San Francisco Youth Commission
Minutes
Monday, February 2, 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 5:16 pm. Commissioners Listana had been excused from the meeting. Commissioner Berliner was absent. Commissioner Cardenas arrived at 5:21pm. All other commissioners were present. Staff present: Allen Lu, Adele Failes-Carpenter. There was quorum.

Commissioner Zheng, seconded by Commissioner Chen, motioned to authorize Commissioner Edelhart’s absence request for February 17th Full YC Meeting. There was no public comment. The motion passed by acclamation.

There was no additional public comment.

2. Approval of Agenda (Action Item)

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

3. Approval of Minutes (Action Item)

A. January 5, 2015
(Document A)

B. January 17, 2015
(Document B)

C. January 18, 2015
(Document C)



Commissioner Zheng, seconded by Commissioner Edelhart, moved to approve the meeting minutes of January 5th, 17th, and 18th of 2015. There was no public comment. The motion was approved by acclamation.

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

There was no public comment.

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

A. 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 D and E)

Damien Raffa, member of the SF Children and Nature Forum, provided the context for how the COBR was created. Kids and children used to spend a lot more time outdoors back when humans did not have electricity, lived in villages and huts, etc. Children today are not spending as much time outdoors as they once did. To help the Youth Commission to understand the spirit of the resolution, he showed the “No Walls” video featuring youth.

SF’s COBR came together through a crowd-sourcing effort. Some classrooms in the school district were surveyed. Endorsements from the Recreation and Park Department, Board of Supervisors, and other agencies were gathered. Zoe Burton read the resolution that was endorsed by the Board of Supervisors. The 2013-14 Youth Commission also endorsed the Children’s Outdoor Bill of Rights. After the inauguration event in October, COBR supporters are looking to implement the bill so that youth can experience “these rights” many times as they grow into youth-hood.

Commissioner Avalos asked for clarification about how children are defined. Mr. Damien responded that children are toddlers to 8th grade students.

Bob Palacio, Superintendent of Neighborhood Services of the Recreation and Park Department, gave a presentation on the department’s Summer Camps, Recreation Programs, Special Events, Scholarships, their role in violence prevention, summer jobs, and the 220+ parks in San Francisco they maintain.

The department has the capacity to offer 16,000 slots for youth over the summer in their programs. $800K scholarships were awarded this past summer and $1.5 million were awarded annually made up of 50%, 75%, and 100% scholarships. RPD also plays a significant role in violence prevention strategies including late night basketball, Camp Mather outdoor experience, SFPD & Park Patrol, and youth leadership programs. Spring Registration this year is March 7th and Summer Camp Registration is March 21st. Mr. Palacio finally invited Adele Failes-Carpenter and the Youth Commissioners to a trip to Camp Mathers in May.

Commissioner Chen inquired about lighting at parks since youth get out of school at 4pm. Mr. Palacio responded that the lights at Mission Playground will be on until 10pm and on Sunday too. Lighting is a tricky issue because having too many lights would result in the park never closing and people always there, and if there are not enough lights, it can pose as a safety issue.

Commissioner Bernick inquired about the closure of Candlestick Park. Mr. Palacio shared that it was opened in 1962 and ran its time and usefulness.

Commissioner Davis inquired about the number of free programs that exist for youth and children in the city. Mr. Palacio responded that he does not know at the moment, but will be able to get it for the commissioner.

Commissioner Avalos asked about the impact of RPD’s reform changes had on youth services, staff, etc. Mr. Palacio shared that the services and delivery of programs prior to 4.5 years ago were archaic. There were layoffs as a result, and the department had a choice of redoing how to do RPD or let the entire department fall. They decided to do something new, and has resulted to today’s over 440 programs, over 50K applicants, more youth participants than it ever has, and is looked at as a leader by other RPD departments across the nation.

Commissioner Wu asked if these programs are geared towards low income families. Mr. Palacio responded that these programs are free if one lived in an affordable housing unit, section 8, received Medicaid, or received subsidized school lunches. Those who have a means would pay. The department refers to the guidance of the Recreation and Park Council to shape programs. Commissioner Wu followed up with a question about the number of people served and if there was a report about these programs. Mr. Palacio responded that they report annually, and that 98% of the slots were filled up last summer and 76% were filled up throughout the year.

Commissioner Edelhart asked which violence prevention program is for the summer and which is during the school year. Mr. Palacio sees all of the programs as a component of violence prevention because anytime RPD offers alternative options for youth from the streets, it is violence prevention. The more intensive violence prevention programs occur during the summer because city data shows that this is the period when violence happens most.

Commissioner Avalos inquired about the impact of the Language Access Ordinance on RPD. Mr. Palacio responded that RPD passed last year and hope to get a high grade this year as well. They are also hoping to get the summer brochures printed in Spanish and Chinese in addition to English. Since more people are using technology today compared to five years ago, RPD also wonders if physical brochures are the best method.

Commissioner David mentioned that one public commenter inquired about the meaning behind the right “Sleep under the stars.” With the city lights and pollution, kids can’t really see the stars. City kids are more likely to be disconnected from nature, and it is the city’s responsibility to provide children the opportunities to do so, and it is up to the kids and children to take that opportunity.

Chair Li opened the floor for public comment. Gio Soto who’s brother was a part of the Mission Playground Advocates, shared that they won the free play, a sign in Spanish, and lights. Other things they want are more park staff at parks, more bilingual signs, and more play time at all parks. She also wants more safety so kids can feel safe.

Commissioner Bernick shared that she would like to broaden the COBR to youth and TAY.

Commissioner Davis shared how the rights are very vague and needs to be a bit more descriptive and needs more information for children on how they can experience each right. She also wanted a definition of “Sleep under the stars.”

Commissioner Zheng added to the previous comment, highlighting that a member of the public (from Larkin Street) had asked about the same point of, “Sleeping under the stars.”

Chair Li asked her colleagues about their thoughts on the implementation of the COBR.

Commissioner Joyce Wu suggested that a fact sheet with definitions can be provided.

Commissioner Avalos added to the comment, suggesting that there be 3-5 sentences explaining each point on the COBR.

Commissioner Bernick brought up the dangers of splashing in Ocean Beach.

Commissioner Joyce Wu, seconded by Commissioner David motioned to include a fact sheet with the COBR. Specific line items can be added in the resolution can describe this fact sheet.

Commissioner Davis shared her confusion about the right to “Harvest fruits and vegetables.” Would RPD provide the seeds and vegetables for children to harvest/plant? Kimberly Key from the Director of Volunteer Programs clarified that supporters of the COBR comprises of a steering committee made up of many agencies mentioned on the back of flyers. She mentioned a few programs and curriculums that are examples of this point and invited commissioners to join the meeting on the 12th and/or the SFCAN steering committee.

Commissioner Avalos shared his interpretation that the intention of the COBR just legitimizes the actions and programs that currently already serve youth. Mr. Raffa confirmed Commissioner Avalos’s interpretation, that RPD is the biggest provider of these experiences, and the other agencies that are involved in delivering these rights to youth. He also shared that there could also potentially be a Youth Outdoor Bill of Rights and could stem from this Commission. Lastly, he added that a vendor was recently awarded 10K to create a web-based platform where people can click on any of the points on the COBR and points on a map will be displayed as opportunities to experience that in the San Francisco.

Chair Li asked for clarification about staffing. Mr. Palacio shared that the department has a budget of $8.5 million for the parks of the city. The department tries to work with specific communities and figure out what they want and which are essential, and what are service-specific programs. He said that they do our best to allocate resources appropriately and equally across neighborhoods in the city. A lot of times, it depends on what resources are in that community.

Chair Li asked for more information about the different neighborhood councils. Mr. Palacio shared that there is one at each of RPD’s multipurpose recreation center (Hamilton, Upper Noe, Minnie and Lovie Ward). They try to have a parent, a youth in that program, someone from a dogwalking community so that there is a diverse group and are a voice for a larger crowd.

Commissioner Edelhart shared that she loved the document and formally recommended that a heavy stress be put in the implementation around how safety in the city would hinder these experiences. She urges that the steering committee look into things that kids may not feel safe doing such as riding bikes and engaging with urban wild life.

Commissioner Davis mentioned the importance of supervision in these parks and ensuring that there is adequate park staff to interact with the community. Commissioner Marshall-Fricker added that this would be a budget issue.

Commission Zheng asked about the addition of staff for RPD and where cuts would have to come from. Mr. Palacio shared that financially, the department is better off now than it has ever been with the good economy, and the department is looking into adding more staff. One thing they’ve looked at in regards to safety is having park monitors who would be a visible presence.

Commissioner Avalos, seconded by Commissioner Bernick, motioned to support the Children’s Outdoor Bill of Rights. The motion passed by acclamation.

Commissioner Joyce Wu, seconded by Noah David, motioned to include an accompanying fact sheet to the Children’s Outdoor Bill of Rights that provides a more descriptive explanation of each of the rights. There was no public comment. The motion passed with 12 ayes.

There was no additional public comment.

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

A. Motion 1415-AL-05 Support for BOS File No. 150038 [Urging the California State Legislature to Amend State Law for Youth Fare Evasion]
Sponsor: Commissioner Luis Avalos
Presenter: Peter Lauterborn, Legislative Aide to Supervisor Eric Mar
(Documents H and I)

This item was called out of order to accommodate the presenter.

Mr. Lauterborn, Legislative Aide to Supervisor Mar, introduced himself and gave a context for the resolution. As state law currently stands, an adult who gets a ticket for not having a proof of payment must go to the SFMTA to get the fee processed administratively. However, a young person under the same circumstance would have to go to court. There were many reasons for this, including one that claimed that youth should get caught earlier in the criminal system than getting caught later for doing something bigger later on. This is a very ageist perspective.

The SFMTA is supportive of this resolution and Supervisor Mar wanted to reach out to the Youth Commission to hear the youth perspective since this impacts young people.

Commissioner Avalos thanked Mr. Lauterborn for presenting and noted that the argument “Get them while they’re young” is also a very case by case situation. In this case, the argument does not work and is unfair.

Commissioner Bernick shared her story about how fearful she felt getting pulled aside by SFMTA enforcement.

Commissioner David remarked that a $200 fare is ridiculous. Mr. Lauterborn concurred.

Commissioner Davis asked for clarification in regards to youth who get caught without their clipper cards. Mr. Lauterborn explained that anytime a young person is caught without a proof of payment, they would need to go through the courts. This resolution urges the state to allow the SFMTA to deal with such situations instead of the courts.

Ms. Adele Failes-Carpenter inquired about authors of this resolution at the state level and about data from SFMTA on youth evasions. Mr. Lauterborn shared that he will have to check with the SFMTA.

Commissioner Avalos reads the motion of support into record. Commissioner Avalos, seconded by Commissioner Edelhart, motioned to support the resolution. This was approved by acclamation.

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

A. Presentation on 14 Black Poppies #WhereDoYouBelong Project
Presenters: Jason Wyman, Mosiah Concha, Izza Anwar, and Trayvon Smith of 14 Black Poppies

This item was called out of order to accommodate the presenters.

Mr. Wyman introduced himself and the group. He shared the context for the #WhereDoYouBelong project. Over the summer, they did single shot interviews and went to a variety of events held by community organizations such as the Anti-Eviction Mapping project. They also did a show at an art house and had an art installation at the Main Library. The group believes that the question of belonging has real civic implications.

Ms. Anwar talked about the large April 11th even they are planning from 11am-3pm. This will be an event for people of all ages, backgrounds, sexualities; they want a lot of diversity at this event. There will be interactive art stations, with storytellers and performances. One of the interactive stations will be an interview booth. From the interviews, they plan to create media visuals with voice-overs. She invited the Youth Commission to offer a question that will be asked alongside “Where do you belong?”

Mr. Concha is taking the lead on doing the film. He shared the process of his last project that will be included in the overall film, with the concept of a transition from Not Belonging to Belonging. He then provided dates and times in which he will be filming and asked for Youth Commission participation.

Commissioner Avalos asked about the type of policies the presenters plan to propose from the videos. The presenters responded that this an opportunity for them to use art and media to help the Youth Commission collect responses and even use these recorded responses for public comment at hearings in the future.

Mr. Smith asked the commissioner which aspects of this project they are most interested in. Commissioner Avalos shared this curiosity as to how folks will respond to these questions. Commissioner Bernick is impressed by the outreach the group has been doing. Commissioner Joyce Wu wonder which policies hinder folks from belonging in specific places. Commissioner Avalos wondered if people’s responses can be put into categories.

Commissioner Bernick asked how this whole project began. Mr. Wyman gave a brief context about the #WhereDoYouBelong project.

All committee chairs shared their interest in helping design the question. Other commissioners include Commissioners David, Edelhart, Li, Davis, Guo, and Jillian Wu. Commissioners Edelhart, Avalos and Bernick shared their interest to act.

There was no public comment.


B. Presentation on Young Upstander Community Engagement and Public Education Campaign
Presenters: Stephanie Nguyen, Fiscal & Policy Analyst, Department on the Status of Women; Sarah Maya De Guzman, PAAWBAC Public Policy Fellow

Ms. Nguyen and De Guzman talked about how DSW is putting on a public education campaign against teen dating violence, bullying, and human trafficking. They plan to partner with corporations for funding, and work with non-profits who can help provide/facilitate activities and workshops at a generator event. In these workshops, students will be given the tools and fact sheets on current legislation related to the three issue topics above. Currently, they are doing outreach to see who would be interested in helping gather/put together a curriculum. (They also plan to reach out to the SAC.)

Through the generator event they plan to hold where these workshops/activities take place, youth will come up with ideas and vote on which they find most effective, possible, and actionable. Then DSW will work with the youth to come up with a proposal to tech companies, or other folks who can help make these ideas a reality. They also hope to identify some youth ambassadors to raise awareness on DSW’s work on gender-based issues. They hope to receive feedback about how to outreach to youth, get a sense of who is interested in getting involved in the generator event and follow-up, open the opportunity to become a youth ambassador, and see if anyone is interested in giving feedback to the curriculum.

Commissioner Marshall Fricker inquired about the location of the conference. The location is still to be determined.

Commission Joyce Wu inquired about the youth the presenters are targeting. For now, it will just be the City and County of San Francisco.

Commissioner Edelhart asked for clarification about the goals and what the presenters want to get out of the event. The presenters hope that this can be an educational event as well as an opportunity for youth to identify actionable projects.

Commissioner Joyce Wu shared the work of a similar organization, GURIA based out of India and invited to presenters to check them out.

Commissioners Chen, Edelhart, Li, Davis, Joyce Wu, Jillian Wu, and Guo were interested in following up.

There was no public comment.

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

B. BOS File No. 141149-2 [Administrative Code – Language Access for Departments]
Sponsor: Supervisor Katy Tang
(Documents F and G)

This item was called out of order to accommodate previous presenters.

Commissioner Avalos outlined the substituted amendments to the Language Access Ordinance first presented to the Youth Commission on January 5th.

Commissioner Edelhart, seconded by Commissioner David, motioned to attach comments from January 5th to tonight’s legislation referred. There was no public comment. This was approved by acclamation.

Commissioner Avalos, seconded by Commissioner Marshall-Fricker, motioned to support the item. There was no public comment. This was approved by acclamation.

There was no public comment.

9. Committee Reports (Discussion Only)

A. Executive Committee

Commissioner Edelhart encouraged the other committees to continue the great work. There was no public comment.

B. Housing, Environment, and City Services Committee

Commissioner Chen talked about the committee’s preparation for the presentation on the COBR, the review of the 400 TAY housing units goal, and work with Larkin Street.

There was no public comment.


C. Immigration and Employment Committee
Commissioner Joyce Wu shared that the committee received a presentation on the 2011 Immigration Youth Summit, followed up on DACA, finalized the ELL/ESL survey, and prepared a presentation for a meeting with community liaisons.

There was no public comment.


D. Youth Justice Committee

Commissioner Cardenas shared that committee members will be meeting with Chief Nance the following week regarding access to the recreational yard, that Commissioners Berliner and Wu will be meeting with CPS advocates, and additional upcoming meetings with Assistant Superintendent Truitt and folks who worked on police training videos.

There was no public comment.


E. Youth Advisory Council

Commissioner Jillian Wu shared that they reviewed the Children’s Fund and the date for the next meeting.

There was no public comment.

10. Staff Report (Discussion Only)

Ms. Failes Carpenter shared of an upcoming meeting with Ellen Schaffer on the anti-abortion ads on Market, a meeting to Lower the Voting Age, the DSW event on February 11th for their Teen Poster Awards contest (where Commissioners Cardenas and Joyce Wu volunteered to speak), the next Full Commission Meeting on Tuesday 2/17, and outreach for the hearing in March on the COBR.

Mr. Lu shared the Mayor’s Teacher and Principal of the Year awards, the D6 Youth Forum hosted by Commissioner Listana, Youth Advocacy Day follow-up, and the Summer Resource Fair.

There was no public comment.

11. Announcements (This Includes Community Events)

Commissioner Zheng invited the commission to his performance on Hamlet. Commissioner Davis invited the commission to an art night hosted by University High School. There was no public comment.

12. Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 7:58 pm.