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Immigrant Rights Commission

Meeting Information



Full Commission

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Immigrant Rights Commission
Minutes of Meeting on September 11, 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, Alexander, Dajani, Haile, Jones, Levy, McCoy, Melara, Moses, Nguyen, and Lee were present.

Members Absent: Commissioners Escobedo, Enssani and Ng.

Staff Present: Dang Pham, Executive Director

Guest Present: Paul Zarefsky, Deputy City Attorney

 

II.        One minute of silence to remember of the victims of September 11th.

 

III.       Approval of Minutes:  The Commission approved the minutes of August 2006 meeting.

 

IV.       Public Comments: None

 

V.         Presentation:

 

Mr. Paul Zarefsky of the City Attorney’s Office discussed with the members of the Commission the issues related to the public meeting laws.  The Sunshine Ordinance applies to policy bodies.  Policy bodies include all of the City’s boards and commissions, any advisory body, committee or council created by the initiative of a Board or a Commission.  The Sunshine Ordinance goes beyond the Brown Act by requiring certain gatherings that are not subject to the formal requirements of the Brown Act or Sunshine Ordinance comply with passive meeting rules.  The Brown Act and Sunshine Ordinance apply to all meetings of policy bodies.  A meeting occurs whenever a majority of the members of a policy body come together at the same time and the same place.  The Sunshine Ordinance protects the public’s right to observe and participate in the meetings of a policy body.

 

Mr. Zarefsky also indicates that there are limited instances where a majority of a policy body may be present at an event, without their attendance constituting a meeting of the policy body.  A majority of members of a policy body may attend the following events without their attendance constituting a quorum: conference, purely social, ceremonial, recreational gathering, etc.

 

In addition, social, recreational or ceremonial occasions sponsored or organized by or for a policy body are subject to the passive meeting provisions of the Sunshine Ordinance.

 

VI.       Create the Executive Committee:

 

            Commissioner Melara presents the draft of the role and responsibility of the proposed Executive Committee.  The main task of the Executive Committee is quickly response in case of extreme or urgency that cannot wait until the next Commission meeting but the Commission needs to ratify at the next full Commission meeting. Commissioner Jones indicated that he just want to ensure that the newly proposed Committee would not overpower the Commission.  Commissioners Levy and Dajani concurred that the Executive Committee is an important one and should be put in place.  Commissioner Jones indicated that the membership should not just limit to the Chair, Vice Chair and the Committee Chairs but should be opened to other Commissioners. Commissioner Dajani and Lee suggests that the Executive Committee should include five (5) members:  Chair, Vice Chair, two (2) Committee Chairs, and one (1) at large member.   The  quorum for the Executive Committee is three (3) members.  Commissioner Levy strongly suggests that the Executive Committee and other Committees should meet in the evening (after 5:00 PM) so members from the public can attend.

 

Commission Haile suggested that the Commission should implement the suggestions made at the last Commission’s retreat. Commissioners agree that at the October meeting, they will review the revised draft and vote on it.

 

Commissioner Melara will revise the draft and present it to the Commission for approval at the October meeting.

 

VII.      By-Laws:

 

Once established, the Executive Committee will review the current By-Laws and recommend to the Commission any necessary amendments that need to be done.

 

VIII. Nomination for the Chair and the Vice Chair:

 

  1. Nominated for the Chair:
  1. Sonia Melara

 

  1. Nominated for the Vice Chair:
  1. Jamal Dajani
  2. Vera Haile

 

At the October meeting, the Commission will hold the new election for the new Chair and Vice Chair of the Immigrant Rights Commission.

 

IX. The Director Report:

 

         1. New appointments:

 

The Rules Committee on September 21st meeting voted to recommend the following individuals to the full Board of Supervisors to serve on the Immigrant Rights Commission: Dr. Elahe Enssani and Angus McCarthy.

 

2. Day Labor Program Contract:

 

Finally, the new two-year contract for the Day Labor Program has been approved by the Offfice of Contract Administration. The Finance and Operations Committee will work closely with staff to schedule a monitoring visit soon.

 

3. Cultural Competency Task Force:

 

Finally, the Mayor and the Mayor’s Cultural and Competency Task Force released the Recommendation Report on September 7th.  The Mayor and members of the Task Force also held a round table discussion in the same day in the afternoon to address the issues related to the language access.

 

IX. Committees Report:

 

The next meeting of the Program and Access Committee will take place on October 4th at 5:30 PM in City Hall – Room 453.

 

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 Commissioners Melara and Haile to adjourn the meeting at 7:05 pm.