San Francisco Youth Commission
Minutes
Monday, January 5, 2015
5:15-8:00pm
City Hall, Room 416
1. Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Pl.
San Francisco, CA 94102

There will be public comment on each item.

Jillian Wu, Lily Marshall-Fricker, Rosa Chen, Emily Guo, Luis Avalos Nuñez, Precious Listana, Joyce Wu, Noah David, Alex Berliner, E’mani Davis, Joshua Cardenas, Michel Li, Anna Bernick, Sophie Edelhart, David Zheng

1. Call to Order and Roll Call for Attendance

The meeting was called to order at 5:17 pm. Commissioner Guo had been excused from the meeting. All other commissioners were present. Staff present: Allen Lu, Adele Failes-Carpenter. There was quorum.

There was no public coment.

*This item was opened again after item number 11 and the following actions were taken:

Commissioner Zheng, seconded by Commissioner David, motioned to authorize his own absence request for Saturday, January 17th meeting, because he will be late. There was no public comment. The motion passed by acclamation.

Commissioner Davis, seconded by Commissioner Avalos, motioned to authorize her own absence request for Sunday, January 18th meeting. There was no public comment. The motion passed by acclamation.

2. Approval of Agenda (Action Item)

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

3. Approval of Minutes (Action Item)

A. December 15, 2014
(Document A)

Commissioner Bernick, seconded by Commissioner Jillian Wu, moved to approve the last meeting’s minutes. There was no public comment. The motion was approved by acclamation.

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

Thomas Simpson, Executive and Artistic Director of AfroSolo, thanked the Youth Commission for their work. He provided an update on this year’s annual event with AfroSolo and shared reports he is working on around juvenile justice and racial justice. He has some recommendations he would like to share with the Youth Justice Committee, including the implementation of a protocol to respond to tragedies similar to responses to natural disasters.

Aram Denian, member of the Larkin Street Youth Advisory Board, commented that he looked forward to working with the Youth Commission and the Housing, Environment, and City Services Committee on a resolution to make 2015 the Year of Homeless Youth.

There were no additional public comments.

5. Consent Calendar (Action Item)

All items hereunder constitute a Consent Calendar. There will be no separate discussion of these items unless a Commissioner so requests. In that event, the item will be removed from the Consent Calendar and considered as a separate item immediately following the vote on the rest of the items.
A. Approval of the Immigration and Employment Committee’s December 18, 2014 Referral Response to Board of Supervisors File No. 141195 [Hearing - Impact of Minimum Wage Increase on Small Businesses and City-Funded Nonprofits]
(Documents B and C)

Commissioner Avalos Nunez, seconded by Commissioner Edelhart, motioned to approve the Immigration and Employment Committee’s December 18, 2014 Referral Response to Board of Supervisors, File No. 141195. This motion was passed by acclamation.

There was no public comment.

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

A. [BOS File No. 141149] Administrative Code- Language Access Requirements for Departments
Sponsor and Presenter: Dyanna Quizon, Legislative Aide to Supervisor Katy Tang
(Documents D and E)

Ms. Quizon shared that in 2001, the Board of Supervisors passed the Equal Access to Services Ordinance that required major city departments to provide translation services. In 2009, significant changes were made to the ordinance and it was renamed the Language Access Ordinance. The city, through its commitment to providing equal access for its diverse residents, has made significant progress since. Now, Supervisor Tang wanted to revisit any gaps in its consistency, quality, and budgeting.

Supervisor Tang’s office asked the Budget and Legislative Analyst to report on how well city departments are doing to meet the Equal Access commitment to the city’s constituents; this report will be released later this week.

Ms. Quizon summarized the changes the legislation would bring: 1) Removal of the tiered 1 & 2 systems among city departments so that everyone would follow the same requirements, 2) that the Office of Civic Engagement and Immigrant Affairs be the central agency that receive public complaints, 3) streamline the reporting requirements departments have annually about their actions, 4) the translation of public signage, and 5) that OCEIA maintain a certified vendor pool of translation and interpretation services. Additional changes that will be introduced include website translations, departmental roles in complaints procedures, and the removal of departments to apply for exemption (as suggested by the Language Access Network).

Chair Li inquired about the capacity of OCEIA to undergo these changes proposed in the legislation. Ms. Quizon responded that OCEIA is a critical partner and has been considered throughout this whole process. The agency is currently under capacity with 4-6 translators for all the city departments, and it is the District 4 Office’s hope that more resources will go to OCEIA. Chair Li also inquired about its impact on youth services. Ms. Quizon responded that youth should know that they will be able to access these services as well, in addition to the great translation services SFUSD already provides.

Adele Carpenter, staff, inquired about the impact this will have on organizations that receive funding from DCYF. Ms. Quizon responded that many of these organizations provides these services, and says that the city should actually already have these services available for these organizations and their members/participants/clients. They shouldn’t have to come to the city with their own translation services.

Ms. Quizon expressed her gratitude for their office’s youth interns Jonathan and Jim for their help with the research behind this legislation.

Commissioner Cardenas expressed his strong support for this legislation because it expands access to people all across the city.

Commissioner Edelhart inquired about the languages that the city will provide and the threshold for a language to be translated. Ms. Quizon shared that languages include Chinese, Spanish, and Tagalog. But there are also many diverse languages; that is why there needs to be a vendor list. The proposed legislation says that this would apply to languages of which at least 10,000 residents speak.

Chair Li inquired if the 10,000 people are the number of city residents, or people served by city departments. Ms. Quizon said that she will have to double check and get back to the commission.

Commissioner Edelhart inquired about how services will be reported or measured. Ms. Quizon responded that it will be through OCEIA’s annual report.

Chair Li inquired about the process by which OCEIA certifies a language. Ms. Quizon did not know the exact process of certification, though departments have to note in their compliance report the number of people they service.

Commissioner Wu asked if the services included customer service or written services. There is interpretation (in person translation) and also translations of vital documents including applications, public safety notices, etc. Ms. Quizon provided the example of agendas.

Commissioner Avalos-Nunez inquired about any other languages that are approaching 10K. Ms. Quizon thinks that the next language with the most speakers is Russian.

Commissioner Edelhart inquired if there was a specific section in OCEIA’s annual report that addressed Youth Services. Ms. Quizon said no.

Commissioner Listana commended Supervisor Tang’s Office for introducing this and breaking down the tier system to provide more access to city residents.

Commissioner Cardenas, seconded by Commissioner Bernick, motioned to support the legislation. The motion was passed by acclamation. There was no public comment.

Commissioner Edelhart, seconded by Commissioner Avalos-Nunez, motioned that the Board of Supervisors ask OCEIA to include a specific section that shared data about services provided by youth-serving programs. This motion was passed by acclamation. There was no public comment.

B. [BOS File No. 141042] San Francisco Children’s Outdoor Bill of Rights - October 18, 2014
Sponsor: Supervisor Mark Farrell
Presenters: Catherine Stefani, Legislative Aide to Supervisor Mark Farrell; Bob Palacio Superintendent of Neighborhood Services, Recreation and Park Department; Zoe Burton, Youth Volunteer and Education Coordinator, Recreation and Park Department; Damien Raffa, Steering Committee, SF Children and Nature Forum
(Documents F and G)

Ms. Stefani introduced herself and apologized that this item will have to be continued to the February 2nd Full Commission meeting. She shared her eagerness to learn about what the Commissioners thoughts were on how to bring life to the legislation. She also briefly shared the importance parks, families, and children are to the District 2 Office.

Chair Li provided a brief contextual overview of the Youth Commission’s history with the Children’s Outdoor Bill of Rights: It was presented by the Recreation and Park Department to last term’s Youth Commission but it was not yet a piece of legislation. The Youth Commission supported the CBOR then, and requested that it was referred to the commission now that it was legislation introduced by Supervisor Farrell in the form of a resolution. Chair Li then opened up public comment.

Ms. Isabella Black, treasurer of the Larkin Street Youth Services’s Youth Advisory Board, asked for clarification about the right, “Sleep under the stars.” She wondered if this meant that she or anyone else can sleep under the stars, at a park, if they have nowhere else to go without being harassed or ticketed by the police. Chair Li invited Ms. Stefani up to address the question. Ms. Stefani thanked Ms. Black and expressed that comments like hers were reasons why we need to hear from everyone. “Sleeping under the stars” is very vague and Ms. Stefani did not know what that meant, but that it is something to be taken under consideration as the legislation moves forward.

Mr. Gabriel Medina, a San Francisco native and president of the SF Democratic Latino Club, summarized the efforts of the youth from Mission Playground. He thanked the Youth Commission for being the first body to hear this item. And then shared the demands of how the youth can have greater access to the parks, some of which are met and others were not: 1) Mission playground to have free play after 7pm, 2) Lighting on Sundays until 10am, and 3) A Bilingual Sign in the Mission Playground. There are also many safety concerns, and the concern for all the playgrounds, not just Mission playground.

Mr. Hugo Vargas, student at the Academy of Arts and Science (or SOTA) and born/raised in the Mission District, shared how the incident at Mission playground affected his point of view of how he saw the city. He saw situations where people don’t stand up for the community and how the community didn’t have a voice. The youth at Mission Playground did stand up and won the three requests Mr. Medina mentioned. However having this at Mission Playground is not enough, this needs to happen at all the parks. The main thing he is concerned with is safety for the children when they go to the park, and that children should not have to worry about anything when they go to the parks. He wants to see a better city, and the whole city to stand up as one and make their voices heard. He asked for support.

Mr. Hector Gomez, sophomore at Lincoln High School, highlighted the three demands that were given to them. However he says the youth need the other demands to meet safety and security issues at the park. He wants more security for youth at all parks.

Mr. Juan Galves, student at Abraham Lincoln High School, expressed his sadness about the incident at Mission Playground, which he sees as his second home. It was especially sad for him to think of youth going to the park, knowing that adults are going to take the park, and that they youth don’t know where to go. He talks of the lack of opportunities, especially at other parks without lights.

Edwin Lindo, a commissioner and member of the Latino Democratic Club, was also born and raised in the city. He shared that the incident at Mission Playground was the epitome of what was happening in San Francisco. People are telling others, “You don’t have the money to play here, or you don’t have the paper to play here.” Yet, the parents of these youth are the ones who have paid taxes to have these spaces and parks for everyone. He was also happy to hear the Language Access Ordinance being revisited so that it will help make services more accessible. He shared how people were asking for safety for a long time, and it took a viral video to bring these issues up. He urged for the commission’s support.

Chris Garcio shared how he saw the video through the World Star Hip Hop website. The incident reminded him of how his city had rented out baseball fields and now him and his friends don’t have a field to play at because they are all reserved. Decisions like these can lead to many outcomes people going to jail. He congratulated and commended the guys who came out to speak from Mission Playground, and hoped the city will support them.

Alex Howard, the Youth Advisory Board Coordinator at Larkin Street Youth Services, supports the idea of the Children Outdoor Bill of Rights. She talks about the significance and seriousness of Bill of Rights for they lend to the freedoms and protections of the people. She feels that the Children’s Bill of Rights, as it stands now, does not take into account what the children of the city need. She feels the youth and children should be able to voice what they want and need. She doesn’t think the CBOR addresses the needs of children and youth who are low income or are homeless who have nowhere else to go. She encourages the Recreation and Park department to give youth the opportunity to share how they want to be protected by the CBOR.

Ms. Isabella Black briefly returned to clarify what she said earlier. She has several friends, family, and acquaintances who do not have anywhere to go at night and need to go to a park to sleep, yet will get ticketed, jail, or fined by police officers. That was the reason why she wanted the right to “Sleep Under the Stars” to be clarified. They were just tired. She commended the guys who came out from Mission Playground.

Chair Li thanked everyone for coming out to the meeting and invited everyone back to the February 2, 2014 meeting when this item will be continued.

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

There were no presentations.

8. Youth Commission Business (All Items to Follow Discussion and Possible Action)

A. Resolution of Commendation 1415-RC-01—Resolution commending the Department of Public Health for its leadership in creating and implementing a training on Chapter 12N of the city’s administrative code, and recognizing the department’s commitment to providing excellent services for LGBTQQ youth
Sponsor: Commissioner Bernick
(Document H)

Commissioner Bernick read the resolution into the record. Chair Li asked representatives from the Department of Public Health to come up.

Amy Peterson, acting director at DPH’s primary care for children and youth, passed on a message from Michael Baxter. Michael is sorry he couldn’t be at the meeting, and for him, working with the Youth Commission the last few years has been a real honor. He has hope that 12N will continue and is confident that DPH will continue to work on it.

Lisa Reyes, program manager with DPH’s mental services, thanked the Youth Commission for the commendation. She expressed her pleasure working with the Youth Commissioners, Mia Tu Mutch, and the youth. All 9,000 employees of DPH must now watch the training on an annual basis. Also, grantees of $50,000 or more will also have to watch this training. She hopes that all city employees will one day be required to watch the training.

Commissioner Li opened up public comment.

Julia Arroyo, with the Center for Young Women’s Development, asked if the video was accessible to everyone. DPH staff will share the link with Ms. Arroyo.

Chris Garcio, Larkin Street YAB, asked if 12N addresses LGBT youth who are homeless. Adele Failes-Carpenter shared that the administrative code does address barriers disproportionately faced by LGBTQQ youth including youth of color, who are transgender, who are homeless, etc. She also commended the collaboration of the Youth Commission and the DPH in creating the video. She also hopes that it will be used by other cities. She thanked Ms. Reyes and Ms. Peterson both huge advocates of LGBTQQ youth.

Commissioner Cardenas, seconded by Commissioner Marshall-Fricker, motioned to support the resolution of commendation. There were no additional public comments. This was passed by acclamation.

The Youth Commission gave a certificate to Ms. Reyes and Ms. Peterson.

Commissioner Listana asked for clarification around who and how DPH tracks their employees in watching the training video. Ms. Reyes answered that all DPH staff will have to watch it along with the other annual training videos such as disaster emergency training, confidentiality training, etc. All employees will have to watch it, regardless of if they work directly with youth or not. They will have to be signed off.

B. [Second Reading] Resolution 1415-AL-04—Resolution urging the Mayor and Board of Supervisors to lower San Francisco’s legal voting age to sixteen in municipal and school district elections
Sponsor: Commissioner Cardenas
(Document I)

Commissioner Cardenas first shared that the SF Examiner reached out the Youth Commission, his District 11 (Supervisor Avalos’s) office, and expected something to come out in the paper the following day. He also shared Supervisor Eric Mar’s comment that he strongly supports expanding the voting rights to 16 year olds because it promotes civic engagement, and gives voice to youth who use the city services/government and have a right to their say. Supervisor Mar is committed to work locally and at the state to achieve this goal, and urged that the Youth Commission passes this resolution tonight.

Commissioner Cardenas shared the changes he’s made since the first draft and read the resolution into record.

Chair Li called for public comment. Michelle Kong, District 10 resident, commended Commissioner Cardenas and spoke of the Youth Commission’s role to bridge the gap between youth and government. She felt that this resolution was doing just that and expressed her support.

Commissioner Bernick, seconded by Commissioner Wu, motioned to approve the resolution. Commissioner Li asked staff to conduct a roll call vote; there were 13 ayes and 1 nay. The motion passed.

C. Resolution of Commendation 1415-RC-02—Resolution commending the San Francisco Police Department, the Office of Citizen Complaints, and community partners on the establishment of the DGO 7.04 officer training
Sponsors: Youth Justice committee
(Document J)

Commissioner Berliner shared that there will be a meeting on January 14th with the Police Commission where they will release a video on arresting parents. She read the resolution into record.

Commissioner Cardenas, seconded by Commissioner Berliner, motioned to amend the resolution by adding a whereas clause stating that “investigating the needs of and expanding support for children with incarcerated parents were among the Youth Commission’s 2013-14 Youth Commission policy priorities, and that there has been many supporting priorities that Youth Commission had. There was no public comment. The motion was passed by acclamation.

Commissioner Edelhart, seconded by Commissioner Listana, motioned to support the resolution. There was no public comment. The motion was passed by acclamation.

9. Committee Reports (Discussion Only)

A. Executive Committee

Commissioner Edelhart shared that there will be a special Executive Committee on Wednesday and updated folks about the Mid Year Retreat.

There was no public comment.

B. Housing, Environment, and City Services Committee

Chair Chen spoke about the committee’s discussion about the Children’s Outdoor Bill of Rights, work with Larkin Street, and Vision Zero.

There was no public comment.

C. Immigration and Employment Committee

Commissioner Joyce Wu spoke about the legislation referred to the committee regarding the impact of minimum wage on small businesses and non-profit organizations, follow-up work on the DACA resolution by reaching out to community organizations, and the survey with the Student Advisory Council.

There was no public comment.

D. Youth Justice Committee

Commissioner Berliner spoke about an upcoming meeting with Captain Gracie, the presentation of the resolution of commendation to the Police Commission on January 14th. Adele Failes-Carpenter shared that Project WHAT will be coming to their next regular meeting.

There was no public comment.

E. Youth Advisory Council

Commissioner Jillian Wu shared that there wasn’t a meeting and the next one would be on Thursday.

There was no public comment.

10. Staff Report (Discussion Only)

Ms. Carpenter gave some birthday shout outs, and spoke about the momentum around the resolution to lower the voting age. She also shared about Mid Year Retreat updates. Mr. Lu asked for Youth Commissioners’ support on upcoming tours with Inspire Girls and the Vietnamese Youth Development Center.

There was no public comment.

11. Announcements (This Includes Community Events)

Commissioner Edelhart shared that the Immigrant Rights Commission will be having another youth town hall on Ferguson this Thursday at 5:30pm.

There was no public comment.

*Commissioner Li reopened Item number 1. Notes are included in the respective section.

12. Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 7:18 pm.