Department of the Environment

Department of the Environment
GENDER ANALYSIS
2001

2002 Update
2006 Update
2009 Update

In April 1998, the City and County of San Francisco passed an ordinance (Chapter 12K of the Administrative Code) to locally implement the Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). CEDAW provides a universal definition of discrimination against women and brings attention to a whole range of issues concerning women's human rights. It defines discrimination against women and girls as any "distinction, exclusion, or restriction made on the basis of sex which has the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by women, irrespective of their marital status, on a basis of equality of men and women, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field."1 CEDAW ensures the protection of human rights, "those rights that every human being possesses and is entitled to enjoy simply by virtue of being human."2 In San Francisco, ensuring human rights means that City government must proactively take steps to eliminate discrimination against women and girls.

The CEDAW Task Force through the Department on the Status of Women (DOSW) has worked with the Department of the Environment for a year preparing a "gender analysis" of its budget, services and employment practices. This report summarizes the gender analysis that was performed throughout the year 2000. A number of best practices were identified, as were needed areas of improvement.

Methodology

The gender analysis was completed by Department staff working collaboratively with Ms. Latika Malkani from the Commission on the Status of Women. Marina Kipnis, the Department's Executive Assistant, was the lead staff member at the Department in organizing meetings, writing and distributing the survey and preparing the initial documentation. When Ms. Kipnis left the Department in December, 2000, completion of the final report became the responsibility of David Assmann, Deputy Director.

Initially, all employees were trained in human rights with a gender perspective. This perspective recognizes that differences in life experiences based on gender often results in social, economic, political, and other inequities for women and girls. Next, staff spent considerable time and effort gathering data, and with the assistance of DOSW staff, analyzing information and making recommendations.

A. Overview

The San Francisco Department of Environment (SFE) is one of the newest of the City's Departments - it was founded by a voter approved charter amendment in 1995, and began operations in early 1996. It is still one of the smallest Departments in the City - for 2000-2001, the Department had 13.29 FTE staff and an annual budget of $1,578,034. Virtually all the staff is new - the longest serving staff member started in April 1999 (the Clean Air Program staff have been with the City for a longer period of time, but not as part of the Department of the Environment), and more than three-quarters of the staff have been with the Department for less than 1 year.

Although the Department is small by City department standards, it has a large and important mission. The Department's overall mission is to improve, enhance and preserve the environment and promote San Francisco's long term environmental sustainability.

The Department reports to the Commission on the Environment, which consists of seven members appointed by the Mayor for four-year terms. The Department of the Environment is responsible for regularly producing an assessment of San Francisco's environmental condition. It must also produce and regularly update plans for the long-term environmental sustainability of San Francisco.

The Commission on the Environment is empowered by the Charter to investigate and make recommendations to all City agencies related to operations and functions, including:

1. Solid waste management;

2. Recycling;

3. Energy conservation;

4. Natural resource conservation;

5. Environmental inspections;

6. Toxics;

7. Urban forestry and natural resources;

8. Habitat restoration; and

9. Hazardous materials.

The Department has three program areas that were developed in support of ordinances passed by the Board of Supervisors. These are the Clean Air Program, the Resource Efficient Building Program and the Integrated Pest Management Program. Of these, the Clean Air Program is the largest and most established, with five full time staff. The Integrated Pest Management Program and the Resource Efficient Building Program each have one staff person, and the Integrated Pest Management Program also has the assistance of one part time intern.

In addition to the three programs mandated by ordinance, the Department conducts extensive public outreach and works on a variety of issues that come before the Environmental Commission, including issues of toxics reduction (such as dioxin, mercury and pentachlorophenol), recycling, habitat conservation, energy conservation, renewable energy, and urban forestry. The Department has just integrated the Resource Efficient Building Program into a new Resource Efficiency Program, which includes the addition of a new staff person to work on energy conservation and other resource efficiency issues.

One of the largest new initiatives that the Department is responsible for is administering a new $13 million dollar grant program for the Bayview/Hunter's Point and Potrero Hill neighborhoods. The California Legislature recognizing that the residents of Hunters Point and Potrero Hill neighborhoods have disproportionately suffered from the presence of power plants in their neighborhoods, appropriated $13 million to the City to mitigate the impacts of the sale and possible expansion of the Potrero plant and the ultimate shutdown of the Hunters Point plant.

The Department and the Commission on the Environment is responsible for developing and implementing the grant program. The Department and Commission has sought input from the public, City officials, non-profit organizations, and foundations, and has held five public meetings, including two in the affected communities, to ensure that all comments and concerns were considered in developing the grant program. Based on the state appropriation, public input and staff recommendations, projects are currently being considered in the following areas: Environmental Justice, Environmental Health and Energy and Climate Change. The grant criteria for each of those three areas are outlined below:

Environmental Justice - Across the United States, low-income and communities of color bear a disproportionate burden from environmental pollution. Communities are recognizing the need for broader social solutions beyond the mitigation of a particular risk or environmental hazard, such as adequate access to health care and education, better job opportunities, affordable and healthy housing, inclusiveness in decision-making, and the development of community responses to problems. Funding in the environmental justice category will include projects that address environmental pollution education and organizing, land use, economic and infrastructure development, and community empowerment.

Environmental Health - The rapidly emerging field of environmental health shows that health practitioners and the public are recognizing the connection between the physical environment and human health. For example, a toxic environment can affect sexual development and reproduction, and has also been linked to dramatic increases in cancer and asthma among its residents. Air pollution, water quality and chemical emissions also affect environmental health and wellbeing. Funded projects will improve the environmental health of the community members and will focus on pollution prevention and education; open space and recreation creation and enhancement; and nutrition.

Energy and Climate Change - Energy generation and use has a direct effect on the environment in which we live. Power plants and transportation are among the largest sources of air pollution as the fossil fuels that power most plants and vehicles directly contribute to global warming. Renewable energy, such as solar and wind, reduce air pollution and help protect the environment. Energy efficiency programs help conserve energy and save money. Funding in the energy and climate change arena will promote renewable energy and energy efficiency, reduce the use and generation of fossil fuels, and develop and promote alternative fuels and modes of transportation.

Strategic Plans/Public Meetings

The Department currently does not have a strategic plan, other than the City's Sustainability Plan, developed through an extensive public process in 1996, with hundreds of participants. The Sustainability Plan was adopted as official City policy in 1997, but it is not set up as an easily implementable strategic plan. A long term planning process was initiated for the first time in fall of 2000, and while short-term goals have been developed for the next fiscal year (2001-2002), no long-term strategic plan has yet been put into place. There are plans for annual retreats, both for the Department and the Commission, in order to help develop both short and long term strategic plans. Commission retreats are open to the public and advertised via email, mail and ads. While gender analysis has not been used in the process of analyzing public input, we have a diverse mailing list and publicize our meetings extensively, including keeping mailing lists of anyone who wishes to be notified of upcoming meetings and issues. While the Commission's planning retreats are usually not attended by many members of the public, we do have a large number of attendees at many of the Commission's public meetings. Asking for voluntary diversity self-identification at public meetings would help the Department determine the diversity of our community input.

Recommendation: That the Commission set up a mechanism for members of the public to voluntarily self identify diversity at public meetings, including diversity of membership if the input is coming from a representative of an organization.

Annual Strategic Plans

All program managers are involved in the process of developing annual plans, and these are discussed at staff meetings. Gender analysis has not been used in the determination of strategic issues, primarily because our program areas and projects are determined by ordinances (such as the Clean Air, Integrated Pest Management, and Resource Efficient Building) or by resolutions from the Environmental Commission or Board of Supervisors.

The following feedback on strategic planning came from the gender analysis survey conducted with employees:

· Strategic Planning retreat was open, allowing staff to provide input to future direction

· Process is too young to assess

· Recommendation: To ensure full participation, facilitator should meet individually and confidentially with employees to get ideas and issues

Given the limited resources of the Department, and the responsibilities of individual staff, it has been difficult to set aside adequate time for strategic planning. Additional financial and staff resources are needed if the Department is to adequately conduct strategic planning processes. And, while setting aside time for the facilitator to meet individually with each employee would help maximize the effectiveness of the planning process, it is not practical given current time and resource constraints. However, it would be feasible to consider a mechanism for employees to confidentially give feedback to the facilitator prior to the planning meetings.

Recommendation: For future planning retreats, set up a mechanism for employees to give feedback to the facilitator prior to the actual retreat. This could be done by email.

As the Department builds its new strategic planning process, it may benefit from integrating gender into this process. For example, program areas could be studied to determine whom they serve, paying particular attention to gender, ethnicity, and other self-identified criteria. This examination would aide in better documenting whether the Department is meeting its goal of serving the needs of a diverse population. Participating in the current gender analysis has been the first opportunity for the Department to formally look at gender impact.

Recommendation: The Department look for additional financial and staff resources to survey constituents served and thereby be able to conduct comprehensive planning processes, including the integration of gender analysis into each process.

Recommendation: The Department look for internship or volunteer help to do a review and report on scientific literature on gender impacts of environmental issues.

Recommendation: In developing the application process for funding for the current grant program in the Bayview/Hunters Point and Potrero neighborhoods, that gender be included in the RFP, the outreach, recruitment, review panels and implementation of grant projects. Use available resources, such as the Women's Foundation, in the development of this process.

B. Budget Questions

The budget is developed by individual program managers, who submitted their proposed budget to the Deputy Director. The Deputy Director reviews each budget with individual program managers and then discusses recommendations with the Director for the final budget proposal. A draft budget is then submitted to the to the Mayor's Budget Analyst and then to the Commission on the Environment before being formally submitted to the Mayor's office. The following table outlines the budget process & who is involved:

 

Job Title

Gender

Race/Ethnicity

Director (Reviews/Final Decision)

female

white

Deputy Director (Reviews/Makes Recommendations)

male

white

Program Manager Integrated Pest Management Program

(Prepares Program Budget)

female

white

Program Manager Resource Efficiency Program

(Prepares Program Budget)

male

white

Program Manager Clean Air Program

(Prepares Program Budget)

male

white

Commission Secretary

(Prepares Commission/Grant Budget)

female

Asian

Program Manager Public Information

(Prepares Program Budget)

male

white

As evident from the above chart, the department needs to diversify its management staff. We recognize the importance of ethnic diversity at all level, especially at more senior levels where policy and budgetary decisions are made. Since its inception, and especially over the past 2 years, the Department has made a big push to strengthen its recruitment of underrepresented persons. This is discussed more thoroughly below, under "Employment: Recruitment."

While our budget priorities primarily reflect mandated programs, such as the Clean Air Program, the Integrated Pest Management Program, and the Resource Efficient Building Program, there are gender implications in our priorities. For example, exposure to pesticides, pollutants in the air and poor indoor air quality, can have a greater detrimental effect on pregnant women. The department recognizes that the way in which information is collected and analyzed is critical to the development and application of a gender perspective. Appropriate procedures in this regard will assist in recognizing gender patterns in services and budget concerns. At this point, however, we have not had the resources to conduct a proper analysis of the gender impact of our programs. There would be two ways of doing a proper analysis. The first would be to add the responsibility to each program area, and expand the staff to allow them the time to conduct the necessary analysis work, which could include reviewing the programs and the scientific literature on gender impacts of environmental issues. The second would be to hire a consultant to look at the environmental priorities of the Department and examine the gender implications of the work conducted by the Department.

Recommendation: The Department prepare an outline of the resources that would be required to incorporate gender analysis into programs and priorities.

The following feedback on budgeting came from the gender analysis survey conducted with employees:

· Program directors are responsible for proposing their budgets

· Program staff feels involved in the budget process

Performance Measures

Performance measures are determined annually as part of the budget process. Each program director prepares performance goals as part of the budget process, and they are reviewed in the same manner as the budget. Gender has not been explicitly used in the determination of performance measures in the past. The performance measure system has not been adequate, particularly since the current system does not allow for easily adding or changing goals. It is our intention to totally overhaul our performance measures before preparing the next budget.

Recommendation: Incorporate gender analysis into the performance measure process for next year including mechanisms for tracking all community input by at least gender and ethnicity.

 

Performance Measure

Fiscal 98-99 Target

Performance FY 98-99

FY 99-00 Target

IPM Program

Requests for exemptions processed in a timely fashion.

On-time; complete

On-time; complete

On-time; complete

Review of departments' implementation plans; assistance to comply.

All departments have submitted acceptable plans

80% of departments in compliance

All departments in compliance

Public educated about benefits of less-toxic approach.

IPM reference library developed

Pesticide fact sheets published; new article published

Post all pest fact sheets, add IPM information to SFE web site; least-toxic pesticide list completed

Coordination of IPM Activities

   

Centralize program under SFE

Resource Efficient Building

Development of proposed program

Implementation of goals depending on final content of ordinance, if passed

 

Passage of Resource Efficient Building Ordinance: hire coordinator and begin pilot project planning; co-host PVC-free building conference

Public Outreach
(broad range of mandated topics)

Engage citizens/youth

Volunteer program expanded

Feasibility studied and new program developed

Recruitment and retention of 2 part time volunteer/interns every month

Global Warming Essay/Art Contest for Kids

Outreach on environmental issues to the community

Outreach on environmental issues to the community (cont.)

Speakers Bureau established

Regular contributions to print media on sustainability and other environmental issues

Web site expanded

Put on hold pending program reorganization

Put on hold pending program reorganization

SFE and Commission Web sites redesigned and expanded; important Dept. and Commission documents posted online regularly

Regular contributions to print media on sustainability and other environmental issues

Continue Web site expansion

Develop logo

Establish an Environmental Information Center as part of the SFE office

COE meetings held in neighborhoods

C. SERVICE QUESTIONS

Fiscal Year 2000 Revenue $1,716,300

 

Program Title

Dollars

Source

Source Limitations

% of Total

Administration, Policy, Outreach and Special Projects

$594,000

General Fund

Tied to Projects in Budget

35%

Integrated Pest Management

$125,300

Other City Departments

Can only be used on Integrated Pest Management Programs

7%

Clean Air Program

$590,000

State, Local Grants, General Fund

Funds tied to specific Clean Air Projects

34%

Resource Efficiency Program

$407,000

General Fund, Other Departments, Capital Fund

Funds for Resource Efficient Building Program and Energy Conservation Programs

24%

Most of the programs offered by the Department of the Environment are new - the Resource Efficiency Program, for example, was set up in the fall of 2000, and the Clean Air Program joined the Department of the Environment in July 2000. The Resource Efficient Building Program has only been in place for two years and the Integrated Pest Management Program was started in 1998. As a result, we are just starting to implement systems for short and long term planning, design of programs and evaluation of services.

The following feedback on services came from the gender analysis survey conducted with employees:

· Hasn't yet been a thorough evaluation of services because programs are fairly new

· Program staff feels involved in this process

· Recommendation: Generate evaluation measures for all services. In doing this, give staff sufficient time to adequately develop these measures. COSW RECOMMENDATION: Integrate gender concerns into the development of evaluation measures.

D. EMPLOYMENT QUESTIONS

Overall Workforce Composition:

1) Review data:

a. Women comprise 38% of the professional and official level positions (3/8) and 62% are men (5/8)

b. Of the female-held professional and official positions, 2 of the 3 are white and one Indian.

c. Of the male-held professional and official-level positions, all are white (5/5).

d. Men hold all three technical positions

e. Of the male-held technical positions, two are white, and one is Asian

f. The one skilled craft position (shuttle driver) is held by a female African American

g. Four of the seven commissioners are white and three are people of color

h. Four of the seven commissioners are women and three are men

2) Best practices:

a) SFE exceeded the identified labor pool of women officials for their specific job category: in the City, the labor pool data showed that there is an availability of 41.5% women officials and administrators and the department has 50% women officials (1/2).

3) Room to improve:

a. The department found that it came short of meeting the identified labor pool of women professional percentage. Women hold 33% of professional positions while the labor pool data shows that there is an availability of 47.8% women professionals.

b. The department has only one person of color in a professional level position. This underrepresentation reflects the need to take extra steps in the recruitment effort (as discussed below) in order to attract people of color to future job openings.

Unfortunately there is still limited diversity in some of the areas that the Department of the Environment focuses on, giving us a limited pool from which to find qualified applicants. And while the number of women working in environmental programs has increased, the number of people of color in the same programs is smaller. This presents us with a major challenge, since it is still difficult to find a diverse pool of qualified candidates, even with better recruitment practices.

Recruitment:

1) Review data:

a. When recruiting for a job opening, SFE posts the job announcement on the City website, as well as on opportunity NOCS, Jobseeker, and Ejobs. Job announcements are also listed in various community newspapers including China Press, Chinese Times, El Reportero, San Francisco Bay Times, San Francisco Bay View, Small Business Exchange and Craigs list. In addition, the posting is mailed out to the entire mailing list consisting of community-based and environmental groups across the country.

2) Best Practices:

a. Because people of color are underrepresented in the environmental policymaking labor pool, SFE tries to go beyond the traditional environmental mediums by advertising with various outreach newspapers, as mentioned above.

3) Room to Improve:

a. While SFE advertises job announcement in nontraditional community newspapers and publications, the final hiring has not resulted in a stronger representation of people of color in professional level positions . Therefore, SFE has to put more effort in doing outreach that goes beyond the traditional method of posting the job announcement. This might involve making a personal outreach call to some of the advocates of color who are working in the environmental field, getting leads and following up on those leads. Because this might involve quite some time and energy, SFE might need to identify additional funds to ensure that such an individualized outreach is possible.

The following feedback on employee recruitment/hiring came from the gender analysis survey conducted with employees:

· Recruitment suggestions included: sending to women's organizations, universities (for graduating students), other local govt. entities (including those outside CA), professional associations (including newsletters and email lists), including specialized professional associations (like the Association of Black Engineers and the Women Energy Associates)

· Hiring suggestions included having a diverse (gender, ethnicity, age) interview panel that is aware of the male/female ratio within the department. Particular attention should be paid to ensuring a workforce that is diverse, including with respect to age.

· Internships should be paid to attract intelligent, qualified interns who are career-tracked for this field and who will remain with the department for some time.

· Recommendation: as department grows, recruit/hire staff so that males and female are more equitably represented in both admin (currently more female) and program (currently more male) staff

· Recommendation: create more entry level program positions to foster women and people of color, who typically do not have the requisite level of experience in this newer field

· The DHR city process is long, impersonal, and inappropriate for professional positions where talented people of color and women have to be wooed. The entire City hiring process needs to be revamped.

The Department has, however, conducted extensive recruitment and outreach to ensure equal opportunity and hiring. These efforts need to be maintained and expanded, particularly since as the Department has expanded into additional program areas, the percentage of women in professional and official positions has declined.

The Department also needs to do a better job in diversifying its hiring panels and keep diversity in the forefront of recruiting for any new positions. The recruitment suggestions listed above will be incorporated into all future hiring processes.

Recommendation: The Department take steps to ensure that diversity is always a prime consideration in recruiting, and do what it can to foster experience in environmental fields through promoting paid internships and entry level positions aimed at recruiting people of color to specialized environmental programs. Diversity should also be a consideration in planning for new program areas. Specific steps that should be undertaken include the following:

a. Whenever positions are available, make outreach calls to advocates of color and scientific women's groups.

b. Compile and regularly update a database for recruitment notices.

c. Develop comprehensive standard recruitment procedures to ensure that all possible outreach options to recruit women and people of color are used.

Recommendation: As resources become available create more paid internships and entry level program positions to recruit women and people of color, who may not have the requisite level of experience in this field.

Performance Reviews and Management:

1. Review data

SFE uses the standard City evaluation form with an additional section for narrative. The process involves first meeting with your supervisor to have a goal-setting meeting, then a mid-year progress assessment meeting at the six-month mark, and a performance evaluation at the end of the year. The end-of-the-year evaluation includes four steps: 1) an employee self-evaluation, 2) supervisor evaluation of the employee, 3) meeting to discuss the evaluation, and 4) final evaluation written by the supervisor. The director follows the pay-per-performance review process.

a. Best Practices

The City Evaluation process for managers and supervisors is comprehensive and extensive. Although the evaluation is designed only for managers and supervisors, the Department of the Environment will be using it for all evaluations.

b. Room to Improve

The Department is behind schedule on conducting performance evaluations, and needs to get back on schedule.

The following feedback on evaluation/management skills came from the gender analysis survey conducted with employees:

· In general, management skills could be improved.

· Recommendation: Periodically, ask staff to evaluate managers so that the evaluation process is mutual. Within the process, focus on areas of improvement.

· There is often too much work to focus on professional development

· On the other hand, some program staff feels that the innovative work itself allows for professional growth

· Both program and administrative staff appear to feel an urgency to get work done, a time crunch

· Recommendation: Quarterly meetings between staff and management to discuss work progress, evaluation, and professional development and promotion

· The department is too small and too new to assess the issue of promotions

Recommendation: The Department should ensure that reviews are conducted on a timely basis, and that time be allocated for regular meetings and feedback sessions with staff.

Flexibility, Health & Safety and Family Care & Benefits

The following feedback on flexibility in time and place, health & safety and family care & benefits came from the gender analysis survey conducted with employees:

FLEXIBILITY IN TIME AND PLACE

· There is strong employee interest in a 9/80 schedule. Fridays are desired day off; constraints could be demand of workload.

· There is significant employee interest in telecommuting, due to reduced commute time, allowing for a quiet atmosphere, environmental benefits, allowing for more time with self/family.

· Employees say that telecommuters should be trusted to work at home, and evaluated on merit (are they completing their work?). Employees could be called when questions arise

· There were differing opinions on criteria for priority, including length of commute. Some staff felt that there should be no priority and rotation was a fair system to ensure office coverage

· Employees felt the office was flexible in allowing them to arrive as desired, but would like to see this flexibility expanded to a 9/80 schedule option

· Employees are more focused on getting the job done and can forget to record overtime as comp time, and will stay late is needed to get the work done

· Some employees say they cannot afford to work part-time due to the high cost of living in the Bay Area

HEALTH & SAFETY

· Female employees were particularly concerned about having to take public transportation at night (due to meetings, working late, etc.) rather than being able to expense a cab on those few occasions

FAMILY CARE & BENEFITS

· Employees of varied family types (including single adults) expressed a need for more personal time in their lives (no time to make dinner, clean the house, exercise, sleep enough, etc.)

· Employees desire reliable, affordable part-time or occasional childcare-this is especially needed when kids are sick and cannot attend day care, share cares, etc.

The Department now has both a flexible work schedule and a 9/80 schedule in place, open to all staff.

Recommendation: That the Department review flexible work schedules, health and safety issues and family care issues on a regular basis. The Department should also research childcare referral options and supply this information to employees.

1 See City and County of San Francisco, The United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women Ordinance (hereinafter "San Francisco CEDAW Ordinance"), Ordinance No. 128-98 (Approved April 13, 1998), Administrative Code, Chapter 12K. Full text is available at sfgov.org/dosw.

2 Women's Human Rights Step By Step, Women, Law & Development International, Human Rights Watch, Women's Rights Project, 1997, Washington, D.C., Page 8.

CEDAW GENDER ANALYSIS
DEPARTMENT OF THE ENVIROMENT RECOMMENDATIONS
June, 2002

 

DE RECOMMENDATIONS

STRATEGIES FOR IMPLEMENTATION

TIMETABLE

BUDGET

EMPLOYMENT

     

Take steps to ensure that diversity is always a prime consideration in recruiting, and do what it can to foster experience in environmental fields through promoting paid internships and entry level positions aimed at recruiting people of color to specialized environmental programs. Diversity needs to also be a consideration in planning for new program areas. Specific steps that should be undertaken include the following:

o Whenever positions are available, make outreach calls to advocates of color and scientific women's groups.

o Compile and regularly update a database for recruitment notices.

Develop comprehensive recruitment procedures to ensure outreach to recruit women and people of color.

Again, the Department is committed to diversity.

All managers are required to make diversity a prime consideration during every stage of the recruitment process.

We have expanded our outreach to increase diversity, including direct contacts and recruitment. The success of this program is evident in the increased diversity of our staff.

We have also created a new Environmental Justice Program that funds (and project-manages) environmental health-related projects in Bayview Hunters Point and Potrero Hill neighborhoods.

The Department is implementing a new internship program for seven interns in the new fiscal year that will meet the second goal; and is expanding its recruitment efforts to recruit women and people of color.

On-going

Internship program costs about $300,000 a year.

Reviews needs to be conducted on a timely basis, and time should be allocated for regular meetings and feedback sessions with staff.

All reviews were conducted last fiscal year.

Each staff person has met with the Director twice in the last six months for check-in on performance and satisfaction. However, with the re-organization, the formal review schedule is currently not up to date, but will be by the end of the year.

Regular meetings have been implemented in each program area, as well as for the whole department

On-going

No additional cost

The department needs to review flexible work schedules, health and safety issues, and family care issues on a regular basis. The department needs to also research childcare referral options and supply this information to employees.

CEDAW TASKFORCE

RECOMMENDATIONS:

Including flexible arrival times and moving to a 9/80 work schedule, and starting to offer childcare resource referrals

The department has implemented flexible arrival times and a 9/80 schedule. Health and safety issues are reviewed on an ongoing basis in the weekly administrative meeting. Childcare referral options have not yet been researched.

Much already implemented, balance to be reviewed on ongoing basis.

No direct costs to date.

As resources become available, create more paid internships and entry-level program positions to recruit women and people of color who may not have the requisite level of experience in this field.

The Department is implementing a new internship program for seven interns in the new fiscal year.

On-going

The internship program costs $300,000 per year.

 

DE RECOMMENDATIONS1

STRATEGIES FOR IMPLEMENTATION

TIMETABLE

BUDGET

BUDGET

     

Yr 2000 The Commission on the Environment needs to set up a mechanism for members of the public to voluntarily self identify to aid in collecting disaggregated data by gender, race, and other attributes.

The Commission has instituted, effective with the June, 2002 Commission meeting, a sign-in mechanism for attendees at Commission meetings to voluntarily self identify by gender and race.

We will also investigate other options for collecting similar data (i.e. including voluntary self-identification) information on requests for comments for proposals like the City's electricity plan, and we are in the process of adding this option to the Department's website, which is now being updated.

.

Initial implementation already in place, balance within year.

Minimal costs

For future planning retreats, a mechanism needs to be set up for employees to give feedback to the facilitator prior to the actual retreat. This could be done by email. As the Department builds its new strategic planning process, it may benefit from integrating gender into this process.

Again, due to departmental transition and restructuring, we have not held a planning retreat since the completion of the Gender Analysis. However, this recommendation will be followed when planning retreats are planned and held in the future.

A retreat will be planned after the Departmental re-organization has been completed in fall 2002..

Minimal costs

The department needs to look for additional financial and staff resources to survey constituents served and thereby be able to conduct comprehensive planning processes, including the integration of gender analysis into each process.

Comprehensive planning will not occur until after the re-organization has been completed, and there have not been the resources to look for additional funding for surveying. However, the addition of an Environmental Justice division at the Department (effective July, 2002), and the hiring of a new staff person with half time fundraising duties (which will also happen in July), will facilitate this process.

On-going process - initial steps in fiscal 2002-2003.

Unknown at present time

 

DE RECOMMENDATIONS

STRATEGIES FOR IMPLEMENTATION

TIMETABLE

BUDGET

SERVICES

     

The department needs to look for intern or volunteers help to do a review and report on scientific literature on gender impacts of environmental issues.

CEDAW TASKFORCE

RECOMMENDATION:

In particular, with an examination of how gender impacts the Clean Air Program.

This project will be considered as part of our overall internship/volunteer program that will be designed after the completion of the departmental re-organization.

We request clarification on CEDAW recommendation.

   

In developing the application process for funding for the current grant program in the Bayview/Hunters Point and Potrero neighborhoods, gender needs to be included in the request for proposals, the outreach, recruitment, review panels and implementation of grant projects. Use available resources, such as The Women's Foundation, in the development of this process.

CEDAW TASKFORCE

RECOMMENDATION:

Integrate gender concerns into the development of evaluation measures and inclusion of gender in the RFP process.

The grant program is now being administered by the new Environmental Justice program at the Department, The application process has been designed to encourage people of color, women, and the physically challenged to apply for Environmental Justice grants.

The department has conducted extensive outreach for the RFP and available Environmental Justice positions via the Women's Environmental Network, as well as a number of other local community-based organizations.

The Department plans to do more gender-sensitive recruitment for grant-funded positions.

As the first round of grants come to an end, as part of the Department's evaluation procedure, the Department will require grantees to submit a final report which will include information on gender and diversity of the staff positions which were created as a result of Department of the Environment funding.

On-going, with immediate implementation in the current round of grant solicitations.

No anticipated additional costs, other than additional staff time.

An outline of the resources that would be required to incorporate gender analysis into programs and priorities needs to be prepared.

Many of our programs already deal with issues that have disproportionate influence on certain segments of the population. For example, our environmentally preferred purchasing program and our integrated pest management program have direct impact on janitors, gardeners and maintenance staff. Developing a comprehensive analysis of the resources needed to incorporate gender analysis into our programs and priorities is the major step required in order to develop the best programs.

IPM also has direct beneficial impact on women and children who use public parks and open spaces - we have reduced overall municipal pesticide use by over 50 percent, and have eliminated all of the most toxic chemicals.

Completed by end of 2003

Requires significant commitment of staff time

Incorporate gender analysis into the performance measure process for next year including mechanisms for tracking all community input by at least gender and ethnicity.

The Department was not able to integrate gender analysis in an easy to use fashion in a comprehensive way into this year's performance measures, but will be able use gender analysis for a few select performance measures (voluntary self-identification on web site response mechanisms). A more comprehensive approach will be implemented next year. For instance, we will be implementing self-identification at household hazardous waste collection event.

Full implementation by 2003

Small amount of staff time.

1 Department of the Environment Recommendations, Budget, and Timeline information based on the Department of the Environment's gender analysis materials, 2000.