Full Commission
2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 IMMIGRANT RIGHTS COMMISSION MEETING
CITY HALL – ROOM 416
FEBRUARY 12, 2007
MINUTES
The meeting was called to order by Commissioner Sonia Melara at 5:07 pm.
I. ROLL CALL:
Members Present: Sonia Melara (Chair), Jamal Dajani (Vice Chair), Gilberto Alexander, Elahe Enssani, Deborah Escobedo, Vera Haile, Solomon Jones, Felix Levy, Angus McCarthy, Samira McCoy, Toye Moses, and Sam Ng.
Members Absent (Excused): Diana Lau, and Phu Nguyen.
Staff Present: Dang Pham (Executive Director), Marie Mitchell (Commission Secretary), and Michelle Hong (Intern)
Guest Present: Miguel Bustos, Director of Commissions, Mayor’s Office
II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
Commissioner Haile moved, seconded by Commissioner Moses to approve the draft of minutes of January 8, 2007 meeting. Commissioner Dajani requested the information that reflected changes on Section V, Third Paragraph of the November 13, 2006 meeting minutes to reflect the title of Vice Chair. Commissioner Melara also indicated, from protocol point of view, that ex-official members should be listed last. The changes reads “ (Section V, third paragraph): Committee Members: Commissioner Sonia Melara (Chair), Jamal Dajani (Vice Chair), Gilberto Alexander, Solomon Jones, Vera Haile, Deborah Escobedo (Ex-officio), and Diana Lau (Ex-officio).” In addition, Commissioner Escobedo suggested that all future meeting minutes should reflect excused and non-excused absence of commissioner participations.
With no further corrections, the minutes of January 8, 2007 were approved as amended.
III. PRESENTATION - MIGUEL BUSTOS, MAYOR’S LIAISON TO COMMISSIONS &
BOARDS
Mr. Bustos, Director of Commissions at the Mayor’s Office provided a brief self introduction and explained that he represents the Mayor’s Office liaising with commissions and commissioners of the City and County of San Francisco to strengthen their relationships and to ensure the supports from the Mayor’s Office to the commissions.
Commissioner Melara informed Mr. Bustos on the Commission’s difficulty in enforcing the Equal Access Ordinance. She indicated that in the past the Commission has sent letters to the Mayor and Board of Supervisors, but that the Commission has not heard of any follow up. She asked Mr. Bustos whether anything could be done to find out whether something is being done. Mr. Bustos suggested the Commission to copy him on any future correspondence to the Mayor and the departments regarding the issue, so he can better assist the Commission in enforcing the EAS.
Commissioner Escobedo reiterated the challenges of the Commission due to its limited scope of power and briefed Mr. Bustos on the Juvenile Probation Department case as a successful experience. She indicated that she will be meeting with Mr. Bill Sifferman, Chief Probation Officer of Juvenile Department to assist with its new policy regarding the visitation policy of immigrant parents to visit their children and requested the possible attendance of Mr. Bustos.
IV. PUBLIC COMMENTS:
Dr. Jay Gonzalez, Professor of University of San Francisco (USF) and Golden Gate University proposed to the Commission a draft resolution that urges the Mayor and board of Supervisors to ask the Congressional Delegation to oppose the proposed U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) fee increase; and requesting the Commission to send a separate formal letter signed by all its commissioners to the USCIS Director and attaches a copy of the resolution. The draft is a joint effort of Dr. Gonzalez and his students from USF. Dr. Gonzalez indicated that the proposal has incorporated the Commission’s original draft resolution and included more hard data.
Commissioner McCarthy expressed concern on the statement on the war in Iraq mentioned in the proposal. However, Commissioner Dajani felt the information could be relevant as a fact. Commissioner Escobedo also expressed her disagreement in highlighting the information on poverty in San Francisco.
Given the limit of time, the Commission assigned Commissioner Escobedo and Levy to work on the resolution. The Commission empowered the Commissioners to finalize it, taking into consideration the concerns above expressed by the Commissioners.
V. FEE INCREASE FOR CITIZENSHIP APPLICATIONS:
See Public Comments.
VI. SUPPORT LETTER FROM SB 1 BILL:
Commissioner Melara indicated that the staff had drafted a letter on her behalf in support of SB1, which she had not been able to review before the meeting. The SB1 Bill is to establish an Office of Immigrant Affairs at the State level to facilitate the integration of immigrants into California. The proposed bill creates an office that would coordinate existing state services and programs for immigrants and their families, act as a repository of information on immigrant issues and affairs and advocate and promote cooperation and understanding between government agencies and immigrant citizens.
Commissioner Melara expressed that with the establishment of the office, in addition to supporting the bill, the letter should mention that funding should be attached to the bill to sustain the office activities. Hence, such statement should be included in the Commission’s support letter.
Commissioner Haile moved, seconded by Commissioner Alexander to approve the amended support letter of the SB 1 Bill. The motion was passed unanimously.
VII. 2007 SUMMIT PLANNING COMMITTEE
Commissioner Melara briefed that members of the Executive Committee about meeting with City Administrator Ed Lee regarding the 2007 Summit Committee structure and budget. She had previously spoken to the City Attorney regarding the Summit Planning Committee’s requirements. She was informed that if the committee was appointed by the Commission, it would need to comply with Sunshine and quorum requirements. If called under the City Administrator’s Office, the committee could not have a majority of the Commission or a single Commission committee as part of its membership as it would become a committee of the Commission and would be subject to quorum and Sunshine requirements. Therefore, in order to be forward as quickly as possible, it was believed that the best option was to have the Summit Planning Committee be called under the jurisdiction of the City Administrator’s Office.
Commissioner Dajani moved to allow the Summit Planning Committee to be called under the jurisdiction of the City Administrator’s Office, as long as the commissioners are involved in the process. The motion was seconded by Commissioner McCarthy.
VIII. BY-LAWS REVISION:
Commissioner Escobedo provided the Commission with a draft of revised by-laws and requested the members to review the changes for approval at the next commission meeting.
Commissioner Melara also indicated that the Executive Committee had discussed the Commission committees. The Executive Committee wanted to ensure that the Commission is able to accomplish its work by not having too many Committees and allowing each Commissioner to participate in at least one committee.
The Executive Committee discussed the Finance and Operations Committee and realized that there was an overlap in functions with the Executive Committee and proposed to dissolve the Finance and Operations Committee and replace it with an Outreach Ad-Hoc committee. The Committee will ensure the Commission reaches out to the communities affected by the Commission.
IX. BUDGET RELATED ISSUES:
Commissioner Melara reported that the members of the Executive Committee meet with City Administrator Lee on the budget issues and learned that the Commission doesn’t necessarily have a separate budget. In fact, Mr. Lee discourages the Commission from maintaining a separate budget because the Commission would be treated as a department and will be asked to adjust its budget in the same manner all departments are asked to do every year. Instead, Mr. Lee discussed the needs of the Commission (i.e. Executive Director, Commission Secretary, summit, supplies and food, etc.) and assured that it will be included in the budge of his office.
Commissioner Jones expressed concern on the arrangement that such budget agreement is with the current City Administrator. If the personnel should change, the Commission might lose its budget. Hence, requested consideration of a long-term assurance on future Commission’s budget.
X. COMMISSION COMMUNICATION/PRESENTATION PROTOCOLS:
Commissioner Melara reminded Commissioners that, while individual commissioners should be involved in the community as members of the Commission, they cannot represent or communicate on behalf of the IRC unless he/she is appointed to represent the Commission in a specific issue or function.
XI. ADVISORY COMMITTEE TO THE JUVENILE PROBATION DEPARTMENT:
The Juvenile Probation Department had invited Commissioner Melara as the Chair of the IRC to participate in its Advisory Committee and to attend a meeting at the end of January. However, considering the area of expertise, she asked Commissioner Escobedo to represent the Commission pending full Commission approval. Therefore, a formal approval was requested to have Commissioner Escobedo be the official representative. She accepted the nomination. The motion was moved by Commissioner Alexander and seconded by Commissioner Dajani to appoint Commissioner Escobedo as representative of the IRC participating in the Juvenile Probation Department’s Advisory Committee.
XII. UNFINISHED BUSINESS FROM THE LAST COMMISSION MEETING:
Mr. Pham indicated the Ethnics Commission has informed him that they will contact the Commission on any language changes of it Statement of Incompatible Activities (SIAs) and the new due date is June 11, 2007. The item has been postponed until later Commission meeting for discussion.
Commission Levy proposed a new language on the Commission’s meeting hours suggesting “the Immigrant Rights Commission will commit to hold all its meetings during non-traditional working hours. Emergency meeting will be exempted.” Commissioner McCarthy made a motion and seconded by Commissioner Enssani to accept the proposal for vote. The proposal failed to be adopted by the Commission.
XIII. DIRECTOR'S REPORT:
Copy of the Director’s report was distributed to the Commissioners.
XV. ADJOURNMENT:
Commissioner Alexander moved and seconded by Commissioner Ng to adjourn the meeting. The meeting was adjourned at 7:06 pm.