Government Audit and Oversight Committee Considered CBD Annual Reports on March 2, 2023
STREAMING COPY IN PREPARATION — RECORDING AVAILABLE FROM THE ORIGINAL SOURCE
Government Audit and Oversight Committee Considered CBD Annual Reports on March 2, 2023
On March 2, 2023, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors' Government Audit and Oversight Committee met in hybrid format, chaired by Supervisor Dean Preston and including Vice Chair Supervisor Catherine Stefani and Supervisor Connie Chan, to receive and approve annual reports for the Central Market (Mid-Market) and Civic Center Community Benefit Districts (CBDs) for Calendar Year 2021. The committee heard presentations from the Office of Economic and Workforce Development (OEWD) and CBD leadership, questioned district performance and governance, heard one public comment, and unanimously forwarded both resolutions to the full Board of Supervisors.
Public Comments & Testimony
- One remote caller expressed frustration with the condition of United Nations Plaza and the area around City Hall, describing it as filthy and criticizing the Tenderloin Center and city management. The speaker said "the time has come to get a grip on how y'all are managing our city," noted police understaffing (strength around 2,000 with about 900 actually available), unfilled DPW positions (25% of FTE), and the proposed $27 million in overtime for police, and called for direct action to clean the plaza rather than "commentary" from supervisors.
Discussion Items
-
OEWD presentation (Chris Corgus): OEWD reviews CBDs against four benchmarks. The Central Market CBD has a management plan assessment budget of approximately $1.2 million and a FY2021 assessment roll of about $1.7 million; it missed benchmark one by 0.13% over the allowable 10 percentage points for the management and economic development service category, and met the other three. The Civic Center CBD has a management plan assessment budget of approximately $3.1 million and a FY2021 assessment roll of approximately $3.1 million, and met all four benchmarks. Both districts' annual reports were submitted late because their management team was part of the Department of Emergency Management's joint field operations team during the Tenderloin state of emergency in December 2021. Mid-Market CBD expires in 2028; Civic Center CBD expires in 2034.
-
CBD executive director presentation (Tracy Everwine): Everwine described ongoing challenges in both districts, including post-pandemic drug dealing, open-air drug use, sidewalk encampments, and illegal vending. Mid-Market's solar trash can program will be disbanded in May 2023 due to repeated vandalism, theft, arson, and drug storage; replacement cans cost $6,000 each. Civic Center CBD removed over 30,000 needles in 2021, and saw increased retail theft and challenges around UN Plaza, including unpermitted vendors selling alcohol. The dog park at UN Plaza now has over 2,000 users per month but costs $200,000 per year for overnight security, raising sustainability concerns. Tables and chairs placed for farmer's market patrons were removed at the end of January 2023 because illegal vendors took them over. Everwine also reported that the co-responder safety teams (ambassador paired with a 10B officer) are effective but constrained by officer shortages, and that public safety cameras are underutilized by law enforcement.
-
Committee questions and concerns: Supervisor Chan asked about how the CBDs track interactions; Everwine said they use an app called GIA to log wellness checks, emergency service calls, and merchant interactions per instance, and Chan requested those statistics for both districts. Chair Preston raised governance questions about city appointees on the Civic Center CBD board, noting that the city pays about 30% of that district's revenues and holds several seats, and expressed concern that the CBD's advocacy on the Tenderloin Center closure and increased police funding appeared to mirror administration positions while lacking letters on shelter expansion. Everwine said board members have a fiduciary duty to the organization and may vote if they can be impartial, and that the board structure predates her tenure. OEWD's Corgus explained that Article 15 of the Business and Tax Regulations Code requires 20% of CBD board seats to be non-property-owning merchants, and that overall board composition is set by each district's bylaws, with best practice being at least 50% property owners.
Key Outcomes
- The committee voted unanimously (Supervisors Preston, Stefani, and Chan all voting aye) to send both resolutions — Item 1 (Central Market CBD, File 230072) and Item 2 (Civic Center CBD, File 230071) — to the full Board of Supervisors with a positive recommendation. No further business was conducted, and the meeting adjourned.
Meeting Transcript
Good morning. This meeting will come to order. Welcome to the March 2nd, 2023 regular meeting of the Government Audit and Oversight Committee of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. I'm Supervisor Dean Preston, Chair of the Committee. I'm joined by Vice Chair Supervisor Catherine Stephanie and Supervisor Connie Chan. Committee clerk today is Stephanie Cabrera. And thanks to our team at uh SFGov TV for staffing this meeting. Madam Clerk, any announcements? Yes, thank you. The Board of Supervisors and its committees are now convening hybrid meetings that allow in-person attendance and public comment while still providing remote access and public comment via telephone. The board recognizes that equitable public access is essential and will be taking public comment as follows. First, public comment will be taken on each item on this agenda. Those attending in person will be allowed to speak first, and then we will take those who are waiting on the telephone line. For those who are watching, either Channel 2628, 78 or 99, and SFgovTV.org. The public comment call-in number is streaming across the screen. The phone number is 415 655 0001. Again, that is 415 655 0001. When prompted, enter the meeting ID 2495 9402203, then press pound twice. When connected, you will hear the meeting discussions, but you will be muted and in listening mode only. When your item of interest comes up and the public comment is called, those joining us in person should line up to speak along the curtain wall, and those on the telephone should dial star three to also be added to the speaker queue. If you are on your telephone, please remember to turn down your TV and all listening devices that you may be using. As already indicated, we will take public comment from those who are attending in person first, and then we will go to our public comment telephone line. Alternatively, you may submit public comment in writing in either of the following ways. Email them to me, the government audit and oversight clerk at Stephanie S T E P H A N I E dot Gabrera, C as in California, A, BS and Bay, R E R A at SFgov.org. If you submit public comment via email, it will be forwarded to the supervisors and included as part of the official file. You may also send your written comments via U.S. Postal Service to our office in City Hall at 1 Dr. Carlton B, Goodlit Place, Room 244, San Francisco, California, 94102. Finally, items acted upon today are expected to appear on the Board of Supervisors agenda of March 14th, unless otherwise stated. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Clerk. Please call items one and two together. Item number one is a resolution receiving and approving the annual report for the Central Market Community Benefits District for Calendar Year 2021. Item number two is a resolution receiving and approving an annual report for the Civic Center Community Benefit District for Calendar Year 2021. Members of the public who wish to provide public comment on either of these items should call 415-655-0001. When prompted, enter meeting ID 2495-940-2203. Then press pound twice. If you have not done so already, please dial star three to line out to be added to the speaker queue. The sister system prompt will indicate that you have raised your hand. Please wait for the system to indicate that you have been unmuted, and you may begin your comments when we go to public comment. Thank you, Madam Clerk. Um so for both of these items, uh we'll be hearing first from uh Chris Corgus, program director for uh Office of Economic and Workforce Development, and then also from Tracy Everwine, who's the executive director of both of the CBDs that are before us, the Mid Market CBD and the uh Civic Center CBD. So to start us off, welcome, Mr. Corgas. The floor is yours. Thank you, supervisor. The Office of Economic Workforce Development, working on community benefit districts. I would like to thank and acknowledge um our my coworker, Mimi Haraki, who uh did a lot of work on these two reports. Um today we are working uh talking about the calendar year 2021 annual reports for the mid-market, also known as Central Market CBD and the Civic Center CBD. Unlike most CBDs, these do operate on a calendar year and have historically operated on a calendar year.
openpublica.com