San Francisco Youth Commission
Housing, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Questioning, and Transitional Age Youth Issues Committee
Minutes
Monday, September 10th, 2012
5:00-7:00 p.m.
City Hall, Room 345
1. Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Pl.
San Francisco, CA 94102

There will be public comment on each item.

1. Call to Order and Roll Call

Acting chair Commissioner Mia Tu Mutch called the meeting to order at 5:05pm. Commissioners present: Alex Guzman-Ramos, Lily Marshall-Fricker, Vee Taumoepeau, Mia Tu Mutch, Eric Wu. Commissioner tardy: Vanessa Warri. Staff Present: Phimy Truong, Mario Yedidia.

2. Approval of Agenda (Action Item)

Commissioner Marshall-Fricker, seconded by Commissioner Guzman-Ramos, moved to approve the agenda. This motion was approved unanimously by acclamation.

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

There was none.

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

A. Check in

One-by-one, each commissioner and staff member took a few moments to share a “rose and a thorn” – that is, one positive and one challenging aspect of the week.

B. Review 11-12 Youth Commission work on housing, LGBTQ, and TAY issues

Commissioners Tu Mutch and Marshall-Fricker then led their colleagues through a review of the work the Youth Commission conducted last year regarding transitional age youth (TAY) issues, housing and its related social issues, and issues concerning lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) youth. The subsequent discussion yielded the following “issues of interest” for current committee members:

• Presentations from Mayor’s Office of Housing, SRO Collaborative, LGBT Housing Working Group*, CCDC
• Update from City staff regarding 16 recommendations from the 2006 Transitional Youth Task Force
• If the Housing Trust Fund is approved by voters in November, what should the Youth Commission push the City to spend the money on? (example: prioritize TAY housing development)
• Working against negative effects of sit/lie ordinance adopted in November 2011
• Bullying issues (presentation from Gay Straight Alliance)
• Pushing City departments and the Mayor’s Office to fully implement the training on LGBTQ youth sensitivity issues required of City staff and nonprofit contractors as per chapter 12N of the Administrative Code

C. Committee goals

A subsequent discussion of individual Commissioners’ interests produced the following list, which might be added to the “issues of interest” to this year’s committee goals:

• Focus on prioritizing services for the transgender (and especially transfem), TAY, and foster youth populations, especially with respect to employment
• Gentrification and its effects in displacing
• Non-LGBTQ youth being strong allies in advocating for LGBTQ youth
• Affordable housing for all – including and especially youth

Given these interests, committee members developed the following potential questions for the Mayor’s Office of Housing (MOH):

• What is the challenge in achieving the goal of producing 400 new units of housing for TAY by 2015?
• What do the units already in pre-development look like (e.g. mixed use, location, etc.)?
• If HTF passes, how can we make sure it’s spent on youth?
• What are the demographics of youth being served in TAY housing units?
• How many transitional beds/emergency beds are there for LGBTQ youth?
• Can we get a tour of some of the new TAY units?
• Why are single room occupancy (SRO) hotels where all of the tenants are long term classified as hotels?
• What is the relative safety/location/quality of new TAY units funded by the City?
• How often are City-funded affordable housing SRO units improved?
• How are affordable housing developments monitored for quality?
• How well are codes enforced for quality/safety/cleanliness in City-funded affordable housing units?
• What was the thought process behind the 2008 MOH TAY Housing Work Group plan (which included the goal of 400 new TAY units); what is MOH’s honest assessment of its relative success?

Committee members also agreed on doing the following “homework” before the next committee meeting:

• Developing up a goal regarding to her or his respective issues of interest that is specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time bound (i.e., a SMART goal)

D. Elect Committee Chair

After being nominated by Commissioner Taumoepeau, Commissioner Tu Mutch was unanimously elected Chair.

5. Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 6:58pm.