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Meeting Information



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Immigrant Rights Commission
Minutes of Meeting on March 13, 2006 at City Hall – Room 416

The meeting was called to order by Commissioner Diana Lau at 5:20 p.m.

I. Roll Call:

Members Present: Commissioners Lau, Alexander, Dajani, Haile, Jones, Levy, McCoy, Melara, Ng and Nguyen were present.

Members Absent: Commissioners Escobedo, Kaff, Lee, Enssani, and Spektor.

Staff Present: Dang Pham, Executive Director

Guest Present: Luis De Jesus, Dolores Park Project, Christina Dorodimas, and Patrice O’ Neill, The Working Group

 

Approval of Minutes:  The Commission approved the minutes of January 9, 2006 meeting.

 

II. Public Comment:

 

Mr. Luis De Jesus (through translation), Dolores Park Project informed the Commission about the his organizations proposals for new policies that fine loitering, public drunkenness, owners who do not pick up their pet’s waste, vandalism, and public delinquency. The organization also proposes the use of Angel Island as a mini-city, for the homeless, delinquents, and anyone who does not behave on the street. Part of his organization, known as the “Guardian Angels” will team with the police in helping secure the community through the use of video cameras and radios that connect directly to officers.

 

Mr. De Jesus later realized that he presented the wrong issue and will return to the next Commission meeting to discuss the Dolores Park Project.

 

Christina Dorodimas and Patrice O’Neil from The Working Group informed the Commission about their company that does media and organizing in response to hate violence. For 10 years, they have been working on a project called Not In Our Town that focuses on community response to hate violence. Three years ago they began a regional project of Not In Our Town in the Bay Area that emerged into an outreach and organizing campaign to institutionalize the fight against hate violence in the city of San Francisco. This project encourages the Commission to participate through assisting in planning a screening for Not In Our Town in San Francisco and by attaching the Commission’s name in support of the screening.

 

The Commission will take a formal step of action in support of the Not In Our Town project for the following available meeting.

 

III. Equal Access to Services (EAS)

 

Commissioner Lau reviewed the approved report and began discussing the distribution. Several suggestions were made about the distribution of the report. Commissioner Dajani offered his assistance with media distribution.

 

Commissioner Haile moves to release the report. Commissioner Jones seconded it. The motion was approved.

 

Commissioner Escobedo was thanked for her valuable work with drafting the report.

 

IV. Neighborhood Meeting:

 

The Commission discussed the possible dates and locations to hold the neighborhood meetings. In January, the Commission suggested Visitation Valley to have the next neighborhood meeting. Commissioner Melara suggested that the neighborhood meeting should be combined with the public hearing on the ordinance. The Commission agreed to postpone the neighborhood meetings until after the EAS hearing.

 

V. Director’s Report:

 

1.      2006 Compliance Plan:

To this date, the Commission received five (5) 2006 compliance plans from the following departments:

  1. Juvenile Probation Department
  2. Controller’s Office
  3. Fire Department
  4. The Rent Board
  5. District Attorney’s Office

 

2. Rally for Immigrant Rights in Oakland:

 

On Saturday, February 25, 2006, the Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride organized a successful rally in the Fruitvale District of Oakland to call on the US Senate to reject the HR 4437 -  The Border Protection, Antiterrorism and Illegal Immigration Control Act.  The rally was sponsored by East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy and dozens of community-based organizations in the Bay area such as Clinica De La Raza, Asian Health Services, Local 2 SEIU Union, Local 7 of Teamsters Union, etc.  The rally has drawn over 1,000 people attending.

 

3. Language Access & Cultural Competency Working Committee –  Juvenile Probation Department:

 

The Juvenile Probation Department’s Language Access & Cultural Competency Working Committee invites the Commission to join it in its continuing effort to improve services to the city youth, especially, the immigrant youths and their families.  This committee includes representatives of local service providers, Juvenile Probation Department, and the school district. It meets monthly at the main office of the Juvenile Probation Department to identify ways to better serve immigrant children and their families. 

 

4. Cultural Competency Task Force:

 

The Task Force met on February 23, 2006 at City Hall.  Randy Dongug of Xtech Company, a contractor, made a presentation on the 3-1-1 initiative, a new customer call service center.  Chris Vein, Director of the Department of Telecommunications and Information Services (DTIS) talked about the schematic of the current city’s website and the proposed framework for the translation.

 

The Task Force is preparing to make recommendations to the Mayor by the end of June 2006. 

 

5. Day Labor Program:

 

The current contract for the Day Labor Program contract with the La Raza Centro Legal expired on February 28, 2006.  I met with Edwin Lee, City Administrator to discuss ways in improving the program.  City Administrator Ed Lee suggested that we should link the Day Labor Program to the CityBuild in order to better serve the day laborers through the training academy and employment opportunities.  CityBuild is an initiative of the Mayor’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development, in partnership with other City departments.  CityBuild ensures equal employment opportunities for San Francisco residents of all backgrounds in construction workforce activities provided under City-sponsored construction projects.  To achieve this goal, CityBuild provides the following:

                        a. Training

                        b. Placement/Employment Opportunities

c. Monitoring

 

6. Draft Report on REAL ID Act:

 

Last week, I received the latest version of the draft of the Report on Real ID Act.  Because the act directly impacts San Francisco Bay Area residents, local advocates urged the San Francisco Human Rights Commission and the Immigrant Rights Commission to issue a report on the law.  Enclosed with this Director’s report, please find a copy of the latest version of the draft.

 

7. Public Hearing on EAS:

 

I spoke with Rose Chung of President Aaron Peskin’s office regarding a date and time for the public hearing.  Ms. Chung will contact with other members of the Board of Supervisors to request for their co-sponsorships for the hearing.  The hearing has been scheduled on May 11, 2006 at 3:00 pm in the Board’s Chamber Room in City Hall.

 

8. Meetings/Activities:

 

During the reporting period, I attended:

  • Attended the REAL ID ACT working group on February 21, 2006
  • Joined the Mayor in his meeting with the neighborhood in Mission District on February 23, 2006
  • Attended the rally for immigrant rights in Fruitvale District in Oakland on Saturday, February 25, 2006
  • Attended regular meeting of the Mayor’s Cultural & Competency Task Force on March 3, 2006
  • Attended the monthly meeting of the Juvenile’s Language Access & Cultural Competency Work Group on March 9, 2006.

9. Alert News:

 

According to the National Immigration Law Center (NILC), on February 26, 2006, Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) circulated a draft of his immigration reform proposal.  The draft will form the basis for Senate Judiciary Committee’s consideration of immigration reform, beginning Thursday, March 2nd, and likely to continuing with consideration of amendments each Thursday for the next 2-3 weeks.  Senator Specter is the Chair of that committee.

 

If passed by the Judiciary Committee, the bill will then go to the Senate floor, where Senator Bill Frist (R-TN) has scheduled a debate to start on March 27th.  This schedule could change, and the bill could look different as it comes out of committee than it does today.  If passed, the bill will likely to go the House-Senate conference committee, where differences between it and the bill passed by the House of Representatives last December (HR 4437) will be negotiated.  The result may well be a law, which incorporates many of HR 4437’s egregious provisions.

 

VI. Next Meeting Agenda:

 

The members discussed the power of the commission and its effectiveness in the community. This issue will be on the first meeting agenda after the EAS hearing.

 

A discussion about the EAS hearing in May will also be on the agenda of the next meeting.

 

VII. Adjournment:

 

Commissioner Jones moved and seconded by Commissioner Levy to adjourn the meeting at 6:55 pm.