October 18, 1999

DATE: Monday, October 18, 1999
TIME: 5:00 pm
PLACE: City Hall, Room 416

1. Call to Order and Roll Call: Commissioners Present: Arreguin, Barnes, Baxter, Bolden-Kramer, Bonilla, Castillo, Cottonham, Devine, Durkee, Geodzhayev, Lau, Pang, Strohlin, Talton-Alunan, Yee (15). Absent: Barker, Ervin (2). Staff present: Susan Kim, Jessica Smith and Mario Balcita.
2. Motion to approve agenda: Item 4 moved after Old Business. Item 6Fand 6C tabled until the next meeting. Item 7B moved to committee. After these amendments were made the agenda was approved.
3. Motion to approve minutes from the September 27^th, October 1^st, and October 4^th Meetings: Commissioner Bolden-Kramer requested a change in the location of the young women’s Health Fair to Everett Middle School not Harvey Milk Civil Rights Academy. Minutes were approved.
4. Executive Committee Update: Commissioner Barnes made an update regarding roles of staff and Commissioners. Executive Committee (EC) feels that the Commission should have an overview of the responsibilities of staff. EC decided to have a retreat and possibly hire a consultant with appropriate skills to facilitate further discussions regarding staff and Commissioner roles.

Commissioner Barnes suggested that if a Commissioner has 2 absences, she/he should meet with Commissioner Barnes and Ms. Kim. EC proposed a committee structure. 7 committees with approximately 5 members each. The committees are as follows:1. Education and Workforce, 2. Juvenile Justice and Public Safety, 3. Public Health, Social Services and the Environment, 4. Housing, Transportation and Land Use, 5. Culture and Urban Environment, 6. Diversity and Cultural Competency, 7. Executive Committee. Commissioner Yee suggested that Commissioners add elementary and middle school to the Education committee and try to include children into all the committees’ work. For the DA forum, Commissioners Barnes and Durkee will be the leads on the content. The opening of the forum will be an overview of what the DA does.

5. New Business

1. Discussion and possible action re: Essay Contest sponsored by the Department of the Environment. Commissioner Barnes introduced the Director of the Department of Environment Francesca Vietor. The Department is sponsoring a Global Art and Essay Contest to raise awareness among young people about global warming. The prize for the contest is a trip to the Rainforest. Francesca asked for the Commission’s support and co-sponsership. Many Commissioners were in support of this project. Commissioner Castillo motioned to co-sponsor the Art & Essay contest. No objections.
2. Discussion and possible action re: Census 2000. Joanna Silva from the San Francisco Office of Local Census spoke on this item. She stated the importance of youth awareness of the U.S. Census Bureau. She stated that 1 out 2 youth are not counted by the census. The number of youth counted by the Census affects federal funding for youth programs, including public schools and school lunch programs. Ms. Silva asked for the Commission’s support on raising youth awareness about the Census. SFUSD is already supporting this project. There is an San Francisco State intern who will be able to assist the Commission with this project. Commissioner Arreguin suggested this matter be referred to committee. Commissioner Barnes suggested the Commission vote to create a resolution regarding this matter. Commissioner Castillo asked for a vote to support this project, to create a resolution and refer this item to committee. All were in favor.
3. Discussion and possible action re: Supervisor Teng’s hearing on Oct 27^th on funding for elementary art and music programs. Supervisor Teng’s Aide Jessica Ring spoke on this item. Since money for school art programs are being cut from the SFUSD budget, Supervisor Teng is holding a hearing to get public comment on this issue and how to get more money for arts programming. Commissioner Barnes asked if the Commission would co-sponsor the hearing and call on the Board of Supervisors and the Board of Education to allocate necessary funding for Arts education in SF schools. The motion was passed.
4. Discussion and possible action re: Proposals for High School Health Centers. Referred to Public Health, Social Services and the Environment Committee.
5. Discussion and possible action re: Youth Commission Community Meetings. Erica with the Oakland Youth Commission talked about inconvenience of having meetings at different sites. Jason from the Oakland Youth Commission spoke about the importance of having meetings at different sites to reach out to other youth. He was also concerned with the accessibility of different school sites and transportation issues. Commissioner Strohlin suggested that the Commission have monthly community meetings at a more central location in the city. Commissioner Castillo suggested to have the meetings once every other month. This item was referred to Youth Participation Committee.
6. Discussion and possible action re: Setting the Next Meeting’s Agenda. Commissioner Barnes said to fill out the Agenda Forms in the Youth Commission Office.

6. Old Business:
1. Discussion and possible action re: Strategies to Address Upcoming Elections. Commissioner Durkee updated on the process for the Election Party for Youth. Ms. Kim said it will be hard to host the party and abide by election/campaign laws. Commissioners Barnes and Durkee updated the Commission on the DA Forum. Commissioner Bonilla motioned that Commissioner Strohlin moderate the event. All who were in favor were Commissioners Lau, Peng, Devine, Arreguin, Baxter, Cottonham, Strohlin, Talton-Alunan; opposed were Commissioners Barnes, Castillo, Durkee, Geodzhayev. Motion passed.
7. Staff Report: Ms. Kim updated the Commission on the how the space looks for the DA Forum. Susan also spoke about the legality of the Election Party. Ms. Kim also asked Commissioners to set up a meeting with their appointing Supervisors and all Mayoral appointees should call Susan.
8. Announcements. Commissioner Strohlin announced she is in a film. Please come and watch if you can. Contact her for more information. Commissioner Barnes announced a Youth Commissioner tour at City Hall on October 23, 1999.
9. Public Comment. There was no public comment.
10. Adjournment. Meeting was adjourned at 7:14 pm.