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COMMISSION ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN
City and County of San Francisco
Regular Meeting
Minutes
Wednesday, April 24, 2002
5:00 P.M.
City Hall, Room 408
1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place
San Francisco, CA 94102
(DRAFT)

MEMBERS PRESENT                              STAFF PRESENT
President Carolene Marks                              Rosario Navarrette
Vice President Dorka Keehn                              Ann Lehman
Commissioner Emily Murase                              Rebecca Rolfe
Commissioner Andrea Shorter                              Winnie Xie
Commissioner Valerie Tulier


1. CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL
President Carolene Marks called the meeting to order at 5:16 p.m.
Commissioner Julie Burton excused
Commissioner Juanita Miles excused
Commissioner Andrea Shorter arrived at 5:06 p.m.
Commissioner Valerie Tulier arrived at 5:16 p.m.
Vice President Dorka Keehn arrived at 5:26 p.m.

NO PUBLIC COMMENT
2. NEW BUSINESS

·          Aspen Baker, Director of EXHALE, provided an introduction for EXHALE, a new program providing after abortion emotional support for women who have had abortions and their partners, families and friends. The services provided are unique and most of their referrals are from abortion providers who are not able to provide post abortion emotional support. They receive approximately 3 calls a week on their crisis line, which is available between 10:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. Although their volunteers are ethnically diverse, services are primarily available in English. Ms. Baker requested that the Commission consider a letter of support for the EXHALE program, which they would use in seeking funding for their program. Ms. Baker will submit materials to be considered as an Action Item at a future Commission meeting.

·          Holly Trista Potter, the consultant selected to conduct the planning for the 24-hour crisis line project, introduced herself and the project to the Commission.

3. ADOPTION OF AGENDA

m/s/c (Murase/Shorter/Unanimous) to adopt the agenda for Wednesday, April 24, 2002, Regular Meeting.

NO PUBLIC COMMENT

4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES

m/s/c (Murase/Keehn/Unanimous) To approve the minutes of the Special Meeting held Friday, March 22, 2002.

m/s/c (Murase/Shorter/Unanimous) To approve the minutes of the Regular Meeting held Tuesday, March 26, 2002, amended as follows: list Commissioner Emily Murase as present at the meeting.

NO PUBLIC COMMENT

5. PRESIDENT’S REPORT
·          Meetings with Supervisors Regarding Budget: Vice President Keehn proposed that Commissioners prioritize meetings with the supervisors who are on the Budget Committee. Commissioners agreed to set up meetings with supervisors as follows: President Marks will meet with Supervisor Jake McGoldrick, Vice President Keehn will meet with Supervisor Sophie Maxwell and Supervisor Gavin Newsom, Commissioner Shorter will meet with Supervisor Aaron Peskin, and Commissioner Tulier will meet with Supervisor Leland Yee and Supervisor Gerardo Sandoval. Commissioner Murase will attend the meetings with Supervisor Yee and Supervisor McGoldrick, schedule permitting. The Commissioners will coordinate with staff to ensure that Rosario Navarrette, Interim Executive Director, or Belle Taylor-McGhee, Executive Director, are able to attend the meetings with the members of the Board of Supervisors.

PUBLIC COMMENT: Beverly Upton, Executive Director of the Domestic Violence Consortium, reported that she attended the Board of Supervisor’s Budget Committee meeting on Tuesday, April 23, 2002. Twelve members of the public testified about the importance of full funding for the grants to the community, and the devastating impact cuts would have on violence against women services funded by the department. Ms. Upton felt that the testimony was very well received by the Budget Committee members.

·          Women’s History Month Celebration: President Marks reported that the Women’s History Month Celebration was a success.

·          Fall Luncheon Event: President Marks reported that the potluck with the Commission and the Friends of the Commission on the Status of Women (Friends), which was scheduled for April 4, 2002, was canceled. Commissioner Tulier volunteered to initiate a conversation with Ms. Taylor-McGhee to review how the Commission will work with the Friends on organizing the Women Who Make a Difference event for the fall of 2002.

·          Community Meetings: The community meeting originally schedule for May has been changed to a regular commission meeting. The May meeting will be held on Wednesday, May 22, 2002 at 5:00 p.m. at City Hall. The June meeting will be held on Wednesday, June 26, 2002 at 5:00 p.m. at City Hall. The Commissioners will confer with Ms. Taylor-McGhee to determine how future community meetings can best support the strategic goals of the Commission and Department.

·          Afghan Women: President Marks proposed that the Commission invite Medea Benjamin and Carol Ruth Silver to present a brief summary of the local organizing work happening with women from Afghanistan. Ms. Navarrette will contact them to issue the invitation to present at the May commission meeting.

NO PUBLIC COMMENT

6. INTERIM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S REPORT

·          2002-2003 Budget Update: Ms. Navarrette reported that the Department’s presentation at the Board of Supervisor’s Budget Committee went extremely well. The Committee members asked very informed questions about the Department’s performance measures, reclassification of staff, and for clarification regarding materials submitted by the Controller’s Office. Feedback from the Committee members was positive, and Ed Harrington, City Controller, congratulated Ms. Navarrette on the quality of her presentation and the budget and program materials submitted by the Department.

·          The Women’s Foundation: Ms. Navarrette reported that she and Rebecca Rolfe met with Patti Chang from the Women’s Foundation to discuss funding for violence against women services and capacity building for the Department and our funded agencies.

NO PUBLIC COMMENT

7. NEW BUSINESS Continued

SB 1301 (Kuehl) The Reproductive Privacy Act

m/s/c (Shorter/Keehn/Unanimous) To support the passage and full implementation of SB1301, known as the Reproductive Privacy Act.

NO PUBLIC COMMENT

8. OLD BUSINESS

Strategic Plan: The Commissioners agreed that Ms. Taylor-McGhee should have an opportunity to provide input on the priorities in the strategic plan prior to final approval. President Marks agreed to orient Ms. Taylor-McGhee to the strategic plan.

m/s/c (Keehn, Shorter/Unanimous) To postpone discussion of the strategic plan until Ms. Taylor-McGhee can participate in the discussion.

NO PUBLIC COMMENT

9. REPORTS

·          Justice and Courage Report: Vice President Keehn briefed the Commissioners about the press conference and community meeting regarding Justice and Courage. She identified the next steps in the process which include: 1) a letter from the Mayor to department heads requesting an analysis of any recommendations that could be implemented without additional costs; 2) an analysis of the budget needed to fully implement all the recommendations; and 3) establishment of the Oversight Committee.

Vice President Keehn reviewed a preliminary structure for the implementation of the recommendations in the Justice and Courage report. An Oversight Committee would be established with four active subcommittees that are assigned specific areas of implementation. Most of the detailed work would be done in subcommittees, and the Oversight Committee would have the responsibility to review the work of the subcommittees and ensure that the recommendations are being implemented.

Feedback from the Commissioners included the need to keep the Oversight Committee small in size and to balance community participation with representation from the City. Vice President Keehn will set up a meeting with Commissioner Shorter, Department staff, and if their schedules permit, Commissioner Tulier and Commissioner Marks, to further discuss the membership and structure of the Oversight Committee.

Commissioner Shorter requested that the Oversight Committee consider an audit by the Controller’s Office of the federal and state funds for violence against women already received by the City and County.

Vice President Keehn will follow up with scheduling a meeting with the Mayor and will bring a proposal for the Oversight Committee to the May Commission meeting.

PUBLIC COMMENT

Ms. Upton expressed the Domestic Violence Consortium’s full support of the recommendations in the Justice and Courage report as well as the formation of an Oversight Committee. She strongly supports that representatives from the community have parity in Committee membership with representatives of city departments. Additional community representation should include children’s services and the Filipino community. Ms. Upton expressed appreciation for the leadership of Vice President Keehn and Ms. Navarrette in this process and her hope that they will continue to provide leadership throughout the implementation.

Linda Alexander, Director of Victim Services for the District Attorney’s Office, echoed the feedback of Ms. Upton and requested that the District Attorney’s Victim Services program and the District Attorney be represented separately on the Oversight Committee.

·          Convention to Eliminate all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW): Commissioner Murase reported that the CEDAW Task Force is making good progress on developing a Five Year Action Plan. The Task Force anticipates that the plan will be presented to the Commission for approval at the July Regular Commission Meeting. As previously discussed by the Commissioners, Commissioner Murase would like to establish a half day training on CEDAW before the plan is presented for approval. Commissioner Murase will confirm which of the following possible dates is selected:
1) Friday, June 21, 2002, 2) Friday, June 28, 2002, or 3) Friday, July 12, 2002.

NO PUBLIC COMMENT

·          Friends of the Commission on the Status of Women: No report was presented.

NO PUBLIC COMMENT

10. PUBLIC COMMENT

PUBLIC COMMENT INCLUDED ABOVE.

11. Adjournment

m/s/c (Shorter/Tuilier/Unanimous) Motion to adjourn the meeting in memory of Barbara Cameron, former Commissioner for the Commission on the Status of Women. The meeting was adjourned at 7:00 p.m.

Explanatory documents: For copies of explanatory documents listed in this agenda, and other related materials received by COSW, please contact the Department on the Status of Women at 25 Van Ness Ave, Suite 130, San Francisco, CA 94102; phone: 415-252-2570, fax: 415-252-2575. Also, to the extent possible, documents will be available on the COSW website at http://www.sfgov.org/cosw/.

Meeting Information