VETERANS AFFAIRS COMMISSION
City and County of San Francisco
Mailing Address: S.F. Veterans Affairs Commission, City Hall, 1 Goodlett Place, Room 051, San
Francisco, CA 94102

June 14, 2016 SFVAC Meeting Minutes

Call to Order: Having achieved quorum (see Roll Call), the June 2016 meeting of the SFVAC was called to order at 6:00pm, with Vice President Dwane Kennedy presiding.

Roll Call: In attendance: Commissioners Barnickel, Dacumos, Dixon, Guy, Jenkins, Kennedy, Marshall, Miller, Weeby, and Wong.
Absent: President Maffei, Commissioners Joiner and Noetzel (all excused)

Approval of Agenda: Motion made by VP Kennedy, Seconded by Commissioner Barnickel. All present Commissioners approved the minutes.

Approval of Minutes: Motion made by VP Kennedy, Seconded by Commissioner Rogers. All present Commissioners approve with one abstention, Commissioner
Guy.

Reports and Agenda Items

Commissioner Guy was voted as the new SFVAC Secretary. She was confirmed with nine yes votes and one abstention (Guy).

Port Chicago Commemoration will be in July 2016 the SFVAC has been invited to table. Commissioner Jenkins has regularly attending meetings of the Friends of Port Chicago and will email the Commission with more details.

Officer Armando Sandaval of BART was unable to attend, but Commissioner Miller gave a brief description of BART's program to help homeless Veterans. They assist in connecting Veterans with services.

Laura Thomas of the Drug Policy Alliance gave a presentation for Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD): it allows low level offenders to be diverted to social services and not jail.

Bylaws committee met on June 12th at 4pm re: potential changes. The Commission is being asked to provide input by July 14 to assist with changes. Email Raymond Wong.

Supervisor Scott Weiner gave a Certificate of Honor from the Board of Supervisors to former Commissioner Wallace Levine for his work with the Memorial Day Commemoration and in the City and County of San Francisco (Commissioner Barnickel stood in due to his absence).

Commissioner Barnickel presented outgoing Secretary Rogers with a coin as he this is his last meeting. He will be returning to Coast Guard active duty.

Commissioner Barnickel addressed in the privacy issues at the Veterans Service Office on Gough. He reported that there are private areas available if there is an issue.

Commissioner Barnickel brought in the District Manager from Walgreens to discuss flu shots and jobs for Veterans. Veterans with no health insurance can get a voucher receive a flu shot in July and August. Walgreens is also hiring and reaching out to Veterans. (CORRECTION: Veterans receiving the Post 9/11 GI Bill can work full-time while receiving the housing allowance, this was incorrectly stated at this meeting.)

The SFVAC LinkedIn page needs to be cleared with the City Attorney to make sure it is compliant with City regulations.

Commissioner Jenkins is waiting to report on Bad Paper Discharges until she gets information from Commissioner Stephen Noetzel.

Veterans related legislation: see info on the Dignity Fund (Commissioner Miller reported): http://www.sfdignityfund.org/.

After announcements, Moment of Silence and Honors report, the meeting was adjourned at approximately 6:50pm.