Notes from Kerry
San Francisco Youth Commission
Do"s & Docents
You"re Invited
Art on Display
Talofa!
No Helium, Please
Blood Drive
Spare the Air days

Notes from Kerry
"If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got."

With this in mind, Building Operations and the Sheriff’s Department are striving to create a new City Hall that’s better than we ever imagined. It has been said, "The only constant in life is change, so… change happens, anticipate change, monitor it and be ready to adapt."

Spencer Johnson has written a great book called Who moved my Cheese? Have you read it? Our entire department has and there’s a new Cheese Change Team working on achievement goals and a mission statement to ease the changes necessary to operate this one-of-a-kind state of the art building. Watch out because there’s a cheese movement happening, and in the next few months you’ll see better service, cleanliness, a safer place, and a happier, friendlier staff. If you’d like to borrow one of our copies, contact Building Services at 554-4799, and we’ll lend you one. It’s an easy 40-minute read full of enlightening thoughts. See what we’re up to. If you don’t, you’ll have a hard time adapting when your cheese gets moved. Remember, it’s inevitable!

The current Cheese Team welcomes anyone to join their next meeting, Room 201, 1 p.m. on August 11, 1999.

The Voice for Youth:
San Francisco Youth Commission
by: Susan Kim

Created by the voters, the Youth Commission is comprised of a diverse group of 17 young people between the ages of 12 and 23. Appointment to this Commission is by either the Mayor or a member of the Board of Supervisors. The Commission provides input to the Mayor, Board of Supervisors, and city departments on issues relating to children and youth. Commissioners volunteer their time and energy because they are driven by dedication and passion to advocate for children and youth. With extensive experience as advocates, these Commissioners offer an energy and perspective that are crucial when creating policy concerning children and youth.

Some of the accomplishments of this past year include:
Youth Budget Hearing. Over 150 youth and service providers testified on services most needed and relevant for children and youth.

Peace & Safety Youth Advocacy Day. In a statewide effort, youth were mobilized from as far away as Inglewood to speak to legislators on gun control legislation and increased funding for violence prevention.

Youth Initiated Projects. This is an innovative youth philanthropy program supporting youth-driven ideas to bring about positive change in the community.

Second Youth Empowerment Conference. Youth-led, this conference provided youth with skills to effect positive change in their communities.

LGBTQQ Youth Task Force (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning and Queer) worked with city departments to implement recommendations to improve the quality of life for LGBTQQ youth. The Task Force spearheaded the effort to establish a queer youth-specific shelter and passed sensitivity training legislation.

If you are interested in getting involved or need more information, call the office at 554-6446, stop by their office in Room 345 of City Hall or visit their website at www.ci.sf.ca.us/youth_commission. The Youth Commission, which is on hiatus due to its many community involvements, will resume its normal meetings in Hearing Room 416 on the 1st and 3rd Mondays of each month at 5:00 pm, beginning in September.

Do"s & Docents
Recently, a very special visitor took a City Hall’s Docent Tour. His name was Peter Crenier. Peter’s Grandfather, Henri, was the artist responsible for the plaster figures carved throughout City Hall. Henri Crenier was a student with architects Bakewell & Brown at L’Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris. We asked Peter if he could tell us anything about his grandfather that we wouldn’t find in a reference book. He told us his grandfather modeled all of his figures’ feet after his own! Take a good look in the Rotunda and you will see all the figures’ feet are very short and VERY pudgy! This is now a "signature" for Henri Crenier’s work.

Did you know, the Board of Supervisor’s Clerk, Gloria L. Young, is the official custodian of the City Seal? The Spanish phrase on the Seal, Oro en Paz, Fierro en Guerra means, Gold in Peace, Iron in War. The symbol of San Francisco is the mythological bird, the phoenix. The two figures represent a miner and sailor standing next to a shield depicting a steamer entering the Golden Gate. The seal was adopted in March 1859. Thank you to all participated in the contest. I regret there was no winner.

You"re Invited
Community Events for the Month of August

August 4
Samoan Flag Day Community Event
Location and Time: Rotunda from Noon to 1 p.m. and North Light Court from 1 to 5 p.m.
Number of Guests: 300-500
Event Contact: Lexi Peyer at 554-6137

August 5
"Out to Lunch" Free Summer Concert Series
San Francisco Mallet Band (Brazilian/Jamaican)
Location: Alioto Piazza (formerly Civic Center Plaza)
Time: Noon to 1 p.m.
For more information please call 554-4799

August 12
"Out to Lunch" Free Summer Concert Series
Swingin" Funky Jazz Band (Blues/Bossa Nova)
Location: Alioto Piazza (formerly Civic Center Plaza)
Time: Noon to 1 p.m.
For more information please call 554-4799

August 19th
"Out to Lunch" Free Summer Concert Series
Alligator & the Bayou Boogie Band (Cajun/Reggae)
Location: Alioto Piazza (formerly Civic Center Plaza)
Time: Noon to 1 p.m.
For more information please call 554-4799

August 26
"Out to Lunch" Free Summer Concert Series
ESQ (Jazz)
Location: Alioto Piazza (formerly Civic Center Plaza)
Time: Noon to 1 p.m.
For more information please call 554-4799

Art on Display
Monthly art exhibitions organized by the SF Arts Commission Gallery are located on City Hall’s lower level. The displays for the month of August are works by youth and children, organized by Nancy Record in conjunction with the Department of Children, Youth, and their Families; and Vietnam in Black & White, a series of photographs by Douglas Legg. Douglas works as a budget analyst in the building with DPW.

"Face Forward: Young African American Men in a Critical Age" – a series of photographs and interviews by Julian C. R. Okwu – continues until August 10. Okwu"s "As I Am: Young African American Women in a Critical Age," remains on view through August 7at the Arts Commission Gallery, across the street in the Veterans Building,.

Exhibitions through August 10

• Introductions 99 - group show

• Face Forward: Young African American Men in a Critical Age – photographs by Julian C.R. Okwu

August 16 through November
• Douglas Legg - Vietnam in Black & White, photographs;

• Lucy Gray - Naming the Homeless, photographs;

• Leroy Morvant - paintings;

• Nancy Record, works sponsored by the Department of Children, Youth, and their Families.

Talofa!
Come and enjoy a touch of Samoa here in City Hall.

The Samoan Pacific Islander community invites you to join them in celebrating their heritage and pride at their First Flag Raising ceremony with Mayor Willie L. Brown, Jr., on Wednesday, August 4 at 11 a.m. Immediately following the ceremony, there will be lunchtime entertainment in the Rotunda and an afternoon reception in the North Light Court. Come join us.

No Helium, Please
We can’t have helium balloons at City Hall. There are sensitive beam detectors at various locations throughout the building that could be activated by a stray floating balloon. Please help us eliminate "false" fire alarms by leaving your balloons at home. Thank you for your cooperation.

Blood Drive
10 REASONS YOU SHOULD DONATE BLOOD:

1. Donating blood saves lives.
2. The nation and particularly the Bay Area face a blood shortage.
3. You’ll find out your blood type.
4. Giving doesn’t cost a cent.
5. As part of the donation procedure you get a “mini health check.”
6. Helps your community.
7. It’s safe and simple.
8. Only 5% of eligible Americans donate blood regularly. YOU can make a difference.
9. It makes you feel good. It’s the easiest noble thing you can do.
10. Great snacks.

Blood Centers of the Pacific will set up for blood donations in Room 201 on:

Tues., Aug. 17 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and
Wed. Aug. 18 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

It should take no more than an hour to register, donate, rest and enjoy some refreshments. You can donate blood up to six times per year (every 56 days).

City Hall has a goal of 100 blood donors. Last May, we collected 63 units of blood from the 83 individuals who registered. We hope to improve on those numbers.

Please consider giving the gift of life and encourage everyone in your department to do so. For more information call 554-6614.

Did you know that one blood donation (450 cc’s) can save up to five lives. How? One donation can be separated into five blood components for five different people:

red blood cells – for anemia
white blood cells – for leukemia
plasma – for burns
platelets – for bleeding
cryoprecipitate - for hemophilia
Join us in saving a life.

Spare the Air Days
This summer the City and County of San Francisco again joins over 1,000 Bay Area companies in the Spare Air program. Spare the Air is an eight-year-old voluntary air pollution reduction program sponsored by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. On days when ozone (smog) levels are expected to violate state and federal health standards, Bay Area residents are asked to refrain from activities that cause pollution.

Here"s What you can do to Spare the air:
• Leave your car at home. Take transit, carpool, walk, or bike to work;
• Don"t use gas-powered lawn mowers and leaf blowers;
• Avoid using consumer aerosol products such as hairspray and household cleaners;
• Barbecue to your heart"s content, but use an electric or chimney starter (burning
lighter fluid is what creates smog) – gas barbecues are okay; or
• Refuel your car in the evening after the sun has gone down.

For more information on the Spare the Air campaign, contact Tom Adams at 554-6074 or visit www.sparetheair.org