Mission

Merchants Association General Membership Meeting Minutes Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Businesses in attendance:
Make Out Room, Latin American Club, ProLocal, JWalks, Recology, Casanova Lounge, VIA MEDIA, Gateway Management, Lesser Enterprises, BART, Mission Graduates, Al Zeidler Insurance, Slate Bar, Community Music Center, 849 Valencia Building, EHS Pilates, Encantada Gallery, Harlan Hoffman Architecture, Lesser Enterprises, Levine Architects, Abbotts Cellar, Monks Kettle, Urban Putt, Carnaval San Francisco, Airbnb, and Bevan Dufty.

Community Music Center Founded in 1921, Community Music Center is the Bay Areas oldest community arts organization and San Franciscos largest provider of high quality, affordable music education. With branches in the Mission and Richmond districts, as well as programs throughout the city, Community Music Center makes music accessible to people of all ages, musical levels, and financial backgrounds. Students range in age from one to 90+ years old, and enjoy classes in everything from Western classical to Chinese to Latin Music. BART Last month, as part of the 24th and Mission Street Station Plaza Improvements, work crews began to renovate various areas on the southwest plaza outside the 24th and Mission Street Station. There may be some small disruption to pedestrian access routes because of the work to upgrade and improve the station. Please pay attention to signs, barricades and temporary fencing created for your protection during the construction. The work will take approximately ten months to complete. The renovated plaza will have a more open appearance. Improvements will include better lighting, repaired paving, trimmed trees, new shrubbery, reduced iron fencing and open access to Osage Alley. Although all work will be performed during daytime hours, there may be occasions when work could also take place on nights and weekends. BART does not anticipate needing to block entrances to the station; however if they need to close an entrance temporarily they will post directional signs and will keep you informed of any changes through additional Passenger Bulletins and Station Announcements.

You can get BART Service Advisories (BSAs) on your phone. To sign up for BSAs, visit www.bart.gov/advisories. You may also call 511 to get up-to-date service information. Recology
While San Francisco is doing a great job of recycling, we still send 1,200 to 1,400 tons of waste everyday to landfill, most of which could be recycled or composted. Theres still more we need to do to get from 80% diversion to Zero Waste. Heres a few reasons why its the right thing to do: Zero Waste Creates Jobs. Recycling creates valuable green jobs. Waste disposal at landfills creates 0.1 jobs per 1,000 tons of municipal solid waste disposed, while the processing of recyclables is 2 jobs per 1,000 tons of materials. Zero Waste Helps Grow Healthy Plants. Organic material diverted from landfill gets converted into nutrient-rich compost, which helps local farms and vineyards grow healthy and nutritious fruits and vegetables. Zero Waste Reduces Greenhouse Gases. Materials dumped in landfills produce methane gas, a harmful and potent greenhouse gas. The more we eliminate from landfill, the less harmful gases can affect our environment and ecosystem. Back in March Recology submitted their revised zero waste rate application to the

City of San Francisco that seeks to modify the rate structure in support of the Citys efforts to achieve Zero Waste by 2020a goal established by the Board of Supervisors. The application was revised from the original submission based on public input and City review and comment. Visit http://www.sfzerowasterates.com/ for more information. New Directory VIA Media is a graphic design and publishing firm based in downtown San Francisco. Among other things, they produce printed directories for many SF merchants associations. Ron shared details of our upcoming collaborative directory with the Mission Merchants Association. With distribution both inside the neighborhood and to tourist resources like hotel concierges and visitor information centers, Mission Guide is an ideal way to promote your business or service in this culturally rich and diverse neighborhood. Ad sales deadline is June 8, 2013. Visit http://viamedia.net/mission-guide for more information. Carnaval San Francisco 2013 For over three decades, Carnaval San Francisco has been an event for many cultures to come together in one spirit to share their creative expression. Come celebrate with us at the 35th annual Carnaval San Francisco, a FREE 2-day family festival in San Franciscos Mission District over Memorial Day weekend, May 25 and 26,

10am-6pm, where we will showcase the very best Latin American and Caribbean cultural arts and traditions. This years theme is Carnaval Harlem Shake, with 8 city blocks in San Franciscos Mission District bursting with music, dance, and exotic food from the many countries that celebrate Carnaval. The Grand Parade is a dazzling display of pageantry. With an annual attendance of well over 400,000, Carnaval San Francisco is the largest multi-cultural celebration on the West Coast. This year, Carnaval San Francisco is happening due to the 500 volunteers coming together to preserve this San Francisco tradition. The two-day Festival will offer food, music, dance, arts & crafts, and other fun activities and entertainment on every street corner for the entire family to enjoy. The Festival spans eight blocks, on Harrison Street between 16th and 24th Streets. On Sunday, May 26, the Grand Parade starts at 9:30am at the corner of 24th and Bryant Streets, where it will proceed west to Mission Street. From there, the parade heads North on Mission down to 17th Street, where it will turn east and flow into the Festival area. This years Carnaval San Francisco is being produced by the 24th Street Cultural Collaborative, a committee of various arts and culture nonprofit organizations in the Mission District and community activists: Accin Latina, BRAVA Theater for Women in the Arts, Galera de la Raza, Loco Bloco, Mission Neighborhood Centers. Galera de la Raza is the fiscal sponsor of Carnaval San Francisco. Call the Carnaval San Francisco hotline at 415-206-0577, or for current updates about Carnaval San Francisco, please visit www.carnavalsanfrancisco.org or email us at carnavalsf2013@gmail.com. Managing Homeless Services Bevan Dufty Bevan Dufty has more than 18 years of public service to the City and County of San Francisco, including five years as the Citys Director of Neighborhood Services and eight years on the Board of Supervisors. As Director of the Mayors Office of Neighborhood Services for Mayor Willie L. Brown, Jr., Dufty helped neighborhood residents and merchants connect with City employees from every department to address issues of homelessness, public safety, housing, employment, traffic, pedestrian safety, and youth issues. Dufty has worked hard to address homelessness, strongly supporting Care Not Cash and Mayor Newsoms Housing First approach that dramatically expanded supportive housing. He helped to establish the Castro Young Adult Housing Collaborative for 22 homeless youth, funding neighborhood-based homeless outreach/case management teams, establishing case managers at the Main Library, and secured Board approval for the highly successful Community Justice Center. He has been focused on prevention for our transitional youth, chronically homeless and restructuring the courts approach to habitual offenders.

Dufty and Mayor Lee crafted HOPEHousing Opportunity, Partnerships and Engagementto get San Franciscans to believe that we can change how we respond to homelessness. We can solve family homelessness in our city. On the national scale, our president has set the goal of 2015 to end veterans homelessness. This is a reachable goal that will inspire us to work even harder to address poverty and homelessness. HOPEs role is to find ways to improve outcomes for homeless individuals, as well as those in all forms of government-sponsored housingincluding shelters, and supportive, public and affordable housing. We are doing this by working creatively and collaboratively with government partners and by leveraging engagements with citizens, the private sector and philanthropy. As a city, we need to improve communication to our citizens, so that they feel and see that we are making a difference. At HOPE, one of the primary points of focus is in making the San Francisco Housing Authority a centerpiece in our efforts to end homelessness. In other cities, public housing and housing choice voucher programs offer families in poverty a viable roadmap to self-sufficiency. This asset is even more critical in an expensive city like San Francisco. Airbnb Founded in August of 2008 and located on 99 Rhode Island, Airbnb is a trusted community marketplace for people to list, discover, and book unique accommodations around the world online or from a mobile phone. Whether an apartment for a night, a castle for a week, or a villa for a month, Airbnb connects people to unique travel experiences, at any price point, in more than 26,000 cities and 192 countries. There are currently 100 hosts in the Potrero Hill / Dogpatch neighborhood. Airbnb is currently working on a local guide called Airbnbest. They ask hosts for their recommendations and then place them in the guide. This is a good way to get exposure for local businesses. Molly passed out some copies of the guides and asked everyone for their feedback (do you want to be listed in the guide, how do you want to be listed, etc.) If you have any questions about Airbnbest please contact Molly at molly@airbnb.com. If youd like to be a vendor at one of Airbnbs events please email Natalie at natalie@airbnb.com. Member Newsletter We ask that all members keep themselves informed by reading the monthly member newsletter that is sent out once a month on the Monday before the general membership meeting. It is a valuable resource for information concerning all out businesses. Email mma@prolocal-sf.com to be added to the email list.

 New Website Our new website is up and running: http://www.missionmerchants.com. With just one click all member updates are posted to our homepage, our Facebook page, and to the East Bay Express. Email mma@prolocal-sf.com for information on how to post events, announcements, and coupons on our new website Community Events / Member Announcements: Email mma@prolocal-sf.com to have your events included in the monthly member newsletters. See website http://www.missionmerchants.com/ for additional community announcements and upcoming events. .

Next General Membership Meeting: Wednesday, July 17, noon 1:30pm. Location TBA.