September 07, 1999

1. Call to Order and Roll Call: Commissioners Present: Arreguin, Barker, Barnes, Bolden-Kramer, Bonilla, Castillo, Cottonham, Devine, Durkee, Ervin, Lau, Pang, Strohlin, Talton-Alunan, Yee (15). Absent: Geodzhayev (1). Staff present: Susan Kim, Mario Balcita, and Jessica Smith.

2. Motion to approve agenda: Motion to approve agenda seconded and approved.

3. Staff Report: Tabled until announcements portion of meeting.

A. Presentation by Tom Martin (Department of Children, Youth, and their Families), discussion and possible action re: Youth Commission involvement in "Increase the Peace" program in schools. Mr. Martin introduced himself as the Coordinator for Community Relations for the Department of Children, Youth, and their Families. He explained that on September 29^th, the

Mayor's office and public and private school districts are cosponsoring a conflict resolution/violence prevention day in SF schools. This day was precipitated by violence in schools around the country. In the morning, a curriculum designed by sponsoring groups will facilitate a conversation around conflict management in schools. From 3:30-5:30 pm, the Mayor's office will be hosting a rally with speakers and performances in Civic Center plaza. Their goal is to get thousands of youth, along with parents and other allies, to the rally to showcase events happening in the city and to get attention focused on youth issues. Mr. Martin stated that public school youth get credits for attending the rally. He would like the Youth Commission to do outreach for the event.

Commissioner Strohlin asked for flyers about the event to pass out, and Mr. Martin replied that an advertising agency is going to donate posters, which he will provide the Youth Commission.

Mr. Martin explained that a committee of teachers and school administrators from public and private schools created the curriculum. Commissioner Barker asked if information on the upcoming Juvenile Justice Act is going to be included in curriculum and Mr. Martin said no.

Commissioner Durkee asked if Youth Commissioners can speak at the event. Mr. Martin replied that the speaker schedule is being worked out; Mayor Brown, Linda Davis (Interim Superintendent of SFUSD), a private school representative, the Superintendent of Catholic schools, and two students will speak, and the Mayor has invited Vice President Gore. They are very open to the possibility of more youth speakers.

Commissioner Strohlin asked if Commissioners can get a copy of the curriculum packet, and how to get in touch with the committee that created it. Mr. Martin said he can get a copy to Commissioners, and they can contact individual committee members, but the committee has finished its work on the curriculum.

Commissioner Barnes asked if a school district can advocate around a ballot measure, and whether voter registration can happen at the event. Mr. Martin stated he needed to check on voter registration, since it cannot be tied to the event organizers, although an outside community organization could do it.

Commissioner Arreguin stated his support for the event which brings public and private school students together and expressed interest in speaking.

Commissioner Barnes moved to support the event in concept and have staff work with DCYF to make the event a success. Commissioner Yee seconded and the motion passed without objection.

Commissioners Barnes, Yee, Pang, Talton-Alunan, Durkee, Strohlin, Lau, Bonilla, and Castillo expressed interest in helping out with planning the event.

B. Discussion and possible action re: Revising and Approving Youth Commission Bylaws. Commissioner Castillo summarized the meeting of the special bylaws working group on Friday, September 4. 6 Commissioners attended, and the meeting was facilitated by Commissioner Barnes. The group came to consensus on most items, and left a few up in the air that they felt were important to discuss as a group.

The first unresolved issue Commissioners addressed was officer titles. The committee proposed Chairperson, Community Affairs Officer, and Media Relations Officer, and then two possibilities for the remaining 2 officers: Chairperson of Government Affairs and Chairperson of Operations, and Government Affairs Officer and Operations Officer.

Commissioner Barker asked why Community Outreach was changed to Community Affairs, and Commissioner Barnes replied that the committee wanted to make clear that every Commissioner should be doing outreach, and that the Community Affairs Officer's duties are broader than just outreach. Commissioner Castillo also reiterated that the committee is only making recommendations, and final decisions must be made by vote at the full Commission level. Commissioner Barnes responded that the Community Affairs officer will create an outreach plan and everyone will have responsibility under that; the committee didn't want to make bylaws too long so they wanted outreach duties to be in a separate document.

Commissioners Durkee and Yee preferred having four officers and one chair, but Commissioner Arreguin felt it was more egalitarian to have three chairs and not one. Commissioner Pang reminded the group that officers should not need "chair" to raise their status, since all Commissioners are on the same level. Commissioner Talton-Alunan asked if officers hold more power and sway, and Commissioner Castillo replied that they do not, they just guide and make recommendations. Deputy City Attorney Amy Ackerman also reminded the group that only the Commission as a whole has power, not individual commissioners; no one person can take action without the full Commission's endorsement.

Commissioner Barnes asked for a straw poll to reach consensus on the two officer title options, and having four officers and chair was preferred by 10 of the 15 Commissioners present.

Commissioner Strohlin suggested the title of Media and Public Relations Officer, and the group reached consensus on this issue.

The next issue discussed was Section VII (Executive Committee), Letter E -(transfer from current term to new term). Commissioner Barnes stated that the Commission should keep the wording from the current bylaws, because it is useful to have a returning chair facilitate the first few meetings, and the Commission should not wait too long to have elections. Commissioner Pang preferred rotating facilitation in the beginning of the year because people get practice. Commissioner Arreguin reminded the group that even if bylaws state elections must happen at the second meeting, the Commission could always present a motion to change the date. Commissioner Durkee felt rotating facilitation would be too confusing and a nuisance. Commissioner Barker agreed, but felt the second meeting might be too early for elections; she thought the bylaws should just state that Commissioners will choose an election date at their first meeting. Commissioner Barnes expressed concern that a lot of work of the Commission happens in Executive Committee, and the longer the group waits, the longer it will take to get projects going; also, if we have greater Commissioner retention, elections can happen earlier. He then asked for a show of hands, and a majority of commissioners agreed to keep this section identical to the current bylaws.

Next, Commissioners discussed Section VI (Attendance), and Commissioner Ervin asked if attendance policies apply to special meetings. Deputy City Attorney Amy Ackerman responded that attendance policies in general should only apply to regularly scheduled meetings. However, Commissioners decided to include a phrase that Ms. Ackerman will craft that states that if any Commissioner misses six regularly scheduled meetings within a six month period, he/she will automatically resign. Director Susan Kim also reminded Commissioners that the Executive Committee, once elected, will meet to create guidelines on what absences are excusable.

Commissioners then discussed Section V (Meetings and Procedures), Letter C (Quorum and Voting Procedure). Commissioner Bolden-Kramer stated that using Robert's Rules of Order conflicts with Commission House Agreements (created at the retreat) to be culturally sensitive. She felt Robert's Rules hinder her speech, and Commissioner Barker agreed, stating that they are not necessarily the best or most natural way to hear other people's ideas. Commissioner Arreguin disagreed, stating that other Commissions and the Board of Supervisors use Robert's Rules to be professional and productive, so the Youth Commission should use them too. Commissioner Barnes sympathized that Robert's Rules are difficult, but felt the group needed some rules and otherwise they would need to create their own. He thought it is useful to learn Robert's Rules because other groups use it. He suggested having a committee to come up with other rules. Deputy City Attorney Amy Ackerman explained that most Commissions use Robert's Rules as a default, and they use a very loose and basic version (Chair calls on people, vote and keep record, ask for motions).

Commissioners Devine, Ervin, and Bonilla agreed that Robert's Rules hampers people's ideas, and as diverse young group, if the Commission is not dealing with the public, it should not use them. Commissioner Strohlin felt we should not use Robert's Rules at all, only Commission House Agreements. Commissioner Barnes disagreed, stating that house agreements are not detailed enough to run a meeting. Commissioner Durkee made a motion to form a committee that will make a proposal to the Commission that incorporates Robert's Rules and the Commission's own, as opposed to having this discussion at the full Commission level. Commissioner Barker objected, stating that a committee was not need, just a set of ground rules. She added that it would still be important to learn Robert's Rules for future reference. Commissioners voted on Commissioner Durkee's motion and it failed, 6 for and 8 against.

Commissioner Bonilla then made a motion to use a round-table system, where every Commissioner gets a chance to speak once at the beginning of each agenda item with a one minute time limit. This motion did not pass.

Commissioner Barnes made a motion to adopt the bylaws as they stand now and amend them in the future if needed. This motion was seconded and amended by Commissioner Strohlin. She proposed amending the motion to remove Section V (Meetings and Procedures) Letter E (Quorum and Voting Procedures), number 3 (Robert's Rules), and Commissioner Barnes accepted the amendment. Commissioner Barker also amended the motion to strike the line in the Chair's duties that states the Chair must uphold Robert's Rules. The motion to pass the bylaws, with amendments, was voted on and passed unanimously.

C. Presentation on Brown Act and Sunshine Ordinance by Amy Ackerman, Deputy City Attorney. Ms. Ackerman introduced herself and encouraged Commissioners to call or email her with questions. She also explained that she is a member of the San Francisco Women Lawyer's Alliance, which is putting together a panel on appropriate responses to juvenile violence and crime and looking for young people to serve on the panel.

Ms. Ackerman introduced the laws that govern public officials and passed around a 5 page summary. The two sets of laws that govern meetings are the Brown Act (state law) and the Sunshine Ordinance (city law). These laws were created to make sure politicians were not making deals in back rooms without public knowledge.

The key points of these two laws are to only discuss items and make decisions at meetings open to public; meetings should have a regular time and place and the public needs to know when and where; the public should have a chance to speak; agenda items need to be listed in advance and if an item is not on the agenda it should not be discussed. Because of these rules, it is important to make sure there is never a quorum of commissioners outside a public, noticed meeting, if they are going to talk about commission business.

Standing committees are considered separate legislative bodies, and therefore it is illegal to discuss business with a quorum of any given committee outside of a publicly noticed meeting. Action items must be on the agenda and in clear language, and commissions and committees must ask for public comment before any vote is taken. Members of the public do not have to identify themselves, and they are entitled to the same packet of information commissioners get at meetings. There are penalties for violating these acts, including being sued to set aside an action the commission took if it did not comply with Brown and Sunshine.

Ms. Ackerman also explained that the Youth Commission Charter has a limitation clause, which means that the Commission only has the powers listed in charter, and no more, so if something is not in the charter it cannot be done. The Charter requires every Commissioner to vote on every item, unless there is vote to excuse someone, so there is no abstaining. Also, the Commission cannot delegate its powers away to the Executive Committee, so the Executive Committee, for example, cannot take a position on legislation. In order for the Commission to take a position on state and federal legislation, it has to create a resolution advising the Board of Supervisors to take that position. The Charter, however, makes it clear that the Commission should take a position on all city legislation. Ms. Ackerman also reminded Commissioners that state law prohibits the use of city resources to advocate for or against candidates or initiatives; the Commission can only do non-biased educational presentations on these issues. Commissioners can state that they are Commissioners for purposes of identification, but they cannot imply that the whole Commission is behind something it has not voted on.

5. Announcements: Commissioners decided to cancel their regular meeting on September 20^th so Jewish Commissioners could observe Yom Kippur. The next Youth Commission meeting will be on the 27^th, and the agenda will include all items tabled at this meeting. Commissioner Devine reminded Commissioners of upcoming Youth Vote and requested that Commissioners contact her before Tuesday with possible questions for Youth Vote.

6. Public Comment: No public comment.

7. Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 7:30 pm.