Leg Final

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 FILE NO. 240415 AMENEDED IN COMMITTEE 6/6/2024 RESOLUTION NO. 304-24 [Hosting Panda Bears at the San Francisco Zoo -Behested Payment Waiver] Resolution authorizing the Office of the Mayor, Recreation and Park Department, Office of Economic and Workforce Development, San Francisco International Airport, Office of the City Administrator, and the Chief of Protocol to solicit donations from various private entities and organizations to support San Francisco in hosting Panda Bears from the People's Republic of China, notwithstanding the Behested Payment Ordinance. WHEREAS, San Francisco hosted the 30th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation ("APEC") Leaders' Summit, in November, 2023, attended by President Biden and various heads of state from the Pacific Rim; and WHEREAS, APEC showcased San Francisco as a global leader in trade, innovation and culture, highlighted San Francisco's position as a gateway to Asia, and celebrated San Francisco's deep ties to the region, particularly through its Chinese community, as reflected in San Francisco's Chinatown, one of the world's largest and the first in North America; and WHEREAS, APEC was the largest international summit held in San Francisco since the signing of the United Nations Charter in 1945 and provided a forum for President Biden to hold a historic bilateral meeting with President Xi Jin ping of the People's Republic of China where they had a constructive discussion on a range of global issues including cooperating on trade, combating drug trafficking and tackling climate change; and WHEREAS, Right after that meeting President Xi publicly discussed reviving the tradition of "Panda Diplomacy" by sending new Giant Pandas to the United States, particularly California, calling them "envoys of friendship between the Chinese and American peoples" and stating "[w]e are ready to continue our cooperation with the United States on panda Mayor Breed; Supervisors Melgar. Engardio, Mandelman BOARD OF SUPERVISORS Page 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 conservation, and do our best to meet the wishes of the Californians so as to deepen the friendly ties between our two peoples;" and WHEREAS, The following day President Xi said in a speech to leaders of San Francisco's business community, "[t]he hope of the China-U.S. relationship lies in the people, its foundation is in our societies, its future depends on the youth, and its vitality comes from exchanges at subnational levels ... I also hope that California and San Francisco will continue to take the lead on the journey of growing China-U.S. friendship;" and WHEREAS, Mayor London Breed wished President Xi farewell at SFO before he departed APEC and proposed a partnership in which the San Francisco Zoo would host Giant Pandas from China; and WHEREAS, Mayor Breed sent letters to President Xi following up on this proposal, including a letter co-signed by over 70 San Francisco Chinese American and API leaders, including City Administrator Carmen Chu and City Attorney David Chiu, stating "we stand ready to welcome pandas to our San Francisco Zoo" and received a letter from Chinese Ambassador Xie Feng, stating "Let's keep in close contact in this regard ... and hopefully we will see an early arrival of giant pandas in San Francisco;" and WHEREAS, Mayor Breed traveled to China on April 13 with a delegation of San Francisco API business and community leaders and officials, including Administrator Chu and President of the Airport Commission Malcolm Yeung, and embarked on a multi-city tour meeting with various Chinese government officials and business leaders to strengthen economic and cultural ties, expand tourism between the nations, increase Chinese airline routes to San Francisco, build academic partnerships and celebrate the 45th anniversary of the San Francisco-Shanghai Sister City relationship; and WHEREAS, On April 19, the China National Forestry and Grassland Administration (NFGA) and the China Wildlife Conservation Association (CWCA) met with Mayor Breed in Mayor Breed; Supervisors Melgar, Engardio, Mandelman BOARD OF SUPERVISORS Page 2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Beijing to announce that the San Francisco Zoo had been selected to receive Giant Pandas as part of China's Panda Diplomacy Program; and WHEREAS, Mayor Breed and the CWCA signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) setting forth that the CWCA and the San Francisco Zoo agreed to cooperate on the international conservation of Giant Pandas and jointly promote the preparations for this project, the zoo agreed to prepare a panda facility building, food supply, the technical expertise and the personnel capability necessary to host the pandas and the CWCA agreed to provide guidance to the zoo in these efforts; and WHEREAS, The MOU sets forth that once the zoo completes these preparations and the parties execute a final cooperation agreement, the CWCA will send a pair of Giant Pandas to the zoo in 2025; and WHEREAS, San Francisco has a rich history with pandas, with the very first pandas in the United States having stopped in San Francisco in 1936 as part of an expedition led by explorer Ruth Harkness; and WHEREAS, In 1984, two pandas named Yun Yun and Ying Xin visited the San Francisco Zoo for three months, drawing more than 260,000 visitors, roughly four times the average attendance at that time and the busiest months the zoo has ever experienced, and the pandas visited the zoo again in 1985; and WHEREAS, The City and County owns the San Francisco Zoo and contracts with the nonprofit San Francisco Zoological Society (SFZS) to operate the zoo, which is home to over 2,000 exotic, endangered and rescued animals, representing more than 250 species; and WHEREAS, In October 2013, the Shanghai Zoological Park and SFZS signed a Memorandum of Understanding to establish a "sister zoo relationship" to promote "bilateral cooperation in global biodiversity conservation, regional wildlife protection techniques, and conservation education" and in July 2014, SFZS Executive Director, Tanya Peterson, visited Mayor Breed; Supervisors Melgar, Engardio, Mandelman BOARD OF SUPERVISORS Page 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Chengdu, China and its Giant Panda Breeding Research Foundation to support its breeding and research programs; and WHEREAS, The San Francisco Zoo recently created an Asian conservation zone, which was specifically designed to contain a space for a panda enclosure and which hosts other species indigenous to Asia; and WHEREAS, The San Francisco Zoo has begun preliminary planning for the construction of a panda enclosure, representatives from the zoo and the China NFGA have been discussing facilities and operations to host pandas, including during visits by engineers from China to the zoo in December and April, and that the NFGA and CWCA will send a delegation from Beijing to San Francisco in May to further engage on the preparations for the zoo to accommodate the pandas; and WHEREAS, San Francisco and China have built a special cultural and economic relationship through generations of immigration from the beginning of the City's history and reflected today in the over one fifth of San Franciscans with Chinese roots; and WHEREAS, China is the leading country for visitor spending in San Francisco, contributing $633.4 million and furthering the City's economic recovery following the decline in tourism during the COVID-19 pandemic, and, in the months since APEC, passenger flights between China and San Francisco increased to nine weekly flights between Beijing and San Francisco and daily flights between Shanghai and San Francisco; and WHEREAS, Pandas live in the wild only in China, have historically served as a national symbol of China and the provision of pandas to other nations in Asia and the West has been an important marker of cultural exchange between China and such nations in the tradition known as Panda Diplomacy; and WHEREAS, While once considered endangered, the number of pandas has increased in the wild through decades of conservation efforts, including partnerships between zoos in Mayor Breed; Supervisors Melgar, Engardio, Mandelman BOARD OF SUPERVISORS Page4 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 China and zoos in other nations to host pandas and expand research and awareness of panda biology, behavior, reproduction, health and habitat, resulting in pandas being upgraded to the status of a conservation-reliant vulnerable species, and WHEREAS, Pandas are frequently the most popular attractions at the zoos that host them; and WHEREAS, Hosting pandas on a long-term basis will be of significant importance to San Francisco's local Chinese and API communities and will provide a major boost to San Francisco's tourism attractions and offerings; and WHEREAS, San Francisco is prepared to accept the honor of hosting pandas from China to further strengthen the bonds between the people of San Francisco and the people of China, to enhance relations between China and the United States and to partner in panda conservation; and WHEREAS, The San Francisco Zoo has engaged in extensive preparations to host the pandas and the Office of the Mayor, Recreation and Parks Department (RPO), San Francisco International Airport (SFO), Office of Economic and Workforce Development (OEWD), Office of the City Administrator, and San Francisco Chief of Protocol and War Memorial Trustee Maryam Muduroglu stand ready to assist in fundraising efforts to complete those preparations and cover the costs of hosting the pandas; and WHEREAS, On May 10, 2024, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that SFZS has hired a private investigator to look into allegations of mismanagement, a toxic work environment, staffing shortages, and safety concerns, including concerns about the security of proposed housing for a new jaguar; and WHEREAS, On May 14, 2024, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that some have expressed concern about the conditions of several existing zoo exhibits and upgrades for exotic animals have stalled and left rare animals in temporary enclosures for extended periods Mayor Breed; Supervisors Melgar, Engardio, Mandelman BOARD OF SUPERVISORS Page 5 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 of time, including a pair of orangutans, a male fossa, and the zoo's condors, with one longtime zoo donor calling facilities at the zoo "sadly dilapidated"; and WHEREAS, The Board of Supervisors encourages the administration to also fundraise for improvements for existing exhibits and capital needs that will ensure safety and enjoyment for workers, animals, and visitors; and WHEREAS, These departments seek to fundraise from the entities listed on Exhibit A, which may have interested party relationships with employees or officers in one or more of the departments, as well as other similar private entities and philanthropists, yet to be identified, that may have similar interested party relationships to one or more of the departments, as well as other entities willing to provide philanthropic support to this project; and WHEREAS, SFZS will receive all of the funds raised by these efforts; and WHEREAS, The purpose of the solicitation is for SFZS to expend such funds to cover costs relating to preparing for and hosting the pandas and may also use such funds for other general capital improvements to ensure that the Zoo meets the highest standards of animal welfare, visitor experience, safety and working conditions for years to come; and WHEREAS, The Office of the Mayor, RPO, SFO, OEWO, the Office of the City Administrator, and Chief of Protocol Muduroglu seek a waiver of the City's Behested Payment Ordinance (Campaign and Governmental Conduct Code, Section 3.600 et seq.) to the extent it restricts soliciting financial support or in-kind goods or services, from persons or entities that would otherwise be considered interested parties to those departments; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, That under Section 3.620(f) of the Campaign and Governmental Conduct Code, the Board of Supervisors hereby waives application of the Behested Payment Ordinance as to the Mayor, Chief of Protocol, City Administrator Chu, employees of the Office of the Mayor, employees of the Office of the City Administrator, employees of OEWO, employees of RPO, and officers and employees of SFO so that they may solicit donations Mayor Breed; Supervisors Melgar, Engardio, Mandelman BOARD OF SUPERVISORS Page 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 from private entities and philanthropists to be provided to SFZS to support the City's efforts to host pandas and to make other necessary capital improvements to the Zoo that ensure the safety and well-being of workers and zoo animals; and, be it FURTHER RESOLVED, That the parties receiving the waiver will, to the greatest extent possible, work to ensure that City Officers or employees that have an interested relationship with a potential donor are not the parties seeking donations from those donors; and, be it FURTHER RESOLVED, That granting this waiver serves the public interest by promoting the relationship between San Francisco and China and boosting tourism and San Francisco's continued economic recovery; and, be it FURTHER RESOLVED, That granting this waiver does not create an appearance of impropriety. Mayor Breed; Supervisors Melgar, Engardio, Mandelman BOARD OF SUPERVISORS Page 7