Q&A
Navigating bureaucracy for public space activation
0:51:17
·
3 min
Council Member Feliz inquires about bureaucratic challenges in public space activation and how SBS helps organizations navigate them. Calvin Brown from SBS explains their efforts to streamline processes and remove barriers for organizations.
- SBS works with the chief public realm officer and interagency partners to help organizations navigate the permitting process
- They aim to streamline processes by identifying overlaps and reducing bureaucratic barriers
- SBS acts as an intermediary, elevating concerns from partners to relevant agencies and discussing potential legislative changes
- Efforts are being made to address insurance requirements, which can be a burden for limited capacity organizations
- Regular engagement with community-based partners and BIDs helps identify and address ongoing challenges
Oswald Feliz
0:51:17
Right.
0:51:18
Okay.
0:51:18
Cool.
0:51:19
Sounds good.
0:51:19
Alright.
0:51:20
So, you know, these grants and initiatives are obviously important, but, of course, it's also important that people have meaningful access to the grants and programs And, obviously, as we know, red tape can sometimes go out of the way.
0:51:33
So I just wanna ask some questions on that issue, the issuer red tape.
0:51:40
SPS's mandate includes helping small businesses navigate product requirements and streamline permitting and communications with various agencies.
0:51:48
What has SBS learned from local partners about the aspects of public space activation and cultural programming that are most bureaucratically burdensome?
Calvin Brown
0:51:59
I I think it was alluded to earlier about just the permanent process.
0:52:03
Different agencies have purview over different spaces.
0:52:07
Sometimes it's overlaps.
0:52:08
So working with the chief public realm officer as well as our interagency partners.
0:52:13
We're helping organizations that we work with who want to activate these spaces, navigate that process, and then to kind of brainstorm of how we can sort of streamline that process so that it's not burdensome in terms of who do they need to go to for certain permits.
0:52:28
You know, you may have one agency that is to activate the space.
0:52:31
But if you want to to actually manage that space, it's another agency.
0:52:35
So we're working through some of the those issues to make sure that it's easy.
0:52:41
And removing any of the sort of bureaucratic barriers that may prevent, especially our smaller limited capacity organizations from participating.
Oswald Feliz
0:52:50
Okay.
0:52:50
Can you elaborate on that?
0:52:51
What are different ways that you help different organizations navigate the pure the bureaucracy that sometimes exists.
Calvin Brown
0:52:59
What does it say?
0:53:00
I'm sorry.
0:53:00
Say that again.
Oswald Feliz
0:53:01
Yeah.
0:53:01
What are different ways that you assist these organizations navigate your accuracy?
Calvin Brown
0:53:05
So we do that one because we have regular engagement with these organizations.
0:53:09
Whether they're our community based partners or our bids, we have regular calls, what our bids, regular interactions with these organizations.
0:53:19
So if they're elevating some of these concerns.
0:53:22
These are then concerns that we have when we meet regularly with the public realm officer and DOT to say, hey.
0:53:29
These are some of the concerns that we're hearing from our partners.
0:53:32
Are there ways that we streamline is and if if they require additional conversations or legislative changes, those are conversations that we have.
0:53:39
So it's really about being SPS is being that intermediary to make sure that we can elevate some of the concerns that we're hearing from our partners.
0:53:47
One of the things that we're looking into is a bit inch a bit insurance supplemental relief.
0:53:54
Right?
0:53:55
We know that for our limited capacity organizations, if they wanted to activate space that there's a certain liability that they would have to take on to manage those spaces.
0:54:04
So we're thinking of how can we remove all of those barriers so that those organizations that know the type of program, that program and that gets the community out, the type of program that benefits the small businesses, that they are not burdened by, you know, whether it's insurance or permanent, that they would not be able to activate these spaces that we know will have a positive, net positive spillover effect on the entire community.
