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HomeMy WebLinkAbout7.17.23 Meeting Minutes of the Commission of Equity and Public SafetyCity of South San Francisco Minutes of the Commission on Equity and Public Safety Monday, July 17, 2023 City Manager’s Conference Room, City Hall 400 Grand Ave, SSF, CA 94080 6:00 pm Committee Members: Present: Salvador Delgadillo, Krystle Cansino, Carol Sanders, Steven Yee, PaulaClaudine Hobson-Coard Absent: Alan Perez, Arnel Junio Staff Members: Present: Devin Stenhouse, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion Officer ____________________________________________________________________________________ CALL TO ORDER Meeting called to order at 6:15pm. AGENDA REVIEW No changes to the agenda. APPROVAL OF MINUTES The Minutes from the June 20th meeting were approved. ITEMS FROM STAFF MEMBERS Devin shared that Maryjo’s last day in the office is July 21st and that there will be a going-away party on Wednesday, July 19th at 4:30pm. Devin also shared that there is a “Know your Rights” training hosted by Community Legal Services from East Palo Alto next Thursday, primarily for renters in South San Francisco. Keanna and Paola come by to discuss more about their event. They are a housing advocacy organiza�on serving the whole county of San Mateo but just ge�ng started in SSF. They are more focused in south county but are trying to change that. There will be an atorney present, and it will be in English and Spanish. Commissioner Yee asked given the work primarily in south county, why now and specifically why South City. They answered it’s due to how the City had created an an�-displacement plan. PUBLIC COMMENT There was no public comment. MATTERS FOR CONSIDERATION 1. Approval of Minutes from June 20th. Commissioner Sanders mo�oned, seconded by Commissioner Hobson-Coard, and the minutes were approved. 2. Presenta�on from Planning: Lindenville Specific/General Plan. (Billy Gross, Principal Planner). - Background Informa�on Building on the Industrial Legacy Cul�va�ng Arts and Cultural Iden�ty Arts and Makers District Building Climate Resilience Enhancing Open Spaces Linear Green Park: requirement that they must give a por�on of their rear parcel to be given over for green spaces and connect Colma creek to the centennial trail Promo�ng Health and Environmental Jus�ce -bc region is an industrial area, has close proximity to 101, airport, Caltrain, etc. exposed to pollu�on Connec�ng Communi�es -rethink our rela�onships with autos; need to redesign key por�ons of the area to accommodate people, not cars Next steps Dra� Specific Plan Engagement Ac�vi�es Community Open House Events, Pop-Up Events, Boards and Commissions Mee�ngs Specific Plan Feedback in writen plan via the General Plan Execu�ve Summaries in English, Spanish, Tagalog, and Mandarin Will compile public comments and recommend Specific Plan changes through the Summer: August The General Plan was developed simultaneously alongside the Commission on Racial and Social Equity, and due to this �ming, the General Plan was able to take inspira�on from the Commission and the consultants were able to look to the Commission for that equity lens. For the Lindenville Plan, it would be great if an equity lens could be applied. There are approximately 175 policies and ac�ons—sounds overwhelming, but this is a long term plan (for 20 years!). Ques�ons and Answers Chair Cansino asked, “how are you guys measuring this?” She sees that the performance metric is housing-cost burden. Billy: we are looking for data that is easy to get; primarily County-level like the Dept. of Public Health. For others that get more specific, we’d have to gather data ourselves. But generally, it’s easier to find so that it’s easier to track over �me. Billy: as part of the General Plan vision—on a high level overview—we’ve seen the employment growth in life sciences sector… There has been growing pains on this end and a need for the City to provide more housing. The County was adding 15 housing units for every job. We realized we could not do perfect 1:1 but overall, we realized that we need to do more for housing. Using 2018 numbers, we looked at 14-18,000 housing units. Commissioner Sanders: so, are these numbers reflected through Oyster Point? Billy: It’s citywide, but it’s predominantly Oyster Point. Commissioner Sanders: are you accoun�ng for the phenomenon of people working remotely? Billy: it depends on if it’s office use and what type of work it is—for life science, you need to come in person. We are coun�ng on the flexible work hours in terms of traffic, etc. Out of those 14-18k housing units, where does this go? Obviously downtown and around El Camino, but we have looked at Lindenville and east of 101. With Lindenville, we are proposing 5500 housing units. Lots are much smaller and there are a lot of industrial areas east of 101 compared elsewhere in SSF. We just realized a public dra� for this specific plan. Commissioner Yee: before we dive in, lots of the job growth is in the life sciences… so is the development in that area called Oyster Point? East of 101? Billy: yes, we primarily go with East of 101—it encompasses more Commissioner Yee: so if there’s a lot of job growth, how much will be commuters vs. residents? Billy: ul�mately, we have no way to dictate if someone who is a South City resident would like to live here and restrict access to SSF-only. One of the things that surprised Billy is that 90% of the employees in SSF live elsewhere and 90% of the residents in SSF work elsewhere. So, a big part of our job is to make sure that SSF residents remain aware, so that they can get in. Commissioner Delgadillo asked Billy if he could clarify what is meant by “mixed-use”… if it was businesses and housing together. Billy confirmed that it is what mixed-use is. Commissioner Sanders: when you are talking about complete neighborhoods, is there a defini�on for what this is? Billy: An example would be an arts and makers area, where it would be easier for ar�sts and makers to locate and create efficiencies and grow upon itself, but there are also other employment opportuni�es like life sciences. The complete part comes from your 5-min bike ride, 15-min walk away from arts spaces, grocery stores, public transit, etc. One of the nice things about Lindenville is that it’s crea�ng a new neighborhood from scratch. Chair Cansino: so, you’re saying around 14k jobs is added? Billy: currently, SSF has 60k employees with all of the growth citywide by 2040, you’re ge�ng up to 90k employees. Chair Cansino: it seems like there’s a lot of services missing—schools, hospitals, daycares etc. If folks are single, this seems fine, but what about families? Billy: there are policies related to specific things listed, like there is a childcare master plan, but that isn’t necessarily listed out here in the Lindenville Plan. Commissioner Yee: to reassure you, maybe it’s not specified, but it’s s�ll a priority. Chair Cansino: one of the perks about living in SSF is how family-oriented SSF is. This is a good place to raise a family, so it needs to be listed somewhere here about an emphasis on family services. Commissioner Hobson-Coard: speaking of childcare, we should also include eldercare. We do have the Magnolia Center, but there will be a lot more again adults in the future. Let’s also think about how are seniors going to get around in Lindenville. Commissioner Sanders: no�ced that there are details about aging in place here… Commissioner Yee reminded the Commissioners to read the General Plan. Commissioner Hobson-Coard shared how her father asked her to bring up the topic of senior veterans, par�cularly when it comes to issues of mobility. Her father is a 47 year veteran now, and he needs the services and is wheelchair bound. Chair Cansino men�oned that the closest VA is in San Bruno, followed by San Francisco. Commissioner Hobson-Coard stressed that SSF should have veterans services here, maybe not a VA but something for immobile veterans, especially. Billy: the City is trying to collaborate with the County to bring more resources, but they might be having the same conversa�ons in regard to healthcare. Chair Cansino: feels like that we rely a lot on County assistance, but it would be helpful to have resources here but if there’s nothing here, it might cause trouble. Commissioner Sanders: how does the public lose part of the bay trail to the industrial or the life sciences? Billy: there are the same number of parking spaces overall… It might be differently configured but it’s the same. Devin asked the Commissioners if they have received a presenta�on on the Centennial Trail Masterplan yet to which they confirmed that they have yet to receive it. Devin will see if the Commissioners could receive this presenta�on some�me and is excited for the upcoming plans for the trail. Billy: there is some feedback from PG&E regarding electrifica�on—par�cularly if the grid can handle more to meet the 2045 neutral. Billy: this would be the first �me for transfer of development rights. Chair Cansino then asked a follow- up ques�on, would this delay the adop�on? Billy: there are mechanisms in place that the city could u�lize, but he has not heard of it being done before. Billy men�oned that if the Commissioners have more ques�ons, they can reach out to him. 3. Review and Finalize Bylaws. -Devin shared that the bylaws were discussed last month in June, by 4 Commissioners. The items in red are proposed changes/things that were brought up or discussed from June. He also shared that Councilmember Coleman men�oned that a resident would like to include language on seniors and veterans in the bylaws. If there is a final version approved, we would then send that to the City Atorney’s office for final review and approval. Chair Cansino asked how would they include language on these topics. Devin shared that it would ul�mately be up to the Commissioners. Chair Cansino said that in Ar�cle V, since no groups are men�oned, we could list off services, like public safety services, “providing services and considering groups like our elders, as well as our veterans, etc.” Devin: that’s baked within the pre-exis�ng ordinance but it wouldn’t hurt to ask, but that might be harder to add/adjust. Commissioner Yee appreciates Chair Cansino’s comments and men�oned that what he was struggling with was Ar�cle V, commission roles. He is concerned that if we men�on some groups, then others will wonder about other groups. Devin: if we are to include this kind of verbiage, then he recommends that it is under as another line, perhaps under Ar�cle VI. Chair Cansino: is there a way to say that in Ar�cle VI – Vision? Devin: maybe through “targeted demographics” or through we are represen�ng, but we run the risk of not including folks. Commissioner Yee: assumes that the City Atorney can lead the Commission to the proper way to state things in a legal way. Chair Cansino asked for Devin’s recommenda�on. Devin men�oned that he thinks that it’s covered under vision. He thinks that the vision is prety succinct, and the line of “other oppressions to promote inequality…” in his opinion, in an effort to not sound redundant, is covered. Commissioner Yee: we parallel the federal protec�ons like race, religion, etc. Devin: yes, religion is not explicitly men�oned, but depending on the context, could be covered by the “other oppressions” line. This is ul�mately up to the Commission. It could be the very next line like “underrepresented groups” or targeted groups” but we need to be sure to be as thorough as possible. Devin reminded the Commission that the bylaws could always be updated at a later date—even if the bylaws were finalized, there will be an opportunity to update. Commissioner Yee: men�oned how are we going to focus on the oppressions or the groups of people. Devin again reminded the Commissioners that this could change. This commission will address ageism, etc. anyway. Devin: Key results, objec�ves, key performances, etc. there weren’t a lot of succinct responses here. Commissioner Sanders mo�oned to approve the bylaws as of now and will con�nue to update the bylaws as seen fit, seconded by Commissioner Hobson-Coard. 4. Review of mental health crisis response models and iden�ty priori�es for future Council presenta�on. Devin: if you jump to the back of the slides, there is a table. The recommenda�on was that this matrix/table includes other models, star�ng with the San Mateo County responses. Pu�ng this on one page to see all the comparisons and contrasts would be helpful. For Alameda, we are missing crisis and services, but because there are so many teams, there is a lot. Commissioner Sanders men�oned that we could list service from them and recommend to residents where to find more details. Devin: this is a comparison to be reported to Council, correct? Chair Cansino: this was a slide deck more so like a running tab for us to keep track of the presenta�ons we heard, not necessarily something we started out with presen�ng to Council first and foremost in mind. The part we present to Council is “here are our recommenda�ons.” Commissioner Yee said that he thought this presenta�on was a dra� to Council… Chair Cansino: clarified that this is a path for us, a way to keep things straight. She shared how she spoke with a Supervisor and asked them what the County’s mental health board is doing because they are looking at this—they are in the beginning parts of this, and they were interested to see how people were coming to present to them. She also wants to know when is the Commission slated to present and offer recommenda�ons to Council? Devin: A�er the pilot program is complete—once we have a final report, that’s when the recommenda�ons would come. He men�oned that perhaps Council would like to have an update on everything thus far to keep them in the loop. Chief Campbell shared that Star Vista is looking to have another staff person our way given that Mika has requested another extension. He also shared the program has been expanded to Pacifica, San Bruno, Foster City, Menlo Park, and Belmont. Chair Cansino: when do you recommend that we give our recommenda�ons to the City Council? Devin: that would come when the program is complete. He also suggested that this presenta�on also include feedback from PD. Chair Cansino shared that she thinks that Chief Campbell and Mika have done a great job, and that needs to go out there. Even problem solving how to cover Mika is brilliant and wants the greater community to be involved in these conversa�ons. Commissioner Yee asked: is this helpful or hur�ul to go to Council? Devin: have there been concerted dialogues/efforts between the ini�al four ci�es like quarterly check- ins? Chief: Yes, there are working groups. It sounds like some ci�es are si�ng back wai�ng to see what happens. Devin: if looking to give feedback, it would be helpful to go through PD, correct? The Chief answered yes, and the Chair asked a follow-up ques�on: who is si�ng in these mental health mee�ngs for us? Chief: the working group is the police chiefs, the captains managing the programs, county health, county board supervisors, and the city managers. Devin: so, we have good representa�on, and given that we are one of the 4 pilot ci�es, we are not going to be looked over. Devin asked Chief Campbell if there were any stats relevant to South San Francisco? Chief: there are graphs, etc. that are updated around every 3 months. Commissioner suggested that any update presenta�on or a Thursday Memo to Council could be a “tag- team” effort between the Commission and SSFPD. Devin: Thursday Memos are not necessarily for the public, but a formal presenta�on would be beter for the public, and that the recommenda�ons would be to move forward. Commissioner Hobson-Coard asked for clarifica�on on “moving forward.” Devin answered that it is based on the data and insights from the Gardner Center. ITEMS FROM COMMISSION There were no items from the Commission. ADJOURNMENT The mee�ng was adjourned at 8:43pm.