Street_Artists_Committee
2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 STREET ARTISTS COMMITTEE
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
3:00 p.m.
25 Van Ness Avenue, Suite 70
MINUTES
Members present: Commissioners Alexander Lloyd, Chair, Ninive Calegari,
Topher Delaney
Members absent: Sherene Melania, Pop Zhao
Staff present: Street Artists Program Director Howard Lazar
Commissioner Lloyd, Chair, called the meeting to order at 3:02 p.m. and
welcomed Commissioner Delaney to the Committee.
1. Hearing and possible motion to approve the following
recommendations of street artist Lottery Committee:
- Requirement for each Lottery Committee member to conduct at least seven (7) of his/her scheduled lotteries in a three-month period.
Lottery Committee Chair Kathleen Hallinan explained that, in the course of a three-month period, each Lottery member averages fifteen days to run the lotteries for space assignment. She explained the duties involved. A Lottery Committee member, for his/her work in running a lottery, is allowed to be the first person to choose a space. Problems were arising with some members running only two of their lotteries and giving away their lotteries to favored members while excluding other members. The Lottery Committee held meetings on the issue; some members favored a proposed requirement that a member run a minimum of ten lotteries, other members favored five lotteries, and a compromise was reached to propose seven lotteries. The Lottery Committee had also started implementing a system of allowing members on a rotation basis to run “giveaway” lotteries, and, to keep track of the rotation, the members were signing a daily logbook for the lotteries they were running.
Commissioner Lloyd suggested that, to do away with favoritism, consideration might be given to having alternate members chosen to run lotteries that Committee members are unable to run. The Commissioner called for public comment.
Lottery Committee Member Brian Hopper submitted the current schedule (June 1 through August 31, 2008) of lotteries assigned to Lottery Committee members. He explained that the lotteries were assigned to the members in keeping with the order in which the members’ names were drawn by lot. Mr. Hopper also stated that he could not understand why anyone would want to be on the Lottery Committee and not be able to run a minimum number of lotteries.
Lottery Committee Member Jimmy Sha stated that, while the summer season typically attracts a full complement of volunteer members willing to do the work, the winter season – after the holidays – typically sees a dramatic drop off of members from the Lottery Committee. The proposed rotation system would not be worthwhile for the winter season. He also favored a requirement for a minimum of only five lotteries to be run by a member.
Commissioner Calegari stated that she favored a minimum of ten lotteries because she felt it was a privilege to serve on the Lottery Committee.
Street Artist Edward Steneck stated that he favored a rotation system among Lottery Committee members for the running of lotteries relinquished by their assigned members.
Commissioner Lloyd closed public comment.
Commissioner Calegari asked to hear the Program Director’s recommendation.
Program Director Lazar stated that he had participated in several meetings of the Lottery Committee on the issue, and that, while the Lottery Committee had compromised with a recommendation of a requirement for a minimum of seven lotteries, he, after hearing the current comments, recommended a minimum of ten lotteries. A person who commits to serving on the Lottery Committee and then fails to fulfill their responsibilities has, in effect, prevented another artist from serving who might have fulfilled all their lottery assignments. Mr. Lazar further recommended that the Commissioners, in their approval of a requirement, consider enacting a trial period of six months which would provide a significant selling season (the winter holiday season) for its implementation, whereupon the issue could be re-examined next springtime.
Commissioner Calegari moved that it be required that each Lottery Committee member (1) conduct a minimum of ten (10) scheduled lotteries during a three-month period, (2) that, in the event of a member’s inability to run his/her lottery, the next listed Lottery Committee member in rotating order conducts the lottery, (3) that under no circumstances shall their selection be by personal choice, and (4) a lottery attendance record shall be kept with the lottery supplies and shall be entered into by each member running the lottery, including next-listed members in rotation order and helpers; the motion was seconded by Commissioner Lloyd and unanimously approved.
- Provision for Lottery Committee members to be designated helpers.
Lottery Committee Member Jimmy Sha explained that, under the present rules, Lottery Committee members were prohibited from serving as helpers in running the lotteries. He explained the duties of a helper. For his/her work, a helper is allowed to be the second, third or fourth street artist to choose a space. It is possible for a designated helper to also be the helper on the following day if no one else is present to be a helper. Mr. Sha wanted to see a provision adopted to allow a Lottery Committee member to be a helper in any lottery for which he/she is not scheduled to conduct.
Commissioner Lloyd called for public comment.
Lottery Committee Member Brian Hopper, stating that he has participated on the Lottery Committee for the past ten years, expressed his opposition to the proposed provision on the grounds that, if he were not a member, he would be competing for a space with both the Lottery Committee member running the lottery as well as the helpers; and, from this perspective, it did not seem fair for a member to be allowed an additional opportunity (as a helper) to obtain a space before non-members are allowed to do so. A member already is given fifteen opportunities (fifteen lotteries) to be the first person to choose a space; why should he/she be given additional opportunities?
Street Artist David Campos submitted a petition signed by sixty street artists in opposition to the proposed provision. He said that, while he has traditionally been in favor of Program amendments that would benefit all the street artists, he was not in favor of any change that would, as in the present case, benefit only a few artists: the nine Lottery Committee members.
Mr. Campos thanked Lottery Committee Chair Kathleen Hallinan for all her work on the Committee.
Commissioner Lloyd closed public comment.
The Commissioners stated their disinclination to support the proposed provision.
No motion was forthcoming.
2. Street Artists Program Director’s Report.
Program Director Lazar reported that he had completed the revision of his 1998 book entitled Street Artists Program, a 280-page handbook or “bluebook” describing the Program’s laws, rules, and procedures on screening and licensing, lottery space-assignment, and hearings on street artist violations. The book also includes up-to-date maps of the street artist locations and reprints of the ordinances and resolutions governing the Program.
The Program Director expressed his thanks to Street Artists Joanne Fitzsimmons and Jeff Potter who spoke at the full Arts Commission meeting of September 8th and expressed their appreciation to the Commissioners – and the voters of San Francisco - for the opportunity of being able to earn a viable income in the Street Artists Program.
Commissioner Delaney, who had been present at the full Commission meeting, addressed a statement made by Ms. Fitzsimmons that people viewing Justin Herman Plaza thought it was a “flea market”; the Commissioner questioned whether there was a way to assist the street artists in developing a banner or other means that would clearly state the artists’ identity. The Commissioner suggested that one means might be a competition for such message design.
Program Director Lazar reported on his communication with the Mayor’s Office of Small Business which had expressed interest in fostering a “Shop Local” campaign and event to promote the contributions of the city’s small business sector, to encourage the public to shop local, and to support innovative, independent entrepreneurs who offer unique “Made in the Bay” products and services. Mr. Lazar informed the Mayor’s office that the thirty-six-year-old Street Artists Program not only fit all of these qualifications but it contributed $4 million annually to the city’s economy. The Mayor’s staff said that further communication would be forthcoming.
The Program Director further reported on his meeting with National Park Service personnel and construction personnel over the upcoming demolition of the Aquatic Park bleachers, the NPS’s re-routing of pedestrians and bicyclists during the bleachers’ demolition and rebuilding, and the resultant impact on street artist spaces “B-44” through “B-45” (the western end of the artists’ spaces on Beach Street). In the interest of public safety, Mr. Lazar and the NPS personnel agreed that the line of spaces “B-44” through “B-54” would be moved westward at a distance equivalent to two artists’ spaces plus the five-foot distance in between (a total of thirteen feet westward). The Program Director’s authority, Mr. Lazar stated, to relocate spaces on any given block, without Board of Supervisors approval, was affirmed many years previously by the City Attorney.
3. Hearing and possible motion to approve issuance or renewal of certificate.
Felicia Renaud – Certificate #7762 expired June 11, 2008. Alleged violation: Selling without a valid (current) certificate on June 21, 28, 29 and August 8, 2008.
Program Director Lazar stated that, based on a complaint he received on August 27th, alleging that Ms. Renaud obtained space at Justin Herman Plaza on four occasions and sold her wares while her certificate had been expired.
In response to a question by Commissioner Lloyd, Mr. Lazar stated that Ms. Renaud was able to obtain her space on those four occasions because evidently the artists running the unofficial lottery at the Plaza failed to check for valid certificates.
The Program Director went on to state that he himself had observed Ms. Renaud selling at the Plaza on one of the four occasions, August 8th, and she had told him that she had sent in her renewal fee but had been in the midst of a move of residence and was not sure if she had received her renewed certificate. Mr. Lazar later discovered that his office had never received the alleged renewal fee and therefore had not renewed her certificate. On the basis of his having observed her selling, and on the basis of the complaint later received by the office, he withheld issuance of a certificate for Ms. Renaud pending the outcome of today’s hearing with the Street Artists Committee as to whether issuance should be approved or denied.
Street Artist Tad Sky stated that, on August 8th, he asked Ms. Renaud if she had her certificate with her; she replied “no” but that she would show it to him at a later date, as she was going away for awhile. She told him that her certificate was not due to expire for a couple of weeks. She entered the lottery and received her space. The following week Mr. Sky called the Program office, discovered that the certificate number which Ms. Renaud had given him was fraudulent, as it had belonged to an artist who was no longer in the Program, and that her actual certificate had expired on June 11th. By August, he said, a number of the artists had realized that she had sold often during the summer without anyone calling in to the office. Mr. Sky checked his own records and found that he himself had sold next to Ms. Renaud on June 28th (she was in space “26” and he was in “24”); he also saw her selling the following day (June 29th) and, before that, on June 21st.
In response to a question by Program Director Lazar, Mr. Sky stated that he had not seen Ms. Renaud selling since the incident of August 8th.
Street Artist Felicia Renaud stated that she was not aware of having an expired certificate until she saw Program Director Lazar on August 8th asked to see her certificate. She said she had forgotten the card that day, and that Mr. Lazar told her to look for her card at home. She felt sure that she had paid for its renewal, although she could not remember having received the renewed card. She had moved and thought that the renewed card may have been sent to her old address. However, upon examining her bank statement, her check for the renewal was not posted. She then thought that the check may have been lost in the mail or lost in the Program office. She showed the Commissioners a check stub for the payment which she said she had mailed.
In response to questions by Commissioner Lloyd, Ms. Renaud affirmed that she had never been previously cited for failing to renew her certificate, and that, as soon as she saw that she had not been renewed, she stopped selling.
Commissioner Lloyd called for public comment.
Street Artist Michael Addario, reading from a prepared text, gave a lengthy critique of the street artist membership list and alleged licensing mistakes made by the Program staff.
Commissioner Lloyd stopped Mr. Addario by affirming that the Committee’s business at hand was in determining whether Ms. Renaud had violated the law. Mr. Addario interrupted the Commissioner by continuing on with his criticism of the staff, whereupon the Commissioner asked whether he had anything to present relevant to Ms. Renaud’s case. Mr. Addario avoided the question and demanded that he be given three minutes for public comment. The Commissioner responded that the nature of Mr. Addario’s public comment should be brought up, more appropriately, under new business, but Mr. Addario continued speaking over the Commissioner’s words.
Commissioner Lloyd asked the attendees if there were to be any further public comment germane to the case. None was forthcoming.
Commissioner Lloyd closed the hearing to public comment. He stated that Ms. Renaud had been clearly in violation, but, because this was the first time in which she had been found selling without a valid certificate, that there was evidence that she attempted to renew and that there was a reasonable possibility that her renewal check may have been lost in the mail, he was inclined to allow her to renew her certificate and continue to earn her livelihood. However, he stated, if she were to be found selling again without a valid certificate, the consequences for her could be severe.
Commissioner Calegari stated that testimony had been given that Ms. Renaud had stated the wrong certificate number when asked by another artist, and that she should have remembered it since it represented her livelihood. However, she said, street artist Tad Sky had confirmed that, after August 8th he never observed her selling again.
Commissioner Lloyd moved that Felicia Renaud be found in violation for selling without a valid certificate, and that her certificate be re-issued as soon as possible; the motion was seconded by Commissioner Calegari and unanimously approved.
In response to a question by Commissioner Lloyd, Program Director Lazar discussed his office’s publication of the street artist membership list. Amidst attempted interruptions by street artist Michael Addario, Mr. Lazar discussed the history of the voters’ permission of the street artists to sell on the public sidewalks and, in return for this privilege, the artists’ responsibility under 1983’s Proposition “K” and previous ordinances to entirely pay for the governmental costs in fulfilling the mandate of the voters.
4. New business/Public comment.
Commissioner Lloyd called on Street Artist Michael Addario and stated
that he would allow him three minutes so long as he avoided making “disparaging remarks.”
Reading from a prepared text, Mr. Addario discussed his investigation of identification cards produced by AlphaCard Systems of Corte Madera, California, the costs of the cards, their input of data, and their possible replacement of the certificate cards currently being produced by the Street Artists Program. The system would automatically update the artists’ membership list, prevent duplicate certificate numbers, and incorrect licensing dates. He and other artists, he said, would assist in the design of the new street artist certificate card and the initial data collection process. He submitted a packet of information as well as a sample design he said he made of a new card.
Commissioner Lloyd stated that Mr. Addario’s proposal would be placed on the agenda and considered under new business along with possible proposals of other vendors of identification cards.
Program Director Lazar clarified that the Committee’s next meeting would be in November which would include a hearing on the Program’s budget for the following year. It would be an appropriate time to consider Mr. Addario’s proposal and other such proposals.
Program Associate Evelyn Russell stated that, during the previous year, she researched the identification card systems of various vendors.
Commissioner Lloyd responded that Ms. Russell’s research could be placed on the agenda.
Street Artist Edward Steneck proposed that street artists who have been found selling with expired certificates pay the Program for the time during which their certificate had expired.
Mr. Bob Bornstein, who identified himself as a member of the public, suggested that the Program office issue a monthly list of the artists whose certificates expire, rather than a monthly list of all of the artists in the Program, that list would be easier to check. Mr. Bornstein also called for banner identification of the artists at various entrances to Justin Herman Plaza.
Street Artist and Member of the Lottery Committee Brian Hopper stated that he was used to receiving a monthly attrition list.
Program Director Lazar stated that the Program had produced attrition lists for years, and that this was far more manageable and a better use of staff time than having to produce monthly membership lists.
Commissioner Lloyd stated that an upcoming agenda item could be a hearing on proposals to improve the attrition and/or membership lists.
Street Artist Tad Sky stated that because the Advisory Committee members are, because of the budget limitation on their activities, are not on monitoring duty as often as during the summer; as a result, various certificate-holders are displaying and selling items not of their own creation.
Street Artist Madeline Marrow suggested that the Arts Commission pursue a grant to pay for the identification card system proposed by Michael Addario.
There being neither further new business nor public comment,
Commissioner Lloyd adjourned the meeting at 4:30 p.m.
Respectfully submitted:
Howard Lazar
Street Artists Program Director
September 23, 2008
