OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Port Commission Meeting, March 12, 2024: Mission Rock, LBE, and Workforce Equity

Port Commission — Tuesday, March 12, 2024
BodySan Francisco, California
SessionPort Commission
DateTuesday, March 12, 2024
StatusFILED
Video Record
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Transcript — Verbatim
0:01

Roll call, President Kimberly Brandon.

0:04

Here.

0:04

Vice President Gail Gilman.

0:06

Present.

0:07

Commissioner Willie Adams.

0:08

Here.

0:09

Commissioner Ed Harrington.

0:11

Here.

0:11

Commissioner Stephen Lee.

0:13

Here.

0:14

The San Francisco Port Commission acknowledges that we are on the unceded ancestral homeland of the Ramatishaloni, who are the original inhabitants of the San Francisco Peninsula.

0:24

As the indigenous stewards of this land and in accordance with their traditions, the Ramatishaluni have never ceded, lost, nor forgotten their responsibilities as the caretakers of this place, as well as for all peoples who reside in their traditional territory.

0:38

We recognize that we benefit from living and working on their traditional homeland.

0:43

We wish to pay our respects by acknowledging the ancestors, elders, and relatives of the Ramatishaluni community, and by affirming their sovereign rights as first peoples.

0:52

Item two is the approval of minutes for the February 27, 2024 Port Commission meeting.

0:59

Second.

1:00

We have a motion and a second.

1:02

All in favor?

1:03

Aye.

1:03

Aye.

1:04

Motion passes unanimously the minutes of the February 27th, 2024 meeting are adopted.

1:10

Next item, please.

1:12

Item three is the Pledge of Allegiance.

1:23

And to the Republic for which it stands one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all the item four is announcements.

1:41

Please be advised that the ringing of and use of cell phones and similar sound producing electronic devices are prohibited at this meeting.

1:48

A member of the public has up to three minutes to make public comments on each agenda item unless the port commission adopts a shorter period on any item.

1:57

Public comment must be in respect to the current agenda item.

2:00

The commission will take in-person and remote public comments on each item, beginning with commenters in person.

2:07

For remote public comment, dial 415 655 0001 and enter access code 2662 1704273 Pound Pound.

2:21

Then dial star three to raise your hand to comment on the item being discussed.

2:25

An audio prompts will signal when it is your turn to speak.

2:28

If you are watching this meeting on SFGov TV, there is a short broadcasting delay.

2:33

To not miss your chance to comment, please dial when the item you want to comment on is announced.

2:38

Mute your device and listen to the meeting from your telephone, which has no delay.

2:42

Item five is public comment on items not listed on the agenda.

2:48

We will now take public comment on items not listed on the agenda.

2:52

Is there any public comment?

2:56

Seeing none, do we have anyone on the phone?

2:59

There are no callers for public comment at this time.

3:02

Thank you.

3:03

Public comment is closed.

3:04

Next item, please.

3:06

Item 6A is the executive director's report.

3:09

And for callers who wish to make public comment on this item, please dial star three to raise your hand to comment.

3:17

Good afternoon, President Brandon, Commissioners, Port Staff, and members of the public.

3:22

I am Michael Martin, the assistant director of the Port of San Francisco, and I'm happy to present you the executive director's report on behalf of Executive Director Elaine Forbes, who is out of the office today.

3:32

Happy Women's History Month.

3:34

The port is fortunate to be led by women trailblazers, including our director and our two port commission officers.

3:40

The waterfront has a rich history of women leaders, from the women who led the Save the Bay movement that became a watershed moment and the management of the pay shoreline to the leadership and advocacy of women through our citizens' advisory committees.

3:52

The port has seen the impact of women throughout its long history, shaping our waterfront into what it is today.

3:59

In honor of Women's History Month, I'm excited to share two initiatives that showcase the port's economic recovery and equity strategies.

4:06

First, just last week, our business generation manager Amy Cohen and our economic recovery manager Megan Wallace organized a fun and informative waterfront walk event for port staff and other port stakeholders with various points of interest highlighting women change makers.

4:22

The engagement was intended to bring staff together as part of the equity and internal engagement strategy to create a culture of inclusion and belonging.

4:30

But this event also served as a wonderful opportunity for port staff to further refine and develop the concept of a waterfront walk where members of the public would be invited to discover similar points of interest along port property.

4:42

This is one of many strategies we are developing to bring even more people to the waterfront and showcase our unique and diverse waterfront to visitors and residents.

4:50

Once unveiled to the public, the waterfront walk will use an app and or signage to string together disparate businesses, open spaces, points of historical and cultural interest, establish routes, and public art into a more singular experience with a streamlined port identity for the public to understand and engage.

5:08

We hope to continue to have port staff be the first audience to help pilot this concept as we roll it out to the public sometime in the future.

5:16

Also, we are so excited to be planning for our second event in the pop-ups on the plaza series for 2024.

5:23

The second event will be celebrating black women makers of for women's history month, which will be held on Saturday, March 30th at the downtown ferry terminal plaza.

5:32

The port will table at the event, and we look forward to celebrating our successful pop-ups, this time continuing the celebration of the month and celebrating black women makers.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Public Works████████████████████20%
Racial And Social Equity████████████████16%
Public Comment█████████████13%
Port Management█████████9%
Small Business Support█████████9%
Executive Director's Report████████8%
Land Use██████6%
Contract Management█████5%
Public Engagement████4%
Summary of Proceedings

San Francisco Port Commission Meeting – March 12, 2024

The Port Commission met on Tuesday, March 12, 2024, at 11:15 a.m. and adjourned at 5:12 p.m. The meeting included an executive director’s report, an informational presentation on Mission Rock Phase 1 land rights, and two informational reports on local business enterprise (LBE) participation and workforce development. No formal votes were taken on informational items; the Commission unanimously approved the February 27, 2024 meeting minutes.

Consent Calendar

  • Approval of Minutes (February 27, 2024): Moved, seconded, and approved unanimously.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • No public comments were offered on items not listed on the agenda, the Executive Director’s Report, the Mission Rock presentation, or the LBE and Waterfront Resilience Program reports. No remote callers commented on any item.

Discussion Items

Executive Director’s Report (Item 6A)

  • Assistant Director Michael Martin presented the report for Executive Director Elaine Forbes, who was out of the office. He highlighted Women’s History Month initiatives, including a staff waterfront walk highlighting women changemakers and a pop-up event celebrating Black women makers planned for Saturday, March 30 at the Downtown Ferry Terminal Plaza.
  • Waterfront Resilience Program outreach: since the January draft plan release, the Port and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers hosted four community workshops with nearly 300 attendees, two port tenant webinars, a dozen community-based organization presentations, two public webinars, and four walking tours. Nearly 3,000 people viewed the online story map. The draft plan is on display at the Center for Architecture and Design through the public comment period, which closes March 29, 2024. Two in-language workshops (Spanish and Cantonese) were scheduled later in the week.
  • Construction on the Roundhouse 2 office building is underway, with completion scheduled for March 2025. The project is managed by a woman project manager.
  • Port staff provided a report on nine accounts recommended for write-off under Resolution 22-11; commissioners have 30 days to raise concerns.
  • Commissioners praised the outreach efforts and expressed interest in the waterfront walk and pop-up events.

Mission Rock Phase 1 – Land Rights Agreements (Item 7A)

  • Phil Williamson (Port project manager) and Josh Keene (assistant deputy director of development) presented. The project includes 537 rental apartments, 550,000 sq ft of office space (including Visa’s future global headquarters), 52,000 sq ft of retail, a District Energy System, and a recycled water facility. China Basin Park is expected to open to the public in April 2024.
  • Retail leasing progress: five leases executed (Ike’s Love and Sandwiches, AeroScale Bakery, Proper Foods, Quick Dog, and Back Home Hospitality) plus a fitness facility (Lux Fit). Approximately 18.57% of project dollars have been awarded to LBE firms, and 102 of 415 vendors (24.5%) are LBE firms. The project’s LBE goal is 20%.
  • Horizontal project budget: $218 million, on budget, with about $72,000 of cushion on the city cost portion.
  • Acceptance process: developer to submit SOP compliance in May; Port Commission acceptance anticipated as early as July 2024; Board of Supervisors approval required for some agreements. A series of land rights agreements (parks lease, paseos, utility agreements for PG&E and MRU, etc.) will be negotiated through the summer and into the fall.
  • Park events: BCDC guidelines limit closures to 18 times per year in defined areas; most events will be public and open. Parking: no dedicated parking in buildings; Lot A and Pier 48 provide about 1,900 spaces on non-game days; a future garage is entitled for 3,100 spaces but likely fewer. Residential occupancy at The Canyon (Parcel A) is just above 60%.
  • Commissioner Adams expressed strong support, calling the project “good medicine” for the neighborhood and city. Commissioner Harrington raised questions about management agreements and event closures. Vice President Gilman asked about residential leasing and park opening. Commissioner Lee asked about park amenities and parking availability.

Local Business Enterprise and Workforce Development Report (Item 8A)

  • Elizabeth Alexander Toots (contracts and procurement manager) and Tiffany Tatum (senior community development specialist) presented. In FY 2022-23 (July 1, 2022 – June 30, 2023), the Port awarded 19 contracts totaling $29.5 million, doubling the number of contracts from the prior year. 68% of new contracts went to LBE primes or LBE joint ventures, exceeding the Port Commission’s 20% goal; over $10 million of new contract dollars went to LBEs.
  • Of 67 active contracts, LBE primes received $2.6 million (12%) and LBE primes paid $6.2 million to LBE subcontractors; total payments to LBE contractors were $8.8 million, representing 40% of total payments. (Percentages as reported by staff.)
  • Workforce data showed very low participation of women, African Americans, Asian/Pacific Islanders, and Native Americans on Port public works projects. Commissioner Adams called the disparity “glaring” and said the Port must “raise the bar.” Commissioner Lee asked whether the low numbers reflect the available applicant pool. Vice President Gilman urged conversations with OEWD and the Building Trades Council and suggested collaborating with other city departments. President Brandon requested an ethnicity breakdown of LBE firms and asked what initiatives exist to improve workforce and contracting diversity.
  • Tiffany Tatum highlighted the Rising Tides maritime youth internship program: seven juniors from Burton High School completed a week at Cal Maritime and five weeks at the Port; one student was accepted to Cal Maritime. The Port’s annual contract open house is in its seventh year and expects 250 attendees.

Waterfront Resilience Program LBE and Equity Actions (Item 8B)

  • Carlos (first name only in transcript) presented an update on the Waterfront Resilience Program’s (WRP) LBE participation and equity actions. Under the CH2M contract, LBE participation through December 2023 was 27.7%, exceeding the 19% target; 28.4% of total payments went to LBEs. The required LBE amount was $12.7 million (21.19% of the $59.9 million contract). Ethnicity data showed White-owned firms at 12.1%, MBEs at 8.2%, and smaller shares for African American (6%), Asian (4%), and Latino (1.2%) owned firms. Carlos noted that some minority women-owned businesses choose WBE rather than MBE designation, and some minority-owned firms are not San Francisco LBEs, accounting for differences.
  • Next steps: CH2M contract capacity expected to be exhausted by the end of summer; final LBE participation values will be reported. A future report will include Pier 50 and Wharf J9 float construction LBE numbers. Equity work includes an equity working group, roadmap to equity, and workforce development and LBE support guides.
  • Commissioner Harrington asked whether data exists on who actually works for the contracting firms; staff said such information is not collected. Commissioner Lee noted the low African American and Asian percentages. Commissioner Adams asked if the Port is succeeding; President Brandon replied, “If we were succeeding, we wouldn’t be having these conversations.”

Key Outcomes

  • Unanimously approved the February 27, 2024 meeting minutes.
  • No formal votes were taken on informational items.
  • Port staff committed to:
    • Provide an ethnicity breakdown of LBE firms and workforce data in future reports.
    • Provide an annual diversity report on Port staff by division.
    • Pursue conversations with OEWD, the Building Trades Council, and possibly other city departments to improve workforce and LBE pipelines.
    • Continue Mission Rock acceptance and land rights work; report back in April with lease-up and affordable housing data.
  • The public comment period for the Waterfront Resilience Program draft plan closes March 29, 2024.

Meeting Transcript

Roll call, President Kimberly Brandon. Here. Vice President Gail Gilman. Present. Commissioner Willie Adams. Here. Commissioner Ed Harrington. Here. Commissioner Stephen Lee. Here. The San Francisco Port Commission acknowledges that we are on the unceded ancestral homeland of the Ramatishaloni, who are the original inhabitants of the San Francisco Peninsula. As the indigenous stewards of this land and in accordance with their traditions, the Ramatishaluni have never ceded, lost, nor forgotten their responsibilities as the caretakers of this place, as well as for all peoples who reside in their traditional territory. We recognize that we benefit from living and working on their traditional homeland. We wish to pay our respects by acknowledging the ancestors, elders, and relatives of the Ramatishaluni community, and by affirming their sovereign rights as first peoples. Item two is the approval of minutes for the February 27, 2024 Port Commission meeting. Second. We have a motion and a second. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Motion passes unanimously the minutes of the February 27th, 2024 meeting are adopted. Next item, please. Item three is the Pledge of Allegiance. And to the Republic for which it stands one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all the item four is announcements. Please be advised that the ringing of and use of cell phones and similar sound producing electronic devices are prohibited at this meeting. A member of the public has up to three minutes to make public comments on each agenda item unless the port commission adopts a shorter period on any item. Public comment must be in respect to the current agenda item. The commission will take in-person and remote public comments on each item, beginning with commenters in person. For remote public comment, dial 415 655 0001 and enter access code 2662 1704273 Pound Pound. Then dial star three to raise your hand to comment on the item being discussed. An audio prompts will signal when it is your turn to speak. If you are watching this meeting on SFGov TV, there is a short broadcasting delay. To not miss your chance to comment, please dial when the item you want to comment on is announced. Mute your device and listen to the meeting from your telephone, which has no delay. Item five is public comment on items not listed on the agenda. We will now take public comment on items not listed on the agenda. Is there any public comment? Seeing none, do we have anyone on the phone? There are no callers for public comment at this time. Thank you. Public comment is closed. Next item, please. Item 6A is the executive director's report. And for callers who wish to make public comment on this item, please dial star three to raise your hand to comment. Good afternoon, President Brandon, Commissioners, Port Staff, and members of the public. I am Michael Martin, the assistant director of the Port of San Francisco, and I'm happy to present you the executive director's report on behalf of Executive Director Elaine Forbes, who is out of the office today. Happy Women's History Month. The port is fortunate to be led by women trailblazers, including our director and our two port commission officers. The waterfront has a rich history of women leaders, from the women who led the Save the Bay movement that became a watershed moment and the management of the pay shoreline to the leadership and advocacy of women through our citizens' advisory committees. The port has seen the impact of women throughout its long history, shaping our waterfront into what it is today.

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