SUNSHINE ORDINANCE TASK FORCE
EDUCATION, OUTREACH AND TRAINING COMMITTEE
MEETING MINUTES
Thursday, December 10, 2009
4:00 p.m., City Hall, Room 406
Committee Members: Sue Cauthen (Chair), Suzanne Manneh, Doyle Johnson, Hanley Chan, Marjorie Ann Williams
Call to Order: 4:08 p.m.
Roll Call: Present: Cauthen, Chan (in at 4:21), Williams
Excused: Johnson, Williams
Agenda Changes: The meeting started as an informal gathering because there was no quorum. Quorum was reached at 4:21 p.m. The word ‘allegedly’ was removed from Item 2.
Deputy City Attorney: Jerry Threet (not present)
Clerk: Chris Rustom
1. Adoption of November 12, 2009, meeting minutes.
Motion to continue November 12, 2009, meeting minutes. Without objection.
Public Comment: None
2. 09067 Hearing on the status of the complaint filed by the Library Users Association against the Historic Preservation Commission for not providing summaries of public comment in the meeting minutes.
Peter Warfield, Executive Director of the Library Users Association, said that if there is no quorum there is no meeting. He wanted to know why his case landed with this committee when there were two committees that deal with compliance issues. He said he did not recall his matter being referred to this committee. The agenda also included the word “allegedly” and did not include the Order of Determination, he said. He also said he had not seen any progress in the HPC’s minutes and their next meeting was to be on December 16, 2009.
Chair Cauthen asked the administrator to draft a letter to John Rahaim, Linda Avery and Tina Tam and copying Peter Warfield and Charles Chase, chair of the HPC, to say that Section 67.21 (e) of the Ordinance requires department representatives to attend hearings.
Chair Cauthen told Mr. Warfield that certain cases go to the Education, Outreach and Training Committee and the process ends if the issue can be resolved. If there is no progress, it is forwarded to the Compliance and Amendments Committee.
Member Chan arrived at 4:21 p.m. and quorum was reached.
Chair Cauthen brought Member Chan up to date.
Mr. Warfield said it was important to penalize departments that do not attend meetings because not to do so would be to invite further violators. He also was wanted letters addressed to departments and complainants alike, and was against copying the Library Users Association as was earlier discussed. The Order of Determination also did not include how the minutes issue was to be corrected and without that, the HPC could continue the illegal practice, he said.
Chair Cauthen announced Planning Commission Secretary Linda Avery’s presence in the audience and invited her to the lectern.
Ms. Avery said she was also the secretary to the HPC. She said the department has never argued or disputed the allegation that the minutes did not meet the Ordinance’s requirement. The minutes now do include a summary of the comments, she said. The commission got off on a rough start and used the audio tapes as the official record. She said she had mentioned publically that Mr. Warfield was correct in saying that the Sunshine Ordinance has certain requirements when it comes to meeting minutes. The Commissioners, she added, were adamant that the minutes reflect what the Ordinance requires. She said the HPC was trying to be compliant as much as possible, given the limited resources it has. Changes have been made but certain areas need improvement, she said.
Motion to continue matter to the January meeting. ( Chan / Manneh )
Mr. Warfield said Ms. Avery has taken it upon herself to be the HPC representative at a time when the Planning Department has 200 employees and a $20 million budget. Ms. Avery’s acknowledgement of his understanding of the requirements for the meeting minutes came only after he filed the complaint, he said. He said the Commissioners approved the illegal minutes on two occasions despite the long discussions they had on the subject. He wanted the Committee to order the HPC to revisit the old minutes and make the necessary changes. He also wanted the matter sent to the Task Force for further adjudication.
Public Comment: None.
On the motion:
Ayes: Chan, Manneh, Cauthen
3 Outreach for Sunshine presentations
• The Shelter Monitoring Committee did not meet in December and has rescheduled the Sunshine Ordinance presentation for January 20, 2010, at 10 a.m. in Room 408. Members decided to make the presentation in pairs. The January presentation will be done as previously scheduled. Chair Cauthen said the PowerPoint presentation was helpful only if they had additional time.
• The Coalition for San Francisco Neighborhoods has asked for a presentation when they meet February 16, 2010, in the Northern Station at Fillmore and Turk. Assignments are to be handed out at the January 14, 2010, meeting. Chair Cauthen to contact the Coalition to see which dates are available. Member Chan said 40 minutes should be the maximum for presentations because people lose interest after a while. He also said Lower Polk Neighbors (Upper Block) also is requesting a presentation.
• Chair Cauthen said she was still gathering information for the police community relations meetings.
• Chair Cauthen said she has yet to contact the League of Women Voters.
• Council of District Merchants (Tabled)
• Glen Park Association (Tabled)
4 Status of SFPUC’s Sunshine procedures.
The Committee approved the letter to be sent together with the revised document. Without objection.
5 Results of contact with neighborhood newspaper editors
Continued to next meeting. Without objection.
9. Public comment for items not listed on the agenda: None
10 Committee Members’ Comments, Questions, and Requests for Future Agenda Items.
Chair Cauthen said the EOTC needs a deputy city attorney and would discuss the issue of Jerry Threet’s withdrawal s Committee Counsel with Task Force Chair Rick Knee.
Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 5:10 p.m.
This meeting has been audio recorded and is on file in the office of the Sunshine Ordinance Task Force