Full Commission
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Minutes of Meeting on June 13 2005
City Hall, Hearing room 416
I. Roll Call:
Members Present The meeting was called to order on 5:00 p.m., Commissioners Alexander, Enssani, Escobedo, Haile, Jones, Lau, Lee, Melara, Ng, Nguyen, Ow, Tran & Specktor were present. Commissioner Alexander arrived at 5:30 p.m. Commissioner Nguyen left at 5:15 p.m. & Commission Lee left at 5:25 p.m.
Members Absent Commissioner Eke & Kaff were absent & excused.
Others Present Dang Pham, Executive Director
II. Approval of minutes for May 9th: The Commission unanimously adopted the amended minutes.
III. Nomination for the IRC Community Awards for the 8th Anniversary Celebration: The following are individuals & groups who were nominated by the Commissioners:
Adbul Abudraham
Sandy Close- ED of California News Media
Dr. Joaquin Gonzalez
David Ho-Chinatown Community Development Center
Mujeres Unidas y Activas
Self Help for Elderly
Judge Lillian Sing
Steve Suzuki-Asian Neighborhood Design
Terrence Valen-Director of the new Filipino Community Center
Little Saigon Project in Tenderloin.
Some commissioners suggested giving certificates to the 10 nominations & some commissioners don’t want to give out to all, due to the amount of time we have to do the ceremony. It will be difficult for the Chair to present all these awards. The nominees are going to receive three awards, one from the IRC, Mayor & BOS.
Some commissioners thought there would not be much value to the awards if we gave out too many.
In the future to be an objective process, we should select a person or an organization from a region.
Next time the commission should set a limit of awards that are given out. Since the Commissioners have given five or six awards in the past, that we should stay within the same number.
Commissioner Escobedo made a motion to nominate 6 awards for the IRC anniversary. Commissioner Tran seconds the motion. The Commission unanimously adopted the motion to vote for 6 nominees. The Commissioners nominated:
Adbul Abudraham
David Ho- Chinatown Community Development Center
Dr. Joaquin Gonzalez
Steve Suzuki-Asian Neighborhood Design
Little Saigon Project
Mujeres Unidas y Activas
IV.1. Resolution: Commissioner Escobedo drafted a resolution concerning the potential impact of budget cuts on the implementation of the Equal Access to Services Ordinance (EASO). There was one amendment to correct city program to city programs. Commissioner Haile moved to approve the resolution & second by Commissioner Lee. The Commissioner unanimously adopted the amended resolution.
2. Commissioner Lee drafted a resolution condemning the racist, sexist, and homophobic training video produced and used by the San Francisco 49ers and demanding a visible commitment by the 49ers to the human and civil rights values of our City. Commissioner Lau & Lee made amendments to the resolution. Below is the entire resolution:
Resolution condemning the racist, sexist, and homophobic training video produced and used by the San Francisco 49ers and demanding a visible commitment by the 49ers to the human and civil rights values of our City.
WHEREAS, the City and County of San Francisco, according to the Year 2000 Census, is home to more than 350,000 immigrants (nearly 50% of the total population); and
WHEREAS, the Asian/Pacific Islander community and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender community are invaluable participants in the social, economic, and political fabric of the City and County of San Francisco; and
WHEREAS, the City and County of San Francisco is committed to protecting, enforcing, and advancing the human and civil rights of all its residents, especially those communities traditionally targeted for discrimination; and
WHEREAS, there have been several recent incidences in which severe anti-civil rights and anti-human rights problems in the culture of the San Francisco 49ers are demonstrated, including homophobic comments by Garrison Hearst, reports by Lindsay McLean (retired head athletic trainer for the 49ers for more than 20 years) of anti-gay hate speech and actions by players and his personal physical confrontations during his tenure with the 49ers, and most recently, the racist, sexist, and homophobic training video shown at the conclusion of the 49ers “diversity training” program; and
WHEREAS, the racist depiction of the Chinese in the training video is offensive to all communities of color as well as all individuals who may not be proficient English speakers;
WHEREAS, the 49ers benefit greatly from their relationship with the City and County of San Francisco; and
WHEREAS, to the rest of the nation, the 49ers is a symbol of San Francisco and bears the name of our City in the National Football League, and its reputation and values may appear to reflect that of the City’s; and
WHEREAS, male athletes often represent the masculine ideal, serve as role models to our City’s youth, and influence the mind-set of many fans; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, that the Immigrant Rights Commission condemns the racist, sexist, and homophobic training video and the damaging corporate culture which produced it and tolerated it; and be it
FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Immigrant Rights Commission commits to work collaboratively with our Mayor, the Board of Supervisors, the Human Rights Commission, and community-based organizations to insure that the 49ers take concrete and visible steps to demonstrate their long-term commitment to the values and diversity of the City which supports them; and be it
FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Immigrant Rights Commission, representing the immigrants which comprise almost 50% of the population in the City, will urge the City to withhold such support as the building of a new stadium for the 49ers until there is clear and satisfactory evidence that the 49ers are making internal policy changes and engaging in external community outreach to reform its culture, rebuild its image, and strengthen its ties to the community that lends them support.
- placed on next months agenda
- MUNI –Draft Response to compliance plan: Commissioner Escobedo drafted two letters which Ms. Loi has sent to Mr. Michael Burns on June 7th & June 8th. The first letter was response to MUNI’s non-compliance with the Equal Access to City Services Ordinance and the inadequacy of MUNI’s compliance plan. The second letter was addressing the resolution of complaint filed against MUNI pursuant to San Francisco’s Equal Access to Service Ordinance.
- Director’s Report:
1. Equal Access Ordinance:
Since the last meeting of the Commission, we had received the annual compliance plans from Juvenile Probation Department and Parking and Traffic Department. Mr. Pham still has not heard from The Adult Probation Department or received their annual compliance plan as requested.
2. Day Laborer Program:
The contract of Day Laborer Program was in place. The advance funding in the amount of $24,750 has been approved and released to the contractor. We did receive the first progress report as required by the contract. According to the City Attorney’s Office, this current contract is a very short one (March to June 2005), and based on the last RFP, the City’s Attorney Office need to amend the current contract so that the City can extend for another 12 months before we can run another round of RFP. On June 10th, Mr. Pham did receive a draft of the amendment of the contract from the City Attorney’s Office. We are in the process in arranging for a site visit.
3. Meetings/Activities:
- On May 20th met with the German Parliament on Immigration about the Commission. They want to learn more about our Commission as well as the current issues.
- On May 23rd, Commissioner Zina Specktor joined Mr. Pham to attend the Immigrant Rights Day in Sacramento. This event is an annual event and organized by different groups to lobby for the immigrant rights related legislations pending in Sacramento.
- On May 26th, attended the joint hearing with the Human Rights Commission (HRC) on the impact of the REAL ID Act related issues. A number of the Commissioners also join with the HRC’s Chairperson to conduct this hearing.
4. Commission Anniversary Event:
The Commission decided to hold an event to celebrate the 8th years of inception on July 12th at 4:45PM in City Hall. At this event, the Commission will recognize and present the outstanding service awards to the community leaders and organizations for their dedication and services to enhance the quality of life for the immigrant community in San Francisco.
At this time, the Mayor has been scheduled to attend. He will need to follow up with the members of the Board of Supervisors of their attending.
He also met with a couple of organizations and individual to explore the possibilities for them to financially support of this event.
5. New City Administrator:
Two weeks ago, the Board of Supervisors did unanimously vote to approve the appointment of Edwin Lee to the post City Administrator of the City and County of San Francisco. Mr. Edwin Lee will be sworn in on June 24th by Mayor Gavin Newsom.
There is a celebration dinner to honor Mr. Edwin Lee has been scheduled for Sunday, June 26, 2005 at 6:00PM at New Asia Restaurant located at 772 Pacific Avenue. The cost per person for this dinner is $27.50 or $275 for a table of 10 persons.
Adjournment: The Commission meeting was adjourned at 7:00 p.m.