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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03.18.24 - Equity and Public Safety Commission Meeting MinutesCity of South San Francisco Minutes of the Commission on Equity and Public Safety Monday, March 18, 2024 City Hall: City Manager Conference Room 6:00 p.m. Committee Members: Present: Arnel Junio, Alan Perez, Bianca Bedigian, PaulaClaudine Hobson-Coard, Carol Sanders, Salvador Delgadillo, Steven Yee (arrived at 6:32 p.m.) Absent: Krystle Cansino Staff Members: Present: Devin Stenhouse, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer Others: Present: Scott Campbell, Chief of Police CALL TO ORDER The Meetfng was called to order at 6:01 p.m. AGENDA REVIEW There are no changes to the agenda. ITEMS FROM STAFF MEMBERS 1. Provide an update to the commission regarding the status of the Municipal Services Building (Devin Stenhouse, DEI Officer) Officer Stenhouse explains that the City has no plans right now for the building. He provides background informatfon regarding the community’s interest in preserving the building. He says that Mayor Coleman is open to a discussion with the public. Questfons Vice Chair Perez: Where did this idea originate? • Officer Stenhouse does not know. 2. Provide a summary of the Public Safety Meeting on Friday, March 8 (Devin Stenhouse, DEI Officer) Officer Stenhouse explains that the meetfng was a result of the shootfng at St. Augustfne Church. Chief Campbell provides more details of the incident. Questfons Chair Junio asks for verificatfon that the shooter is a resident of San Francisco. • Chief Campbell confirms. • Chair Junio finds it odd that this church was the target. • Chief Campbell offers more informatfon about the shooter including that the shooter’s last name is the link to the church. He also lists the various resources law enforcement used to track down the shooter. Vice Chair Perez: Regarding crime stats, are there any categories that have elevated since 2019 and remain elevated? • Chief Campbell: It’s up and down all over the place. • Vice Chair Perez: It’s nice to see catalytfc converters coming down. • Chief Campbell: A lot of our property crimes have gone down where other citfes are seeing them rise. Commissioner Bedigian: Is there one area or type of crime residents are most concerned about? • Chief Campbell: Property crime is impactfng a lot of citfes. Flash mob vehicle burglaries, stolen vehicles, and general property crime. Not a lot of violent crimes. • Commissioner Hobson-Coard: What about home invasions? • Chief Campbell: We had two home invasions over the last three years, and they were committed by people who were associated with the residents. No random home invasions. Commissioner Hobson-Coard: Are there a lot of fentanyl cases? • Chief Campbell: We have found that most if not all the fentanyl were purchased in San Francisco. We’re trying to stay on top of it. We’re working with the DA on stronger charges against those who sell fentanyl that result in a death. Commissioner Hobson-Coard: What is “Mental Health Commitment?” • Chief Campbell: When an officer or clinician determines that an individual needs immediate assistance and is detained. The clinician follows up and provides resources to get the individual on the right path. We’re seeing a decrease in repeat commitments, and we’re hoping it contfnues in that directfon. Commissioner Bedigian: How often are you seeing that minors are involved? • Chief Campbell: We do not arrest a lot of juveniles. The school district has their own programs in place. We’re working with a partnership program that focuses on youth. • Vice Chair Perez: Do you have a sense of how that number compares to 10 or 20 years ago? • Chief Campbell: I’ve been here for 26 years. It’s hard to scale it because of populatfon growth. The policies and procedures have changed, which skews the numbers. • Vice Chair Perez: So more of rules changing rather than behaviors changing among adolescence. • Chief Campbell: Different approaches. Commissioner Hobson-Coard: Burglaries went down by almost half. • Chief Campbell: Most burglaries were storage units. We’ve worked with storage units to increase security. The City was undergoing a lot of constructfon, and thefts were happening at the constructfon sites. 3. Other announcements Officer Stenhouse announces a few save the dates: • Every Kid Deserves A Bike (EKDAB) program o May 2 – Parkway Heights o May 4 – Monte Verde, Ponderosa, Buri Buri (at former West Orange Library parking lot) o May 6 – Los Cerritos o May 10 – Sunshine Gardens o May 16 – Spruce o May 20 – Martfn • June 1 – Pride Celebratfon on Grand Avenue • June 8 – San Mateo County Pride Festfval Commissioner Delgadillo states that he has partfcipated in EKDAB program before. He was shocked at how many kids didn’t know how to ride a bike. • Officer Stenhouse reflects on how emotfonal and beneficial the program is. PUBLIC COMMENT No public comments were made. Chair Junio says he is surprised that with so many public comments made at the previous City Council meetfng that there are none here. He believes that is due to lack of exposure and reiterates the need to increase exposure of the commission to the public. Chair Junio brings up that Councilmember Nagales would like to receive updates from the commission. • Officer Stenhouse asks for clarificatfon. • Commissioner Sanders suggests that perhaps Councilmember Nagales just wants to hear from the commissioners directly. • Commissioner Hobson-Coard says she’s heard the same request from Councilmember Nagales. Officer Stenhouse summarizes the public comments received at the two previous Council meetfngs. The comments either advocated for or were against a proclamatfon of a ceasefire in Gaza. • Commissioner Yee says he watched some of the comments and overall most people were respectiul. • Officer Stenhouse reminds commissioners that if public comments are made at a meetfng regarding items not on the agenda, commissioners are not permitted to respond. MATTERS FOR CONSIDERATION 1. Approval of Minutes from February 26, 2024. Commissioner Hobson-Coard motfoned and Commissioner Bedigian seconded. The Commission voted to approve the minutes 7-0. ITEMS FROM BOARD MEMBERS, COMMISSIONERS, COMMITTEE MEMBERS 1. Equity and Public Safety Webpage Sub-Committee Update Commissioner Yee gives a brief introductfon regarding the files provided (compiled by Commissioner Sanders and Commissioner Yee). The first part is South City inspiratfon of different pages. The second part lists similar commissions/groups outside of the City. Chair Junio: How many citfes have equity commissions? • Commissioner Yee: I only found San Francisco. Millbrae is new and does not have a web page yet. Commissioner Yee brings up the confusion that may be caused by the different names for the commission. One web page shows “The South San Francisco Commission on Racial and Social Equity” and another page shows “Equity and Public Safety Commission.” Vice Chair Perez notfced that the only way to get to the commission page is to scroll down on the Boards and Commissions page. He notes that it would be preferred if the page is listed in the left navigatfon. • Commissioner Sanders agrees that it’s hard to get to the page. • Officer Stenhouse informs the commission that a new website is currently in development. He advises commissioners to focus on the page content rather than the navigatfon. Commissioner Sanders: What do you mean when you say, “I can build a page?” • Officer Stenhouse explains that he can create new pages on the City’s website. • Commissioner Sanders asks about the Granicus page. o Officer Stenhouse explains that the pages for minutes is a separate website from the commission page; he would not be adding pages to that website. Commissioner Yee and Commissioner Sanders present examples from California’s Racial Equity Commission and San Francisco Community Equity Advisory Council. • California’s Racial Equity Commission o Example pages: About, Members (with links to bios), Meetfng Info/Agendas, Contact Us, Resources • San Francisco Community Equity Advisory Council (under the Planning Department) o Example pages: About, Members (with short bios), Meetfng Info, Strategies, Contact o Commissioner Hobson-Coard asks what type of informatfon is in the bios. ▪ Commissioner Yee says some give background and some have Q&A. o Chair Junio comments on how they seem to be focused on housing since they are part of the Planning Department. He states that this commission (SSF) is broader and is stfll finding its identfty. ▪ Commissioner Yee agrees that the web page is where they can state what the commission is focused on. • Chair Junio says he likes the aesthetfcs of the California’s Racial Equity Commission pages. It’s easy on the eyes. Easy and simple is good. o Commissioner Yee: We like the simple and direct. • Officer Stenhouse asks what the San Francisco Community Equity Advisory Council’s summaries look like. o Commissioner Yee looks at one and says they are really simple, short summaries. • Commissioner Yee points out the differences and similaritfes between the two samples. Commissioner Yee and Commissioner Sanders would like to incorporate resources and strategies into this commission’s web page. o Commissioner Delgadillo appreciates the presentatfon of the examples. Commissioner Sanders asks if the commission’s page would come up in a Google search. • Officer Stenhouse says he can’t guarantee anything. There is an actfon report that shows up. He makes suggestfons on how the different pages and links can be shown. He suggests removing the old commission page and putting that informatfon into a PDF that the new page links to. Commissioner Yee presents a spreadsheet on web page comparisons of features and content types. • Chair Junio, referring to the data, points out that only two of the sites contain member bios, which is surprising. • Commissioner Yee asks the commission what features they would want to include. o Commissioner Sanders urges the group to make decisions now so that changes can be made soon. • Features/Content Types: o About/Vision/Mission/Purpose/Strategies/Goals ▪ The group decides this is important. o Dutfes/Tasks/Responsibilitfes ▪ Commissioner Bedigian asks for clarificatfon. ▪ Officer Stenhouse explains that the About/Vision would include the bylaws, which is more general. This category would be more specific in terms of dutfes and responsibilitfes. ▪ Commissioner Yee points out that the dutfes are listed on the current page. Officer Stenhouse clarifies that this language is pulled directly from the bylaws. ▪ Commissioner Sanders asks if there are City protocols that define what are considered to be “dutfes” etc. ▪ Commissioner Bedigian explains that it’s important to have a place where the dutfes/responsibilitfes are stated should they need to reference them. ▪ The group agrees to include responsibilitfes into About, and that there is no need for a separate page. o Resolutfons/Outcomes/Our Work ▪ Commissioner Sanders would like to include this and explains why. ▪ The group decides to add this page. o Bylaws/Chapter/Charter/Principles ▪ The group agrees to keep this page. o Members/Staff List ▪ The group agrees to keep this page. o Members/Staff Bio ▪ Chair Junio says he is not against this but asks about what that would look like. Would a template be used? ▪ Commissioner Sanders says commissioners should be able to share what they want to share. ▪ Commissioner Delgadillo agrees and says to keep it professional. ▪ Vice Chair Perez suggests the bio only needs to be a few sentences and to think about what South San Francisco residents would want to know about their commissioners. ▪ Commissioner Sanders agrees to include qualificatfons. ▪ Commissioner Yee shares that the bios he has seen are varied. ▪ Chair Junio reiterates how surprising it is that only two of the sites have bios. ▪ The group decides to add this page. o Meetfngs ▪ The group agrees to keep this page. o Agendas ▪ The group agrees to keep this page. o Minutes ▪ The group agrees to keep this page. o Recordings ▪ The group agrees to keep this page. o Calendar/Events ▪ Commissioner Delgadillo asks who would be updatfng this. ▪ Officer Stenhouse says he would update but cautfons against oversaturatfon as there are a lot of events. There are also programs that occur over multfple days. ▪ Commissioner Sanders suggests linking to events under Resources. ▪ Commissioner Yee wonders if there would be commission specific events. ▪ Chair Junio thinks it would be good to include events hosted by Council (like Coffee with the Vice Mayor). ▪ Officer Stenhouse points out that not everything has to be included for the launch. Events could be a page added later on. ▪ Vice Chair Perez asks if there is a budget for the commission. ▪ Officer Stenhouse says the City Manager’s Office would support however they could within reason. ▪ The group agrees to add this page for commission specific events only. o Resources/Data/Related Info ▪ Vice Chair Perez would like to include presentatfons and reports on this page. ▪ Chair Junio wonders if past presentatfons would be included in the Recordings page. ▪ Officer Stenhouse recommends that if these pages are to be created that they should be contfnuously updated with current informatfon. ▪ The group decides to hold off on creatfng this page. They will gather resources over tfme and decide what should be added at a later date. o Contact Us ▪ The group agrees to keep this page. ▪ Commissioner Sanders asks to confirm that the email address listed would be Officer Stenhouse’s. ▪ Officer Stenhouse confirms and says there would be access to a complaint form. ▪ Commissioner Yee indicates that “complaint” may not be the right word as there are other reasons to contact the commission (like public comments or suggestfons). ▪ Commissioner Sanders wants it to be clear that the commission does not have power to make actual changes. ▪ Officer Stenhouse believes it’s important to have his contact informatfon listed. For public comments, it’s possible that the commission will be contacted about issues that should be addressed by other commissions. ▪ Commissioner Yee poses the questfon to the group if they want to be the “triage,” the first point of contact since the commission encompasses a broad range of topics. ▪ The group is hesitant about that idea. o Applicatfon/Nominatfon/Selectfon ▪ Group agrees to keep this page. Officer Stenhouse will start building new pages as next steps. Commissioner Yee asks the commissioners for feedback on the presentatfon and the spreadsheet created by the subcommittee. • The group gives positfve feedback and says it was helpful. • Vice Chair Perez says it was more than he expected. • Chair Junio says he got a lot out of it. It was very informatfve. He thanks Commissioner Sanders and Commissioner Yee. Commissioner Yee asks if anything else is needed from the subcommittee. • Officer Stenhouse suggests putting some thought into what the bios would look like. An agreed format would be helpful. • Officer Stenhouse asks about headshots. o The group indicates they want to get a group photograph. • Officer Stenhouse clarifies how the subcommittee should communicate with other commissioners so as not to violate the Brown Act. ADJOURNMENT Chair Junio adjourned the meetfng at 8:12pm.