San Francisco Youth Commission
Minutes
DATE: Monday, October 4, 1999
TIME: 5:00 pm
PLACE: City Hall, Room 416
1. Call to Order and Roll Call: Commissioners Present: Arreguin, Barker,
Barnes, Baxter, Bonilla, Castillo, Devine, Durkee, Geodzhayev, Lau, Pang, Strohlin,
Talton-Alunan, Yee (14). Absent: Bolden-Kramer, Cottonham, Ervin (3). Staff
present: Mario Balcita and Jessica Smith.
2. Motion to approve agenda: Items B (Sutro Towers) and D (Hospitality
House) were tabled until the next meeting. In addition, approval of the minutes
was postponed to the next meeting. After these revisions, the agenda was approved.
3. Staff Report: Commissioners were reminded to set up appointments
to meet with their appointing officer before October 15th. A meeting
with the Mayor's office will be scheduled through the Youth Commission office.
Staff reported back on the October 1st special meeting, where Commissioners
decided on several strategies to address upcoming city elections. Commissioner
Barnes explained the youth friendly voter's guide and passed around a tentative
list of questions to send to candidates. Commissioners with additional questions
or suggestions were to see him after the meeting. Commissioner Durkee reported
back on the Youth Election Night Party, and explained that she is currently
in the process of looking for a site for the event. Commissioner Devine reported
back on the District Attorney Round Table Forum planned for late October, which
will be an opportunity to focus on juvenile justice issues. Commissioner Barnes
explained that the D. A. impacts youth 18 and over, as well as juveniles tried
in adult court. He also runs prevention programs, deals with gang issues and
police brutality complaints, and oversees the juvenile D. A.'s office. Commissioner
Devine sent letters to the District Attorney candidates inviting them to the
Forum, and follow up calls will be made mid-week. Staff reminded Commissioners
that point people are still needed for several aspects of the forum. Commissioner
Barker reported back on the Coleman Mayor's Forum planning meeting. The forum
will be completely question and answer. If Youth Commissioners arrive at 4:30
before the event, they can be one of the six groups to ask direct questions
to the candidates. Commissioners were also invited to help create a media message
about the election to be put up on bus shelters and other public places. Commissioners
Castillo, Arreguin, Baxter, Lau, and Yee volunteered to arrive early. Commissioners
also agreed to make two posters for the event, one which listed the Youth Commission's
15 general youth issues of concern, and another with individual Commissioner's
demands for mayoral candidates, which would not be endorsed by the full Commission.
Finally, the staff confirmed that it will send a memo to the Department of Elections
asking them to explain how they are involving young people in the upcoming elections.
4. New Business: (Commissioner Castillo co-facilitated the rest of the
meeting with Commissioner Barker, so Commissioner Barker could implement her
proposal for a new facilitation method for meetings that fuses Robert's Rules
and the Commission's own ground rules.)
A. Discussion and possible action re: Report Back on Youth Space.
Commissioner Devine explained that Youth Space will be a youth club with student-run
businesses, a dance hall, and food carts, located in SOMA and run by youth.
The site is the Arc of Refuge at 6th and Howard. The building is
being renovated, but the site should be open in January 2000. It will have 2
floors; an upper floor for businesses and a lower floor for the dance hall and
food court. There are spots open for businesses, and people can get sign up
sheets from Commissioner Devine or Youth Making a Change. The next planning
meeting is Wednesday October 6th at 4:30.
Commissioner Barnes noted that he does not think Youth Space is making much
progress; they still need a board, and they have a large sum of money that is
not being used right now. He requested having Coleman Advocates and the Department
of Recreation and Parks come present to the Commission on the status of the
project. Commission Bonilla agreed and suggested possibly holding a public hearing
on Youth Space to hear from the community it is supposed to serve. Commissioner
Barnes suggested holding a Youth Commission community meeting in SOMA in the
near future and putting Youth Space on the agenda. Commissioner Lau questioned
whether the Commission is involved enough to sponsor a public hearing, and Commissioner
Arreguin responded that we should be involved because it is an issue that affects
the youth of San Francisco. Commissioner Bonilla questioned whether the money
for Youth Space could be better used another way, but Commissioner Strohlin
replied that Youth Space is an important project because young people need a
place to go so they will not be out on the street.
B. Discussion and possible action re: Televising Youth Commission Meetings
on City Watch. Commissioner Castillo explained that televising Commission
meetings could increase outreach, and he explained that only regular meetings
could be televised. Commissioner Barnes also noted that the airings could be
tape delayed and aired at a youth friendly time. Commissioner Baxter thought
it was a great idea, since the Commission needs more community outreach, and
asked whether some response system could be set up in addition to televising.
A majority of Commissioners agreed with the idea, and Commissioners Castillo
and Barnes agreed to work with staff to set it up.
C. Discussion and possible action re: Amending Youth Commission Bylaws.
Staff explained that they reviewed the Bylaws that the Commission passed on
September 7th with the Deputy City Attorney, and a change needed
to be made so the Bylaws did not conflict with the Charter. If legislation needing
prompt response arises between Commission meetings, instead of the Executive
Committee taking a position on legislation on behalf of the Commission, they
can only tell the Board of Supervisors what position they would recommend to
the full Commission. At the next Commission meeting, the full Commission must
then vote on its position, because only the full Commission can take a position
on legislation. The amended Bylaws were passed with no objection.
D. Discussion and possible action re: Setting the next meeting agenda.
Commissioner Castillo introduced an agenda item request form, and asked that
Commissioners submit the form to staff when requesting an item on the agenda.
Commissioner Bonilla requested that a follow up on the status of high school
health centers be put on the agenda. Commissioner Yee announced that Supervisor
Teng will be holding a hearing on securing permanent funding for arts and music
programs in elementary schools on October 27, and requested this item for the
agenda. Commissioner Barnes announced that the Department of the Environment
would like to come before the Commission to discuss an essay contest they are
sponsoring, and Ex-Supervisor Alioto would also like to come before the Commission.
Commissioner Barnes also requested that a discussion of Youth Commission committee
structure and community meetings be placed on the next agenda. Commissioner
Castillo requested the Census 2000 be placed on the agenda, and Commissioner
Barker asked to have a discussion about creating a process for deciding which
Commissioners will speak at public events. Commissioner Strohlin asked what
the procedure is for bringing projects to the Commission, and Commissioner Castillo
explained that the Executive Committee will be recommending a committee structure;
their meeting will be on Tuesday, October 12th from 6:30-8 pm and
all Commissioners are free to attend.
5. Announcements: Commissioner Castillo announced that on Saturday,
October 16th there will be a Latino college fair at City College,
and he will be at a Commission table from 9:30-3; Commissioners are invited
to attend. Commissioner Durkee reminded Commissioners that she needs their profiles
for the website, as well as ideas for the website, and Commissioners should
see staff about their business cards. She is also working on a new Commission
pamphlet, and will be taking a picture at the next meeting. Commissioner Barker
passed out flyers for the Coleman Mayor's Forum and encouraged Commissioners
to bring their friends and get there early. Commissioner Strohlin announced
an Act One paid 10 hour a week multimedia internship program; Commissioners
can see her or staff for more information. Also, on Saturday, October 16 at
Cow Palace there will be a free play called Shotgun 2 addressing violence and
other urban youth issues, and at La Peña Cultural Center in Berkeley
there will be a benefit for Cuba with hip hop and spoken word. Commissioner
Barnes announced a Youth Commission social event on Saturday October 23, a City
Hall tour at 2 pm with a picnic beforehand, weather permitting. Commissioner
Barnes also requested that Youth Commission agendas be sent to all city-funded
agencies. Finally Commissioner Castillo complemented Commissioners and staff
for their hard work so far this year.
6. Public Comment: No public comment.
Commissioners debriefed the meeting facilitation method; the consensus
was that they liked having two facilitators, and they felt less restricted because
they didn't have to worry about the technicalities of Robert's Rules. Commissioner
Castillo suggested that in the future at each meeting a different Commissioner
can co-facilitate. Commissioners also all agreed to try to get more people to
come to meetings, and to discuss having community meetings in the near future.
7. Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 6:40 pm.