San Francisco Youth Commission
Housing, Environment, & City Services
Minutes
Thursday, October 9, 2014
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: Anna Bernick, Rosa Chen, Noah David, Lily Marshall-Fricker, Precious Listana

1. Call to Order and Roll Call

Acting Chair Marshall-Fricker called the meeting to order at 5:03 pm. Commissioners present: Bernick, Chen, David, Marshall-Fricker. Commissioners absent: Listana. Staff present: Leah Lacroix (intern) and Allen Lu.

2. Approval of Agenda (Action Item)

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

3. Approval of Minutes (Action Item)

A. September 25, 2014
(Document A)

Commissioner David, seconded by Commissioner Bernick, moved to approve the September 25, 2014 minutes. There was no public comment. The motion was approved by acclamation.

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

Two members of the public introduced themselves as students from SF State. There was no additional public comment.

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

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

A. Updates from Commissioners

Commissioner David updated the committee on Mayor Lee’s Completed School Safety Projects to Reach Vision Zero. Discussions that came up included educating the youth about the rules of the road, learning about how the designs are meeting the needs of youth with disabilities, and SFMTA’s engagement with youth on road safety. Commissioners shared their interest in receiving a presentation on Vision Zero, possibly from Walk SF, the Safe Route to School Coalition, SFMTA, or Supervisor Kim’s office.

Commissioner Bernick updated the committee on the City’s work to provide Free WiFi to 32 public spaces in SF. The commissioners discussed how this would give youth more access to WiFi in public spaces to search the web or write reports, that youth will be spending time more outside of the house rather than inside the house in front of screens, and the possibility of more thefts in parks as people use their devices in public and ways to deter that (ads, presentations). The committee thought that receiving presentations from the Department of Park and Recreation or Department of Technology could be helpful.

Commissioner Marshall-Fricker updated the committee on Supervisor Farrell’s Children’s Outdoor Bill of Rights which is planned to be adopted on October 18th. The committee discussed that children being outdoor is a great thing and is a lot better than them being at home in front of a screen.

Lastly, the committee briefly discussed an article about the city’s focus shifting from providing housing (because it is so expensive) to just keeping homeless people alive with food and medication.

Members of the public shared that they liked that there was attention given to accessibility to the parks, how difficult it is to find housing as students in the city, how they liked Vision Zero and public safety, having an ad on the city’s WiFi page warning people to be careful when using their devices in public places, the Outdoor Bill of Rights and being in nature.

B. Review and Prioritize Committee goals

Commissioners David and Bernick shared their goals in ensuring all youth have a place to stay despite the city’s gentrification and family’s financial circumstances, providing parents support so that children are not cutting class, and the importance of water conservation. Ms. Lacroix then shared the list of goals made by the committee during the last week and highlighted overlaps around Vision Zero, housing, and water conservation. She also shared with the committee an upcoming policy from Supervisor Mar’s Office around Tobacco Use Reduction led by youth from the Youth Leadership Institute. Mr. Lu also shared with the committee a meeting with Larkin Street youth coordinators and how plans are being developed for an exchange between them and the committee at an upcoming meeting with a focus on Housing.

The committee agreed to have the next meeting be about Pedestrian Safety and the following on housing issues.

There was no public comment.

C. Elect Committee Chair

Commissioner David, seconded by Commissioner Marshall-Fricker, motioned to nominate Commissioner Chen as Chair.

Commissioner Bernick, seconded by Commissioner David, motioned to nominate Commissioner Bernick as Chair.

The nominees shared the reasons for accepting the nomination and the committee proceeded to voting. The voting came out to be a tie. Commissioner Bernick, seconded by Commissioner David motioned to table this item until next committee when there will be 5 committee members. The motion was approved by acclamation.

There was no public comment.

7. Staff Report

A. Programmatic Updates

Staff reiterated plans and objectives for the upcoming committee meetings. Staff also reminded commissioners about the Young Voters Forum happening Tuesday, October 14th. Commissioners Bernick and Chen shared their plans to attend.

There was no public comment.

8. Adjournment

The meeting adjourned at 6:25pm.