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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05.20.24 - Equity and Public Safety Commission Meeting MinutesCity of South San Francisco Minutes of the Commission on Equity and Public Safety Monday, May 20, 2024 Library | Parks and Recreation Center: Art Gallery 6:00 p.m. Committee Members: Present: Arnel Junio, Bianca Bedigian, Carol Sanders, Steven Yee, Alan Perez (arrived 6:13 p.m.) Absent: Krystle Cansino, Salvador Delgadillo, PaulaClaudine Hobson-Coard Staff Members: Present: Devin Stenhouse, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer Others: Present: Michael Harris, Tom Carney CALL TO ORDER The Meeting was called to order at 6:01 p.m. AGENDA REVIEW There are no changes to the agenda. ITEMS FROM STAFF MEMBERS 1. Officer Stenhouse announced the conclusion of the Every Kid Deserves a Bike program which ended at Martin Elementary School earlier that day. 2. Officer Stenhouse announced the South City Pride celebration will be occurring on Saturday, June 1 at 10:00 am, at City Hall and Grand Ave. PUBLIC COMMENT Michael Harris is a 78-year-old disabled veteran who served in two wars. He is a “Kamala Harris victim.” He lives in a house with no hot water, no furnace. He says the City dropped a light pole on his house in August 2009. His disability is in the form of hearing loss. He cannot fix his house. He describes incidents he’s had with the police. He says he desperately needs help. He’s also had issues with the previous city manager and former fire chief. Tom Carney speaks about the MSB. He says the last census showed there are over 15,000 seniors in South San Francisco. Over 400 people signed a petition to speak to Council about what to do with the building. He lives in District 5 and says it is one of the most disadvantaged areas of the county. He’s lived in the neighborhood for over 35 years. He talks about the problems in the neighborhood and downtown. There are not enough resources for seniors. He says they go to neighboring cities for services. He advocates for opening up the MSB for children and seniors to use. The two members of the public leave the meeting at 6:13 p.m. MATTERS FOR CONSIDERATION 1. Approval of minutes from March 18, 2024. Commissioner Bedigian motioned and Commissioner Yee seconded. The Commission voted to approve the minutes 5-0. 2. Approval of minutes from April 15, 2024. Commissioner Bedigian motioned and Vice Chair Perez seconded. The Commission voted to approve the minutes 5-0. 3. Finalize schedule for tabling at June 1 South City Pride celebration. Officer Stenhouse provided a tentative schedule and asks for commissioners to confirm. Chair Junio confirms registering the Commission for the event. Commissioner Bedigian says she’s not available. Commissioner Sanders is available starting at noon. Chair Junio is available in the morning. Officer Stenhouse lists things the Commission might need for the event, like tablecloths and swag. He asks commissioners to send him things they would like to order. He recommends ordering soon. Commissioner Yee asks about the location of the table. Officer Stenhouse explains that a third party is responsible for assigning the booths. Commissioner Bedigian asks if there’s a budget for the swag. Officer Stenhouse says there is a budget, but there is no specific number. Commissioner Bedigian believes it’s important to have enticing giveaways. Chair Junio talks about games that determine random prizes to give out. Commissioner Yee asks for ideas and ways to partner with other vendors that relate to equity, to cross promote each other. He asks how to collaborate with others. Commissioner Sanders brings up a stamp/bingo card idea that incentivizes people to visit multiple booths. Officer Stenhouse discusses how this would logistically work. Some express concerns about timing. Commissioner Bedigian states that they would need to find out which vendors would want to participate. Commissioner Bedigian asks if there’s an estimate on expected attendance. Officer Stenhouse says this is the first time for the event. The expectation is 1,000 people. Commissioner Sanders asks if there is advertisement for the event. Officer Stenhouse lists the different places the event is advertised. Chair Junio suggests that the Commission focus on the swag rather than getting other vendors to participate given the time constraints. He thought that they would be looking at samples at this point. He asks about the tablecloth provided. Officer Stenhouse says the City can provide a tablecloth, but he points out that they should have one that identifies the Commission. Commissioner Bedigian suggests a tablecloth color that stands out. Commissioner Yee wonders if that makes sense in terms of branding. He asks what other commissions do. Commissioner Bedigian offers to do the shopping. Commissioner Yee expresses that he doesn’t want to give away swag that is “cheap.” He also states that he would like the Commission to collaborate with others for future events, that the Commission should be the “bridge” connecting different people and groups. Chair Junio agrees and likes that idea. Commissioner Yee asks what the confidence level of the group is to communicate the same message to others, to consistently convey the main message of the Commission for the interest of the City. Chair Junio says that’s a good question. He says he would refer to the website. He recommends that all commissioners familiarize themselves with the message on the website so that they can all be consistent when communicating with others. Commissioner Sanders asks about tabling at the event and if they would have the opportunity to walk away from the table to meet and talk with other people. Officer Stenhouse says that if there is at least one person at the table, then they can switch and circulate. There may be some overlap between tabling shifts that would allow for commissioners to walk around. Commissioner Yee points out that the overlap is nice to have so that the commissioners can swap information with each other. Officer Stenhouse reminds commissioners they need confirmation that at least one other commissioner who is not currently in attendance will need to be available to help operate the booth in the afternoon considering Chair Junio and Vice Chair Perez will not be available in the afternoon. In this scenario, there would be two shifts split by four commissioners instead of three shifts split by six commissioners. Commissioner Sanders confirms she will not renege on her commitment to table, but prefers to be there will someone else. Officer Stenhouse confirms the next steps with the commissioners. He says that the Commission was founded based on the Racial Equity Action Plan and that the commissioners can print out the short version of the plan. Some of the data from the report can be displayed at the table. Commissioner Sanders believes it would be good to highlight statistics related to issues that have been discussed recently, like childcare. She also asks what to do if someone asks a direct question. Commissioner Sanders thinks that the commissioners may get questions that they cannot answer, like if they were asked for their stance regarding a controversial issue. Commissioner Bedigian thinks that tabling is a great opportunity just to inform the public about the Commission’s monthly meetings. She also suggests having something interactive, like a posterboard to write on, to allow people to vote or voice their concerns about certain topics. The group likes the idea. They like the engagement and data gathering aspects. Commissioner Bedigian says it’ll give the Commission guidance on who to reach out to for more information and resources to help residents. Commissioner Sanders points out that councilmembers who attend the event will be able to see what people are writing down and have a better understanding of the needs of the community. Commissioner Yee wonders if they can do a contact card of some sort to help point people where to go for more information or if they have questions. Chair Junio likes the idea of having a QR code available that takes people to the website. Officer Stenhouse supports the idea of a whiteboard or poster board for visitors to write their concerns. He says, unlike other vendors who are giving items away, this concept allows visitors to provide the commission with information which may provide topics for discussions at commission meetings. He said, this could be the format for how the commission tables at events in the future. Commissioner Sanders likes the idea of the white board but expressed concern about the weather. She says they should have a clear idea about what they want people to write down. Commissioner Yee cautions the group about making decisions and focusing on a topic based on data collected from a small sample size. Commissioner Sanders says that they have been hearing concerns throughout the years, and there are some that repeatedly come up. Commissioner Yee agrees and just want to make sure all information is taken into account, not just what is gathered at one event. Chair Junio would like to finalize a decision on tablecloth color. Vice Chair Perez suggests black. Commissioner Yee likes either blue or green. Commissioner Bedigian likes turquoise. Commissioner Sanders likes black. Chair Junio likes the black tablecloth idea. The group decides on a black tablecloth with the city seal and white text. Commissioner Sanders asks if there’s anything to wear to identify the commissioners. Chair Junio reminds everyone of the purpose of the commission. ADMINISTRATIVE BUSINESS There are no items for this meeting. ITEMS FROM BOARD MEMBERS, COMMISSIONERS, COMMITTEE MEMBERS 1. Webpage subcommittee update. Commissioner Sanders says the subcommittee is looking for a consensus on what each commissioner wants to have in their bio. Commissioner Yee recommends using some of the questions that were asked in their commissioner application. Chair Junio asks for clarification if individual headshots would be shown or just a group photo. Commissioner Yee explains that having both on the website would be good. Chair Junio likes the sample/idea provided. Officer Stenhouse describes different options for formatting the bios. Commissioner Bedigian says there is information that she does not necessarily want to post on the website. Commissioner Yee explains that the questions are just points to cover in the bio. The bio would be written as a paragraph, not in question/answer format. Officer Stenhouse reminds the group of the time. Chair Junio thanks him and says it’s important to be mindful of everyone’s time. 2. Officer Stenhouse requests moving the next meeting date. The Commission voted to move the June 17, 2024 meeting to June 24, 2024, 5-0. 3. Vice Chair Perez announced that he will be moving to Chicago within the next few months, which means he will need to resign from the commission. ADJOURNMENT Chair Junio adjourned the meeting at 7:59 p.m.