Celebrate the holidays in San Francisco!
Happy holidays! San Francisco is aglow with colorful events and activations this holiday season! Support arts and businesses in your neighborhood by celebrating locally and shopping small! Find family friendly celebrations and neighborhood specific shopping ideas on the Shop Dine SF holiday guide.
News from City Hall
San Francisco Launches Guaranteed Income Program for the Trans Community
This month, San Francisco launched a new guaranteed income program to help address financial insecurity in the transgender community. The Guaranteed Income for Trans People (G.I.F.T.) pilot program will provide 55 low-income transgender San Franciscans with income and wrap-around services, including gender affirming health care, mental health services, and financial coaching. The program, administered by Lyon-Martin Community Health Services and The Transgender District, builds on the City’s efforts to advance economic recovery and build a more just City, especially for our most vulnerable residents. Applications for G.I.F.T. will be accepted until December 15.
Street Cleaning Ramps Up Ahead of the Holidays
San Francisco Public Works is ramping up efforts to create a cleaner, more welcoming environment for residents, merchants, and visitors during the holiday season. Now through the end of the year, Public Works street cleaning crews will perform deep cleaning, such as power washing and sweeping sidewalks and flushing down the streets, in more than a dozen vital neighborhood commercial corridors every week. The coordinated deep cleaning blitz, part of Public Works’ CleanCorridorsSF operation, creates noticeable street cleanliness improvements to help our neighborhoods thrive.
Take the Central Subway to Chinatown, Union Square, Moscone, and CalTrain
The Central Subway is now open for special weekend shuttle service! Board at one of four brand new stations in Chinatown, Union Square, Yerba Buena/Moscone, and 4th and Brannon (near the CalTrain Station).
The special weekend service is fare free until January 1, 2023. Beginning in January, service will increase to seven days a week and extend from Sunnydale to Chinatown.
Resources for Businesses
San Francisco Launches Graffiti Abatement Program
San Francisco just launched a new courtesy graffiti abatement program to support storefronts and other private properties affected by graffiti and improve our neighborhood commercial corridors. Professional crews will wipe out graffiti at no cost to affected property and business owners. To request a courtesy abatement, submit a request through the 311 Customer Service Center.
Moscone Center Draws Visitors to San Francisco
The City-owned Moscone Center welcomes visitors from across the globe to San Francisco, invigorating our local economy. The Moscone Center was recently named the host site for the 2023 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders’ Summit, an event expected to draw thousands of attendees from around the world, with an estimated total economic impact of $36.5 million.
Take a look at upcoming conventions taking place at the Moscone Center in the coming months:
- December 6 – 9: Chemical and Biological Defense Science & Technology Conference
- January 5 – 8: Modern Language Association Annual Convention
- January 19 – 21: Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium
- January 19 – 24: Society of Critical Care Medicine’s Critical Care Congress
- January 27 – February 2: SPIE-Photonics West
- February 6 – 11: Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine Annual Pregnancy Meeting
- February 16 – 18: Genitourinary Cancers Symposium
- March 7 – 8: TrailblazersDX 2023
- March 20 – 24: Game Developers Conference
Important Update for Food-Based Businesses Using 3rd Party Delivery Apps
The rules for 3rd party delivery services have recently changed, impacting the delivery fees businesses pay. Beginning on January 31, 2023, 3rd party delivery services (DoorDash, UberEats, GrubHub, Caviar, etc.) must offer businesses a contract option with a maximum delivery fee of no more than 15%. Businesses are strongly encouraged to proactively opt into a new contract on or before January 30, 2023 to take advantage of the 15% fee option. Otherwise, fees may revert to higher rates on January 31, 2023. Learn more from the Office of Economic and Workforce Development.
Learn about San Francisco Labor Laws
The Office of Labor Standards Enforcement recently released new guidance on the Health Care Accountability Ordinance (HCAO) minimum standards. The law requires most City contractors and tenants (such as those with the Port of San Francisco or SFO) to offer a compliant health plan to covered employees, or otherwise make payments directly to the Department of Public Health or covered employees. Review the new guidance, effective January 1, 2023.
Milestones
San Francisco Wins Digital Cities Award
San Francisco earned a Digital Cities Award from the Center for Digital Government for leading efforts to strengthen cybersecurity, enhance digital equity, and plan for the future of technology. In a national survey of local governments’ use of technology, San Francisco ranked among the top 5 cities with over 500,000 residents. In particular, the award recognizes San Francisco’s work to close the digital divide by delivering free high-speed internet to residents of affordable housing, establish an Office of Cybersecurity, pioneer the use of data through the City’s Open Data Portal, and make City services accessible online on the recently redesigned SF.gov.
Committee on Information Technology Approves City Surveillance Policies
The Committee on Information Technology (COIT) makes decisions regarding the future of San Francisco’s technology. By developing strategic plans, reviewing department privacy and surveillance policies, and supporting planning, budget, and oversight of all City technology, COIT helps to ensure that the City is making smart investments in technology and using innovative solutions to help San Francisco stay safe and thrive.
COIT carefully evaluated and made recommendations on 13 surveillance technology policies on topics such as automatic license plate readers and security cameras. The policies were recently approved by the Board of Supervisors and signed by the Mayor. Learn more about the policies here and here.
Learn More About Your Government - Spotlight on Digital Services
Designing Public Services with Equity and Accessibility in Mind
San Francisco Digital Services works with City departments to make public services easier to use and accessible by all online. Since the office was created in 2016, Digital Services has launched SF.gov, the centralized City website, and redesigned critical services related to affordable housing, economic recovery, permitting, and more.
This year, Digital Services moved more than 80 department websites and thousands of individual webpages onto SF.gov, helping San Franciscans quickly get connected to information and services. SF.gov meets the Digital Accessibility and Inclusion Standard, the Citywide standard for equitable web content and digital service delivery. This means that vital information is written to a fifth-grade reading level and is human-translated into Chinese, Spanish, and Filipino.
During the pandemic, Digital Services built the COVID-19 resources on SF.gov, serving over 1 million users per month. Their work to rapidly transition key City services, such as building permits and grant applications, allowed operations to continue with limited interruption. The real time COVID-19 vaccine finder continues to help as many people get vaccinated as possible.