Budget and Finance Committee Meeting - March 26, 2025: Multiple Agenda Items Including Port Leases, Housing Loans, and Shelter Lease Extension
STREAMING COPY IN PREPARATION — RECORDING AVAILABLE FROM THE ORIGINAL SOURCE
Budget and Finance Committee - March 26, 2025
The Budget and Finance Committee of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors met on Wednesday, March 26, 2025, at approximately 9:15 AM (18:15 UTC) under the chairmanship of Supervisor Connie Chan, with Vice Chair Matt Dorsey and Member Ingardiel present. The committee considered eight items, including a Police Commission statement of purpose, two port grant releases, a Fisherman's Wharf lease, a continuance of a federal housing grant, two affordable housing financing packages, and a one-year lease extension for a non-congregate shelter with amendments. Public comment was heard on several items.
Discussion Items
Item 1: Police Commission Statement of Purpose
- Commission President Cindy Elias presented the statement of purpose, highlighting goals such as evidence-based best practices, community input, and transparency. She noted the commission's work on Department General Orders (DGOs) and compliance with Proposition E. Supervisor Dorsey asked about staffing plans; President Elias cited a prior staffing study that did not analyze leadership. Public comment by Paul Allen, who helped draft the statement, emphasized the need for a charter given the commission's broad authority. The committee voted unanimously to forward the resolution to the full board with a positive recommendation.
Items 2 and 3: Release of Reserved Funds for Port Projects
- Port staff requested release of $2.7 million from FEMA for Pier 94/96 seismic improvement (needs assessment) and $55.386 million from EPA for the San Francisco Waterfront Emissions-Free Ferry System, which includes a Mission Bay Ferry Landing, electrification at the downtown ferry terminal, a zero-emission 400-passenger ferry, and a workforce development program. The grant requires a $15.5 million match ($13.6M from SFPUC, $1.9M from SF Bay Ferry). The Budget and Legislative Analyst (BLA) recommended approval. After no public comment, the committee unanimously approved releasing the funds and filed the hearings.
Item 4: Lease with Everett & Jones BBQ at 300 Jefferson Street
- Port Deputy Director Scott Lansettle presented a 10-year lease with two five-year options for a 4,400 sq ft restaurant space at Fisherman's Wharf. Rent: Year 1 at 5% of gross revenue (minimum $10,000/month), Year 2 at $13,000/month, Year 3 at $15,400/month, with 3% annual increases thereafter. The port is contributing an $800,000 tenant improvement allowance. The lease includes a mutual termination clause if gross revenue falls below $2.9 million in Year 3. Public comment featured representatives of Everett & Jones, a family-owned business, expressing gratitude. The committee unanimously approved forwarding the lease to the full board.
Item 5: PRO Housing Grant (Continued)
- The item authorizing retroactive acceptance of a $7 million HUD grant for housing obstacles removal was continued to the call of the chair at the request of the planning department, due to federal grant uncertainties. No public comment. The committee voted unanimously to continue the item.
Item 6: Loan for Burnal Bundle Affordable Housing
- Amanda Fucatomi Lopez (MOHCD) presented an $11,595,214 loan to Bernal Heights Housing Corporation for three buildings (26 residential units, 2 commercial) at 1652-1654 Eddy St, 3554 17th St, and 195 Woolsey St. The loan includes $7.5 million in new funds for seismic retrofits, elevator replacements, and other critical repairs, plus recasting of $4.1 million in existing debt and up to $1.84 million in interest forgiveness. Affordability will be extended for at least 75 years. The BLA recommended approval. No public comment. The committee voted unanimously to forward to the full board.
Item 7: Multifamily Housing Revenue Notes for 850 Turk Street
- Andrew Strong (MOHCD) presented a $64 million bond authorization (conduit financing, city not obligated) for a new 92-unit affordable housing development (40-80% AMI) at 850 Turk Street. The city contribution is $5 million ($54,348/unit). Construction is projected from April 2025 to February 2027. Tax-exempt bonds allow for low-income housing tax credits covering about half the cost. No public comment. The committee voted unanimously to forward to the full board.
Item 8: Lease for Monarch Hotel as Non-Congregate Shelter (Amended and Continued)
- Emily Cohen (HSH) presented a resolution to lease the Monarch Hotel at 1015 Geary Street for one year (April 1, 2025 – March 31, 2026) as a non-congregate shelter with 102 units. Rent: $1,597,320 annually, plus a $100,000 exit fee upon surrender. The lease saves $1.4 million annually compared to the previous booking agreement. During the year, HSH will wind down the program. The committee adopted amendments: retroactive start, no options to extend, removal of general plan findings. Public comment was split: several neighbors and business groups supported the one-year extension with closure, citing inequitable concentration of services in the Tenderloin; others (outreach workers, service providers) urged longer terms or strategic closure. After unanimous vote to amend, the deputy city attorney confirmed the amendments were substantive, so the item was continued to the next meeting (April 9, 2025) by unanimous vote.
Key Outcomes
- Item 1: Forwarded to full board with positive recommendation (3-0).
- Items 2 & 3: Reserved funds released ($2.7M and $55.386M), hearings filed (3-0).
- Item 4: Forwarded to full board with positive recommendation (3-0).
- Item 5: Continued to call of the chair (3-0).
- Item 6: Forwarded to full board with positive recommendation (3-0).
- Item 7: Forwarded to full board with positive recommendation (3-0).
- Item 8: Amended (3-0) and continued to April 9, 2025 (3-0).
Meeting Transcript
Good morning. The meeting will come to order. Welcome to the March 26, 2025 meeting of the Budget and Finance Committee. I'm Supervisor Connie Chan, Chair of the Committee. I'm joined by Vice Chair Supervisor Matt Dorsey and shortly by a member Supervisor Ingardiel. Our clerk is Brent Halipa. I would like to thank Seuss Enals for SFGAU TV for broadcasting this meeting. Mr. Clark, do you have any announcements? Thank you, Madam Chair. Just a friendly reminder to those in attendance to please make sure to silence all cell phones and electronic devices to prevent interruptions to our proceedings. Should you have any documents to be included as part of the file, they should be submitted to myself, the clerk. Public comment will be taken on each item on this agenda when your item of interest comes up and public comment is called. Please line up to speak on the west side of the chamber to your right, my left along those curtains. And while not required to provide public comment, we do invite you to fill out a comment card and leave them on the tray by the television to your left by those doors. If you wish to be accurately recorded for the minutes, alternatively, you may submit public comment in writing in either of the following ways. Email them to myself, the budget and finance committee clerk at B-R-E-N-T.jsf G-O-V dot or G. If you submit public comment via email, it will be forwarded to the supervisors, and also included as part of the official file. You may also send your written comments via U.S. Postal Service to our office at in City Hall at one. Dr. Carlton be good place. Room 244, San Francisco, California 94102. And finally, Madam Chair, due to our legislative spring recess next week, items acted upon today are expected to appear on the Board of Supervisors' agenda of April 8th, unless otherwise stated. Madam Chair. Thank you, Mr. Clerk. And with that, um let's go with uh item number one. Yes, item number one is a resolution approving the police commission statement of purpose pursuant to the charter. Madam Chair. Thank you. And it is uh my honor and to welcome our Commission president, Cindy Elias, uh, to the floor. And uh we really welcome you in this chamber and thank you so much for being here. Thank you, uh say Commissioner, but Supervisor Chan. Uh good morning. Thank you for having me, Supervisor Dorsey, Supervisor Ingario, good morning. Uh I want to give you a little background of our statement of purpose. I was informed that we were supposed to have a statement of purpose by a diligent resident, Mr. Paul Allen, who came to our police commission meetings and not only informed us of the statement of purpose that every commission in the city is supposed to have, but also suggested and in fact helped draft this statement of purpose with Commissioner Carter Oberstone. So that is what you have here today. Um I think that it's very simple, straightforward, and to the point, and it really highlights and articulates what it is that we do on the police commission, which is we create DGOs, which are Department General Orders, which are what the police department uses. It's sort of their rule book. Uh and after the DOJ recommendations, we have really I think took a deep dive into this process. And before when DGOs were crafted, they were crafted sort of not behind closed doors, but not a lot of input was solicited or incorporated in the DGOs. Uh and what we have seen through best practices and really a reform in law enforcement is how beneficial these DGOs uh become once we have community input, once we have stakeholders that uh provide um their subject matter expertise, as well as buy-in from the department. And what we have, and I think that uh we have shown and demonstrated here in San Francisco, a department that shows what 21st century policing is, and there have been numerous examples of other jurisdictions throughout this country who have used our Department General orders as models for their own departments. So I think it speaks volumes. So before use our statement of purpose, but I want to give a huge thank you to Mr. Allen, who is here today, and again who helped draft this, to Commissioner Carter Oberstone, as well as Sergeant Youngblood, who is our Commission Secretary, as well as Sergeant Reynolds, who is also present here today. And let me just assure you that we would not be here or be able to run or function without those two individuals right there.
openpublica.com