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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08.12.24 - Equity and Public Safety Commission Meeting MinutesCity of South San Francisco Minutes of the Commission on Equity and Public Safety Monday, August 12, 2024 City Hall: City Manager Conference Room 2:00 p.m. Committee Members: Present: Bianca Bedigian, Krystle Cansino, PaulaClaudine Hobson-Coard, Carol Sanders, Steven Yee Absent: Arnel Junio Staff Members: Present: Devin Stenhouse, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer CALL TO ORDER The Meeting was called to order at 2:04 p.m. AGENDA REVIEW There are no changes to the agenda. ITEMS FROM STAFF MEMBERS 1. Presentation on the Every Kid Deserves a Bike Program 2024. Officer Stenhouse gives a recap of this year’s program. He begins the presentation with the history of the program (when, why, and how it got started). The focus is on Title 1 schools. He lists all the items that were given away. Officer Stenhouse reads a testimony from a parent. He talks about the collaborative effort between many different groups and organizations that helped make this program possible. He goes over the plans for next year and improvements for future events. Questions/Comments Commissioner Yee agrees with taking steps to prioritize safety. He asks why the City is working with a group (Safe Moves) that is located so far away (Van Nuys). Officer Stenhouse explains that Safe Moves specifically educates children in the age group of the program’s recipients, whereas local bicycle organizations are more focused on educating adults to be at a more competitive level. Commissioner Yee talks about the new pavement projects and seeing new bike lanes being painted. He says there’s a collaboration opportunity between the Planning Division/Commission and this program. Commissioner Yee admits that he does not know how to ride a bike. He mentions an upcoming Silicon Valley Bike Summit event and asks about the City’s involvement. Officer Stenhouse says the City is not involved. Commissioner Cansino asks if any NPS (non-public schools) can get involved since there are so many bikes left over. She wonders about students who have special needs who are unable to attend a public school. Officer Stenhouse explains that the funding for the bicycles came from a grant that has specific rules on how the money can be spent. Commissioner Bedigian agrees that some of the students who attend NPS, like ones who have an IEP (individual education plan), should be eligible to participate in the program. The group agrees that it would be good to expand eligibility to all low-income households, not just students of Title 1 schools. Commissioner Sanders wants to find ways to incentivize riding bikes to school to encourage recipients to continue riding their bikes. Commissioner Yee asks what percentage of South City students are homeschooled. Commissioner Bedigian says the school district should have that information. Officer Stenhouse wants to take into consideration how to get more flexibility with spending when applying for future grants. Commissioner Cansino believes it would be good if the Commission can review grant applications before they get submitted to ensure they are equitable and accessible for everyone. Commissioner Bedigian would like to let department heads know that Commissioners would be interested in providing support (focused on equity) with grant writing. Commissioner Cansino says that a similar support should be placed on RFPs (request for proposal) to ensure the City is utilizing vendors who are equitable. Commissioner Bedigian talks about her experience volunteering for one of the events. She says there was a language barrier between some of the students and that having translation services would have been beneficial. Officer Stenhouse informs the group that waivers and surveys are filled out by participants. The questions are simple and general. He also explains that there are some people who have opted out of the program for many various reasons. Commissioner Hobson-Coard says this is a great program. She’s thinking about how to provide assisted devices to the senior community as well as educate them on how to use these items. She talks about a program called Sunshine Gardens Pharmacy that give out assisted devices for free. Commissioner Yee leaves at 3:08 p.m. and returns at 3:11 p.m. PUBLIC COMMENT No public comments were made. MATTERS FOR CONSIDERATION 1. Approval of Minutes from June 24, 2024. Commissioner Yee motions, and Commissioner Cansino seconds. The Commission votes to approve the minutes 5-0. 2. Update on the City’s new website. Officer Stenhouse summarizes the status of commission web pages on the new website. He asks if the Commissioners would like to include headshots and/or biographies on the website. Commissioner Yee reminds everyone that it was previously decided to include headshots, and biographies would include points taken from the commission application form. Commissioner Cansino wants it to be a requirement for Commissioners to include their pronouns in their bios. She suggests including how one “identifies” and leaving that up to each commissioner’s interpretation. Commissioner Bedigian thinks it’s important to include why commissioners joined this Commission and explain what he/she hopes to achieve. Commissioner Cansino reads a sample bio. Officer Stenhouse lists points from the sample bio that can be included in the Commissioner bios. He says another option would be to not have a template and let Commissioners write their bios however they want as long as it is within a certain length. The group agrees that diverse biographies would be reflective of the diversity of the Commission. Commissioner Yee asks if they should share their bios with each other for feedback prior to posting. Commissioner Cansino says that can be an option but shouldn’t be a requirement. The group looks at a few bios from the Library Board on the City website for ideas. Commissioner Hobson-Coard thinks that the Commission’s biographies can be more unique to reflect each person’s individuality. Officer Stenhouse states that commissioner applications were due recently, so by the next meeting, there may be up to two new commissioners in this commission. The group decides that the only requirement for the biographies is to include a reason for joining this commission. It is recommended to include pronouns. The aim is for 150 words and not to exceed 200 words. Officer Stenhouse instructs to use appropriate language and reminds everyone that they are representing the City of South San Francisco. ITEMS FROM BOARD MEMBERS, COMMISSIONERS, COMMITTEE MEMBERS 1. Commissioner Yee asks for confirmation of the next Commission Meeting. Officer Stenhouse confirms the next meeting will be on Monday, September 16, and the following meeting will be Monday, October 21. 2. Commissioner Hobson-Coard wants to discuss the possibility of changing the Commission Meeting times. Commissioner Hobson-Coard is in favor of meeting earlier in the afternoon versus the evening. Commissioner Sanders prefers the afternoon time. Commissioner Cansino says that she works Mondays through Thursdays, so she would be open to meeting in the afternoon on Fridays. Commissioner Yee says that while he is flexible, he would like to be as accessible to the public as possible. Since most people work during the day, he would opt for the evening time, when most people would be available, in order to serve their interest. Commissioner Bedigian says she is flexible and has the same concern about being accessible to the public. She believes one of the goals of the Commission is to get more public participation and having an evening meeting would better suit the public’s needs. Commissioner Yee wonders if it’s possible to alternate days and times each month in order to capture a wider audience and to be as accessible as possible. Officer Stenhouse says the City Clerk would have to approve this. He reminds the group that all Commissioners have to agree on the regular meeting day and time and that there may be new commissioners joining soon who have already agreed to meeting every third Monday at 6:00 p.m. Commissioner Yee asks if there is an end time for the meetings. Officer Stenhouse says there is no end time in the bylaws, but Chair Junio has been trying to keep meetings to two hours long to be mindful of everyone’s time. Commissioner Bedigian asks Officer Stenhouse if he’s ever seen any push back regarding the meeting time from presenters. He says no. Officer Stenhouse says that the group can discuss changing the meeting location if desired. He says that if the Library | Parks and Recreation Center is where Commissioners want to meet, the Council Chambers would be the best room to use. 3. Commissioner Yee asks about the next retreat. Officer Stenhouse says the retreat would be considered a special meeting. He lists different ideas for what the retreat could be and asks the group to think about what they want to do. Commissioner Bedigian was not at the previous retreat and asks for more information. Officer Stenhouse gives a summary of what happened. Commissioner Cansino brings up the fact that a member of the public showed up with concerns at the last retreat. 4. Who will be the vice chair? Officer Stenhouse reminds the group of the rotation previously decided on. He will put this item into the agenda for the next meeting to confirm. He mentions that Greg Mediati, Parks and Recreation Director, will be presenting at the next meeting. 5. Topics to discuss at the next meeting. Commissioner Bedigian would like to figure out meetings for the rest of the year because the holidays are coming up. ADJOURNMENT Commissioner Hobson-Coard adjourns the meeting at 4:20 p.m.