San Francisco Youth Commission
Housing, Environment & City Services
Minutes
Thursday, September 17, 2015
5:00-7:00 PM
City Hall, Room 345
1. Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Pl.
San Francisco, CA 94102

There will be public comment on each item.

Members: Giovanna Soto, Erica Kong, Lily Marshall-Fricker, Jarrett Mao and Cris Plunkett

1. Call to Order and Roll Call

Acting Chair Mao called the meeting to order at 5:06 pm. Commissioners present: Erica Kong, Lily Marshall-Fricker, Jarrett Mao. Commissioners Plunkett and Soto arrived late. Staff present: Allen Lu & Monica Guzman. There was quorum.

There was no public comment.

2. Approval of Agenda (Action Item)

Commissioner Kong, seconded by Commissioner Mao, moved to approve the agenda. There was no public comment. The motion was approved by acclamation.

3. Approval of Minutes (Action Item)

 

A. June 18, 2015
(Document A)

Commissioner Kong, seconded by Commissioner Marshall-Fricker, moved to approve the minutes. There was no public comment. The motion was approved by acclamation.

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

Members of the Young Women’s Freedom Center (Previously Young Women’s Development Center) introduced themselves, as did the commissioners. They shared their interest in working on the issue of housing and affordability.

There was no additional public comment.

5. Legislation Referred from the Board of Supervisors (All Items to Follow Discussion and Possible Action)

There was none.

6. Business (All Items to Follow Discussion and Possible Action)

A. Committee Report 2012-13, 2013-14, 2014-15
Presenters: Eric Wu and Rosa Chen

Eric Wu and Rosa Chen served as chairman and chairwoman in the two previous years, respectively. They shared with the committee the work and approach their committees took. Eric talked about receiving presentations from the Mayor’s Office of Housing on the TAY housing goal of 400 units his first year, and writing a resolution to urge the city to meet that goal. The committee also worked on urging the city to implement the City’s Administrative Code 12N. During his second year (2013-14), the committee researched more on the Ellis Act, a loophole for landowners to pull out of the market, flip their property into a Tenancy in Common (TIC), then convert it into a condo to sell for big profits. He mentioned that the Youth Commission provided comment and recommendation on a legislation on TIC’s that came out of Supervisor Farrell’s office. Now, landlords are evicting tenants more frequently on the basis of petty violations, nuisances and breaches of leases (carrying a bike through the hallway, or hanging clothes to dry). He shared that evictions have increased 80% since 2012. He asked the committee to look into the new Evictions 2.0 legislation that just passed through Land Use.

Rosa Chen then shared how her committee followed up on the work from the previous years when Eric was on the committee. They received a presentation and provided feedback on the TAY Housing Survey from Harder + Company (H+C) and the Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH). Larkin Street Youth Services also approached the committee about spreading awareness of the homeless youth situation in the city. Together, they wrote a resolution titled “Declaring 2015 the Year of Homeless Youth.” This resolution is currently sitting in Supervisor Kim’s office, and the supervisor will bring it to the full board. The committee also learned more from Supervisor Kim, SFMTA, and others about the Vision Zero, the city’s initiative to reduce pedestrian collisions to zero by 2020. Lastly, the committee also worked on the researching equity of the city’s parks. This came about after the Mission Playground Incident and the committee was looking into access, safety, and staffing across all parks.

Commissioner Plunkett asked if Eric and Rosa had any advice to give to the commissioners. Eric recommended that they read news articles on housing legislation, Eviction 2.0, and Moratorium. He uses Hootline and SF Usual Suspects. Rosa shared that the commissioners should get to know the community they will be working with.

Members of the public asked for more information regarding the Key to the City Youth Town Hall which staff provided. A discussion on the Mayor’s Housing Blueprint of 30,000 Affordable Housing units was discussed. Eric shared that the city considers something affordable to be 150% AMI, which is high for say a TAY homeless youth. A TAY homeless youth lives closer to 30% AMI.

There was no additional public comment.

B. Committee Brainstorm Session

The committee held a brainstorm session to draft questions they would like the staff to help them learn more about this year. The topics include Housing Services, Public Transportation, Park Equity, SFUSD homelessness, Community Collaborations with CBO’s on housing issues.

There was no public comment.

C. Committee Elections

Commissioner Soto nominated Commissioner Soto, seconded by Commissioner Plunkett, for chair. Commissioner Kong nominated Commissioner Mao, seconded by Commissioner Mao for chair. Commissioners shared their reasons for wanting to serve as chair. Commissioner Soto was elected Chairwoman.

Commissioner Kong nominated Commissioner Kong, seconded by Commissioner Mao, for vice chair. Commissioner Plunkett nominated Commissioner Plunkett, seconded by Commissioner Mao, for vice chair. Commissioner Mao nominated Commissioner Mao, seconded by Commissioner Marshall Fricker, for vice chair. Commissioners shared their reasons for wanting to serve as vice chair. Commissioner Kong was elected Vice Chairwoman.

There was no public comment.

7. Executive Committee Report

Commissioner Plunkett shared with the committee that members of the EC will be meeting one on one to check in with all of the commissioners.

There was no public comment.

8. Staff Report

A. Review Meeting Schedule and YC Calendar

Mr. Lu asked commissioners if they were fine with the schedule. The committee asked if the meeting could be moved and started at 5:15pm.

Commissioner Plunkett shared that he would not be able to make the October 1st meeting. Commissioner Soto shared that she would not be able to make the December 3rd meeting.

B. Programmatic Updates

Mr. Lu shared of a development opportunity at the SF Public Library with 14 Black Poppies. Commissioner Plunkett shared his interest.

There was no public comment.

7. Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 7:06 pm.