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City and County of San Francisco
San Francisco Immigrant Rights Commission
Meeting Minutes
Monday, March 9, 2009
5:30 PM
City Hall, Room 416
1. Roll Call
Members Present: Commissioners Gilberto Alexander, Greg Chew, Jamal Dajani
(Chair), Elahe Enssani, Jay Gonzalez, Vera Haile, Solomon Jones, Angus
McCarthy, Alan Mok, Toye Moses Ana Pérez, Chris Punongbayan, Rael Silva.
Member Absent: Sam Ng, Felix Fuentes (Excused)
2. Approval of Minutes
The meeting minutes of the February 9, 2009 meeting was approved with the
following corrections, “the February Commission meeting was convened on
February 9, 2009, not February 5, 2009.”
3. Public Comment
There was no public comment.
4. Discussion: Update and follow up on the proposed April 9, 2009 public hearing to
“inquire into the Immigration Enforcement Impact on Local San Francisco
Communities.”
IRC staff reported that the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors formally approved the use of the Board of Supervisors’ Chambers for the proposed hearing to be on April 13, 2009 from 6:00 PM to 9:30 PM. The Sheriff will provide security for the duration of the event. Chairs will be set up in the overflow room in the North Light Court and translation services will be available in Cantonese, Spanish and Tagalog. Chair Dajani stressed the importance of issuing a press release, coordination and outreach. Director Pon will send a draft agenda and details to Chair Dajani.
5. Discussion, Information and Action: Proposed amendments to 2009 EAS Annual
Compliance
Staff Report given by Tomas Lee: The most current effort to amend the EAS
ordinance was initiated by the San Francisco Language Access Coalition (SFLAC),
a coalition of over 33 San Francisco-based language access and immigrant rights
advocacy groups. Since January 2008, City Administrator Edwin lee and Tomas Lee
have met several times with SFLAC representatives, IRC Program & Access
Committee members and staff from Supervisor Peskin’s office.
SFLAC’s recommendations were presented to city staff from Tier One and proposed
Tier One departments on August 13 and again on September 9, 2009. City
department representatives recommended maintaining the threshold of
“concentration of limited-English speaking persons” at 5%. All other proposed
amendments were accepted by city agencies.
SFLAC agreed to maintain the 5% threshold and also proposed a new set of
amendments to address the needs of “sub-threshold populations” which are included
in Commission packets.
Two important changes in the attached document: (a) proposed changes cite Title VI
of the 1964 Civil Rights, 1973 California Dymally Alatorre Act and Presidential
Executive Order 13166 as the legal basis through which language access mandates
in California are enacted, and (b) expand the reach of the ordinance by adding 14
new departments that have significant public contact to the list of Tier One
departments.
a. Consideration of additional amendments to the Equal Access to Services
Ordinance proposed by Chinese for Affirmative Action on behalf of the San
Francisco Language Access Coalition.
Public Comment: Ronnie Rhoe, Vincent Pan, Juan Situ, Un Un Che (Chinese for
Affirmative Action), Lily Haskell (Arab Resource and Organizing Center),
Terrence Valen (Filipino Community Center), and Jeanne Zarka (San Francisco
Human Services Agency).
b. Commission action: Proposed amendments were approved.
6. Discussion, Information and Action: Adoption of Resolution to Leahy-Adler Bill
Uniting Americans Family Act”
Public Comment: Kathy Drasky (Out4Immigration) urged adoption of Resolution.
Commission action: Resolution was approved.
7. Action: Approval of 2009 Immigrant Rights Commission Work Plans (Commissioner
Pérez)
Commission action: Approved.
8. Discussion, Information and Action: Approval of Support Letter from IRC Regarding
Mrs. Shamsi Khajehnouri, Shahrzad (Richard) Fazlollahi’s mother.
Commission action: Approved.
9. Discussion, Information and Action: Adoption of Executive Director’s Report
Director Pon provided an update on activities for the newly combined Office of Civic
Engagement & Immigrant Affairs, including Census 2010, immigrant affairs, and
language services.
Commission action: Approved.
10. Discussion, Information and Action: Adoption of Committee Reports
a. Executive Committee
· Chair Dajani requested that all Commissioners exclusively focus efforts on
promoting the April 13 hearing and personally conduct outreach into their
respective communities to ensure diverse turnout and testimonials.
· Commissioners Pérez and Punongbayan will collaborate on drafting policy
recommendations based upon the outcome of the hearing.
· Director Pon asked the Commission to forward name(s) of potential
speaker(s) for staff to contact.
b. Program and Access Committee
· The Committee is working on 2009 EAS Compliance Reports and
discussion of Community Surveys to garner community feedback.
c. Outreach Committee
· The Outreach Committee is recommending that the next community
meeting be convened in the Excelsior on June 8, 2009. Potential sites
include City College of San Francisco, Balboa High School, Denman Middle
School, Excelsior Youth Center, Excelsior YMCA and Excelsior Branch
Library.
d. Immigration Reform Committee: Committee did not meet.
Commission action: Committee reports were approved.
11. Adjournment
Meeting was adjourned at 7:30 PM.
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