SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) – Nearly a month after the APEC summit, business owners in San Francisco are demanding the city reimburse them for lost revenue experienced during the week-long security event.
The APEC summit turned much of the South of Market area into a high-security zone, shutting down streets to traffic and requiring credentials for pedestrians. Because of that, some business owners say they lost more than $50,000 worth of business. Many of them spoke out at the Board of Supervisors budget meeting Wednesday.
”San Francisco’s hosting of APEC was exactly what we said it would be for small businesses,” said Manuel Ramirez, owner of Korean fried chicken restaurant Bonchon. ”A complete disruption of our revenue streams and ability to operate.”
Ramirez is one of 50 business owners who signed a petition saying they experienced financial losses during the week of the APEC summit. He says Bonchon made just 20% of its weekly average during the week of Nov. 13.
David Cohen is the CEO of the Grove restaurant – a block away from the Moscone Center, which hosted much of the APEC events. He says his business was disrupted by protests.
"I lost $50,000 in revenue at The Grove. That does not include the lost food,” he said.
Prior to the summit, the board of supervisors urged the mayor’s office to tap into a $10 million fund to financially help businesses. Now, business owners are calling on the city to use that money to give business owners a damage-based stipend within 100 days.
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”100 days because a subsidiary doesn’t help us if we are already closed,” Ramirez said.
Many explained they feel city leaders lied to them when saying the APEC summit would bring an influx of business.
“But in actuality if there was anything close to 20,000 attendees for this event they were all well catered to within the confines of the Moscone Center. That is the key information that was withheld from us. That should have been researched by the city, but we weren't told and if we had all the information and decided to close for the whole event the losses would have been manageable," Ramirez said.
Supervisor Ahsha Safai pointed the finger at the mayor’s office.
”We at the board were not involved in planning APEC,” he said. “It was 100% driven by the mayor’s office, so that is a failure on behalf of the mayor and her team."
The city also estimated APEC would raise $53 million in revenue. Business owners want an audit done to see if that came to fruition.
A representative with the mayor’s office addressed the board saying they are aware of the situation and are working towards a solution.
from KRON4 https://ift.tt/1527RgM
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