October Light in san francisco

Oct 28, 2023

October Light in San Francisco

The “sea light” as the SF poet Laurate, Ferlinghetti, called the special light in San Francisco, becomes softer and more burnished with the beginning of autumn. The Hunter’s moon will be revealed this weekend to herald in the Halloween festivities. The lobby in the Suites is draped with garlands of orange and yellow foliage and festive wreathes are hung at the two entrances and soon the welcoming fragrance of hot cider will fill the air.

At the beginning of October, Fleet Week returned with the Blue Angels after a year hiatus. They flew overhead during the memorial service for the San Francisco icon, Senator Diane Feinstein, and left a heart in the sky. It was a fitting tribute to the first San Francisco woman mayor who took over the leadership during the assassination of Mayor Moscone and Harvey Milk and brought calm to the City. Diane Feinstein was instrumental in bringing Fleet Week and the Blue Angels to the City in 1981 and without her foresight the San Francisco cable cars would have become extinct. The City mourns her passing but she has left a lasting legacy.

Union Square has just welcomed Chotto Matte, a new Japanese Peruvian rooftop restaurant and bar that seats 400 and has sweeping views of the Bay. 50 O’Farrell where Macy’s Men’s department store was once located. The restaurant is open from 11:30 am to 12 midnight, This will be a difficult reservation to secure but there are a few seats at the bar for walk-ins.

Over at the Presidio, the romantic Mediterranean restaurant with views of SF Bay, Dalida has opened at 101 Montgomery near the Presidio Inn. The hours are 5-9 pm.The restaurant serves eastern Mediterranean cuisine by the husband-and-wife team, Laura and Sayat of Noosh.

The Apec Conference will be held November 14-19. 20,000 attendees and dignitaries from 20 economies will meet at Moscone Center. Security will be will tight at Moscone, Union Square, Embarcadero, and Nob Hill. Please be aware that you will not be able to park on Powell as it will be blocked off. You can arrive to the Suites on Pine St and the valet will park your car or you can self-park at the Bush Street garage. Please call the front desk for assistance. www.apec2023sf.org

If you are looking to purchase additional shares, VOTA will hold a foreclosure auction in January 2024 for shares that have delinquent assessments. 8 Masters and 5 Parlors will be listed for auction. The minimum cost, as of today, starts at $2,340.50. Some shares have unpaid property taxes. I will send out a more detailed notice to the Association in December.

Lastly, if you need to experience more of the special San Francisco sea light or are in need of a restorative time to meditate during these difficult times, please visit Grace Light at Grace Cathedral which is an immersive light installation with music to heal your soul and then return to your “home away from home” and sit by the fireplace and sip a cup of hot cider.

 

Warmest wishes,

Cynthia Reid
General Manager
San Francisco Suites

BOD Open Meeting Sept. 16th 2023

Oct 16, 2023

Draft

San Francisco Suites

Board of Directors Open Meeting

September 16, 2023

1. President Chuck Meibeyer called the meeting to order at 11:02 am.

2. Board Directors present:

Chuck Meibeyer, President
Fred Munroe, Vice-President
Dwight Walker, Treasurer
Geoffrey Bellah, Secretary
Jeff Reichel, Director-at-Large
Others present:
Cynthia Reid, General Manager

3. Owners Forum: No owners were in attendance.

4. President’s Report:

President Meibeyer announced that the Suites was able to secure insurance to replace the non-renewal by Farmers of our property policy, effective August 31, 2023, from Gallagher Risk Management Services, but at an egregious increase from $39K annually to $140k annually. We did mitigate the increase somewhat by raising deductibles and by reducing the earlier erroneous estimate of the building’s footage. Meibeyer recommended that the Board seek competitive bids for insurance next year well before the renewal date and expressed hope that the insurance crisis in California will have abated by then so that our annual premium could be lowered.

5. Approval of Minutes: Treasurer Walker moved, and Vice-President Munroe seconded the motion that the minutes from the July 29, 2023, open meeting be approved. The motion passed unanimously.

6. Treasurer’s Report:

Walker stated that of July 2023 there was $548K in the Operations account and $758K in Reserves, noting that the Operations number does not include the insurance premium of $140K that must be paid in full and immediately. Also, with 13 shares delinquent in paying their assessments, there is currently a shortfall of $23K in anticipated revenue. Otherwise, our projected revenues are good. On the other hand, expenses are well within the budgeted range for the year, with the exception of $18K in overtime costs, a budget anomaly which will be remedied by recent hiring and more flexible scheduling. With several projects soon to commence – a mandated digital fire alarm system, new carpeting, new lobby wallpaper – the Reserve account will drop somewhat by the end of 2023 and again in 2024, and the Board will decide in its 2024 budget how much to replenish it.

7. General Manager’s Report:

Manager Reid reported that currently, the Association owns 19 Parlor shares and 1 Master share. In that inventory, 12 Parlors have already been adopted, and 3 more were adopted in the recent September Adopt-a-Share. However, that leaves 4 Parlor shares and 1 Master share not providing revenue of $7,715 to account for their lost assessments. At this time VOTA has foreclosed on 8 Master shares and 5 Parlor shares, an unprecedented number, due to delinquent assessments, which will come up for auction this year. Even so, during the past few months, 4 Master shares have been sold by owners. Also, the Board authorized in July putting the Suites’ owned Master share and one Parlor share on the timeshare resales site RedWeek, and there seems to be some purchasing interest being generated there. Given the high number of nonrevenue-producing shares in foreclosure and in the Suites’ own inventory, Reid asked the Board to give her the flexibility and discretion to offer shares for sale at the lowest reasonable price, a request which the Board took under advisement. Gloria Soto has been selected as “Employee of the Quarter.” After being introduced to the Board and complimented for her dedication to the Suites, Gloria accepted a cash gift from the Association.

8. Old Business:

A. President Meibeyer reminded the Board that it had already approved the Lobby wallpaper project, during the September Emergency Session with a budget of $64K, so no action was required at this meeting.

B. Funding for installing new carpeting in 13 suites was discussed while the Board considered two bids, one including the moving of furniture, the other not. Munroe moved that the Board accept the lower bid from Eddie’s Carpets, which does not include moving costs, Walker seconded, and the motion passed unanimously.

C. Manager Reid updated the Board on the installation, at a cost of $55K, of the new digital fire alarm system over two days in January 2024 when the Suites will be closed to guests.

D. The Board of Directors’ Summer Auction for 4 Parlor shares and 1 Master share elicited no bids.

E. The summer Adopt-a-Share, however, resulted in three Parlor adoptions.

F. The 2024 Reserve Study Report is not complete but will be available for the Board’s review and approval at the November meeting.

G. Reid mentioned that some owners would prefer a smaller, more user-friendly coffee maker. The Board will consider replacing the current on-demand coffee makers if a similar, perhaps smaller, but less complicated maker can be found.

New Business:

A. The Board looked over four different possible budgets for 2024, two offered by Manager Reid and two by Treasurer Walker, with each varying the amount put in Reserves and the increase for Operations. And each slightly varying the 2024 annual assessment, from $1727 to $1797, or an increase between $172 and $242 per share. (This amount incorporates the $123 per share to pay for the costs of new insurance.) Munroe moved, and Bellah seconded the motion, that Walker and Reid work together to come up with a draft for a recommended 2024 budget, based on the third option, and with a targeted annual assessment of $1727, for approval at the November meeting. The motion passed unanimously.

B. Manager Reid reported that two Association-owned shares, a Parlor and a Master, will be placed with the timeshare resales site RedWeek for sale, as an experiment.

C. Manager Reid asked the Board to approve a Fall 2023 Parlor sale of Association-owned shares. If successful, the sales will help replenish the anticipated shortfall in assessment revenue. Bellah moved that such a sale be held, Munroe seconded the motion, and the motion passed unanimously.

Forward Planning: The Suites will be closed to guests for the entire month of January 2024 in order to commence and complete several major projects, new carpets in the suites, new wallpaper in the lobbies, and a new digital fire alarm system.

The open meeting adjourned with unanimous consent at 12:34 p.m.

Respectively submitted,

Geoffrey Bellah, Secretary