Seal of the City and County of San Francisco

To view graphic version of this page, refresh this page (F5)

Skip to page body

Meeting Information



Full Commission

2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 

Immigrant Rights Commission

Minutes of Meeting on February 10, 2003

A meeting of the Immigrant Rights Commission (IRC) was held on Monday, February 10, 2003 at City Hall, hearing room 416.

I. Roll Call:

Members Present The meeting was called to order on 5:00 p.m., Commissioners Nwadibia, Gonzalez, Berumen, Casillas, Gusukuma, Haile, Huie, Nguyen, Ribas &Tran were present. Commissioner Tran arrived at 5:14 p.m & left at 6:20, Commissioner Casillas arrived at 5:20. Commissioner Gusukuma left at 6:25 p.m. & Commissioner Ribas left at 6:35. Commmissioner Atay, Lau & Zheng were absent.

Invited Guests Edward Gomez & Tony Irons.

Others Present Dang Pham, Executive Director

        Winny Loi, Commission Secretary

    William Chan, Deputy City Attorney

II. Approval of minutes for Jan 13 2003:

    Commissioner Haile moved to approve the minutes & Commissioner Gusukuma seconded the motion. The minutes were adopted unanimously.

III. Public Comment: None

IV. Status of the Airport Screeners' bonus:

        Edward Gomez from Transportation Security Administration (TSA) addressed the Commission on the "Bonus Program" for the former Airport Screeners. Mr. Gomez explained that during the change in the responsibility for airport security from the three private companies (Globe, ITS and Agrenbright) to the TSA, the TSA did not have sufficient screeners on hand to handle the screening function at SFO. As a result, the TSA asked the three companies to see if they can convince some of their screeners to remain on the job pass the changeover date. Those who agreed to remain on the job would receive a "bonus" based on their experience from the companies. The TSA would reimburse the companies. On average, the TSA believes that the bonus would amounts to approximately $500 per person, though the actual "bonus" would vary based on the screener's experience. The three companies were to submit a list of qualified employees who remained on the job and an invoice for the "bonus" to be given to these employees. The TSA would review the invoice and provide the funds for the "bonus" to the companies. It was the companies' responsibility to disburse the "bonus" to their individual employees. According to Mr. Gomez, Agrenbright, on its own, had disbursed the "bonus" to its employees and submitted the invoice to TSA for reimbursement. Mr. Gomez believes that Globe will be disbursing the "bonus" to its employees soon. ITS had not submitted an invoice to the TSA for the "bonus" to its employees. To complicate the matter, ITS had filed for bankruptcy protection. Hence, Mr. Gomez do not know when or if the ITS employees would get their "bonus."

    Nestor Reyes, formerly with ITS, asked the Commission for assistance to getting their promised "bonus."

V. School District's Activities involving FEC and Bessie Carmichael:

    Tony Irons from the School District (District) addressed the Commission regarding the issue involving the property where the Filipino Education Center (FEC) is situated & the alleged consolidation of FEC with the Bessie Carmichael school. Mr. Irons informed the Commission that the District is not planning to sell the property. Rather, the District is looking to lease the airspace rights to another entity, such as the Redevelopment Agency, for the development of affordable housing. He represented that the plan is very preliminary and no decision has been made.

    Teresa Dunlapas, a parent of a child attending the FEC, expressed her concerns on the merge of FEC with Bessie Carmichael. She does not want the children & the Filipino community to be shortchanged. The parents want to secure the FEC site as a historic landmark for Filipino-Americans.

    Edwin Jocson, Executive Director of West Bay Piliino Multi-Service Center addressed to the Commission concern of losing FEC.

    Dr. Richard Kempis, a parent of a child attending FEC, addressed the commission on his concerns on the future of FEC.

    Mr. McCanvas expressed his concerns to the Commission regarding any merge of FEC with Bessie Carmichael.

    Commissioner Gonzalez asked the Policy & Legislation Committee take up this issue regarding FEC.

    VI. New Assignments to Committee:

        Members of the Policy & Legislation Committee are:

        Diana Lau, Vera Haile, Saif Ataya & Tamra Ribas

        Members of the Program & Access Committee are:

        Emi Gusukuma, Marlene Tran, Larisa Casillas & Juan Berumen

        Members of the Finance Committee are:

        Isabel Huie, Phu Nguyen & Houston Zheng

        Commissioner Haile moved to approve the members of the Committee & Commissioner Gusukuma seconded the motion. The Committee members were adopted unanimously.

    VII. Director's Report:

        Mr. Pham told the Commission that he would be holding meetings with the Tier 1 Departments every 2nd Wednesday of the month to talk about issues they had regarding the Implementation Plan for the Equal Access Ordinance.

        Mr. Pham also reported to the Commission on the Purchasing Department efforts to issue the request for proposals (RFP) for translation services for City Departments.

    The Commissioners to receive from the City Administrator an itemized line item budget for the IRC.

Adjournment: The Commission meeting was adjourned at 6:35 p.m. due to the loss of quorum.