January 10, 2012

SAN FRANCISCO IMMIGRANT RIGHTS COMMISSION

FULL COMMISSION MEETING & ANNUAL PLANNING SESSION

Tuesday, January 10, 2012 at 1:00 P.M.

1 South Van Ness Blvd, 2^nd Floor Atrium Conference Center

San Francisco, CA 94102

1.       Call to Order and Roll Call

The meeting was called to order at 1:00 pm by Chair McCarthy.

 

Present: Commissioners Chee, Coll, Fuentes, Haile, Kong, Maldonado, McCarthy, Moses, Ng, Paz, and Tom.

 

Not Present: Commissioners Enssani (excused), Gaime (excused), and Molodetskaya (excused). 

 

Staff Present: Adrienne Pon, Executive Director-Office of Civic Engagement & Immigrant Affairs; Richard Whipple, Senior Policy Analyst and Program Manager; Isis Fernandez Sykes, Legal and Legislative Analyst Ray Law, Asian Language Services Specialist; Whitney Chiao, Executive Assistant; and Danielle Lam, Outreach Associate. 

2.       Public Comment

There was no public comment.

 

3.       Action Item: Approval of previous minutes

Motion to approve minutes from the November 14, 2011 full Commission meeting, moved by Commissioner Haile, seconded by Vice Chair Fuentes, and unanimously approved by the Commission.

4.       Action Item: Election of Commission Officers for CY2012

 

Director Pon reported that following the officer election process approved at the previous full Commission meeting, her office received two nominations for the Chair position and one nomination for the Vice Chair position. Commissioners Fuentes and Maldonado nominated Commissioner McCarthy for the position of Chair, and Commissioner Maldonado nominated Commissioner Fuentes for the position of Vice Chair.

 

Commissioners began with the election for the Chair position and Commissioner McCarthy opened nominations for the Chair position. No additional nominations were received. Commissioner Moses moved to close nominations, seconded by Commissioner Fuentes, and unanimously approved by the Commission. Commissioners voted unanimously to reelect Commissioner McCarthy as the 2012 Commission Chair.

 

Commissioners opened the floor to nominations for the Vice Chair position. Commissioner Moses seconded Commissioner Maldonado’s nomination of Commissioner Fuentes for the Vice Chair position. Commissioner Haile nominated Commissioner Kong, which was seconded by Commissioner Tom. No additional nominations were received. Commissioner Moses moved to close nominations, seconded by Commissioner Tom, and unanimously approved by the Commission. Commissioners proceeded to vote on the election of the Commission Chair by written ballot. Commissioner Fuentes received six votes and Commissioner Kong received three.

 

Director Pon announced the final election outcomes: Commissioner McCarthy, Chair and Commissioner Fuentes, Vice Chair. Commissioners McCarthy and Fuentes thanked the commissioners for their support and look forward to the upcoming year.

 

5.       New Business

 

No new business was discussed.

 

6.       Annual Planning Session Opening Remarks (Chair McCarthy)

 

Chair McCarthy opened the Commission’s planning session and welcomed returning Commissioner Florence Kong. Commissioner Kong thanked the Chair and expressed her enthusiasm in rejoining the IRC. She believes that under the leadership of the Commission and Director Pon it will accomplish meaningful work in the upcoming year and serve as a role model for future generations.

 

7.       Session Objectives and IRC Strategic Plan Review (Director Pon)

 

Director Pon commended the Commission for their work, the IRC ended 2011 well with the very successful Consulate Reception. She stated that the purpose of the planning session is to confirm the goals and objectives of the Commission and to determine the activities to achieve them. She presented the Commission’s CY2011-13 Strategic Plan which was finalized last October and asked commissioners to review and determine which activities for CY2012 were still relevant and aligned with the Commission’s strategic direction.

 

Commissioners discussed how the Commission’s activities and individual commissioners could support the vision of the Commission and strengthen its voice. Proposed activities included an awards program to highlight the contributions of immigrants and community organizations, as well as hearings and symposiums to examine and discuss San Francisco ordinances and policies that provide assistance to vulnerable populations. Commissioners also expressed interest in clarifying the goals and expectations of the Commission and of individual commissioners, and focusing their activities to support the Commission’s objectives without duplicating the work of other organizations. They also requested creating protocols and a mechanism that would allow commissioners to respond quickly on emerging issues.

 

Discussion of ideas and proposed activities was continued under agenda item 10 of the retreat.

 

 

8.       Information Item: San Francisco Immigrant Integration Project Presentation

Annette Wong and Maria Rogers Pasqual, San Francisco Immigrant Legal & Education Network (SFILEN)

 

Annette Wong, SFILEN Program Coordinator, thanked the Commission for the opportunity to meet and provided a brief overview of SFILEN’s work. She introduced SFILEN’s San Francisco Immigrant Integration Project, which seeks to strengthen communication and relationships between local government and immigrant communities. It hopes to change the concept of “sanctuary” into a proactive city policy by engaging city agencies and stakeholders and supporting immigrants through identifying key issues and enabling access to effective services without fear or cultural and linguistic barriers.

 

Maria Pascual provided a summary of the project design and timeline. SFILEN created a steering committee comprised of community leaders to lead the project, and developed a survey to assess the community’s needs and priorities. SFILEN plans to obtain a representative survey sample by March, and announce the launch of community gatherings of stakeholders at its Immigrant Family Day in April 2012.

 

Ms. Wong hoped that the Commission would be interested in supporting the project, particularly in engaging the Russian and Vietnamese immigrant communities and with suggestions for the design and outreach for the community gatherings. Commissioners provided various suggestions and leads for organizations and community stakeholders. Director Pon stated that her staff will forward the list to SFILEN.

 

Ms. Wong and Ms. Pascual thanked the Commission for its support and look forward to providing an update on the project in the future.

 

9.       Information Item: Office of Civic Engagement & Immigrant Affairs Overview (OCEIA Staff)

 

Director Pon provided an overview of her office’s core work and program areas. Richard Whipple provided program updates on the Community Ambassadors Program and SF WireUp! and Isis Fernandez Sykes provided updates on the Language Services Unit and immigration issues.

 

10.   Action Item: Discussion and Planning of Immigrant Rights Commission CY2012 Priorities and Activities (Commissioners)

 

Commissioners identified the following five priority areas as determined under agenda item 7, and organized themselves into discussion groups for each subcommittee: Community Outreach, Policy and Legislation, and Program & Events.

 

1.       Issue and Policy Knowledge/Expertise (Policy and Legislation Committee)

2.       IRC Administrative Protocols (Governance/Executive Committee)

3.       Impact, Influence, and Positioning (Governance/Executive Committee)

4.       Relationships, Outreach and Education (Community Outreach Committee)

5.       Immigrant recognition (Programs & Events Committee)

 

The Commission calendared items 2 and 3 for discussion at the next Executive Committee meeting. Director Pon recommended that each group prioritize three to five activities that it would like to accomplish, to consider the intended impact, and identify the mechanisms to appeal to and engage the community. After hearing feedback from the discussion groups, staff will update the Commission’s strategic plan.

 

 

11.   Planning Session Summary (Director Pon and OCEIA Staff)

 

Commissioners summarized their priorities for the upcoming year: to influence policy on a local and state level, support immigrant integration and immigration reform initiatives, and promote positive recognition of immigrants. After the Commission has prioritized its activities, it will discuss how to organize the subcommittees to effectively implement the plans. The Commission will also continue to discuss how it can raise its expertise and increase its effectiveness and credibility as an advisory body.

 

12.   Closing Remarks and Adjournment (Chair McCarthy)

 

Chair McCarthy thanked Commissioners and OCEIA staff.  The meeting was adjourned at 4:20 pm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Minutes prepared by Whitney Chiao, Commission Clerk and reviewed by Adrienne Pon, Commission Executive Director.