SITUATION: The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders’ Meeting being held in San Francisco from November 11th to the 17th will involve dignitaries and heads of state visiting from 21 member nations—including U.S. President Joe Biden and potentially his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping. For this reason, U.S. Homeland Security has designated the APEC summit a “National Special Security Event,” and has called for an “exclusion zone,” which will close streets and limit vehicular and pedestrian mobility in the South of Market Area.
This area is home to many vulnerable residents, including immigrants, unhoused and seniors, plus small businesses, childcare centers and schools.
The Mayor’s office recently announced that they surpassed their fundraising goal, and the bulk of these funds have been budgeted to advertise and promote APEC, along with plans and events to host dignitaries—while there has been very little information shared with the affected communities on how their daily lives and movement may be impacted.
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors has passed a resolution urging Mayor Breed to prioritize funds—currently on reserve for residents and neighborhoods including community based organizations, schools, small businesses, and workers—to address and mitigate the local impacts and disruptions that will be caused by the APEC related activities.
SOLUTION: OWL-SF is very concerned about the impacts of the coming APEC summit. Please contact Mayor London Breed to request that she spend some of the $10 million in reserve funds set aside for the APEC conference to inform and assist seniors and people with disabilities as well as families living in the area.
Mayor London Breed
phone: (415) 554-6141
E-mail: MayorLondonBreed@