Transcripts For SFGTV BOS Rules Committee 20240712 : vimarsa

SFGTV BOS Rules Committee July 12, 2024

Announcer sfgov tv. San francisco government television. Good morning, everyone. The meeting will come to order. Welcome to the june 8th, 2021 meeting of the rules committee. Im so sorry that we started late this morning. We were having difficulty with Public Comment. And i just want to advise any member of the public who is listening in, if you want to be included in the queue to be a speaker in Public Comment please press star three. Its a little different than other meetings. This time you press star three. Ill remind you when we get to Public Comment each time. Im supervisor hillary ronen, chair of the committee. With me on the Video Conference is supervisor catherine. Supervisor stefani and were joined this morning by supervisor Shamann Walton perform our clerk today is victor young and i would like to thank sfgov tv for staffing this meeting. Mr. Clerk, do you have any announcements . Clerk yes. Before we get started, id like to ask that anybody thats not a member of the committee to temporarily turn off your camera, so your picture is not displayed while were speaking on other items. Todays announcements. Due to the covid19 Health Emergency and to protect board members, City Employees and the public, the board of Supervisors Committee room and legislate i have to turn my camera on. My apologies. [laughter] the board of Supervisors Committee room are closed. However, members will be participating in the meeting remotely. This precaution is taking pursuant to statewide stayathome order and all local, state and federal orders, declaration and directives. Committee members will attend the meeting through Video Conference, and participate in the meeting through the same extent as if they were physically present. Public comment will be available on each item on this agenda, both channel 26 and sfgovtv. Org are streaming the number across the screen. Each speaker will be allowed two minutes to speak. Comments are opportunities to speak during Public Comment period, they are available via phone calling 415 6550001. Again thats 415 6550001. Access code is 145 7006200. Again that access code is 45 45700 6200 and press and again. You will be muted and in listening mode only. When the item of interest comes up, please press star three to be added to the speaker line. Best practices are to call from a quiet location, speak clearly and slowly and turn down your television or radio. Alternatively, you may submit Public Comment in either of the following ways. Email to myself, the rules Committee Clerk at victor. Young sfjgov. Org. If you submit via email, it will be forwarded to the supervisors and will be included as part of the file. Finally, items acted upon today are expected to appear on the board of supervisors agenda june stated. Thank you so much. Mr. Clerk, can please read item number one. Clerk yes. Item number 1. Is a Charter Amendment to amend chart to require that members of the board, commissions and advisory bodies be residents of the city and of legal voting age, replacing the requirement that members of boards, commissions and advisory antibodies be United States citizens and registered voters, at an election to be held on november 3rd, 2020. I would like to note that we have made arrangements for Interpretation Services, if they would like to make a quick comment. It would be appreciated at this time. Hi. Good morning. Im sarah sousa. And ill be providing spanish translation. Thank you. Can you say that in spanish, sarah . [speaking spanish] supervisor ronen thank you so much. I am so excited about this item. And i want to turn over the first comments to the lead sponsor supervisor Shamann Walton. Thank you very much, chair ronen. Thank you very much to m colleagues on the rules committee. Im excited that were hearing this overdue Charter Amendment for making sure that our undocumented immigrants have opportunities to serve on special committees and on commissions. And i am also even more proud to announce that we have unanimous cosponsorship from the entire board of supervisors. I want to start off by thanking all of my colleagues, president norman yee, gordon mar, sandra fewer, hillary ronen, aaron peskin, matt haney, rafael mandelman, dean preston and catherine stefani. This is imperative that we announce that we are all unanimously in support of this, because this is something that is going to push San Francisco to be more equitable, which has always been a part of our core values in the city. Currently advisory bodies, that were created by the charter, can carve out exceptions to age, residency and citizenship requirements. This Charter Amendment will remove the citizen requirement, allowing qualified individuals to apply and serve on committees and commissions. In San Francisco, we often worked hard to ensure that no community is left behind. And this is why this ordinary is so historical is should have been in place a long time. All voices should be allowed at the table. And this is just one step forward towards achieving that equitable voice. And im very confident that san franciscans will vote this Charter Amendment into law. I want to thank all of those who have worked to make this ordinance a reality, particularly supervisor president norman yee who worked closely with our efforts on this. One of his aides in his office, as well as tracy garza in our office. Their collective work, working closely with sarah sousa and members of the immigrant community, has led to this point where we actually have a Charter Amendment in writing and going to the ballot in november. Thank you all so much for your continued, tireless support of our immigrant community. And just the last thing, i want to say as we look at all of the unrest, all of the inequitablable thats been happening in our country for years, particularly at this time where were continuing to see Law Enforcement killed, unarmed it black people, unarmed people of color, it is very imperative that our equity fight continues to spread across all areas and populations of people who have been unjustly and inequitably isolated. So this Charter Amendment is in the spirit of that. And in line with that. I just want to thank everyone for being supportive of allowing this equitable immigrant voice at the table, for communities who continue to pay taxes, contribute to our economy, work closely with our families. It is very important that they have a voice on policy bodies, on bodies that govern the celebration and laws that we pass here in San Francisco. And with that said, i just want to the appreciate everyone. Thank you so much, chair ronen, for the time. Lets get this Charter Amendment approved through the rules committee today, so that we can get it approved at the full board and get the voters onboard. Thank you. Supervisor ronen thank you so much. Do any of my other colleagues have any comments before we turn it over to presenters . Chair ronen, yeah. I just want well, thank you, chair ronen. I just wanted to thank supervisor walton for bringing this item forward. And also thanks to sarah sousa, gabriel and the many from the Community Leaders who proposed and have advocated for it. Along with all of my colleagues. Very proud to cosponsor this crucial and long overdue. It is not only needless and cruel, it actually harms the entire city. Some of our most qualified, potential Commission Nominees are not United States citizens. And the entire city is harmed by this arbitrary barrier to their Public Service. I know that firsthand i tried to nominate a person who was highly qualified to serve as our district 4 sfmta citizens advisory representative, but unable to move the nomination forward, simply because of the restriction to appointment of u. S. Citizens, which cant be waived, no matter how qualified the individual is. This is an affront to our values, our immigrant communities and its pastime we affirm the right of all san franciscans to lead. They already are in so many ways. Thank you. Ronen thank you. Supervisor stefani, did you want to say anything . I want to echo supervisor mars comments and thank supervisor walton for bringing this forward and bringing this forward today. Thank you to community advocates, too, who also worked so hard on this, especially sarah sousa, who reached out to our office. So impressed with this and be happy to be of support. I really want to add my voice to this measure, for obviously reasons, for the reasons that supervisor walton stated in the reasons supervisor mar stated as well. I think its a voice thats missing. A voice that needs to be heard. And im happy that all of us could be in unanimous support for this. I look forward to working together to make sure this passes at the ballot. Thank you again, supervisor walton, for your leadership on this. Im happy to be a part of it. Supervisor ronen thank you so much. And i dont want to be super repetitive. I couldnt agree more with my colleagues. Thank you, supervisor walton, gabriel, sarah sousa for bringing this way overdue item to the voters, so that we can make this essential change. Supervisor walton, did you want to run the hearing on this . Im assuming you have several presenters . Thank you so much, supervisor ronen. What i will do, id like to just kind of run the hearing for this point of time. Theres a time im going to have to split off to a district 10 conference. Then come back. While also taking with my car with a flat tire to wheel works. Thats a story we dont need it hear about. First off, id like to introduce someone who has really just been a true fighter. Shes reflective and representative of why this Charter Amendment is so important and really demonstrating and proving that one person can really fight for change and get everyone motivated to make the right decision and right changes. I do at this time want to introduce sarah sousa, who has been a main leader, making sure that we do everything we can to provide this opportunity for our immigrant community. Thank you. Sarah. Thank you, supervisor Shamann Walton. Im beyond honored to have this opportunity to share, you know, my story and the story of so many immigrant families and san franciscans. Im a proud san franciscan myself. Went to mission high school. And im so excited to be here. First, i want to thank the chair. Chair hillary ronen, for your kindness and support. And again honor to be here with all of you. Thank you, supervisor stefani. You have been so supportive and it has been an honor to work with you, along with also supervisor gordon mar. I think together were going to win in november. And i just cant wait to have the Biggest Party in town. [laughter] so gabriel and i will be presenting a power point. So gabriel, can you share your screen . I can. Gabriel medina is the campaign cochair. Gabriel, do you want to share a few words . Sure. Well, just logistics. Thank you all, of course. Thank you chair ronen and sponsor walton and unanimous supervisors for this measure. Were going to start this off. Im going to jump in the middle. And then sarah sousa is going to finish it. With that, sarah, would you like to start off . Yes. Are you sharing the screen . Im sharing. Can you see . Yes. Im sorry. Real quick before you start, sarah, i do also want to take the time to acknowledge Gabriel Medina for his hard work on this initiative and Charter Amendment as well. Hes been a leader for a long time in our community. I just believe and take the time to acknowledge him as well. And make sure that everyone knows that during this Charter Amendment. Thank you. Thank you. Im happy to speak second all the time for sarah. [laughter] can everyone see the power point . Not yet. No. So i am sharing. Let me see. If i share okay. Here it is. Here we go. All right. All right. Now were on . Yes. All right. Sarah, take it away. All right. So today im her here to presene Charter Amendment. The goal of this presentation is to inform you on the specifics of the Charter Amendment and its impact and how were moving forward for justice and liberation of our community in San Francisco. So as we know, were all san franciscans. And we all deserve a seat at the table. Currently so next slide, gabriel. So currently the existing law prohibits aspiring citizens from serving on appointed boards and commissions. This is an equity issue. When you have immigrant Rights Commission and you dont allow immigrants to serve on those commissions, youre not able to formulate equitable policy outcomes. This is one component of the bill of the charter, which again is allowing all san franciscans to serve on commissioners, advisory bodies and boards, regardless of immigration status. And the second component of the Charter Amendment, which im really excited about, is actually expanding the language on metrics to on diversity of commissions. Basically gender, Sexual Orientation and other demographic components, variables to ensure that we have a more inclusive evaluation. This report is conducted by the status of women, a commission of status of women. And so this is a great second component that we would like to highlight. And so, next, can you go to the next slide, gabriel. Im on yes. Can you take on this next slide, gabriel. Yes. I sure can, sarah. Thank you so much. So, you know, big benefit of this is how many additional folks can enter Public Service and contribute. You know, we see the data on the screen. 7 of the population, but 3 of appointees. Latin men are 7 of the population, but 5 of appointos. Asian women did we lose gabriel . I cant hear him. Supervisor ronen it looks like we might have lost him. Let me ask. Clerk it looks like his computer may have stopped responding. Supervisor ronen yes. While we figure this out, do we want to open this item up for Public Comment and well continue the presentation after Public Comment . I can continue the presentation. Supervisor ronen okay. Sorry. Im not going to be able to share my screen at the moment. Clerk supervisor ronen, would you like the clerk to share the slide on his end . Victor, you can take over and share your slide, please. Thank you so much. I apologize for the technical issues. Supervisor ronen no problem. Weve been having them all morning. Okay. So we were on slide number 3, right, is that correct . Slide 4. Supervisor ronen oh, slide 4. Okay. If the clerk could put up slide 4. What gabriel was alluding to, is the representation component and who is left out. As people of color are underrepresented, and there is definitely a disparity issue among immigrants, meaning aspiring citizens, documented and undocumented. And then so this is about not only a place to hear immigrant voices. Next slide. Not only uplifting the voices, but also engaging young people. San francisco residents that are 660 16 and 17 years old would also be eligible to serve on boards and commissions, if we pass 16 in november. So this is a dual action to ensure that, you know, f16 passes, young people are, regardless of immigration status, are able to serve on commissions. And we also had a huge history in 2016 when we passed proposition n and f. So allowing parents to serve on school board im, to actually vote on school board elections, which was a big victory for us. And then second, you know, this is a widespread empowerment. Were saying that, you know, as we take cue, belong that immigrants belong, that all communities belong. When we remove systemic barriers that prohibits them from serving, from having a seat at the table. Next slide, please. Is gabriel back . Okay. So moving backward not forward, right. When we think about the percentage of appointees, we look at the demographic and we cdbg a disparity we see a disparity. People of color are less likely to have seats on commissions that make key decisions. With the shorter amendment, were sending a message that we prioritize the voices of women, immigrants, people of color, people that have been left out of the seats for a long time. Both women of color and immigrants are underrepresented. And so again this Charter Amendment will ensure that we are amending that inequity in the system. So were moving to slide 8. So in order to improve service delivery, we must ensure that we have people that represents the community, to fight and advocate for resources for covid19. As we know, the Latinx Community and people of color have been disproportionately impacted by covid19, due to systemic barriers. So its crucial for them to have a seat at the table, to ensure that they share their perspective on what resources should be allocated to the community, what are the needs, and whats the most impactful what are the most Impactful Solutions that will help the crisis in their community, along with addressing the violence, with the death of, you know, george floyd and amill car and luis. We saw the lack of accountability. We need members of the community representing those commissions, to ensure that we hold accountable. That we are addressing this issue of violence to people of color. It goes back to representation, and the importance of s. F. Commissions for all. And moving to slide 9

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