Finance_Committee

City andCounty of San Francisco

Juvenile Probation Commission

Finance Committee

Hully Fetico, Chair

Dirk J. Beijen

Lydia Stiglich

Finance Committee of the Juvenile Probation Commission

October 24, 2007

Youth Guidance Center Main Conference Room (Room 247)

375 Woodside Avenue

San Francisco, CA 94127

MINUTES

1. Roll Call (action) – Commissioner Fetico called the meeting to order at 6:15 PM.  Commissioner Beijen was present at that time.  Commissioner Stiglich was excused.  Mr. Lui and Ms. McGee represented the Department.
2. Review and approval of minutes from the meeting of September 26, 2007 (action) – the minutes were approved. – There were no public comments.
3. Public comment on any matter within the subject matter jurisdiction of the Finance Committee of the Juvenile Probation Commission.  -- Mr. Omar Kalif, independent contractor, stated that he had not yet been paid for work done since July.  Mr. Lui and Ms. McGee reassured the committee that, although the process can sometimes take months, Mr. Kalif will be fully compensated.  Mr. Bruce Rice stated that he has had the same contract for 19 years, and he believes that Community Programs is understaffed.
4. Merging of the two counselor classes (discussion) – The Department is moving towards combining two classifications of counselors (Juvenile Hall Counselors and Log Cabin Ranch School Counselors).  If combined, the resulting classification would be paid at the higher of the two pay scales.  – There were no public comments.
5. Staffing needs for Juvenile Hall (discussion/action) – The Department has six open requisitions, and a hiring process is set to begin in January.  The Controller will not, however, permit hiring while overtime is out of control. – Gary Thompson, Juvenile Hall Counselor, and Damon Bursic, Union President for Juvenile Hall Counselors, spoke.  Eight positions have been lost this year.  It was represented that the new hall would need 105 staff and there are now 73.  Ms. McGee represented that the need for staff is related to the Juvenile Hall population and that there needs to be a reasonable formula that permits overtime usage.  Overtime now projected to be $1.2 million over budget for Juvenile Hall alone.  John Redona, Juvenile Hall Manager, said he needs overtime to do his job and that staffing relates more to architecture than to population.  Further, we are delivering far more services than in the past.  He said we are sometimes overstaffed, but more typically understaffed.  Carl Sullivan, Juvenile Hall Counselor, said that there are about 800 kids on probation with a significant number in violation. 
6. Review of the Department’s fiscal operations, with recap of expenditures, budget including status of contracts, overtime and workmen’s compensation trends in expenses (discussion/action) -- There was a discussion that included city car use logs, cellular phone usage, out of home placement costs, CYA costs, and excess building light usage during daylight. – There were no public comments.
7. How are CBO services/contracts going to be evaluated? (discussion) – This item will be referred to the Programs Committee.  – There were no public comments.
8. Who will be involved in the budget planning process? (discussion) – Ms. McGee indicated that the Department is still busy struggling with the current year’s budget. – There were no public comments.
9. Public comment on any matter within the subject matter jurisdiction of the Finance Committee of the Juvenile Probation Commission – Mr. Bruce Rice said “staffing is the budget.”
10. Request for future agenda items and adjournment – Update on returning DJJ kids and the budget implications.  The meeting was adjourned at 7:52 PM

Respectfully submitted by: Commissioner Dirk J. Beijen