San Francisco Youth Commission
Draft - Minutes
Monday, July 21st, 2014
5:15pm-8:00pm
City Hall, Room 416
1. Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Pl.
San Francisco, CA 94102

There will be public comment on each item.

Nicholas Persky, Michelle Kong, Joshua Cardenas, DeAsia Landrum, Angel Van Stark, Jina Bae, Anna Bernick, Sophie Edelhart, Monica Flores, Ramon Gomez, Michel Li, Lily Marshall-Fricker, Luisa Sicairos, Denesia Webb, Eric Wu, Joyce Wu, Ariel Yu

1. Call to Order and Roll Call

The meeting was called to order at 5:29 p.m. Commissioners present: Persky, Kong, Cardenas, Landrum (tardy, arrived at 5:50 p.m.), Van Stark, Bae, Bernick, Edelhart, Gomez, Li, Marshall-Fricker, Sicairos, Webb, Eric Wu, Joyce Wu, Yu. Commissioner absent: Monica Flores. Staff present: Allen Lu, Phimy Truong.

2. Approval of Agenda (Action Item)

There was no public comment. Commissioner Yu, seconded by Commissioner Bernick motioned to approve the agenda. The agenda was approved by acclamation.

3. Approval of Minutes (Action Item)

A. July 7th, 2014
(Document A)

There was no public comment. Commissioner Joyce Wu, seconded by Commissioner Bae motioned to approve the minutes to July 7th, 2014. The agenda was approved by acclamation.

4. Public Comment on Items not on Agenda (Discussion Only)

Dan Choi introduced himself to commissioners as ex army officer who has been heavily involved in the advocacy efforts with City College of San Francisco’s accreditation crisis. Mr. Choi thanked commissioners for their work on policy priority #14 on City College, and encouraged them to continue their advocacy efforts and involvement with City College students. He asked them to request that their city officials enroll in classes at City College so that they too can understand what an important institution CCSF is and would work more to save it.

Mr. Peter Lauterborn thanked each commissioners for their work, and presented a proclamation for each of them on behalf of District 1 Supervisor Eric Mar. He then shared some special remarks to District 1 Youth Commissioner Nicholas Persky and Director of the Youth Commission, Phimy Truong.

5. Presentations (All Items to Follow Discussion and Possible Action)

A. Overview of San Francisco’s Recreation and Park Department’s Children’s Outdoor Bill of Rights and Request for Support and Endorsement
Presenters: Zoe Burton, Youth Volunteer and Education Coordinator; Charlotte Hill, SFCAN Steering Committee; SF Recreation and Park Department
(Document B)

Ms. Charlotte Hill and Ms. Zoe Burton provided a presentation on the Recreation and Park Department’s Children’s Outdoor Bill of Rights.

There was no public comment.

Commissioner

B. Overview of the Office of Civic Engagement and Immigrant Affairs’ Dream SF Fellowship program and Introduction to Dream SF Fellows
Presenters: Kraig Cook, Civic Engagement Coordinator/Dream SF Project Manager, Office of Civic Engagement and Immigrant Affairs
(Documents C, D)

Mr. Kraig Cook provided an overview of the Office of Civic Engagement and Immigrant Affairs Department’s work on supporting immigrant and undocumented youth and families in San Francisco. He then shared information about the Dream SF Fellowship program. After which, each fellow provided an introduction to themselves and their work on their respective work sites. Dream SF Fellows who presented were: Nadia Tasayco, Nallely Cabrales, Carmen Chan, Erick Pari, Carlos Rios, Karina Almanza, Jennifer Sotz, Madiha Khan, Miguel Castillo, Joseline Gonzalez and Talissa Carrasco.

There was no public comment.

C. Youth Commission’s Key to the City Youth Housing Town Hall Report and Request for Endorsement
Presenters: Housing, LGBT, and TAY issues committee members
(Document E)

Commissioner Eric Wu provided a brief presentation on his committee’s draft report, and requested endorsement from his peers as this would be the last Youth Commission meeting of the term. Commissioner Eric Wu expressed that the recommendations that would be included in this report were no different than the ones the committee had already submitted to the full commission’s budget and policy priorities document. The Youth Housing Town Hall took place on May 7th, 2014 at the Mary Rogers Helen Community Center, where over 50 youth came out to participate. There were multiple working groups in session at this youth housing town ranging from topics such as homelessness; transitional age youth housing; SRO housing; resources and support, etc. Many youth participants expressed discomfort and anxiety over the lack of resources for youth living independently from their families; youth expressed challenges of keeping housing, as most of the housing programs they have been involved with are temporary and it is very expensive to find permanent housing in San Francisco; youth who live with their parents also expressed how difficult it was for their families to maintain their housing.

Commissioners asked clarifying questions.

Commissioner Landrum, seconded by Commissioner Joyce Wu, made a motion to support and endorse the Youth Housing Town Hall report. This motion was approved by acclamation.

6. Staff Report (Discussion Only)

Ms. Truong shared remarks on the successes of the 13-14 Youth Commission term, and thanked commissioners for their work this year.

7. Committee Reports (Discussion Only)

A. Executive Committee, Commissioner Michelle Kong
B. Youth Justice Committee, Chair Sophie Edelhart
C. Immigration & Employment Committee, Chair Michel Li
D. Education, Health & Wellness Committee, Chair Ariel Yu
E. TAY, Housing, and LGBT issues Committee, Chair Eric Wu
F. Children’s Fund Updates, Commissioners Eric Wu, Michelle Kong

Commissioners provided a brief update per each committee.

8. Attendance Authorizations (Action Item)

A. Request for authorization of absences

i. Nicholas Persky, July 7th, 2014

Commissioner Persky shared that this was his first absence during his three year tenure on the commission. He was in Montana with his family and was not able to attend this meeting. There was no public comment. Commissioner Cardenas, seconded by Commissioner Joyce Wu made a motion to authorize Commissioner Persky’s absence of July 7th, 2014. This motion was approved by acclamation.

ii. Jina Bae, July 7th, 2014

Commissioner Bae was in Nicaragua on a service trip with her church. She was not able to attend the meeting. There was no public comment. Commissioner Marshall-Fricker seconded by Commissioner Landrum made a motion to authorize Commissioner Bae’s absence of July 7th, 2014. This motion was approved by acclamation.

iii. Sophie Edelhart, July 7th, 2014

Commissioner Edelhart was in Cornell on the East Coast participating in a youth civics engagement course. She was not able to attend the meeting. There was no public comment. Commissioner Bernick, seconded by Commissioner Kong made a motion to authorize Commissioner Edelhart’s absence of July 7th, 2014. This motion was approved by acclamation.

iv. Joyce Wu, July 7th, 2014

Commissioner Joyce Wu was in Washington D.C. participating in an API youth politics program. She was not able to attend this meeting. There was no public comment. Commissioner Sicairos seconded by Commissioner Yu made a motion to authorize Commissioner Joyce Wu’s absence of July 7th, 2014. This motion was approved by acclamation.

9. Announcements (This Includes Community Events)

Commissioner Landrum shared she was still visiting youth organizations for the Youth Empowerment Fund programs.

10. Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 6:35 p.m.