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Minutes of Meeting on April 12, 2004
A meeting of the Immigrant Rights Commission (IRC) was held on Monday, April 12, 2004 at the City Hall, Hearing room 416.
I. Roll Call:
Members Present The meeting was called to order on 5:15 p.m., Commissioners, Bondoc, Casillas, Gonzalez, Huie, Lau, Ow, Nguyen, Ribas, Tran & Zheng were present. Commissioner Casillas arrived at 5:28 p.m. & Commissioner Tran arrived at 5:25 p. m. & left at 6:30 p.m.
Members Absent Commissioner Atay & Haile were absent.
Others Present Dang Pham, Executive Director, Winny Loi, Commission Secretary
- Approval of minutes for March 8th: Commissioner Bondoc moved to approve the minutes and was seconded by Commissioner Ow. The Commission unanimously adopted the minutes.
- Carlos Colon from Muni: Mr. Colon cameto address an item on last month meeting. Muni is planning to have a take one brochure on the bus, if someone has an issue on the bus, that person could take a take one from the bus. Muni is also creating a passenger response card with a brochure to explain how to use it, in English, Chinese & Spanish. The response cards are post card size on every single bus; you will be able to write down the line number, operator number, bus number, the date & time & comments. Nicholas a student from USF asked about the cut of the 5 Fulton bus, the students do not want that cut. Mr. Colon suggested the students call 673-muni to vocalize their opinion so they will make a note of that. If the department receives many calls, they may reconsider the cut.
- Amend bylaws to add to Adhoc Committee: A suggestion from the ED, that the Adhoc Committee will be referred to the Finance & Operations Committee for discussion. Commissioner Ow approve of the Adhoc committee be referred to the Finance & Operations Committee & was seconded by Commissioner Gonzalez. The Finance & Operations Committee meets every first Wednesday of the month at 5 p.m. at 965 Mission St. Room 705.
- RFP for Public Department of Justice: Director Pham explains that the Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices (OSC), Civil Rights Division, U.S. Department of Justice, is again soliciting grant proposals for a public education program concerning rights of victims of employment discrimination and the responsibilities of nationality Act (INA). OSC will conduct a competitive grant awards programs open to community-based organizations, other nonprofit organizations, and state & local government. The smallest grant is $35,000 & the largest is $100,000. Due date is on May 6, 2004 at 6:00 p.m. in Washington D.C. time. He will go forward with this proposal grant. Director Pham will be working with a volunteer named Rachel to put this proposal together. Commissioner Gonzalez moves to allow the ED to write the grant proposal for this RFP. Commissioner Ow seconded the motion. The Commissioner unanimously approve of the grant proposal. Commissioner Ribas abstain, due to the fact that she works for the Federal Government.
Public Comments-Maria wanted to talk to the Commission about the immigration problem about her husband. Her husband will be deported back to the Philippines. This has been a problem for the past 2 years. Commission Gonzalez suggested Director Pham to speak to Senator Feinstein’s office. City Attorney Molly Stump reads the ordinance, which establishes the Immigrant Rights Commission, which states very specific, that the Commission should advise & make recommendations to the Board of Supervisors & the Mayor about issues affecting immigrants residing in San Francisco. Eric, Jennifer & Ali a freshman of USF, asked the commission if there is anything else the commission could do to help Maria. Ali suggested a general template letter for the Commission could send out to support all cases. Commissioner Casillas suggested if the students of USF contact Congress Tom Lantos, he has a very good record on immigration. Director Pham will make a direct call the Senator Dianne Feinstein’s office regarding this issue.
- Director’s report: Update on the Status of the RFP of the Day Labor Program (DLP): Director Pham has had two meeting with staff of Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Services (MONS) & the City Attorney’s office. The final draft is at the MONS after review by the City Attorney’s office, now the draft needs to be signed off by a few departments, such as Human Rights Commission, Office of Contract Administration, and the Mayor’s office. The proposed conference tentatively is set for April 26, 2004 and deadline for submission of written questions & request for clarification regarding the RFP is for May 3, 2004, proposal due date is May 24, 2004, & the notification of the finalist June 6, 2004. These dates are tentatively set for now.
Press conference about the Justice for New Americans: Commissioner Ow informed Director Pham about this press conference. Director Pham attended this press conference on Tuesday, March 30 at 1:00 p.m. in City Hall, Room 278. Justice for New Americans applauds the United States Army’s announcement that it has dropped all criminal charges against Captain James Yee. They demand that the U.S. Government issue a formal apology to him, his family, and his community.
The Cuevas Family: The Cuevas family has been approved to stay in the US for an additional 90 days due to Senator Feinstein. She stepped in and spoke to Bureau Citizenship Immigration Services (BCIS) to extend their stay so they take care of the legal matter. Senator Feinstein personally reviewed the Resolution that was passed by the Immigrant Rights Commission.
- Planning for next neighborhood meeting: The Commission will hold the June 14th meeting in Chinatown from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. Commissioner Casillas recommends using Chinese of Affirmative Action (CAA) & Commissioner Zheng recommends using the Recreational Center in Portsmouth Square.
- Finance & Operations Committee Report: The Committee met with the Pharmacy in San Francisco General Hospital (SFGH)& they found out that medication instructions are not printed in Chinese, but they were available in Spanish. SFGH does not have any Latino Pharmacist. Commissioner Huie would like to recommend to the hospital if they will print the medication in Chinese & also to develop a scholarship program, so they would have more Latino candidates to pursue a Pharmaceutical career. James, freshmen of USF, suggested if the City could come up with a computerized software program that could be distributed citywide. Commissioner Lau suggested if the city could pull the drug companies together for a roundtable discussion & ask them for their suggestions about providing instructions in a few languages, so that the patients can read understand the use of the product. This would be in their best interest. Commission Huie also suggested if the Pharmaceutical Company could come up with the scholarship program. Commissioner Huie found out that Chinatown does not have printed medication; they write it on the bottles. Commissioner Lau informed the Commission that the Chinese Community Health Summit on May 26, 2004 from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Holiday Golden Gateway on Van Ness. They will talk about keys to health care access in opening the door of bilingual, bicultural services.
- Program & Access Committee Report: Commissioner Casillas has been in contact with Ted Wang about EAS & also about Program & Access Committee so they can work closely together. She learned that there is a coalition led by the Law Center for Families, working in Alameda County. They are working on Language access & addressing barriers to services, due to language issues. She suggested that Ted Wang of CAA could attend their Program & Access Committee meeting first before speaking to the whole commission. February meeting, Commissioner Tran met with Ms. Lynch.
- Policy & Legislation Committee Report: none.
Adjournment: The Commission meeting was adjourned at 7:00 p.m.