San Francisco
Youth
Commission
San Francisco Youth Commission
Minutes
DATE: Monday, June 5, 2000
TIME: 5:00 PM
PLACE: City Hall, Room 416
1. Call to Order and Roll Call: The meeting was called to order at 5:15 p.m. Commissioners Present: Arreguin, Bolden-Kramer, Bonilla, Castillo, Devine, Geodzhayev, Matranga, Lau, Pang, Strohlin, Talton-Alunan, Yee (12). Absent: Cottonham, Ervin (2). Staff: Jessica Smith, Colleen Montoya.
2. Motion to approve agenda: Items 8A tabled (Noe Valley mentoring program), 8G tabled (Tenderloin Boxing Program). Items 8E (Youth Credit Union Presentation) and 8F (Police Gang Task Force) moved to front of agenda. Agenda was approved
3. Motion to approve minutes: Minutes of 5/15/00 meeting were approved.
4. Public Comment: Christina Goette from the Violence Prevention Network announced that the VPN will be applying for new grant from Substance Abuse Mental Health Services and will be looking for Youth Commission support. Also, the VPN is having a Celebration of youth violence prevention on Friday 6/9 8:30-1:30 at 455 Golden Gate Ave. The VPN will be doing a series of forums in the fall on alcohol, firearms, and witnessing acts of violence.
Tom Martin from the Mayor’s Office spoke about funding from DCYF for the next two fiscal years. He distributed a list of funded organizations and a map of their location, and expressed satisfaction that the Mayor’s budget included lots of money for children and youth. For example, $1.4 million is being given to start health centers in the 7 major high schools, and $250,000 will be given for health care benefits for child care workers. The review process for grant making from DCYF included 9 neighborhood and 2 citywide meetings, and 70 proposal reviewers including 7 youth. Rankings and comments on proposals are available for review, call 554-8430.
5. Staff Report: The citywide budget hearing will be held Saturday 6/24 at 9 a.m. at City Hall. The School Board budget hearing will be Tuesday, 6/13 at 7 p.m. at Everett Middle School. Youth Commissioners signed up for exit interviews, and to help with interviewing Commission applicants. Commissioners were reminded to meet with their appointing officer before they end their term. An end of the year picnic will be held at Speedway Meadows, 25th and JFK in Golden Gate Park on Friday, 6/9 from 1-3 p.m.
6. Executive Committee Report: June explained that she will be finishing her outreach duties over the summer, and developing systems and recommendations for next year’s Community Affairs Officer. The members of the Executive Committee thanked everyone on the Commission for their work this year and wished them luck. They will be working on the annual report.
7. Committee Report Backs:
A. Juvenile Justice and Public Safety: Commissioner Strohlin reported that the committee is still working on the Prop 21 Hearing set for June 29th from 4-6:30. Commissioners are invited to come to the next Juvenile Justice Committee meeting and help plan the hearing and other projects such as the development of a task force.
B. Housing, Transportation, and Land Use: The Housing Youth Lobby Day took place on May 24th and around 35 youth attended. They were trained on housing issues and how to lobby, and then met with 28 legislators to talk about the need for more affordable housing. The Committee was pleased with the turnout and all the events of the day.
8. New Business:
B. Discussion and possible action re: Letter of Support for MYEEP Program. Jesse, Jessica and Jewnbug will be working on a letter of support. Rolando expressed interest in helping. There will be a meeting at the Bernal Heights Neighborhood Center on Saturday 6/17 to talk about how to save the MYEEP summer program.
C. Discussion and possible action re: Board of Supervisors Legislation Forwarding Process. Jessica met with Gloria Young, Clerk of the Board, who had some suggestions about how the Commission can have more influence on city legislation. She suggested actively seeking out legislation on the Internet and bringing to the Supervisors with our recommendation attached. Also, we could link up with other youth programs in City Hall to increase our pull. She also suggested putting links on our website to other youth organizations. Jesse also suggested meeting with BOS Committee Clerks, and Jewnbug suggested having Commission Committee Convenors check BOS Committee agendas for legislation related to children and youth.
D. Discussion and possible action re: Suggested amendments to the Youth Commission Bylaws. Rolando proposed adding three new sections to the Youth Commission bylaws: Section X, which would require the Chair to present a year end summary to the Board of Supervisors at the end of the term, and have their remarks included in the annual report; Section XI, which would establish a resource window on the Youth Commission website with information on San Francisco youth community-based organizations; Section XII, which would require Sections X and XI to remain in the bylaws unless Section XII is amended. Commissioners decided Section X should be added to Section II G of the current bylaws, and approved the three amendments (Eric voted against Section XII). Jesse proposed adding a tenth portion to Section VII B, Executive Committee Responsibilities, that would require the Executive Committee to make recommendations of new Commissioners to the appointing authority when there is a vacancy and there is no Operations Officer at that time. This amendment was approved.
E. Discussion and possible action re: Presentation by Youth Credit Union. The Youth Credit Union is a group of youth members that pool their money to provide loans and interest-earning bank accounts. Their goal is to provide services to youth under 18 that banks do not offer and keep money in the hands of local communities. They currently have 150 members at $6,700 in assets, and are entering their 3rd year. Youth can work at the Credit Union and also open accounts. Short term (can withdraw money at any time) and long term accounts (for savings) are available, both with 5% interest rates. Any youth under 18 can open an account without parent permission, and the minimum balance is $5. They are insured up to $100,000 in deposits just like banks, and their parent credit union is Mission Federal Credit Union. They are located at 16th and Mission and are open Wednesdays. 4-5 and Saturdays 12-1:30.
F. Discussion and possible action re: SF Police Department Gang Prevention Programs. Lieutenant Kitt Crenshaw, the new Gang Task Force Head, explained that they are still investigating the recent murders in Bayview-Hunters Point; 9 guns have been seized and 10 arrests have been made. Lt. Crenshaw has been in his position for only 2 weeks, but is aware of gang problems since he was born and raised in Hunters Point. He gives his support to the Youth Commission, and recognizes that the police will not solve violence issues in a long-term way; a community effort is needed, including conflict resolution and better environments for youth. His job is to investigate and arrest individuals involved in crimes, but the problems go deeper, and he is willing to commit to helping us however he can. He can be reached at 553-1401 or 280-1395 (pager). He is not aware of all the prevention programs at the Police Department, but some include Operation Dream, which brings youth in low-income housing developments on trips which expose them to a different side of society and of cops; Community Meetings; the Police Athletic League; the Wilderness Program; the Cadet Program; and the former Midnight Basketball Program, which had its funding cut. He recognizes the need for more programs that combine physical activity with education, training, and communication.
9. Special Meeting Minutes
The Board of Supervisors forwarded a resolution to the Youth Commission urging the California State Government to support and pass Assembly Bill 212, the state CARES bill authored by Assemblywoman Dion Aroner. Karissa urged Commissioners to support this bill because child care workers need more support; many are leaving San Francisco because of low pay. Francisco and Jesse also urged support, and stressed that the Youth Commission should focus more on children’s issues. The Commissioners all voted to give their recommendation to this Board of Supervisors Recommendation.
10. Meeting Adjourned at 7:15 p.m.
Last updated: 9/4/2009 9:56:45 AM