Street_Artists_Committee
2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 STREET ARTISTS COMMITTEE
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
3:00 p.m.
25 Van Ness Avenue, Suite 70
MINUTES
Members present: Commissioners Alexander Lloyd and Sherene Melania
Members absent: None
Staff present: Street Artists Program Director Howard Lazar
Commissioner Lloyd, Chair, called the meeting to order at 3:00 p.m.
- Hearing and possible motion to approve issuance or renewal of certificate.
Sua Far Lee – Certificate # 5954 expired September 26.2007. Alleged violation: (1) Obtaining a space through the lottery without possessing a valid (current) certificate (violation of Section 2406 of Ord. 41-83, Street Artist Ordinance); and (2) Selling without a valid certificate (violation of Section 7(a) of Proposition “L” of November, 1975 election, Ord. 41-83).
Street Artists Program Director Howard Lazar stated that he had received a report from the Arts Commission’s Street Artists Lottery Committee that on Friday, November 23, 2007, the day after Thanksgiving, street artist Sua Far Lee participated in the lottery procedure to obtain a selling space in the Downtown area, that Ms. Lee did not show to the Lottery Committee a valid (current) street artist certificate but informed Lottery Committee member Jimmy Sha that her certificate #5954 was current, and that she obtained a selling space in which to sell her items. Upon checking her file, Mr. Lazar discovered that Ms. Lee’s certificate had expired nearly two months earlier on September 26, 2007.
Mr. Lazar explained that the Commission’s rules allow a street artist who does not bring their valid certificate to show at the lottery to participate and obtain a space, provided that the Lottery Committee telephone the Program office and report the incident. The office is then able to verify whether the artist had told the Lottery Committee the truth that the permit was valid. In Ms. Lee’s case, Mr. Lazar stated that he found that the artist had not told the truth.
The Program Director went on to state that the day after Thanksgiving is considered one of the best selling days of the year. By taking a lotterized space that day, Ms. Lee, he said, deprived an artist with a valid certificate from obtaining the space.
On the following Monday (November 26), Ms. Lee came to the Program office to request renewal of her certificate. Mr. Lazar informed her of the violations of the street artist ordinance which had allegedly been committed by her previous Friday action. He also informed her that he refused to issue her a certificate without a hearing on her alleged violations to be conducted by the Commission’s Street Artists Committee, and that the Committee would not be meeting until January. Ms. Lee was then sent a notice to appear.
Mr. Lazar stated that this case was similar to a case heard by the Committee in April, 2007, except that the artist at the time had been observed selling on many occasions without a valid certificate and had tried to enter – but had been prevented from entering – the lottery.
Street Artist Jimmy Sha stated that, on the day in question, Ms. Lee did not have her certificate with her but told him that it was valid until December. He responded that he would allow her to choose a space but that he would inform the office that she did not have a certificate to show the lottery. He told her that if her certificate was expired, she would be in “big trouble.”
Street Artist Sua Far Lee, with the assistance of Street Artist Kim Lee as interpreter, stated that she had forgotten the day of her certificate’s expiration, and that, while she was told at the lottery that it had expired in September, she believed it was valid until December.
Commissioner Lloyd asked her if she felt this was a one-time mistake. Ms. Lee answered in the affirmative.
Commissioner Melania stated that mistakes can happen.
There was no public comment.
Commissioner Lloyd stated that it was important that the artists paid for their certificates on time, because that is how the Program is funded, and that if one artist doesn’t pay, it hurts the other artists.
The Commissioner went on to say that, given the fact that Ms. Lee had not been able to work since the incident, he was inclined to reinstate her certificate provided that her other documents (State Seller’s Permit and City Business Tax Certificate) were current.
Commissioner Melania agreed and warned Ms. Lee against committing the same violations again.
Commissioner Lloyd moved that Sua Far Lee be found in violation of the street artist ordinance by obtaining a space through the lottery without possessing a valid certificate and by selling without a valid certificate, and that her certificate be re-issued; the motion was seconded by Commissioner Melania and unanimously approved.
Program Director Lazar stated that he had informed Ms. Lee by letter that any motion made by the Street Artists Committee relevant to her case would be submitted to the full Arts Commission for a vote of approval, and that the Commission’s scheduled meeting would be on the first Monday of February.
- Street Artists Program Director’s Report.
Street Artists Program Website. Mr. Lazar stated that this was the first time the Program had its own full website. It contains directions on the procedure of obtaining a certificate, the screening procedure including the Commission’s arts and crafts criteria, and updated maps of the sales spaces. Applicants are now able to download the application and send it in with the application fee.
Commissioner Lloyd commended Mr. Lazar for his work on the website and stated that he felt it would help many people.
Commissioner Melania stated that the website looked very good.
Program Handbook (“bluebook”). Mr. Lazar stated that he was currently editing and revising the previous (1998) “bluebook” of Program rules and procedures, which he had co-written with former street artist John Bass, and that it was his plan to have it posted on the Program’s website by the end of February.
Proposed amendment to November 14, 2007 minutes. The Program Director had received a written request from street artists William and Robert Clark to amend items 1 and 2 of the November 14, 2007 minutes. The Commissioners reviewed the request.
Commissioner Lloyd moved to approve the following paragraphs to replace previous paragraphs, as noted (deletions in double parentheses (( )); new wording in bold print):
For Item 1, Hearing (discussion only) on Street Artists Program Director’s proposal for 2008-09 budget for Street Artists Program, page 7, paragraph 9: “Commissioner Lloyd recommended that, while he appreciated the inclusion of new items which reflected what the artists and the Commissioners had previously discussed, a budget should now be proposed, however, with as minimal a fee increase as possible, because ‘it doesn’t take a genius to hear what’ the artists ‘are saying, and we’re all here to help these people.’ He asked the Program Director to prepare a revised budget that would delete the higher-cost new items, amounting to $25,000, (( and would retain the compensation increase for the Advisory Committee with the Committee utilized for fewer meetings than the allotted 35 meetings. He asked that this be prepared for presentation to the Commission’s Executive Committee in January, 2008.)) The Interim director of the Arts Commission, Nancy Gonchar, suggested that they could also reduce the number of Advisory Committee of Street Artists and Craftsmen Examiners’ meetings to which Street Artists Program Director Howard Lazar agreed. Commissioner Lloyd concurred and stated that it could be included in the reduced budget proposal to be presented at the Arts Commission’s Executive Committee meeting in January.”
For Item 2, Hearing and possible motion to approve proposal to eliminate 10-day renewal policy to allow for renewal of more than 10 working days after a certificate’s expiration date, page 9, paragraph 1: “Mr. Clark submitted ((what he called ‘a work plan from Howard Lazar in 1991-92’ which, he said, ‘clearly states that one of Howard’s goals in 1991-92 was to knock the numbers of this Program down to 572 …” )) a copy of an official Arts Commission document entitled ‘1991-92 WORK PLANS: STREET ARTISTS PROGRAM’ which states the document is an “OUTLINE OF PROGRAM DIRECTOR’S PLANS FOR 1991-92’. Mr. Clark pointed out Item E to the Committee members which states that one of the goals of the Program Director for 1991-92 is to ‘Lower number of artists in Program from 572 to 500’. He went on to state that ‘while we were trying to get more people into the Program, this Commission was knocking people out of the Program.’ He asserted that if the fees were now getting to be ‘so high, it’s not because of the street artists; it’s because this Commission had a policy to knock the numbers down.’”
The motion was seconded by Commissioner Melania and unanimously approved.
United Nations Plaza. The Program Director stated that, after receiving inquiries from some artists as to where they would be permitted to sell in United Nations Plaza, he would be posting on the Program’s website a map of the area along with notes on restrictions during Farmer’s Market days. He further explained that there were no specific spaces designated or marked in the Plaza; he had succeeded in obtaining a resolution from the Board of Supervisors in 1981 to allow no more than fifty artists to sell in the Plaza area.
List of current certificate-holders. The Program will publish a list of current certificate-holders by the end of January, and it was the Program Director’s intention to publish it monthly. He invited any street artist receiving the list to feel free to rearrange it in any manner to better facilitate the artists’ lottery. Mr. Lazar went on to state that, while for twenty-eight years he had published a monthly attrition list of artists whose certificates had expired, it appeared that the artists now wanted a list of those currently in the Program.
Manuel Loli hearing at Board of Appeals. Mr. Lazar reported that the Board of Appeals had continued its hearing to Wednesday, January 16, 2008, on Manuel Loli’s appeal of the Arts Commission’s decision to revoke his certificate. The hearing will be in City Hall, Room 416, at 5:00 p.m.
In response to a question by Commissioner Lloyd, Mr. Lazar stated that it was his opinion that, at the previous Loli hearing, the Board of Appeals commissioners had overlooked or ignored a preponderance of evidence he had presented to support the Arts Commission’s action, and that the evidence showed that Mr. Loli had been told on several occasions by Arts Commissioners that (1) he had to make what he sells and (2) he had to receive a screening and certification from the Commission for any new item he wished to sell, prior to selling it. But Mr. Loli told the Board of Appeals that he had not previously understood the rules – even though the Arts Commissioners had gone on record ascertaining that he had understood the rules.
Commissioners Lloyd and Melania stated that they would attend the hearing.
Executive Committee hearing on proposed Street Artists Program budget and fee increase. Mr. Lazar reported that the Arts Commission’s Executive Committee would hear and possibly approve for recommendation the Program Director’s proposed budget and fee increase for fiscal year 2008-09. At the meeting of November 14, 2007, the Street Artists Committee had directed Mr. Lazar to produce a new budget proposal reflecting a $25,000 decrease due to elimination of several items which had been previously requested by artists and commissioners, and to propose a new fee that would fully support the budget. Now, having done so, Mr. Lazar will be presenting a proposal to the Executive Committee on Tuesday, January 15, 2008, at 3:30 p.m. in the Arts Commission’s Conference Room, Suite 70. He stated that the proposed annual fee is $500.60, an increase of $81.40, and the proposed quarterly fee is $125.15, representing a 19% increase—instead of the previously proposed 39% increase—over the present fee.
As before, Mr. Lazar again stated that even if next year’s budget figure were to be exactly the same as the current year’s figure, the artists would still have to pay a fee increase next year because the Program would no longer have the benefit of drawing from a balance of accumulated fee savings to augment its annual fee revenue. By the end of the current fiscal year, the fee savings will be depleted, and next year’s budget will have to be supported entirely by its annual fee revenue. This was, he said, what he had publicly predicted for 2008-09 four years previously.
- New business.
Street Artist Michael Addario requested to know the figure for the Program’s “cash on hand.”
Through the Chair, Mr. Lazar responded that the current revenue, from July 1, 2007 to the present, was approximately $89,000. He added that typically the Program experiences a decrease in revenue during the months of January through March.
Street Artist Kathy Hallinan stated that an important part of the Street Artists Program is what the artists do to obtain their sales spaces. A Lottery Committee of artists, drawn by lot, has the job of lotterizing the spaces on a daily basis and verifying the artists’ certificates. On any day, the Lottery Committee members’ commitment to these jobs may extend from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. In the past, the Lottery Committee would have meetings; Ms. Hallinan wanted to see the resumption of regular monthly meetings, as the Lottery Committee is an “important medium entity between the street artists, the bluebook of rules, and the Arts Commission.”
Ms. Hallinan went on to describe a situation of some committee members performing only 1% of their assigned lotteries and only on “the very best dates, maybe Saturday or Sunday, or maybe just Christmas, and that’s it.” What happens, she said, is that such committee people give away the bulk of the lotteries they do not wish to perform, and “only give them to the people” [other Lottery Committee members] who “they like.” She said that it is “an intrinsically unfair system” whereby some members may end up having only two Saturday lotteries during their committee term while other members may have as many as eleven or thirteen. While this situation has not been addressed in the past, Ms. Hallinan wanted to see it addressed now. If the Lottery Committee would resume its meetings, there would be a review of current rules and possibly a drafting and submitting to the Street Artists Committee proposed rules, one of which would ensure that all members of Lottery Committee would receive and conduct the same number of lotteries.
Ms. Hallinan also stated that, if an artist serves on the Lottery Committee, the artist should be obliged to show up at the artist’s lotteries for two-thirds or three-quarters of the artist’s term. If the artist cannot fulfill this, Ms. Hallinan would propose a rule to dismiss the artist from the committee.
Commissioner Lloyd recommended that Ms. Hallinan make her proposal in writing to the Program Director for consideration by the Program Committee, and that the proposal reflect support by a majority of the artists.
Mr. Lazar stated that he had attended the last Lottery Committee meeting in which he had stated that he would be happy to meet with the members again in order to finalize a proposal that would reflect the members’ support and be worthy of the Commissioners’ consideration.
Street Artist Paula Datesh stated that she was attending today’s meeting “in an effort to clear my name and to document the slander” of remarks made by others regarding her alleged activities in the Street Artists Program. “I go on record,” she said, “and state to you that personally I do not know” [street artist] “Mr. Addario … and I’m here to tell you that … the first meeting that I attended, it came as a shock to me, since … he had not bothered to do much research, and most of what he said was slander; there was no proof to it. … I had to go before the full Arts Commission, and he gave an abbreviated version which was again a shock, but I was prepared for it. Two people came and spoke on my behalf, but it didn’t seem to go over very well because, in my opinion, they” [the Arts Commissioners] “had already made up their minds based on slander. …But here … I just want to clarify a lot of things. First off, the reason why I felt that I won at the Appeals Board was because … Mr. Addario had failed to prepare his case; he had no proof of allegations … and it was clear to everyone there that it was slander. It was very personally damaging to me, and I wouldn’t wish that on anybody. If he had proof, then of course there would have been a case. … At your last meeting he called it a devastating defeat; well, maybe he should look to himself for that. …”
Ms. Datesh continued: “Then he” [Mr. Addario] “went on to say that I contacted both him and his sister-in-law. I don’t know anything about that, and I’d like to see proof of that. … It has for me been very, very hard. Tad Sky came forward during that proceeding, and he presented a lot of verbiage but had nothing to back it up. Because it didn’t happen. I just want to go on record saying that. … And again Mike Addario goes on and on and on, creating in my view huge problems that are not taking place, because he has not bothered to research the situation but seems to want to slander me in every shape or form.”
Ms. Datesh remarked that Commissioner Melania had stated, in the minutes “of the first meeting that I didn’t show remorse for what I had done. I’m sorry, but I didn’t do what I was charged with. What really happened that day—it was almost four years ago—at the lottery” run by Susan Pete who “assigned three people to the same space; it was on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving … I would like to see in the future, since it has been so hurtful, so damaging to me, Mr. Addario research a little better before he speaks, that he comes up with facts before he speaks. …”
Street Artist Michael Addario announced that street artist Fernando Hechavarria has been chosen for the Hearts and Heroes Award of San Francisco General Hospital; this follows the Arts Commission’s commendation of Mr. Hechavarria for his act of bravery. He will be featured in a gala event in Union Square.
In response to a question by Mr. Addario, Commissioner Lloyd clarified that Jose Cuellar had recently resigned from the Arts Commission.
Mr. Addario further asked if Street Artists Program Associate Evelyn Russell was presently in the building. Program Director Lazar replied that she was not present due to her restraining order against Ms. Datesh and the City Attorney’s advice that Ms. Russell not be present when Ms. Datesh exercises her right to address her government.
Mr. Addario stated that there have been “multiple reports of Ms. Datesh selling in front of Gucci’s illegally; this has been brought to Howard’s attention; also one of the screeners had seen her and made a documented report; we have not seen this yet; apparently it was the date after she got screened, selling in an illegal space.”
Mr. Addario stated that he felt the matter should go on the agenda.
Commissioner Lloyd responded that there was a very specific process involved in submitting a case of violation. He advised Mr. Addario to bring specific evidence to the Program Director, and, if the evidence is substantial, action would be taken.
Street Artist Paula Datesh stated that there was an informal agreement, that “on Sundays between two and four, when there is an anti-fur protest in front of Neiman Marcus, street artists who have lottery tickets are able to go to a specific area in front of Gucci’s. … I asked about it. Eddy came by; I told him about it” and it was acceptable.
There being neither further new business nor public comment, Commissioner Lloyd adjourned the meeting at 3:35 p.m.
Respectfully submitted:
Howard Lazar
Street Artists Program Director
January 30, 2008
