Mission business owners voiced familiar complaints about the neighborhood on Thursday’s District 9 Neighborhood Business Summit: too much bureaucracy for city permits, aggressive ticket maids and unlicensed street vendors.
The annual summit, held at the Women’s Building this year, was organized by the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce. It was a chance for business owners to network and talk directly with city agencies.
The dozens of business owners in attendance also had a chance to talk to Supervisor David Campos and Chamber of Commerce CEO Steve Falk.
In a rare moment of agreement between Campos and Falk, they both emphasized the need to jump start the economy in San Francisco through small business.
There are currently 40,000 unemployed San Franciscans, said Falk. He added that studies by the chamber have found that hiring a minimum wage employee for a year cost $10,000 more in San Francisco than in San Mateo or Walnut Creek.
Campos vowed to help out small businesses.
To do this, the city needs to make San Francisco a more business friendly environment, said Gil Payne the owner of Nombe Restaurant on Mission Street.
Payne said he gets a parking ticket every other day when he parks his car in front of his restaurant, on Mission and 21th Street, to unload food.
“It’s like they follow me around,” he said adding that other businesses in the area also complain about it.
The issue of unlicensed street food vendors came up several times, with some owners who opposed them while hot dog street vendor Lucero Muñoz said she is doing honest work.
“They treat me like I am a criminal,” she said about the police who have ticketed her multiple times and asked her to move. “But they don’t say anything about the thugs in the streets.”
Mission District Police Captain Greg Corrales said that enforcement on street food vendors is on a complaint basis and once there is a complaint the officer has to ticket or ask the vendor to leave.
Muñoz is currently trying to get permits through La Cocina, a non-profit that helps entrepreneurs establish their businesses.
Regina Dick-Endrizzi, the executive director for the small business commission said that the current economy has created an influx of street vendors like Muñoz who don’t have the resources to get all the necessary permits.
Campos said that entrepreneurs like Muñoz and others will help the economy pick up, but it is necessary to inform them about the right permits.
Guadalupe Salazar, who runs a health supplement shop on 24th street, said city inspectors have halted her business.
She has not been able to sell her popular shaved ice herbal treats known as minutas for six years because a health inspector told her she needs a sink.
“I already invested $1,000 in a refrigerator that just sits there,” she said. She added that installing the sink would cost $3,000.
Campos encouraged business owners to leave their information with his legislative aide so his office can help them individually.
Working with individual cases is only temporary, said Campos.
“We need to find a long term solution,” he said.