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Committee forwards graffiti ordinance and annual CBD reports to full Board
Summary
The committee advanced an ordinance to expand graffiti prohibitions to all public property and forwarded annual reports for Noe Valley and Castro/Upper Market Community Benefit Districts to the full Board with recommendations.
The Government Audit and Oversight Committee considered an ordinance amending the Public Works Code to clarify that prohibited graffiti extends to all public property and city assets, including buses, trolleys and street furniture. Supervisor Erin Peskin described the measure as targeting corporate "guerrilla" marketing that blights the public realm and creates an unfair advertising advantage, and said the measure would allow administrative penalties up to $1,000 per day and include corporate entities as offending parties.
Rachel Gordon, Department of Public Works director of policy and communications, testified in support of the ordinance, calling corporate guerrilla advertising "blight." A City Attorney representative and other supervisors noted prior enforcement actions against major companies and cited the city's annual abatement costs; an office representative said the city spends an excess of over $20 million annually abating graffiti. The committee moved to forward the ordinance to the full Board with recommendation.
The committee also received annual reports for two community benefit districts (CBDs). OEWD staff presented the Noe Valley CBD annual report for fiscal year 2014–15, noting the CBD met state and local benchmarks, had an initial assessment budget in its first year of about $230,000 and had a range of neighborhood events and streetscape projects. The committee moved to send the Noe Valley report to the full Board with recommendation.
OEWD then presented the Castro/Upper Market CBD annual report for fiscal year 2014–15 (279 assessed parcels, initially assessed at about $413,500), reporting that 31.6 percent of Castro's revenue came from non‑assessment sources and that the CBD had carryover funds and plans for added staff. The committee forwarded the Castro/Upper Market report to the full Board with recommendation.
All three items were advanced from committee to the Board for further action and any required appropriations or code changes.
