San Francisco Youth Commission

Minutes, Monday, October 19, 2009

5:30-8:00pm

City Hall, Room 416

1. Call to Order

Chair Quesada called the meeting to order at 5:35pm.

Commissioners Present: Marshall-Fricker, J. Chan, Jones, Carlson, Hirano, Williams, Davidson, Quesada, Hernandez, Ellington

Commissioners arrived tardy: Quintero

Commissioners Excused: Deng, Liang, A. Chan, Escamilla, Guerra, LaCroix

Staff present: Mario Yedidia, Peter Lauterborn

2. Approval of Agenda (Action Item)

Commissioner Ellington moved to approve the agenda, seconded by J. Chan. The agenda was approved unanimously by acclamation.

3. Approval of Minutes (Action Item)

Commissioner Hernandez moved to approve the minutes from the last meeting of October 5, 2009, seconded by Carlson. The minutes were approved unanimously by acclamation.

4. Public Comment on Items not on Agenda

Mr. Foster, his daughter Jennifer, and David Villacorta spoke about the problems that Jennifer and David were having with the band teacher (and, in David’s case, the principal as well) at Washington High School, where Jennifer and David are students. According to Mr. Foster, Jennifer and David, the band teacher plays favorites and has, without good reason, stopped Jennifer and David from taking band class. Mr. Foster and Jennifer also accused the band teacher of spreading rumors about Jennifer—including that Jennifer’s mother committed suicide. After Commissioner Hirano asked a few questions, Mr. Foster explained that the Washington High School principal and the School Board have been of no help in this matter.

Commissioner Jones said he’d pursue this situation further in his work as a member of the Education and Employment Committee.

5. Staff Report

Mario Yedidia of the Youth Commission staff explained that Supervisor David Campos’s proposed ordinance that would shield incarcerated undocumented youth charged with felonies from deportation unless they are convicted of a crime—a law that the Commission voted to support on August 17, 2009—was going to the full Board of Supervisors for a vote tomorrow, Tuesday, October 20, 2009.

6. Old Business

Phil Ginsburg, General Manager, and Steven Cismowski, Neighborhood Service Area 4 Manager, Recreation and Park Department (RPD), presented

In Mr. Cismowski’s absence, General Manager Ginsburg gave a two-pronged presentation: first, he provided a brief, broad overview of RPD. He explained that the Department has responsibility over 220 parks (including Golden Gate Park and Camp Mather in Yosemite), neighborhood playgrounds and recreation facilities, and youth programs (including Workreation).

Mr. Ginsburg then moved on to the SOMA issue, addressing the changes in access at Eugene Friend Recreation Center, about which the Commission passed a resolution on October 5, 2009. Mr. Ginsburg began by saying that he knew full well that some members of the public who were gathered at the Youth Commission meeting disagreed passionately with the Department’s decision to implement the Latchkey Program at the Eugene Friend Rec Center.

The Latchkey Program is important, he explained, because it gives the children of working parents a safe and enriching place to go after school. It is one of RPD’s most popular programs. The cost, he explained was, $297 for the entire school year, which breaks down to roughly 55 cents an hour. By point of contrast, Mr. Ginsburg said that afterschool programs in the private sector can commonly cost up to $600/month.

Mr. Ginsburg said the RPD will offer the Latchkey Program for free in the SOMA this year, "because there are so many families in need in this neighborhood." Mr. Ginsburg went on to emphasize that RPD has an overwhelmingly robust scholarship program, which covers all children in all programs who are eligible for reduced student lunch. He asked the commission to help RPD publicize this. "Nobody should be denied an opportunity to participate in any Recreation and Park Department programming, based on an inability to pay," he said.

Mr. Ginsburg then said that RPD will be working with Bessie Carmichael, SOMCAM and other community organizations to make sure that the Latchkey Program at Gene Friend is accessible to the youth who need it most. He expressed great respect for the work of United Playaz.

Mr. Ginsburg conceded again that RPD’s changes at Gene Friend were upsetting to some—including the Youth Commission and various community organizations—but that, ultimately, in a time of scarce resources, it is necessary to make tough "policy decisions" such as this one. Though not every stakeholder and community organization will get "what they want" at Gene Friend, Mr. Ginsburg hoped everyone in the SOMA will get what they need.

Mr. Ginsburg concluded by thanking the Youth Commission for its feedback on the issue of the changes in programming and access at Gene Friend, and expressed his hope that the commission will continue to work with RPD in communicating the needs and experiences of young people.

There was a back-and-forth between Mr. Ginsburg and Commissioners Jones and Ellington. Issues addressed included bettering communication between RPD and the SOMA community and what date the fee structure for the SOMA Latchkey Program would be instituted (Mr. Ginsburg said the fall of 2010).

Chair Quesada then opened up public comment on this item.

Misha Olivas spoke as a SOMA parent and United Playaz staff member and asked why there was not more community consultation in RPD’s decision making process regarding changing the programming and access at Gene Friend.

Rudy Corpuz, United Playaz staff, said that as a born-and-bred SOMA resident, he is worried at the fact that the Rec Center will require a fee to access it while the Latchkey Program is in session. He also emphasized that United Playaz offered free services out of the Rec

Mai Doan, Youth Organizer at the South of Market Community Action Network, expressed distress that RPD had not responded to the letter her organization had sent RPD some two months ago regarding this issue.

Ms. Doan and General Manager Ginsburg had a back-and-forth concerning the need for youth to provide a birth certificate in order to register for the Latchkey Program. Ms. Doan wanted to know whether a birth certificate was a requirement for registration. Mr. Ginsburg emphasized that he would look into this, but that this was a minor detail, because RPD was making the registration process as easy as possible.

Niko, a member of United Playaz, expressed opposition to RPD’s changes at Gene Friend.

Choppa, a United Playaz member from SOMA, said he wished the Rec Center could remain free "for good."

Ed Español, a United Playaz volunteer who grew up in SOMA, said that the changes at Gene Friend were effectively shutting out neighborhood kids from accessing their Rec Center

Santo Sekia said he was upset RPD was substituting a program that cost money (i.e., Latchkey) from one that was free to participants (i.e., United Playaz’s programming).

Dantay, a United Playaz member, asked where the Latchkey participation fee went, given that RPD had to lay people off this year.

King John, a United Playaz member, underscored that the full cost of the Latchkey program was prohibitive for the majority of the SOMA community.

Isabella, a United Playaz youth member, asked rhetorically: Why do I have to pay to access the Latchkey program if RPD is a City Department and my mother pays taxes?

Jasmine and another, anonymous youth member of United Playaz, emphasized the scarcity of public space in the SOMA: other than Victoria Manolo Draves Park, the Gene Friend Rec Center is the sole RPD space in the neighborhood.

Peter Lauterborn, Youth Commission staff member, interjected that the Youth Commission—in particular, the members of the Planning, Land Use and City Services Committee—could ask the budget analyst’s office to do an analysis of how much RPD spends per child per fiscal year.

Rico Remedio, a staffer at United Playaz and member of the SOMA Community Response Network, expressed his disappointment at RPD’s changes at Gene Friend.

"Lil" Rudy Corpuz III, a participant in United Playaz’s programming, said he was upset that United Playaz was being removed from the Gene Friend Rec Center.

Jazzie Collins, the Resident Advocate at the South of Market Community Action Network, emphasized that accessible public space is crucial in the SOMA because along the 6th street corridor, at least 250 families dwell in SRO’s. She said that charging the community to use this space is ugly.

Jayson Madriaga, also of the South of Market Community Action Network, said he was opposed to paying to use the Recreation Center.

Judith Herrera of Bindlestiff Studio voiced her grave concerns over the changes in access at the Gene Friend Rec Center;

Angela Madriaga, a youth member of the South of Market Community Action Network, said she was worried about where 13 to 18 year-olds who currently use the Rec Center will go—and what they will do—once the Latchkey Program is instated.

B. Discussion and possible action:

BOS referral 090931 [Ordinance on the Rental Subsidy Program for Low-Income Families](See document A)

Mario Yedidia read a statement from the sponsoring Supervisor John Avalos’s office—which describes what, exactly, this proposed ordinance does: extend the time limit that participating families can be in this program, where the City’s Human Services Agency pays for part of a family’s rent if the family commits to extensive work with a social worker—into the public record. Mario also reminded commissioners that they had heard extensive public comment from service providers on this referred legislation last week.

Chair Quesada opened up public comment on this item.

Amanda Lesky of the Addis Light Organization said that she knows people who are in the Rental Subsidy Program and that it is good because it has allowed them to complete college.

Commissioner Carlson moved to support the referred legislation, and he was seconded by Marshall-Fricker. The clerk took a roll call vote on the matter, and the motion passed with 10 Ayes and 0 No’s. Ayes—Marshall-Fricker, Jones, Carlson, Hirano, Williams, Quintero, Davidson, Quesada, Hernandez, Ellington. (Commissioner J. Chan had left the meeting at 7:00pm.)

Commissioner Davidson read aloud the letter she and Commissioner Deng had written in support of Project RIDE’s campaign.

Commissioner Ellington asked how many non-profits receive funding from tobacco-related institutions.

Paul Escobar, a Project RIDE advocate, responded: there are two non-profits that receive funding from tobacco-related institutions.

Commissioner Carlson motioned to support the letter. Commissioner Hernandez provided a second. This motion passed by the following 10-0 roll call vote: Ayes—Marshall-Fricker, Jones, Carlson, Hirano, Williams, Quintero, Davidson, Quesada, Hernandez, Ellington.

7. New Business

Raymond Leung, a San Francisco Chinatown native and current UC Berkeley student, explained the very personal genesis of the NVP, whose mission is to encourage youth from different neighborhoods to work together. Patrick Li, Maggie Norby-Adams, Roopika Subramanian and Jacqueline Fong explained that the NVP will institute some "dialogues" at Mission High School beginning in November of 2009. These dialogues will involve students researching different neighborhoods. The hope is that this work will grow into a community service component in May of 2010.

Raymond Leung explained that the NVP has 3 requests of the Youth Commission:

Commissioners Carlson, Hirano, Ellington and Davidson asked some questions as to the size and future vision of the NVP.

Commissioner Carlson motioned for the Youth Commission to support the NVP, Marshall-Fricker seconded this motion. The motion was supported unanimously by acclamation.

Peter Lauterborn, Youth Commission staff, explained that the federal law that provides for free/reduced lunch expires this year. The Commissioners read out loud into the record a letter that call on Congress to renew this law.

Commissioner Carlson moved to have the Commission support this letter, seconded by Hirano. The motion was approved unanimously by acclamation

**

Before the Commission reached the next item, Commissioner Carlson raised the question as to whether the Commission should vote, given that it was 8pm, to continue the meeting.

Commissioner Davidson motioned to continue the meeting, and Hirano seconded the motion. The motion failed by the following 8-2 vote: Ayes—Marshall-Fricker, Jones, Carlson, Hirano, Davidson, Quesada, Hernandez, Ellington. No’s—Williams, Quintero.

8. Adjournment

Commissioner Quesada adjourned the meeting at 8:03pm.