>> good morning everyone. the meeting will come to order. this is january 29, 2024 rules committee meeting and supervisor hillary ronan chair of the committee joined by committee member supervisor safai our clerk is victor young and i like to thank james from sfgovtv for broadcasting the meeting. mr. clerk doia have announcements? >> yes, public comment will be taken on each item. when your item comes up and public comment is called line up to speak.

you may submit public comment in writing. e-mail them to myself, the rules committee clerk at victor.young@sfgov.org. if you submit via e-mail it will be forward ed to the surprisers and included as part of the file. may submit written comments in city hall 1 dr. carlton b goodlett place, room 244 san francisco california 94102. please make sure to silence cell phones and electronic devices. documents to be included as part of the file should be submit today the clerk. items acted upon today are expected to appear on the board of supervisors agenda february 13, 2024. >> thank you so much. before we begin the meeting i like to make a motion to excuse vice chair walton from today's meeting. >> on the motion to excuse vice

chair walton, safai, aye. ronan, aye. walton excused. the motion passes without objection. >> wonderful. please call item number 1. >> item 1 is hearing to consider appointing one member term ending january 6, 2026 and two members term ending january 6, 2028 to small business commission. >> wonderful. i'll call the commissioners or the-up one by one based on the seat number so we'll start with miriam zouzounis. if you could tell us why you like to continue in this role, you have been serving so well in my opinion on the small business commission. >> thank you supervisors. thank you supervisor ronan, supervisor safai for taking the

time to hear us today. for me i'm seeking reaopponentment for seat 1 on the small business commission. the last four years since i sought reappointment have been the covid recovery years, and a lot of policies that we started talking about before the closures like parklets actually came into law shortly after a lot of things that i observed during that time show that there was a growing equity grap as much as we tried to focus on those most-vulnerable during that time so i feel like now the opportunity to address some of those structural and code systematic issues that the small business commission has brought up in the past and recent members who also left

the commission, i feel there is still a action item of policy that we are ripe to collaborate with that treasurer tax collector office is working on a lot of fee clean up and things we have been pitching for years and so i feel there is follow-through that i would like to contribute to and the small business commission is still useful to my community with me being seated and so i feel like i would love to continue serving in this capacity. i really thank the supervisors for giving me this opportunity as a board appointee, and yeah, i'm happy to answer any questions, but most importantly, i would like to prioritize food access and supporting ebt licensed businesses in the next term if i am appointed and also

supporting infrastructure for workers of small businesses, whether that's the vendors and contractors and also employees and figuring out how to better work with other commissions and offices and getting those resources a little more centralized. thank you. >> thank you so much. you actually answered all my questions. supervisor safai, do you have any questions? >> not really any questions, more just a statement. i'm happy to see ms. zouzounis wants to serve again. appreciate the work she's done. i think it is important given the make-up of our small business community to have a voice that has a connection to both immigrant owned and businesses that have been in san francisco for more then a couple generations, i know she works with her family store in

soma started by her grandparents so there is history there from her perspeckive and worked with immigrant commission for collaboration with immigrant right commission and small business commission. i think she can speak from the perspective of a small business owner and i think that is really important because of all the difficulties people have in san francisco operating a business and hurdles they face, so to have someone with that perspective and voice i think is really important, so i appreciate you put your name forward again and we look forward work wg you to continue to make san francisco a better place for small businesses mptd >> thank you supervisors and thank you both for all your support from small business and office initiative over the years. >> absolutely. i just wanted to add to what supervisor safai said. i am so grateful that you are willing to continue to serve,

because i think you have been incredibly effective in your role as commissioners of the small business commission. you are fierce advocate for small businesses, but you advocate with grace and skill that you know with, when you combine those two things, fierceness with grace it is just hard to say no to you. [laughter] i can't imagine saying no to you, because are extremely smart and you really really have your ear to the ground about what small businesses need to succeed and we know that your community is suffering right now and has been since the pandemic and it is just-we are very lucky to have you in this role, so thanks again. >> so honored. thank you for your time. >> absolutely.

and next, we are going to consider seat 2 and calling up dimitri thierry cornet a new applicant and look forward getting to know you and your interest in the seat. >> thank you and good morning. my name is dimitri [indiscernible] honored to stand before you as a small business owner who served san francisco vibrant business corridors over a decades. i navigated the challenge of small business ownership with resilience and determination. my journey is one och growth and learning as continuously adapted to the ever-changing landscape of diverse markets. through hard work and dedication i gained invaluable experience in retail, services education and community engagement. during my journey, as a business owner and stylist i was given the opportunity toa decision for [indiscernible] nob i traveled the world

creating and delivering educational content on stage jz salons for both consumer jz stylists. traveling allowed me to [indiscernible] other businesses and how they support each other. my expertise is retail, services, education and community involvement. i want to continue to help small businesses thrive and all dreams of small businesses to materialize. how do we do this? creative strategic inclusive ideas help bridge gaps and continue to grow the landscape of our beautiful city of san francisco. as a member of the lgbtq plus community and a person of color i understand the importance of representation and incluseativity in the business. [indiscernible] embracing difference jz celebrating shared humanity we can create a more equitable inclusive society for. i thank you for allowing me to share my journey and excited to

[indiscernible] represent the small business community moving together. >> wonderful. thank you so much. go mission businesses. can you talk about what might be priorities if you are appointed to this commission? >> priorities for me is how we help businesses to grow and understanding what is missing, what we have, what is working and not working so put our ear to the ground, do groundwork to understand what merchants are lacking and how we can creativity come up with ideas so both sides of the isle come together. >> supervisor safai, any questions? >> yeah. have you-thank you for coming today dimitri, appreciate you putting your name forward. one question i always ask new [indiscernible] have they actually attended commission meetings that they are looking forward to applying for? >> yes, i have attended a few

meetings in the past. >> what is your perception how the flow has been and what motivates you to be on the small business commission? >> the flow is great. i do love the challenging and pressing questions and thinking outside the box and pret ea much the floor is open to whatever questions and concerns that they have. would you repeat the second part of the question? >> why do want to serve on the commission? >> as the opportunity was brought to me in 2017 i was recommended i should done but i was on the education team so it was too many moving pieces. when the pandemic hit i told myself when the opportunity arise i would do it. there was a fire burning in my belly when i saw so many businesses struggling and going under and inequality and just the need for small businesses and that's my drive and why i'm here today. >> okay, great. i appreciate you putting your name forward. i think it is important as

supervisor ronan said to have representation from different parts thof city. what do you think different challenges are facing small businesses? i know you asked what your perspective is and what your goals and objectives are for being on the commission. what do you think biggest challenges facing small business in the city today? >> definitely funding. there are ideas but there isn't enough capital or streamline way to capital. also, making it easier for people to know what they can and cannot do so how to simplify the process more as well as coming up with ideas to createivity blend businesses. you can see how two business come together. one of my friends in panama has a salon attach would a sushi bar and restaurant as well as a is salon and it operates well

together. there are no health issues. the business operation from 8 a.m., lunch time guests can go through the salon and have lunch so the clients can have lunch and cocktails but when the salon shows down it is a show and marketing piece as you walk through and stay at the bar until 2 a.m. having dinner or drinks. just creative ideas how to bring multiple businesses together in the same space. >> okay. great. thank you. >> thank you so much. excited you applied for this position and looking forward to getting to work with you. >> thank you so much. >> absolutely. and last but certainly not least for seat 3 we have the reappointment before us of william ortiz-cartagena. commissioner ortiz-cartagena is extremely sick today. texted him this morning, but i

have no problem speaking on his behalf, because he's probably the small business commission where work the closest will. william ortiz-cartagena is one of a kind. he-his knowledge of all sorts of different small businesses, but mostly integration into communities is unparalleled, especially for the immigrant community, for communities that are looking to change their lives and start over and find a way to survive and make a good living honesty in this city. commissioner ortiz-cartagena through his organization that

he founded called, [indiscernible] has worked hand in hand with my office to create a storefront on mission street called, la [indiscernible] is the name of the storefront where he's providing a permanent space. he will be, he is opening the storefront but operated the current store front for street vendors who are just starting out their small business. don't yet have a store front and can really incubate themselves in the community in order to survive and have a way of making money. commissioner ortiz-cartagena has a heart of goal, it is huge and constantly looking out for the most vulnerable members of our community and making sure that there is an entrance

and entree into survival through entrepreneurship and i cannot appreciate him enough, so i am extremely excited to support his reappointment to the small business commission. any comments supervisor safai before we open up to public comment? >> yeah, i will add on to what you said. one thing i appreciate about commissioner ortiz-cartagena is you can be anywhere in the city in any small business and you will bump into him. he is literally everywhere and interfaces with the ownership of the community, owned businesses, small businesses in every corner of san francisco. i know he has a particular focus with the founder of being the founder of [indiscernible] working with latino owned businesses, but he is in his

scope his interest, he's pervasive, he interfaces with many many different businesses, is supportive and just generally has a very positive attitude, even though he knows there is a lot of bureaucracies and hurdles for small business he keeps a positive perspective and engaged with the legacy business programxer he is engaged with small business loan program, he is engaged with street vendors and worked on that with your office. i know in particular we have done a lot to work with illegal street vending, not just in the mission but over the city. supervisor ronan and i worked on that legislation initially and he is absolutely engaged in every aspect of that. for the new commissioner, part of what i was asking you was, you operated a business in the city all most a decade. i think that is really important, but it is also important to engage with the commissioners like commissioner

zouzounis and commissioner ortiz-cartagena to learn from them and see how you can be supportive of their efforts to make the environment for small businesses stronger and obviously have your own perspective and the things you bring to the table, but you have a really great team to work with and i think both of these commissioners that we are reappointing have been strong leaders and voices, so i really appreciate him and sorry he's sick, but i know he's sick because otherwise he would be here with his hat turned back, chilling, ready to go, telling us three things we need to work on. happy to reappoint him. >> thank you supervisor safai. you reminded me of something so important about commissioner ortiz-cartagena. the positivity is everything. >> it really is. >> he's not- >> a complainer. >> not only not a complainer, but he's very practical. he realizes all the challenges,

but instead of complaining about the challenges, he is always ready to find solutions to problems, and is a can do-favorite description, a can do person. we can fix this. here are ideas. that is by far my favorite quality of any public servant in the city is, a positive attitude, a can do attitude and someone who is willing to roll up their sleeves, come up with good ideas and get to work. that describes commissioner ortiz-cartagena very well, so thanks for reminding me of that. >> especially, he is very present in my community as well in particular and i know he does a lot of work in the mission but a tremendous amount of work in the excelsior. i tink is good for xhishzers to adopt certain parts of the city as well. we have commissioner zouzounis who does a lot of work with corner grocers in soma and

tenderloin, but that ist nowhere she is limited, she is working in all corners and commissioner ortiz-cartagena working in the mission and [indiscernible] i'm excited to reappoint both of these folks. >> great. easy day for once in our lives. i will note for the record that applicant michael hinckley did withdraw his application today. with that, if we can open this item up for public comment. >> members of the public who wish to speak should line up to speak at this time. each speaker will be allowed two minutes. there does not appear to be any public commenters for this matter. >> public comment is now closed. i would like to make a motion to recommend the reappointment of miriam zouzounis to seat 1.

dimitri thierry cornet to seat 2 and william ortiz-cartagena to seat 3. >> on the motion, safai, aye. chair ronan, aye. vice chair walton excused. the motion passes without objection with vice chair walton being excused. >> thank you so much. pass this. congratulations and again, thank you for all the work. excited to work with you all. mr. clerk, do we have any other items on the agenda today? >> that completes the agenda for today. >> the meeting is adjourned. [meeting adjourned]

>> 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.

>> the vibrant south of market neighborhood in san francisco is deep lee rooted filipino if fluences to shape the cultural identity. soma pilipinas known for [indiscernible] night life and art scenes is home to growing filipino community that thrived for generations. >> soma pilipinas is a community, the village that has been over a hundred years in the making. this is home to many generations of filipino from the turn of the century, to the present. continues to be a gateway community for a lot of filipinos just arriving from the philippines. >> one of sth most prominent scines is filipino owned

businesses become staples in the neighborhood. restaurants like manila bowl and jp restaurant offer [indiscernible] >> we call it [indiscernible] this is my passion. everybody's who came right now. we feel good right here. community is like a family. >> the eatery serve mouth watering dishes and provide a sense of home to the filipino community, preserving traditions passed down generation. >> a filipino restaurant utilizing california ingredients we honor traditional family recipe [indiscernible] we shop in the market 2 to 3 times a week. we make the filipino cuisine

proud in san francisco. >> along with the culinary deliteds, soma philippine ow is home to san francisco top mix aulgists. filipino artistry is a facet of soma pilipinas rich tapestry. the filipino cultural heritage district transformed public spaces into canvases that depict the stories and experiences of filipino americans. >> parlt part of the work we do is support filipino artists to work with community to really create and develop community based art. this is murals and designs that really reflect the rich history, the culture and the struggles and triumps of the filipino community. >> the presence of the filipino cultural center which offer workshops, language classes and community resources is a testament to the community efforts to preserve and

promote the heritage. >> features the [indiscernible] philippines which is a indigenous community weaving textiles and tapestry for hundreds of years so proud to feech were modern ones and very antique ones and showcase fashion from the community and we are inviting everybody to come experience that with us. >> the center not only caters to the filipino community, but welcome all who wish to learn about and embrace this culture. >> we want to develop a cultural district where you have the young generation learn their history, language and culture and where you have also the seniors be part of the cultural and share their stories and their traditions, and continue to grow young in the neighborhood. >> the intersection of technology and culture in this part of san francisco provides a unique back drop for a

thriving community embracing the past while looking to the future. the filipino influence ingrained in soma serves as remindser of the power of cultural diversity and importance of celebrating in our ever changing world.