2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997
Members Present Staff Present
Commissioner Andrea Evans Executive Director Emily Murase, Ph.D.
Commissioner Dorka Keehn Policy Analyst Kim-Shree Maufas
Commissioner Jing Xu Lee (5:20 pm) Justice & Courage Policy Analyst Colleen Montoya
Commissioner Carolene Marks Policy Analyst Carol Sacco
Commissioner Katherine Munter Commission Secretary Cynthia Vasquez
Commissioner Andrea Shorter Graduate Intern Laura Marshall
Members Excused
Commissioner Angela Williams
I. CALL TO ORDER/AGENDA CHANGES
Vice President Munter announced that she would be presiding over the meeting in the absence of President Williams.
Action: Approved agenda.
m/s/c (Marks/Evans/Unanimous).
No public comment.
II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Action: Approved draft minutes from December 12, 2006.
m/s/c/ (Shorter/Evans/Unanimous).
No public comment.
III. PRESIDENT’S REPORT
Vice President Munter announced that there was no President's Report.
IV. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S REPORT DISCUSSION
A. Executive Director's Report
Executive Director Murase provided highlights of her written report and noted that the Department staff participated in a very productive all-staff retreat to discuss how the Department should move forward. Ms. Murase also called attention to changes in the meeting dates for July and December. The July strategic planning meeting will take place on Friday, July 20, and the meeting in December will be held on Wednesday, December 12.
Mr. Murase also recognized Department Intern, Laura Marshall for compiling briefings for Commissioners based on their interest expressed at the December meeting.
B. Violence Against Women (VAW) Partner Agency Profile – Mission Neighborhood Centers
Gloria Romero, Girls Services Director with the Mission Girls Program of the Mission Neighborhood Centers gave a brief overview of the services being provided to the girls (9 - 17 years old) in the Mission District. Mission Girls is committed to educating young women on domestic violence, health issues, child abuse, self esteem issues, leadership skills and encouraging the enhancement of academic performance. Currently the Mission Girls Program is running focus groups on violence prevention in some middle schools with the approval of the San Francisco Unified School District. Ms. Romero reported that girls are experiencing violence at a much younger age. Programs and discussions that were once geared toward high school students are now being presented in middle schools. Ms. Romero also reported that when domestic violent situations arise with participants of their programs, they are connected to mental health services to begin the healing process on a one-on-one basis.
Melissa Gallardo, President of the Mission Girls Youth Council, thanked the Commission for continuing to fund these programs and its recognition of the support system and educational assistance provided by the Mission Girls Program.
Commissioner Shorter thanked the Mission Girls Program for identifying the changing needs of girls and for providing outstanding services to the young girls of San Francisco.
V. CONSENT AGENDA
All matters listed hereunder constitute a Consent Agenda and are considered to be routine by the Commission on the Status of Women. They will be acted upon by a single roll call vote of the Commission. There will be no separate discussion of these items unless a member of the Commission so requests, in which event the matter shall be removed from the Consent Agenda and considered as a separate item. Members of the public may speak on each item listed on the Consent Agenda.
A. Res. 2007-001: Resolution to Honor Krishanti Dharmaraj for Human Rights Achievements
B. Res. 2007-002: Resolution Recognizing February 5-9 as National Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Week
C. Res. 2007-003: Resolution supporting the San Francisco Department of Recreation and Park’s Girls’ Athletic Extravaganza and Girls’ Sports Section
D. Commission 2007 Meeting Schedule
Action: To approve the Consent Agenda. m/s/c (Keehn/Shorter/unanimous)
Commissioner Shorter thanked Krishanti Dharmaraj for all of her work, dedication and advocacy with WILD for Human Rights (Women's Institute for Leadership Development) locally and nation-wide. Commissioner Shorter also thanked Krishanti for her services to the Department/Commission on the advancement of CEDAW.
VI. REPORTS
- Health
Commissioner Marks informed the Commission that she is planning a discussion group to discuss the high mortality rate among African American women with breast cancer. She is also hoping to get more information on services provided by the mammogram van that goes out to the Bayview/Hunters Point neighborhood. Commissioner Marks continues to work on evaluating the effectiveness of the Every Woman Counts program.
Commissioner Marks continues to work with the Health Access Plan Advisory Committee (HAP) and hopes to work in collaboration with UCSF in discussing the implementation of HAP.
Commissioner Marks also reported that the Marine convicted of raping a Philipina woman was transferred to U.S. custody while waiting a decision on where he will serve his sentence, in the U.S. or in the Philippines.
- Justice & Courage
Commissioner Keehn reported that Policy Analyst Colleen Montoya has been working with consultant Dr. Patricia Erwin on concluding and reporting on the results of the Domestic Violence Safety Audit. On February 7, the Justice and Courage Oversight Panel will review the findings of the audit. At the next Commission meeting there will be a presentation on the Safety Audit.
As a part of the Domestic Violence Response Cross-Training Institute, 4 community-based trainers have been selected. The training team includes Mary Twomey of the Institute on Aging, Kavitha Sreeharsha of Asian Pacific Islander Legal Outreach, Emberly Cross of the Cooperative Restraining Order Clinic and Audit Coordinator Patricia Erwin. The Institute is scheduled to launch in April.
Action: Adopted the Funding Committee Recommendation on Cross Training Institute Program Evaluation
m/s/c/ (Shorter/Evans/Unanimous)
C. Violence Against Women Prevention and Intervention Grants Program
Commissioner Munter reported that the Needs Assessment RFP had been released by the Department and a number of applications where received. After an independent review panel was convened Korwin Consulting was selected.
Action: Adopted the Funding Committee Recommendation on Needs Assessment Consultant
m/s/c (Marks/Keehn/Unanimous)
D. Girls Committee
Commissioner Shorter reported that the Girls Committee met in December and discussed issues they would like to cover and committee operations. The Department is still in the process of recruiting members, girls aged 13-17 years, to take advantage of this leadership opportunity.
E. Family Violence Council
Commissioner Evans thanked Beverly Upton for her leadership role in the process of reestablishing the Council. The next meeting will be held on March 22nd at which point they hope to have Supervisor Sophie Maxwell sponsor the legislation and present it to the Board of Supervisors.
F. CEDAW Committee
Executive Director Murase reported that Department staff met with the Juvenile Probation Department (JPD), and received a commitment to re-establish the Girls Unit. Currently there are no probation officers specifically assigned to girls in the JPD. The Mayor has a Violence Prevention Planning Group consisting of different city departments and organizations to develop a blue print plan that will hopefully be completed by June 2007.
Commissioner Shorter re-emphasized that there needs to be gender specific services in the JPD system and that a comprehensive list should be compiled of services specifically for girls.
VII. NEW BUSINESS
A. San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department Women and Girls in Sports Program
Claudia Reinhart, Recreation Supervisor, provided information on the Girls in Sports program and the Girls Athletic Extravaganza event was scheduled for February 10. She reported that the Recreation and Parks Department was undergoing change to the class registration system which would be available on-line. The Department has also initiated a girls survey to determine interest in particular recreational activities.
B. University of California San Francisco (UCSF)
Dixie Horning, Executive Director of the UCSF National Center of Excellence in Women's Health, presented a video highlighting the work being done by UCSF. The Center provides a comprehensive approach to women's health that includes both research and practice. She expressed her support for partnering with the Commission on planned activities around young girls, as UCSF had formerly sponsored the annual Young Women's Health Conference.
Commissioners thanks Ms. Horning for her presentation and stated that they look forward to a meaningful collaboration with the UCSF women's health program.
C. Human Services Agencies
Cindy Ward, manager of the Homeless Family Programs reviewed the Homeless Families Services Redesign, a 6- month process with more that 140 people participating. This redesign arose from the fact that the Mayor's 10 Year Homeless Plan, spearheaded by Angela Alioto, focused almost exclusively on chronic homeless who are predominantly male. The plan did not include a full discussion of homeless families. Ms. Ward acknowledged the participation of the Department in the highly collaborative process that included all of the key stakeholders, including many community-based agencies.
D. Budget
Executive Director Murase reviewed the proposed budget for FY07-08. She stated that budget instructions were to absorb all mandatory increases (e.g., rent, salary and benefits) and reduce General Fund support by 3%. A large portion of the reductions were made to one-time only programs. However, without any alternative, the Department was forced to propose a $13,000 reduction to the Violence Against Women Prevention & Intervention Grants Program. This amount was to be divided equally among the 4 agencies receiving over $130,000 in support from the Department, or a $3,250 reduction per each of the 4 agencies.
Maxine Doogan requested information on funding for Women in Dialogue because she was informed that no funds where being used for services to prostitutes.
Beverly Upton, Executive Director of San Francisco Domestic Violence Consortium, assured the Commission that as in past years she would advocate for agencies to go before the Board of Supervisors and request continued funding for programs and services to victims of domestic violence. Ms. Upton thanked the Commissioners for their leadership and requested that they not approve the proposed budget.
Action: To reject the budget for Fiscal Year 2007-2008.
m/s/c (Evans/Keehn/Unanimous)
Commissioner Shorter abstained from voting.
E. Statement of Incompatible Activities
Executive Director Murase reviewed the Commission and Department on the Status of Women Statement of Incompatible Activities (SIA) and explained that a city-wide template was used to develop the SIA for the department/commission. She recommended that the italicized sections be removed as the Ethics Commission advised that these sections were redundant to the Brown Act or Sunshine Ordinance or too restrictive as advised by the City Attorney’s office.
Action: Approve Commission and Department on the Status of Women Statement of Incompatible Activities
m/s/c (Marks/Evans/Unanimous)
VIII. PUBLIC COMMENT
Maxine Doogan requested that public comment be held after old business to allow community members the opportunity to speak before the rest of the meeting business is handled. Ms. Doogan also requested to have a copy of the briefs prepared for the Commissioners made available for her to review. Ms. Doogan also wanted to clarify that Carol Lee was not a Commissioner for the COSW.
IX. ADJOURNMENT
Action: Motion to adjourn.
m/s/c (Marks/Evans/Unanimous)
The meeting was at 8:00 pm.
The ringing of and use of cell phones, pagers, and similar sound producing electronic devices are prohibited at this meeting. Please be advised that the Chair may order the removal from the meeting room of any person(s) responsible for the ringing or use of a cell phone, pager or other similar sound-producing electronic devices.
Explanatory documents: For copies of explanatory documents listed in this agenda, and other related materials received by COSW, please contact the Department on the Status of Women at 25 Van Ness Ave, Suite 130, San Francisco, CA 94102; phone: 415-252-2570, fax: 415-252-2575. Also, to the extent possible, documents will be available on the COSW website at http://www.sfgov.org/cosw.
Know Your Rights under the Sunshine Ordinance(Chapter 67 of the San Francisco Administrative Code)
Government’s duty is to serve the public, reaching its decision in full view of the public. Commissions, boards, councils and other agencies of the City and County exist to conduct the people’s business. This ordinance assures that deliberations are conducted before the people and that City operations are open to the people’s review. For more information on your rights under the Sunshine Ordinance, or to report a violation of the Ordinance, contact the Sunshine Ordinance Task Force at 415-554-7724. To obtain a free copy of the Sunshine Ordinance contact the Sunshine Ordinance Task Force, City Hall, Room 244, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, San Francisco, CA 94102-4689, phone: 415-554-7724, fax: 415-554-7854. Copies of the Sunshine Ordinance can also be obtained from the San Francisco Public Library and on the City’s website at www.sfgov.org.
Lobbyist Registration and Reporting Requirements
Individuals and entities that influence or attempt to influence local legislative or administrative action may be required by the San Francisco Lobbyist Ordinance [SF Campaign & Governmental Conduct Code § 2.100] to register and report lobbying activity. For more information about the Lobbyist Ordinance, please contact the San Francisco Ethics Commission at 25 Van Ness Avenue, Suite 220, San Francisco, CA 94102; phone: 415-252-3100, fax: 415-252-3112; web site: sfgov.org/ethics.
