Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout10.17.2022 Commission on Equity and Public Safety Meeting MinutesCity of South San Francisco Minutes of the Commission on Equity and Public Safety Monday, October 17, 2022 Zoom Teleconference Meeting 6:00 pm Committee Members: Present: Krystle Cansino, Salvador Delgadillo, PaulaClaudine Hobson-Coard, Arnel Junio, Alan Perez, Carol Sanders, Steven Yee Absent: None Staff Members: Present: Amy Ferguson, Management Fellow Maryjo Nuñez, Management Fellow Guests: Mayor Mark Nagales, Vice Mayor Nicolas, City Manager Futrell, Assistant City Manager Ranals, Police Chief Campbell, Fire Chief Magallanes _____________________________________________________________________________________ CALL TO ORDER The Meeting was called to order at 6:02pm. AGENDA REVIEW No changes to the agenda. APPROVAL OF MINUTES The Minutes from the September 19, 2022, minutes were approved. LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Commissioner Steven Yee presented the Land Acknowledgement to the Commission. PUBLIC COMMENT Olga Perez, saw the agenda and subject about Mika Celli caught her attention and wanted to bring up how important mental health is for the old town community, and mental health is misunderstood in the area. She stated that if we find the need to call for assistance with police, a person is under a lot of stress already, so if we could all be more understanding when arriving that the officers already have that understanding and it definitely does not help when officers do not have that understanding and how poorly that affects public comment. Willow Gardens and Old Town where the socio-economic factors take a huge role into the way community is perceived, speaking from her life and family’s life experiences. What she is trying to do in her work is to bring a voice to a misunderstood and silent community that has gone through a lot of trauma. Chair Cansino replied to validate Ms. Perez’s statement that mental health is very important and even with the hoax last week, the community is shaken up, and Mika Celli should and is responding to mental health and the City is working on mental health. Ms. Perez stated that the City should have someone in SSFPD assigned just to the Old Town area and be someone who is from the area and/or deeply understands the area. MATTERS FOR CONSIDERATION 1. Introduction of the New Commissioners—Salvador Delgadillo and Steven Yee Steven Yee: considers himself to be in the chaos to get more clarity, not that we want chaos, but he is comfortable with complexity. He is excited to listen to the mosaic that is our community and helping facilitate that all voices are represented fuels him. He was also part of the Community Advisory board for the 2040 General Plan and realized that the more he learns, the less he knows, so that fuels him as well. There are many good willing people to improve the lives of SSF residents. Salvador Delgadillo: his background is in criminal psychology. At the moment, he is at Star Vista Crisis center. He is very privileged to be working in so many backgrounds from foster youth, addiction, mental health, juvenile hall, etc. He hopes to bring in this experience and uplift low-income, non-English speaking, first generation families. He wants to help folks leave poverty like how his family did; looking back, it was a painful experience, and he is motivated by it. He was to increase equity and public safety and get to know each of the commissioners and collaborate. 2. Approval of Meeting Minutes from September 19, 2022. Commissioner Yee motioned, seconded by Commissioner Sanders. Minutes were approved by the Commission. 3. Debrief of the Police Department Tour Commissioner Yee attended Citizens’ Academy a while back and had a tour then too, but now was a different kind of tour. Sgt. Curmi was able to go really behind the scenes and shared how to shift to current climate. There is a lot of effort in doing proactive things to benefit SSF community for a long time. He said that he believes that residents should do a tour if they can and not just with PD. Commissioner Hobson-Coard shared that she and her husband were both really impressed. They had an opportunity to see the evidence area and learn how PD secures that evidence, the different types that are kept, and how it is checked out, etc. They also had a chance to check out the gym and liked that because she wants employers to consider the health of their employees. The 911 dispatch was also very impressive. Chair Cansino stated sounds like the opportunity to get to know them as people and not just as officers, and that “maybe we as a Commission could promote the tours to the public and encourage them to take it so that they can learn about PD more.” Commissioner Sanders shared that she did not realize that Pacifica also uses SSF. She also learned that not everything they need is provided for, sometimes it comes out of their own salary. So, if more people realize that then maybe they would have a different attitude. Commissioner Junio wanted to circle back with Yee. He had mentioned that someone had purchased a home, and wanted to confirm if there was literature or more or less an invitation to visit PD. Commissioner Yee was actually asking a different question, was asking about if they got a “Welcome to SSF” kit. Vice Chair Junio thinks that would be something that would be worth it to share to the public and have everyone try if they can get to know the different departments for new and existing homeowners. Assist City Manager Ranals suggested that the Equity Commission look at the Welcome to SSF booklet once completed. In the Mayor’s updates, there are invitations; we could also include those invitations in the Welcome to SSF Booklet. Chair Cansino agrees that anything that goes out to the public is something that the Commission can look at. She recommends that different information about the different parts of the PD is outlined. 4. Recess Recess was called at 6:43pm and came back at 6:55pm. 5. Community Wellness and Crisis Response Team Amy Ferguson shared that this program is currently a pilot program for 2 years, and so knowing what other cities are doing is helpful to see where we could move our program forward. There is the CAHOOTS model, they can be dispatched via 911 and are 24/7 operation. In SF, there is the community Crisis Response Team, etc. Commissioner Yee asked what the ways are to reach Mika Celli. Mika Celli shared that clients can reach her via phone and in-person. Commissioner Yee also asked, how are translation services utilized? Celli: It depends on the language… we have Spanish speaking officers but if there is a client that needs another, there is the language line as well a video/ASL line for those hard of hearing or deaf. Commissioner Perez asked, “where are we going to find the information from the Gardner Center, and what are the criteria of the findings, and if the extension of the program is contingent on data from Gardner Center?” Celli: She will defer to Capt. Plank; doesn’t believe that program extension is dependent on that. Capt. Plank: let’s put together the anticipated results and then what they are looking forward to is seeing how data changes/forms. Let’s see if there will be fining tuning needed, and further along in the clinician presentation at later dates, PD will be discussing data and Gardner Center’s role at a later date. Amy Ferguson, said “yes, it was recommended to start with Mika and then learn more about the Gardner Center at a later date.” Chair Cansino asked, “do we having anyone doing a needs assessment, especially for City vs. San Mateo County?” Celli: Gardner Center will have criteria for the 4; SSF is also tracking its own data on an app. Chair Cansino asked, “so, a child in SSF would not be able to get a psychiatrist in SF?” Assist City Manager Ranals shared that she is not sure… Chair Cansino clarified that this is what she meant by needs assessment: seeing if there is a need to build something SSF-specific. Celli: haven’t included many resources from South County since it’s far. In SSF, there is county mental health in Daly City, but that is for all North County. Outside of MediCal, there are private therapists, but would be happy to look into the resources. Assist City Manager Ranals shared that the school district used to use Star Vista. Celli stated that in Star Vista, there is a school-based counsellor that can see 6-7 students on a regular basis, and she thinks there are therapists from county who could come and provide services. Chair Cansino asked, “do you have resources for substance-use?” Mika Celli: yes, we do offer specific lists for this… it’s not a huge part of this pilot program in particular but is geared towards crisis. Chair Cansino asked, “do you ever find yourselves having to triage?” Celli: I know that Sergeants can overrule a call or rearrange the order, but not sure if that’s correct, that might be a question for Capt. Plank. Capt. Plank said that luckily in SSF, we don’t get too many calls where Mika would be stretched out too thin. Commissioner Delgadillo wanted to ask about the volume of calls since the pandemic started, especially from the Old Town area there have been more calls for more police in the area as more homeless and transients settle here. He was wondering if Mika was being present at those calls. Celli: COT mostly speaks to this area, but if her services are needed, then they will reach out to her, but her position in this program is focused on crisis mental health, so she’s not necessarily brought to these calls unless there is a specific crisis/mental health aspect. Chair Cansino asked, “how do you prioritize calls?” Capt. Plank shared that if there is a call that requires Mika, then she will go but if something more pressing/more immediate occurs, then she could be pulled from whatever lower level call she’s on into that higher-level call. But if something happened where it was not safe, then she would wait until situation is safe. Celli stated that officers are trained for crisis, so if 5150 is needed, they could do this so that she is not pulled too thin. Commissioner Sanders asked, “what is the data that is collected and is there any experiments about what could trigger a person? A cop in uniform could be triggering compared to civilian clothes or seeing Mika first.” Celli shared that typically, in calls with juveniles, they will say that “they are young; they’ve had poor experience with cops” she can go in with the information and if there are other staff around and if it’s safe, then we ca slow the roll with introducing officers. Celli stated that in our particular pilot program, we have access to records in medical system so if it’s fine/there is information, will look up that information and give heads up to officers if it’s listed that triggered by police. Capt. Plank said that some of the items that PD is reviewing is the total number of calls where they have to be transferred to medical center; what day the calls are made; the specific details of the individuals contacted like if they are housed/unhoused, if they live in SMC or not, look at age range, look at race and ethnicity, and tracking the top 10 calls that require Mika’s presence and the top 10 services/outcomes that was able to come about through Mika. Hopefully in the next two meetings, there will be someone from the Gardner Center who will be able to speak to these topics more. Chair Cansino thanked Mika Celli, Capt. Plank, and Chief Campbell for presenting. Chair Cansino mentioned full moon days are very much a thing in San Francisco, so maybe Mika needs a partner or OT on those days. 6. Discussion and Potential Action on Holding November and December 2022 Meetings. Amy Ferguson stated that many Boards and Commissions will not be having a meeting in November and December for the Holidays… Commission could cancel both, reschedule both, or reschedule and combine the meeting for a later date in December. Chair Cansino: “if we cancel the meeting, then we would postpone Mika’s presentation… does anyone have any thoughts on this?” Commissioner Perez is in favor of holding a special meeting in early December and combining the meeting between November and December. Hobson-Coard agrees with Commissioner Perez. Vice Chair Junio asked, “if we hold a special meeting, could we still have Mika or representatives from the Gardner Center?” Capt. Plank stated, yes, we could have them as long as we have enough time. Commissioner Sanders agreed that the Commission should reschedule December since that would be Hanukkah. Chair Cansino: So, for December, we are looking at December 5 or 12. Chief Campbell is available either day. Mika Celli is available either day as well, as well as with Capt. Plank. Capt. Plank said there are multiple representatives from the Gardner Center, so he will reach out to see who is available, but it would be safe to assume they will be representatives. Motioned by Vice Chair Junio, the Commission decided to have a meeting on December 5th, seconded by Commissioner Sanders. The Motion passed and next meeting will be on December 5th. Chair Cansino shared they table the Equity Commission retreat discussion for next meeting. 7. Discussion Regarding Potential Equity Commission Retreat. The Commission tabled the topic of a commission retreat. Future Agenda Suggestions Chair Cansino stated that she likes having discussion time, even things like having a PD police tour debrief; thinks it’s good for the public to hear. Commissioner Perez asked, with the presentation with the Gardner Center, if we could include the data use agreement or a pre-analysis plan with the agenda packet. It may be useful. Commissioner Sanders was wondering if 2nd/3rd meeting next year, where we could do a reflection of things the Commission has done. Chair Cansino shared that she knows the San Francisco Crisis team, so could just ask them to present. Even showing this presentation to the SF team could be useful. Am Ferguson asked which teams from other cities or counties do you want to come to present? Chair Cansino shared Alameda county. Items from Commission Commissioner Delgadillo sent out invitation for Star Vista Fundraising this weekend. Items from Staff Assist City Manager Ranals is putting together an age-friendly focus group. Amy Ferguson could write a staff report based on PD’s shared documents. Assist City Manager Ranals invited Commission to attend the wreath-making workshop. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 8:25pm.