“Small Business Commission and staff are making a dent in City bureaucracy” By: Agnes Briones Ubalde
Executive Director of the Small Business Commission

The summer months have been productive and re-affirming for the Small Business Commission and staff. In June, the Commission invited Marc Herman, President of MBIA Muniservices Company and Beverly Burr of Burr Consulting, who worked on the “Evaluation of Alternatives to the City’s Gross Receipts Business Tax” for the City of Los Angeles . The report was prepared under a contract with the City of Los Angeles for a multi-phase study that policymakers intended to use for meaningful business tax reform. Consultants provided the methodology and approach that they took in evaluating the City’s gross receipts tax, and took questions from the Commission and public which resulted in a very meaningful conversation about achieving similar equitable tax structures for business here in San Francisco. The Commission expressed their concerns about moving forward with any new gross receipts tax in the City, but rather welcomed the attempts by the City staff and leaders to better study the alternatives to our current payroll tax.

The Commission and staff have made great strides with encouraging our Board of Supervisors and their aides to come before the Commission to present proposed legislation. We thank Supervisor’s Elsbern, Mirkarimi, Daly and Peskin for recently coming before the Commission to introduce legislative items, and entertain input from the Commission and public about legislation they have sponsored, as well as legislative aides – Bill Barnes, Betty Chan and David Noyola for stepping in when Supervisors were not available. In fact, during our July meeting Supervisor Peskin’s proposed gross receipts legislation was presented to the Commission where he took comment and suggestions about how to proceed with the legislation. During this time, he shared with the Commission and the public that he was considering holding off on his proposed legislation given the recent passage of the Healthcare legislation.

With the leadership of Commissioner Richard Ventura to begin conducting more merchant walks in key commercial corridors, Commission staff partnered with the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Services (MONS) on July 6th on a merchant walk of several blocks of Geary Blvd. The goal of the walk was to conduct direct outreach and connect with merchants to provide them with information about city services and technical assistance available to them such as graffiti abatement, business security consulting, business planning/marketing, and loan information. With a team of city staff, Commissioners and non-profit service providers we scaled several blocks of Geary Blvd , speaking directly to merchants and surveying them about their main concerns, which were not surprisingly similar to many local small business concerns around: public safety, graffiti and parking. “These merchant walks are a great way to meet one-on-one with business owners and let them know that the City cares about their needs and wants to help, stated Commissioner Ventura. Like Geary Blvd , we hope to broaden our scope to other commercial corridors throughout the year, partnering with key city departments and relevant technical assistance providers to bring services directly to merchants.” Future merchant walks are planned for Tenderloin / Chinatown , South of Market and Mission Districts.

In August, the Commission has invited Supervisor Ma to present along with Commissioner Michael O’Connor and Director Briones Ubalde report findings from the Navigating the Maze: Improving the Small Business Experience of the San Francisco Permitting and Licensing Process, published by Joyce Scales from the Goldman School of Public Policy. The report findings draw points out serious deficiencies in how the City deals with small businesses. There is no single permitting or licensing 'system,' in the City of San Francisco for entrepreneurs, and no person or City agency responsible for providing accurate, specific, tailored information about the steps required to legally conduct business in the city. There are, instead, twelve separate agencies that all too often operate as separate silos giving conflicting information and instructions to customers. “ This study is just a first step at peeling away some of the layers of challenges that a small business owner must face when they open or expand a business in San Francisco, stated Briones Ubalde, Executive Director of the Small Business Commission. We thank Supervisor Ma, Mayor Newsom and Commissioner O’Connor for having the vision to challenge us to better understand and work in collaboration with city departments to remedy a serious “customer service” flaw in our current service delivery system. While streamlining permitting processes and authorizing procedures may not be a direct economic development strategy – the ease of doing business and improving customer service is,” expressed Briones Ubalde.

On-going projects of Commission staff and Commissioners:

• Mayor’s Office of Economic & Workforce Development: Commission staff is currently coordinating/integrating their work with the newly established Business Affairs Division of MOEWD. Jennifer Entine Matz, Deputy Director of Business Affairs leads this Division to better coordinate the office’s role in business attraction, retention and marketing to business constituents. The Office of Small Business staff will better coordinate their role at providing information/referral services to businesses with this Division to ensure that larger policy initiatives that the Mayor and Board are focusing on such as the SF Economic Strategy and other legislative matters includes the small business perspective;
• Staff was recently involved in strategy sessions with the Department of Children, Youth and Families to guide the department in prioritizing youth entrepreneurship. In November 2000, San Francisco voters approved Proposition D – The Children’s Amendment, which reauthorized the Children’s Fund until 2011. The legislation also states that a minimum of 3% of the Children’s Fund shall be for youth-initiated projects – projects that young people come up with and young people lead. $100,000 has been earmarked for youth entrepreneurship, with the intent to provide youth an opportunity to increase their economic viability and strength by running their own business ventures. No final determination has been approved, but staff has invited DCYF to come before the Commission in future months to illicit greater input from small businesses and Commissioners.
• September 27, 2006 , the Commission and MOEWD in partnership with Natural Logic will host a Mayor's Roundtable on Sustainable Banking and Finance, targeted to green business firms at City Hall, on Sept 27. For more details, contact Commission at 554-6134;
• November 9, 2006 , the Commission along with other city departments (HRC, Purchasing, MOEWD, MOCD) is one of the co-sponsors with the Alliance for Community Development, to host a one- day conference connecting local and Bay Area African American firms to financial / management resources at the Mission Bay campus. For more details, contact Commission at 554-6134.
• Commission staff and Commissioners are also represented on the Citizen’s Advisory Committee (CAC) of the SFMTA’s Transit Effectiveness Plan. The TEP is a comprehensive effort to review and evaluate San Francisco ’s Municipal Railway system and recommend ways to improve service, attract more riders, and increase efficiency. For more information on the TEP and upcoming meeting dates, please visit SFMTA’s website at: www.sftep.com.