BOS in 3 Mins or Less

In the Board of Supervisors this week: Supervisor Katy Tang's Home-SF Program gets postponed (again), 130 units of affordable housing could be built at 27 Bryant, and Supervisor Yee joins the fight against Skynet by proposing a ban on delivery robots.

Board of Supervisors Meeting, May 16th, 2017
Meeting Length: 5 hrs, 32 mins.

After a lengthy debate, the vote on Supervisor Tang's Home-SF Program was postponed for one more week at the Board of Supervisors. No less than 5 amendments were made to the legislation, including removing most of the Northeast part of the City (District 3) from the program (with the exception of soft sites). We'll see if those amendments are enough to get the Home-SF Program through the Board next week.

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There was a small amount of drama with Commission Appointments this week, as the Mayoral appointments of Marjan Philhour to the Commission on Status of Women and Mary Jung to the Arts Commission come before the Board. Supervisor Peskin was the sole "No" vote on Marjan Philhour; while Supervisors Peskin, Kim, and Ronen were the dissenting votes on Mary Jung.

In the end, both women had enough votes to be confirmed for their appointments.

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The Board of Supervisors heard a report from Police Chief William Scott and District Attorney George Gascon on Recommendations Regarding Law Enforcement Practices in San Francisco.

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The competing Inclusionary Zoning ordinances were scheduled to be heard this week at the Board of Supervisors, but Supervisors Safai & Kim asked for the vote to be postponed to next week. The request for postponement, and talk of weekend negotiations between Peskin, Breed, Kim and Safai, has led to rumors that a "consensus" proposal might be in the mix. (The SF Chronicle has reported that a compromise has been reached.) Along with Tang's Home-SF Program, next week's Board meeting looks to be filled with housing policy fireworks.

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Peskin asked the City Attorney to draft legislation that would revise the "Privately Owned Public Open Space" ordinance and would push developers instead to provide an in-lieu fee that would go to the maintenance and acquisition of parks and open space outside of the development site. Peskin mentioned the Intercontinental Hotel in particular as a case where the POPOS was not inviting or open to the public, and in fact used for private events.

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Supervisor Ronen introduced a resolution with Mayor Ed Lee approving the transfer of 27 Bryant to the Mayor's Office of Housing so it can be developed by the 100% affordable housing complex. The transfer comes from a developer settlement that Supervisor Campos had negotiated during his term. 27 Bryant will hold 130 affordable housing units, 30% of which will be set aside of formerly homeless individuals. It will also have 10,000 square feet for arts-related PDR space. The Mayor's Office of Housing has selected Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation and Mission Economic Development Agency to develop the site.

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Supervisor Yee asked the City Attorney to draft legislation that would create earlier notification requirements when City departments may be on the path to spending over their annual budgets (usually from their 'overtime pay' allocation). This legislation request came in response to a large number of City departments coming before the Board of Supervisors to request supplemental funding after they had overspent their regular 'overtime pay' budget for the year.

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Supervisor Yee also introduced legislation that would prohibit "autonomous delivery devices" on sidewalks and public right-of-ways. Supervisor Yee's legislation would ban delivery robots and drones in San Francisco. Supervisor Yee's stated concerns were safety, lack of regulation, and quality of life.