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Meeting Information



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ANDREA SHORTER

President

 

KAY GULBENGAY

Vice President

 

DORKA KEEHN

Commissioner

 

CAROLENE MARKS

Commissioner

 

KATHERINE MUNTER

Commissioner

 

JULIE SOO

Commissioner

 

EMILY MURASE, PhD

Executive Director

 

 

 

 

                               

COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

5:00 PM

                        25 Van Ness Avenue

                     8th Floor, Human Rights Commission Conference Room  

                     San Francisco, CA 94102

 

Members Present                                          Staff Present          

                                    President Andrea Shorter                                   Executive Director Emily Murase, PhD

Vice President Kay Gulbengay                           Administrative Analyst Laura Marshall

Commissioner Dorka Keehn                               Policy Analyst Anu Menon

Commissioner Carolene Marks                           Grants Administrator Carol Sacco

Commissioner Katherine Munter                         Commission Secretary Cynthia Vasquez

Commissioner Julie Soo       

 

Excused:  Commissioner Carolene Marks

 

I.             CALL TO ORDER/ AGENDA CHANGES  

President Shorter called the meeting to order at 5:05 pm. She thanked the Human Rights Commission for use of its conference room for the meeting. She also provided a summary of the very successful Women's Policy Summit. A final report, coordinated by the San Francisco Women's Political Committee, is still in the works.

Action: Approved amended agenda.    

m/s/c (Soo/Keehn/Unanimous)

No public comment.

 

II.     APPROVAL OF MINUTES                                                   

President Shorter asked Commissioners to review the minutes of the Strategic Planning Retreat held on November 20, 2009.

Action: Approved amended minutes from November 20, 2009. 

m/s/c (Shorter/Soo/Unanimous)

No public comment.

                                                                                             

III.    EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S REPORT                                 

         

A.           Executive Director's Report 

Dr. Murase directed Commissioners to her written report. She highlighted the following events:

 

Jan 11, 2010      Press conference with Mayor Gavin Newsom and District Attorney                                                                  Kamala Harris, Supervisor Carmen Chu, and the SF Collaborative on Human                                                    Trafficking, 10 am, North Light Court. 

 

Jan 12, 2010      Annual Partner Agency Meeting featuring a major donor fundraising workshop.

Dr. Murase clarified that the presenter Bob Zimmerman can refer Partner Agencies to colleagues in the fundraising field, but is not permitted to conduct fundraising work for Partner Agencies.

 

Dr. Murase reported that on December 7 the Land Use and Economic Development Committee of the Board of Supervisors held a hearing entitled “The Current Economic Crisis: Impact and Recommendations for San Francisco’s Women and Girls.” The Commission and Department on the Status of Women partnered with the Board on this important hearing and thanked Commissioner Gulbengay for helping set up the hearing.  President Shorter requested comprehensive data collection measures and oversight of outreach measures to ensure they are reaching women.  A promising outcome from the hearing was the stated support of all of the Supervisors to continue addressing this issue through future hearings or Board meetings.

 

Dr. Murase reported that she would be submitting a proposal to the Mayor regarding the required mid-year cuts, and has prioritized protection of both the VAW Grants Program current year funding levels and current department staffing levels. 

 

Dr. Murase announced that Senior Policy Analyst Ann Lehman and Policy Analyst Anu Menon have been nominated for the Municipal Fiscal Advisory Committee Managerial Excellence Award, the only city-wide recognition program for City employees. An awards reception held in City Hall is planned for February 22. 

 

Dr. Murase reported that she spent the morning at San Francisco State University meeting with a cohort of professors focused on women's policy issues. They are interested in engaging in the monitoring of fiscal stimulus dollars.  Commissioner Soo suggested meeting with other departments to collaborate with the information that is being requested from recipients of stimulus funds to accurately see where the funds are allocated. 

 

A draft of the gender budgeting report has been submitted and is awaiting feedback from the Mayor’s Budget Office. 

 

Public Comment

Beverly Upton, Domestic Violence Consortium, expressed appreciation for the Department's efforts to protect direct services to women survivors of violence.

 

Emberly Cross, Cooperative Restraining Order Clinic, stated that she looks forward to working together with the Commission on addressing the budget issue.

                       

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 San Francisco Collaborative Against Human Trafficking on the Occasion of International Human Trafficking Awareness Day

B.     Accept the $15,000 Award from the Friends of the Commission on the Status of Women to support the Commissions work for the 2010 Calendar Year. 

 

Action: Approved the consent agenda.    

m/s/c (Keehn/Gulbengay/Unanimous)

 

V.      OLD BUSINESS                                                        

 

A.     Strategic Plan

President Shorter asked Commissioners to adopt the Strategic Plan for FY2010-2012

Action:  To approve the Strategic Plan for FY2010-2012.

m/s/c (Shorter/Gulbengay/Unanimous)

 

 

 

B.     2010 COSW Meeting Schedule                                             

President Shorter asked Commissioners to adopt the 2010 COSW meeting schedule.                

Action: To approve 2010 COSW Meeting Schedule

m/s/c (Gulbengay/Keehn/Unanimous)

 

VI.    PUBLIC COMMENT                                                                        

 

Joni Eisen, volunteer with the Fair Elections Campaign, introduced the issue of full public financing of electoral campaigns. She stated that the current campaign finance system requires candidates and elected officials to spend too much time fundraising, rather than developing sound public policies. Fair/clean election measures have been adopted in Arizona, Maine, and Connecticut with great success.  Commissioners asked about the funding source for public financing of election campaigns. Ms. Eisen stated that funding would come from increasing the fees registered lobbyists pay (currently $12.50, scheduled to be raised to $350).  Candidates must collect $5 from a certain number of supporters (for example, 7500) to qualify for public financing.  Commissioner Keehn stated that Emerge America decided to open offices in Maine and Arizona because of public financing of election campaigns.

 

Beverly Upton, Domestic Violence Consortium, introduced Maria Chavez, the newly appointed Director and Assistant Director Becki Hively of the Riley Center.

 

Commissioner Soo reported that Dr. Murase was honored, together with Chair of the Board of Equalization Betty Yee and Lateefah Simon, Executive Director of the Lawyer's Committee on Civil Rights by the Democratic Women’s Forum.  Commissioner Soo also attended the Women's Initiative graduation and was a keynote speaker. The program has now graduated over 22,000 women entrepreneurs.

 

Commissioner Keehn reported that she received a communication from Ms. Sharen Hewitt regarding the Adopt an Angel program that provides support for women heads of households and encouraged everyone to participate. 

 

VII.  CLOSED SESSION                                                    

 

         1.         Public comment on all matters pertaining to the Closed Session.

                     None

 

         2.         Closed Session pursuant to Government Code Section 54957(b) and San Francisco                                            Administrative Code Section 67.10(b):

 

PUBLIC EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE EVALUATION: Executive Director, Emily Murase. 

 

         3.         Open Session

 

Action:  Motion not to publicly disclose any or all of the information discussed in the closed session under San Francisco Administrative Code Section 67.12(a).

m/s/c (Shorter/Keehn/Unanimous)

 

VIII.              Motion to adjourn.

m/s/c (Shorter/Keehn/Unanimous).

The meeting adjourned at 7:15 pm.

 

 

 

 

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