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Supervisors press OEWD and Small Business to speed Legacy Business Registry and grant rollout
Summary
After hearing complaints about missing agency responses and delays, the committee continued the Legacy Business Registry item for one month and asked OEWD/Small Business to expedite nominations, complete pending applications, post a web presence and issue grant application guidelines.
The committee continued a hearing on implementation of San Francisco’s Legacy Business Registry and historic‑preservation grant after sharp questioning about delays and a backlog of nominations.
Regina Dickendresi, director of the Office of Small Business, said the office had reconciled nomination lists with supervisors’ offices and reported 63 officially nominated legacy businesses. She said 20 businesses had submitted applications, nine were now complete after supplemental submissions and 11 needed additional materials — primarily interior/exterior photographs and historical supporting documentation requested to assist the Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) review.
"We have now received official nominations for those businesses on the list," Dickendresi said, describing stepped‑up outreach, a dedicated email address and a posted job for a Legacy Business Program Manager to manage casework. Todd Rufo, director of the Office of Economic and Workforce Development, said the mayor’s office and OEWD had allocated resources and would work to deliver a web listing and translated application instructions.
Supervisors Aaron Peskin and David Campos pressed staff for a faster timetable and criticized prolonged delays in responding to constituent nominations and the absence of timely commission minutes. Peskin stressed urgency for businesses that are financially fragile: earlier action could have helped a few businesses that subsequently struggled. "If we had given them relief earlier as intended by the proposition ... they might still be here," Peskin said.
Small Business committed to several deadlines: case management and outreach to pending nominators, transmission of completed applications to the HPC by June 30, posting a registry web page by July 30, and making preservation grant applications available by August 1. The committee continued the item one month for a progress update.
The Historic Preservation Commission has asked to hear legacy applications in public sessions rather than on consent; staff said that approach will be followed, and that HPC guidance informed requests for supplemental materials. The committee asked staff to prioritize timetables, translation of instructions and an aggressive outreach plan to help nominated businesses complete applications so they may access grant funds allocated by voters.
