San Francisco Youth Commission
Youth Civic Engagement Committee
Minutes
Thursday, September 24, 2015
4:30-6:30 PM
City Hall, Room 345
1. Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Pl.
San Francisco, CA 94102

There will be public comment on each item.

Members: Jillian Wu, Noah David, Anna Bernick, Anna He

1. Call to Order and Roll Call

The meeting was called to order at 4:33 pm. Commissioners present: Jillian Wu, Noah David, Anna Bernick, Anna He. Staff present: Adele Failes-Carpenter & Allen Lu. There was quorum.

There was no public comment.

2. Approval of Agenda (Action Item)

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

There was no public comment.

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

Carshell Green, a member of the public, introduced herself and shared that she has submitted an application for the Youth Empowerment Academy. John La, a member of the public, also introduced himself to the committee. Youth Commissioners Avalos and Plunkett also joined the committee meeting.

There was no additional public comment.

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

A. Review of past YC work on civic engagement and voting rights

Ms. Failes-Carpenter distributed an excerpt from the Budget and Policy Priorities on “Priority 1: Lower San Francisco’s Legal Voting Age to Sixteen Years of Age.” Commissioners read the excerpt out loud.

Commissioner Wu provided updates since the writing of the priority in April: presentation on June 8th to the Board of Supervisors’ Rules Committee, the amendment made to bring the item up on the November 2016 Ballot, learning about the largest neighborhoods with the greatest number of families under 18 was in the Bayview and Visitacion Valley, and learning about the fact that 1/3 students in SFUSD have at least on immigrant parent.

Mr. Lu and commissioners who were present at the Young Voters Forum in 2014 shared about the event. Ms. Failes-Carpenter added that some folks in the city were wondering if there will be another forum for 2015. Ms. Failes-Carpenter also talked about YouthVote and the survey Peer Resources will be putting out to SFUSD students.


B. Updates on student engagement efforts for 2015-16 term
Presenter: Anna He

Commissioner He shared the context behind the Youth Empowerment Academy and the grant application for funding from the Youth Empowerment Fund. Three leadership opportunities will be made available for youth to participate. Aspects of the Academy will include youth captains at schools, a youth speaker bureau, an online toolkit, a poster and social media competition, youth lobby days and events, and more.

The committee agreed to hold itself accountable to the work of developing a toolkit, supporting captains at schools, and hosting trainings for youth across the city. Commissioner He volunteered to work on plotting the timeline onto the committee year/schedule. Staff will help schedule the trainings on Voting Rights History.

The committee then recapped their meeting with Assemblyman David Chiu, and prepared for their meeting with Senator Leno.

C. Discuss presentation to SAC in October

Commissioners decided that Commissioners He and Wu will present to the SAC on Wednesday October 4th.

Other presentations with T4SJ, Peer Resources Classrooms at Galileo, and outreach opportunities were also discussed.

D. Brainstorm and Discussion of committee member goals for term

Goals that were generated included development of the toolkit, working with student delegates to write a resolution, more opportunities to facilitate meetings, debate and press training, understanding legislative process/types of policies, increase youth outreach and involvement in Vote16SF, and discussion on holding a Youth Voters Forum 2015.

E. Election of Committee Chair

Commissioner David, seconded by Commissioner He, nominated Commissioner David to serve as committee chair. Commissioner Bernick, seconded by Commissioner He, nominated Commissioner Bernick to serve as Committee Chair. Three out of four votes went to Commissioner Bernick, who was elected committee chair.

There was no public comment.

F. Election of Committee Vice Chair

Commissioner David, seconded by Commissioner He, nominated Commissioner David to serve as committee vice chair. Commissioner Bernick, seconded by Commissioner Wu, nominated Commissioner He to serve as committee vice chair. Three out of four votes went to Commissioner David, who was elected committee vice chair.

Members of the public spoke of the benefits of distribution of power and responsibilities among Youth Commissioners. There was no additional public comment.

5. Staff Report

Staff asked commissioners to share with others upcoming information sessions. The committee also discussed committee meeting dates. The committee requested that meetings be held from 5-7pm.

There was no public comment.

6. Executive Committee Report

Commissioner He reminded everyone to look out for 1-1 check ins with EC members.

There was no public comment.

8. Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 6:35 pm.