San Francisco Youth Commission
Minutes
Monday, June 1, 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 5:19 PM. Commissioners present: Jillian Wu, Lily Marshall-Fricker, Luis Avalos Nuñez, Joyce Wu, Noah David, Alex Berliner, Joshua Cardenas, Anna Bernick and Sophie Edelhart. There was quorum.

Commissioner Rosa Chen, Emily Guo, Precious Listana, E’mani Davis and Michel Li were noted absent. Commissioner David Zheng will be late.

There was no public comment.


Commissioner Joyce Wu, seconded by Commissioner Anna Bernick, motioned to authorize Commissioner Listana and Commissioner Li's absence request for Monday June 1st, 2015.

There was no public comment. The motion was approved by acclamation.

 

2. Approval of Agenda (Action Item)

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

3. Approval of Minutes (Action Item)

A. May 4, 2015
(Document A)


Commissioner Joyce Wu, seconded by Commissioner Jillian Wu, moved to approve the minutes. 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)

There was no legislation referred. There was no public comment.

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

A. Presentation and request for feedback on the new SF County Jail visiting policy for 16 and 17 year olds
Presenter: Sheriff Mirkarimi


Chair Edelhart gave some background on the sheriff's policy changes.  She stated that this was a priority of the Youth Justice committee. The sheriff was speaking on lowering the visiting age to 16 at the county jails. This is something that the YC has been working on with Project WHAT.

Sheriff Mirkarimi stated that a top priority of the sheriff’s department and of SF county jail is finding a way to keep families intact in the jail system. He then gave background on the state of SF County jails. SF has under crowded jails. Although there is capacity for 2450, the current jails hover under 1200 inmates. The SF recidivism rates are also dramatically declining. The SF county jail system is the only one that has an actual high school in it's juvenile detention center.  Youth who attend that school graduate with a high school diploma. The SF county jail system also has a birth justice department, that provides incarcerated pregnant women with rights that other county jails do not provide, such as maintaining contact with the babies, allow mother’s to give breast milk to their children and incorporating midwives and doulas in the birthing process.

Along these lines the SF county believes that there should be more contact between youth and their incarcerated parents. When the sheriff first came on board they extended visiting hours at county jails. The reasoning behind this importance in maintaining familial relationships is so that parents, youth and families will be able to reunite better once an inmate is released. The sheriff's office is now thinking of reducing the visiting age to 16 for an unaccompanied minor to visit a parent at the county.

Sheriff’s department has been working with One Family, Project WHAT and the Youth Commission.

Commissioner Berliner inquired as to what the criteria is for a youth visiting a parent at the county jail was. The Sheriff stated that usually they request a driver’s license however for a youth they would need a birth certificate or a passport if they don't have a driver's license. Commissioner Berliner then asked if school's would be able to provide youth with a copy of their birth certificate and if the youth could use that.  The Sheriff responded that it would be better if the student requested an official copy for the city.

Commissioner Edelhart inquired if contact visits with parents would still be allowed. The Sheriff responded that the visits would still be allowed and that these non-contact visits would be supplemental. He also mentioned that the Sheriff's office planning to do something regarding the contact visit rooms.  He stated that although they have an under crowded system, they do not have inviting and hospitable facilities. 

Commissioner Berliner asked how soon the policy will be implemented.  The Sheriff responded that this could go into effect as soon as 45-90 days from now.   She then asked when could youth start being notified of the policy change.  The Sheriff responded that youth can be notified once there is a press release and the policy is finalized.  Lastly, Commissioner Berliner asked if there would be any training for the sheriff’s department.  The Sheriff stated that there will be training.  He also stated that the current visitation system is electronic and they currently don’t recognize people under 18. This is noteworthy because there is no other counties in the United States that are doing this. The federal guidelines state that it is okay to lower to age 16, however this is in regard to a federal level not a county level.

Commissioner Edelhart had a follow up question regarding identification.  She wondered how undocumented youth would provide proof of identification if they were not born here and if they would be able to provide a school ID.  The sheriff said they would have to their attorneys what would be appropriate form of identification. He also stated that they have  no connection to ICE at the Sherriff's county so there shouldn’t be fear of ICE when visiting the county jail. However, he is unsure if the school ID would be sufficient.

Commissioner Luis Avalos Nunez stated that perhaps as an alternative to a student ID a foreign passport could work.  The Sheriff stated that a passport would be a better choice than a school ID since it is a legal document .


Commissioner Bernick inquired as to how long visitation meetings last and how often can they happen. The sheriff stated that visitation could be between 4-8 hours a week.

Staff Allen Lu asked the Sheriff if he could check in with the city attorney to see if a copy of a birth certificate from the school district along with a student ID would be valid.  The Sheriff noted his question.

Commissioner Luis Avalos Nunez asked what other issues are there that affect young people that the Youth Commission would work on with the Sheriff's office.  The Sheriff' answered that safety is a crucial issue. He also stated that they need to find ways that we could lower the rates of arrests and incarceration of young people of color in the city.

There was no public comment.

B. Presentation on Lift A Sista Up Wage Gap Research
Presenter: Denesia Webb, Victoria Onyike, Jessica Escober, Troi Reese
(Document B)

Denesia Webb, a group of young women who created their own scholarship, funded by the Youth Leadership Institute. Awarded 8 scholarships to young female leaders.

They presented on the wage gap present between men and women in the workforce.  They showed statistics on a national and on a local level.

Commissioner Berliner asked if this info was on CIS women or did it also include transwomen? Denesia responded that most of the data available is only on CIS women. Commissioner Avalos-Nunez recommended looking into policy that might be able to support their information. Commissioner Edelhart asked that beside attending the June 5th event is there any other way the YC could help support Lift a Sista Up. Staff Allen mentioned that the YC could assist LASA by talking to their supervisors regarding the presentations they heard. Commissioner Edelhart, asked if anyone can attend the June 5th event.Commissioner Berliner might be able to and will contact LASA.

There was no public comment.

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

A. Certification of Youth Commission Recommendations for Children, Youth, and Families Oversight Advisory Committee Youth Seats 1, 2, and 7
Sponsor: Executive Committee
(Documents C, D, E, F, G and H)

Vacant seat 1, on the newly forming council, must be a youth 19 years old or younger at the time of appointment for a three year term.

Vacant seat 2, on the newly forming council, must be a youth 19 years old or younger at the time of appointment for a two year term.

Vacant seat 7, on the newly forming council, must be a person who is a Disconnected Transitional-Aged Youth, as that term is used in Charter Section 16.108, 18 through 24 years of age at the time of appointment, and who is familiar with the issues and challenges faced by Disconnected Transitional-Aged Youth and with services, programs, and systems for them, for a three year term.

3 seats / 5 applicants
Vida Bonilla (recommended by Executive committee for seat 1)
Avi Leung
Carmen Sosa (recommended by Executive committee for seat 2)
Wang Cheng Ieong
Mia Tu Mutch Satya (recommended by Executive committee for seat 7)

Commissioner Joyce Wu requested clarification regarding the appointment process.

Public comment:

Avi Leung, candidate for Seat 1/2 wanted to congratulate the other two people who were recommended. He stated that he worked with the Ingleside Community Center, mostly underprivileged children of color. He also stated he goes to Lick Wilmerding so he interacts with a diverse group of people.  He is committed to public service and would love to work with city government advocating for youth.

Luis Avalos, seconded by Commissioner Zheng, made a motion to formally file the recommendation for Vida Bonilla for seat 1 or 2.

Commissioner Joshua Cardena made a comment that he does not feel comfortable recommending anyone just yet but would like more time to discuss the applicants.

Commissioner Edelhart requested a short recess at 5:47 pm.

Joshua Cardenas, seconded by commissioner Marshall-Fricker, motioned to formally file the recommendation for Mia Tu Mutch to seat 7.

Luis Avalos Nunez, seconded by Joyce Wu, motioned to formally file the recommendation for Avi Leung to seat 1 or 2.

Joshua Cardenas, seconded by Alex Berliner, motioned to formally recommend Carmen Sosa to seat 1 or 2.  

The motion to formally recommend Carmen Sosa was approved by the following majority roll call vote:  No’s: Avalos, David; Aye’s: Jillian Wu, Marshall-Fricker, Joyce Wu, Berliner, Bernick, Edelhart.Cardenas, Zheng

The motion to formally recommend Avi Leung failed by the following roll call vote: No’s: Jillian Wu, Marshall-Fricker, Berliner, Bernick, Edelhart, Cardenas, Zheng;  Aye's: Joyce Wu, Avalos, David

 

The motion to formally recommend Mia Tu Mutch was approved by the following majority roll call vote: Aye's: Jillian Wu, Marshall-Fricker, Berliner, Bernick, Edelhart, Cardenas, Zheng, Joyce Wu, Avalos, David

 

The motion to formally recommend Vida Bonilla was approved by the following majority roll call vote: Aye's: Jillian Wu, Marshall-Fricker, Berliner, Bernick, Edelhart, Cardenas, Zheng, Joyce Wu, Avalos, David

Public comment:

Avi Leung wanted to thank the full Youth Commission for considering him for this position.   

Mr. Fricker, commends the Youth Commission on the difficult task of appointing a member and commends applicant Avi Leung for being such an outstanding young man. He believes that Avi would make a great candidate for the youth commission and he hopes he will be selected this upcoming year.

B. Commissioner Guo’s Request for a Formal Leave of Absence June 15-July 20, 2015

Commissioner David Zheng, seconded by Commissioner Alex Berliner, motioned to approve the formal leave of absence by Commissioner Guo.  The motion was passed by acclamation.

There was no public comment.

8. Committee Reports (Discussion Only)

A. Executive Committee 

During the last executive committee meeting the EC meet with OAC applicant.


B. Housing, Environment, and City Services Committee

There was no meeting on June 21st. Will update after next meeting.


C. Immigration and Employment Committee

The IEC finished discussing their town hall planning last meeting and will meet with Spotify tomorrow at 3 pm to discuss logistics.  The town hall, entitled Kinetic Konnection will be next week Thursday June 11th.  

D. Youth Justice Committee

Sheriff came to speak regarding lowering the voting age to 16. There will be an upcoming press conference where the Sheriff will discuss the policy.

E. Vote 16 Updates

Commissioner Cardenas gave two updates on Vote 16.

On June 4th at 3:30 pm in room 278 there will be a meeting with Generation Citizen to prepare messaging for vote16.

On June 8th at 11:30 am there will be a hearing on Vote16  in a special Rules Committee meeting.

F. Youth Advisory Council

There was no update for the YAC.

 

9. Staff Report (Discussion Only)

 

Summer Learning Day is on Friday June 12th. Commissioner Avalos will be assisting with this event.



The SFMTA Board of Directors Meeting on Tuesday at 1 pm and holding a public hearing to discuss extending

Free Muni for Youth
to low and moderate income 19- to 22-year-old San Francisco Unified School District English Learner and Foster Care students. The hearing will be at

City Hall, Room 400.



Project WHAT will be honoring the YC on June 13th on Alcatraz. So far we have Commissioners Edelhart, Listana, Avalos and Cardenas signed up. Any other commissioners definitely interested? Commissioner Berliner and Commissioner Jillian Wu stated they were definitely interested with Commissioner Bernick and Joyce Wu stating they were a maybe.





TAYSF is having their end of the year celebration and reception on Friday, June 5th at 5pm at SF City Hall Room 201. Commissioners interested in attending are Commissioners Berliner and Commissioner Avalos.

On June 8th there will be a planning meeting for the MoMagic July workshops at 4:30 pm.

10. Announcements (This Includes Community Events)

 

Commissioner Bernick stated that tomorrow, Tuesday June 2nd, is a health field day by the DCYF Youth Warriors.  It will be at Golden Gate Park, 757 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive from 5 - 7 pm. Games and goodie bags will be available. Youth Warriors are requesting everyone bring 2 pieces of old clothing to donate.

Commissioner Berliner stated that tomorrow, Tuesday June 2nd, there will be an event from 1 - 5 pm at City Hall for Mission moratorium. On June 18th there will be a hearing on the negative environmental impacts of the new jail to San Francisco. Since the hearing won’t be at youth friendly hours, you can submit public comment electronically beforehand.

11. Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 6:48 pm.