San Francisco Immigrant Rights Commission
Full Commission Meeting
Monday, August 30, 2010 at 5:30 PM
City Hall, Hearing Room 416
One Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place
San Francisco, CA 94102
1. Call to Order and Welcome to New Commissioners
The meeting was called to order at 5:30 pm by Chair McCarthy.
The Chair welcomed and introduced the four newest commissioners, Commissioners Gaime, Maldonado, Molodetskaya, and Tom.
Commissioner Maldonado has worked with immigrants for over 30 years. She believes that working with the Commission will give her an opportunity to share a common understanding of immigrant rights- she looks forward to working with the rest of the Commission.
Commissioner Tom introduced himself as a lifelong resident of San Francisco. He is a realtor, but enjoys civic engagement and contributing to the public process. In the past, he has been involved in improving public safety in his community and has served on other commissions.
Commissioner Molodetskaya emigrated from Russia 16 years ago and has always been involved with the Russian community. This is her first time looking at issues related to immigrant rights and she looks forward to working with the Commission.
2. Roll Call
Present: Commissioners Enssani, Fuentes, Gonzalez (late), Haile, Jones (late), Maldonado, McCarthy, Molodetskaya, Moses and Tom.
Not Present: Commissioners Gaime (excused), Melgarejo (excused), Ng (excused), Perez (excused) and Ricci (excused).
Staff Present: Adrienne Pon, Executive Director-Office of Civic Engagement & Immigrant Affairs; Priscilla Olivas, Senior Policy Analyst; Sally Leung, Executive Coordinator; Richard Whipple, Policy and Program Manager, and Whitney Chiao, Senior Public Administration Intern.
3. Public Comment
There was no public comment.
4. Action Item: Approval of minutes from June 14, 2010 Full Commission Meeting
Motion to approve June 14, 2010 full Commission meeting minutes, moved by Commissioner Gonzalez, seconded by Commissioner Haile, and unanimously approved by the Commission.
5. Action Item: Recommendation to create a fact sheet on immigrants in response to increase anti-immigrant legislation
Chair McCarthy reported that proposed anti-immigrant legislation has become more frequent, with 22 states considering similar legislation to Arizona’s immigration law SB1070. Commissioner Fuentes presented an article published in the New York Times regarding the federal Secure Communities Program. The Chair proposed that the Commission consider preparing recommendations to the Board of Supervisors and the Mayor. At the last executive committee meeting, commissioners wanted to create something with a balanced viewpoint on immigration and Director Pon suggested an immigrant fact sheet. Commissioner Fuentes added that the fact sheet would be specific to San Francisco and emphasize the contributions of immigrants. Commissioner Maldonado suggested passing a resolution in support of Sheriff Hennessey’s desire to remove San Francisco from the Secure Communities Program. Commissioner Moses suggested that after creating the fact sheet, the Commission could issue a press release.
Director Pon recommended that the Commission appoint a commissioner to work with staff on the fact sheet. She offered to invite a representative from the local USCIS office or the U.S. Attorney’s office to speak before the Commission. Chair McCarthy proposed continuing this discussion at the next Executive Committee meeting and holding hearings to develop a position. Commissioners agreed that they would like to hear from other departments before proceeding. The Chair proposed that Commissioner Fuentes take the lead for the project. Commissioner Fuentes stated that he would be interested and would like feedback from other commissioners.
Motion to appoint Commissioner Fuentes to lead project, moved by Commissioner Moses, seconded by Commissioner Gonzalez, and unanimously approved by the Commission.
6. Discussion Item: Discussion of Proposed Recommendation to hold an off-site Neighborhood Meeting in Visitacion Valley or Bayview/Hunters Point
Commissioner Fuentes stated that since the last full Commission meeting, he and a former Commissioner had met to discuss holding an off-site neighborhood meeting. However, since she is no longer on the Commission, he has been unable to proceed with meeting planning. Commissioner Moses volunteered to work with Commissioner Fuentes and proposed to hold the meeting in Bayview/Hunters Point.
7. Discussion Item: Joint Committee report and discussion of committee assignments
Chair McCarthy provided an overview of the committees for the new commissioners. The commission currently has four committees: Programs & Access; Immigration Reform; Outreach; and the Executive Committee. When committee meetings were held individually, it was difficult for committees to meet due to poor attendance. To address that problem, the commission began holding joint committee meetings, which has been effective. However, with new commissioners, the Chair would like to revisit the possibility of holding individual committee meetings each month and asked interested commissioners to join committees.
Commissioners Gonzalez and Maldonado expressed interest in the Immigration Reform Committee, while Commissioners Moses and Tom expressed their interest in participating on the Outreach Committee. Chair McCarthy asked commissioners to e-mail staff if they were interested in sitting on a Commission. Director Pon suggested that the Commission also discuss rescheduling committee meeting times at the next Executive Committee meeting.
8. Director/Staff Reports
Director Pon welcomed the four new commissioners and stated that she looks forward to working with everyone. She also announced new changes with OCEIA staff: former City Hall Fellow Richard Whipple is now the office’s Public Policy Manager, and former intern Whitney Chiao is now working fulltime as an executive assistant and officer coordinator.
OCEIA has also gained additional responsibilities and oversight. The office is now responsible for citywide translation and interpretation services and is looking into how to create capacity for those services. OCEIA also oversees the Community Ambassadors Program, a public safety program in the Southeast Sector. The pilot program employs twelve ambassadors who speak a total of seven languages and patrol the 9-San Bruno and T-Third Lines. The ambassadors have interacted with over 2,000 residents, breaking up fights, assisting seniors, and ensuring safety on the buses. The program uses employees from the Jobs Now! program, which is scheduled to end on September 30, so the office is looking into alternative funding to continue the program.
Director Pon also provided a 2010 Census update. The census is in the vacancy verification phase, where the Census Bureau verifies the accuracy of the information they collected. Results for San Francisco will be available in the fall and staff will analyze data as it becomes available.
Director Pon reminded commissioners of administrative protocols. Requests should be sent to [email protected] so that they can be prioritized and processed. Community flyers and notices sent independently by commissioners without the preapproval of the Commission or Office of Civic Engagement & Immigrant Affairs should not use the IRC or OCEIA name or logo.
9. New Business
Commissioner Jones stated that he feels the Commission should do something for the African community. Chair McCarthy and Director Pon reminded him that per several previous Executive Committee discussions, the Commission supports the African immigrant community but Commissioner Jones needs to clearly and coherently state what he is asking the Commission to endorse and this needs to be appropriate to the Commission's role. The Executive Committee has provided numerous suggestions but cannot issue a blanket resolution. The Chair encouraged Commissioner Jones to keep working to articulate his request.
10. Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 6:30 pm by Chair McCarthy.
