is >> good afternoon this meeting will come to order. welcome to the february 6, 2023 regular meeting of upon land use transportation committee of the board of supervisors i'm supervisor melgar chair joined by vice chair supervisor preston and board president aaron peskin the clerk today is erika major. i would like to acknowledge matthew at sfgovtv for staffing this meeting. do you have announce ams. jot board and committeeers

convening hybrid meetings and providing remote access and comment via phone. board recognizes that william access is essential and taking comment as follows. first will be taken on each item. those in person allowed to speak first and move on to remote. the public comment number is across the screen. 415-554-0001 access code: 2482 703 0600 ## when public comment is called those in person will

lineup near the curtain and those on the phone dial star 3. remember to turn down your television and listening revises. as indicateded will take public comment from those in person first then to the remote call in line. you may submit written comments to myself the land use and transportation clerk, erika. major @sfgov.org if you are commit have an e mail tell be forwarded and made part of the official file. you may send written comments via u.s. postal to city hall 1 dr. carlton b. goodlett place room 244, san francisco, california, 94102. items acted upon study will be on the board agenda february 14th unless otherwise stated.

>> thank you very much. call item 1. >> item 1 is an ordinance amending the code to extend the grace period for 120 days permit applications under share space permit including just add music presumes and convert the use into a post pandemic permit and affirming promote findings. >> member hos wish to provide comment on this item call the number 415-554-0001, access code: 2482 703 0600 ## then press star 3 to enter the queue. >> thank you very much. we have robin here from the planning upon department who has a presentation and machine cawho is from the mta ands assistand

fire marshall here as well for questions. welcome. >> thank you. chair megafrm supervisors peskin and preston. happy new year. we are joined on the phone by michael lennon and gregory from the d. public works and have a few slides to illustrate the out come of the proposed ordinance. >> give a baptist statistic to where the program is currently. in light of this transition we are moving through and additional resources and grants available to shared space. shared spaces take place in the out doors in public realm. we are transitioning private lots permits and on vacant lots to out of the shared spaces program to the planning department's temporary and cu

authorization permits. we had an administrative dead line for pandemic permittees to mitt an application for post pandemic permit due to the out roach and engage am work our communication and public education manager we saw the vast will majority submit with an application. there are 350 we have yet to hear from. we are dunning efforts to roach the folks through phone banking and activities to verify if they will operate after the pan dem and i can provide passport to get them to submit an application before the amounted dead line of march 31. with the complex volume of cases we have seen a plateau in staffing levels and wing to increase capacity in divisions to ensure we process them. the reality of our constrained

capacity the neuroproblem system part of the rational behind introducing an extended grace period for this program. >> to recap without the ordinance that the emergency declaration and current legislation do is provide a 60 day winds down period after the expiration of the pandemic program. you may remember you rhythmed an ends to the fan demmic program last year that is come up in march of 23. 60 days after without the ordinance the city and operators have that period to make all of the necessary safety fixes and final inspections and river a permit t. extends a grace period beyond that 60 days to 180 days

allowing departments to provide the care and support to operators and for those prirts to implement their fixes. we are setting internal administrative dead lines for departments and operators. we don't want folks to wait until yes , sir. 120. right. i'm just i was wrestling with this when i read it. when you read the long title it says extend the grace period additional within 20 days. there is 60, 60180. but had i read approximate t approximate may be i'm not mart enough which is the answer, when i read it -- i guess it works on page 4. up to 120 after the major's

proclamation. does this get to you 180 days total. upon the title says 120 huread it looks like 2 months more? >> cumulative low the 60 and 120 days amount to 180 days. or march thereinst. right? and the mayor's expiration would be february 28th. >> right. >> expiration is set at march 31. the grace was july 1 of >> the concern legislation says

last july, right? i believe in march of 2022, the board passed an amendment that extended the xoiration the sunset of the pandemic program to march 31 of 23. >> yes, we did. i guess that language should not be under lined in the ordinance it is language through the chair. i care but i'm fine with 60 plus 120. not colwith 180 plus 60. >> department city attorney. >> let me check the code to see if that is an error. see if the board made that amendment and should not be in that font and we will need to correct it. >> thank you. ical we go ahead. >> my apologies.

>> thank you for the question. >> departments are setting dead lines to ensure we are able to provide the necessary support and guidance to pandemic permittees who wish to seek a post pandemic permit we don't want anyone to wit to narcotic the process. some of those feedback mile stones providing feedback to the applicant within 30 days. and notified that the site safety fix have been made. at a site to schedule an inspection with the fire department and public work staff to see the fixes have been made. we ask that operators regarding the safety and accessibility

treatments to their site, that they implement those within sing days that alus to stagger the large case load we previewed earlier and make the best use of time over 180 day and get everyone a permit in time for the expiration of the grace period. >> on a couple resources this we are providing and fwiedance we are providing to shared spaces operators. equity grants are open. 2500 per parklet site to off set the costs with making the safety and accessibility upigates at sfgov.org and accyst we have been hosting since the summer high touch in neighborhood in language, oven lead by our communication manager, will be continuing throughout rest of the quarter to provide this on

going support. we worked with sfgovtv to create 3 short public service announce ams. >> staff are here to answer questions. and conclude the item. >> supervisor peskin. >> thank you to planning as well as staff at you name it fire, public works, mta, et cetera . i wanted to as we talk about the extension of grace period i said i'm happy to support employmented to talk bh rules of the game during that extended period. namely around and i think probably all have the cases and mr. a bad is aware of one that

has been the subject of e mails to the supervisor but there are many others haare, if you will, abandoned or had not been pursued and -- perhaps a property owner made vague noises about they apply or have applied kept it in proper toward is tandem out to abandonment. i want to make sure that to the extent they are eligible for notices of violation and removal that is there is nothing in the phrase period that would stop us in talking to the city attorney i would like to duplicate this file we have to get it out the door and introduce in a future

hearing language that would be specific to that the city attorney has not drafted and in the same breath, i don't know if you encounters this. our original legislation required ajoining property owners if the parklet was in front of their space there are interesting ones where -- in the district i report i guess i represent the district with the most parklets i have buckets. experience and than i are all one off's where the property owner cannot be located or will respond and so i was thinking i might also in the future offer another amendment that says if the property owner does in the say, no to an extent built

permits -- parklet that it is deemed to be yes after a president of time and amounts of out reach by a registered mail. we'll make a motion later to duplicate the file to the call of the chair until the deputy city attorney prepared the amendments. >> supervisor preston. >> thank you chair melgar. and everyone if your work i have a district question and thank you for providing the information and a snapshot of the program. i noticed that -- from the information you sent that 75 of the 206 operators applied for the legislative program struck mow as low and when i think you said over all there were about

with 350 total. had admit applied. first checking i'm talking that these are apples to apples. of a third of those who are not applied are in my district and wonder if you can if i understanding that right why that might be and in terms of out reach, how we move forward and make sure and how our office and make sure everybody knows about the dead line and in they want to apply. >> yes, thank you. we welcome partner help to extend roach and pentrician. we are in the process now of targeting the 350 operator hos had a pandemic permit and yet to submit a post pandemic perimism

if they are interested in continuing, which in are indicated they don't want to to ensure we drive them toward this permit. submittal dead line is march 31 and we are providing passport for them to do so. with confidence. with regard to the numbers the digit and the brief staff provided it was mid left week the incomes will have to go back and triple check it make surety numbers are you fluid. we receive mrksz every day and revise applications and so i want to go become to the team and get you more updated numbers off line. if folks say they don't want to apply that is one thing if we are not hearing from folks that is an out reach sxsh we would want to partner with to you get the word out.

thank you. >> thank you, i had a couple questions. so -- to supervisor president pes pel's question. the flip side is in my district there is one abandoned space that is visible in the middle of the corridor. it is a noise one it belongs to a business that is no longer there. the business that is going to lease up the space is trying to merge to you know -- the store fronts and of course, your department takes, lot of time with that does -- with that very long permitting process, i want to make sure that with shared space in front they can also easy low assume it or adopt it

without starting from scratch. so, would this 120 days allow folks more time to do that? or is this something i might work with president peskin on his language? because you know i wanted to go both ways. if we need member to assume responsibility for something that is no long in use but if we have a that was can adopt it we want to make sure it is easy to do so without starting from scratch. >> absolutely. there is precedent for a parklet that had been stewarded by a neighbor. the department of public ws who admin sters the permits helped with this transition. it requires a formal application of sorts from the business operator and i think we would want to work with your office

and the operator to get this in before march 31 so we look at all of the parklet assets together as we try to implement our strategy also. we are trying to maintain the universal real time picture whoments to occupy park and who will give them up? on the subject of neglect and maintenance and the interim periods when businesses might be dark for awhile buzz they are struggling to open up or hire new staff through the pandemic, we exercised, let of latitude and trying to help folks be forceful about this. and i think where we do follow up with enforcement activity or had than i are eligible for notice of violation if we see that maintenance and cleanliness, that the maintenance and the condition is

deteriorating there is more latitude and neighbors feel better if you might be a closed store front but keeping up with where you are parklet the lit and are graffiti and other issues naarise from extended inattention. we get to territory of noise of violation and the steps of escalation that may lead to removal. which we have gone through in supervisor president peskin's district for one site already. i appreciate that. the question is about mta and the strategy is. and adopting to the new world. of shared spaces and parking and -- curb management.

how we may adopt to this. one things we struggled with in the inner sunset the corner of ninth and irving we have a bunch of parklets the trin that turns. you know often like 2 trains. and people who double park illegally. and then pedestrians or bicyclists and cars cannot get through. i worry if there is know emergency the fire marshall that can be trouble. i worn if we have taken a look and african-american the city of those points where there are several. you written people like on valencia, you know uber drivers stop and people get out of both

back doors. sometime in on coming traffic. so, you know it credits safety issues but coniestion. i wonder curve manage examine enforce am. mta sf my team is think burglar. so you asked about a high level prop. our agency adopted a strategy the city wide strategically around the issues and credited a hoishg of how we might prioritize needs in commercial corridors. hathat looks like in practice is really a block by block level look hadoes look what is the block needs. is it a parklet in a yellow zone we allow for 2 years approximate bring back that yellow zone.

we apply that curb management block by block when looking at getting the application miss and determining our all the block needs met? relocate commercial and passenger loading? bring in general loading. a new typology we adopted in the last 2 years. uber pick up and loading needs so the nice wagz you are aware of in that swigz we may say, you need to shift your parklets down have you 3 and only have one. so. you talk about high level and the block i'm aware of and we are making the decision as we approve the footprint for every

permit this come in. do you need to shift the be removeed bring back the other needs we can't deal without as economy recovers and traffic is more prevalent the loading issues are safety. approximate this is the case. you taken the strategic block by block analysis, what is xhoungz and enforce am mechanism with the businesses they rely on the shared spaces to make it work. so i could see if you are asking folk cus have one instead of 3 that can be devastate to a business what is communication strategic like. >> we wanted not to be a surprise when people submit applications months ago we

roached out to every hundreds of businesses and completed the assessment you are in the yellow zone you need to shift to one if you want to stand in the program. you have to squeeze to 2. we communicated that over several among and when they do apply the same information already completed we say, this is the situation we point to the regulations and the code legislation does specify vision zero and that communication happens with the applicant through our a member of our staff and some are unfortunate and can be -- a dom myself and reenforce the experience of balancing curb side needs but deal with that case by case.

>> yea. thank you. >> if there is no other -- assistant fire marshall du want to say something? thank you. >> let's go to public comment on this idea. >> thank you, seeing no other members in the chamber move to the remote call in line we have 2 listeners with zero in the queue i will give them an opportunity to get in the kwu if they like. press star 3 and you will enter in the queue take the first caller. >> hi, everybody this is lori thomas. hello can you hear me. yes, good ahead. this is lori thomas the executive director of fellow parklet owner for [inaudible] i want to real thank president peskin and supervisors preston

and melgar for wrael great comments i would be happy to support any of those suggested changes. there are issues and everybody on the share's space tome we are trying to amplify and provide a voice to help. there has been great back and forth and out reach but we can see a lot of people submitted application and we are trying to get more in. this extension is a smart way to prop if bee are here to support. thank you very much for the work and working together. it hen a positive the past 6 months as we go toward this post pandemic world t. is important to talk through the issues and help operators as much as possible. thank you. >> thank you very much. that completes the queue. skwoo thank you. public comment is closed.

i like to make a motion we sends this we duplicated the sdpiel send one of the files to the full board with positive recommendation. >> as a committee report. >> of course. thank you >> on this motion, supervisor peskin. >> aye. >> supervisor preston. >> aye. >> supervisor melgar. >> aye. >> you have 3. >> thank you this motion passes. do we have anything else on the agenda. >> i make a motion to continue the duplicated item the call of the chair pending amendments i'm happy to i can't share with you but -- >> call of the chair i can we have the same policy goal which is to -- have flexibility rolling. i'm 1 huh percent we had this case in the home cafe they have a parklet and left and went out of business i'm -- family cafe

i'm sorry but they are trying to sell the property and parklet they equip. so -- as compared to the other one i will not mention the name of where its become a mess. so -- if you take care television witting to convey your interests god bless if you don'tful uh-huh we can dwraft something that says, uh-huh. >> on the motion to continue the to the call of the chair for the duplicate moved by priors peskin. supervisor peskin. >> aye >> supervisor preston. >> aye. >> supervisor melgar. >> aye. >> that passes. we are adjourned.

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>> for us, we wish we had our queue and we created spaces that are active. >> food and drinks. there is a lot for a lot of folks and community. for us, it started back in 1966 and it was a diner and where our ancestors gathered to connect. i think coffee and food is the very fabric of our community as well as we take care of each other. to have a pop-up in the tenderloin gives it so much meaning. >> we are always creating impactful meaning of the lives

of the people, and once we create a space and focus on the most marginalized, you really include a space for everyone. coffee is so cultural for many communities and we have coffee of maria inspired by my grandmother from mexico. i have many many memories of sharing coffee with her late at night. so we carry that into everything we do. currently we are on a journey that is going to open up the first brick and mortar in san francisco specifically in the tenderloin. we want to stay true to our ancestors in the tenderloin. so we are getting

ready for that and getting ready for celebrating our anniversary. >> it has been well supported and well talked about in our community. that's why we are pushing it so much because that's how we started. very active community members. they give back to the community. support trends and give back and give a safe space for all. >> we also want to let folks know that if they want to be in a safe space, we have a pay it forward program that allows 20% to get some funds for someone in need can come and get a cup of coffee, pastry and feel welcomed in our community. to be among our community, you are always welcome here. you don't have to buy anything or get anything, just be here and express

yourself and be your authentic self and we will always take care of you.

>> shared spaces have transformed san francisco's adjacent sidewalks, local business communities are more resilient and their neighborhood centers are more vibrant and mildly. sidewalks and parking lanes can be used for outdoor seating, dining, merchandising, and other community activities. we're counting on operators of shared spaces to ensure their sites are safe and accessible for all. people with disabilities enjoy all types of spaces. please provide at least 8 feet of open uninterrupted sidewalk so everyone can get through. sidewalk diverter let those who have low vision navigate through dining and other activity areas on the

sidewalk. these devices are rectangular planters or boxes that are placed on the sidewalk at the ends of each shared space and need to be at least 12 inches wide and 24 inches long and 30 inches tall. they can be on wheels to make it easy to bring in and out at the start and the end of each day. but during business hours, they should be stationary and secure. please provide at least one wheelchair accessible dining table in your shared space so the disability people can patronize your business. to ensure that wheelchair users can get to the wheelchair accessible area in the park area, provide an adequate ramp or parklet ramps are even with the curb. nobody wants to trip or get stuck. cable covers or cable ramps can create tripping

hazards and difficulties for wheelchair users so they are not permitted on sidewalks. instead, electrical cables should run overhead at least ten feet above sidewalk. these updates to the shared spaces program will help to ensure safety and accessibility for everyone, so that we can all enjoy these public spaces. more information is available at sf.govt/shared spaces.

>> there is a lot of unique characteristics about visitation valley. it is a unique part of the city. >> we are off in a corner of the city against the san francisco county line 101 on one side. vis station valley is still one of the last blue color neighborhoods in san francisco. a lot of working class families out here. it is unusual. not a lot of apartment buildings. a lot of single family homes. >> great business corridor. so much traffic coming through here and stopping off to grab coffee or sandwich or pick up food before going home. >> a lot of customers are from the neighborhood. they are painters or mechanics. they are like blue color workers, a lot of them. >> the community is lovely. multi-racial and hopefully we can look out for each other.

>> there is a variety of businesses on the block. you think of buffalo kitchen, chinese food, pork buns, sandwich. library, bank of america with a parking lot. the market where you can grab anything. amazing food choices, nail salons. basically everything you need is here. >> a lot of these businesses up and down leland are family owned. people running them are family. when you come here and you have an uncle and nephew and go across the street and have the guy and his dad. lisa and her daughter in the dog parlor and pam. it is very cool. >> is small businesses make the neighborhood unique. >> new businesses coming. in mission blue, gourmet

chocolate manufacturing. the corridor has changed and is continuing to change. we hope to see more businesses coming in the near future. >> this is what is needed. first, stay home. unless it is absoluteliness scary. social distancing is the most important step right now to limit spread of virus. cancel all nonessential gather everythings. >> when the pandemic litly land avenue suffered like other corridors. a few nail salons couldn't operate. they shut down. restaurants that had to adapt to more of a take out model. they haven't totally brought back indoor seating. >> it is heartbreaking to see the businesses that have closed

down and shut because of the pandemic. >> when the pandemic first hit it got really slow. we had to change our hours. we never had to close, which is a blessing. thank god. we stayed open the whole time. >> we were kind of nervous and anxious to see what was going to come next hoping we will not have to close down. >> during covid we would go outside and look on both sides of the street. it looked like old western town. nobody on the street. no cars. >> it was a hard eight or nine months. when they opened up half the people couldn't afford a haircut. >> during that time we kept saying the coffee shop was the living room of the valley. people would come to make sure they were okay. >> we checked on each other and patronized each other. i would get a cup of coffee,

shirt, they would get a haircut. >> this is a generous and kind community. people would be like i am getting the toffee for the guy behind me and some days it went on and on. it was amazing to watch. we saw a perfect picture of community. we are all in this together. >> since we began to reopen one year later, we will emerge stronger. we will emerge better as a city because we are still here and we stand in solidarity with one another. >> when we opened up august 1st. i will not say it was all good. we are still struggling due to covid. it affected a lot of people. >> we are still in the pandemic right now. things are opening up a little bit. it is great to have space to come together.

i did a three painting series of visitation valley and the businesses on leland. it felt good to drop off the paintings and hung them. >> my business is picking up. the city is opening up. we have mask requirements. i check temperatures. i ask for vaccination card and/or recent test. the older folks they want to feel safe here. >> i feel like there is a sense of unity happening. >> what got us through the pandemic was our customers. their dogs needed groomed, we have to cut their nails so they don't over grow. >> this is only going to push us forward. i sense a spirit of community and just belief in one another. >> we are trying to see if we can help all small businesses around here. there is a cannabis club lounge

next to the dog parlor to bring foot traffic. my business is not going to work if the business across the street is not getting help. >> in hit us hard. i see a bright future to get the storefronts full. >> once people come here i think they really like it. >> if you are from san francisco visit visitation valley to see how this side of the city is the same but different. >> we worked very hard with the san francisco venue coalition, the independent venue alliance to advocate for venues. put this issue on the radar of

the supervisors and obviously mayor breed. the entertainment commission and the office of small business and we went to meetings and showed up and did public comment and it was a concerted effort between 50 venues in the city and they are kind of traditional like live performance venues and we all made a concerted effort to get out there and sound the alarm and to her credit, maybe breed really stepped up, worked with matt haney, who is a supervisor haney was a huge champion for us and they got this done and they got $3 million into the sf venue recovery fund. >> we have represented about 40 independent venues in san francisco.

basically, all the venues closed on march 13th, 2020. we were the first to close and we will be the last to reopen and we've had all the of the overhead costs are rent, mortgage, payroll, utilities and insurance with zero revenue. so many of these venues have been burning $1,000 a day just to stay closed. >> we have a huge music history here in san francisco and the part of our cultural fab lick but it's also an economic driver. we produce $7 billion annual' here in san francisco and it's formidable. >> we've been very fortunate here. we've had the department of emergency management and ems division and using part of our building since last april and aside from being proud to i

can't tell you how important to have some cost recovery coming in and income to keep the doors open. >> typically we'll have, three to 400 people working behind the teens to support the show and that is everything from the teamsters and security staff and usualers, ticket takers, the folks that do our medical and the bar tenders and the people in the kitchen preparing food for backstage and concession and the people that sell key shirts and it's a pretty staggering amount of people that are out of work as a result of this one verne you going tarkanian. it doesn't work to open at reduced capacity. when we get past june 15th,

out of the into the blue print for our economy we can open it it 100% and look at the festival in full capacity in october and we're just so grateful for the leadership of the mavor and dr. coal fax to make us the safest ♪ america and this is been hard for everybody in san francisco and the world but our leadership has kept us safe and i trust them that they will let us know when it's safe to do that. >> a lot of people know about america is military stuff, bullying stuff, corporate stuff. when people like me and my friends go to these foreign country and play music, we're giving them an american cultural experience. it's important. the same way they can bring that

here. it sounds comfy buyia, you know, we're a punk band and we're nasty and we were never much for peace and love and everything but that's the fertilizer that grows the big stuff that some day goes to bill graham's place and takes everybody's money but you have to start with us and so my hope is that allel groups and people make music and get together because without out, hanging together we'll hang separately, you know. >> other venues like this, all over the place, not just in the san francisco bay area need to exist in order for communities to thrive and i'm not just talking about the arts communities, even if you are here to see a chuckle bucket comedy show and you are still experiencing humanity and in specific ways being able to gather with people and experience something together. and especially coming out of the

pandemic, the loss of that in-person human connection recovering that in good ways is going to be vital for our entire society. >> it's a family club. most our staff has been working with us for 10 years so we feel like a family. >> what people think of when they think of bottom of the hill and i get a lot of this is first of all, the first place i met my husband or where we had our first date and i love that and we love doing weddings and i expect there to be a wedding season post 2021 of all the make up we haddings and i hope that many people do that because we have had so many rock ep role weddings. >> i told my girlfriend, make sure you stand at the front of

the stage and i can give you a kiss at midnight. at this got down on one knee at the stroke of midnight. it wasn't a public thing, i got down on one knee and said will you marry me and is he she had are you [beep] kidding me and i said no, i'm dead serious and she said yes. we were any time homicideel of the show. we just paused for new year's eve and that was where i proposed to my wife. this is more than just a professional relationship it's more than just a relationship from a love of arts, it's where my family started. we'll always have a special place in my heart. >> venues, you know, represent so much. they are cultural beckons of a city.

neighbors can learn and celebrate and mourn and dance together. venues and arts and culture are characterized as second responders to crisis and they provide a mental health outlet and a community center for people to come together at and it's the shared history of our city and these spaces is where we all come together and can celebrate. >> art often music opens up people to understanding the fellow man and i mean, taz always necessary and if anything, it's going to be even more necessary as we come out of this to reach out and connect with people. >> we can sustain with food, water and shelter is accurate and does anybody have a good time over the last year? no. >> san francisco is a great down. i've been here many years and i love it here and it's a beautiful, beautiful, place to

be music and art is key to that. drama, acting, movies, everything, everything that makes life worth living and that's what we've got to mow proteasome no san francisco and that's what is important now. [♪♪♪]

. >> president yee: of the 26 neighborhoods we have in west portal, it's probably the most unique in terms of a small little town. you can walk around here, and it feels different from the rest of san francisco. people know each other. they shop here, they drink wine here. what makes it different is not only the people that live here, but the businesses, and without all these establishments, you wouldn't know one neighborhood from the other. el toreador is a unique restaurant. it's my favorite restaurant in san francisco, but when you look around, there's nowhere else that you'll see decorations like this, and it makes you feel like you're in a

different world, which is very symbolic of west portal itself. >> well, the restaurant has been here since 1957, so we're going on 63 years in the neighborhood. my family came into it in 1987, with me coming in in 1988. >> my husband was a designer, and he knew a lot about art, and he loved color, so that's what inspired him to do the decorations. the few times we went to mexico, we tried to get as many things as we can, and we'd bring it in. even though we don't have no space, we try to make more space for everything else. >> president yee: juan of the reasons we came up with the legacy business concept, man

eel businesses were closing down for a variety of reasons. it was a reaction to trying to keep our older businesses continuing in the city, and i think we've had some success, and i think this restaurant itself is probably proof that it works. >> having the legacy business experience has helped us a lot, too because it makes it good for us because we have been in business so long and stayed here so long. >> we get to know people by name, and they bring their children, so we get to know them, also. it's a great experience to get to know them. supervisor yee comes to eat at the restaurant, so he's a wonderful customer, and he's very loyal to us.

>> president yee: my favorite dish is the chile rellenos. i almost never from the same things. my owner's son comes out, you want the same thing again? >> well, we are known for our mole, and we do three different types of mole. in the beginning, i wasn't too familiar with the whole legacy program, but san francisco, being committed to preserve a lot of the old-time businesses, it's important to preserve a lot of the old time flavor of these neighborhoods, and in that capacity, it was great to be recognized by the city and county of san francisco. >> i've been here 40 years, and i hope it will be another 40 yeararararararararararararararr

>> good morning. meetal meeting will come to order. welcome to the february 2, 2023 of the government audit and oversight committee of san francisco board of supervisor. i'm supervisor preston the chair joined by our new vice chair and welcome to the committee. supervisor catherine stefani who is remotely with us today on teams, and also supervisor connie chan. the committee clerk is stephanie cabrera and thank our team at sfgovtv for staffing this meeting. madam clerk, any announcements; >> the board are convening

hybrid meeting. style proiing remote access the board recognizes that equitable public access is essential and will take public comment as follows. first, public comment taken on each item. those joining in person will be allowed to speak firsh then take those waiting on the telephone line. those watching 26, 28, 78 or 99 and sfgovtv.org the public comment call in number is streaming across the screen. 415-655-0001. again, 415-655-0001. then enter meeting id, 2 (499) 524-8697 then press pound twice. when connected you hear the meeting discussion and muted and in listening mode only. when the item of interest comes up and public comment is called those joining in person should line up to speak along the curtain wall and those on the telephone dial star 3 to be added to the queue. please

remember to turn down your tv and listening devices. as indicated we'll talk public comment from those in person first and then go to the telephone line. you may submit comment in writing in one of the following two ways. e-mail to myself, stephanie.cabrera@sfgov .org. if you via e-mail it will be forwarded to the supervisors and part of the official file. you may also send the comments to city hall at 1 dr. carlton b goodlett place. finally, items acted upon today are expected to appear on the board of supervisor agenda of february 14 unless otherwise stated. thank you. >> before we call the first item, we have a new

gao member, so really do want to welcome you vice chair stefani to the gao committee. i also want to thank supervisor peskin for reappointing me as chair and thank him also for reappointing supervisor chan to the committee as we continue a lot of our work and strengthened by the addition of supervisor stefani so welcome. we will go ahead madam clerk and call item number 1. >> item 1 is resolution receiving and approving the annual report for great union square business improvement district for fiscal year 2020-2021. members who wish to provide public comment should call 415-655-0001. when prompted enter meeting id, 2 (499) 524-8697 and press pound twice. if you haven't done so please dial star 3 to

be added to the queue. the system will indicate you riseed your hand. please raise for the system to indicate you are unmuted and begin your comments. >> thank you madam clerk. for this item, i want to welcome mimi (inaudible) and chris corgas of economic and workforce development and hear first from looks likeplace rocky and then executive director of the union square alliance. the floor is yours. >> good morning. my name is mimi-a project specialist with oewd and provide oversight to san francisco community benefit district program. today we are covering union square report for fiscal year

2020-2021. (inaudible) two pieces of legislation, the first being the 1994 act also known as california streets and highway code section 36600 and article 15 also known as sf business tax regulation code. oewd is charged insuring all cbd meet the management plan and providing services as out lined and spending assessment funds accordingly. the findings are detailed in a memo in your pact and summarized in the presentation. this is a overview of the cbd we will be reviewing today. union square alliance is (inaudible) expected to expire by 2029. the benchmark are covered in the slides. benchmark one compares the current year budget to management plan budget. the benchmark

2 confirms the non assessment revenue obligations met. three, the budget to actuals are within 10 percentage points and four is whether the carry forward is identified and if projects have been designated. union square met all 4 bench marks. we have also found that union square continued to identify needs and solutions to bring both local and international visitors to the area to support local businesses such as forming an economic recovery task force. they have partnered with community city stakeholders to activate and improve public spaces including streets alleys parks and (inaudible) great examples are union square park and holiday plaza. no reported violations of the are brown act within the reporting period and complied with the memo regarding surveillance technology, they have active board and community member jz well positioned to

carry on their mission. that ends oewd portion of the presentation. if you have no questions for me or chris i like to invite up marisa to the podium. >> thank you. welcome ms. rodriguez. the floor is yours. >> good morning supervisors. thanks for having me here chair preston and madam clerk as well and i want to say good morning to the community here with us. my name is marisa rodriguez the ceo of union square alliance. today we are reporting on a time period 2021 where i wasn't here but joined october 21, but i know great things happening during this time. the business improvement district our mission is to certainly provide best we can a visitor destination and environment that is inclusive and environment that is

enjoyable and really supports our city economic vitality. we do that through a number of mechanisms, our largest charge and will speak to that in a bit is clean and safe providing the direct service. we are 27 city blocks (inaudible) work tire ltssly to insure the community feels supported. the assessment methodology during this time period and to this day is broken down into linear sidewalk frontage, lot square footage, building square footage, type of land use, zone with total assessment budget of 6 million 20. linear frontage is the majority, about 70 percent is what we consider for assessment so primarily the linear frontage and the service area we support through power washing, cleaning.

with respect and cleaning and safety service include a 24 hour 7 day a week staff dispatch so we call the member services. we provide support around the clock to our members to address cleaning needs, security issues and any support our members feel they need throughout the night. you can imagine when there are insdantss like the one experienced in november, this came in great handy. we provide service to the park, union square plaza. we also provide additional security with our camera system and then we also provide legion private security, patrol service. now 24 hours, at that time was overnight and in the later half of the day. we have sf police department community ambassador program started in

union square and we provide additional safety and security staffing with our ambassadors. i was given 5 minutes and want to speak more about the pandemic time, so i do have the stats here. i will address a couple of them. if there are question afterwards happy to go into more detail. we collected 385 thousand pounds of trash during that time period. removed 18.634 hazardous waste units, primarily fecal matter and syringes. graffiti tags (inaudible) quality of life insdants addresses and the private security addressed 8345 incidents. happy to go into more detail. so, during this time, we were still very much deep in the pandemic, and so marketing, engagement, activation in the

community became very important. it was a time when our organization rebranded, so you'll see the colors, the flags, the beginning of the slide acknowledges the new color scheme for the bid and new name, union square alliance. the saturday music series in union square started so we offered music and perfomances and consorts for those who could not perform indoors . we had that outside for all to enjoy and john's grill hosted a number of outdoor activations, ballet and fashion shows so we thank them. embarked on communication strategy trying to engage the community and those accounts have been quite successful. i believe at this time we garnled about 85 thousand followers and continued to communicate and close to hundred

thousand fall ers on instagram and that speaks to a destination trying to support the district and not just the district, city wide. street scape, if you recall there was a lot of borded buildings in light of the social unrest happening in the square and a lot of businesses shuttering so we embarked on a mural project and art cock through paint the void and the art walk was something we engaged community and members and stakeholders and it was a successful opportunity to understand what was expressed through art during that time. we also continued with our flower basket program to continue to beautify the district, despite all the shuttered businesses. and the signage you started to see the flags go up with our branding and other beautification efforts and then repaired the gates at madem lane,

we also started the holiday lighting program. you started to see the palm trees lit and when i came on decided that should be year round. adding signage banners, planting and create a transtore area into something people can enjoy and use. the community could use. the advocacy occurred around covid-19 and recovery. we embark ed with one of the contractors on a economic recovery task force effort. we worked hard to bring back the cable car. that was something really important to the district and supersupporting tourism and maintain that element when a lot of other businesses and other-i guess destination experiences were close . we also launched the sfpd ambassador program and the first location for that program and i mentioned the

holiday plaza revitalization and additional work around the economic recovery task force. what we did is purchase lunches and food from local businesses to provide to first responders to keep the businesses going and supportive of the first responders. you see carrying pizza and believe that is the nursing staff in perhaps st. francis hospital. lastly, in april of 21 my predecessor karen flood retired and a search was conducted. it would be octwhen october when they found me and she stayed until then. i didn't start during this time period but that happened so we wanted to acknowledge that. thank you. >> thank you very much and thank you for your leadership and presentation. i are just want-you outlined a lot of different work. i want to commend you. it has been a very very difficult time for businesses in the area

and you stepped in trying to rebound. appreciate some of the work was before your time there, but i know you are continuing it and so particularly some of the things you outlined around the art and murals and music and things that really i think have been bringing the area back in really positive ways and also the cleaning work and the 24/7 nature i think of some of the service is really important because that is one thing as we made progress around street conditions in some areas we have not had the 24/7 so in my district in the tenderloin we have seen areas dramatically improve during the day but when the ambassador presence and ort things kind of sunset in the evening it is a different scene at night. i think taking that 24/7 approach in the area is really important and

important to continue. i did have questions. i'm not sure if there are for you or oewd particularly about the police ambassador program; which is coming out of this period was a new program as you said. i just wanted to get a better understanding first off of how that program came into being. we obviously have a lot of different ambassador programs and trying to understand why this one but also whether this is just another ambassador program similar to others or offer something different. >> absolutely. happy to speak to that and also want to acknowledge your first comment which i appreciate, thauj thank you very much. at this time this was deep in the pandemic and there were not a lot of people coming to work or in the community and

it was the union square ambassadors that were front line there ready whatever was happening kwr there was a lot going on. in the night time, certainly during the day time so not a easy time for everyone so thank you for acknowledging that. it is really interesting because i hear a lot of questions around ambassadors so you are not alone in this and i think when i reflect on it, i start to think we are all using the term ambassador and that is making it confusing but they all function differently. it is all most as it if we all have staff just hap toon call ambassadors but all different organizations doing very different things. ambassador, a term coin probably firsted with cbd and bids, the support staff they have that provide that direct service usually contracted out with block by block and other organizations. maybe streets plus.

hospitality ambassadors and mostly serve in capacity of cleaning, power washing, providing those eyes and ears to support the community as they are in the district maybe calling in with a emergency, supporting someone with a flat tire. saw that the other day. that kind of support and that staff that work with our cbd. then you have tourism hospitality ambassadors and those are supported through sf travel and their function is to support our convention business, tourism business, people coming here perhaps looking for directions and other support. i can't speak to it entirely, it isn't my program, but i get the sense is that is really it and again additional eyes and ears and the feeling of support especially since we don't have all our workers back in the office, the downtown area in particular, a little less populated then it has been in the past. and the police ambassadors and i think that

can be-it is a separate function really policing function, one i actually really appreciate because i have eyes and are ears and the police someone who is retired-retired police officers we would have otherwise lost and know the attrition rates are high and challenging with staffing with the police department. it is nice to be able to maintain these individuals who have experience over 30 plus years who i noticed are really good at community policing. they engage people go in and talk to people, not on their cell phones, a different generation of people who feel comfortable with community policing and are de-escalation tactics. they are not armed, which i also appreciate and they can support the community many know the commune-many have been police officers in the districts they serve, which we appreciate. (inaudible) higher rank because they are retired and in the

district a long time and know the businesses and feel comfortable and provide a level of support that is really different and allows for the police department to do what they need to do maybe more serious crimes and things like that to support that. those are the police ambassador and i think maybe we are at a loss of naming convections like what to describe or call these things but they are very different functions. >> thanks for clarifying. i think it is important as we had so many different ambassador programs and agree the term covers a lot of folks who's functions can be very different. i would just add to the sort of background that you laid out around the cdb's and bids doing-having ambassador programs and also the long-standing city program through office of civic engagement and immigrant affairs which i believe were

the first ambassadors that go back a decade over the city and provided directly-not through the cbd but that office. ambassadors that overlap in a lot of these areas and we have been big supporters of that office and their efforts as well. i think one of the-what is interesting is at first i wondered if there was a limit-there is a a demand on ambassadors through the program i wasn't sure if this was coming from a place of not able to obtain ambassadors through another program or different programs, but it sounds like less of that and more that these folks are performing all be it unarmed more a community policing function which is different. i don't think most ambassadors are viewed

as doing policing. >> that's right. >> it sounds like the expectation around what they are doing and how they engage are different then other ambassadors. >> i think we do support and hope all ambassadors serve as eyes and ears and would report a crime if they saw one or incident or someone experiencing trauma or situation, but yes are, there is that dist tinction. >> so, how many sfpd ambassadors are operating now? >> in this time period in the beginning my sense was about 4. i don't have that number. i have to get back to you on that but there were not very many. i understand that we were one of the first locations this was launched as a test market and i think at this point we may have 6.

>> full time? >> no, this is part of the part time-they are not 10b, they are retired officers and can only work on part time certain number hours per week, so i wish but they are not -their staffing is a issue so don't always have access and not always able to staff that position. >> thank you for clarifyingism . i had a question for a oewd folks. curious following up on this. for this model

of the police ambassadors how many cbd are now using that and if there are plans for further expansion of that program. >> thank you supervisor preston. to my knowledge oewd is not involved. that is more appropriate question for sfpd. >> (inaudible) >> the only one to my knowledge that has them in their area is union square, but if others have them now they may or may not, i'm aware of any but i'll double check and get back to you. >> thank you. i think-i want to flag i think it is interesting area and one that is worth us discussing and reflecting for a second. we had a move starting in 2020 of trying to move away from heavy police presence if direct policing services were

not needed a shift towards ambassador model. we have seen explosion in the number of ambassadors and different types of programs. we are all sorting what makes most sense in most neighborhoods and entry of sfpd ambassadors is a hybrid that i understand may be viewed by some as opportunities to have more (inaudible) push back against police (inaudible) triggering supersome folks it is like having the ambassador come who is not sfpd can often de-escalate a situation and so i just don't think there is a easy answer, i just wanted to identify that it seems we are in a time where i will say it is my hope we are not phasing out the model of the non-police

true community ambassador in favor of extending the police department into this realm and that's why i ask the questions and- >> i appreciate that and i certainly feel like we don't feel over-run by support. we appreciate it. we need it, especially now more then ever. the police ambassadors are wearing khaki pants and jacket. they don't look like police officers. they look like ambassadors. they are not-they don't have guns or any of that, they just have radios so less triggering. >> the photos in the report- >> it says sfpd ambassador on the jacket just as it says union square ambassador. people know they are distint

from my ambassadors or anybody else's. i will just call them support staff so we can distinguish. it feels-i would say an ecdotally it feels community would like to see more. i would say more police presence to be honest. traditional police presence is what i'm hearing, but really do appreciate as i mentioned before the community policing model of these ambassadors. it has gone over quite well. i understand they are in china town. i understand they are in i believe north beach but fisherman's warf and west portal. i think other communities are wanting them. you mentioned where are these? this time period it was new and since expanded and starting to see in other districts throughout the city. again, staffing shortages,er we don't have i think oo lot of police officers are certainly burned out, especially after events like we experienced in november with the looting and other things and trying to

protect the community. it can be challenging and so to have these retired police officers staying on which i think is helpful for them too because it is a very stressful taxing job and nice to be able to (inaudible) versus just quick cold turkey and plant flowers in the garden. i think it is challenging for some of them and nice to give them a opportunity so think it serves multiple purposes. >> i think it is helpful. i wasn't sure from the report whether it was replacing other services or additive and sounds additive. 10b presence sound it is constant. >> when we can staff it and unfortunately it isn't all the time. >> you haven't scaled down other ambassador programs. >> our ambassadors are part of-it is contracted and part of the commitment of the district through this program so we can't really scale that down. we have to maintain

our contract and that is the clean and safe or cleaning and hospitality in that regard. >> thank you very much. unless my colleagues have any questions before we go to public comment, we will go ahead and open public comment. supervisor chan. >> thank you. i want to make a brief comment on just the ambassador program in general. i appreciate the union square alliance. interesting rebranding and appreciate it none the less. great to see ms. rodriguez you taking the helm of this really challenging time in a very difficult space to try to balance. i think ms. flood retired on a high note, the best she could managing that space. look forward to seeing now that central subway completed construction bringing more vibrancy back to the area. look forward to seeing what the macey's space

will look like at the future. noted you mentioned union square alliance ambassadors really is serving the members of the alliance and trying to coordinate that with sfpd ambassadors, i think this is more for oewd to bring it back-i think i have raised the questions last two fiscal years. i will continue to raise that just to see what are the coordinated efforts that among all the ambassador program jz the most cost effective way to deliver the service. spimes i don't think that quantity-i think quantity makes efforts easier to keep streets clean and people safe, but i also think that at some point we ought to be able to figure out the quantity with the quality, so we got to figure that out. thank you so much and overall i wish you all