Author: Alfredo Casuso

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  

Monday, March 27, 2023  

Contact: Mayor’s Office of Communications, mayorspressoffice@sfgov.org 

*** PRESS RELEASE ***  

MAYOR BREED AND PRESIDENT PESKIN ANNOUNCE LEGISLATION TO SUPPORT FUTURE OF DOWNTOWN AND UNION SQUARE  

Proposal will facilitate the conversion of office buildings to critically needed housing, create more opportunities for businesses, and streamline everyday permit review throughout Downtown and Union Square  

San Francisco, CA — Mayor London N. Breed and Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin today announced a major legislative effort to support Downtown’s future as a place where people work, visit, and live. The legislation amends the City’s Planning Code to enable a vibrant 21^st century downtown core and directs the Department of Building Inspection to develop clear procedures for the adaptive reuse of existing office buildings to housing.  

Mayor Breed and President Peskin came together to introduce this package after learning they were each independently working on parallel legislation in pursuit of the same goals. The legislation is a component of both the Mayor’s Housing for All strategy and her Roadmap to Downtown San Francisco’s Future.  

“The challenges facing Downtown require us to imagine what is possible and create the foundation for a stronger, more resilient future,” said Mayor London Breed. “Working with President Peskin and the Board, we can create more opportunities to fill our empty buildings, whether that’s to create housing or making it easier to fill office and retail space. These changes shouldn’t be something that requires granting exceptions through lengthy paperwork and exhaustive public hearings. We need to make the process easier for getting our buildings active and full.”  

“I am pleased that the Mayor and I were able to come together and merge the two pieces of similar legislation we were each working on into one comprehensive legislative package that will be a significant tool for Downtown revitalization in the short and long term,” said Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin. “Crafting and passing this legislation is only half the battle. Working with and making connections amongst a wide array of stakeholders from building owners to small businesses to arts organizations in order to realize these goals and ensuring these tools are user-friendly is our next big challenge.”  

Paving the Way for Housing  

A primary component of the legislation is to encourage housing production Downtown through commercial-to-residential conversions, while ensuring enough office space remains to house San Francisco’s concentration of job-supporting businesses. Although Downtown is currently zoned for housing, the legislation advances a range of code adjustments to slash barriers that may hamper the conversion of underutilized and obsolete downtown office buildings to housing – and that could unlock thousands of new housing units over time.   

The legislation provides much needed flexibility for the re-use of older office buildings by relaxing Planning Code requirement like rear yards, that don’t make sense for conversions of existing buildings in our dense, downtown core.  The legislation will also provide for alternative paths to Building and Fire Code compliance for adaptive reuse projects that would otherwise struggle to meet requirements designed for new ground-up construction projects. 
  

Allowing More Flexibility in Union Square  

This legislation targets zoning changes to allow additional flexibility for new and diversified uses and activities in existing buildings in Union Square. Responding to both the pre-pandemic impacts of online shopping and to post-pandemic shifts in the retail industry, the legislation allows a wider range of uses to better activate streets and buildings. On upper floors, that includes allowing for additional office, service and retail uses; and on ground floors allowing for indoor and outdoor entertainment, flexible retail workspaces, and larger retailers that will make the area more attractive for businesses, employees, and visitors alike.   

“This proposed legislation fills in a key puzzle piece toward the revival of Union Square,” said Marisa Rodriguez, CEO of the Union Square Alliance.  “In our Union Square Strategic Plan, released in November of last year, we identified the need for zoning and regulatory changes in our District to create the flexibility that will allow Union Square not only to recover more quickly from the Pandemic but also to reach its full potential as a complete downtown neighborhood where people shop, visit, live and work.  We are extremely grateful for how quickly and thoughtfully the Mayor and Supervisor Peskin have spearheaded this legislative package. The proposal announced today will help tremendously and we are in full support.”  

Reducing Barriers and Supporting Pop-Up Activations  

The legislation also builds on Mayor Breed’s priority to reduce process with changes to many of the specialized procedures and mechanisms for Downtown development review. Specifically, the legislation allows for a greater variety of ground floor and other uses, provides for the re-use of longstanding business signage, and allows City staff to review minor changes to historic buildings administratively without a public hearing.  

“Downtown’s future is San Francisco’s future,” said Rodney Fong, President and CEO of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce. “This proposal to make housing conversions easier and  

downtown zoning more flexible is an important step in charting San Francisco’s path to a reimagined downtown where resident, visitors, and workers all want to spend time.” 

The legislation would also broaden the types of temporary pop-up activations that can take place in vacant ground floor spaces throughout Downtown, supporting a key goal of the Mayor’s Roadmap to support entrepreneurs, artists, and other ventures in bringing new energy to vacant storefronts that will serve to enliven the overall Downtown experience.   

“In the new normal of hybrid work, the City has to be proactive about helping create new reasons for residents, workers and visitors to want to come and spend their time Downtown,” said Kate Sofis, Executive Director of the Office of Economic and Workforce Development. “This legislation lays the groundwork for the creativity and new ideas we want to invite.”  

Following extensive work by City staff and collaboration with a wide range of stakeholders, the legislation will be heard at the Planning Commission and Building Inspection Commission this spring with hearings before the Board of Supervisors soon thereafter. Staff is continuing to work on further improvements to allow for conversion of other uses, which will be in forthcoming legislation.   

“We’re updating the downtown playbook,” said Planning Director Rich Hillis. “Clearing the way for office conversions represents an important new tool to promote a vibrant downtown. While not flashy, these critical roll-up-your-sleeves technical improvements will help keep our downtown engine running.”  

“We are fully engaged to be creative and proactive in identifying ways to facilitate adaptive reuse downtown,” said Patrick O’Riordan, Director of the Department of Building Inspection.  “We’ve seen this done successfully in other cities and know we can achieve similar results in San Francisco.”  

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media contact:
DP&A, Inc / David Perry (415) 676-7007 / news@davidperry.com 

Awards Announced for
20th Annual International Ocean Film Festival 

8 Films Cited in Categories including Conservation, Ocean Sports,
Female Filmmaker and Diversity & Equity & Inclusion

Festival Runs April 13 – 16 at San Francisco’s Cowell Theatre Fort Mason
and the Smith Theatre San Rafael

www.intloceanfilmfest.org 

23 March 2023  – San Francisco, CA:  the 20th Annual International Ocean Film Festival has announced this year’s award winners in categories including Conservation, Ocean Sports, Female Filmmaker and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion.  The 20^th annual Festival runs April 13 – 16 at San Francisco’s Cowell Theatre at Fort Mason and San Rafael’s Smith Theatre.  All told, there are 42 films representing 17 countries. Tickets to the entire festival are on sale online www.intloceanfilmfest.org

“All of our films and filmmakers are standouts and advance our mission of saving our oceans through the beauty and education of the visual medium,” said Ana Blanco, Executive Director for the Festival. “In a field of exceptional quality and diversity, especially this year, we have eight standouts deserving of special recognition.”

This year’s 20th Annual International Ocean Film Festival is marked with four days of ocean-focused, independent films. In addition, the Festival will host lively Q&A panels with film directors, marine scientists, and industry experts, as they discuss the films and share insights into ocean conservation, preservation, and legislation.   

The Festival accepts films of all genres that focus on any of the varied aspects of our big, blue ocean. Subject matter ranges from, but is not limited to, marine wildlife, conservation efforts, ocean environments, coastal cultures, ocean sports and exploration, ocean heroes, and innovative technology designed to help protect the ocean. Films can be documentaries, narratives, shorts, animation, and full-length films from around the world. A number of finalists from the main film festival program will be selected to participate in the world-renowned International Ocean Film Festival Traveling Program. This year’s film categories include Environmental, Marine Sciences/Wildlife, Exploration & Ocean Sports, Coastal Island Culture. Animation, Conservation, Diversity Equity & Inclusion, Shorts and Female Directors.

Sponsors for this year’s festival include RingCentral, Jenga Ocean, Hapag Lloyd, RBC Wealth Management, PADI, PADI Club, The Philippine Office of Tourism, Thor Hope Foundation, Dynamico Space and the Consul General of Canada in San Francisco. Note: Additional sponsorship opportunities are available through April 1^st.Since its launch in 2004, the San Francisco-based International Ocean Film Festival has attracted thousands of spectators of all ages from around the world, including film enthusiasts, sea athletes, educators, and environmental supporters. Since then, the Festival has presented over 815 films from 40 different countries and featured post-film Q&A sessions with visiting filmmakers, special panel discussions with content experts, and the Annual Free Student Education Program. It was the first event of its kind in North America, inspired by the well-established ocean festival in Toulon, France, which has continued to draw large audiences for more than 40 years.

2023 Awards – Official Selections (Alpha List)

1. Collision, Philip Hamilton (London, UK) 80 min 2023 Environment Award
2. Deep Rising, Matthieu Rytz (USA) 98 min 2023 Conservation Award & 2023 Director’s Award 
3. Gender Outlaw, a bodysurfing story, Peter Williams (USA) 16 min 2023 Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Award
4. Havana Libre, Corey McLean (USA) 85 min 2023 Ocean Sports & Exploration Award
5. The Impossible Wave, Jessica Frankovelgia Johnson & Jay Johnson (USA) 40 min 2023 Female Filmmaker Award
6. Mediterranean LIFE UNDER SIEGE, Fred Fougea (France) 91 min 2023 Wildlife Award 
7. New Boats, Lansana Mansaray (Sierra Leone) 50 min 2023 Coastal and Island Culture Award
8. Rise of the Clambassador, Alexander Davidowski (USA) 8 min2023 Short Award

The 20th International Ocean Film Festival runs April 13 – 16, 2023 at San Francisco’s Fort Mason Center and San Rafael’s Smith Theatre. The International Ocean Film Festival is a 501(c) 3 non-profit. 

• www.intloceanfilmfest.org 
• https://www.facebook.com/intloceanfilmfest
• Twitter @oceanfilmfest
• Instagram @intloceanfilmfest

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, March 21, 2023
Contact: Mayor’s Office of Communications, mayorspressoffice@sfgov.org

PRESS RELEASE

MAYOR BREED’S PUBLIC SAFETY LEGISLATION MOVES FORWARD WITH APPROVAL BY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS

Police overtime funding and community ambassador contracts extension will address immediate safety needs in neighborhoods across San Francisco while work continues on longer-term solutions

San Francisco, CA – Today Mayor London N. Breed’s legislation to address key public safety needs was approved by the Board of Supervisors.

First, $25 million in funding for police overtime will ensure officers can continue to provide the current level of service in the City, while also lifting a hiring freeze that has prevented retired police ambassadors from being deployed and academy classes from beginning. This legislation was approved by a vote of 9-2.

Second, contract extensions for two of the City’s ambassador programs will ensure that the Tenderloin, Mid-Market, Downtown, South of Market, Union Square and all along the waterfront continue to have ambassador coverage. This legislation was unanimously approved by the Board of Supervisors.

These actions are part of a public safety push the Mayor is leading to address critical short-term and long-term safety needs in the City that also includes disrupting open-air drug markets and addressing long-term staffing needs for the San Francisco Police Department.

“Public safety is the number one issue I hear about from residents and small businesses every day,” said Mayor London Breed. “These measures address immediate, on-the- ground needs in our neighborhoods, by ensuring that our police officers are able to respond to calls for service and address major safety needs, while also keeping ambassadors on our streets to make them more welcoming and safer. I want to thank all of the community members who stepped forward to express their support for these measures and for public safety in our city.”

Fund Overtime: Budget Supplemental

On Tuesday February 14, Mayor Breed introduced a $27 million budget supplemental to fund police overtime and public safety ambassadors through the end of the fiscal year (June 30, 2023.) She was joined by co-sponsors Supervisors Catherine Stefani, Rafael Mandelman, Matt Dorsey, and Joel Engardio. During the legislative process, the supplemental was reduced to $25 million.

The approval of the supplemental ensures the police have the funding necessary to continue to meet current levels of service. This includes the ability to investigate and curtail drug dealing and illegal use of narcotics, reduce gun violence, homicides, theft, and violent crimes. Importantly, this supplemental prevents mandated service cuts and lifts a mandated a hiring freeze.

“Things in San Francisco are changing for the better and we need to sustain our efforts. This budget supplemental allows us to maintain our focus on addressing drug dealing, violent crime, and property crime,” said SFPD Chief William Scott. “The largest single category of the overtime by far is being spent to backfill each of the ten police district stations, and that impacts every community in San Francisco.”

Continue Ambassador Program in the Tenderloin and Downtown: Contract Extension

In January, Mayor Breed introduced a contract extension for two ambassador programs: Urban Alchemy that covers the Tenderloin and Mid-Market areas and the Welcome Ambassadors that cover Downtown and tourist areas. Both of these programs have created positive change in the areas they are located. Urban Alchemy has been an asset for the community, serves as an alternative to policing, and has helped bring stability to some of our most challenged streets.

The Welcome Ambassadors are an essential part of our Downtown and tourism recovery. They support visitors, workers, and residents, and help make conventions at Moscone Center a success. They’ve received highly positive, consistent feedback about the beneficial impact they are having.

“We thank Mayor Breed, the Board of Supervisors, and the City and County of San Francisco for their investment and commitment to developing an innovative public safety model that provides inclusion and opportunity for folks who traditionally have been counted out,” said Founder and CEO of Urban Alchemy, Dr. Lena Miller. “By compassionately responding to anger and despair, our Practitioners work their magic every day to peacefully intervene and deescalate often dangerous situations that may harm our communities. Urban Alchemy is building a system designed and implemented by the people it impacts while setting a precedent for what safe, community-based alternatives can look like across the country.”

“Our Welcome Ambassadors are essential to enhancing the visitor experience in Union Square,” said Marisa Rodriguez, CEO of Union Square Alliance. “We are proud to partner with the City to ensure that San Francisco remains a welcoming, safe and vibrant destination for all.”

In addition to these actions, the Mayor is also pushing for two more solutions to address public safety in the City.

The first is to increase disruption of open-air drug dealing by expediting hiring for prosecutors focused on drug dealing. The Mayor has introduced a nearly $200,000 supplemental funding for three additional prosecutors in the District Attorney’s Office who will focus on open air drug dealing. This will bolster the DA’s aggressive efforts by expediting additional resources.

The second is to strengthen retention and recruit new police officers by approving a new police contract. The new Police Contract Agreement will help stop the outflow of experienced officers leaving San Francisco by including significant retention bonuses. It will also help recruit new officers by making San Francisco the highest paid starting salary in the Bay Area for larger cities while also adding incentives for officers looking to transfer from other jurisdictions. The legislation to adopt the contract must be approved by a majority of the Board of Supervisors.

This contract is part of a broader strategy to address long-term police staffing issues. More about that effort can be found here.