Supervisors approve Mission Rock package and shelter contracting rule; table commercial-space childcare tax initiative

On Feb. 27, 2018, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to approve a bundle of ordinances and resolutions that included four measures for the Mission Rock project, an emergency procurement pathway for shelter crisis sites and several property leases, settlements and grants; the board also agreed to table a separate local ballot initiative on early childhood care after its sponsors qualified it for the June 5 ballot.

The Mission Rock package (items 12–15 on the agenda) comprised four ordinances: amendments to the Mission Bay South Redevelopment Plan; establishment of Project Area 1 (Mission Rock) and subproject areas Capital I-1 through Capital I-13 for the Port of San Francisco's Infrastructure Financing District No. 2; approval of a development agreement between the city and Seawall Lot 337 Associates for a proposed mixed-use project on Seawall Lot 337 east of Third Street; and zoning amendments to create the Mission Rock Special Use District and associated CEQA findings. The measures were called together, considered routine by the board, and approved unanimously on the same call.

The board also adopted an ordinance (item 16) that authorizes the Department of Public Works, the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing and the Department of Public Health to enter into contracts related to identified shelter crisis sites without following certain administrative-code and environment-code competitive-bidding requirements. The ordinance was finally passed unanimously after being called together with related items.

Several other contract, settlement and grant actions cleared the board without separate debate. Notable items approved on the consent calendar or by same-house, same-call votes included: - Two settlement ordinances (items 17 and 18) authorizing payment in connection with lawsuits filed by Donald Spadini (approximately $120,000) and David Zeller ($290,000); both measures were approved unanimously. - A resolution (item 20) to exercise the final one-year option on the AirTrain operations and maintenance contract with Bombardier Transportation Holdings USA Inc., extending the term to 3/1/2009–2/28/2019 and increasing the contract by approximately $14,000,000 for a new not-to-exceed total of about $130,000,000; adopted unanimously. - Property actions including two real-estate lease resolutions (items 21 and 22) for locations at 1563 Mission Street and 1390 Market Street; a site-license amendment with TriStar Investors LLC (item 23) for $25,758 effective 6/1/2017; and a 15-year lease for 901 Fairfax Avenue with $100,000 in tenant-improvement reimbursements (item 25); all adopted unanimously. - A retroactive resolution (item 24) authorizing the Department of Public Health to enter into a contract with the California Department of Health Care Services for substance abuse prevention and treatment block-grant services: a $26,500,000 award for fiscal years 2017–2020; adopted unanimously. - A Department of the Environment resolution (item 26) accepting about $500,000 from the Association of Bay Area Governments for regional energy-efficiency program work through 12/31/2018; adopted unanimously.

On the ballot vehicle the board considered under item 27 — a motion to order an amendment to the business and tax regulations and administrative codes to impose an additional tax on gross receipts from the lease of commercial space to fund a “Babies and Families First” quality early care and education fund — the board recorded a procedural change: supervisors Feuer, Kim, Ronan and Yi submitted a memo withdrawing their separate signature-driven initiative and Supervisor Norman Yee moved to table the item. Supervisor Yee described the underlying policy goal as addressing child-care shortages and noted the intent to pursue a ballot measure; Supervisor Jane Kim thanked Yee and said the campaign had collected “double the number of signatures that we needed to qualify for the June 5 ballot.” Supervisor Yee’s motion to table, seconded by Supervisor Aaron Peskin, passed unanimously without recorded roll call dissent.

The board considered proposed changes to the campaign and governmental conduct code (item 32) to disqualify board and commission members who have not filed Form 700 financial disclosures and to modify reporting and notice requirements. After committee amendments and a supplementary amendment to allow an ethics commission executive-director waiver “for cause” and to require notice to commission secretaries of delinquent filers, the ordinance as amended passed unanimously on first reading.

Other procedural and routine business included confirmation votes (items 33–34) for mayoral appointments to the Planning Commission and Small Business Commission; approval of liquor-license items (30–31); and the board’s adoption of a resolution (item 42) opposing federal repeal of the Clean Power Plan. Item 43, the motion authorizing preparation of proponent and rebuttal ballot arguments for the June 5 consolidated primary, was amended on the floor (removing certain names and striking withdrawn items) and adopted unanimously as amended.

Quotes from the meeting reflected the procedural rationale and campaign status around the childcare ballot matter. Supervisor Jane Kim, speaking after the signature count was reported, said: “we got double the number of signatures that we needed to qualify for the June 5 ballot.”

Taken together, the items approved Feb. 27 advance a major waterfront development (Mission Rock) through required land-use and zoning steps, create an expedited contracting path for identified shelter crisis sites, and finalize multiple financial and property actions for city departments. Several items will require follow-up implementation by departments named in the ordinances and by agencies managing the contracts and grants.

The board’s next steps include department-level execution of the contracts and agreements authorized on Feb. 27 and, per the board’s motion, deferral of local ordinance drafting where a signature-qualified ballot measure will go before voters on June 5.