Supervisor Fewer forced to tone down

Meetings at City Hall have become a bit quieter since Supervisor Sandra Lee Fewer came down with a bad case of laryngitis.

Fewer, known for her chattiness, has been forced to vote by holding up a handmade sign. One side says “yes,” the other says “no.” Supervisors Aaron Peskin and Katy Tang have had to voice opinions for Fewer. Her doctors say the condition could last for weeks.

“It’s like losing 90 percent of your personality, because I have to write everything down,” Fewer, who literally cannot speak, texted. “I have had to cancel some meetings, but board meetings are a huge part of my job so I feel it is important that I attend. ... I hope I get better soon.”

Peskin compared Fewer’s elaborate pantomiming and facial expressions to those of a squirrel, but said she’s been doing her best.

“Fewer is doing remarkably well communicating with vivid facial expressions, her hands and hastily written notes,” he said.

— Lizzie Johnson Now, that’s paperwork: Hosting an outdoor event in San Francisco isn’t as simple as getting a permit from the city — in some cases, it takes 10 separate permits and 16 other approvals from 14 city and state agencies.

San Francisco’s process for issuing permits for public outdoor events that involve street closures is deeply confusing and flawed, a city controller’s report re- leased Tuesday said. In the past five years, several legacy cultural events, like the Tet Festival, have been canceled because the permitting process is simply too confusing.

Producers of those events said they have to dedicate up to one-third of their employees to navigating the bureaucracy, and 65 percent said they would rather not hold the event than deal with getting a permit.

City officials said that between 15 and 100 percent of permit applications are filled out incorrectly, and producers often rely on a web of personal relationships to get information on the needed papers. Information on the permitting system is spread across 10 websites.

The report said the city should have a simpler system, one that involves a single permit — not 10.