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Minutes of Meeting on March 8, 2004
A meeting of the Immigrant Rights Commission (IRC) was held on Monday, March 8, 2004 at the Women’s Building in the Audre Lorde Room on 3543 18th Street.
I. Roll Call:
Members Present The meeting was called to order on 6:30 p.m., Commissioners, Bondoc, Casillas, Haile, Huie, Lau, Nguyen, Tran & Zheng were present. Commissioner Tran arrived at 6:30 & left at 6:50 p.m. Commissioner Zheng left at 7:30 p.m.
Members Absent Commissioner Atay, Gonzalez, Ow, Ribas & were absent.
Others Present Dang Pham, Executive Director, Winny Loi, Commission Secretary
- Approval of minutes for February 9th: Commissioner Bondoc moved to approve the minutes, Commissioner Haile & Casillas amended the minutes with a few changes: on item number V. 4th paragraph should read Renee Pasqual is the vice chair of the National Federation Filipino American Association. On the Director’s Report, correct the word laborers. On item number VIII. correct Buddy Choy. Letter was sent to Greg Fortner, Director of Housing Authority. Commission Bondoc moved to approve the minutes as amended and was seconded by Commissioner Nguyen. The Commission unanimously adopted the amended minutes.
- Resolution urging the Board of Supervisors and the Mayor to oppose Governor Schwarzenegger’s proposals to eliminate state guarantees which ensure that low-income immigrants have access to health and social services. Commissioner Haile moved to approve the resolution. Commissioner Casillas amended the resolution with a few changes. On the second page the 4th whereas, the proposed budget cuts will increase hunger, homelessness, and public health risks, including elder abuse & domestic violence. Commissioner Haile moved to approve the amended resolution and was seconded by Commissioner Casillas. The Commission unanimously adopted the amended minutes.
- Acting Chief Heather Fong spoke to the commission & the community about the changes & improvements in the community. Their department will have more open discussions and are also working on a new project called crime mapping. Crime mapping is a map that tells you how many incidents have happened in the area, so that the department can pay more attention to these crimes. Each individual can log on to the website to see what kind of crime is happening in the neighborhood. They are still working on this new crime mapping system, to understand how to use it when the public calls.
Captain Corrales discusses the issues of the day laborers. He mentioned that recently the laborers have been working but are not getting paid. The police department is looking into this issue to hopefully resolve this. First of all that they need these immigrants to report these cases in order for them to track it. They can only crack down on crime if the crimes are being reported.
Angela Calvillo, Legislative Aid for Supervisor Tom Ammiano: Supervisor Ammiano is currently in Washington D.C. lobbying for transportation dollars, he will be back on Wednesday morning, so she is here to answer any questions. Ms. Calvillo & Brad Benson is the two aids for the Supervisor. Supervisor Ammiano was Board President from 2000 to 2003. He ran and lost for mayor last year. He specifically asked Ms. Calvillo to pay close attention to the Mission District. Several years ago, Supervisor Ammiano offer a legislation to make San Francisco a sanctuary city and also a raid free zone. In the year 2000 they put together a task force to deal with the day labor issues. It was collaboration between the Day Labor Program & the neighbors who lived along the Cesar Chavez corridor. This task force lasted for 9 months. Supervisor Ammiano took the $160,000 fund from the Mayor’s Office & place it with the Immigrant Rights Commission, so when the RFP has a bid the Commission can administer the funds. However the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Services (MON S) is still in charge of creating the RFP. After the MONS figures out the settlement, they would make up their mind if they would finish the RFP or the IRC. Supervisor Ammiano would like it if the IRC finalize the RFP.
Carlos Colon with Muni: Maria Luisa Osacar, is a social worker on Valencia for people over 60 & the disabled, asked if there is anyway to help the elderly folks. If they fall down & hurt themselves they cannot see the number on the bus & report it. She suggested if there is a way to make a small card or a sticker with the buses id number so that they can just take one if they need it. Many elderly folks cannot see too clearly, so it would be difficult for them to write the bus number. Julio Loyola, also from the public, asked if the cameras are useful in buses, because so many crimes happen on the buses each day. Only when a crime has happen & someone reports it to SFPD, SFPD will review those tapes.
Maria Cora, Department of Public Health: The Department of Public health provides culturally competent health care services through our primary care system of community health centers, San Francisco General Hospital and Laguna Honda Hospital. This is a challenging time for the Department of Public Health due to the budget cuts. In attempting to better utilize resources and fulfill our goal of 'any door, the right door' DPH is currently in the process of integrating our mental health and substance abuse sections, now called Community Behavioral Health Services. Another effort being made is the establishment of the McMillan Stabilization Center which will provide an option for the mobile units responding to public inebriates instead of clogging the emergency room. DPH is also involved with other City departments in addressing the issue of homelessness; we administer supportive housing programs with health services located on site. She personally coordinates the Office of Women’s Health focused on DPH policies and services for the diversity of San Francisco's population of women and girls. Her scope of work is outlined in the 'SFDPH Women's Health Plan: Partnering in Wellness with Women and Girls in San Francisco 2003-2006' available on the DPH website www.dph.sf.ca.us. One of the six core recommendations made in this plan encourages ensuring the health of vulnerable populations of women by enhancing access to health services; immigrant newcomer women are one of the groups highlighted. The office of Women’s Health works closely with the Commission & Department of Status in Women which coordinates the funding distribution for services addressing violence against women and girls; this budget might also be affected by the impending City budget cuts. Ms. Cora agreed to help clarify concerns raised about Chinese languages accessibility at San Francisco General Hospital; she also will provide to the IRC a listing of community health centers and hours of operation.
Juanita Flores Director of Muerjers: Their organization basically helps Latin American women to become stronger. They help them to utilize their women rights & acts of social justice. The organization wants to help these women to become leaders. They provide information for legal services. They also encourage self-efficiency. They have programs which helps them work in a self sufficient way & to become independent. They also encourage other groups to work with them to fight injustice.
Xuan Quan& Wing Tze came to the commission to talk about the Bilingual Services for Cantonese translators in SF General Hospital. Ms. Quan is a patient in SF General Hospital, she is pleased that there are bilingual services for the Chinese & Asian community. The Bilingual services for Chinese & Mandarin were cut since December 2003. However there are still services for Spanish & English. Many patients complain about these issues. She brought a letter to the Administration to complain about these services begin cut. She personally brought the letter to the Administrator’s assistant. Since the letter was given the Administration, she has not received a reply since last year. Ms. Cora will take the letter & will give it to the patient advocate & they will respond.
Julio Loyala is an immigrant who finds work on the streets. Healso found work through the Day Labor Program (DLP). The DLP has provided him with lots of services. He was able to take advantage of these services. He asked if the Immigrant Rights Commission could move forward with the RFP process so that they can have more services, which can help these immigrants. Ms. Calvillo responded to Mr. Loyala telling him that currently the RFP is still in the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Services (MONS). Since La Raza Central Legal is suing the MONS, their office is dealing with the settlement, before making this decision. After the MONS figures out the settlement, they would make up their mind if they would finish the RFP or the IRC.
Maria Luisa Osacar District-wide Social worker, mission district, they want to know what is going to happen to the CAPI & CALM program.
Adjournment: The Commission meeting was adjourned at 8:00 p.m.