1. Roll Call
 

Tad Sky said that the feasibility study reported that the Program is running a deficit and that the general fund has been covering the program. He asked if this will continue and, if it doesn’t continue, he said that there are only about 300 paying artists and, with the Mayor reporting that the general fund is in a deficit; the program will have a serious problem in terms of the cost of the license fee if the general fund doesn’t cover the program deficit. He said that if there is no general fund money, a license fee could increase to $1,350 and if more artists drop out, the license fee could go up to $2,000 which, he said, is pretty high. He said that we need to address this big issue because, if we don’t fix it, we could be without a program.

Michael Trachiotis thanked the Program for being available. He said the community, artists and people he meets is a wonderful experience for him and the main reason he sells is for therapy aside making money. He said he wants to find out why the artists have no rights in terms of standing up for their businesses, and why artists are scared to lose their spots if they complain. He said that the City has no agreement so the artists can be booted at any time. He said he’s standing up for the artists who are afraid to speak their minds. He said that the artists are veterans, parents, and families working hard to make money. He said the artists were left hanging. He said that the NFL is a billion dollar corporation and that the artists could have been part of the event and that the Arts Commission could have had money to clean up the deficit. He said that if he would have been negotiating, the NFL would have been supporting the artists. He said that he’s more than an artist; he’s an entrepreneur, a business man, has a graduate degree and a master’s degree, and owned an ad agency. He said that he’s not getting kicked out of business without a word and without any compensation.

Ralph Anderson said he is a soon–to-be 74 year old senior citizen with a small retirement income. He said he’s been selling his art for 20 years at Justin Herman Plaza and that his sales are a means to augment his income so he can live in San Francisco. He said he recently renewed his license and now the viable place he’s established to sell at is not available for a month. He said that his concern isn’t just being unemployed for a month but that there are no other viable spaces as good substitutes. He said that almost no effort was made and Park and Recreation closed the artists off cavalierly. He said that many artists rely on sales at Justin Herman Plaza as a main source of income. He said he feels betrayed by Park and Recreation and the Arts Commission since they didn’t make a serious effort for replacement opportunities and that other artists feel the same way. He said there is a movement to ask the City to pay the artists for their lost wages.

Abby Ellis has been a street artist since the beginning of the program. She said she thinks a lot of artists didn’t attend the meeting today because it’s the first sunny day in a while. She said she never sold at Justin Herman Plaza but was shocked to hear of the closure especially after a rainy Christmas. She said she is shocked that, relating to the feasibility study, that anyone would suggest that artists only work 3 days a week. She said she thinks that artists dropping out of program are because of the economy. She said she thinks the Arts Commission has done a good job. She thinks that the Committee needs to meet more than a month in order to get things accomplished.

Maria Hillius said she’s been a street artist for 26 years. She said that she’s a lottery committee member at Justin Herman Plaza. She said that the Committee has been announcing the closure of Justin Herman Plaza to the artists since September. She said that the artists as a group didn’t take any action in September to figure out why and to make sure they would have a place to sell.


3. Street Artists Program Director’s Report.
Discussion.

Program Director Lazar reported the following:

Board of Appeals: Mr. Manuel Loli’s appeal hearing to overrule the Arts Commission’s decision to deny renewal of his street artist certificate was held on December 9. Program Director Lazar submitted an 87-page brief in response to Mr. Loli’s “Statement of Appeal”. Program Director Lazar thanked Commission Sklar and Deputy Director Krell for attending the hearing. He reported that the Board of Appeals unanimously denied Mr. Loli’s appeal and upheld the Art Commission’s decision.

Winter Walk: This was the first season that the Street Artists Program partnered with the Union Square Business Improvement District to have street artists sell their wares during the “Winter Walk”. The artists who participated expressed appreciation for the opportunity and asked if they could participate next year. Street Artists Program staff met with Union Square BID staff to discuss the “Winter Walk” and how procedures could be improved upon. Program Director said that Street Artist Program staff and Union Square BID staff agreed that if the “Winter Walk” will take place next year, the artists will be included.

Super Bowl Update: This event will bring funds to the City which, through hotel tax, will support the art throughout the City. He said that the artists were notified that they will not be allowed to sell in Justin Herman Plaza or the stretch on Market Street before the Plaza because of the construction of Super Bowl City from January 23 to February 10. He said, in lieu of this, the Super Bowl Host Committee has created 10 temporary locations for artists to participate in the “Super Bowl Community Art Walk” on Market Street between 3^rd and 4^th streets. He said that each space is 10 x 10’ which is the same size displays used by Justin Herman Plaza artists. He said staff informed the artists that a pool of 90 artists will be selected by Arts Commission staff which will also involve a lottery system. He said that artists had to let Program staff know if they wished to be considered and that 70 artists responded with interest.

Feasibility Study: The Street Artists Committee will hold a meeting on February 18 to discuss the implementation of the feasibility study recommendations; specifically the recommendations that don’t require legislative action. At the meeting, staff will publish a plan that need to be done to implement these recommendations. He strongly urged all artists to attend and said that their input is crucial to the decisions of the Arts Commission relating to these recommendations.

Commissioner Sklar said that previous opinions about the recommendations will be incorporated into the discussion at the February meeting. She noted that we are part of the City’s community budget and we must look at it to protect program. She said that it’s unfortunate that Justin Herman Plaza is closed but we are part of a community and that there will be displacement from time to time because it’s not Arts Commission property. She said that she recognizes that these type of events help support our City so it is a give and take situation. She said that she hopes to move forward with figuring out how to plan for future incidents. She said that going to the Board of Appeals was a way to establish and protect the reputation of the artists.

Commissioner Shelby discussed the need for compensation when artists are displaced and both Commissioner Chew and Shelby encouraged staff to find a way for artists to get compensated if future displacement arises.

Commissioner Chew said he encouraged Commissioners at the December full Commission meeting to do their holiday shopping with the street artists.

Commissioner Frankel asked if there were any areas closer to Super Bowl City for the alternative spaces.

Program Director Lazar said that he was not involved in making that decision. He said he attended a meeting with other City departments where he explained that he wanted to see compensation for the artists. He said that in 1999 he negotiated an agreement for artists to be compensated when displaced for a film. He said decisions come from his supervisor and that the Arts Commission has a history of standing up for street artists.

Public Comment:

Abby Ellis said that she noticed that specifications for the extra Market Street spaces have tents and large displays that would need a car or van. She said that she thinks the program is favoring people with cars and vans. She said that she doesn’t have a car and many others don’t either. She asked about program implementations from the feasibility study. She said she doesn’t understand why we are talking about the steps to implement but that we should be asking if we should implement the recommendations or not.

Michael Trachiotis thanked the Commission for the opportunity to speak. He said that the artists did hear in September that Super Bowl City was coming but no specific details were given. He said that the only official e-mail from the Arts Commission was received on January 4. He said that artists were given 4 days to respond to be part of the event which, he said, is not a lot of time. He said that 10 replacement spots are not acceptable when 300 artists have no place to go. He said that his t-shirts are not allowed even though he uses technology and an app he created. He said he thinks it’s wonderful that staff has stood up for artists in the past but he said that this displacement is no different than a film shoot. He said he wants to know why no one is getting the artists money. He said that it is logical to reimburse the artists and that there is no next time. He said he’s planning to protest since they’re taking money away from him. He said that his display is specifically designed to sell at Justin Herman Plaza and he has nowhere to sell.

Tad Sky thanked the Arts Commission for going to the Board of Appeals. He said that staff should not feel bad because an artist who has gotten to the Board of Appeals have gotten a lot of leeway before they get that far. He said there needs to have better coordination between Arts Commission and artists when events come up. He said that a manager used to help coordinate. He said that Justin Herman Plaza is owned by Park and Recreation while the Market Street spaces are City property. He said, in the future, they should coordinate for compensation as has been done with a film company. He said that we could have done better at either compensating artists or finding temporary replacement spaces which are closer to the event. He said there are a lot of legal spaces near the event corridor that artists can use. He suggested that program staff inform artists of other, legal spaces. He said that there are a lot of different places to work in the program but once in a while artists will get displaced.
 

4. New Business and Announcements.
Discussion.

Program Director Lazar announced the Street Artists Committee will be meeting on February 18 at 2:30 p.m.

Commissioner Sklar said that she did do some of her Christmas shopping with the artists and that it was miserable weather.

Public Comment:

Abby Ellis said that it is hard to get here but she suggested that the meeting time be moved to 4 p.m. so artists don’t have to miss a day of work.

Tad Sky said that 2:30 p.m. is a good meeting time. He asked about the format for the February 18^th meeting.

Program Director Lazar responded that his understanding is that the Committee is considering recommendations that could be implemented based on not taking legal action. He said that he thinks that the Committee would come up with a body of recommendations to vote on once the recommendations have been discussed.

Phyllis Williams asked if there will be an agenda. She thanked the Arts Commission for all of the hard work and what could be done for the artists in regards to the Super Bowl.

Program Director Lazar confirmed that there will be an agenda for the meeting.

Michael Trachiotis asked who was responsible for negotiating the Super Bowl deal, and asked who was responsible for any and all payments generated between the City and Super Bowl Committee. He said that it seems like someone tells them what to do and they follow the decisions. He wants to know when the Super Bowl decision was made and wants to know why the artists weren’t taken into consideration or even included in the Super Bowl negotiations. He said he came to the meeting to find out these answers and to talk to this person. He said that if there’s an understanding of the process of how the decisions are made, an acrimonious situation can turn into a positive situation. He said that if Commissioners don’t want him to picket or want national media, compensation for the artists needs to be arranged.

Maria Sky said that the Justin Herman Plaza Lottery Committee gets disrespected continually because the Arts Commission can’t back them up. She said the Program needs to resolve this situation. She said that Program Director Lazar said that he can’t do anything about the fights or disrespect. She said Justin Herman Plaza is the prime place for artists to sell and the problem has been ignored. She said that they need to get the Plaza as part of the official selling spaces and not a grey area.


5.    Adjournment.
Action.

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 3:50 p.m.