"The City Is Safe"
Oct 23, 2001, 10:37 am
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"The City Is Safe"
San Francisco -- A somber but optimistic San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown attempted to ease public fears about terrorist threats, anthrax and the struggling economy yesterday in his sixth and perhaps most challenging annual State of the City address.
Brown, speaking before the Board of Supervisors at City Hall, started with a moment of silence for the victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, then praised local firefighters, police and other city workers who have responded in recent weeks to scores of bomb threats and anthrax scares.
"This city is safe," stressed the mayor, who wore an American flag pin in the lapel of his pinstripe suit. "There is no reason for anybody to panic. The only thing that is contagious about what is going on now is panic."
Brown was a target of an anthrax hoax last week when a staff member opened an envelope addressed to him that contained white powder. Still, he told residents to think before they call 911 about powdery substances.
"When you walk on the streets and you see white dust by a construction site,
be alert but think for a moment," he said. "Don't become so panic stricken that at every opportunity you make a call, because you are taxing the resources."
During past state of the city addresses, Brown has enjoyed breaking good news about a booming economy. But this time the mayor, who identified in the audience three hotel workers who have been laid off or are working reduced hours, placed heavy emphasis on optimism during uncertain times.
City officials are projecting a $100 million shortage in the city's budget, the largest budget ever. The shortfall is a result partly of the slumping dot- com economy and partly because tourism has gone soft in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks. Hotel and restaurant business is down.
But Brown said there will be no layoffs at City Hall and he has plans to bring in new revenue.
With so many people giving up airline travel since the attacks, Brown announced a campaign to draw regional visitors to the city. From Nov. 11 through 17, San Francisco shops, restaurants and hotels will offer discounts and specials to draw tourists from California.
Although business has slowly improved since Sept. 11, restaurants and hotels welcomed the mayor's campaign.
Patricia Breslin, executive director of the Golden Gate Restaurant Association, said preliminary results of a local restaurant survey show those with fewer than 50 employees have cut their staffs by an average of 4 percent since last September. Larger restaurants have cut their staffs by 13 percent. Restaurants in the Financial District and tourist areas are suffering the most.
"People are staying closer to home," Breslin said.
Dining room attendant Kevin White, who was laid off from the Holiday Inn at Fisherman's Wharf, listened closely to the mayor's plans to boost tourism.
"All you can do is hope," said White, who is supporting a wife and five children.
Brown pledged to help local labor unions raise $500,000 to pay for continued health insurance for out-of-work service industry employees such as White.
He also announced that he will be traveling on a trade mission to China in a few days.
The mayor tried to allay concerns about growing vacancies in office space by announcing that the biotechnology firm Signature BioScience of Hayward is moving its 150 employees into San Francisco's South of Market area.
"We can make that space readily available, (market it) aggressively, to this new world of biotechnology," he said.
San Francisco is trying to build a reputation as a biotech center, with the University of California building a second campus for research in the Mission Bay development near the waterfront.
Supervisor Mark Leno called Brown's speech "a classically optimistic outlook" that reflects the need for stability.
"He reassured the city, and told us that the city will be refocused and re- energized," said Leno, who chairs the board's Finance Committee. Leno said that message is important right now, "to bring the kind of energy that will assure our city will not fall."
Brown also announced plans to fast-track several projects he has proposed in the past, including creating a modern transit hub to replace the rundown Transbay bus terminal downtown. The mayor said he is lobbying the state to give the land free to San Francisco in exchange for some of the future revenues the facility might generate.
He also wants to quicken the pace of building affordable housing and the projects on Treasure Island and at the former Hunters Point Naval Shipyard.
The mayor did not address the Chamber of Commerce's call last week for the city to move faster on other projects that have been in the pipeline for years and could bring more than $2 billion to the economy.
But Roberta Achtenberg of the chamber said yesterday that she believes that Brown agrees with the group and will soon announce a task force that would provide monthly progress reports on projects such as the promised 49ers stadium and mall, a cruise ship terminal and a new de Young Museum.
Board of Supervisors President Tom Ammiano said he was pleased that Brown offered the board "an olive branch" by saying he would listen to the supervisors' ideas on how to improve San Francisco's economy and alter the city's hard-hit budget.
Supervisor Chris Daly, one of the mayor's most persistent critics, was less than impressed and expressed concern about the focus on biotechnology to save the city from economic doldrums.
"It seems all he's doing is switching bio tech for high tech," Daly said. "It has its place, but we really have to be looking at a more diversified economy . . . that includes micro-enterprises and small businesses."
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STATE OF THE CITY
San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown focused his sixth annual state of the city address on economic and public safety fallout since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. He announced:
- San Francisco is in "as good of shape as you can possibly get" to handle the threat of more terrorism and anthrax scares.
- To boost tourism, shops, restaurants and hotels will offer discounts and specials between Nov. 11-17.
- A 150-employee biotechnology company, Signature BioScience of Hayward, is moving into vacant office space South of Market Street.
- To speed up new housing, the city Redevelopment Agency will take over developing plans for affordable housing. Nonprofit housing developers currently do that job.
- He is lobbying Gov. Davis for the state to turn over the Transbay terminal property for free so Brown can turn it into a modern transportation hub.
- There will be no layoffs at City Hall. Brown is looking to pull funds from a few projects, such as the War Memorial building restoration, to backfill the general fund.
Brown, speaking before the Board of Supervisors at City Hall, started with a moment of silence for the victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, then praised local firefighters, police and other city workers who have responded in recent weeks to scores of bomb threats and anthrax scares.
"This city is safe," stressed the mayor, who wore an American flag pin in the lapel of his pinstripe suit. "There is no reason for anybody to panic. The only thing that is contagious about what is going on now is panic."
Brown was a target of an anthrax hoax last week when a staff member opened an envelope addressed to him that contained white powder. Still, he told residents to think before they call 911 about powdery substances.
"When you walk on the streets and you see white dust by a construction site,
be alert but think for a moment," he said. "Don't become so panic stricken that at every opportunity you make a call, because you are taxing the resources."
During past state of the city addresses, Brown has enjoyed breaking good news about a booming economy. But this time the mayor, who identified in the audience three hotel workers who have been laid off or are working reduced hours, placed heavy emphasis on optimism during uncertain times.
City officials are projecting a $100 million shortage in the city's budget, the largest budget ever. The shortfall is a result partly of the slumping dot- com economy and partly because tourism has gone soft in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks. Hotel and restaurant business is down.
But Brown said there will be no layoffs at City Hall and he has plans to bring in new revenue.
With so many people giving up airline travel since the attacks, Brown announced a campaign to draw regional visitors to the city. From Nov. 11 through 17, San Francisco shops, restaurants and hotels will offer discounts and specials to draw tourists from California.
Although business has slowly improved since Sept. 11, restaurants and hotels welcomed the mayor's campaign.
Patricia Breslin, executive director of the Golden Gate Restaurant Association, said preliminary results of a local restaurant survey show those with fewer than 50 employees have cut their staffs by an average of 4 percent since last September. Larger restaurants have cut their staffs by 13 percent. Restaurants in the Financial District and tourist areas are suffering the most.
"People are staying closer to home," Breslin said.
Dining room attendant Kevin White, who was laid off from the Holiday Inn at Fisherman's Wharf, listened closely to the mayor's plans to boost tourism.
"All you can do is hope," said White, who is supporting a wife and five children.
Brown pledged to help local labor unions raise $500,000 to pay for continued health insurance for out-of-work service industry employees such as White.
He also announced that he will be traveling on a trade mission to China in a few days.
The mayor tried to allay concerns about growing vacancies in office space by announcing that the biotechnology firm Signature BioScience of Hayward is moving its 150 employees into San Francisco's South of Market area.
"We can make that space readily available, (market it) aggressively, to this new world of biotechnology," he said.
San Francisco is trying to build a reputation as a biotech center, with the University of California building a second campus for research in the Mission Bay development near the waterfront.
Supervisor Mark Leno called Brown's speech "a classically optimistic outlook" that reflects the need for stability.
"He reassured the city, and told us that the city will be refocused and re- energized," said Leno, who chairs the board's Finance Committee. Leno said that message is important right now, "to bring the kind of energy that will assure our city will not fall."
Brown also announced plans to fast-track several projects he has proposed in the past, including creating a modern transit hub to replace the rundown Transbay bus terminal downtown. The mayor said he is lobbying the state to give the land free to San Francisco in exchange for some of the future revenues the facility might generate.
He also wants to quicken the pace of building affordable housing and the projects on Treasure Island and at the former Hunters Point Naval Shipyard.
The mayor did not address the Chamber of Commerce's call last week for the city to move faster on other projects that have been in the pipeline for years and could bring more than $2 billion to the economy.
But Roberta Achtenberg of the chamber said yesterday that she believes that Brown agrees with the group and will soon announce a task force that would provide monthly progress reports on projects such as the promised 49ers stadium and mall, a cruise ship terminal and a new de Young Museum.
Board of Supervisors President Tom Ammiano said he was pleased that Brown offered the board "an olive branch" by saying he would listen to the supervisors' ideas on how to improve San Francisco's economy and alter the city's hard-hit budget.
Supervisor Chris Daly, one of the mayor's most persistent critics, was less than impressed and expressed concern about the focus on biotechnology to save the city from economic doldrums.
"It seems all he's doing is switching bio tech for high tech," Daly said. "It has its place, but we really have to be looking at a more diversified economy . . . that includes micro-enterprises and small businesses."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
STATE OF THE CITY
San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown focused his sixth annual state of the city address on economic and public safety fallout since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. He announced:
- San Francisco is in "as good of shape as you can possibly get" to handle the threat of more terrorism and anthrax scares.
- To boost tourism, shops, restaurants and hotels will offer discounts and specials between Nov. 11-17.
- A 150-employee biotechnology company, Signature BioScience of Hayward, is moving into vacant office space South of Market Street.
- To speed up new housing, the city Redevelopment Agency will take over developing plans for affordable housing. Nonprofit housing developers currently do that job.
- He is lobbying Gov. Davis for the state to turn over the Transbay terminal property for free so Brown can turn it into a modern transportation hub.
- There will be no layoffs at City Hall. Brown is looking to pull funds from a few projects, such as the War Memorial building restoration, to backfill the general fund.
