Take action: S.F. supes to vote on bag ban extension Tuesday
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors was scheduled to vote on a plastic bag ban and fee ordinance Nov. 22 but the California Restaurant Association was able to delay the vote until Tuesday. The board will vote on the ordinance at 2 p.m. at City Hall, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, Legislative Chambers - Room 250, San Francisco. The ordinance prohibits all retailers and restaurants from distributing plastic bags and also forces retailers and restaurants to charge a fee for compostable plastic and paper bags, starting at 10 cents and increasing to 25 cents.
Your action is needed to stop this shortsighted and unreasonable ordinance. Contact each supervisor and tell them that restaurants should be exempt from this ordinance or at least from charging a fee. Charging a fee is designed to steer customers to use reusable bags. Encouraging customers to bring dirty reusable bags in restaurants for use places public health and safety at risk. Let the supervisors know this is a risk restaurants shouldn’t have to take. Other jurisdictions have recognized that reusable bags pose a food safety risk in a prepared food environment and have exempted restaurants from their respective ordinances. San Francisco should take the responsible approach and exempt restaurants from this ordinance or at least from charging a fee.
For more information, contact Johnnise Foster Downs, director of local government affairs, at 916.431.2720 or JDowns@calrest.org.