of this place as well as those who preside on this place. we are living and working on their traditional homeland. we wish to respect the ancestors' elders and by affirming their sovereign rights as first people. >> chair: please call item 2, please. >> clerk: item 2 is a welcome to kerry birnbach, the small business commission's new policy analyst and commission secretary. this is a discussion item. >> chair: kerry, i can't tell you how excited we are to have

you here. how long has it been, director, now? >> roughly since march. >> so a long time. that's a long time to be all by our lonesome. you went through, as i recall, a fairly exhaustive search process. congratulations on making it through. everyone was excited to have you. i wanted to invite you to speak about your background and your membership in the small business commission. we'll introduce ourselves as well, but i guess we'll start with you since you're the guest of the hour. >> okay. hi, everyone. thank you so much for the warm welcome. a little bit about me. before coming here, i was a

legislative aid to berkeley city council member lori draftsy. there i drafted in support of the passage of many pieces of legislation including expanding outdoor commerce opportunities, the elimination of single-family zoning and the implementation of zero policies. i worked on food policies, advocating for federal and state policy changes to nutrition assistance programs like food stamps. i was born and raised in berkeley, california, and i currently live here with my husband, son, and daughter. i have a master's degree from the l.b.j. school of public affairs from u.t. often and a bachelor's degree. i'm looking forward to working with you all and excited to be here. it seems like an important time for small businesses.

i'm excited. >> chair: great and wonderful. we're so excited to have you. i'm going to give each of the commissioners a brief moment to introduce themselves because one of the beautiful gifts of the brown act is that we don't get to interact except outside of this public forum. rather than having everyone sign up in chat, i'm going to go in alphabetital order. >> hi and welcome. like president laguana said, we missed having a secretary and your background couldn't say anything better. we're happy you're with us. i'm stephen adams, 12th year on this commission. i'm an asset manager. i'm managing property in orange

county in san diego, california, and some properties here in san francisco. and working to get us through these crazy times. >> chair: commissioner dickerson. >> welcome. i'm so glad you're here. i don't know about a lot of things, but i know people and i have a good sense about you. i'm excited to get the support we need and you might be the best choice we have. my name is lawanda dickerson. i've been on the commission board since i think march. >> chair: that's about four years in pandemic time. [ laughter ].

>> that's about right. i am working with some of the most amazing people i've worked with. welcome and i'm excited to get to know more about you. >> chair: commissioner dooley. >> welcome. you're sorely needed. we can't thank you enough for joining our team. i am a small business person. i am extremely involved in the cannabis industry. i'm part of a group that's going to be opening the first-ever dispensary in north beach in the next, say, six weeks. so we're really excited to get

something going in the neighborhood. we'll be there supporting people coming into the neighborhood. and i'm one of the longest members on the commission. >> great, thank you. commissioner huie. >> i'm trying to find you on my grid. you moved around a bit. welcome to the office. i'm super excited. i have been very impressed with the work that you've done.

i have worked with the mental health space and i'm an advocate for small business community. right now i serve on the racial equity sub-committee. so i'm really excited about that work. i'm really excited that we have you here so we can continue our work. i'm excited to have you here. thank you for joining our office and commission. >> chair: vice president zouzounis. >> hi, i'm miriam.

we're excited to have you. your background is going to fit right in. e.b.t. is an up and coming issue and relating it to the merchant and social impact space is really important. so i'm looking forward to making that connection and giving you whatever lay of the land you need from us. please feel free to reach out one on one if you want to do check-ins. i think we're all available to you for that within the guidelines, of course. thank you for being here. my background is also in small business. my family comes from a small business background. i also work in the import sector and with the small business administration. so you'll be meeting some of my colleagues on the next agenda item.

>> chair: i am sharky laguana. i'm currently a washed-up professional musician and a small business owner. i used to rent vans to the music industry when there was a music industry. now i help i guess people go on vacation is what it seems like we're doing. i also serve in addition to this as president of the american car rental association. i guess i won't beat it to death how excited we are, because the i said it a dozen times, but we're really excited to have you here. i don't know if at our next meeting we'll have the opportunity to do a formal introduction. i'll do a little bit of an introduction of him on his behalf.

he's an incredible activist with an incredible back story who works helping people get permits and he's really a amazing addition to the commission. he is good with a one-sentence summary that sums everything up and has the most delightfully concise and statements to summarize all our work perfectly. i'm sure you'll have fun meeting him very soon at our next meeting. but today is his birthday and he wisely took the time off to celebrate. i hope that's a good birthday for him. for our commissioners, are there

any questions before we jump to public comment? okay. i'm not seeing any. are there any public commenters on the line? >> clerk: no. >> chair: for folks listening in, if you hit star 3 for public comment, and if you hit it again you lower your hand. if we're on an agenda item that you want to make a comment on, hit star 3. any final comments for kerry? seeing none, moving on to the next item. >> clerk: thank you, president laguana. the next item is item 3, a presentation from the small business administration on the 7(a) and 504 loans. you will be learning about these two loan programs which can be used to purchase real estate.

so presenting to you today is maria pineda and marlo schindler from the small business administration san francisco district office. maria, i'm now going to share screen. all right. so you are now able to bring up your powerpoint. >> chair: you have the floor. feel free to start when you're ready. and welcome, by the way. >> clerk: you're on mute, maria, just in case.

>> i am here in a supporting role for maria presenting today, assuming she is able to unmute herself and lead the presentation. so i'll give her another second to do that. if she's not able to, i'll jump in. maria, are you able to unmute? >> so sorry. sorry, i'm used to m.s. teams, but i really like this platform. is everyone seeing the first slide there? >> chair: we sure are. >> wonderful. let me get sorted. thanks for having me and marlow, and miriam, thank you so much for the invite. this is really nice. thanks for having us.

okay. so i know time is of the essence. let me go with the first slide. it's a little bit of our background. [indiscernible] for a long time as you can tell. as mentioned earlier, we are [indiscernible] these are vehicles to help small businesses and entrepreneurs to purchase commercial real estate. then i would quickly touch on the covid item because it is an important matter to our agency. we're highlighting this program which will be sunsetting. next slide.

for those of you who don't know what we do, one of our big pillars is our s.b.a. we have small business owners in mind. we offer longer repayment terms, lower down payments, no penalties after year three of loan disbursement. so how are we able to offer this to folks who are [indiscernible] testing the waters. for one, the s.b.a. has a loan guarantee and it makes it possible for many of our small businesses to access the capital

we need to start or expand business. through this federal guarantee, the s.b.a. reduces in effect the risk for our lenders who originate these loans so it makes it easier to approve finances for perceived risks for small businesses. a lot of conventional lenders may shy away from this business. they may be concerned about a riskier nature of small business, but the guarantee enables them to lend to the small business community. in terms of the basic eligibility requirements, these are outlined here. regarding the final bullet point, so, for example, when we have a small business owner or a public caller asking questions about how they can get financing for their small or start-up

business, one of the first responses we tell [indiscernible] -- preferred lender first. however, many lenders are not willing to offer reasonable terms for the small business or maybe their lack of collateral is creating obstacles. so the [indiscernible] -- so the first loan we're going to be looking at is the guaranteed loan.

i know there is a lot of information here and i will be sharing the slides. just to give you an idea. we do have options available, but the majority of these loans originated using the variable rates. why? because the rate is actually right now quite low. it is tied to the prime rate which is 3.25%. so for small business owner looking for financing over $50,000, the rate is currently 6%. for those really risk averse, the straight option is 9.25%. so it makes sense that people at

this point in time are thinking about their variable rate option. there is no penalty after year three of the loan disbursement. if they replay earlier after year three without penalty. so a second loan we're looking at which serves [indiscernible] -- these are loans which are basically a loan for commercial real estate as well as for fixed assets. these loans are available

through certified development companies, c.d.c.s. the project must bring development and job growth in their community. c.d.c.s are regulated by their s.b.a. and this loan product is a fixed rate. there is no variable rate option. the fixed rate is tied to the five- and 10-year treasury rate and those rates are under 3%. this is an exceptional rate for the small business owner. it is a fixed-rate zone. this allows for commercial real estate purchases.

i would be remiss if i didn't mention this loan. this is not for the purchase of realize, but i did want to highlight this to members of the public. i just wanted to present this as well. this is designed to support small businesses to recover from covid-19. it requires [indiscernible] longer-term payments, things that are amortized over 30 years and a lower interest rates. one item is that the business

itself would have to prove that it is already in business by january 2020. that date just appears to coincide when the world health organization determined the covid outbreak constituted a public health emergency of international concern. the business world might have been impacted by shutdowns. they can use the proceeds as highlighted here. with these loans, you don't go through a third party lender. you direct it on another website and we see that information on the slide. this is for december 2021.

the small businesses negatively impacted by the covid-19 pandemic can apply for this loan through the end of the year. and with that, this is our contact information if there are any other questions. you also said the public might be interested [indiscernible] show that information as well. >> i think it's good for the commission to see this information.

can you all see the screen and the -- >> still showing your last slide. >> okay. thank you. >> you may need to stop sharing and do it again. >> okay, all right. do you all see that now? >> yes.

>> we broke this down fiscal year 2018 to 2021. the way we did this, we did filter by number of loans approved, not so much the dollars, more so the numbers and if the commission wants to see the biggest overall loan amount by the fiscal year, we can do that as well. i can follow up with you or regina. you can see the loans approved.

[reading text on screen] >> for the 504 loan, these are the top players for 2018. >> i will say that that's an outdated name for t.m.c. financing. >> thanks, marlow. moving on to 2019. it looks like the same players are moving on. main street launch, u.s. bank. then these are the players in

fiscal year 2019 for the 504 loan. moving on to 2020. these are top producers in terms of number of loans approved. then we move down to the 504 loan for 2020. and then moving on to fiscal year through june 30, 2021. the top players for these loans.

and this is a snapshot for the 504 loan for june 30, 2021. so the pace has been pretty brisk for this year, notwithstanding covid and the shutdown and as we re-enter the world again slowly but surely in our area. we're highly vaccinated so that facilitates optimism. we are seeing pretty strong numbers in just discussing with lenders and just seeing overall these numbers. this is again through june 30. so this fiscal year for 2021 still ends three months, september 30. once those are collected, we'll

read the numbers to see how they compare to years past. it looks like the lending has been pretty strong in our small business portfolio. i guess that's it unless the commission had questions for marlow and myself. >> chair: thanks. feel free to stop sharing your screen. >> good job, maria. >> no problem. >> chair: i guess we can wait

for other commissioners to see if they come up with other questions. i like to fill the void with questions of my own. feel free to turn your camera on, maria. just so i understand this, 504 is used for real estate and 7(a) can be used for things besides real estate? >> correct. so the 7(a) is the more popular or more utilized flagship program. yes, you can definitely buy commercial real estate with it, but you can also wrap in working capital, inventory, and other business expenses. c.d.c. is pretty much -- the 504 loan is your commercial real estate and your large six assets. that is correct. >> so the 7(a), you could even

use it to acquire another business if you were growing, correct? >> that is correct. that is one of the allowable uses of the loan. >> that is interesting and fascinating. i think something that small businesses that are successful in growing are always wondering is how are they going to -- who's going to lend the money to do something like acquire another business. i've been a small business owner now for almost two decades and i didn't realize i could borrow money through the s.b.a. >> and you see a lot of franchises. this program allows for that. >> chair: that is super cool. let's talk about the real estate part of it a bit. just a little bit on background.

this is definitely the position of the city that we should be trying to do everything we can to incentivize businesses to own their own buildings and store fronts. it leeds to more stable businesses over the long run and obviously insulates them against dramatic rent increases we've seen over the past decade. and i think the city feels very much that this is in our interest. looking at your list, though, i don't see many takers relative to the number of small businesses we have. just at a top level we have about 100,000 small businesses in san francisco. so it's a little bit -- you look at that list and you're like, how can i grow that number? one question i have, does the

s.b.a. have a capacity limit in terms of the numbers of businesses that will help or guarantee, is there any fund that you're not allowed to go over or fund you're not allowed to go over? anyone who qualifies can apply, assuming all their other ducks are in a row, they can expect to get funding from the s.b.a.? >> marlow, correct me if i'm wrong, i haven't seen anything in terms of the cap of how much lending can be done in a certain segment or geography or base, am i missing something? >> we do have a cap in terms of how much lending we can do in a fiscal year that comes from congress, but it's one of those things set purposefully so we seldom reach it. if we do, we ask congress for more money. there's no limitations in terms

of -- 504, for example, is very heavily weighted in hospitality. if we were a bank, they would come and say this is heavily weighted in one industry. even though we have a ton of hotels, there would be more funding that would be needed. >> chair: there is no geographic restriction either. if san francisco suddenly decided to activate on behalf of the small business community here, we could run rampant through the whole thing? >> yeah, we're really fortunate in the state of california and the bay area that we have some of the most active c.d.c.s in the country and the state of california on the whole does 25% of the 504s nationally. so we are already pretty well represented in the numbers. so it might seem like those numbers were relatively small.

actually, california and the bay area puts up record-breaking numbers. los angeles also does really well and to get there we had the lion's share of the 504s for the country. there is still room for more. >> chair: i was just thinking, let's break that record more. >> to be clear, those numbers were just san francisco county. you can add in an entire california as marlow indicated. we're up there with california, florida, texas, we're always at the top. california is always at the top of that list. >> chair: i guess that doesn't come as a huge surprise. the other thing i was surprised by was the average size of the loan. as you know, in san francisco, real estate is not -- despite promises that were made to us at the beginning of the pandemic,

real estate is still not again cheap and actually seems to be more or less back to where it was. even when we're talking about stuff like office space where we would see significant rate drops. with a potential loan size of up to $20 million, it was interesting to see the average loan is often typically under $100 million. i'm thinking if i'm buying anything for under $1 million in san francisco, we're talking almost like a condo or something. go ahead, please. >> maria pulled the numbers so the 7(a) and the 504 are separate. if you look at the 504, that is over $1 million and that is reflective of the higher commercial real estate numbers

in san francisco. the 7(a) numbers talked about what we spoke about earlier. there is a revoling line of credit that was previously capped and now up to $1 million. all of those revolvers under $250,000 is bringing down the average loan size. even though those numbers do seem small, if you thought they were all commercial real estate, our average loan sides in the bay area is above the average and that is because of commercial real estate being higher here in the bay area. when you average those loans and the non-commercial loans, it pulls up the loan size considerably. >> chair: on the 504 -- i know on the 7(a) there is a 90%

collateral requirement. what's the collateral requirement that the property has to aparades, 80% or 90%? how is collateral achieved on the 504 determined, do you know? >> it would be a minimum of 10%. the c.d.c. is structured a little bit different. 50% of the project costs are generally handled by a regular lender. the c.d.c. takes up to 40% of second-tier financing and that 40% of that project cost, the s.b.a. guarantees 100% of that 40% second lien through the c.d.c. and then they put down the 10% of the project costs.

so there is a little bit of skin in the game similar to putting 10% minimum down. >> chair: have you guys seen or encountered -- i know a local business that is looking at buying their building, but it is a multi-tenant building. so they're looking at joining forces with some of the other tenants. you know, i think they're looking to sort of take the largest share of the responsibility in terms of coming up with the money. have you guys encountered multi-owner situations, multi-tenant situations? do you have any advice for them on how to proceed or is it usually one business handles it and that's that? >> so -- and, marlow, correct me if i'm wrong, if a small

business wants to purchase a space and there are also other businesses or residents because it's a mixed of use property, the small business has to occupy at least 51% of the square footage or space to be able to proceed with that application. marlow i hope i'm speaking correctly. [all talking at once] -- >> that was right on. so the 7(a) and the 504 can both only be used for owner-occupied commercial real estate purchases. so they have to meet that minimum threshold of 51%. for existing properties 61% if it's new construction which there wouldn't be a ton of in san francisco, but it could be possible. if there is ground for commercial top floor

residential, then it could be eligible, but it's when we get into the multi-story situation where it's going to be harder for the commercial space to meet the 51% that we see it being an issue in more built-up areas like san francisco. >> chair: if it was a three-floor building but all commercial, the entire building was for sale, but the entity seeking the loan only occupied the bottom floor, it would be a challenge for them to get through the process or could they -- is there a way for the other commercial tenants to join forces with them to get over the 50% occupancy threshold? >> so it really is the business

getting the loan. so, i mean, if they were in business combining forces to be -- they were merging into a new business, maybe there would be something there. but joining forces by real estate wouldn't be sufficient. >> chair: so they couldn't form an l.l. c. to purchase the building and get a loan for the l.l. c. with securing -- collateralizing their business through the l.l. c.? >> we used to do this structure in the old office and that's not something we do anymore. in terms of setting up an l.l. c. and having that be the company that gets the loan, that is possible. that is normally for the one business setting up the l.l. c.

for whatever estate planning to keep them separate. that said, if this is not theoretical and an actual business, i would recommend they talk to one of the c.d.c.s that was on the list that maria provided. i will say that t.m.c. and capital access were the two that traded the top spot. t.m.c. used to be in san francisco and now headquartered in oakland. they are intimately familiar with the san francisco challenges. and then bay area economic development is very familiar with san francisco even though they are not here. if anyone is interested in a certain property, i would refer them to the business. if you go to your banker, you

can have a 7(a) versus 504 conversation. they might have a reason they want to steer you towards one loan or other. they are good at putting in front of you the 7(a) and 504 options. they're used to having longer relationships in the nature of purchasing real estate in a competitive market like san francisco. sometimes they need to be more transactional, but c.d.c.s can hold on for longer. there's kind of no wrong door going to a bank or a c.d.c. to discuss eligibility for a specific issue.

they're happy to do it. >> chair: that's helpful. one other question. i'll use my own business as an example. we meet all the requirements for a small business. could i -- if i wanted to buy or purchase a property in, say, another state that we operate in. we're headquartered here in california. would i need to find a bank or c.d.c. that's in the area where the property is or could i do that here locally? >> so the c.d.c.'s work is charter in certain states and counties. depending on which you are looking for, it would be up to certain lenders to work with

counties. that's something that specifically -- the borrow, yourself, or any constituent is interested in looking for per lender close to their location, we -- the website has lender match. it will show you the lending alternatives and options. you want to go with someone that's local that knows the territory that knows the business challenges and how to structure the deal. i would look at lender match. if you need help with that, marlow or myself are happy to help. >> there is a san francisco

district office which is us. we are keeping this san francisco-specific today, but there is one office per state and in the larger states there are district offices. they know the lay of the land. if you need an outreach in marketing title in the district office state that you're interested in borrowing in, they'll know. >> chair: great. that is super helpful and i know there are lots of businesses locally that in the wake of the pandemic are interested in not having a already anymore, interested in what they can do to make themselves a little bit more stable. that seems to be a critical role

in what you're doing. just so you know, we had some businesses asking about this. that's why we invited you here. certainly we'll be reaching back out to the folks to let them know to check out this recording as they have time. commissioners, any other questions for either maria or marlow from s.b.a.? great. vice president zouzouns, thank you for helping get this off the ground. matthew, do we have any public commenters on the line? >> clerk: there is one person on the line, but no hands are raised. >> chair: public comment is closed. maduro and marlow, thank you so much for your time, very helpful. we really appreciate you coming in and explaining them to us. >> thank you for having us.

>> thank you for having us. >> chair: next item, please. >> clerk: apologies, commissioner. my mouse is not making it to my unmute button. item 4 -- maria, if you wouldn't mind before you depart sharing the screen back to me, giving me the controls. i think you right click on your name. >> okay. i should give it back to sharky? >> no, to me. >> chair: i have no control here. [ laughter ]. >> okay. let's try this again. okay.

let me see if i can get out. if i right click on my name [indiscernible] -- >> or i click on my name. >> okay. so let's try that. >> if i leave the event, would that create more chaos? >> yes. >> it would, okay.

>> i believe -- and, matthew, we may need some of your assistance here. i believe if you right click on my name -- you have done that correctly. we are good. >> thank you, maria. >> we are now going to move on to item number 4, update on the transition of the temporary curbside pickup loading zone under the covid-19 shared space program to the newly established general loading zone. the sfmta board of directors in may 2021 approved the establishment of the general loading zone. this is a discussion and possible action. president laguana will be providing an overview for this item. >> chair: so for the benefit of

everybody wondering what this is all about, so the shared spaces program had both the outdoor dining establishments that we're familiar with, but there was also through the shared spaces program many businesses got access to loading zone permits. and these loading zone permits, as one might imagine, have been very useful for businesses receiving deliveries and also as well as making deliveries. in general they've been used by not just the business that has the permit, but other businesses obviously. so that's all fine and well. when the shared spaces legislation was passed -- and i think that -- i don't think

there's anybody that really thinks this was intentional. there was no mention made in the shared spaces legislation of the loading zone permit. i think it was just an oversight. it was overlooked. so at that point the loading zone permit became subject to a resolution that sfmta had passed back in may. long story short, the loading zones that previously were freed through shared spaces now saw a pretty dramatic increase in cost. so you had to pay $750 to apply and that $750 was nonrefundable. so if your application was

denied, you were out $750. once you get approved, then you have to pay -- and i'm sorry, director, i don't have the number right in front of me, i'm trying to pull it up, but i will have it in one second here. you have to pay for the permit once you get it approved, but that permit is fairly expensive too. i should have it momentarily here. >> the installation or renew fee, the permit fee, is 2021-2022, is $525. >> chair: no, it's anywhere from $525 to $2,500 depending on the size of the zone and the

nonrefundable fee was $775. now, that's all, i guess, okay, except the expiration is september 30, whereas shared spaces for the dining establishment, they aren't going to have to pay fees into well into 2022. technically the permit ends at the end of 2021, but their fees won't be due until, i believe, july of 2022. is that right, director? >> it's 2023. >> chair: 2023, okay. on this commission we have talked about doing what we can to help retail and obviously retail really counts on loading

zones and delivery. and for reasons that i think were unintentional, these retail businesses that got a loading zone under shared spaces are not covered by the same fee waivers that the dining establishments have. so the result is they're now going to have to pay potentially thousands of dollars at a minimum, $775, which they won't get back if they get denied. this is a real problem from my perspective and a problem the council of district merchants also expressed concern about. so i guess the first question i had was whether you guys had questions, whether you were reading this the same way i was, whether you heard about it,

whether you had an opinion about it. it seems to me that this is problematic and i'm concerned. already there's a feeling that retail is being pitted against restaurants. i don't like that at all. i would like us all to be supporting each other. so that's something that also concerns me about this. commissioner adams. >> i agree with you. it's unacceptable. they are pitting retail against restaurants. retail has really been -- excuse my language -- screwed in all of this. i see it in my neighborhood. i see it in other neighborhoods. i see merchants at merchant meetings who used to get along with restaurants and retails are not anymore. it's really causing a serious divide. this is something that needs to

be rectified and soon. i'm surprised no supervisor has brought this up yet. >> chair: we don't have a lot of time because the deadline is the end of september that's why i rushed to put it on the agenda. >> i so much appreciate this when i saw it. thank you. >> we were going to try to get folks from sfmta. there has been some movement over there. so through the director we decided to just have a consideration intentionally with the commission and we can follow up at the next hearing if we want to do something else. that's the back story there. are you done, commissioner adams? >> i support this and we definitely should do some type of action even though we have a month and it's only a month. >> chair: it's not much time at

all. commissioner dooley. >> once we get this straightened out, is it possible for several retailers to apply for one loading zone that they might share. i see that happening off-the-cuff and it seems that might be helpful on a block that has them team up. so basically saying not -- that space isn't going to be used constantly, but will be beneficial to all those retailers? >> chair: i know shared spaces allows shared usage. i've never seen a loading zone that can only be used by one business. maybe it was and i wasn't paying attention.

usually when it's a loading zone it's marked yellow and it's available to anybody with a commercial play. i can't think of any reason businesses couldn't stand together to get that loading zone. and i don't think it would be denied based on the applicant and denied based on sfmta's curb management policies. what else is happening on the block and what the needs are. commissioner dooley, did that answer your question? >> it kind of did. >> chair: i'm not a great source of information on this, but i'm inclined to think there's some way to band together and pay for it. that's certainly a question we can ask in more depth if we need to. >> thank you.

i agree and feel that we should be getting more information from sfmta soon. it's good to keep these questions at the front of our mind. my question is i've also been fielding reports from businesses that are ticketed for deliveries in existing loading zones that aren't necessarily shared space loading zones and also an increase in red curb that used to be loading zones or used to be park let that have been recolor curbed and they're now -- leave no room for businesses to legally unload. tickets are being incurred that way as well. given that shared spaces outdoor

dining is creating a reduction in available curb space for that and we know that small businesses and the supply chain -- the supply chain interruptions and the long-time reality of auspices being ignored by the vendors, forcing a lot of small businessed owners to go and make those deliveries on their own. it's not necessarily the vendors getting pinged, but themselves with limited space to do the dropoffs. i think this is a conversation across the board. i just wanted to bring that up because it's not clear exactly to me how we're tracking if it's a shared space loading zone or one of those other examples that i mentioned. >> chair: right. so one thing is because it

wasn't included in the shared spaces legislation, it is almostally not a shared spaces loading zone anymore as of september 31. we can address the fees and the timing. we can try and harmonize the shared spaces loading zones with the shared spaces program, but we can't put it into the shared spaces program because that legislation has already passed and didn't factor that in. elsewhere i have heard about the ticketing issue and that's a common complaint that comes up. in fact, at one point i even met with someone from sfmta to talk about that. i think there were so many balls in the air that we were scratching our head. this was probably like june of 2020 and i think we were all

struggling to figure out what would happen next. i think let's put a pin in that for one second and we'll come back. commissioner huie has a question and then i'll make a probably after her. >> director dickerson i think was right before me. >> chair: oh, i'm so sorry, director. i didn't see your name. >> no worries. through the president, a little bit of information for the commission. the sfmta board can take action on its own. there was time through the ballot measure it separated out

sfmta and its ability to take action as an independent agency, not always have to act through the board of supervisors. so when the discussion started to come up about creating the shared space program, so we lumped the zone with the dining shared spaces and the rear yard spaces, activating all of that in covid, that all got lumped into the shared space program. now as we move forward in making what is now the shared spaces program a permanent program, that's really the dining in the street space, right, creating the dining opportunities for bars and restaurants so retailers can also engage in that as well. rear yard space now goes back to if a business was activating the

rear yard and they weren't previously activating that, they are now going to have to go back through the planning process to activate the rear yard. the parking space going from the temporary loading zone to the general loading zone, now that is a specific sfmta process. it went down its path of creating and i appreciate the sfmta creating a program that now allows this general loading zone which allows short, quick dropoffs, pickups. we wouldn't have conceived of being able to create such a type of loading zone before covid [indiscernible] -- they decided

to exempt the fees for two years. i think it was in march of 2023 when businesses will have to start to pay their annual permit fees. what didn't happen in that discussion then is what happened with sfmta. the sfmta doesn't have to come before the board of supervisors to deal with their parking management program, right? without having to come before the board of supervisors and maybe taking action through the board of director it is in terms of some of the timings.

i wanted to provide that context. for commissioner dooley -- for both commissioner dooley and commissioner zouzounis, separate from the recommended action that president laguana is going to recommend, we can separately reach out to the sfmta. i think president laguana sort of probably provided likely the right answer in terms of multiple businesses coming together. we can reach out and get a response. and in terms of commissioner zouzounis, the issues you've been hearing about, perhaps what's in this recommended action perhaps moving forward, the sfmta develops a specific

liaison with the office of small business, business assistance center to help individual small businesses navigate some of the more challenging situations around the general loading zone areas. i wanted to add that in as part of the potential motion nor you, president laguana. that concludes my remarks. >> chair: yes, i appreciate that. if i miss any part of that when we make the motion, please remind me. >> part of my understanding of what you just said is we should be advocating for this not just at the board of supervisors, but

with the board of sfmta [indiscernible] -- it may be that the board has to take action. i suspect it will. i think a gentle nudging from us i don't think would hurt in terms of making sure the right questions are asked and answered when they move forward. >> i think one of the things that the vice president is talking about i kind of had in my mind that i would love to

have a better understanding of what are grounds for neighborhood and commercial spaces are going to look like now that these spaces are becoming more permanent and we're taking up more curbside for commerce. it does bring up certain questions on blocks of how do you take deliveries. some streets have multiple shared spaces on them with only very small openings. we see a lot of double parking on those streets. i think having a better understanding of what the

[indiscernible] would be really helpful for me i think as a business owner to understand how this is going to change the way we do business for many retailers, the way we receive deliveries and the way our customers are going to be interacting with us. are we going to do more only phone and pickup orders. as these things become permanent, it would be nice to have a voice in that conversation which i think we have, but it would be better more proactively than piecemealing these decisions. that would be my comment or suggestion about what presentations we can get from who about what a better goal

might be and then how can we give our expert opinions about our neighborhood and the flow of actual traffic. >> chair: so i think that part of it is a very important question to ask. i'm glad you're raising it. the director can correct me if i'm wrong, but my general understanding is what decisions can go where. this is separate from what we're talking about, just how much does a permit cost and how much is the application fee. for purposes of this conversation that's what we're talking about. i want to bring this up briefly and then i'll let the director who may know more weigh in. sfmta has a curb management

strategy or policy. it's a pretty voluminous document. i've looked at it. it's like well over 100 pages that gives staff guidance on how we'll deal with the curb management which is whether it should be red, yellow, white, and under what circumstances we allow this or that or a meter or what have you. and perhaps there may also be, i doubt it, but a role for the planning department's general plan which is like the entire planning department's general planning strategy. i think this is more likely to fall into sfmta's curb policy. last time i looked at this

policy it was updated pre-pandemic. it's probably -- we probably do -- you're asking an important question which is important, that things have changed an awful lot. is there a better or sfarter way to do this. for folks to come in and talk about this process is an excellent one. director, i don't know if you want to add more to what i just said and correct me if i got any of that wrong. >> i do not need to make any corrections. to your point, i think it's probably very good for the commission now that the

legislation has been passed and the departments are having their interagency meeting about how they're going to enact this for the shared spaces portion of the program. it's probably good to touch base with the agency and then also sfmta in terms of let's just say we could say -- let's take a look at clement street and use that as an example of moving forward with the existing shared spaces that are there, the existing loading zone, and i'm talking about the yellow loading zone. and then also the temporary curbside pickup zones that have been issued and have them present on how they're going to manage all that moving forward. as president laguana said this

particular thing before the commission today is about the fee and the fact that we waved the fees for shared spaces until march of 2023. similar kind of concept of taking a lot and applying that to the general loading zone program. i believe that the sfmta board -- so the action taken is directed towards the sfmta board and not so much the board of supervisors. this is urgingth sfmta board to take action because it is through a resolution they did in may that created this general loading zone program and established the fees you're now giving consideration to. that was established through a resolution by the sfmta board of directors.

>> chair: so i think to -- i'm sorry, commissioner huie, does that answer you're question? okay. before i make a motion, i want to pose a question to the commission. i'm interested what you think about this. we have two ways to weigh in. one is a letter and the other is a resolution. i think of a letter as a little more gentle, arguably a little bit more diplomatic. a resolution is more of a statement of feeling strongly about this. i do want to make sure i sway the sense of the commission appropriately. i wanted to get a sense from you guys what direction you felt. go ahead, commissioner adams.

>> i was going to say resolution. [ laughter ]. >> you can't be gentle with this one. we have to give a strong resolution is my opinion. >> chair: maybe i'll then -- since we got a strong vote there in favor -- commissioner dooley, go ahead. >> i agree with steve. we really have to show strength in backing the small businesses. we have to balance the restaurant and the bars with the shared spaces which is great, but we also have to always keep in mind there are other types of small businesses that are served by loading zone spaces.

>> through the president just a point of clarification so the commission is understands. by doing a resolution, then a resolution will be drafted and you won't be able to take action until september 13. >> chair: i should have made that clear. if we approve a letter we could get it in as soon as a letter is drafted. i will say one other point about the letter, commissioner adams, i agree with you expressing ourselves with strength. the question is the timing because we don't have a lot of time for this expires. >> i say vote. >> chair: on the internet they

have the "why not vote" gif. . i feel like i wish i could do the gif he o /* -- emoji. is there anyone who objects to doing both? we're in favor of both. great suggestion. just so everybody -- i don't want to take up a ton of time, but i prepared a bunch of questions for sfmta. i guess the questions would go in the letter and the stronger, more decorative language would go in the resolution. these are some of the questions i had. did sfmta consider harmonizing the deadlines for the loading zone fees with the rest of the

shared spaces program? and if so, what was the rationale for splitting them into two? did sfmta consider at least grandfathering the existing shared spaces loading zone? what's the fact that small businesses have disproportionately borne the measure of these measures and this is estimated to be over $400 million when taken into account determining the amount of the loading zone applications and fees. i would like to know what the basis is for a $775 nonrefundable application fee particularly with regards to existing loading zone that presumably there's not much to analyze there in determining whether to approve or deny the application. what outreach, if any, did sfmta do with the small business community before settling on the fee amount and permit deadline? is there a budget analysis on

what sfmta stands to gain from enacting these fees on these loading zones? if so, the commission would appreciate the opportunity to review that analysis. has sfmta given consideration of what impact if any this would have on sales revenue if businesses are unable to afford a loading zone? have they considered how it might pit retail stores against restaurants, as we discussed earlier. to the extent sfmta is trying to fill budget holes is the amount material to sfmta's budget? my understanding is we're talking about a small number of permits, at 300 or 400 permits. finally, and this is relevant to what you're talking about, commissioner huie.

if the fees are material, has sfmta considered identifying other sources of revenue other than small businesses? as one example i will note that e-commerce companies, particularly those that run the gamut from a to z seem to have trucks all over this city and are running healthy and profitable businesses that are putting small businesses out of business. i have no doubt if these small businesses got these loading zone permits that these trucks would happily roll-up into these permits for delivering their e-commerce goods. what, if anything, is sfmta doing to collect or could they collect delivery fees from companies that are primarily

engaged in the business of delivering goods that compete with small businesses. [ please stand by ]

>> i'm getting a nod from commissioner dooley. >> they all make me mad, so ye . >> president: i just feel like this seems to be an untapped opportunity to level the playing field. particularly with respect to these things small businesses pay for that these freeloaders benefit from andthen use those benefits to compete against small businesses. itseems outrageous to me . so that's something we could talk about in the letter . i think i calledeverybody. yes, i called everybody . with that ... >> excuse me mister president. before calling fora motion , did you also want to include in

the letter arequest. we're going to do a resolution . the resolution puts out initially and do you have the list of things that the commission wants to know about in terms of what action the sfmta board takes making its decision but to also include in their request for consideration to lining up not only a reconsideration of the fees but lining up the fee waiver to lineup with shared spaces. >> that's what i meant in the first question. have a considered harmonizing both gates and fees. >> okay. >> president: we are on the same page. i'm going to make a simple

motion then that the small business commission draft both a letter and a resolution with the resolution to be voted on at the next meeting regarding the general loading zones at sfmta and advocating on behalf of the small businesses of san francisco that these loading zone permits be made easier to access by the businesses and right, i'm totally forgetting we got to go to publiccomments before i can make a motion . that's right? thank you. so before we make amotion, do we have any public commenters on the line ? >> i will unmuteyou now. >> president: great . go ahead, caller. >> caller: good afternoon commissioners, this is stephen cornell representing the council of district merchants.

first a couple of comments on what you can do and can't do. i think the mta can only deal with managing curves space. so for your idea of possibly charging some of the delivery companies just to be around, they don't have that power. i want you tomanage the curb space itself. the other question of did they givepublic notice and going out to the public to talk about that, they never brought this out before the citizens advisory committee . the citizens advisory committee to the mta. it was never brought out there or else it may or may not have been .i don't know. i'd like to see my comments that as of yesterday i went up on the first block on one side, therewere seven vehicles double

parked because 1, they couldn't get intothe shared spaces . they were either going into the restaurants , those were the thingsthat were open and they were all double parked . today on the 200 block or 300 block of west portal there were six cars double parked. in both cases as i walked by then, nobody was in the car they were either in the business, in the restaurant or whatever. so i think part of the consideration should be how many spaces areavailable , the shared spaces have been shared like restaurant spaces have takenup a lot of spaces . this has become a bigger problem than just the charge for the space. i thinkthat should be part of your resolution . what spaces are available for vehicles going back and forth and are they actually checking the metersare those meters being paid for ? thank you. >> president: thank you. and then to stevens point i was

imagining perhaps sfmta could make a great loading zone or other kind of color loading zone that would be for large e-commerce companies with assets over $10 billion. but perhaps that would take an action from the board of supervisors so i think it's a question worth exploring and figuring out. but understood on allof the other points . i think were purposes of this commission we're going to focus first and foremost on the permits and the fees and the timing of the fees. but that said i'm going to go ahead and make a motion we send both a letter and make a resolution to sfmta with the letter to go out as soon as possible and with incorporating

the comments that were made during this hearing and a resolution to be prepared for the commission to vote on at the next hearing 2 weeks from now. >> i second. >> president: harry, you are on right now. >> we have a motion by commissioner laguana to send a letter noting the item presented by commissioner laguana additionalcomments by the commission . and then to follow up with a resolution for the september 13 meeting for the commission to take action on. this motion isseconded by commissioner adams . commissioner adams.>> yes. [roll call vote] this motion

passes 620 with one absent. >> president: thank you everyone, next item please. >> item number five, general public comment which allows as of the public to comment on items within the small business commission's jurisdiction but not on today's calendar. as suggests new agenda item for the commissions future consideration. in this discussion item. >> president: is there any members of the public that would like to make comment on anything that was not in today's agenda?

>> no thank you speaking. >> president: seeingno public comment, next item please >> next item is item number six which is thedirector's report . this is an update and report on the office of small business . this is policy and legislative announcements andannouncements regarding small business activity .so commissioners i think my key item i want to focus my report on is again , starting on friday was the date that the new health director took place which was requiring restaurants, bars, gems, yoga studios, dance studios, things where they will be expelling aerosols and requiring that for

individuals to come in and partake in those activities that they must be vaccinated and that the business needs to provide proof of vaccination. in addition requirements around employee needing to be vaccinated as well. i think again i want to express my appreciation to the department of public health and city attorney's office in working with the office of economic and workforce development . ensuring that the directives coming out were very clear and easy for businesses to follow. i know the mayor had a press announcement about this that the business community has circled around and engaged it and obviously taking leadership from the bar association who stepped out and took this action before it was required

by our health director. and now working with sf and an overall campaign about san francisco's a good place to come to to engage in business because it's healthy and much safer and provides our businesses. so the requirement for vaccines is not required for our restaurants or bars that do have the shared spaces so outdoor dining, that is required. if there's any question, we've sent our office of small business newspaper has been working hard to outline this in the most simple way of directingbusinesses to new signage . and the new requirements and as of today, information that was

put out initially just in english is available in multiple languages as well. so that is the key thing i want to highlight because i do think that it is you know, a big step. i'll begin bold step. i'm very proud of our mayor and doctor colfax and the city leadership taking this step so that they're looking at ways in which we can still engage with business but take significant actions in curbing the spread of thisvirus . and i see president laguana, did you want to add something? >> president: i'm just wondering and maybe this isn't the right time to bring it up or talk about it but perhaps it's a new business item but i'm just now belatedly

realizing that certainly if this commission was so inclined that we could do a resolution in courts of these vaccination mandates and perhaps that would be well received. i don't think it's necessary because obviously inks have been progressing and moving pace and especially today with the vaccine being approved by the fda i think it makes it easier. but you know, now that we have a commissionsecretary again , we can do stuff. which we haven't been able to dostuff for a while because there's only one of you , regina. >> that is a new business item but you can bring it up. >> president: we can discuss it then.

>> i'm happy to support that effort. and i do have to say in relationship to through the pandemic with the changes of house orders the volume of calls that would come into the business center, previously calls for clarification, we do not receive that many calls as much as i have anticipated and expected so again, that just really speaks to the ease of understanding to help outline and communicate what our businesses need to be compliant with it so of course, again to with oe wds office they're working with the business

community so there was a good intersection of support from the business side and working with our department of public health before the regulations were rolled out. i think with that, unless there's any questions. there is one thing i do want to justhighlight . in regards to the legacy businessprogram , a couple of things that will be coming up in the next couple of months is the rollout of our plaques so you'll be hearing more about that later. being able to put plaques on theexteriors of our legacy businesses .and then we are rick is going to work to try to process more applications but we do have the grant program for that additional funding but

we do hope to see that there may be some businesses that do come before you and somewhere around october for the commissions placed on the registry so because we are getting backlogs with that . but i'm very excited that we are getting very close to being able to place plaques on the exterior of our businesses. that concludes my remarks. >> president: rate.is there any public comment on the directors report ? >> there is no one in the queue. >> next item please. >> item number seven, this is commissioner discussion and new

business. this allows the commissioners to make note of business activities and items of interest for the business community and also bring up new business items for future agenda items. >> president: great. and commissioner dooley. >> i wanted to give a little update on myself and my partners will be opening a cannabis dispensary soon in north beach which will really help drive more business to everyone but also i wanted to mention that we have sponsored and are financially supporting the space next door to us which we are giving to a very well-known artist, someone from our neighborhood and so he will be there presenting his goods and as he himself isquite a

draw and so i'm just urging other businesses if they could possibly before that in their business plan , that you know, please do it because i feel like it's a way for creative artistic businesses to get in there and you know, make it a more vital and diverse neighborhood. >> president: i love that, congratulations first of all on closing in on proper opening. i know you've been working on that a long time and also what a wonderful idea especially with so many vacancies out there. it would be great if any of the new businesses that are starting to have that capability. i'd love to see it. that's certainly something that makes the community more fun to walk around and creates a draw andan interest . i'll just note i drove by van ness and market yesterday and

there was a line down the block for that damn go, living van gogh exhibit. god is nothing popular and that's been up there for a while now so there's clearly some appetite for arts out there. >> i did want to mention the artistthat we're sponsoring is jeremy fish . i don't know if you know him but he is a wonderfulsupporter of the neighborhood also .so he kinda just passes on last weekend, he had a special event at his former studio and a line went all the way down theblock . at least 150 people in line and his criteria was he would give you a free piece of his art if you showed him a receipt showing you spent $50 or moreat any north beach business . >> president: wow. that's great. >> i want to encourage us all to think out-of-the-box and you

know, it's just good for everyone. we're really really excited about adding two new vital businesses in the neighborhood. >> president: that's amazing and again, congratulations. we should do what we can to think outside thebox . i love it,more like that please . >> i'll let you all know on the opening day so you will all be invited. >> president: we will talk to each other at all course. commissioner huie. >> i have one quick thing. i wanted to thank commissioner dickerson for giving me the floor and spending some time with me. i realized looking at her schedule how packed her schedule is so not only was it

precious for that but also knowing she had to schedule me in like a client tobe able to spend some time with me, i really appreciated that . and that was just a wonderful morning so thank you so much. it was so nice meeting all your neighbors and i feel like now i kind of know where to go and i'm just so appreciative. thank you very much. it really has made not just that day but the whole time i really appreciate. >> president: great. funny you should mention that, yesterday i went with a bunch of friends and we went hiking at candlestick point. we did a long long loop. we basically covered the entire perimeter of southeast point. and afterwards wewere starving . so we wanted to go to there was

like a little mexicanrestaurant . a couple doors downfrom you . commissioner dickerson. and they were closed and that turned out to be very fortuitous because andy ables was open. so i was driving by and i was telling my wife, commission commissioner dickerson, that's her place . i was looking to see if the door was open and i could pop myhead but it looked pretty close . but we went to andy aprils and i got the buns are delicious and i gotthe fried chicken . the rice and gravy and i was no longer hungry after that was done. there's no way anybody could be hungry after that lunch. that's not an option. but cross streets, this is what

kind of got me thinking about this subject. across the street they were doing a big vaccine drive. they had a band playing and some folks came in and ordered food for the event from anti-aprils while we were standing there inline . and i don't actually, i know in the small business community not everybody is always in lockstep on these public health policies, it can be challenging for certain folks and i just want to say at the outset there that i respect and understand when people have differences of opinion about thisbut certainly i feel like the best way , personally the best way to get small business back to a healthy place is get the public

back to a healthy place and vaccinations seem to be the best way to do that. that's my personal opinion. i guess the question i would have for you guys is whether or not you would feel comfortable doing a resolution which we can look into preparing. and you know, you can just thumbs up or thumbs down if you want me toconsider putting this on the agenda . if i don't see any big thumbs down, i wouldn't want to do it unless there wasbroad consensus among all of us , but if you could, regina. director, what's the right way to get a sense of thecommission ? is it fair for me to ask the question during this section whether stuff would be supported? >> it is not correct because that's the first in action item . >> president: i had a feeling.

>> i think it's okay if you're thinking of having the commission support our small businesses gettingengaged , right? and if thecommission as a general sort of support on that , then this is what you and i and vice president zouzounis can take is that general support and figure out the best means of which to come back to thecommission for a formal action . >>president: i knew i was blundering into a bad area there . duly noted. and we will proceed on that basis. so two other items, one is i

want to let the commission know about shine on sf. you may not have heard about this program but it's an initiative by the city. to help work on getting our streets shining and cleaning and inspiring some civic engagement . from our citizens and giving folks some agency over how our citylooks . and i know it's so important particularly when we're trying to attract convention business which is a big driver of people for small businesses especially since there's not many office workers anymore. so i hear through the rumor mill that they're talking about forming a business council. if you have an interest in

participating in that business council or you have cycles available, please let the director know. as you will relate back to me and then i can let you shine on sfpeople know . that you know, we have full interested in engaging so that's something i wanted to bring up and then the last thing i wanted to mention and i'm just going to keep harassing people about this is the employee retention tax credit . my gosh, is that a lot of money just waiting there for san francisco businesses. i spoke to a business the other day and they barely have any employees and they got $40,000 tax-free from the government.

they said they had already gotten the check and i think they just have ahandful of employees and it could be a lot more money in 2021 . following up you may recall i brought this with director focus during the presentation on oe wb. i did want to relay that she conveyed that to her staff and there were brainstorming. a one pager on how to help educate the community. on how to take advantage of free money, lots of free money, big piles of free money all over the place.that nobody is touching and is just waiting for san franciscobusinesses to help themselves . that's free money that's out there, lots of free money. big gigantic piles of it. and i'd like to see our businessestake advantage of it . so with that is there anybody

else who would like to make an comments or new business ? i'msorry commissioner , i forgot to come back to you. >> something you brought up right now in terms of the sign on sf and thinkingabout our downtown areas , i don't actually spend that muchtime downtown myself . and i'm kind of curious, i don't know if, i don't know. i'm curious. i feel like in the neighborhood a lot of residence and other people within the community kind of come together on weekends and they do cleanup and things like that. there's a lot of kind of accessibility for volunteer networks.just through pools or other means. in the downtown areas do we have the same level of engagement of these types of

volunteer networks?i'm curious how you said having the area around their, just physically cleaned or things like that. in the downtown district, are we mostlyrelying on dpw to do the heavy lifting and there is now kind of ongoing maintenance ? out of that work and how can we help to encourage that same level ofengagement into these neighborhoods , maybe we're not seeing you. >> president: you have cvd and you have the new and i guess it's part of the cleanup now that we see ambassadors. i'm down there every day now and i will tell you that i do see the shanks people out there watering plants and trash, hosing down sidewalks. you have you know, and our

company, we on for office buildings . we're out there every day cleaning ourselves. in conjunction but there are those community groups. we are seeing in the east side area by dales tower. there are residents up there and you're seeing more of them out on the weekends but there are like that's going through a deal over there so the downtown most of that is up to the communitybenefit district . >> do you think downtown could benefit from more residential engagements from the people who live there or is that just not a realistic ... >> i think you can, it's just getting those people together.

the problem is a lot of these arenot full-time residents . although what i've noticed and what i've, when i talk to others now that the pandemic seems to be not winding down but it is, people are sending more down there because they know they will have to go back to theoffice . it's limited but there open down there. i think there could be a way to get those people more activated but we have to figure out how, especially in the normal part of that. there are a lot of residents. i know dpw had kept up cruise prior to thepandemic , volunteers down there. so i think the moreyou get peopleengaged, like you said in the neighborhood , the better .

>> i found over the summer i've been traveling a little bit. and it's so easy sometimes when you're living in the city to kind of an especially when you're doing this type of work where your re-volunteering and spending all our free time advocating for improvements. soyou're constantly seeing things that need to be improved or you want to be improved . so it seems like gosh, all we have is problems but as i started to travel this summer it was incredible how much gratitude i have for san francisco and for the people in my city and seeing you guys do all the work that you do in your neighborhoods and just advocating for people. i have so much love for this city and i feel like if we can have that kind of love in all these places, and these neighborhoods where people spend even if the people are

coming into work, you spend like eight, nine hours not remotely but in the past that's your neighborhood. so i have a renewed love for san francisco and i know there are tons of people who love this city and maybe we don't know how to articulate it yet but i feel like it's coming and i feel like it would be wonderful to have our downtown be equally engaged and part of the residence there to really appreciate how they get to see a bridge. maybe not the bridge that's commissioner adams has in the item they get tosee the bridge . >> president: add that i couldn't agree more and ididn't want to emphasize shine on sf is a citywide program . i didn'tmean to suggest or

imply it was only for downtown . rather, i was just trying to make the point that when we think about the impact of dirty streets onsmall businesses , that seems particularly acute downtown because they're deprived of both the office workers that they used to have an coming to conventions and while getting the office workers back is going to be a challenge, it seems like we could do some things to make it more attractive to the convention so that was it. but it's a citywideprogram . >> as per thepresident just for a point of information , apartment of public works would often be pandemic would often work with each district supervisor's office to schedule coordinated cleanups throughout their district indifferent parts of the district over the

year . so my guess is some of that stuff has, is now backorder because of covid and gathering people together soi don't want to say , similar things like that happened throughout the district and throughout each individualsupervisors to fix in bringing people together to do cleanups . so i think you're going to see pockets of it start to get revived as we feel more comfortable about bringing people together and working in some of a high volunteer coordinator program. so you know, it could be a future presentation should the commission desire to hear what public works as planned for

coordinated volunteer neighborhood efforts cleanup efforts. >> president: vice president zouzounis has been waiting quite patiently. >> i love the conversation. the only thing i will add is the downtown community benefit district is a newer benefits. they are proactively trying to engage small businesses and the financial anddowntown areas and i think this is something i might have brought up before on new business . i think we need to be intentional about how we help cvd's engage with small businesses and in the same vein that helps cvdrepresent small business interests to the city since they have a direct line

to the city . part of how i helped refer to the downtown community benefit district to small businesses is identifying specific need areas that they are looking for support on soap street cleaning and refuse coming from kansas a big one and it happens the downtown benefit district is working directly on in replacements or been, or devices that closed the bins and stuff like that so i think that being able to promote those specific outlets is really important. the surfrider foundation actually is going around and giving out pocket ashtrays, like little registers that have ashtrays available for pre-customers and i think that's another big one

especially as a lot of small businesses get blamed and have to pay additional street cleaning fees for things like that where there may be a lot of citizens and small business alignment on something like that. and i think this is where it comes up to us where we can maybe direct those efforts towards joint was the efforts where residents and small businesses look at what is our landscape for street cleaning fees right now and how we can maybe better utilize those budgets to address the actual street cleaning needs cost some of them are earmarked forthings that aren't really a necessity anymore for street cleaning . that are going to the wrong cleanup areas for items. so that's just something i think about a lot is how we can create consensus and joint

efforts between residents and small businesses and i think three cleaning is policy area in which we can meet that on so i know that's really big picture but it's also very bread and butter for a lot of small businesses so i think there'sa lot to think about their . >> president: vice president zouzounis, you're reminding me i had the delightful opportunity to meet with rodney silver is the new or is the acting director for the downtown dvd and he's been appointed the permanent director and let me just tell you, he is a delight. he is really a great and you know, one of the things we spoke about with respect to the garbage cans, i'm so glad you mentioned that.

we had all these new cans coming in but we haven't really settled on a strategy with edw for how often the only empty, when they will be serviced. there's a whole lot of questions around that and other aspects of street cleaning.so you know, vice president, i couldn't agree with you more. i think that's a right area for us to interact and engage with and try to help facilitate economic recovery and what they have planned for the holidays, i'm sworn to secrecy but i can't wait. like, i'm so excited. i'm sitting on my hands because they're really doing some very forward thinking things that i don't think we've even seen in

the us before . so i'm very excited to see how that plays out and i think it will make the downtown area very exciting and interesting and you know, but by the same measure we want to see all the neighborhoods do well. all right, any other before we go topublic comment any other commissioner news or comments ? going once, going twice. okay. matthew, any of thecommenters on the line ? seeing on, public comment is close. and i don't expect there will be anymore, any comments or questions so next item please . you are a muted, director. >> thank you president laguana.

sfgov tv, please show the small business slide. >> we will begin, we're ending. there we go. we will end with a reminder the small business commission is the official public more for him to put your opinions about policies that affect the economic vitality of businesses in san francisco and the office of small business is the best place to get answers about doing this during a local emergency. if youneed assistance with small business matters continue to reach out to the office of small business . >> we will now move on to item number eight. this is the adjournment and an action item, is there a motion to adjourn ?

>> i'll make the motion to adjourn. >> we have commissioner adams motion to adjourn, seconded by commissioner dooley . [roll call vote] that motion passes 6 to zero with one absent. the meeting is adjourned at 6:40 4 pm. >>president: goodbye everyone .

and, thank you for joining us. i am sister roma. a 34-year member of the san francisco sisters of perpetual indulgence. [applause] >> it says "hold for applause." thank you. thank you. i am truly honored to join you today for this historical event. as your host, as we recognize

the nation's first transgender history month right here in san francisco. [applause] >> i would like to begin by thanking our wonderful san francisco mayor london breed for hosting us today and your incredible support of the trans and lgbt community and also the transgender for making this historic month possible. thank you to all the city and elected official leaders who are here joining us including dccc chair honey mahogany. supervisor rafael mandelman, si

cilia chung and many more. so i moved to san francisco after graduating from college in one thousand nine hundred eighty-five and within two years, i met the sisters and sort of was propelled head first into the front lines on the war against hiv and aids and began fighting for civil rights and the thing that has impressed me most about san francisco is our community, we are intelligent, we are compassionate, we are creative and we are determined. the sisters of perpetual indulgence started here in san francisco. we are the first ever gay men's chorus. we fought for the right to serve. we have laid down and screamed i can't breathe and black lives matter and worked with women and gun control. so it's very fitting that san

francisco has celebrated this historic milestone. the birthplace of the transrights movement. this month markses the 55th anniversary that took place in august 1966 in the tenderloin. the riot was a response to the ongoing violence and police harassment of transwomen and transwomen of color. the incident was one of the first lgbtq up risings in protests perhaps the riots gang

on a against the ongoing attacks injustice, and discrimination. san francisco has come a long way in strong policies and innovative programs. the transcivil rights heroes whose shoulders we stand on. this includes legendary transleader who are no longer with us that we recognize in spirit jazzy collins, fe leash shall flames, bobby jean baker

many more one of our transelders and heroes. so thank you all. but also impressed me about hour we couldn't do any of this alone and we're very fortunate to have such an amazing powerful ally right here at this beautiful in this wonderful city, please welcome the amazing mayor of san francisco london breed. [ applause ] >> thank you so much, sister roma and thank you to everyone who is joining us here today. it's so good to see you, donna, you're always here at all these amazing events and we appreciate your work and advocacy over the years. i want to recognize commissioner chung and thank you for your work not on behalf of just the trans community,

but the city and county of san francisco. we're here today to celebrate an incredible milestone and supervisor mandelman, we appreciate you so much so work for your work here in city hall, but i want to take this moment to just reflect back and just realize our assess joaquin torres is joining us. joaquin, why are you sitting down, you should be standing up. standing up for the trans community, buddy. an incredible ally. i want to take this opportunity to really recognize two really incredible people who have been extraordinary leaders in san francisco. first, aria sayed who has been just really amazing in leading the transgender district and really advocating and pushing and coordinating and collaborating and bringing

people together to help push the city in a direction where we are doing incredible things. her leadership along with claire farly who is the director of the first transgender initiative. but i've got to tell you, it's women like this, who are the reasons why we have been able to launch extraordinary programs that no one ever thought of. it is because of their advocacy and many of you here today that we launched the first program providing universal income for the transcommunity.

so many gangs. but so much more work to be done. that's here in san francisco. it's not happening in other cities across this country and we know that this movement goes back to 1966 as sister roma talked about. everybody likes to talk about stone wall as the catalyst, but we all know here in san francisco that it started right here and it took three years before it catapulted into a movement that continued on and to support and uplift the transcommunity. i have a very dear friend that i truly in the past '60s, '70s,

'80s, '90s to allow your child to be who they are born to be would not have been possible. had it not been for the extraordinary advocacy of this community. so it is so that we honor that history, that we honor that legacy. that we make those investments. that we continue to push and san francisco continues to be that example. this past budget season thanks to supervisor mandelman and other members on the board of supervisors and i see supervisor matt haney. this year, we put forth $12 million to make sure that we are investing in the first

ever lgbtq museum in san francisco to highlight and document and maintain the history of this community in our city. because it's such a rich history. because it is where the movement started. because we continue to be leaders in advancing the goals that are necessary to be supportive and inclusive and to make sure this community is not forgotten is not discriminated against, is protecting and supported and uplifted. it all sounds good in san francisco, but the reason why we recognize these milestones and we highlight them is to continue to make sure people know that there is more work to be done because there are still women and men and mostly transwomen who are being killed

just because of who they are, and in san francisco, we recognize them, we honor their lives and we make sure that we highlight the need for justice and highlight the need for changes, policies, to hold people accountable who would attack this community. in san francisco, we pride ourselves on being inclusive. we pride yourself on being the first. we talk about all the great things that we want to do, but we also need to make sure that with those words, there are deeds, there are policy changes. there are investments. there are things that will show a difference in peoples' lives, and so i really want to thank you all for being here today to celebrate what we will continue to do in the month of august to recognize this community and the person that i must credit

for all of the knowledge and the understanding and the information about the transcommunity is felicia flames. my relationship with her started many years ago before i was even on the board of supervisors, her telling me they always forget the "t" in the lgbt movement and i'm not going to let them forget the "t." she had a lot of courage along with donna and others who just would not back down and were not afraid at a time when they were not treated with a lot of love and respect, but they still stood strong and you're still here with us today, donna, and we're so grateful to you and we're so happy to have you and we're so grateful to felicia and her legacy and her work.

she would be so proud of the many gangs that we've made. i know i'm proud of san francisco and i really want to take this moment too to recognize our former mayor ed lee who started this first office of transgender initiative as a way to highlight and support this community and, claire, as i said has done an extraordinary job of bringing the community together and helping to make sure that me as mayor and other policy makers do the right thing and put our money where our mouth is. and so today, we're going to sign this proclamation to declare it officially transgender history month in the city and county of san francisco. so aria, before you say a few words, the rest of you, sister roma, please join me.

[ applause ] >> that's a lot of whereas clause. are we ready? ready? let's do this. [ applause ] >> it's official. [ applause ] >> thank you, mayor breed. thank you everyone. this is so exciting. this is history. this is our history. [ applause ] >> i would also just like to recognize the mayor's

unprecedented leadership in this crazy time of the pandemic when who could have foreseen we would find ourselves living through this once in a century catastrophe and you have rose to the occasion. keeping us all safe. so, you guys, we really have to appreciate our mayor. many of the women who started here before her, she is destined for more. we need to thank her while we still got her because she's going places, baby. [ applause ] >> so as we mentioned, we have some amazing leaders in our community and this next person has proven to be absolutely outstanding in everything and looking good while she does it. please welcome aria sayed.

>> hi everybody. oh, no. that was a permission to respond. hello everybody. i get really nervous actually when i'm asked to publicly speak and, you know, during the pandemic, we had the luxury of zoom and so i was able to do these speaking things in a room alone and now it's even more nerve racking because this is family. thank you so much, mayor breed, if for this moment. it's such a beautiful day today that it is transgender history month. it is also marsha p. johnson's birthday, a mother of our movement who famously said i want my gay rights now. and so it's very special to not only be celebrating the 55th anniversary of the compton's cafeteria rights and the amazing incredible history