Full Commission
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Minutes of Meeting on August 14, 2006 at City Hall – Room 416
The meeting was called to order by Commissioner Diana Lau (chair) at 5:05 p.m.
I. Roll Call:
Members Present: Commissioners Lau, Escobedo , Dajani, Enssani, Haile, Jones, Melara, Nguyen, and Lee were present.
Members Absent: Commissioners Alexander, Levy, McCoy, and Ng.
Staff Present: Dang Pham, Executive Director
Guest Present: City Administrator Edwin Lee of General services Agency (GSA)
II. Approval of Minutes: The Commission approved the minutes of June and July 2006 meetings.
III. Public Comments:
IV. Presentation:
Mr. Edwin Lee made his first appearance at the Commission meeting as the City Administrator. Mr. Lee indicated that he would try to attend the Commission meetings regularly to provide updates on issues related directly to the quality of life of immigrants here in San Francisco. At this meeting, Mr. Lee provides the updates on the following areas:
* General Services Agency (GSA): Has been restructured to modernize the San Francisco government service delivery system to better serve the residents. A number of city departments have been relocated to be under the Human Resources Dept, where its Director will provide services to all agencies reported to the City Administrator. This new system establishes more specific performance criteria and accountability for city departments.
* 3-1-1 Customer Call Center: this is a new initiative and an important project, scheduled to roll out in March 2007. The City Administrator’s Office will oversee the operation of this 3-1-1 project.
* Cultural Competency: It is important to the success of efforts to better serve the limited English-speaking residents in San Francisco. Mr. Lee stated he is fully committed to comply with the Equal Access Ordinance (EAS). Mr. Lee will work with the GSA’s city department heads to ensure that they work closely with the Commission in the effort to comply with the ordinance in better serve the LEP residents. At the meeting with a number of Commissioners, members of the community and President of the Board of Superviors Aaron Peskin discussed ways to enhance the current EAS Ordinance through the language amendments and creation of a central Office of Language Access. This proposed office would be located in the City Administrator’s Office and it will report to both Mr. Lee and this Commission, which has the oversight of the EAS. In September 2006, Mr. Lee will attend a national conference on Equal Access in New York City and will meet with the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs to learn more of their effort in dealing with the language access.
* Capital Improvement: Mr. Lee also announced that his office is conducting a survey regarding the number of building structures being used by the non-profit organizations within the city boundary. About 50% of city services have been provided by the non-profit organizations, therefore, this ratio also must reflect in the number of city properties being used by these organizations. Mr. Lee also informed the Commission that his office has been given the authority to provide the oversight of the Treasure Island and Mission Bay.
* Day Labor Program Contract: Currently, the City is reviewing the new two-year contract for the Day Labor Program. The main effort is to identify the solutions to address concerns of the neighborhoods and also provide safety measures for the day laborers.
Commissioner Escobedo raised the following questions regarding the Commission: support staff, role of the Commission in terms of staff supervision, budget, and the EAS compliance.
Mr. Lee stated he is committed to provide adequate support staff to the Commission after carefully review and discuss with staff, and working closely with the Commission and staff to identify resources. Mr. Lee also confirmed that he, as the City Administrator, will be the direct supervisor of the Commission’s Executive Director. The Commission can provide the staff evaluation input directly to him. Regarding efforts to enhance the EAS Ordinance, Mr. Lee indicated that there is no timeline for the amendment of the language of the ordinance set by the City Attorney’s Office. Mr. Lee also indicated that his office is looking into hiring a consultant to assist the City in the process in establishing the Office of Language Access including the mission, organizational structure, staff qualifications, staff responsibility, etc. The Immigrant Rights Commission still has the responsibility to monitor the compliance of the City departments according to the EAS. The consultant will work closely with the Commission and staff in the area of compliance monitoring.
V. Structure of the Commission:
Commissioner Melara indicated that the Commission’s By-Laws need to be circulated among the Commissioners so the members can have a better understanding of their roles and if necessary, the members can propose amendments to the by-laws.
Commissioner Dajani commented that the Commission should follow the Bylaws for election purposes.
Commissioner Escobedo indicated that the Executive Committee needs to be put in place. This Committee should include the chair, vice chair, and committee chairs, and the immediate past chair and vice chair.
Commission Haile suggested that the Commission should implement the suggestions made at the last Commission’s retreat. She also added that there were folks in the community that were impressed with the works of the Commission in the area of public advocacy. Commissioner Haile suggested that the Commission need to define the function of the proposed Executive Committee at the next meeting before voting on it.
VI. Next election of the Chair and Vice Chair:
The Commission will make the nomination in the September meeting and hold the election in the October meeting.
VII. Approval of the final draft of the Report on Real ID Act:
Commissioner Haile made the motion to approve the draft of the Report on Real ID Act and Commissioner Escobedo seconded it. The Commission unanimously approved the final draft version of the Report.
VIII. EAS:
The Commission received twelve (12) 2006 compliance plans from the following departments: Election, Controller’s Office, Human Services Agency, Public Health, Public Transportation, District Attorney’s Office, Emergency Communications, Fire Department, Juvenile Probation, Police Department, Public Defender’s Office and the Rent Board.
Two (2) City departments still did not submit their 2006 compliance plans: Adult Probation and Sheriff’s Department. The Commission voted to request staff to draft the non-compliance letters to these two departments for the Program Access Committee can review it and the Commission to approve it at the September meeting.
IX. The Director Report:
1. New appointments:
The Rules Committee on July 27th meeting voted to recommend the following individuals to the full Board of Supervisors to fill the vacancy seats on the Commission: Gilberto Alexander, Ivy Lee, Vera Haile, and Dr. Toye Moses.
2. Cultural Competency Task Force:
The last meeting of the Task Force took place on August 2, 2006 at City Hall. During this meeting, members of the Task Force approved unanimously the final draft of the Recommendation Report. The Task Force will schedule a meeting with the Mayor to officially present the report to him.
IX. Committees Report:
The Program and Access Committee will meet on August 30th at 5:30 PM to continuing to discuss the proposed steps to enhance the current Equal Access to City Services (EAS) Ordinance.
The Finance & Operations Committee will meet on the third Wednesday of the month at 5:30 PM in City Hall.
X. Adjournment:
Commissioner Lau moved and seconded by Commissioner Melara to adjourn the meeting at 7:05 pm.