San Francisco Youth Commission
Executive Committee
Minutes
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
5:00-7:00pm
City Hall, Room 345
1. Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Pl.
San Francisco, CA 94102

There will be public comment on each item.

Members: Nicholas Persky, Rachel Brodwin, Christine Huynh, Paul Monge-Rodriguez, Mia Shackelford

1. Call to Order and Roll Call

The meeting was called to order at 5:05pm. Commissioners present: Persky, Huynh, Monge-Rodriguez, Shackelford. Staff present: Yedidia.

2. Approval of Agenda (Action Item)

Commissioner Shackelford, seconded by Commissioner Huynh, moved to approve the agenda. This motion was approved unanimously by acclamation.

3. Approval of Minutes (Action Item)

 

A. Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Commissioner Huynh, seconded by Commissioner Monge-Rodriguez, moved to approve the minutes to the meeting of January 2, 2013. This motion was approved unanimously by acclamation.

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

There was none.

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

Commissioner Persky then chose to call item 5C out of order, given the fact that the presenter for that item was present and the committee wished to respect her time.

C. Presentation and request for support from New Door Ventures for the organization’s proposed expansion to another building near their current Mission District location
Presenter: Ciara Wade, Program Director, New Door Ventures

After being welcomed by Commissioner Persky, Ms. Wade thanked the committee for having her and explained that she has worked at the youth employment organization New Door Ventures, which itself is over 30 years old, for some 8 years. In the last 2 years, in particular, Ms. Wade has made a number of presentations to the Youth Commission’s Youth Employment Committee. Then, Ms. Wade provided a brief overview of New Door Venture, making reference to (and passing about) the organization’s 2011 annual report. Ms. Wade explained that New Door targets its services toward young people, largely transitional age youth between the ages of 16 and 21 years, who have high barriers to employment, especially those who have not completed their education and/or who have had contact with the justice system and challenges with maintaining stable housing. The organization operates two social enterprises plus an “Ally Program” that places New Door workers in businesses in the professions and/or high end services like fine dining. New Door has served some 1,000 young people over the course of the last decade, and Ms. Wade explained that she had come to the Youth Commission’s Executive Committee to request support in New Door’s effort to double the number of young people it can serve. After a lengthy capital campaign, the organization has secured a building, some 3 blocks from its current Mission District location, which would allow it to literally double the number of youth it can serve. Despite the fact that the building has been used as a commercial space for some 80 years, this building is still zoned for residential use, and thus New Door is seeking approval from the Planning Commission for a zoning variance to allow them to move into the new space. They have sought and gained support from District 9 Supervisor David Campos and host of nonprofit social service providers, and Ms. Wade asked if the Executive Committee would consider helping to deliver the support of the Youth Commission. Ms. Wade then fielded questions from Commissioners Shackelford and Monge-Rodriguez. It was decided that Commissioner Shackelford would draft a motion supporting New Door’s expansion and urging the Planning Commission to approve the necessary zoning changes and that this motion would be brought before the Youth Commission at its next full meeting of Monday, February 4. Ms. Wade thanked the commissioners for their time, and she was off.

A. Check in

Commissioners checked in by discussing their plans regarding the Superbowl.

B. Staff report

Youth Commission Director Mario Yedidia brought forward three items to the committee. First, he announced that a representative of the Baltimore Youth Commission had contacted San Francisco and asked if the San Francisco Youth Commission had any interest in placing a friendly wager on the outcome of the Superbowl, given the fact that both cities respective football teams were competing against one another in the big game this year. After some mirthful discussion, the committee decided to propose a wager that the commission of the loosing city to draft a resolution praising the virtues of the victorious city. Then, Yedidia reminded commissioners that there would be a conference call this Friday, February 1 at 5pm to help further plan the Bay Area Youth Commission Action Summit; Commissioner Huynh announced that she planned to participate in this call. Finally, Yedidia told commissioners that their colleague Ramon Gomez, who was appointed to the Youth Commission by the Mayor a few days after the current Youth Commission’s formal Swearing In ceremony in August 2012, would be ceremonially sworn in by the Mayor tomorrow, Thursday, January 31 at 10am on the Mayor’s Balcony in front of room 200 of City Hall. Commissioners expressed their delight at this, but none could attend.

D. Consideration of authorization of the following absences:

Monday, December 17, 2012
i. Commissioner Armstrong (*note – emailed request for authorization)
ii. Commissioner Warri (*note-emailed request for authorization)

Commissioner Monge-Rodriguez, seconded by Commissioner Huynh, moved to forward these absences to the full Youth Commission with recommendation to authorize them.

Saturday, January 12, 2013
i. Commissioner Monge-Rodriguez (*note-emailed before hand)
ii. Commissioner Tu Mutch (*notified staff before hand)
iii. Commissioner Warri

Commission Huynh, seconded by Commissioner Shackelford, moved to forward the absences of Commissioner Monge-Rodriguez and Commissioner Tu Mutch to the full Youth Commission with recommendation to authorize them.

Sunday, January 13, 2013
i. Commissioner Brodwin
ii. Commissioner Guzman-Ramos (notified staff)
iii. Commissioner Monge-Rodriguez (notified staff)
iv. Commissioner Taumoepeau
v. Commissioner Warri

Commissioner Shackelford, seconded by Commissioner Huynh, moved to forward the absences of Commissioner Brodwin, Guzman-Ramos, Monge-Rodriguez and Taumoepeau to the full Youth Commission with recommendation to authorize them.

E Approve the agenda for the February 4, 2013 full Youth Commission meeting.

Committee members agreed to an agenda including these substantive items (in the following order): comment and recommendation on the supplemental appropriation of $1.5 million for the school district proposed by the Mayor; readings of Youth Commission resolutions on the Housing Trust Fund’s relationship to housing for transitional age youth, Senate Bill 8 regarding higher education costs, local assistance to undocumented students in applying for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals status, the potential for a policy that would enable juvenile probation officers to be armed with weapons, and the potential for the Police Department to acquire stun guns; consideration of motions calling on the Board of Supervisors to have hearings on both the City’s implementation of Chapter 12N of the Administrative Code and the Police Department’s relative progress in implementing the three policy recommendations to which they agreed in April 2012 and urging the Planning Commission to approve New Door Venture’s attempt to acquire a new building; and the Youth Commission’s new Community Outreach and Civic Engagement Plan. Commissioner Monge-Rodriguez, seconded by Commissioner Huynh, moved to approve the agenda. This motion was approved unanimously by acclamation.

E. Officer updates

The commission’s legislative business having been largely covered in the creation of the agenda for the full Youth Commission meeting of February 4, Legislative Affairs Officer Commissioner Monge-Rodriguez made mention of the fact that the Youth Commission could play a legislative role in the upcoming attempt to reauthorize the Public Education Enrichment Fund (also known as Proposition H).

Commissioner Huynh walked her colleagues through a 4 page document she had recently created in collaboration with the Youth Commission’s newly hired Coordinator of Community Outreach and the Civic Engagement, which lays out a vision and practical workplan for the kinds of outreach and civic engagement that Ms. Carpenter and the entire commission can expect in the next 5 months of the Youth Commission’s existence.

F. Youth of the year award update

This item was tabled.

G. Bay area-wide YC summit

Youth Commission Coordinator of Youth Development and Administration Phimy Truong asked committee members to follow up with her if they have suggestions regarding potential keynote speakers and/or if they have a desire to develop a particular

6. Issue-Based Committee Reports (Discussion Only)

7. Executive Committee Report (Discussion Only)

8. Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 6:33pm.