2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997
ANDREA SHORTER
President
KAY GULBENGAY
Vice President
DORKA KEEHN
Commissioner
CAROLENE MARKS
Commissioner
KATHERINE MUNTER
Commissioner
BARBARA SKLAR
Commissioner
JULIE SOO
Commissioner
EMILY MURASE, PhD
Executive Director
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COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
5:00 PM
City Hall, Room 408
1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place
San Francisco, CA 94102
Members Present Staff Present
Vice President Kay Gulbengay Executive Director Emily Murase, PhD
Commissioner Dorka Keehn Administrative Analyst Laura Marshall
Vice President Carolene Marks Grants Administrator Carol Sacco
Commissioner Barbara Sklar Commission Secretary Cynthia Vasquez
Commissioner Julie Soo Intern Caitlin Campbell
Excused: President Andrea Shorter and Commissioner Katherine Munter
I. CALL TO ORDER/ AGENDA CHANGES
Vice President Gulbengay called the meeting to order and
Action: Approved agenda.
m/s/c (Marks/Sklar/Unanimous)
No public comment.
II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Commissioner Marks and Commissioner Soo will submit written amendments for the minutes.
Action: Approved amended minutes from June 24, 2009.
m/s/c (Keehn/Marks/Unanimous)
No public comment.
III. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S REPORT
Dr. Murase referred Commissioners to her written report and reported that Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger entirely eliminated the Department of Public Health’s Domestic Violence Program, $16.3 million (a 20 % cut from last year) to 94 domestic violence shelters and centers throughout California. The Department will send a letter urging that these funds be restored.
Dr. Murase announced that the Girls Social Services Directory has been printed for distribution and is also available on the Departments website at www.sfgov.org. Dr. Murase and Commission Secretary Cynthia Vasquez both attended the Friends of the Commission on the Status of Women Retreat held on July 15. The Friends continue to work on recruitment and welcome input on prospective members from the Commission.
Dr. Murase thanked interns Caitlin Campbell and Mara Lazar for their work at the Department over the summer. Dr. Murase also acknowledged Ashley Bennett an intern with California Women’s Agenda, who was visiting the Department to learn about how a city office works with community-based organizations. Intern Caitlin Campbell thanked the Commission and Department for the opportunity to learn and work at the Department as it was a great opportunity to engage in policy issues that affect women.
Dr. Murase announced that the Family Violence Council report has been sent to the Mayor’s Office and the Board of Supervisors. It is the first report to cover abuse over the lifespan, including; child abuse, domestic violence and elder abuse. Dr. Murase thanked Administrative Analyst Laura Marshall for her work with the Council and on the Report. Commissioner Soo requested that the next report include elder financial abuse and identity theft as there has been an increase. She added that it would also be good to include information on assisted living facility abuse and sexual assault on women.
IV. CONSENT AGENDA
All matters listed hereunder constitute a Consent Agenda and are considered to be routine by the Commission on the Status of Women. They will be acted upon by a single roll call vote of the Commission. There will be no separate discussion of these items unless a member of the Commission so requests, in which event the matter shall be removed from the Consent Agenda and considered as a separate item. Members of the public may speak on each item listed on the Consent Agenda.
A. Resolution Recognizing the Leadership of Catherine Dodd in Shape Up San Francisco
Vice President Kay Gulbengay welcomed Catherine Dodd, Deputy Chief of Staff to Mayor Newsom, to the podium by recognizing her many contributions to the community on health issues, in particular. Ms. Dodd thanked the Commission for this recognition. She reported that participants in the Shape Up program walked the globe 17 times over, and that City Hall staff are now routinely using the stairs rather than the elevator. Director Murase recognized Cynthia Vasquez as the lead Shape Up contact for 25 Van Ness who organized both a kick-off and closing reception for participants in the building.
Action: To approve the Consent Agenda.
m/s/c (Gulbengay/Marks/Unanimous)
V. OLD BUSINESS
A. San FranciscoArts Commission Update on Gender Analysis
Executive Director Luis Cancel, joined by Jill Manton, Director of Programs, provided an update on the implementation of the gender analysis at the Arts Commission.
Before beginning his remarks, Director Cancel highlighted one of San Francisco's newest public art installations, the Language of the Birds, by Dorka Keehn and Brian Goggin. He noted that, at a recent national conference, the installation was recognized as one of the most exciting new pieces of public art in the nation. Commissioner Keehn stated that the project was made possible through a groundbreaking public-partner partnership which she learned to navigate as part of her involvement in the Justice & Courage Domestic Violence Response Cross-Training Institute.
Director Cancel reviewed the Art Commission organization chart and walked through a gender analysis of the Commission's workforce. Of the 34 staff, 85% are women, 15% are men; 53% are white, 37% non-white. He then provided an overview of the public art contracts. Commissioner Carolene Marks asked about the data from FY08-09 when the percentage of contracts awarded to women was lower than the previous and subsequent years. In response, Director of Programs Jill Manton explained the process for awarding public art contracts. The Commission makes every effort to ensure that the selection panels reflect the diversity of San Francisco, but ultimate determinations are based on the style of art and appropriateness for the available space.
Director Cancel moved on to other programs. He reported that, of the teachers for the Writers Corp, 6 out of 7 were minority and 5 were women. In terms of the youth participants, 95% were minority, 56% were girls.
Commissioner Julie Soo asked about the number of minority contracts that were awarded to minority women. Director Cancel explained that the Commission does not have readily available data on minority women.
On work-life balance policies, Director Cancel stated that while he does not have issues with this because he staff is allowed to have flexible schedules.
Director Murase asked whether street artists who could not make it to the morning lottery for street vendor licenses were allowed to send a proxy in their place. Dr. Murase explained that as part of the gender analysis, the Art Commission a held focus group and found that women artists had childcare issues and could not attend the morning lotteries in person. Mr. Cancel stated that he did not have that information but could provide an update to the Commission. Director Cancel announced that the Commission will introduce a new on-line registration process in the next 6 months. Artist will be able to renew their licenses online.
B. Local Business Ordinance
1. Dr. Aileen Hernandez, State Chair Emerita of the California Women’s Agenda (CAWA), provided a historical overview of the Local Business Enterprise Ordinance. She reminded the Commission that, in the past, there were 6 women on the Board of Supervisors. Two of these women, Supervisors Doris Ward and Willie B. Kennedy, asked the Human Rights Commission to initiate an inquiry into public contracting. The resulting report concluded that only 3% of contracts went to minority contractors.
An ordinance was drafted to establish preferences to promote women and minority contracting. However, this ordinance was struck down after voters adopted Proposition 209 which banned minority preferences in public contracting. Ms. Hernandez chairs the Coalition for Economic Equity, a consortium of community organizations concerned about diversity in public contracting. The Coalition has found that public contracting outcomes today have changed very little. She stated that the Human Rights Commission, which is responsible for overseeing diversity in public contracting, is chronically underfunded and understaffed. Ms. Hernandez urged the Commission on the Status of Women to partner with the Human Rights Commission on the public contracting issue.
Ms. Hernandez explained that a key partnership with the San Francisco Unified School District is important. Teaching the skills to complete contracts and bids is a skill that can help students be successful.
Vice President Gulbengay thanked Dr. Hernandez for her presentation and asked whether there are consequences for departments that do not gather contracting data. Dr. Hernandez stated that departments are not required to gather data, but can voluntarily ask for the data and must be urged to do so.
Commissioner Soo also thanked Dr. Hernandez and expressed her concerns about the lack of data on how many women-owned businesses there are and expanding outreach efforts. Dr. Hernandez responded by saying that outreach is a continuing problem and effective outreach is important. She wants to ensure that fiscal stimulus dollars are directed to local businesses.
Commissioner Marks asked how to address the issues raised by Dr. Hernandez. She stated that it is very important for the Commission on the Status of Women to continue to ask questions.
Commissioner Keehn raised the issue of low-bid contracting awards. The state policy of requiring awards to go to the lowest-bidders disadvantage local businesses who are unable to compete with large businesses. Dr. Hernandez stated that this issue is being addressed by requiring large projects to be divided into smaller projects, providing expanded opportunities to local businesses. Commissioner Keehn suggested working with the school district on apprenticeships trainings and programs.
2. Human Rights Commissioner Linda Richardson, Co-Chair of the Local Business Enterprises Committee, discussed her role as an ambassador to the community. She acknowledged the many contributions of Catherine Dodd, in particular when she served as District Chief of Staff to Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi and made room at the table for representatives from diverse communities.
Commissioner Richardson explained that the Human Rights Commission arose from a community-based imperative to fight discrimination. She emphasized the importance of the partnership with the Commission on the Status of Women. She reported that the Human Rights Commission is in the midst of a strategic planning process, but the core mission of the Commission remains the same.
One issue she has raised at the Human Rights Commission was the City's practice of delaying payment to certified vendors. After much staff work, prompt payment has become the norm. Another concern is local participation in public contracting by minority and women-owned businesses.
Last year, the Human Rights Commission held a public hearing on Native Americans, a population that is not being served. Earlier this year, the Commission partnered with the San Francisco Board of Education to convene a public hearing about the achievement gap and the high school drop-out rate.
Commissioner Richardson urged Commissioners to continue to ask departments probing questions about their contracting.
Commissioner Marks supported the idea of a joint meeting with the Human Rights Commission. Commissioner Soo emphasized the importance of disaggregated data so that numbers of minority women can be readily identified. Commissioner Richardson explained that the data that is available should be reviewed and analyzed to identify the gaps in services.
3. Melinda Kanios of the Human Rights Commission provided an overview of the Local Business Ordinance contracting process. She stated the mission of the Commission and explained terms used in the Local Business Enterprise Ordinance. To be eligible, businesses must show 3 years of tax returns to demonstrate that gross receipts are below established thresholds.
Ms. Kanios reviewed data for September 2006 - December 2008. Ms. Kanios explained that LBE certification affords the benefit of a 10% bid discount on public contracts. For example, on a $100,000 bid, an LBE-certified firm is eligible to deduct $10,000 and compete with a $90,000 bid. The final contract amount, however, will be for $100,000.
Vice President Kay Gulbengay asked how to get information about certified businesses. Ms. Kanios responded that a directory of certified businesses is available on the Human Rights Commission website.
Ms. Kanios explained that businesses are eligible to be certified as minority-owned (MBE) or woman-owned (WBE) if 51% of ownership is minority or female. There are a total of 1,051 local business enterprises, of which 475 (45%) are minority-owned, 280 (27%) other, and 296 (28%) woman-owned. The Human Rights Commission has partnered with the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to establish certification for firms along the Hetch Hetchy water line, of which there are 107, 68 (64%) other, 26 (24%) minority-owned, and 13 (12%) woman-owned. Commissioner Soo suggested that staff account for time spent on certifying PUC vendors and charge the PUC accordingly.
Ms. Kanios discussed the fact that LBE prime contract awards amounts to only about half the total amount of prime awards. For example, non-LBE awards amounted to $267M where as MBE equaled $80M; OBE $46M; WBE $17M.
WBEs make up 28% of the LBE pool, but for the PUC, they make up only 12%. Of all WBEs, 48% are in professional services, 14% in architecture, 10% in construction, and 29% in general services. In terms of outreach, the Human Rights Commission offers a 2-hour certification training on a monthly basis. The training includes presentations by departments with currently available bids. The Commission also offers technical assistance to LBEs. Ms. Kanios is very interested in partnering with the Commission on the Status of Women to expand outreach to woman-owned businesses.
Commissioner Barbara Sklar asked about participation rates by certified firms. Ms. Kanios responded that this is available on the Human Rights Commission website.
Commissioner Soo asked Commissioner Richardson whether it would be possible to expand the training to include financial literacy, how to start a business, in addition to the certification process. Commissioner Richardson supported the idea and asked that the two Commissions partner on this.
Commissioner Marks asked if the Commission keeps data by minority by gender. Ms. Kanios stated that this data is collected on a voluntary basis. Commissioner Richardson urged that the City make a renewed effort to collect this data. Dr. Hernandez stated that next year's census will be very important to identify businesses. Commissioner Richardson stated that there is a new partnership with City College on the way, called the Gateway to College, to promote local economic development. Commissioner Marks stated that the issue of local business goes beyond a women's issue.
Director Murase put forward two proposals that resulted from her conversation with Regina Dick-Endrizzi, Director of the Office of Small Business: the first is to look into changing the business registration form to include the voluntary collection of demographic information; the second is to encourage City departments to purchase from local businesses.
VI. NEW BUSINESS
A. Background on Women and Elder Abuse
Commissioner Sklar presented an Elder Abuse Fact Sheet prepared with help from the Institute on Aging. The statistics in the report paint a troubling picture of an aging society with increasing incidence of elder abuse. Commissioner Sklar explained that she was formerly involved with the Mt. Zion Department of Aging which has evolved into the Institute on Aging. This agency provides a wide array of services, including counseling and legal assistance. The Human Service Agency Department on Aging and Adult Services offers a 24-hour crisis line. Commissioner Sklar reported that there are 50 agencies that provide senior services.
Director Murase stated that the Department has been working with Mary Twomey, former director of the Consortium on Elder Abuse at the Institute on Aging who now serves as one of the 3 co-chairs of the Family Violence Council. Director Murase stated that she met recently with the San Francisco Chapter of the Older Women's League and suggested that the Department host a Women's Policy Roundtable on the needs of senior women, including Social Security. Commissioner Sklar stated that securing Social Security benefits is a major challenge. Commissioner Soo suggested that the roundtable include attorneys who work in elder abuse and fraud as well as a representative from the California Association for Nursing Home Reform.
Kathy Black, Executive Director of La Casa de las Madres, stated that her agency has been awarded a $500,000 federal grant specifically to address domestic violence later in life. In all 500 assistant district attorneys and police officers will be trained on responding and reporting elderly abuse, specifically abused women. As part of the grant, the agency will provide services to 400 new victims over the age of 50, conduct a community needs assessment, publish a legal remedies book, and establish a coordinated community response team.
Commissioner Edna James of the Commission on Aging discussed the issues before her Commission, including the transportation needs of isolated seniors, particularly in the African American community. She will report on the issues addressed by the Commission on the Status to her own Commission and hopes for future collaborations.
B. Community Meeting
Commissioners will discuss the date and location of a possible future community or joint Commission meeting at the August Commission meeting.
VII. PUBLIC COMMENT
Beverly Upton, Executive Director of the Domestic Violence Consortium, thanked the Commission for its work on the City budget which protected funding for the Violence Against Women Prevention & Intervention Grants Program.
Kathy Black stated that her agency budget was impacted by the Governor's line-item veto of domestic violence shelter funding. Her agency will lose $210,000 as part of the $20 million cut to 94 domestic violence shelters. She stated that CUAV, La Casa de las Madres, and the Asian Women's Shelter will also be impacted.
IX. ADJOURNMENT
Motion to adjourn.
m/s/c (Gulbengay/Sklar/Unanimous).
The meeting adjourned at 7:36 pm.
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