January 16, 2013
MINUTES
SHELTER MONITORING COMMITTEE
January 16, 2012
10:00 AM
City Hall, Room 408
San Francisco, CA 94102
Members Present
Committee Member Caroline Caselli
Committee Member Will Daley
Committee Member Julia D’Antonio
Committee Member Nicholas Kimura
Committee Member Isaac Langford
Committee Member Jesus Medellin
Committee Member Andrew Mendes
Committee Member Charles Morimoto
Committee Member Matthew Steen
Committee Member Cindy Ward
Committee Member Caroline Woo
I. TEMPORARY PRESIDING OFFICER
There were currently no seated Officers for the Shelter Monitoring Committee. Based on the bylaws, the Committee elected one of the Members to act as Presiding Officer.
m/s/c (Daley/Caselli/Unanimous)
Approved: Appointment of Committee Member Cindy Ward as Temporary Presiding Officer.
No public comment.
II. MINUTES
A. December 2012 Minutes
The Committee reviewed the draft December 19, 2012 Minutes and made corrections and edits.
m/s/c (Daley/Mendes/Unanimous)
Approved: Amended Minutes
Public Comment
Keith Dennis asked that the Minutes be corrected to better reflect his comments.
m/s/c (Daley/D’Antonio/Unanimous)
Approved: Amended Minutes
No public comment
III. REPORTS
A. Shelter Status Report
Human Service Agency (HSA) Report
Temporary Presiding Officer Ward reviewed the vacancy report and noted a 96% occupancy rate for the single adult shelters. The Interfaith Winter Shelters ran at a 96-98% occupancy rate. The Providence Shelter has had an average of one family per night. First Friendship has had an average of 35 individuals a night. Hamilton Emergency Family Shelter has turned away one family a day. The family shelter waiting list is up to 260 families.
Chair Nick Kimura asked why the occupancy rate was higher at MSC South as opposed to the ECS sites.
Committee Member Will Daley thought it might be because of the ability of MSC South to place people immediately in to empty beds by pulling people out of the drop in center.
Committee staff Bernice Casey said she would circulate past Information Request responses from HSA to the Committee.
Public Comment
Karen Perkins from ECS said that the vacancies indicated in the report may be from the CAAP beds.
B. Standard of Care Report
Committee staff Casey reviewed the January 2013 SOC report.
No public comment
IV. PUBLIC COMMENT
No public comment
V. OLD BUSINESS
A. LGBT Advisory Committee Policy Recommendations
Members of the LGBT Advisory Committee to the San Francisco Human Rights Commission have been looking at the issues faced by LGBT people in the city shelter system. Nadia Babella, Bonnie Leblanc, and Mike Snider presented policy recommendations on how to improve the experience and safety for LGBT community members.
Public Comment
Bevan Dufty, Director of the Mayor’s Office of HOPE, provided an update on the LGBT shelter, including fund raising efforts spearheaded by his office. He used the North Beach Citizen Group has a model for how community has engaged with homeless individuals in their neighborhoods to improve outcomes.
Betty Tillman discussed her physical assaults by other clients at the shelters. She said that some clients are on the floor pretending that they are transgender when they are not.
Committee Member Julia D’Anotonia asked to be excused from voting.
m/s/c (Caselli/Mendes/Daley/Kimura/Langford/Medellin/Morimoto/
Steen/Ward/Woo)
Action: Excused Committee Member D’Anotonio from the vote.
The Committee approved policy recommendations 8-13 as those pertained to shelters. The Committee also agreed to write letters to the appropriate bodies encouraging implementation of the recommendations once they were approved by Human Rights Commission.
m/s/c (Steen/Caselli/Daley/Kimura/Langford/Medellin/Mendes/Morimoto/
Ward/Woo)
Action: Approve recommendations and sending letters.
VI. NEW BUSINESS
A. 2011-2012 SOC Report
The Committee reviewed the 2011-2012 SOC Report and made changes & edits as needed.
Public Comment
Nancy Cross suggested that the Standards of Care be posted on every floor of each shelter. She said that shelter staff were not applying the rules universally.
Betty Tillman said that Ms. Casey needed a proof reader as the report had a lot of mistakes. She said that no one obeys the rules at Next Door. She talked about how she had been assaulted at the site.
m/s/c (Daley/Caselli/Unanimous)
Action: Approved amended SOC report.
B. Election of Committee Officers
Each Committee Member who wanted to be considered for an Officer postion discussed their qualifications, including Chair Kimura, Secretary Andrew Mendes, Committee Member Matthew Steen, and Committee Member Isaac Langford.
Public Comment
Nancy Cross said that staff was not enforcing the Standards of Care.
David McKiney from Hospitality House stated that he supported Nick Kimura for Chair.
Committee staff Casey reminded the Members that both Andrew Mendes and Nick Kimura volunteered for the Coalition of Homelessness and that it could be construed as a conflict.
m/s/c (Mendes/Daley/Unanimous)
Action: Approved Nick Kimura as Chair
m/s (Mendes/Woo/Kimura/Langford)
Opposed (Caselli/Daley/D’Antonio, Medellin/ Morimoto/Steen/Ward)
Motion to approve Committee Member Isaac Langford is not carried.
m/s/c (Daley/Caselli/D’Antonio/Kimura/Langford/Medellin/Mendes/
Morimoto/Ward/Woo)
Opposed (Steen)
Approved: Andrew Mendes as Secretary
VII. INFORMATION REQUESTS
A. Staff Report
Committee staff Casey reviewed the January 2013 staff report and requested that all edits to site forms be to her by January 25.
Committee Member Daley announced that it would be his last meeting and reviewed some of the reasons he was quitting, including the unfunded portions of the Standards of Care.
The new Members, including Charles Morimoto, Jesus Medellin, Caroline Woo, Caroline Casselli, Nick Kimura, Matthew Steen, Isaac Langford and Andrew Mendes introduced themselves.
B. Information Requests
There were no information requests.
Adjournment
m/s/c (Sheen/Caselli/Unanimous)
To obtain copies of the agenda, minutes, or any explanatory documents, please contact Bernice Casey at 415.255.3653 or Bernice.casey@sfdph.org 72 hours before the meeting.
To obtain a disability-related modification or accommodation, including auxiliary aids or services to participate in the meeting, please contact Bernice Casey at 415.255.3642 or Bernice.casey@sfdph.org at least two business days before the meeting.
City Hall is accessible to persons using wheelchairs and others with disabilities. Assistive listening devices are available and meetings are open-captioned. Agendas are available in large print. Materials in alternative formats, American Sign Language interpreters, and other format accommodations will be made available upon request. Please make your request for alternative forma or other accommodations to the Shelter Monitoring Committee at 415.255.3642. Providing at least 72 hours notice prior to the meeting will help ensure availability.
The nearest BART station is Civic Center Plaza at the intersection of Market, Grove, and Hyde Streets. The MUNI Metro lines are the F, J, K, L, M, and N (Civic Center Station or Van Ness Avenue Station). MUNI bus lines serving the area are the 47 Van Ness, 9 San Bruno, and the 6, 7, 71 Haight/Noreiga. Accessible curbside parking is available on Oak and Hickory Streets.
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.
In order to assist the City’s efforts to accommodate persons with severe allergies, environmental illness, multiple chemical sensitivity or related disabilities, attendees at public meetings are reminded that other attendees maybe sensitive to various chemical based scented projects. Please help the City to accommodate these individuals.
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 THROUGH:
Chris Rustom, Administrator
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
E-mail sotf@sfgov.org
Copies of the Sunshine Ordinance can be obtained from the Clerk of the Sunshine Task Force, 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 30 Van Ness Avenue, Suite 3900, San Francisco, CA 94102; telephone (415) 581-2300; fax (415) 581-2317; web site: sfgov.org/ethics.
