December 12, 2013 Southeast Community Facility Commission
ADOPTED MINUTES
SOUTHEAST COMMUNITY FACILITY COMMISSION
Thursday, December 12, 2013, 6:00 P.M.
1800 Oakdale Avenue, Alex Pitcher Community Room
San Francisco, CA 94124
1.0 CALL TO ORDER
Chairperson Karen Chung called the Thursday, December 12, 2013 meeting to order at 6:09 p.m.
Ms. Carla Vaughn, Commission Secretary read the Mission Statement and announced the Sunshine Ordinance rule.
2.0 ROLL CALL AND ANNOUNCEMENT OF SUNSHINE AUDIO RECORDING POLICY
Ms. Carla Vaughn, Commission Secretary called roll at 6:11 p.m.
Commissioners Present: Karen Chung/ LaVaughn K. King/ Bobbrie Brown/ Janine Greer/ Al Norman/ Eddy Zheng
Commissioners Absent: Brigette R. LeBlanc
Staff Present: Toye Moses, Executive Director/ Francis Starr, Senior Management Assistant/ Carla Vaughn, Commission Executive Secretary II/ John Roddy, Deputy City Attorney
3.0 CONSENT CALENDAR
Ms. Carla Vaughn, Commission Secretary read the Consent Calendar.
3.1 PROPOSED ACTION
Ms. Carla Vaughn, Commission Secretary announced the proposed action to adopt the Monday, November 25, 2013 minutes are forwarded to the January 12, 2014 Commission meeting.
4.0 PUBLIC COMMENT IS LIMITED TO 3 MINUTES
None.
5.0 COMMUNICATION
Ms. Carla Vaughn, Commission Secretary announced the following communication, correspondence and announcement files:
Press Release: SF2030 Transportation Task Force Recommends $10B Investments In Capital Needs & Transportation Infrastructure To Make System More Reliable, Safe & Affordable For The Future
Press Release: Mayor Lee & Fire Chief Hayes-White Encourage Residents To Be Aware Of Increased Fire Hazards In Cold Winter Months
Press Release: Mayor Lee & Supervisor Farrell To Restart GreenFinanceSF Program For Residential Buildings
Press Release: Mayor Lee Launches App To Help Residents Keep Food On Table
Statement: Mayor Lee’s Statement On Death Of Former South African President Nelson Mandela
Press Release: Mayor Lee Announces San Francisco Civic Memorial For Nelson Mandela
Press Release: Mayor Lee Introduces Earthquake Safety & Emergency Response Bond To Keep City Safe
Statement: Mayor Lee Calls For Major Increase To San Francisco’s Minimum Wage
5.1 CORRESPONDENCE
Carla Vaughn, Commission Secretary announced the following on-going correspondence:
Letter of Invitation to FoodsCo to present an update on the services provided to the Southeast community.
Letter of support to Supervisor Malia Cohen for the opening of Grocery Outlet in Visitation Valley and a request to bring a grocery store to 5800 Third Street, the former location of Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market, Inc.
6.0 ANNOUNCEMENTS
-The next meeting of the Southeast Community Facility Commission will be Thursday, January 9, 2014.
-Residents of 94124 receive FREE vaccines for your dog every 2nd Saturday of every month through December 2013.
-Residents of 94124 can enter SPCA drawing to win a share of $6,500 in prizes.
-Job Announcement from San Francisco Foliage for a full time delivery driver.
7.0 ADVISORY COMMITTEES REPORTS
Governance Ad-Hoc Committee, (Chair, Commissioner Karen Chung, Co-Chair, Commissioner LaVaughn King , Alternate, Commissioner Brigette LeBlanc, Community Members, Alma Robinson, Siri Datta Khalsa, Greg Doxey)
No report.
Joint PUC/SECFC Ad-Hoc Committee, (Chair, Commissioner Karen Chung, Co-Chair, Commissioner Al Norman, Commission Member, Commissioner LaVaughn King, SFPUC Representative (TBD))
No report.
Health, Housing and Public Safety Advisory Committee, (Chair, Commissioner LaVaughn King, Co-Chair, Commissioner Janine Greer, Alternate, Commissioner Karen Chung, Community Members, Dan Goldman, Michele Davis, Veronica Shepard, Lyslynn LaCoste, Harrison Parker, Onika Shabazz)
No report.
Economic Development Advisory Committee, (Chair, Commissioner Al Norman, Co-Chair, Commissioner Eddy Zheng, Alternate, Commissioner Karen Chung, Community Members, Dan Goldman, Tempe Priestly, Lyslynn LaCoste, Shamann Walton)
Commissioner Zheng invited the public and the Commissioners to help recruit residents to attend the meetings.
Facility Advisory Committee, (Chair, Commissioner Brigette R. LeBlanc, Co-Chair, Commissioner Al Norman, Alternate, Commissioner Bobbrie Brown, Community Members, Robert Woods, Lawland Long, Siri Datta Khalsa)
No report.
Outreach and Diversity Advisory Committee, (Chair, Commissioner Eddy Zheng, Co-Chair, Commissioner LaVaughn King, Alternate, Commissioner Bobbrie Brown, Community Members, Lance Burton, Gina Fromer, Barbara Ockel, Reverend Carl Alexander)
No report.
Commissioner Zheng requested clarification from Deputy City Attorney John Roddy regarding the placement of Public Comment.
Deputy City Attorney John Roddy recommended asking for Public Comment after every item.
Dr. Espanola Jackson, community activist commented regarding a meeting she attended at the Port Commission regarding the Econ Project at Harris-Head Park. She inquired as to whether or not the SECFC had been contacted for approval of the project. The organizers of the project are from out of state. Mr. James Bryant of the A. Philip Randolph Institute is also interested in the project. APRI has begun training youth however neither organization has consulted with SECFC and Dr. Jackson is against construction at the site because of the toxins in the area and the community has not been properly notified. Also, Dr. Jackson requested funding from the SFPUC for outreach workers to help get the community to the meetings.
8.0 PRESENTER (Discussion & Possible Action)
Chairperson Chung welcomed and introduced Renee Willette, SFPUC and Steve Good, Executive Director of Five Keys Charter School.
Renee Willette introduced Steve Good who provided an overview of the Five Keys Charter School Program.
Mr. Good provided the following information:
“In 2003 then Sheriff Hennessey was looking for an educational option to educate inmates in the county jail. He approached the school district. The school district literally said, “Why would we, we failed these folks already once why would we want to fail them again?” At that point they looked at other options and realized that there was an exemption in California charter law where that they could open up a charter school and operate inside county jails to serve adult inmates 18 and above. We are a California public high school. Actually we are three California public high schools that operate under an exemption in the California Ed code that allows us to serve students of any age. In 2008 we moved out of the jails and into the community. Today we have in San Francisco 13 community locations.
In January we will then have 5 community locations in Los Angeles. We are also in the Los Angeles County jails. One of our most recent sites that we opened up was at The Village at 1099 Sunnydale. We are also at the Sunnydale Projects working with TURF.
We just moved into Ella Hill Hutch and started an education program there. To date we’ve had over 700 graduates. About 90% of our graduates have been formerly incarcerated individuals or folks that have been on probation or parole. 100% of our students are high school dropouts or have been expelled from school or just fallen off the radar. We don’t take students that are currently enrolled in a school program and doing well. We don’t take students who are currently enrolled in a school program that aren’t doing well. If you are in an existing school you’re not right for us. We take students that have run out of educational opportunities. Our plan for 1800 Oakdale is pretty simple. We want to offer very flexible scheduled high school diploma classes that can be done through independent study, one on one instruction with teachers or in small groups. We want to offer GED preparation. We are a certified GED testing center at our downtown location coming in January. We will pay the GED fees for any student that is ready to take that exam. The test next year is going up. It’s going to be approximately a little over $100. This year I think its $75 per student. We pay those fees when students are ready. If there is any ESL need out here we will offer ESL classes. We are looking at increasing our vocational footprint by working with SF Foliage where we place interns. We’re looking at some of the other greenhouse programs. We will be working with other non-profits in the community, Hunters Point Family, and Young Community Developers, whoever. We don’t discriminate who we work with. If you have clients that need assistance with their education we want to work with you. We want to work very closely with City College. We have ongoing conversations with Torrance, the Dean of this facility about how we can collaborate and work together and possibly leverage each other’s resources. We have a little more flexibility in terms of the hours and times that we can operate our GED programs. We are offering an ongoing open enrollment cycle so if somebody leaves our program today for whatever reason if they come back three days later we will immediately reenroll them. If they come back six weeks later we will immediately reenroll them or two years later. There’s virtually no waiting period to get back into school and continue your education. Because we are a school we operate on a somewhat traditional school calendar. We do have a full summer program but we will be starting this program in January which means that typically schools start enrollment at the first of the year. Because this is a January start program we’re going to have a slow ramp period. At the end of six months by next year it is our goal we hope to have 150 students enrolled in the school. As much as we can handle we want to take. Our goals for the site are obviously to dramatically increase the educational levels of all participants, provide credit recovery options for those that are lacking credits to graduate, allow folks to complete their diplomas.
Unlike the school district which requires 240 units to graduate, we only require 180 units to graduate. Of that you get 30 of those units for passing the California High School Exit Exam. So, it’s much easier and quicker to graduate from our program. We are a fully state accredited high school through Western Association of Schools and Colleges. So, your diploma from us is just like any other diploma. Our goal is to get students to move into City College. We also want to help prepare folks for the city sector academies and provide a pathway to college and reengage anybody who has been disengaged in education. That’s pretty much all I have to say about the program. We work with students individually. We provide additional tutoring for our students. Students can work on a very flexible schedule.
They can come to school one day a week or they can come to school five days a week which is our preference, it just depends on where the student is and what the needs are. In the county jail our program has been successful in reducing the recidivism rate between 24 and 34% depending upon what measure you’re looking at. That translates into based on 151 prior graduates a savings to the State and the County $1.8 million dollars a year just by reducing the recidivism rate that much. Our goal in a program like this obviously is to get people employed so that they don’t have to ever experience incarceration, or if they have help for them to re-integrate.”
Following the presentation the Commissioners and public were invited to ask questions and participated in a discussion regarding the program.
Commissioner Eddy Zheng – What is the population breakdown?
Steve Good – Our demographic profile is 48% African American, 26% Hispanic, 5% Asian, 14% White, 4% Pacific Islander Filipino, 2% Mixed Ethnicity, 20% female and 80% male. The numbers are slightly skewed because it also counts for the county jail programs that we run where 90% of our students in the county jail are men.
Commissioner Eddy Zheng – Do you have instructors who are culturally competent in the ESL programs?
Steve Good – Depending on what the need is if we had 20 Chinese speaking students we would try to find a teacher that spoke Chinese to teach that class but it depends on the number of students.
Commissioner Eddy Zheng – Once they receive their GED is there an opportunity for them to receive a referral for employment?
Steve Good – Our goal is to get people high school diplomas. City College reserves a certain amount of seats for us in their sector academies such as City Build. They had 10 seats reserved for graduates of Five Keys. Our main goal is the education part. We partner with CBO’s so they will do the case management piece.
Commissioner Al Norman – What are the chances of integrating instructors that are already here into the Five Keys program?
Steve Good – We want to hire instructors from the community that are already familiar with the students. They need to have a California teaching credential. Please have them forward their resumes.
Commissioner Al Norman – Is it true that if you go for the GED you can never go for a high school diploma?
Steve Good - No, that is not true.
Commissioner Janine Greer – What works better for students, 1 day a week or 5 days a week?
Steve Good – Our preference is 5 days a week but for the person that has other commitments outside of school we will put them on an independent study plan.
Commissioner Janine Greer - How do you keep the students engaged?
Steve Good – A lot of it has to do with the curriculum we’ve written and the teachers have a lot to do with it as well. Also, we work closely with community partners to work as motivators and case managers.
Commissioner LaVaughn King – Thank you for bringing this program to our community. We would like to see you communicate with the ABU because they also do an excellent job in the community.
Director Toye Moses – What is your success rate and how do you handle the revolving door?
Steve Good – We work with individuals as long as it takes for them to find success.
Chairperson Karen Chung – How long does it take to receive a high school diploma?
Steve Good – It can be done in 2½ years but most people don’t want to take that long so we will steer them toward the GED which is a quicker route.
Reverend Carl Alexander – Provided a history of his work experience and commended the Five Keys Program.
Dr. Espanola Jackson – Provided a brief history of her school experience and requested money from the SFPUC to provide outreach to the community. In closing she said she supported a 10 year lease rather than a 5 year lease.
Frank Williams – Spoke in support of the Five Keys Program 200%.
Onika Shabazz – What percentage of your population continues on to college?
Steve Good – We don’t have information on that.
Onika Shabazz – Spoke regarding transitional services for individuals that might be interested in college.
Steve Good - This is one of the reasons we want to be here to create a pipeline to college in conjunction with Dean Bynum.
Siri Datta Khalsa – Spoke in support of the Five Keys Program and the extraordinary young people in the program.
Cedric Akbar – Spoke in support of the Five Keys Program.
Chairperson Chung thanked Mr. Good for his presentation.
9.0 CHAIRPERSON’S REPORT (Discussion)
Chairperson Chung reported Global Children’s Foundation would be having their 3rd annual Christmas bike distribution project in conjunction with the Bayview Police Station on December 20 at the station.
10.0 STAFF/DIRECTOR REPORT (Discussion)
Toye Moses, Executive Director, reported staff continues to work with the SFPUC and will move into the new office space next week. Dr. Moses suggested extending an invitation to the new City College Chancellor to provide a presentation to the commission and the community.
Dr. Moses thanked Chairperson Chung for making sure donations were received.
Francis Starr reported Mother Brown’s representative picked up the donation barrel today.
In closing, Dr. Moses thanked Francis Starr and Chairperson Chung.
Commissioner Zheng had a question regarding the end of the food donation date.
Francis Starr advised there would be no commission meeting prior to the holiday so the date had been changed and any additional food donations would be forward to Mother Brown.
10.1 SAN FRANCISCO PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION STAFF REPORT & GENERAL UPDATE
Sam Murray reported the SFPUC move in would take place on the 16th. There have been no problems at the plant and an open house would be held in the near future to share the new commission offices with the community.
Benjamin Pool spoke regarding the Contractor’s Assistance Center grand opening on Monday, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. This center has been created to help small firms navigate through the city contracting process. The address is 5 Thomas Mellon Circle in the Executive Park near Candlestick Park, Suite 168.
Carla Vaughn, Commission Secretary advised the Commissioners that invitations had been forwarded to their email addresses.
Commissioner Al Norman asked if the program was limited to SFPUC contracts.
Mr. Pool said the focus is on all city contracting opportunities. It is a SFPUC program right now but DPW has been asked to get involved and they have put their construction projects in the center plan room. The center has also reached out to all the other city contracting awarding agencies to try and include them.
Commissioner Al Norman said if there is not a big turnout it is because everybody thinks it is just for SFPUC contracts and people attend breakfasts, dinners and lunches and all of the contracts still seem to be in Stanislaus County, Tracy, or somewhere and they are for over $2 or 3 million dollars and none of us get to participate anyway because it is way above our head or our bonding capacity.
Mr. Pool said it was a fair question and that is one of the reasons DPW was contacted first because they have contracts that are more appropriate for smaller businesses. But to the extent that the SFPUC doesn’t, we really want to work with small contractors to find sub-contracting opportunities too, because there are real opportunities as well even in SFPUC projects.
Commissioner Al Norman asked how they would come up with a program for the small and local contractors to be involved in the digester program.
Mr. Pool said the existing LBE program would provide bid discounts on projects. There are requirements to be sub-contractors for LBE’s. We want to maximize the capacity of existing LBE’s and bring in new LBE’s to folks that are interested in starting their own businesses, bring them in, certify them and build them up so they are able to participate in programs like the digester which is going to be a very large construction opportunity for the next five years.
Reverend Carl Alexander said he would like to see a punch list to help navigate the opportunity to get some of the contracts because everyone does not have the skillset or criteria.
Mr. Pool said that information would not be available on Monday, however, one of the things that has been done is that all of the city contracting opportunities have been pulled down and placed on an excel spread sheet to make the jobs easier to find. The center will provide training to make the process easier.
Sam Murray invited the Commissioners to tour the plant and learn more about what it takes to keep the sewage flowing.
11.0 NEW/ONGOING BUSINESS (Discussion & Action)
Chairperson Chung announced the appointment of committee members as follows:
Governance Advisory Committee – Chair, Karen Chung, Co-Chair, Commissioner LaVaughn King, Community Members, Alma Robinson, Siri Datta Khalsa, Greg Doxey, Alternate, Commissioner Brigette LeBlanc
Joint PUC/SECFC Advisory Committee – Chair, Karen Chung, Co-Chair, Commissioner Al Norman, PUC Representative (TBA), Community Member, Commissioner LaVaughn King
Health, Housing and Public Safety Advisory Committee – Chair, Commissioner LaVaughn King, Co-Chair, Commissioner Janine Greer, Community Member, Dan Goldman, Michele Davis, Veronica Shepard, Lyslynn Lacoste, Dr. Harrison Parker, Onika Shabazz
Economic Development Advisory Committee – Chair, Commissioner Al Norman, Co-Chair, Commissioner Eddy Zheng, Community Member, Dan Goldman, Tempe Priestly, Lyslynn Lacoste, Michele Davis, Shamann Walton
Facility Advisory Committee – Chair, Commissioner Brigette LeBlanc, Co-Chair, Commissioner Al Norman, Community Members, Robert Woods, Lawland Long, Siri Datta Khalsa, Alternate, Commissioner Bobbrie Brown
Outreach and Diversity Advisory Committee – Chair, Commissioner Eddy Zheng, Co-Chair, Commissioner LaVaughn King, Community Members, Barbara Ockel, Gina Frommer, Lance Burton, Ministers, Alternate, Commissioner Bobbrie Brown
Commissioner Al Norman noted Commissioner LaVaughn King had been assigned as a community member to the Joint PUC/SECFC Advisory Committee and should be assigned as a Commissioner.
Chairperson Chung thanked him for noting the error.
Commissioner Janine Greer noted Onika Shabazz was not added as a community member on the Health, Housing and Public Safety Advisory Committee.
Chairperson Chung thanked her and added Onika Shabazz to the Health, Housing and Public Safety Advisory Committee as a community member.
Director Moses said staff had prepared folders for each of the committee Chairs. He requested all committee meetings be set around noon so staff would not have to work overtime.
Chairperson Chung requested the Chairs provide their committee schedules to her so she can attend each meeting.
Chairperson Chung recommended two dates for the 2014 SECFC retreat. The recommended dates are February 22 or March 8.
Director Moses emphasized the importance of the retreat and requested full participation of the Commissioners.
Commissioner Eddy Zheng said February 22 was good for him because March 8 is International Women’s Day and he did not want to miss an opportunity to celebrate International Women’s Day.
Commissioner Janine Greer said since it is a Saturday sooner is better.
Commissioner LaVaughn King said Saturday is good.
Commissioner Al Norman moved to hold the 2014 SECFC retreat on Saturday, February 22, 2014.
Commissioner LaVaughn King provided a second to the motion.
The motion to hold the 2014 SECFC retreat was passed.
Dr. Moses said the SFPUC was generous to finance the retreat and he was sure they would do the same again. He has directed staff to look at two possible locations for the retreat and he asked Francis Starr to report on the progress.
Francis Starr reported last year the retreat was at the Oceanside Plant. Oceanside has been contacted and the facility is available for that date. As a secondary possible location the facility superintendent at Water, Supply and Treatment in Millbrae has been contacted. They have a very nice room and facility out there. It is available and they need to check and see if they can accommodate us. There may be two choice locations. It would be up to other factors to decide what the final location will be.
Commissioner Zheng had a question regarding the timeframe of the retreat.
Francis Starr responded that normally it is an all-day affair. The last retreat started at 8 a.m. and was done around 4 p.m.
Commissioner Chung said, “So 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.?
Francis Starr responded, “Pretty much, yes”.
Commissioner Chung said the 2014 retreat would be held on Saturday, February 22 and she asked the Commissioners to save the date and attend the retreat.
Commissioner Chung said the next item on the agenda was the request to amend the by-laws to allow one meeting per month.
Dr. Espanola Jackson had a question regarding the two dates that were offered.
Commissioner Chung said one date was chosen.
Dr. Espanola Jackson said one Commissioner stated they would not be available on the 22nd.
Commissioner Chung said the date the Commissioner was unavailable was March 8 because it was International Women’s Day.
Dr. Espanola Jackson said she wanted to make sure all of the Commissioners attended the retreat.
Commissioner Chung said some Commissioners want to have one meeting per month and today there would be a discussion regarding this item. She requested the opinion of the Commissioners.
Commissioner Zheng said he had proposed having one meeting instead of two meetings because he would like to see community attendance boosted in order to continue serving the community correctly by having more people coming to one meeting instead of having few people coming to two meetings. Having a Wednesday meeting and a Thursday meeting is confusing, which meeting is what? As an example he stated that at his agency the staff meeting and program meetings are the 1st Friday and 3rd Friday of the month so everybody knows. 1st Friday and 3rd Friday you are mandatory to be at the meeting unless something happens, you have to work or you have other issues. This is why it was proposed to have one meeting instead of two for now because we want to boost attendance and outreach to the community. Once we receive the participation of the community we can return to two meetings.
Commission Norman said he somewhat agreed with Commissioner Zheng’s strategy but that it would not help increase attendance. He referenced the previous Commissioners who attended two meetings per month during their terms and the only thing that would boost attendance would be the presenters. With all of the committee reports and other commission business one meeting per month is not enough. There should be two meetings per month and the Commission should work on filling the place up. Maybe the Commission has not been working hard enough. The confusion of the Wednesday and Thursday meetings should be resolved. Regarding the example given by Commissioner Zheng we should have the same consistency as his agency. As the Chair of two committees and with the need to investigate issues, as well as being short of staff there is more to consider than just meeting once a month. The Commission Secretary is currently overworked and the SFPUC might not increase staff if we only meet once a month. The community
wants to feel that they are being heard and their message is being heard downtown. They want exciting presenters. We are up against apathy. It’s not about how many times we meet per month. It’s about what we are bringing here to discuss.
Commissioner King agreed with Commissioner Norman. Initially she felt one meeting would be fine however, after listening and reading through the material she feels the Commission needs two meetings. After receiving advice from Commissioner Brown to listen and keep an open mind Commissioner King says more time is needed to become acclimated. She thanked Commissioner Norman for pointing out why two meetings are needed.
Commissioner Zheng said he appreciates Commissioner Norman’s enthusiasm and his efforts to make this happen. There can be three or four meetings per month. That is not the issue. The issue is how the Commissioners can be asked to provide proper services to the residents. With the enthusiasm Commissioner Zheng is on board.
Commissioner Norman pointed out that Commissioner Zheng serves the youth and he was a youth a long time ago. However, the Commission has more than the youth to consider in Bayview Hunter’s Point. As we sit here and go through these meetings you will see a wider perspective of what we have to serve and what is expected from the entire community and not just from the youthful community and the difficulty we have. It is not the idea that the room is empty because we have to do it together.
Commissioner Zheng said if there can be consistency in regard to the meeting that would be very helpful in our effort.
Commissioner Norman said one of the things that can be done is the Commissioners need to sit down and strategize on the type of presenters we want and get out there and start passing out flyers ourselves if we have to, to get people in here. In closing, Commissioner Norman repeated Dr. Jackson’s suggestion to start by inviting family members.
Chairperson Chung said the Commission understands.
Commissioner Greer said consistency is a good thing to do so she moved to vote to have the meetings on Wednesdays, maybe the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays.
John Roddy, Deputy City Attorney said no voting today.
Chairperson Chung said what about 1 meeting, or 2 meetings?
Commissioner Greer said two meetings on Wednesdays.
John Roddy, Deputy City Attorney said if you want to consider this option it’s good to know and a draft can be written for the next meeting and then you can vote if your desire is to consider changing the meetings to Wednesdays.
Chairperson Chung said since this is not on the agenda today the vote will take place at the next meeting to have one or two meetings also change the day to the same day, Wednesday or Thursday.
John Roddy, Deputy City Attorney asked which day the Commission preferred.
Commissioner Zheng responded Wednesday.
Carla Vaughn, Commission Secretary asked Mr. Roddy if this was a request to write a draft to the by-laws.
John Roddy, Deputy City Attorney responded yes.
Dr. Moses asked if he was hearing 2nd Wednesday and 4th Wednesday.
Chairperson Chung responded right, or same Wednesday.
Dr. Moses said 2nd Wednesday and 4th Wednesday, yes?
Carla Vaughn, Commission Secretary asked, 2nd and 4th?
Dr. Espanola Jackson agreed and said she was going to make that suggestion because of the many meetings that we have going on in the city and a lot of us are at city hall with a lot of the meetings. There is nothing going on at city hall on Wednesdays and Wednesday is the best time for us to meet, like the 2nd and 3rd Wednesday.
Chairperson Chung and Director Moses said the 4th.
Dr. Jackson suggested considering the 1st and 3rd Wednesday because of the long length of time from the 2nd to the 4th because a lot of things happen in between. Regarding the committees she suggested the committee members are informed of what their responsibilities are and why the committees are set up.
Dr. Moses requested clarity and said the 2nd Wednesday and 4th Wednesday would be on the next agenda.
Chairperson Chung said yes and it would be on the next agenda.
12.0 NEW BUSINESS REQUESTS for Future Agenda Items (Discussion)
(This item is to allow Commissioners & staff to suggest/introduce agenda items for future consideration)
Commissioner Zheng proposed placing an item on the next agenda to have a discussion with the SFPUC to hire more staff for the Southeast Community Facility Commission in our effort to move forward in 2014. New beginning, New Year, new breath let’s have the proper staffing to help us move forward to make sure the community gets its needs met.
Director Moses said, “So you want it to be on the agenda for the next Commission meeting, discussion on that?”
Commissioner Zheng responded, yes please.
Commissioner Norman requested the Chair direct staff to write a letter to Allen Nance, the new Chief Probation Officer of the Youth Guidance Center to provide a report.
Dr. Moses said, “So first of all you want us to send a letter of congratulations to him and also invite him for an update?
Commissioner Norman responded, yes.
Chairperson Chung said there are two new business requests for the next meeting. One is one or two meetings, also Wednesday, and what is the second one?
Director Moses said, “Madame Secretary what is the second one?
Carla Vaughn, Commission Secretary repeated the new business requests.
1) Invite the new Chancellor from City College.
2) Have a discussion with SFPUC to hire additional staff for the SECFC.
3) Send a letter of congratulations to Chief Probation Officer Allen Nance, Youth Guidance Center and request an update from him.
Director Moses said, “Commissioners, I just want to bring this to your attention. We don’t want to crowd the next commission meeting too much because the General Manager, Harlan Kelly will be here to make a presentation to you and we want to make it a big, big event.”
Carla Vaughn, Commission Secretary requested clarification for staff as to whether or not the Commission will continue to have one presenter per meeting as previously planned.
Director Moses responded, yes.
13.0 PUBLIC COMMENT IS LIMITED TO 3 MINUTES
Dr. Espanola Jackson said, “I sent an email because I received a Press Release where the Mayor of the City and the Human Rights Commission are giving $200,000 to the Transgender community. I asked that each of you receive a copy. What concerns me is the fact that it was this community that caused the Human Rights Commission to be set up in the first place in 1962. The committee met for two years to hear what our concerns were because at that time Mayor Shelley stated he didn’t want to see those colored folks picketing his city. In 1964 a Commission was set up and all the concerns we had in this community at that time we still have them today. There has been no change. Everybody has received benefits from the Human Rights Commission except us and we are the ones responsible for it. And the fact that they can give $200,000 to a group and all the crime and the killing that is going on in this community there’s no churches or anyone else that they’re giving funds to, to do outreach to deal with our young people in this community about the shootings and the killings, and not saying anything about putting together nothing and that bothers me. You know I just learned Saturday about apartheid. I’ve been talking about apartheid. We’ve been saying apartheid, apartheid, apartheid. Do you know Saturday I asked a question, what does apartheid mean? And I was told it means separation between colored folks and white folks and everything. I said what, that’s been going on since slavery and it’s still going on here in San Francisco, apartheid against this community. And a precautionary principle is not being used in this community with them having our children and even adults going over there to Harris-Head Park. It’s sad that we have so many people receiving benefits except us in Bayview Hunter’s Point zip code, I’m talking about zip code 94124 for programs that are needed. I think you all need to be concerned about funding for this community. I know they are going to go back and talk about what I’m saying to the SFPUC about the funding for this community. I want to meet with you all because I have a plan for you to get $2 billion dollars out of SFPUC because they’re giving it to everybody else and are giving us nothing. Thank you”.
Commissioner Norman requested to have the issue discussed at the upcoming retreat.
14.0 ADJOURNMENT
At the request of Chairperson Chung, Carla Vaughn, Commission Secretary announced the meeting would adjourn in the memory of former South African President Nelson Mandela. There was a moment of silence.
Chairperson Chung adjourned the meeting at 7:55 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
_________________
Carla Vaughn, Commission Executive Secretary II
Southeast Community Facility Commission
