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Board adopts emergency worker protections, rent freeze and several zoning/finance measures in unanimous and near‑unanimous votes
Summary
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors on April 21 approved multiple emergency ordinances and resolutions addressing worker protections, a temporary rent‑increase freeze, zoning changes and city grant acceptances tied to the COVID‑19 emergency.
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors used its April 21 session to pass a package of emergency and administrative measures related to the COVID‑19 crisis and to approve several planning and finance items.
Highlights
- Emergency workplace protections: The board adopted (unanimous) an emergency ordinance requiring grocery stores, drugstores, restaurants and on‑demand delivery service employers to provide health and scheduling protections to employees during the public‑health emergency (item 16). The ordinance secured final passage as an emergency measure under Charter Section 2.107.
- Rent‑increase prohibition: The board passed (unanimous) an emergency ordinance temporarily prohibiting rent increases that would otherwise be permitted under the administrative code during the COVID‑19 pandemic (item 17). That ordinance also secured final passage under Charter Section 2.107.
- Delivery‑app and small‑business actions (introductions and statements): Supervisors announced plans for legislation to cap commissions charged by food delivery platforms and to restrict intermediate‑term rental uses; supervisors stressed the need for federal relief and oversight for small businesses and highlighted local efforts to support small business relief. Several supervisors urged congressional action to bolster and better target the Paycheck Protection Program.
- Cannabis zoning: The board approved an ordinance (item 8) creating the Bayview Industrial Triangle Cannabis Restricted Use District and affirmed the CEQA determination; the ordinance passed by roll call, 10 ayes and 1 no (Supervisor Mandelmann opposed).
- Grants and fiscal items: The board unanimously adopted multiple resolutions authorizing acceptance and expenditure of grants, including a $250,000 grant to the Office of the Treasurer and Tax Collector from PolicyLink to design a national reform initiative on fines and fees (item 9) and various District Attorney grants (items 10–11). The board also authorized a limited payment guarantee for tax‑credit investors (item 12).
Votes at a glance (selected items)
- Item 6 — Geary‑Masonic SUD amendment (see separate article): Ordinance adopted, 10 ayes, 1 no (Preston). - Item 8 — Bayview Industrial Triangle Cannabis RUD (ordinance): Adopted, 10 ayes, 1 no (Mandelmann). - Item 16 — Emergency ordinance: health and scheduling protections for grocery, drugstore, restaurant and delivery‑service employees: Adopted unanimously (11‑0). - Item 17 — Emergency ordinance: temporary prohibition on COVID‑related rent increases: Adopted unanimously (11‑0). - Item 24 — Resolution urging Congress and the administration to expand equitable small business relief and strengthen oversight of PPP: Adopted unanimously (11‑0). - Item 26 — Motion to concur in the mayor’s ninth and tenth supplements to the emergency proclamation: Adopted unanimously (11‑0).
What supervisors said
Supervisor Peskin and others emphasized the need to regulate delivery‑app commissions and protect restaurants from steep platform fees during the crisis; they said many small restaurants have been shut out of federal relief and need local protections. Supervisor Feuer and other members stressed that emergency rent protections and employee safeguards are short‑term measures that complement ongoing advocacy for broader state and federal assistance.
Public‑health briefing
Following the board’s business the board received a public briefing from the city’s health officer, who said San Francisco had avoided the large hospital surge seen in some other cities but remains vulnerable if cases move rapidly through congregate‑living and other high‑risk populations. The health officer summarized the public‑health priorities for the next phase as transmission control, testing, tracing and treatment capacity.
Implementation and next steps
Several items adopted under emergency authority require departmental implementation and follow‑up. Supervisors asked for more public data on testing, hospital capacity and the geographic distribution of cases, and several members requested faster, broader asymptomatic testing in congregate settings, SROs and neighborhoods with high case counts. Several supervisors asked the administration to make hotel‑placement, shelter and SRO strategies more transparent and accelerate placements for the city’s most vulnerable residents.
ending
