Government Audit and Oversight Committee Meeting - January 6, 2022
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San Francisco Government Audit and Oversight Committee Meeting - January 6, 2022
The Government Audit and Oversight Committee of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors met on Thursday, January 6, 2022, at 6:15 PM. The meeting was chaired by Supervisor Dean Preston, with Vice Chair Connie Chan and Member Raphael Mandelman present. The committee reviewed three major agenda items: six community benefit district (CBD) annual reports, a hearing on infrastructure project notification processes, and an update on the seismic retrofit of 301 Mission Street (Millennium Tower). All items were addressed with public comment and votes.
Consent Calendar
- Items 1 through 6 were considered together: resolutions approving annual reports for the Yerba Buena, Ocean Avenue, Castro/Upper Market, Noe Valley, Discover Polk, and Lower Polk Community Benefit Districts for fiscal years 2018-2019 and 2019-2020. These were recommended to the full Board of Supervisors on a unanimous vote (3-0).
Public Comments & Testimony
- No public comments were received on the CBD items. One caller connected but did not speak during the infrastructure hearing; no callers were in the queue for the Millennium Tower hearing.
Discussion Items
Community Benefit District Annual Reports (Items 1-6)
- Chris Corgas from the Office of Economic and Workforce Development (OEWD) presented findings on each CBD, including four benchmarks: variance from management plan, non-assessment revenue, budget vs. actuals, and carryover funds. Key issues:
- Yerba Buena CBD: Met three of four benchmarks; missed non-assessment revenue due to COVID-19 (3% vs. required 5.08%). The CBD awarded community grants and increased cleaning during the pandemic.
- Ocean Avenue CBD: Missed two benchmarks; OEWD noted Brown Act violations and governance issues, recommending new board recruitment, term limits, and strategic planning. New Executive Director Pierre Schmidt stated progress on recommendations.
- Castro/Upper Market CBD: Missed one benchmark due to spending variance; raised 45% of budget from non-assessment sources. Reported 87,000 pounds of trash, ~3,000 dirty needles, and ~5,000 instances of human feces removed in FY2019-2020.
- Noe Valley CBD: Missed one benchmark historically; rectified by renewal. Over 30% of budget from non-assessment sources. The district activated Noe Valley Town Square with 16-20 major events per year.
- Discover Polk CBD: Met all four benchmarks. Underwent leadership transition, hired new cleaning contractor, and implemented Big Belly program.
- Lower Polk CBD: Met all benchmarks in FY2018-2019 but missed one in FY2019-2020; reports were delayed due to staff turnover. The district operates a tenant-landlord clinic serving hundreds of low-income clients annually.
- Each CBD executive director presented highlights. The committee voted unanimously to recommend the resolutions to the full board.
Hearing on Infrastructure Projects Affecting Street and Sidewalk Access (Item 7)
- Supervisor Mandelman introduced the hearing, citing a September 2021 incident on Castro Street where a sewer and water main replacement project by the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) left residents without driveway access for up to 10 days, despite notices stating steel plates would provide temporary access.
- Jeremy Spitz (PUC) detailed the project: replacing pipes from the 1880s-1930s, with completion expected summer 2022. He acknowledged that the contractor did not submit the 10-day notice for PUC review, and that the contractor demolished a large section of roadway and sidewalk simultaneously, causing extended access loss. New procedures include a two-week and 24-hour notice for driveway restrictions, a concrete pour sequence in smaller sections, and a hard stop if settlement exceeds 0.25 inches per pile.
- Brian Dahl (Department of Public Works) presented DPW's standard outreach: 30-day, 14-day, and 10-day notices, with PIO review, door-to-door outreach, and opt-in email alerts. DPW's 95% design review includes public affairs input.
- Supervisor Mandelman questioned the lack of penalties for contractor performance and the low-bid contract system. Vice Chair Chan requested details on penalty clauses. The hearing was filed on a unanimous vote (3-0).
Hearing on Seismic Retrofit of 301 Mission Street (Millennium Tower) (Item 8)
- Supervisor Peskin, the sponsor, noted that the building continues to sink and tilt, with tilt now exceeding 24 inches to the west and 8 inches to the north. The original perimeter pile fix (52 piles) has been reduced to 18 piles in the latest proposal.
- Ron Hamburger (Simpson Gumpertz & Heger) presented: the building remains safe but tilts at ~3 inches per year. The 18-pile design, with piles at 1,000 kips each (up from 800), is intended to arrest settlement and allow some tilt recovery. He attributed earlier settlement to over-excavation during construction, corrected in a pilot program using modified techniques.
- John Egan (geotechnical engineer) confirmed that the 18 piles, concentrated at the northwest corner, are sufficient to stop settlement based on indicator pile tests.
- Neville Pereira (DBI) stated DBI supports resuming construction, pending review of the revised scope. The Engineering Design Review Team (EDRT) is analyzing the 18-pile plan and expects to complete its review by end of February 2022.
- Ben Turner (Dan Brown & Associates) explained that improved drilling procedures (e.g., reduced drill bit diameter, real-time monitoring) have minimized additional settlement during pilot installations. He noted no grout placement issues under the new procedures.
- Dr. Greg Deierlein (EDRT chair) reported that the building's tilt (0.3% of height) is within typical construction tolerances and has negligible impact on earthquake safety. The EDRT is reviewing the reduced pile scope and detailed analyses of mat foundation stresses.
- Dr. Robert Pike (independent geotechnical engineer) criticized the design team's handling, arguing that the 18-pile solution is not supported by evidence and that the building's ongoing settlement is due to secondary consolidation. He suggested that zero perimeter piles might be a better long-term solution and called for a complete review.
- The committee continued the hearing to the call of the chair on a unanimous vote (3-0).
Key Outcomes
- Items 1-6: Approved on a 3-0 vote to recommend to the full Board of Supervisors.
- Item 7: Filed as heard on a 3-0 vote.
- Item 8: Continued to the call of the chair on a 3-0 vote, with the EDRT review expected by February 2022.
Meeting Transcript
6, 2022 regular meeting of the government audit and oversight committee of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. This is our first meeting of 2022, and wanted to wish you all a happy new year. I am Supervisor Dean Preston, the chair of this committee. I'm joined by Vice Chair Supervisor Connie Chan and Committee Member Supervisor Raphael Mandelman. Our committee clerk is John Carroll. And our thanks to the team at SFGov TV for staffing this meeting. Mr. Clerk, do we have any announcements? Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. The minutes for this meeting will reflect that the committee members are participating in the remote meeting through video conference to the same extent as though they were physically present in the Board of Supervisors Committee Room. The board recognizes that public access to city services is essential and invites your public participation in the following ways. First, public comment will be available on each item on today's agenda. Either cable channel 26, 78 or 99, as well as sfgovtv.org are streaming the public comment call-in number across the screen at this time. Each speaker will be allowed two minutes to speak unless stated otherwise by the chair. Your opportunity to speak during the public comment period is available to you via phone by dialing 415-6550001. The meeting ID for today's meeting is 2482054764. After you've entered the meeting ID, you should dial the pound symbol twice to be connected to the meeting. When you are connected, you will hear the meeting discussions, but your line will be muted and in a listening mode. When your item of interest comes up on our agenda, please dial star followed by three to be added to the speaker line. Your best practices would be to call from a quiet location to speak clearly and slowly and to turn down your television, your radio, your streaming device, or whatever you may be using in order to access today's proceedings. Alternatively, you may submit your public comment in writing. You can do so by emailing them to me. I'm the government audit and oversight committee clerk, and my email address is J-O-H-N period C-A-R-R-O-L-L at SFGOV.org. Or you can send your written comments via US Post to our office. That's the clerk's office, room 244, City Hall. One, Dr. Carlton B. Goodlit Place, San Francisco, California 94102. Of course, all this contact information can be consulted at any time from the front page of any of our committee agenda. And Mr. Chair, items acted upon today are expected to appear on the Board of Supervisors agenda of January 25th, 2022, unless otherwise stated. Thank you so much, Mr. Clerk. And let's go ahead and call items one through six together. Agenda item numbers one through six are five resolutions receiving and approving annual reports for the Yerba Buena Community Benefit District, the Ocean Avenue Community Benefit District, the Castro slash Upper Market Community Benefit District, the Noe Valley Community Benefit District, and the Discover Polk Community Benefit District for fiscal year 2019-2020, and receiving and approving the annual reports for the Lower Park Polk Community Benefit District for fiscal years 2018-19 and 2019-2020, each submitted as required by the property and business improvement district law of 1994 and the district's management agreement with the city. Members of the public wish to write public comment on these six resolutions should call the public comment call-in number and I'll repeat it. 415-655-0001. The meeting ID is 2482-0547364. And after you've entered the meeting ID, press the pound symbol twice and then press star followed by the number three to enter the queue to speak. Mr. Chair. Thank you, Mr. Clerk. And we have one of the busiest people in San Francisco this morning. And that is Mr. Chris Corgus from Office of Economic and Workforce Development, who will be presenting on all of these various CBDs, along with the executive directors of each of uh the community benefits uh districts. Um those are um Kathy Mopen of uh Yerba Buena uh CBD, Pierre Smit of uh Ocean Avenue, CBD, uh Andrea Ayello of Castro CBD, Deb Neiman and Duncan Lee of uh Discover, I'm sorry, Deb Neiman of Noe Valley CBD, uh Duncan Lee and Ben Bleeman of Um of Discover Polk CBD and Chris Shulman of uh Lower Polk uh CBD. And I know that um my colleagues both on the committee, and we may have others who join during this, uh may have some comments on the specific CBDs in their districts. For the purpose of efficiency with six of these before us, I I would ask colleagues to save remarks or questions regarding a specific CBD until after the executive director for that CBD has an opportunity to present.
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