>> clerk: -- held on october 4, 2021. the meeting is being called to order at 4:35 p.m. members of the public who will be calling in, the number is 415-655-0001. the access code is 2480-980-2106. press pound and then pound again to be added to the line. when you're connected, you'll hear the meeting discussions, but you'll be muted and in listening mode only. when your item comes up, dial star, three to be added to the speaker line. if you dial star, three before

public comment is called, you'll be added to the queue. wait for your turn to speak, and your line will be unmuted when it is your time to do so. public comment is limited to three minutes per speaker unless established by the chair. speakers asked but not required to state their names. >> and if the office of small business will put the slide up -- >> clerk: i believe we don't have access to it tonight. >> okay. with that, we begin with the statement that the small

business commission is the best place to get answers about doing business in san francisco during the local emergency. if you need assistance with small business matters, particularly at this time, you can find us on-line or via phone, and always, our services are free of charge. please note, the office of small business and personal hours have changed to tuesday through thursday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. we will be updating the slide to reflect these changes. office staff are still available by phone and e-mail five days a week. before this meeting is called, i'd like to thank sfgovtv and maria pena for assisting with the public comment line today, and with that said, please call

item 1. >> clerk: item 1, call to order and roll call. [roll call] >> clerk: vice president, you have a quorum. >> thank you. i will now read the ramaytush ohlone land acknowledgement. the san francisco small business commission and office of small business staff acknowledges that we are on the unceded ancestral homeland of the ramaytush ohlone who are the original inhabitants of the san francisco peninsula. as the indigenous stewards of this land, and in accordance

with their tradition, the ramaytush ohlone have never ceded, lost, nor forgotten their responsibility as the caretakers of this land. we wish to pay our respects by acknowledging the ancestors, elders, and relatives of the ramaytush ohlone community and by establishing their sovereign rights as first people. please call item 2. >> clerk: item 2, board of supervisors ordinance, file 21808, planning code, requirements for laundromats and on-site laundry services. this is a discussion and potential action item. the commission will discuss and may vote on possible recommendations regarding ordinance file 210808

[indiscernible] and to prohibit accessory dwelling units that reduce on-site laundry services unless replaced, affirming the planning department's determination under ceqa, and making findings of consistency with the general plan, and the eight priority policies of planning code section 101.1 and findings of public necessarily, convenience, and welfare under planning code section 302. and today, we have lee hefner from supervisor peskin. >> and you have the floor. >> thank you so much, commission, and commissioner zouzounis for taking up this legislation today. this legislation, on its surface, i think is a fairly straightforward tool designed to prevent the loss of laundromats in san francisco,

and i just, by way of background, how we got to this point, our office, supervisor peskin's office, has been looking into the issue of laundromat closures for a couple of years now, and this was just based on the information that we were getting periodically that this or that laundromat or dry cleaner was closing down. it was our intention to look at certain use types under the planning code that are really community serving businesses, kind of backbones of the communities that they serve. interestingly, when an incident came up last october, at the address 998 filbert, an owner had proposed to displace a laundromat called tons of

bubbles on russian hill. commissioner deland chan says laundromats are vital to the community, and i think there are a lot of things that are overlooked in the conversation, but things like your hand ware stores, like your grocery store, like your laundromat, like your locksmith, that are vital for everyday life serve a very valuable purpose in district three and across san francisco, as well. but we were looking at these businesses, and in the course of doing so, and certainly, when our research was intensified during the tons of bubbles incident last year, we started researching what they track, and interestingly, our planning department doesn't

track the number of uses over time. d.b.i. doesn't track this, either. we're in conversation to come up with new tools so we can better track the numbes and different use types in our community. we actually got that information from sfpuc, and what we found in san francisco, in the past seven years, the number has decreased from nearly 300 -- 288 -- laundromats to just 200, and i think that that caused us to reinforce and understand what's going on here. the legislation before you seeks to introduce this as an

ordinance issue. probably to no one's surprise, they tend to concentrate in higher density neighborhoods. they tend to be higher concentrations of lower income people. we found that laundromats disproportionately serve census tracts with more diverse racial and ethnic populations, so everything, everything that we were learning about laundromats is this is a use that we should step in to save, and again, that doing so is going to help benefit lower income communities, more racially diverse communities, and certainly, the senior communities. when it was about tons of bubbles, we were inundated with dozens and dozens and dozens of e-mails, probably over 100 people said even if tons of bubbles closes, the next

laundromat is a block over, but i'm not going to be able to do that because it's up a streep hill. in this instance, i think the c.u. was designed to be a disincentive, and to the extent that real estate speculation is driving some of these laundromats to closure, that we are apprehending that speculation before the laundromat closes because then the property owner is going -- and landlord is going to know that they will need to make it through another public hearing before replacing that use. so it's -- and we have also put a three-year timeline on it. thank you, commission secretary

birnbach, for noting in your tool that these were passed for night time entertainment use, so we're kind of appropriating that tool for use here. i actually believe the a.d.u. component of this was just addressed in legislation put forward by supervisor mandelman, who is noting this problem from a different point of view, so this might be redundant at this point. but as authors of san francisco's a.d.u. ordinance in 2016, i think we need to make sure that we take note of some of the counter placements that displace laundromats or not. so that's my short recital,

probably not that short. we're invested in this project. we intend to use the next month or so to get the word out. we're working on a public media campaign to bolster the public awareness for community necessity small businesses. looking forward to bringing this to the planning commission and thereafter to the board of supervisors. with that, i will turn it back over to you, and thank you for the opportunity to bring this legislation. >> thank you, lee, and thank you so much to the supervisor's office for working on this. i will start with commissioner adams, if you would like to start the discussion, go ahead. >> yeah. first off, mr. hepner, thank

you. this is something that's been in my mind for a while, and i am just so grateful that supervisor peskin is doing this. i'm all for a.d.u. units, but i live in the castro up on lower twin peaks. we've lost -- not only have we lost our laundromats up here, we've lost our dry cleaners, where you can actually do the wash and fold. there was three of them within walking distance. they're all gone. and i do know, like, the big one that we recently lost about 1.5 years ago, which was on noe and 22, you know, this may be the lower twin peaks, half of my neighborhood, half of the people on this street do not

have washers and dryers in their unit. we used to be able to go right down at market and hattie, and it's been gone. it's been gone for a few years. and the one at 18 and hollywood, it's gone. so people in this neighborhood, we have to go to sanchez, and if that closes, we may have to go over to kolb alley. so i support this, and when i read this, i thought to myself, someone got it, so thank you, thank you, thank you. >> thank you. commissioner hui? >> yeah, thank you very much for bringing this to my attention, and yeah, definitely, this is something

that i -- you know, in our communities, we recognize these are really important pieces of what, like, makes living in a walkable city walkable and liveable. so i had a couple of questions. one is what are some of the reasons, i guess maybe, like, the top, you know, reasons for the closures of the laundromats besides the real estate speculation? >> honestly, it's a great question, commissioner hui, and it's one that we hope to understand. i think part of the provocation of this legislation and part of the three-year timeline, too, is to, you know, urge the planning department to dive deep into that. there is a question whether the c.u. is the best way to

preserve that and is there other measures to do so. we don't fully understand why so many laundromats are closing down. are they profitable businesses? i talked to several businesses. tons of bubbles has several laundromats across the city. their owner has been enthusiastic about this, and everyone time we have to raise money -- there's a lot of questions that i think we have to about why laundromats are closing down, and that's where the speculation piece comes in. i do know that sfgov and the

p.u.c. has a voucher based program for coin-op laundries which allows -- i think it's designed to allow people to have. >> -- but i think your question is -- is really one that we're also trying to ask. why are we seeing this crisis level of closure of laundromats. so i hope to be able to report back to you in a couple of years with a little more

insight. >> yeah. i think that's -- you know, this is a question that we can ask about a lot of our community serving small businesses, right? like, what is causing closure. and i think what you said and specifically to -- might not be as possible as competing businesses, right? it's, like, really key to some of this is, like, to function in an everyday capacity is just, like, not that -- you know, it's -- it doesn't generate the revenues that are [indiscernible] doing business [indiscernible] and are costing us. and one of the things that i think about is if we are trying to preserve these businesses, which it sounds like i love how much time you've put in to this presentation, but, like, is there a way that we can roll

that into our -- almost, like, our vocational training programs because the city already offers many vocational and small business training programs? you -- this is a realistic plan so people can learn -- teaching them how to grow a very specific business. that seems almost easier than teaching someone to grow a

business in general. we could really help people build businesses here in san francisco with the city's help which would really turn that narrative of a small business, like, having the toughest time -- like, you know we have this reputation of building all these barriers. wouldn't it be great if we actually were able to, like, grow businesses here, so yeah. i think there are tons of possibilities with this, and i really appreciate it. and also, i'm happy to talk more about it afterwards or,

you know, think through things, too, so i'm here. thank you so much, lee. >> i love that idea. thank you, commissioner. >> so i don't see any other commissioner questions -- >> i'll just say -- sorry. >> i think we've got commissioner ortiz-cartagena. >> can you hear me? >> yeah, go ahead. >> yeah, i just wanted to add, thank you, lee, for the presentation, and it's funny that you're bringing up this because some of the c.b.o.s in the mission, we're actually coming up with ways to incorporate laundromats into our mixed use buildings because from a decade ago, 180, there's only 80 left in the city. so mission housing, meta, we're trying to incorporate

laundromats into these new buildings and old buildings that we acquire because it's definitely a service that our community needs. >> thank you, commissioner. actually, meta, i talked to some folks over there, and they were really instrumental in supporting us on this. >> commissioner adams, did you have something else to add? >> i'm okay. i just do know for a fact that coin laundromats are cash cows. you have maintenance, and i have seen the people who own these places and run them do very, very well, and to answer commissioner hui's issue, i know two of them that closed

down in this area because the landlord just didn't renew their leases, and that was an issue. and one of the places is sitting empty still, so, you know, that -- and that's part of the problem right now. they're speculating, but the business is actually a very good business. >> thank you. >> i'll just say that i agree with everything that's been said. i think our commission and particularly our racial equity committee is really looking to focus on businesses that serve low-income communities and kind of refocus. the pandemic made us just reaction to whoever was the loudest.

and now, we're seeing as the dust settles, a lot of the equity and minority serving businesses were left out. so please let us know how we can support any amplification of community serving businesses and their needs. that's something we want to focus on. laundromats are a prime example of that, and i think we're all in full support. a couple questions that i had. one is i think we've seen a couple of attempts at a mixed-use model of the laundromat and another business? is there anything in the code that maybe, you know, is preventing that from being more of a common common business model that might increase the

solvency of this business type in the city or is it already addressed from your research and the planning code? that was one question i had, and then, a second question i had on the legislation, and i think in section 202. -- well, basically, when it says guidance for the commission, is it referencing, like, the planning commission might have discretion on whether they make it that a c.u. would have to come after it because i saw it, like, the questions. is the business community serving? is it an amended type of laundry model, so my question is, does that mean that there's a pathway for if a business comes in, that it may not have to deal with a c.u. after a

closure? >> so i can try to take those in order. as to your first question, i'm familiar with those, as well. i mean, i think the one that everybody loves is brain wash which was a laundromat and cafe. but even the one, commissioner adams, down the block from you, i think was wash and spin, but it's got the cafe or the florist in front. >> sit and spin. >> and i think there was one maybe to have a bar concept at one point. but i think that that is -- inasmuch as a laundromat is a principally permitted use, adding another principally permitted use, whether that's a cafe or something else, i think that the code does allow for

that, probably within certain boundaries. like, the boundaries that you're not going to have an adult use accessory use to a laundromat, though maybe somebody should think outside the box there, too. but i think that should be allowed, and the code does allow that flexibility that that is allowed, and that makes the case. as to your second question -- oh, the discretion that the commission has. so your proposal, if a laundromat goes out of business, any subsequent business that is not a laundromat would be routed through the community business processing program, which means that the business operator would be entitled to a hearing within 90 days of their application, and as far as i have been able to tell, the city has been really good at adhering to that 90 daytime

line. and part of the process -- part of the project there is to -- let's not eliminate the process, but let's eliminate the longer process at the same time. what i envision is that if a laundromat closes down, the commission has the right to ask questions why it closed down and was there a diligent search for a replacement operator for that community serving business, and for the community to have an opportunity to be able to come out, too, and say, that was my laundromat. i don't know what to do. i don't have in-building laundry, and to really make the case that hey, maybe the

building owner needs to find a proprietor that will keep it as a laundromat and it can continue serving the community, and look at the next business in terms of how it's going to serve the community in that capacity. >> okay. thank you. in our ability to put landlords of existing laundromats on notice about this legislation, and being a disincentive for eviction or whatnot, are we able to send, like, targeted letters? like, how does that work? >> you know, part of the project that i'm hoping our interns can pull together in the next few weeks involves printing out fliers that we can

go and walk around and deliver to laundromats, so hand delivering notices to those businesses. i think in the same breath offering opportunities for patrons of these businesses to learn more about the legislation and to add their voices of support to the legislation, but certainly, there is a notice component of that. and i think it is only appropriate that some people have a press push out here or go the extra mile and alert, you know, commercial realtors to this, though they tend to be pretty hawkish when it comes to legislation moving through the process. i think our best bet at this stage of the legislative process is to do the direct leaflet delivery to the laundromats, and that's what we'd like to see.

>> i love it. >> yeah. >> there's not any c.u.s currently related to a relocation of a laundromat, right? >> no. >> uh-huh. okay. so i'm just trying to think -- you know, our commission, one of our concerns, which you heard, is if a laund row mad needs -- if a laundromat needs to relocate or move through no fault of its own, is there a way to make sure that a new laund row mass doesn't have to come in and deal with an intended purpose like a c.u. >> if there's a laundromat replacing a laundromat or dry cleaner, there's no c.u. i think your question is what

if the laund row mad relocated consensually or if there's a parting of ways? i think when you cast any net for tuna, you're going to get a dolphin in there, and that's an unfortunate elegant way of how we legislate around anything. we'd like to allow for some of that vetting to be heard, but i think more often, what we're going to find, given the precipitous decline of laundromats, this is the canary in the coal mine. every once in a while, i'm sure we're going to find an owner of a laundromat who doesn't want to operate anymore.

there's a woman in my neighborhood who wants me to operate her laundromat because she knows i love them so much. >> from the case studies of lost laundromats that you've seen thus far, there's no new small businesses going in there; it's more like an entire unit, you know, new use, and usually, a developer or something, right? so this is the trend that you've identified and closures that you've studied? >> right. and i hate to say it, but one of my favorite bars is in a place that was a former laundromat. so that's what we're seeing, and addressing that is going to be complicated, but this scratches the surface and allows us the time we need to

learn a lot more. >> okay. i guess i'm just trying to understand if this is based on data or a trend or if this is going to help us get data because it seems that we're putting in a request for prior trends, and we want to get the data. >> about one in 11 laundromats have closed in the last seven years. there is nothing in this legislation itself that requires departments to study why this is happening. that is going to have to be someone's torch to carry, and we will have put in a three-year stopgap measure where every once in a while, one of these is going to come to the commission and we're going to be able to use this

for understanding what goes on holistically, and i hope this is catalyzing some attention paid to the problem and a deeper study why this is happening in the first place. >> okay. i think that helps me understand the problem a little bit better. director dick-endrizzi, did you have anything you wanted to say? >> i believe commissioner adams was before me -- oh, he already spoke. so a couple of things to maybe give some consideration to so maybe help gather some of that data? home s.f. is the home equity

density bonus program, and when they're demolishing or doing extensive development on a property, that they notify oewd if they're going to be displacing a small business. so a thought is that for property owners who are choosing not to renew a lease, that there's a requirement to notify planning and oewd? and then -- and then, in reference to some of your comments, commissioner hui, is -- and also commissioner adams, if -- if, you know, these -- if laundromats [indiscernible] i think, you know -- this isn't -- this isn't something is necessarily put into the legislation, but

you might want to give consideration to add as additional comments when carry moves forward, your recommendation that what may be challenging is the start-up costs to open or relocate if a property owner is not going to renew a lease, then to relocate a laundromat, so the cost of equipment, you know, perhaps in parallel at least from an equity perspective, these are very important businesses to retain? in parallel, supervisor peskin is introducing a land use solution, but in parallel, there needs to be some economic solutions, as well. and maybe the three years this

program is in place, you may want to recommend that a complimentary sort of program -- like, commissioner hui, you identified that let's take a look at these businesses, but we may want to partner support for having these businesses get open, right, or relocate. so those are just some thoughts. >> i mean, the coin shortage is the one that's kind of open in the room, too. i don't know what the banks are giving the laundromats, so i don't know if that seems a little -- like, i don't know

how much the city can solve for that economic barrier, but that sounds like one of them. if there's not any other comments, i'll call for public comment, and if you want to hangout, lee, that would be great. sfgov, can you see if there are any callers on the line? >> we have no public callers on the line. >> seeing no callers on the line, public comment is closed. commissioners, do we have any action? >> i would definitely make a motion to support this piece of legislation. like lee was saying, there's kind of an urgency with this because you're seeing lots of them close. there's a couple of them i know in this area that are going to be closing probably in the next six months, so this is

something i really would like to see get approved, so i would motion to approve this. >> we have a motion. is there a second? >> i'll second. >> clerk: okay. seconded by commissioner hui, so motion to support. i will read the roll. [roll call] >> i know this is probably not right, but if we wanted to make the recommendation that director dick-endrizzi made?

>> yes. you can make the legislation and then come back and say we want to add these supporting comments to the letter that we send forward to the board of supervisors, so there's two ways that you can address it. but commissioner adams, if you do want to include in your motion kind of the -- you know, the -- >> yeah, i appreciate your comments. i didn't know if we could do that, since we are in the middle of taking votes, we can do that. >> you can rescind your motion -- >> well, nobody else has voted, so i will rescind my motion and reintroduce my motion with the director's comments on the relocation, and if you want to help me with that.

>> that the motion would be to support the legislation? >> yes. >> recommend the board of supervisors approve the legislation, and that these are important equity -- these are important businesses to preserve from an equity perspective and therefore need -- the city should look at an economic development program to support relocation and/or the -- supporting the establishment of new laundromats. >> thank you. you said that perfectly, so that. >> clerk: okay. there's a motion. is there a second? >> yes, i second that. >> seconded by commissioner hui. and i will read the roll call. [roll call]

>> clerk: yes. motion passes 4-0, with three commissioners absent. >> thank you, commissioners. >> thank you so much, lee. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> thank you, lee. >> great. next item, please. >> clerk: item 3, board of supervisors ordinance, file number 211010, appropriation and deappropriatetion, office of economic and workforce development, legacy business, $400,000, fiscal year 2021-2022. this is a discussion item and action item. the commission will discuss and vote on possible recommendations regarding ordinance file 211010. an ordinance deappropriating

$400,000 previously appropriated to the office of economic and workforce development for the office of small business' legacy business historic preservation fund and reappropriating $400,000 to e.c.n. to provide a new grant program for legacy businesses in fiscal year 2021-2022. we have director dick-endrizzi and richard kurylo, office of small business. >> so i mentioned this at the last meeting in regards to -- that this funding is a result of supervisor chan, peskin, and ronen doing an add-back and because of where the funding

ended up, we are -- where the funding ended up in our line-item budget, we are requesting that the item be removed. we're doing this specifically because of the need of -- beginning to change any business assistant grant type of funding that comes to the legacy business program. so rick is going to review with you, give you an overview and provide you with some information on that, so i'm now going to turn it over to him. so rick, take it away with your powerpoint presentation.

>> [indiscernible] and reappropriating that $400,000 to a different fund to provide a new grant program for legacy businesses in fiscal year 21-22. the office of small business received a $400,000 ad-back for the legacy -- add-back for the legacy business program in the 2021-22 budget. the board of supervisors specifically recorded the add-back at $400,000 for the replenishment of the legacy business preservation fund to be used for direct grants to

qualify small businesses. so the legacy business historic preservation fund to which they were referring was added to the administrative code to proposition j in november 2015. it can only be changed by going back to the voters. the fund consists of two grant programs. the business assistance grant, for grants to legacy businesses, and rent stabilization grant, for lands that provide stabilization to tenants. the $400,000 would be needed to use for the legacy business grant because that is the only grant to the legacy businesses within the historic preservation fund, however, there are major problems with

the business assistance fund. it pays grantees for full time equivalent employees, f.t.e.s, and would only pay about $75 per f.t.e., considering $400,000 divided by about 280 applicants. number two, the grant would be too small for microand small businesses, which often need the most assistance. businesses that struggled during the pandemic are struggling with f.t.e.s. the range of grants would too large, ranging from about $75 to about $7500. it's difficult for applicants to calculate their f.t.e.s, and many applicants calculated f.t.e.s inappropriately in the

past. the solution is the development of a new grant we're calling a legacy business grant, featuring a new grant that has a simpler application and has an easier review process. under the new grant, there would be four types, prioritizing renters over property owners. the city attorney vises that the city cannot create a new grant program within the legacy business historic preservation fund, but it could create a new grant outside of that fund. the only way to make an amendment to the only appropriation ordinance after the controller certifies the

availability of fund is to reappropriate the funds. there are six sample grants demonstrating the difference between the legacy business grant and the proposed legacy business grant. rows a, c, and e in the green are all for-profit businesses renting spaces. all three would have received less than $320 through the business assistance grant, would receive over $1600 through the legacy business grant. row b in yellow is a large for-profit property owner in district ten. they would receive 5600 through

the business grant but 1200 through the legacy business grant, and rows d and f in orange are large nonprofit renters in district 3 and district 9 which would receive about $7,000 and 5700 through the business assistance grant but 823 through the legacy business grant, so it kind of gives you an idea that the legacy business grant is much more equal through all the appointees. this concludes my presentation, and i'm happy to answer any questions. >> thank you, richard, and commissioners, if you have any questions, you can put them in the chat. i want to say thank you,

director dick-endrizzi for knowing our business so well to be able to make these kind of material and concrete recommendations. i mean, the board, i hope they know what an asset we are because we've been able to really tell them what the best use of their money is, what the best use of their money can go towards, and how you're in the lead of this program, and you've identified how to make it more equitable, and thank you for this, and i'll let commissioner adams -- >> no, i just want to say. i want to echo what you just

said. you said it beautifully, vice president zouzounis. and everything that miriam just said, i want to say, so that was beautiful, commissioner. i'm sorry. >> so i guess can we ask how this is being received from oewd, and the supervisors who [indiscernible]? >> yes. so one, you know, the appropriation ordinance says oewd, just because our budget is under the larger oewd -- >> okay. so they're not giving us problems. >> no, no, no. so this is just how the ordinance needs to be written, and once the funds are deappropriated out of the legacy business preservation

fund, it will be reappropriated into another line item in o.s.b.s budget, so just to make sure that everyone's clear on that. i mean, so far, when we -- we did some -- when we determined -- when we found out that the funding was put into the legacy business historic preservation fund, then, we went to the city attorney and said can we create an additional program under the historic preservation fund line item, and it was determined that we could not. so then, we had to reach back out to the supervisor chan as the primary legislative sponsor for the add-back, so we reached back out, and they weren't really grasping why we needed to make the change? and so rick did a really excellent job in doing -- i forwarded you the cover letter

and the document that he -- we sent over, and they got it, right, and they understood it. so we have -- supervisor chan is actually the sponsor in this ordinance, so we have the three sponsors in the add-back supporting this change, and we met with supervisor haney's aide today, and she doesn't anticipate it being an issue. and one of the other issues is the budget and legislative analyst is recommending approval. so -- so i think we'll get the support from the supervisors. i don't think it's going to be an issue. >> great. >> and so just to be clear, your support for the recommendation is not really supporting -- your support would be to -- is basically

deappropriating the funding out of the, you know, historic preservation fund and reappropriating it into a new line item under our budget, and it's not so much a recommendation in relationship to the program, but what we're identifying is how we will be expending those funds? so it does demonstrate the benefit of taking those funds out of the historic preservation funds and putting them into a new line item, if that makes sense. >> yes, it does. so we can take action on this without any other further explanatory recommendation. got it. >> mm-hmm. >> okay. >> with that, do we have any other commissioner comments

before we take an action? >> clerk: don't forget public comment. >> oh, yeah, okay. i'll call for public comment. are there any -- sfgovtv, are there any callers on the line? >> clerk: there are no callers in the queue. . >> public comment is closed, seeing no callers on the line. commissioners, this is an action item, correct? >> yes. >> so do we have a motion? >> i motion to approve the -- the -- i don't know what this is. ordinance? >> yeah, you can just say the -- yeah, the ordinance or b.o.s. file 211010. >> that's exactly what i'd make

a motion for. >> i'll second it. >> clerk: seconded by commissioner adams. i will now read the roll. [roll call] . >> clerk: motion passes 4-0 with three members absent. >> great. item 4. >> clerk: item 4, residence aleutian making findings to allow teleconferenced meetings under california government code section 54953-e.

the commission will discuss and vote on a resolution that it has considered or reconsidered the circumstances of the state of emergency and either 2-a, that the state of emergency continues to directly impact the ability of members to meet safely in person, or 2-b, that state or local officials continue to impose or recommend measures to promote distancing. i'll be reviewing this with you. basically, based on california government code section 54953-e, that there was a state of emergency declared because of covid-19, that it prevents us from meeting in person safely, and that local officials do continue to recommend measures to promote social distancing.

and the resolution in front of you today confirms these findings, and moving forward, we'll need to reconfirm them every 30 days to continue our meeting remotely. i can put the resolution up on my screen if that would be helpful. >> i understand that, and i think it's procedural. >> yeah. >> clerk: yeah. >> so are we going to have this, like, on our agenda every month? >> clerk: yeah. every 30 days, you'll have to renew that which basically says you'll have to keep finding these findings. >> but i have a question. is there any time when we'll be

able to go back to city hall? >> yeah. not an affirmative date? there's still discussion around, you know, november being the time that the city employees return, so there is the possibility that commission meetings may return in november, but there's still no confirm date yet. >> okay. >> so if we don't have any questions, we should call for public comment. >> clerk: okay. sfgovtv, is anybody on the public, public comment? >> operator: there is no public comment. >> seeing no public comment, item -- public comment is closed. commissioners, do we have a

motion on item 4? >> i make a motion that we approve item 4, the resolution making findings to allow teleconference meetings under the california government code section 54953-e, and a motion to approve it. >> clerk: commissioner adams made the motion. is there a second? >> i second it. >> clerk: seconded by commissioner hui. i'll call the roll. [roll call] >> clerk: motion passes 4-0, with three members absent. >> great. next item, please. >> clerk: item 5, approval of draft meeting minutes.

this is an action item. >> does anyone have any comments on the minutes before i ask for public comment? okay. great. are there any commenters on the line for item 5? >> clerk: there is no public comment. >> oh, there's not. okay. public comment is closed. do we have a motion? >> i'll motion to approve the draft meeting minutes. >> okay. i'll second. >> clerk: okay. motion to approve by commissioner adams, seconded by vice president zouzounis. i'll now read the roll. [roll call]

>> clerk: motion passes, 4-0, with three commissioners absent. >> next item, please. >> clerk: item 6, general public comment. this is a discussion item which allows members of the public to comment on matters that are within the small business commission's jurisdiction but not on today's calendar and suggest new agenda items for this commission's future consideration. >> are there any public callers on the line for item 6? >> clerk: there are no callers in the queue. >> thank you. item 6, public comment is closed. next item, please. >> clerk: item 7, director's report. this is an updated report on the office of small business and the small business assistance center, department programs, policy, and legislative matters, announcements from the mayor,

and announcements regarding small business activities. this is a discussion item. >> good evening, commissioners. there are a couple items i want to just bring to your attention. commissioner dickerson had noted at our last commission meeting she's going to be part of the city administrator carmen chu's two-day summit to help inform, educate, and encourage san francisco small businesses and helping l.b.e.s with the city, and that is taking place october -- tomorrow and wednesday, and we did have that in the announcement that went out in the osbe newsletter. in addition, oewd and s.f. made, as part of the manufacturing week, are hosting

a hiring fair on october 6. and then next week will be the -- just bay area disability entrepreneurship week. so those are some business activities that are taking place that would be of interest to the basis community. i also want to inform you, in case you did not know, that the commission voted to send a letter to the m.t.a. regarding business loading zones and cost. what has resulted from the letter and feedback from many businesses and business organizations is sfmta has cut the application fee from $775 to $387.50, so cut the

application fee in half. businesses are eligible for this reduced application fee if they apply by december 31, 2021, so that's roughly three months. and i do want to make a special note that sfmta is encouraging businesses to first consider getting an assessment as to space that they're looking to do -- that they might apply for a general loading zone would be permissible. so sfmta is offering to do an assessment so businesses don't -- if it's not going to work out, that they do not submit a nonrefundable application fee. so that is noted under the general loading zone so that's there for businesses, as well.

and then, i attended the upper haight merchant meeting last thursday. 18 businesses have been sued. of note is some of the businesses, what their lawsuits are for is not necessarily the entryway but things like counters being too high, the height of the dining room tables. so i think what that says is there really needs an effort made around educating our businesses. we're dealing with the entryway with the a.b.e. ordinance, and with the upper haight, you know, with the upper haight just went through two years of

doing improvements. they're working with the property owners to, where it is doable, to kind of grade the sidewalk in a way from the entryway to create a level landing. this was done on castro street when castro street had its sidewalk improvements, so that's one step that the city is really taking to help, you know, help create more accessible entryways. so what we do have, particularly in the upper haight as in the castro, we now have more accessible entryways as a result of the work that public works is doing with property owners when we're doing sidewalk improvements. so we're definitely going to look to expand and strengthen

our education program for businesses, one, that they should be getting a [indiscernible] inspection and ensure an interior [indiscernible] inspection, and just ensure that businesses really understand that even if they have an accessible entryway, that there still may be other barriers that they need to remediate. and then, also think about employee training? just like, i mean, i try -- for restaurants, i liken it to you're training your employees on all the things that they need to comply, the health code and the environment, well, we need to add that to make sure we're maintaining an accessible environment, as well. so we're going to be looking to work to try to develop more of

a training program and work with the merchants associations on that. in addition, we are now seeing also an increase -- we now have -- or not seeing an increase. we're now starting to see businesses that are being sued for nonaccessible website, and this is particularly with their e-commerce section? so it is a little frustrating because a lot of businesses purchase what i call off-the-shelf products for e-commerce, and these product developers aren't ensuring that their product are -- meets accessibility guidelines or informs the business, if they're making any modifications -- like, giving them a tool to test, that any

modifications, they're meeting -- they're maintaining compliance for an accessible website. so i think this is sort of a new policy area that's going to need to be looked at, and so we're looking -- we're also looking internally with staff to see what we can do and create a space on our website to make sure what tools that you can use to make sure that your website is accessible and then work with our organizations, to make sure that this is something they should be asking the product that they're purchasing as to whether they are a.d.a. accessible, and if they are, can they prove it? so -- and i -- and commissioner adams, i know that you have

just recently gone through some efforts yourself, so please feel free, if you want to take a moment to share that. >> no, and i appreciate that because i'm still going runs through that on a number of our properties. we're in the process now of registering with the state, and you can put your inspections up on the state architecture site. people are looking -- but i found out that people are not even driving by in these lawsuits. they're looking at google maps and stuff, and doing it that way, so just -- we all want to do the right thing, and, you know, we're making our changes. we had our cass inspections done. i had three more in the process

that we're undergoing right now and are making those changes. there is support out there, at least from the state, from where i'm at, so i appreciate that. >> right, and thank you, commissioner adams, for reminding me, is that the state architect now, if you do have a cass inspection -- so let's say you've just recently had your cass inspection. you haven't been able to remediate your barriers. you can have your cass -- you can have your business and address identified under this one section called 120-day stay. so it does inform if -- it does inform those that are paying attention to this section of the state architect site that you just recently had your cass

inspection and therefore are going through the process. so one of the benefits of having that cass is a 120-day stay. and also, there's another section -- there's two sections -- >> yeah. there's a 120-day stay, and then, you can register it with your cass inspection number, property address, all of that. >> so i'm bringing that to your attention just so -- so there's definitely -- i think moving forward, we just -- you know, it's part of this office's effort, you know, regardless to whether i'm here or not here, how we can continue to help really encourage businesses to get their cast inspection, understand, you know, precovid -- i know that there is one coffee shop on valencia street, had an accessible entryway, but got sued because they had a counter, the top,

the milk, and the sugars and all of that was just too high. so any way, we need to encourage businesses to really understand the inside, even for new businesses in addition to businesses that have been open for a while. i want to -- under policy and legislative matters, i do want to note that supervisor safai's legislation on the commercial rent relief that you supported has passed out of the board of supervisors with a total of eight supervisors supporting that. still no information yet as to whether that -- the commercial rent relief will be funded. the resolution that you adopted regarding the employee tax credit, that has been forwarded, and i think carrie

did inform you, has been forwarded to all the key folks in the city and the office of economic and workforce development, so i'll be following up with her this week because she was out last week, so just what the next steps might be in response to the resolution so that i can provide you with that. then, i want to just -- i want to kind of -- as we move -- as you move forward, as we all move forward, legislation is happening, and it's -- you know, as -- i mean, as commissioner adams, and even you, commissioner ortiz-cartagena, have been here for a while, we can see that -- i mean, there's been an extraordinary difference where the office of small business and the small business

community wasn't consulted in drafting legislation, and -- and therefore, you know, the role of the commission in dealing with legislation at the time and having -- there was a lot more nuancing and recommendations for amendments, and fortunately, we're sort of more in a place of office staff having more involvement in advising on drafting of legislation. and so, you know, to give some consider for what's -- what are some additional -- besides making some legislation and recommendations, what else can the commission do? so the commission can take a look at policy or different procedures. we did this -- we took some initial steps in this -- in taking a look at it, getting

presentations from departments. it may be multiple presentations from multiple departments over different meetings than to coalesce a recommendation. this was similar to what was done with the commission working group, so i just sort of laid that out there in terms of you might want to think about moving forward in terms of taking on two or three policy items that you want to take a look on, do some is deep dives, and then have the commission come together to make its policy recommendation. and to kind of follow up with this, we had a -- we start to have a very robust discussion with the formula retail and conditional use. so i want to do just some policy reminders and then, you know, i don't -- it's not --

it's not agendized for us to have a robust discussion, but just kind of utilizing -- i want to provide you just with some information just kind of give some thought to it. so one is just a reminder, that under the cb3p program, which is the expedited conditional use, formula retailers are permitted to use the cb3p to help our local home-grown businesses. so the other thing to give consideration to is the fact that there are still businesses that have to go through conditional use just like a formula retailer, and these

businesses are not eligible for the cb3p, and that is like a tobacco retail establishment, nighttime bars or restaurants or things that have a full alcohol license. so it's not just places that serve beer and wine, but that they are able to serve spirits, as well. i think it's always important to remember that there are individual businesses who also have to go through that same conditional use process. then, i also -- having gone through my own experience of having worked with a retailer from when they were three stores to -- i think i left when they had 13 stores, and just being able to see, you

know, what a business could do having, you know, a higher number of businesses. and i was an area manager, and what i experienced as an area manager is that sometimes new stores, it would take them a year before they started to break even? and to be able to support that cost, it helped by having other profitable stores. so -- and that was able to sustain that new location, being able to get, you know, off the ground and start generating a profit. so something that -- so when we're talking about formula retail, i just want to make sure, you know, that it's not to say that the expense of going through the conditional use is not something to be considered, but we have to also

remember sometimes who's the messenger, and sometimes the messenger are the retailers, and there's a higher profitability with being able to lease two formula retail. but the greater thing that, i think, needs to be given consideration, and if we kind of look at el faralito situation, and i'm going to say this without being able to absolutely affirm, you know, their schedule of growth? but they opened their first two locations in 1997. they opened a third location in san francisco in 1998. the fourth location in san francisco was opened in 2014. it recently closed in january of 2021, but i think, you know, some of the conversation that we are hearing in -- regarding

our local home grown formula retailers is they -- they may have two or three locations, and then, they leave the city to be able to grow even more and then come back rk and prafg -- come back, and perhaps some of that is being done because you might need to grow your business outside of san francisco in order to come back in order to grow your business. i sort of liken back to when i first moved here, i don't know how much of you remember just desserts. it was in many neighborhoods, and it was the place to go, and it was a san francisco home grown thing.

and i don't think that we quite see that kind of home grown business anymore in multiple neighborhoods, so when we're talking about, you know, kind of growth and expansion, yes, the formula retail costs, but it's a one-time cost. like, once you get through it, it's a one-time cost, and can you afford the cost on an ongoing basis? [please stand by]

>> director: so i just -- i just, you know, as you if the commission's going to give policy consideration in relation to formula retail, i think just don't forget there are other potential considerations that might

affect this as well. so i'll just leave it at that. so with large -- with businesses growing their business through e commerce first and then wanting to do land use and then have a store. so as a reminder and i believe, commissioner adams, you can correct me and i believe vice

president zouzounis, the planning department said it's not within their purview to establish any kind of economic distinction so that is if there's interest from the commission, that can be something that's explored on your behalf -- not your behalf, but you can explore what that could be from a policy perspective. but, again, you know, the planning department did note their role and their purview is regulating land, so anyway. that is why e commerce, we don't have an e-commerce designation that potentially could be applied for formula

retail. and then, also, i just want to remind the commission that the economic mitigation working group did set forward or did produce a set of 15 recommendations and discussion with vice president zouzounis who's the chair of the equity special committee, the racial equity special committee. you know, this is something that the racial equity special committee can look at, but there's a set of recommendations too that can be looked at and discussed. and i think there's kind of a top three that i look at. one is the elimination of the deemed approved use fee to amend the tobacco retail sales so that it allows for other

family members and expands the family member definition if the business is passed on to the family that they're able to retain. the tobacco license and then the cigarette litter abatement fee, but there is a whole host of others. so i'll resend that list to you for you to take a look at. and then lastly, i just want to make a note that i am having carrie work on a resolution regarding ada tax credits because it turns out the annual tax credit and deductions that businesses can take, that hasn't changed since 1998 and it turns out through carrie's research, excellent job on her part, that she found out that senator duckworth in 2018 and

2019 put forward a bill to increase those tax credits and deductions, but, you know, it was under the trump administration, so those kind of died on the floor. so it's good to know that we have, you know, senators at the federal level who are also thinking about this and so looking to draft a resolution to help our local government encouraging our state -- our federal officials to continue to support and maybe encourage senator duckworth to reintroduce that bill. so with that, i'm happy to take any questions and i will leave it there.

>> vice president zouzounis: thank you, director. commissioners, do we have any questions for director dick endrizzi? commissioner huie. >> commissioner huie: that was a lot. thank you very much. that was a lot to digest. i am wondering in terms of formula retail, what in the past, how has this mission gone about to explore -- like, was there a sub committee. i feel like this was a huge topic like you were saying in terms of all the different policies that have happened and and i feel that our commission's role is so important because they're in such a disconnect in policy and

what actually happens in real life and speaking of other, you know, i guess without bringing up other topics and things, i think we have such an intimate understanding of how a business operates, runs, what we're thinking in terms of how we weigh our decisions and i think that's something that, you know, i wouldn't expect other people to understand unless they've really been in our shoes. like the example you brought up

in your. so how do we then bridge that gap between the idea of land use and the actual economics of running a business today. so i think that conversation is so -- go ahead. >> commissioner: i can jump in because i lived and breathed for the last eleven years and we've had sub committees and out of it we made changes to the cp3 program. we were able to make some changes, but you have to realize this is a voter mandated thing. so we can only do so much you have to go to the voter. she said i was involved in every one of these subgroups trying to make those changes because i hear your frustration

on this. i mean, i'm living it myself and i hear it through others. this isn't an overnight thing. it's going to have to come from changes from the mayor's office, from the board of supervisors. unfortunately, i mean, this commission has tried to do some changes. we've had some division on the commission with this. so, you know, in all fairness, we've had groups that we've met with the planning department. it's a tough thing and without getting into discussion on this, because we can't, but we've had groups in the past

that came out with positives on this. maybe we can have a retreat and talk about and see what we can do. >> commissioner huie: yeah. i don't think we're going to solve this and i don't even know what that solution would look like, you know. i think it's just -- i think is there a way that our commission can help shape the narrative for the present and then the near future? because the landscape looks very different than it did even five years ago at this point. so my hope is that i think putting it on the retreat agenda is a great idea. like having some space to be able to think about it and how do we fit into that narrative? because i think we've -- you have obviously put in a lot of work and other commissioners have obviously dealt with it. >> commissioner: yeah. and i think the best thing to

do going forward and we've done this. i think for people like you and people on the commission to have planning come in and somebody from planning explain it because it's a lot. and it's really important i feel, especially, you know, you've been out on clement street. i mean you know what's going on. your own shop. you're involved with your merchant organization and so i know what you get being involved in a merchant organization and i think there's things as merchant organizations, they may not last -- i mean, they don't know what's really out there and i think the first step is to have somebody come in and explain everything to the commission. >> director: right. and to add to commissioner

adams' comments, sometimes things are department driven, so the 2014 analysis was a department-led effort by the planning department and so therefore they included a representative of small business commission which i think was you, commissioner adams, but then they also had neighborhood representation which is where commissioner dooley and i think vice president zouzounis were involved through that. sometimes things are department driven and you might write a resolution that says, "we request that the department do xyz." i think one thing commissioner adams said is one thing for the commission to get a full briefing on the history. we'll use formula retail as an example and just get a full

history of the formula retail from inception, what changes have taken place, you know, what's there. so, you know, that's why i reiterated that, you know, we do have exceptions for formula retail to at the point them go through the conditional use process just like other small businesses who have to go through conditional use that can derive that benefit. so sometimes that may not necessarily be in everybody's, you know, forefront of their mind. so there's a history and then i think, you know, where the commission can really help weigh in and sort of do some potential sort of recommendations is around the e-commerce side. so, again, you know, that was 2014 and the planning commission city attorney said

that this is not an area for them to take leadership in because of, you know, their department, their role, and their function, but that doesn't necessarily mean that the commission can't take the leadership in that. so what would that entail? and that is something that, you know, then working with carrie would be, you know, what is the information we would want to gather to hear to then be able to inform and make a recommendation. or it could be that a special committee is created, though that's a lot of additional work. but to do a deep dive into it as well. but sometimes it benefits to have the full commission to have those presentations. so, um, so any other questions?

>> vice president zouzounis: i was just going to say, i was on the subsidiary as the small business group and i think that was around 2015. it might have been right after the 2014 formal group convened, they had a subsidiary working group. so i know that that had -- i mean, our focus was a little different because it was on formula retailers that were creating adjacent businesses thoughts. my memory doesn't serve there's been any changes. so i think if it's something

that we want to formally request as a body to have a presentation on both the formula retail and the subsidiary codes because i think they are distinct in that sense, yeah. but i think we should take into account everything that the director said that there are policy initiatives. we've already started at the commission that will address some of the economic barriers for small businesses that are, you know, hoping to become expanded businesses with multiple locations. i think fee mitigation is something we have said over and over again and i would love to see us follow through on some of the policy proposals we've

made in those areas and maybe use this as our contribution to the formula retail conversation. so really identifying what we feel like our niche is in that but i'm happy to keep brainstorming around that. >> director: and the last thing i'll say and hopefully we can move into public comment. but the one thing that is different is e-commerce in 2014 is very different than e-commerce now and so that is a particular area that i think is worth exploring. so i think if there aren't any

more commissioner questions, then we should move on to public comment. >> vice president zouzounis: are there any public callers on the line for item number seven? >> clerk: there are no callers in queue. >> vice president zouzounis: thank you. public comment is closed. thank you, director. may we please take the next item. >> clerk: item eight, commissioner discussion and new business. allows president, vice president, and commissioners to report on recent small business activities, make announcements that are of interest to the small business community, and make inquiries of staff and allows commissioners to introduce new agenda items for consideration. this is a discussion item. >> vice president zouzounis: thank you, carrie. do we have any commissioners who want to give a report at

this time? we do the work. we don't always have to talk about it. all right. i'll give a quick one. i was invited by supervisor stefani to join a union street merchant walk as part of the activation. okay. yeah. i'm still commenting for as part of the merchant group and avenue green light projects there. that was really neat. i met some of your clement street colleagues. commissioner huie, you have a great crew out there. active merchant groups are now

helping other merchant groups and i see that as a big benefit from this project as part of the san francisco merchant groups. so that was a really great event on union street. so props to that association and, today, i also joined some of our colleagues as part of the healthy retail program and food trusts that are helping small retailers, small grocers address some of their supply chain needs as it pertains to getting healthy products and more to come on that. commissioner huie, i'll pass it to you. >> commissioner huie: i don't always like to share the stuff that i do, i guess.

not because i'm secretive about it but just because, you know, like all of us, we kind of just do our thing, but one of the things that i'm working on is helping the chinese historical society of america plan a street fair in chinatown and we got our street closure on joyce alley, so joyce street and we're working in partnership with c.c.c. which is i think "chinese cultural center" of san francisco. i may have that totally wrong. but we are partnering with them and they're producing a performance, a day of dance called "dancing on waiverly" and so there are two festivals happening at the same time and it's scheduled for october 16th. and it's kind of like a

marketplace where we've invited vendors who are exploring their a.a.p.i. heritage and bringing forth crafts and art and we'll have different artists with their work and hopefully artists talks and things like that. and the thing that's really significant about this is that we are working in collaboration with others and i find that in this community, it's really important for us to really think about how we can collaborate and create partnerships and, you know, this is -- i guess what you said, vice president zouzounis, was that, you know, merchants associations are collaborating with each other. you know, people in different neighborhoods are collaborating with each other. even in the same neighborhood. i think what we need now is really the concept of how do we

lift all of us up. let's not reinventing the stuff, and that's what we're hoping for with the street fair, is the opportunity to make new connections and bring people into the neighborhood and create something hopefully that will be sustaining. so this is the first of the fair. hopefully, this will continue and i'm kind of helping them make businesses. so, hopefully, if you guys are in chinatown or interested in going to chinatown on october 16th. i think the next day is going to be phoenix day for the whole city, so lots of activities. i know clement street has some things planned. yeah. i'm also excited about fleet week. that's coming up too. i don't want to be a sitting calendar, but there are a lot

of things happening that, you know, i am really excited to see because it's time we celebrate a little bit, you know. so, yeah. i'm open for more collaborations and meeting new people. thanks. >> vice president zouzounis: seeing no more commissioners. i'll take public comment. do we have any commentors for item number eight on the line? >> clerk: we have no callers in queue. >> vice president zouzounis: thank you. public comment is closed for item eight. next item. >> clerk: item nine adjournment. this is an action item. >> commissioner: i move to adjourn. >> vice president zouzounis: second. >> clerk: moved by commissioner ortiz-cartagena and seconded by vice president

zouzounis. okay. motion to adjourn. [roll call] motion passes four to none with three commissioners absent. do we have to read a closing statement before we close? >> director: well, we just -- the office of small business slide should be read before we do adjournment. so we'll just have to bypass that. >> clerk: oh, right. okay. meeting is adjourned at 6:27 p.m. then.

>> director: thank you, commissioners. >> vice president zouzounis: thank you everybody.

i'm louis lieuman the executive directortor san francisco fleet association. together again in san francisco for fleet week. there was a late decision back in june from the board of directors for the san francisco fleet week association, we struggled with whether we were going to have a fleet week or not. we had to make that call because it takes a long time to organize an event like this and usually we start in november of the year before for the next fleet week. it's a late start. we had a big discussion. and we decided we're going to do it. we're going to take the risk because we trusted our leaders, mayor breed, the department of emergency management, the department of public health, all of the people who gave us the guidance as a community and it's san franciscans that were

smart enough to follow that guidance and here we are, the only live in-person fleet week in the entire nation here in san francisco. thank you, mayor breed. thank you to the leadership, and thank you to san francisco. fleet week's already started. there's ships already at the piers. yesterday, we had a fabulous program with the boys and girls club. a big basketball clinic down in front of [inaudible] which will be hope for tours. of course, we're all -- we all know about the air show. san francisco fleet week air show presented by united. united stuck with us as did the blue angels. they committed early. they said if you are having a fleet week on the ground, we are having a fleet week in the skies and they are going to be here with their brand new f-18

super hornets, amazing plane and joined by united and redbull and a whole lineup of participants. you can go down there for free and watch. buy the premium tickets with premium sitting. those tickets are, by the way, almost sold out. so if you want them you have to get them. we have the neighborhood concerts. you just got a sample of it right here. [ applause ] the full navy band southwest is here in town. and they break up into smaller bands and they're going to be in just about every neighborhood you can find in san francisco. check out the website fleetweeksf.org and see where and when they're playing in your area. the ship tours are going to be taking place. you've got to go down there. greet the sailors and marines. say hello to them.

welcome them to our city. they are excited to be here in our city and explore the streets of san francisco. the canine program. the dogs of the military, police department, fire department, and array of other organizations bring out their dogs to show their skills. it's a great neighborhood event 10:00 a.m. this saturday. check out fleetweeksf.org or monitor our social media @fleetweeksf. i'm going to introduce mayor london breed. thank you, mayor london breed. >> well, i don't know about you, but i feel like our city is finally coming alive again after such a challenging almost two years. and when i say two years, it's

leading up to this global pandemic. and, in fact, we missed out last year on seeing the incredible blue angels fly over the skyline of san francisco, but we did have programming for fleet week virtually and we went to treasure island to the coast guard base to kick it off, but it still wasn't the same. even though fleet week happened virtually, what i missed most is being around the people and welcoming the folks from the navy, from the coast guard, from the marines and also doing the incredible work they do in san francisco on preparedness. now, we know we talk about excitement around fleet week and the blue angels, but we also have to keep in mind that this is also an opportunity for us to come together with the port of san francisco, with the fire department, with the police department to talk about preparedness and how we continue to work together so

that if and when -- not a matter of if, but when there's an earthquake or a disaster in some capacity, we know we can count on the folks from the military to come through and help us weather the storm. we take this as an opportunity to work together and i want to appreciate the work of many of the city department directors that are here with us today including our fire chief janine nicholson and the fire department, we appreciate you. chief scott is not here, but i want to appreciate the police department and the work they continue to do to keep us safe as well as along with dr. grant colfax and the woman the department of health. and the director of the port, thank you to our port partners and president of the port

commission kimberly brandon for being here with us. you know, we had a lot of work to do and it was very challenging work to do, but let me tell you, it was all worth it because we are celebrating in san francisco. yes, we need to deal with preparedness and disasters and pandemics and other things. and we will come together to do that. but fleet week is opening a new chapter in san francisco. i don't know about you, but i still think about when i was in high school at gallaleo high school and the planes practicing to get ready for the air show. the air show is coming back with the blue angels. the parade of ship and ship tours which are incredible. i don't know about you again, but those ship tours were like the highlight for me. and, we have this band that's going to be performing all over san francisco in various

neighborhoods. i miss live music and, yes, i used to play the french horn, i may not be that good anymore, but i'm willing to take a chance and see if i can join you and i may need a couple of practices before i jump in. but the fact is, they're going to be going to neighborhoods. they're going to be performing for the people of san francisco and we are so very grateful. so for the activities and all the things that are happening for fleet week, please, check out the website and make sure that you participate, you attend, you follow the covid restrictions so you don't get in trouble. you make sure that you do your part because we're still in a pandemic. we're still in a pandemic, but san franciscans, we're at 82% of the folks in san francisco vaccinated. and that's really why we're able to have fleet week in the city. but more than just fleet week, just next week, i mean, just

tomorrow right down the street, guess who's going to be playing their first pre-season game? the san francisco warriors. i mean, the golden state warriors. and, one of the first parades in so long, the italian heritage will be this sunday. we have incredible tables all outside. people are eating, hanging out, waving. so make sure on sunday you stop by the italian heritage parade and celebrate with us. and i've also got to send out a big shout-out to the san francisco giants who are in the playoffs. and i just want to make sure the folks in l.a. know that the giants are actually number one in the series. so this friday, i heard that "beat l.a." yes. so friday and saturday, they'll

be games. they'll be all kinds of activities in san francisco. the city is going to be bumping and all of you are going to be all around our city enjoying it, enjoying our restaurants, staying at our hotels, visiting our neighborhoods, and just do one thing for me. make sure you remember we were in a global pandemic where we had no choice but to protect 1 another. we had to stay home. we had to obey many protocols and we're still doing that in some capacity today. but, ultimately, we're still able to come together like we haven't been able to do for the last 16, 17 months. so let's make sure when we're out there we're remembering what we didn't have at one point and appreciate where we are and let's celebrate it. let's have a good time.

thank you all fur being here. looking forward to celebrate fleet week with all of you. and, at this time, i want to introduce because we are at crane cove park which has a rich history in san francisco with the military and world war i and world war ii and the person who's responsible to keep this place beautiful and nice and clean and available to all of you and hopefully we can add a skate park one day because i like to roller skate, but our port director lane forbes. >> thank you so much, mayor. and welcome all of you to crane cove park and to fleet week. it's absolutely wonderful we can be here to celebrate. i'm here today with my commission president kimberly brandon and we broke ground on this park. it was wonderful to provide open space to this neighborhood, the dog patch community who actually designed

this park. this is a park designed by and for the neighborhood and the mayor came out and under her leadership, we were able to open up this space for people to enjoy the nature while they were all of us struggling from the pandemic. when we had our last fleet week in person, i made a joke that it was diane feinstein, our first mayor who was a woman who saved fleet week and now mayor london breed, our second mayor who is a woman, is so good and prepared for fleet week and i made the joke that women just know how to prepare better. but how would i know that we would have a global pandemic that none of us were expecting and that our mayor would act really quickly, more quickly than anyone else acted and that she would follow the science the whole way and not question it. and how did i know that our

mayor would be so successful that we would be the only country in the whole nation able to post an in-person fleet week and that we'd take the risk to do so and we'd be safe enough to pull it through. now, my tenants, 500 of them, the commercial folks, the retail, the people-moving facilities we have, excursions, crews, we've suffered so much and our tenants and businesses are so eager to get people back to san francisco. and we're talking so much about the inner connectiveness about being prepared and honoring our sea servicemen and women. this was all for shipbuilding for the war effort. a heavy industrial industry here with these wonderful vessels that provided our security. how did we know now that our tenants would be so eager to see the visitors that come back

in great numbers during fleet week and so many locals are coming down. we've had press articles about the war re-opening, pier 39. how our local small businesses are benefitting from this event and how they will be nurtured by people returning. so i think covid has laid bare how inner connected we are and how much we really have to think about community and its entire inner connectedness. and how i was right, women are better prepared. welcome to fleet week. [ applause ] and now i have the honor of introducing a very important person to san francisco port, the captain of our port for the coast guard, newly in the position, a great leader, let's welcome captain taylor lamb. >> thank you, director forbes,

for that great introduction. what a pleasure it is to be here with you today as we kick off fleet week 2021. on behalf of the district commander and all of our members across the state of california, we could not be more excited ton here as we highlight our u.s. military, u.s. navy, marine corps and coast guard members, our emergency first responders, our emergency management professionals and certainly the greater maritime community at large. on that note, i'd like to quickly convey our sincere thanks to the critical partnerships here in the port of san francisco as we work daily to ensure the safety and security of not only the public but our marine transportation system. on the note of safety, i'd be remiss if i didn't remind our boating public, please ensure you have enough life jackets for all passengers on board and a v.h.f. radio. it's the best means to contact

the coast guard for any time of maritime emergencies. with that, we are really excited and looking forward to a safe and enjoyable week of events and look forward to introducing you to some of our nearly 4,000 active duty coast guard members here and assigned to the bay area and some of 0 our visiting coast guard units such as robert ward. it's a 154' state of the art designed ship capable of conducting a myriad of missions. search and rescue, operations just to name a few. we thank you, mayor breed, for your leadership and all of our partners here across the region. thank you so much. [ applause ] i'd also be remiss if i did not introduce a very distinguished leader admiral u.s. navy.

admiral. >> hey, everybody. thank you so much. thanks to the mayor. thanks to these distinguished colleagues for letting me be up here. i'm honored to represent the sailors marines, coast guard men and women that i hope you get a chance to meet this week. i'll start out by saying wow. it's great to be here in person. i'm so happy fleet week was able to execute because of the city's preparations and for me, it feels a little bit like a homecoming because the last time i had a fleet week experience, it was here in 2014. and i was part of the crew on that. it was awesome. it was epic. probably second only to meeting my wife for the first time. sorry, that's just where things go. it's because of the hospitality of the city. i'm super excited to bring the

young people and show them what fleet week is life for the first time in their careers. so this year, fleet week is going to be epic. we've brought a slew of ships. the u.s.s. john mccain. and we're going to have a pretty big amphibious assault ship, the mount rushmore. we're going to have aircrafts and boats. it's not just the navy. it's the coast guard, support services, first responders. we're setting up a disaster relief village over in marina green. this is all about showing you the type of capabilities we have to work together with the city in times of crisis. navy and marine corps band. every day they're at a different venue. we've got parades. we've got parades on the water. we've got parades on the land. we've got an air group. i don't know who they are. the blue angels.

have you all heard of them? [ applause ] i'm a helicopter guy, but they're kind of cool you've got to admit. and the most important thing, i'm bringing a lot of young sailors, marines, coast guard men and women and we're telling them to get out and about in the community. ya'll clap for them, please. [ applause ] so they're getting beaten by your youngsters in sports. they're working with dogs which is a cool initiative, but the main thing i want them to do is get out and talk to ya'll about who they are, what they do, and why they serve because that's what fleet week is all about. it's about civilians celebrating their military, but it's also what we're all about. it's really important. so we missed 2020 because of covid, we overcame that. absence makes the heart grow

fonder. so this year is going to be epic as i said. i think it's going to be the best fleet week ever. i look forward to seeing you out there. it means a lot to me personally. it's a good feeling. i'm not going to lie, but also to our military families to see themselves and being recognized like this. and now i have the honor to introduce -- i'll pass the mic to our executive director mary ellen carol. thank you so much. [ applause ] >> thank you, admiral bayes, for that introduction. thank you, mayor breed. and it's such an honor to be here with my esteemed colleagues. it's also a thrill to be here and not talking about covid and not telling you what you can't do, but just really to send the message to have fun and, of course, be safe. but on a serious note, we do --

my team and i are part of fleet week. that is so important to us and the partnership and the planning that we do with our military partners. so we really focus on all different things. this year, we focused on air support and activities for san francisco in a seismic event. the possibility of us becoming an island for all intensive purposes for some period of time is real and so our marine and our air support with our military is critical. on a day-to-day, the coast guard provides us with help on our waters, around our bay. as a surfer and a bay swimmer, i personal appreciate it in case things go awry but during nature events of course. this year, we have -- last

month, we did exercises with all of our partners and the u. s.s. tripoli. and a lot of the people from d.m. had an incredible day at moffet field and really experienced the capabilities that the military brings to us and those relationships that we make. these relationships with these people that we make every year is going to make our ability to respond so much better. later this week, we have the seniors seminar and that's where we're really going to exchange our lessons learned. we are so proud of our covid response and so much of that goes to the leadership of this woman right here, our mayor. the fact that we have 82% of our folks vaccinated is entirely the reason that we're all here being able to do fleet

week. so thank you, mayor breed. [ applause ] and thank you to everybody in the city who contributed to that. so we're going to talk about the things that worked for us. we're going to talk about a lot of other things. virtual op's, when that needs to happen. mental health which is a real issue and problem for us and a lot more. so i hope everyone takes the opportunity to come out to the senior leader seminar. the only other thing i have to say is just, please, have a wonderful time, be safe and welcome to our service, our servicemen and women. it is our honor and our privilege to welcome you to our city and we hope you have a wonderful time. thank you. [ applause ] >> thank you, mary ellen. thank you to all of our speakers. thank you to elaine forbes and the port of san francisco,

which is a whole community of people who helped to make the work of fleet week easier for the planners. the wharfingers. the people have just been flawless throughout this whole planning process. and thank you for this beautiful park. it's beautiful. crane cove park. and i cannot leave the stage without pointing out that our chairman of the board retired major general mike might retired marine corps is the guy who pulled this back together in 2010 to recessitate fleet week. thank you, general, for all of your support. i think we're going to conclude the conference. we're going to have the speakers gather in front of the stage for a photo-op and we're

going to gather for q and a if anyone desires. thank you very much. a city like no other, san francisco has been a beacon of hope, and an ally towards lgbtq equal rights.

[♪♪] >> known as the gay capital of america, san francisco has been at the forefront fighting gay civil rights for decades becoming a bedrock for the historical firsts. the first city with the first openly gay bar. the first pride parade. the first city to legalize gay marriage. the first place of the iconic gay pride flag. established to help cancel policy, programses, and initiatives to support trans

and lgbtq communities in san francisco. >> we've created an opportunity to have a seat at the table. where trans can be part of city government and create more civic engagement through our trans advisory committee which advises our office and the mayor's office. we've also worked to really address where there's gaps across services to see where we can address things like housing and homelessness, low income, access to small businesses and employment and education. so we really worked across the board as well as meeting overall policies. >> among the priorities, the office of transgender initiatives also works locally to track lgbtq across the country. >> especially our young trans

kids and students. so we do a lot of work to make sure we're addressing and naming those anti-trans policies and doing what we can to combat them. >> trans communities often have not been included at the policy levels at really any level whether that's local government, state government. we've always had to fend for ourselves and figure out how to care for our own communities. so an office like this can really show and become a model for the country on how to really help make sure that our entire community is served by the city and that we all get opportunities to participate because, in the end, our entire community is stronger. >> the pandemic underscored many of the inequities they experienced on a daily basis. nonetheless, this health crisis also highlighted the strength in the lgbtq and trans community. >> several of our team members

were deployed as part of the work at the covid command center and they did incredit able work there both in terms of navigation and shelter-in-place hotels to other team members who led equity and lgbtq inclusion work to make sure we had pop-up testing and information sites across the city as well as making sure that data collection was happening. we had statewide legislation that required that we collected information on sexual orientation and our team worked so closely with d.p.h. to make sure those questions were included at testing site but also throughout the whole network of care. part of the work i've had a privilege to be apart of was to work with o.t.i. and a community organization to work together to create a coalition that met monthly to make sure we worked together and coordinated as much as we could to lgbtq communities in the

city. >> partnering with community organizations is key to the success of this office ensuring lgbtq and gender nonconforming people have access to a wide range of services and places to go where they will be respected. o.t.i.'s trans advisory committee is committed to being that voice. >> the transgender advisory counsel is a group of amazing community leaders here in san francisco. i think we all come from all walks of life, very diverse, different backgrounds, different expertises, and i think it's just an amazing group of people that have a vision to make san francisco a true liberated city for transgender folks. >> being apart of the grou

allows us to provide more information on the ground. we're allowed to get. and prior to the pandemic, there's always been an issue around language barriers and education access and workforce development. now, of course, the city has been more invested in to make sure our community is thriving and making sure we are mobilizing. >> all of the supervisors along with mayor london breed know that there's still a lot to be done and like i said before, i'm just so happy to live in a city where they see trans folks and recognize us of human beings and know that we deserve to live with dignity and respect just like everybody else. >> being part of the trans initiative has been just a great privilege for me and i feel so lucky to have been able to serve for it for so far over

three years. it's the only office of its kind and i think it's a big opportunity for us to show the country or the world about things we can do when we really put a focus on transgender issues and transgender communities. and when you put transgender people in leadership positions. >> thank you, claire. and i just want to say to claire farly who is the leader of the office of transgender initiatives, she has really taken that role to a whole other level and is currently a grand marshal for this year's s.f. prize. so congratulations, claire. >> my dream is to really look at where we want san francisco to be in the future. how can we have a place where we have transliberation, quality, and inclusion, and equity across san francisco? and so when i look five years from now, ten years from now, i want us to make sure that we're continuing to lead the country

in being the best that we can be. not only are we working to make sure we have jobs and equal opportunity and pathways to education, employment, and advancement, but we're making sure we're taking care of our most impacted communities, our trans communities of color, trans women of color, and black trans women. and we're making sure we're addressing the barriers of the access to health care and mental health services and we're supporting our seniors who've done the work and really be able to age in place and have access to the services and resources they deserve. so there's so much more work to do, but we're really proud of the work that we've done so far. [♪♪]

>> restaurants will be open for take out only, but nonessential stores, like bars and gyms, will close effective midnight tonight. [♪♪♪]

>> my name is sharky laguana. i am a small business owner. i own a company called vandigo van rentals. it rents vans to the music industry. i am also a member of the small business commission as appointed by mayor breed in 2019. i am a musician and have worked as a professional musician and recording artist in the 90s. [♪♪♪] >> we came up in san francisco, so i've played at most of the live venues as a performer, and, of course, i've seen hundreds of shows over the years, and i care very, very

deeply about live entertainment. in fact, when i joined the commission, i said that i was going to make a particular effort to pay attention to the arts and entertainment and make sure that those small businesses receive the level of attention that i think they deserve. >> this is a constantly and rapidly changing situation, and we are working hard to be aggressive to flatten the curve to disrupt the spread of covid-19. >> when the pandemic hit, it was crystal clear to me that this was devastating to the music industry because live venues had to completely shutdown. there was no way for them to open for even a single day or in limited capacity. that hit me emotionally as an artist and hit me professionally, as well as a small business that caters to artists, so i was very deeply

concerned about what the city could do to help the entertainment committee. we knew we needed somebody to introduce some kind of legislation to get the ball rolling, and so we just started texting supervisor haney, just harassing him, saying we need to do something, we need to do something. he said i know we need to do something, but what do we do? we eventually settled on this idea that there would be an independent venue recovery fund. >> clerk: there are 11 ayes. >> president walton: thank you. without objection, this resolution is passed unanimously. >> and we were concerned for these small mom-and-pop businesses that contribute so much to our arts community. >> we are an extremely small

venue that has the capacity to do extremely small shows. most of our staff has been working for us for over ten years. there's very little turnover in the staff, so it felt like family. sharky with the small business commission was crucial in pestering supervisor haney and others to really keep our industry top of mind. we closed down on march 13 of 2020 when we heard that there was an order to do so by the mayor, and we had to call that show in the middle of the night. they were in the middle of their sound check, and i had to call the venue and say, we need

to cancel the show tonight. >> the fund is for our live music and entertainment venues, and in its first round, it will offer grants of at least $10,000 to qualifying venues. these are venues that offer a signature amount of live entertainment programming before the pandemic and are committed to reopening and offering live entertainment spaces after the pandemic. >> it's going to, you know, just stave off the bleeding for a moment. it's the city contributing to helping make sure these venues are around, to continue to be part of the economic recovery for our city. >> when you think about the venues for events in the city, we're talking about all of them. some have been able to come back adaptively over the last year and have been able to be shape shifters in this pandemic, and that's exciting to see, but i'm really looking

forward to the day when events and venues can reopen and help drive the recovery here in san francisco. >> they have done a study that says for every dollar of ticket sales done in this city, $12 goes to neighboring businesses. from all of our vendors to the restaurants that are next to our ven sues and just so many other things that you can think of, all of which have been so negatively affected by covid. for this industry to fail is unthinkable on so many levels. it's unheard of, like, san francisco without its music scene would be a terribly dismal place. >> i don't know that this needs to be arrest -- that there needs to be art welfare for artists. we just need to live and pay for our food, and things will

take care of themselves. i think that that's not the given situation. what san francisco could do that they don't seem to do very much is really do something to support these clubs and venues that have all of these different artists performing in them. actually, i think precovid, it was, you know, don't have a warehouse party and don't do a gig. don't go outside, and don't do this. there was a lot of don't, don't, don't, and after the pandemic, they realized we're a big industry, and we bring a lot of money into this city, so they need to encourage and hope these venues. and then, you know, as far as people like me, it would be nice if you didn't only get encouraged for only singing opera or playing violin. [♪♪♪] >> entertainment is a huge part of what is going to make this city bounce back, and we're

going to need to have live music coming back, and comedy, and drag shows and everything under the sun that is fun and creative in order to get smiles back on our faces and in order to get the city moving again. [♪♪♪] >> venues serve a really vital function in society. there aren't many places where people from any walk of life, race, religion, sexuality can come together in the same room and experience joy, right? experience love, experience anything that what makes us human, community, our connective tissues between different souls. if we were to lose this, lose this situation, you're going to

lose this very vital piece of society, and just coming out of the pandemic, you know, it's going to help us recover socially? well, yeah, because we need to be in the same room with a bunch of people, and then help people across the country recover financially. >> san francisco art recovery fund, amazing. it opened yesterday on april 21. applications are open through may 5. we're encouraging everyone in the coalition to apply. there's very clear information on what's eligible, but that's basically been what our coalition has been advocating for from the beginning. you know, everyone's been supportive, and they've all been hugely integral to this program getting off the ground. you know, we found our champion with supervisor matt haney from district six who introduced this legislation and pushed this into law. mayor breed dedicated

$1.5 million this fund, and then supervisor haney matched that, so there's $3 million in this fund. this is a huge moment for our coalition. it's what we've been fighting for all along. >> one of the challenges of our business is staying on top of all the opportunities as they come back. at the office of oewd, office of economic and workforce development, if you need to speak to somebody, you can find people who can help you navigate any of the available programs and resources. >> a lot of blind optimism has kept us afloat, you know, and there's been a lot of reason for despair, but this is what keeps me in the business, and this is what keeps me fighting, you know, and continuing to advocate, is that we need this and this is part of our life's

blood as much as oxygen and food is. don't lose heart. look at there for all the various grants that are available to you. some of them might be very slow to unrao, and it might seem like too -- unroll, and it might seem like it's too late, but people are going to fight to keep their beloved venues open, and as a band, you're going to be okay. [♪♪♪] >> i try to start every day not looking at my phone by doing something that is grounding.

that is usually meditation. i have a gym set up in my garage, and that is usually breathing and movement and putting my mind towards something else. surfing is my absolute favorite thing to do. it is the most cleansing thing that i'm able to do. i live near the beach, so whenever i can get out, i do. unfortunately, surfing isn't a daily practice for me, but i've been able to get out weekly, and it's something that i've been incredibly grateful for. [♪♪♪] >> i started working for the city in 2005. at the time, my kids were

pretty young but i think had started school. i was offered a temporarily position as an analyst to work on some of the programs that were funded through homeland security. i ultimately spent almost five years at the health department coordinating emergency programs. it was something that i really enjoyed and turned out i was pretty good at. thinking about glass ceiling, some of that is really related to being a mother and self-supposed in some ways that i did not feel that i could allow myself to pursue responsibility; that i accepted treading water in my career when my kids were young. and as they got older, i felt more comfortable, i suppose, moving forward. in my career, i have been asked to step forward. i wish that i had earlier stepped forward myself, and i feel really strongly, like i am

100% the right person for this job. i cannot imagine a harder time to be in this role. i'm humbled and privileged but also very confident. so here at moscone center, this is the covid command center, or the c.c.c. here is what we calledun -- call unified command. this is where we have physically been since march, and then, in july, we developed this unified structure. so it's the department of emergency management, the department of public health, and our human services hughesing partners, so primarily the department of homelessness and supportive housing and human services agency. so it's sort of a three-headed command in which we are coordinating and operating everything related to covid response. and now, of course, in this final phase, it's mass

vaccination. the first year was before the pandemic was extremely busy. the fires, obviously, that both we were able to provide mutual support but also the impact of air quality. we had, in 2018, the worst air quality ten or 11 days here in the city. i'm sure you all remember it, and then, finally, the day the sun didn't come out in san francisco, which was in october. the orange skies, it felt apocalyptic, super scary for people. you know, all of those things, people depend on government to say what's happening. are we safe? what do i do? and that's a lot of what department of emergency management's role is. public service is truly that. it is such an incredible and

effective way that we can make change for the most vulnerable. i spend a lot of my day in problem solving mode, so there's a lot of conversations with people making connections, identifying gaps in resources or whatever it might be, and trying to adjust that. the pace of the pandemic has been nonstop for 11 months. it is unrelenting, long days, more than what we're used to, most of us. honestly, i'm not sure how we're getting through it. this is beyond what any of us ever expected to experience in our lifetime. what we discover is how strong we are, and really, the depth of our resilience, and i say that for every single city employee that has been working around the clock for the last 11 months, and i also speak

about myself. every day, i have to sort of have that moment of, like, okay, i'm really tired, i'm weary, but we've got to keep going. it is, i would say, the biggest challenge that i have had personally and professionally to be the best mom that i can be but also the best public certify chant in whatever role i'm in. i just wish that i, as my younger self, could have had someone tell me you can give it and to give a little more nudge. so indirectly, people have helped me because they have seen something in me that i did not see in myself. there's clear data that women have lost their jobs and their income because they had to take care of their safety nets. all of those things that we depend on, schools and daycare

and sharing, you know, being together with other kids isn't available. i've often thought oh, if my kids were younger, i couldn't do this job, but that's unacceptable. a person that's younger than me that has three children, we want them in leadership positions, so it shouldn't be limiting. women need to assume that they're more capable than they think they are. men will go for a job whether they're qualified or not. we tend to want to be 110% qualified before we tend to step forward. i think we need to be a little more brave, a little more exploratory in stepping up for positions. the other thing is, when given an opportunity, really think twice before you put in front of you the reasons why you should not take that leadership position. we all need to step up so that

we can show the person behind us that it's doable and so that we have the power to make the changes for other women that is going to make the possibility for their paths easier than ours. other women see me in it, and i hope that they see me, and they understand, like, if i can do it, they can do it because the higher you get, the more leadership you have, and power. the more power and leadership we have that we can put out [♪♪♪] >> i just don't know that you can find a neighborhood in the city where you can hear music

stands and take a ride on the low rider down the street. it is an experience that you can't have anywhere else in san francisco. [♪♪♪] [♪♪♪] >> district nine is a in the southeast portion of the city. we have four neighborhoods that i represent. st. mary's park has a completely unique architecture. very distinct feel, and it is a very close to holly park which is another beautiful park in san francisco. the bernal heights district is unique in that we have the hell which has one of the best views in all of san francisco. there is a swinging hanging from a tree at the top. it is as if you are swinging over the entire city. there are two unique aspects.

it is considered the fourth chinatown in san francisco. sixty% of the residents are of chinese ancestry. the second unique, and fun aspect about this area is it is the garden district. there is a lot of urban agriculture and it was where the city grew the majority of the flowers. not only for san francisco but for the region. and of course, it is the location in mclaren park which is the city's second biggest park after golden gate. many people don't know the neighborhood in the first place if they haven't been there. we call it the best neighborhood nobody has ever heard our. every neighborhood in district nine has a very special aspect. where we are right now is the mission district. the mission district is a very special part of our city. you smell the tacos at the [speaking spanish] and they have the best latin pastries.

they have these shortbread cookies with caramel in the middle. and then you walk further down and you have sunrise café. it is a place that you come for the incredible food, but also to learn about what is happening in the neighborhood and how you can help and support your community. >> twenty-fourth street is the birthplace of the movement. we have over 620 murals. it is the largest outdoor public gallery in the country and possibly the world. >> you can find so much political engagement park next to so much incredible art. it's another reason why we think this is a cultural district that we must preserve. [♪♪♪] >> it was formed in 2014. we had been an organization that had been around for over 20 years. we worked a lot in the neighborhood around life issues. most recently, in 2012, there were issues around gentrification in the

neighborhood. so the idea of forming the cultural district was to help preserve the history and the culture that is in this neighborhood for the future of families and generations. >> in the past decade, 8,000 latino residents in the mission district have been displaced from their community. we all know that the rising cost of living in san francisco has led to many people being displaced. lower and middle income all over the city. because it there is richness in this neighborhood that i also mentioned the fact it is flat and so accessible by trip public transportation, has, has made it very popular. >> it's a struggle for us right now, you know, when you get a lot of development coming to an area, a lot of new people coming to the area with different sets of values and different culture. there is a lot of struggle between the existing community and the newness coming in. there are some things that we do

to try to slow it down so it doesn't completely erase the communities. we try to have developments that is more in tune with the community and more equitable development in the area. >> you need to meet with and gain the support and find out the needs of the neighborhoods. the people on the businesses that came before you. you need to dialogue and show respect. and then figure out how to bring in the new, without displacing the old. [♪♪♪] >> i hope we can reset a lot of the mission that we have lost in the last 20 years. so we will be bringing in a lot of folks into the neighborhoods pick when we do that, there is a demand or, you know, certain types of services that pertain more to the local community and working-class. >> back in the day, we looked at mission street, and now it does not look and feel anything like mission street. this is the last stand of the

latino concentrated arts, culture and cuisine and people. we created a cultural district to do our best to conserve that feeling. that is what makes our city so cosmopolitan and diverse and makes us the envy of the world. we have these unique neighborhoods with so much cultural presence and learnings, that we want to preserve. [♪♪♪] .

>>. >> thank you. i like to call the october 4, 2021 redistricting task force meeting to order . and the time is 6:08 as our starttime tonight . as it constrains us we will get startedwith the agenda item number one . item 2, approval of the minutes, yes. >> mister chair, before we get started for broadcast to make sure everyone is able to reach us i should go over brief announcementsto let people know how to connect to our meeting and access the feed . the minutes