Minutes - June 2021 Board Meeting
Regular Meeting of the Board of Directors
City of San Francisco Japan Center Garage Corporation
(A California Non-profit Public Benefit Corporation)
Thursday, June 17, 2021 – 11:00 a.m.
Zoom Meeting
MINUTES
Present: Green Chang, Rodney Chin, Hagen Choi, Arcadi Kolchak, Vas Kiniris, Kim Kolbe, Keiko Murase, Jerry Ono, Jan Masaoka
Absent: Edward Ong, John Noguchi
Also present: Rob Malone, SFMTA; Claudine Cheng, Corporate Counsel; Richard Hashimoto, Corporate Manager; Solomon Abayneh, IMCO; Greg Viloria, web developer; Grace Horikiri, Japantown CBD
1. Call to Order
In the absence of Board Chair Edward Ong, Director Kirinis chaired the meeting and called the meeting to order at 11:05 am.
2. Approval of Minutes
A motion to approve the minutes of April 15, 2021 was made by Director Chin and seconded by Director Murase. The motion was adopted unanimously.
3. Board President’s Report
On behalf of Board Chair Ong, corporate manager shared that the Community and Marketing Committee has met to discuss the website and that there would be more updates on the website later on in the meeting. In addition, there was a request in the budget proposal to the MTA to reinstate the community and marketing fund account. There would also be more briefing on this later on in the morning.
4. Corporate Manager’s Report
a. Mr. Hashimoto shared the 4 year comparison report/chart which does not include income from CPMC that would distort the revenues. CPMC canceled in December 2020 and the garage lost $840,000/yr. from that source of income.
For the month of May, income increase $200,000 however overall, the garage is down $2.5M cumulatively since the pandemic began. Based on current trend, it is estimated that it would take one year to fully recover.
Transient Vehicles has also increased 31,191 from prior period but is still down 276,613 vehicles.
b. Mr. Hashimoto summarized the 2020-2021 actuals and 2021-2022 projected budgets forecast. The projected revenue increase of 42% is based on the current trend. Despite the termination of CPMC contract, we do anticipate continuous increase in monthly parking since more people will be back to work.
c. On the expense side and regarding the position of the administrative assistant, the MTA did not think that the position should be reinstated and will continue the furlough for another six months. The administrative assistant was a 20-year veteran who made numerous contributions including the customization of corporate spreadsheets among other much needed tasks.
Further on the expenses side, we anticipate a 49% increase in office supplies as a result of replacement of office computers, a 33% increase in parking operation and a drop in legal service fees.
Directors’ discussions:
Director Masaoka commented on the importance of having an administrative assistant and to maintain the checks and balances of the corporation.
Director Masaoka also mentioned the projected expenses seems fairly low to the anticipated increase in traffic which does not seem to be in line. Although some expenses may be fixed there are variables to consider to the growing demand.
Mr. Hashimoto added that part of the discussion is whether the administrative assistant should be classified as a “clerk” since she performs clerical and bookkeeping duties. As for the expenses, it is hoped that the revenues will continue to increase as projected so that some services can then be restored.
d. In order to attract visitors back to Japantown, the Japantown Merchants Association launched a Customer Appreciation Month with a drawing of prizes.
e. The Geary Rapid Transit Project was near completion. The four lanes were restriped to two traffic lanes and a dedicated bus lane. There is also a dedicated right-turn lane going into the garage. The red bus only lane will be installed by the end of summer. Meanwhile, the new Buchanan crosswalk was delayed but should be completed soon. The crosswalk at Webster Street has been completed.
Questions from directors:
Director Kirinis asked if there is any signage for the Customer Merchants Appreciation Month.
Mr. Hashimoto indicated that the information is available on sfjapantown.org website and posters with QR code that will link Wi-Fi enabled devices to the website.
5. Corporate Counsel’s Report
Corporate counsel did not have any specific report on legal matters.
6. Treasurer’s Report
Director Chin presented a summary as well as the actual to budget for 2021 and forecast for 2022. Due to the CPMC contract termination, there was a loss of $840K and it would take time to recover. He asked for Board acceptance of the February Financial Statement. A motion to approve was made by Director Choi and seconded by Director Ono. The motion was unanimously adopted.
A second motion to accept the March Financial Statement was made by Director Choi and seconded by Director Kolchak. The motion was unanimously adopted.
Director Chin also stated that he was asked by the corporate auditor whether he has knowledge of any fraud activity or questionable practices and the answer was in the negative.
7. SFMTA Update
Rob Malone provided the following updates:
On economic activities, the MTA was happy to see increases in activities in economic recovery and also the board’s willingness to collaborate during the pandemic over the past sixteen months. In terms of the overall budget, the overall portfolio was similar to that of Japantown, with an increase of about 65-68% of pre-pandemic numbers. However, there are still lots of unknown factors including people’s choices of transportation.
Regarding the administrative assistant, there have been numerous hard choices facing all 21 garages involving reductions in staffing. Prior to the pandemic, there were approximately 185 FTEs and is now at 77.
In terms of overall projection, the PARC system is at every city garage and this state-of-the-art technology comes with lots of efficiencies. The garages were asked to maintain current staffing plans and reviews would be conducted from month to month. The MTA will keep close watch on the situation and as soon as it is warranted, it would revisit the staffing issue. Mr. Malone also stated that the MTA did understand the challenges and effects the staffing reductions have had with real people’s lives.
Mr. Hashimoto thanked Mr. Malone for the MTA’s compassion for the garage’s staff and extending the current furlough.
8. Website Update
Greg Viloria provided an update and see attached.
The highlights included a 275% increase in viewers in the second quarter over the first quarter of the year at 2.9K and over 100% increase in sessions. There were 23,687 views generated from Google maps in one month which is fairly high. Overall, the website has been successful thus far with the increased usage. In August, the website would arrive at its one-year anniversary and more review will be conducted to review the progress during the year.
Directors’ discussions:
Director Masaoka suggested that there can be more cross promotion of the websites between community organizations and merchants. Mr. Viloria will look into this great suggestion.
Director Kirinis suggested adding a link to the Fillmore Merchants Association.
Director Murase suggested tracking the correlation between traffic to the website and actual traffic to the garage. This could determine what is working and what is not in terms of garage use. Mr. Viloria will provide more data on this at the next meeting.
9. Community Updates
Japantown Task Force – In the absence of Mr. Steve Nakajo, a one page narrative was summarized by the Mr. Hashimoto.
Japantown CBD – Grace Horikiri provided the following highlights:
Covid testing continues on June 25, July 9 and 30 on the Peace Plaza.
A new community coalition was formed to focus on public safety and will be working closely with SFPD. There is a townhall scheduled on June 24 at 5 pm.
The Nihonmachi Street Fair will be taking place with a pop-up event on July 17, Aloha by the Bay Concert on July 31 and street fair with tables for nonprofits on August 7 and 8.
In conjunction with the street fair, NBC Bay Area will be having an opening and closing ceremonies of the Tokyo Olympics.
Directors’ discussions:
Director Masaoka asked about the number of people that participated in the latest testing and whether there were short videos done about some of the stores. Ms. Horikiri responded that there were about 60 tests administered during each testing at the plaza.
Director Masaoka has also acknowledged and shared the short videos with her contacts that promote certain neighborhood businesses including Japantown. Director Kirinis was responsible for those videos and was recognized for his contributions to small businesses. for assistance with promoting small businesses online with his short videos through NextSF.
Director Chin asked if the Covid test is open to all including those that were vaccinated and Ms. Horikiri responded affirmatively.
10. Garage Operations and Security Report
Mr. Abayneh summarized the highlights of the past two months.
a. There were 4 reported vehicle break ins in April and 22 in April.
b. During the past two months, there have been 33 incidents of homeless and suspicious activity in the garage.
c. On June 1, there was an incident of vandalism that was captured on video. Director Chin inquired if this incident was in anyway related to a hate crime. It does not appear to be related to a hate crime.
Director Murase asked about the rumor that Hotel Buchanan would be converted to affordable housing. Ms. Horikiri responded that the hotel has been used as a temporary homeless shelter (about 175 residents) since last October and several community groups are in constant contact with the service provider. When the programs ends, the hotel will likely not be open for guests until it has been properly serviced and sanitized which could take up to four months possibly by Spring of next year. There are no plans to convert the hotel to affordable housing.
Director Kirinis asked if there was increase in trash and loitering in the area from hotel residents. Ms. Horikiri stated that most of the homeless residents had a job and not wandering in the neighborhood. Also, the community ambassadors of the CBD have been doing a good job keeping the neighborhood clean.
11. Possible Closed Session
Corporate Counsel confirmed that there was no need for a closed session.
12. General public comment
Mr. Hashimoto stated that there were no members of the public in queue to give public comment.
13. Announcements
Ms. Horikiri mentioned NBC Bay Area and the community center is hosting the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics on the Peace Plaza for Friday, July 23.
14. Adjournment
A motion to adjourn at 12:25 was made by Director Ono and seconded by Director Chin. The motion was adopted unanimously.
Respectfully,
Jan Masaoka
Secretary