Major Public Affairs Wins

BOMA’s Victories Protect CRE from Harmful Legislation

by David Harrison, BOMA SF Manager of Government and Public Affairs

This year BOMA faced several public affairs challenges presented by COVID-19 and a legislative majority at the local and state level that rarely agrees with the business community’s priorities. As the City strives to recover from record high vacancies and sublease space available, BOMA SF champions the importance of downtown San Francisco as an engine of economic growth.

Our association advocates for policies that will support downtown’s recovery, ensures that our members and their tenants feel safe, and promotes collaboration that drives public-private collaboration rather than short-sighted or potentially damaging proposals. Highlights of this year’s victories include: 3 Back Rent Ordinance Modifications – BOMA SF negotiated an amendment to San Francisco Supervisor Dean Preston’s COVID-19 Back Rent Ordinance which would have canceled back rent due by many businesses for the period in which they were ordered closed due to public health orders. The amendment exempted the overwhelming majority of our members who had already entered good-faith agreements with their tenants. 3 Defeat of HVAC Mandate – BOMA SF helped to defeat Supervisor Ahsha Safai’s emergency HVAC legislation which would have enforced a strict ventilation mandate that could have increased buildings’ energy consumption by up to 40%. 3 Commercial Lease Legislation Defeated – Working with BOMA California, BOMA SF successfully defeated AB 255, which would have negatively impacted commercial leases and undermined legitimate contracts to create unnecessary lawsuits. 3 Expensive CARB Regulations Quashed – Collaborating with BOMA California, BOMA SF helped defeat AB 1395. The bill would have mandated expensive regulations by directing the California Air Resources Board to establish a new climate reduction target of 90% below 1990 levels by 2045 with no clear pathway to achieving the goal or studying the economic impact. Ensuring the Voice of CRE Is Heard

n BOMA SF CEO John Bryant testified on the state of commercial real estate in a hearing before the San Francisco Board of Supervisors’ Land Use and Transportation Committee. n BOMA SF staff and board consistently met with and communicated concerns about the pandemic to local and state health officials. We ensured that members received proper guidance on all public health orders and that public officials understood how policies affected our buildings. Economic Recovery Advocacy

n BOMA SF successfully advocated for the Commercial Rent Relief Fund, a grant fund that provides loans to certain small business commercial tenants to cover a portion of their back rent owed due to COVID-19 hardships. n We supported Mayor Breed’s Small Business Recovery Act, which will streamline the permitting and conditional use processes to reactive vacant spaces. Crime and Safety

n BOMA SF testified about crime and safety during the San Francisco Board of Supervisors’ budget hearings to ensure that funding for foot patrol officers and new police academy classes weren’t further decreased in this year’s budget. n Working with the Breed Administration, BOMA SF championed the mayor’s investment in public safety

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DEI Programs and Events Celebrate Diversity in CRE

In-person networking was back on track with a scavenger hunt held by the BOMA SF Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Committee in September.

“This was the first event of its kind! The scavenger hunt attracted about 75 eager participants who teamed up to complete a variety of ‘missions’ in a 90-minute timeframe,” said Committee Chair Kat Mendoza. “Activities were recorded on an app and uploaded photos were compiled into a slideshow shown during an award ceremony and gathering following the scavenger hunt.

EQUITY Overall, the DEI Scavenger Hunt was a positive success!” At press time, the committee was preparing for the second program in its Candid Conversations series on November 17, which will focus on Unconscious Bias and Microaggressions (see highlights in the next issue of Views.) The committee is working on a survey for BOMA members to discover what DEI-focused programs and topics they would like to learn more about. Also in the works is a DEI resources page on the BOMA SF website. The page will provide articles, best practices, prior DEI Committee webinars and additional sites/resources for members to access any time.

Above: Participants from JLL – Sean Ptaszenski, Tai Viera, Tyler Neumann, Ana Cruz, and Elaine Chan. (More photos page 22.)