1. CALL TO ORDER/ AGENDA CHANGES

President Debbie Mesloh called the meeting to order at 4:10 pm.

President Mesloh announced that the Strategic Planning meeting will take place on Friday, February 9, 2019 from 10 am to 2 pm and held at the Veteran’s War Memorial Building, 401 Van Ness Avenue, Room 125.

President Mesloh noted that this is an exciting year since starting in January 2019 there are now 131 women serving in Congress.

President Mesloh spoke about the 2017 Family Violence Council Report that was recently released, and she applauded Women’s Policy Director Minouche Kandel’s work on the report and noted that several media outlets covered the release.

No Changes to the agenda were submitted.

Action: To approve agenda

m/s/c(Soo/Shorter/Unanimous except for
Zwart not yet present, Absent: Harris and Schwab-Pomerantz)

No Public Comment.

2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Commissioner Julie Soo requested that the following be added to Item 3b on page 3: “Commissioner Soo also noted that the majority of calls to law enforcement were from the African American community, she observed that unlike the Latinx and API communities the African American community relies heavily on law enforcement because there is a lack of designated NGOs serving that community.”

Action: To approve amended minutes from December 12, 2018.

m/s/c(Soo/Zwart/Unanimous except for
Absent: Harris and Schwab-Pomerantz)

No Public Comment.

3. DIRECTOR’S REPORT

Dr. Emily Murase provided highlights of the Director's Report.

Commissioner Soo asked to be included in meetings of the Alliance for Girls and the San Francisco Unified School District. Livier Gutierrez, Program Director at Alliance for Girls who was attending the meeting informed the Commission of the following meeting schedule:

• Community Meeting, Wednesday, February 6 from 4:30 - 6 pm at
  Martin Luther King, Jr. Academic Middle School, 350 Girard Street.
• Webinar on Study Findings, Tuesday, February 12 from 12:30 - 2:30 pm.
• Community Meeting, Wednesday, March 6 from 4:30 – 6:00 pm at
  Mission High School, 3750 18^th Street.

Vice President Breanna Zwart requested an update on the salary negotiations workshop. President Mesloh suggested that the Friends of the Commission be invited to provide an update to the Commission at an upcoming meeting.

Commissioner Soo suggested reaching out to Jennifer Siebel Newsom to engage her on girls and STEM.

No Public Comment.

4. CONSENT AGENDA

Action: To approve the Consent Agenda.

m/s/c(Soo/Melara/Unanimous except for
Absent: Harris and Schwab-Pomerantz)

1. Resolution Recognizing Women's Policy Director Minouche Kandel

The Commission presented Ms. Kandel with a resolution of honor as she leaves her position at the Department to take a staff attorney position at the ACLU of Southern California. President Mesloh recounted that Ms. Kandel has demonstrated an extraordinary commitment to serving women and girls in San Francisco for over 20 years, including working as a staff attorney for Bay Area Legal Aid for over a decade and, for the past five years, working with the Department as its Women’s Policy Director. President Mesloh went on to list some of the many communities and projects that Ms. Kandel has helped build-up or strengthen: survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking; her leadership role in supporting the Family Violence Council which is dedicated to ending: child abuse, domestic violence, and elder abuse; she pioneered the Domestic Violence Liaison Program to bring peer resources to city employees experiencing violence at home; she led the work of the Campus Sexual Assault Task Force with its powerful recommendations; she steered the Mayor’s Task Force on Anti Human Trafficking through its crucial years of growth; she developed the first comprehensive report on human trafficking in San Francisco and supervised the release of three additional reports in successive years; and she has fiercely advocated for local passage of the Prioritizing Safety for Sex Workers policy that affords sex workers safe access to law enforcement and inspired state legislation, AB 2243, signed by Governor Jerry Brown in 2018. President Mesloh concluded that Ms. Kandel’s tremendous contributions have left an indelible mark and improved the status of women and girls in San Francisco.

Ms. Kandel expressed appreciation for the recognition. She stated that she found the work at the Department making the world safer for women and girls extremely rewarding. She thanked her colleagues at the Department for their deep friendship and support, and especially thanked Dr. Murase. She also acknowledged community members who made her professional life very rich and rewarding. Finally, she thanked her life partner Rick Sheinfield for fully sharing parenting responsibilities and providing steadfast support.

On a personal note, Ms. Kandel explained that she is a first generation American, and that both her parents were refugees from the Holocaust. She explained that her role model was her Grandmother Sarah who was part of the Jewish Resistance during World War II. She inherited the tremendous stubbornness and inexhaustible persistence of her grandmother that assured the survival of her parents and extended family.

Public Comment:

1. Roberta Guise, FemResources, described Ms. Kandel as “indefatigable.” She spoke about Ms. Kandel’s inexhaustible energy.
2. Liz Aguilar-Tarchi, former head of the Domestic Violence Unit at the District Attorney’s Office, recounted the truly brilliant amicus brief in the Claire Joyce Tempongko domestic violence homicide case that Ms. Kandel wrote, that she believed, led the California Supreme Court to affirm the second-degree murder verdict that the jury delivered in the case.
3. Suzy Loftus, Sheriff’s Department, commended Ms. Kandel for her extraordinary career. She recognized Ms. Kandel as one of the invisible hands keeping San Francisco safe.
4. Beverly Upton, San Francisco Domestic Violence Consortium and one of the tri-chairs of the Family Violence Council, thanked Ms. Kandel for her tremendous service to the community. As one of the tri-chairs of the Family Violence Council, Ms. Upton stated that the Council would not have been as strong as it has been without Ms. Kandel’s tireless work.
5. Katie Albright, Safe & Sound, and one of the tri-chairs of the Family Violence Council, summarized remarks from her colleagues who described Ms. Kandel as ethical, incredible impact on hundreds of thousands of families, transformed work on human trafficking, protected victims of sex and labor trafficking, balanced constituencies, Incredible working mom, role model, and hero.
6. Emberly Cross, Cooperative Restraining Order Clinic, described Ms. Kandel as the smartest lawyer, fiercest advocate, and kindest mother that she knows.
7. Dr. Jane Bernard-Powers, Democratic Women in Action, member of the Friends of the Commission on the Status of Women, and the Women’s Intercultural Network, thanked Ms. Kandel for her contributions to change and strengthen the community.
8. Assistant Sheriff Kathy Johnson, on behalf of Sheriff Vicky Hennessy, presented a commendation to Ms. Kandel for her tremendous work. On a personal note, Assistant Sheriff Johnson stated that she views Ms. Kandel as a role model and strong advocate for working mothers everywhere.

Commissioner Soo thanked Ms. Kandel for her work in training policy interns and fellows on women’s issues and navigating the policy development process and implementation. She recognized Ms. Kandel’s work on the anti-human trafficking campaign during the Super Bowl 50.

Commissioner Andrea Shorter recalled that when Ms. Kandel first joined the Department, the news brought a huge smile to her face. She stated that Ms. Kandel has advanced the cause of women, girls, victim/survivors of violence and set a high standard for how we work together to address the needs of vulnerable populations.

Commissioner Sonia Melara stated that she had invited Ms. Kandel to speak about human trafficking in her course at San Francisco State University and that it was extremely well received by the students.

Vice President Zwart stated that it has been a joy to work with Ms. Kandel. She described her as innovative, inclusive, creative, and an authority at the local, state, and global levels.

President Mesloh thanked all the speakers, and she presented Ms. Kandel with a scarf depicting the women of the resistance from the Commission.

5. OLD BUSINESS

1. 2018 Girl’s Report

Public Policy Fellow Mollie Read presented the final 2018 Report on the Status of Girls in San Francisco for Commission approval.

Commissioner Melara asked about the source data. Dr. Murase explained that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control conducts a Youth Risk Behavioral Survey with the San Francisco Unified School District, so the data is reflective of San Francisco girls.

Commissioner Soo expressed her strong recommendation to break out the Chinese language data points into Mandarin and Cantonese. She also asked for clarification on Physics C and whether that was a course that required calculus and if that could be spelled out.

Commissioner Shorter praised the report, saying that it was the best edition so far. She also asked if there were any longitudinal studies of young women up to the age of 24. Dr. Murase responded that Kaiser Foundation has conducted a 12-year longitudinal study of girls from the age of 5 to 17. However, a proposal to extend the study to women between the ages of 18 to 24 was not funded. She suggested that there could be a recommendation to conduct research on young women in this age group. Commissioner Shorter supported the recommendation. She acknowledged the narrative of a young woman from the Young Women’s Freedom Center included in the report. She urged that Mayor London Breed be informed of and engaged in this important work.

Director Murase expressed appreciation to Ms. Read for her tremendous work on the report. The Director reported that Ms. Read will be concluding her fellowship with the Department at the end of the month and thanked Ms. Read for her many contributions to the work of the Department.

Vice President Zwart suggested that the recommendations reflect some of the compelling individual-level narrative as well as the challenge of cyber bullying and harassment. She pointed out that online harassment has become a major issue for girls.

Commissioner Melara asked that the Commission consider expanding its work on girls.

President Mesloh asked that this be included in the Commission agenda for the February 8 strategic planning meeting. She thanked Ms. Read for her extraordinary efforts on the report.

Action: To approve the 2018 Report on the Status of Girls in San Francisco.

m/s/c(Melara/Shorter/Unanimous except for
Absent: Harris and Schwab-Pomerantz)

No Public Comment.

 

 

6. NEW BUSINESS

1. Proposed FY2019/2020 Department Budget

Anna Duning, Fiscal & Policy Analyst at the Mayor’s Budget Office gave an overview of the City’s budget and the Mayor’s priorities. Fiscal Analyst Natalie Alvarez presented the Department’s proposed budget which is based on instructions from the Mayor’s Budget Office.

Action: To approve the Proposed FY2019/2020 Department Budget.

m/s/c(Melara/Mesloh/Unanimous except for
Absent: Harris and Schwab-Pomerantz)

Public Comment:

1. Beverly Upton, San Francisco Domestic Violence Consortium and one of the tri-chairs of the Family Violence Council, asked for the continued support of the Commission and said that she had brought some colleagues in the Consortium to say a few words to the Commission.
2. Emberly Cross, Cooperative Restraining Order Clinic, thanked the Commission for its years of support.
3. Yulanda Kwong, Cameron House, stated that her agency has been around for 144 years and had its beginnings with anti-human trafficking efforts. If budget cuts were to be imposed, they would result in staff and/or service reductions.
4. Saara Ahmed, Asian Women’s Shelter (AWS), echoed the sentiments of her colleagues. She said that AWS serves immigrants, limited English speaking victim/survivors, and other vulnerable communities. She explained that budget cuts would be very harmful to the organization, and that Department support over the years has enabled AWS to fill gaps in the communities.
5. Miriam Guillen, Mujeres Unidas de Activas (MUA), thanked the Commission for its past support. She stated that many of MUA’s clients are very depressed, due to the housing crisis and other challenges. She asked for the Commission’s continued support.
6. Jill Zawisza, WOMAN, Inc., expressed her appreciation for the Commission’s work and support. She stated that cuts would be very destabilizing for the grantees. She reported that the promise to protect victim/survivors is being attacked at the federal level. She stated that it is crucially important for direct services be preserved.

Commissioner Melara who has served on both the Police and Health Commissions and was previously Director of the Department on the Status of Women remarked that it seemed unrealistic to expect a very small-budget department like DOSW to shoulder budget cuts when large-budget departments like Police and Health have much more capacity to absorb cuts.

Commissioner Shorter urged that the VAW grants be protected at all cost and she stated that there should be a way to keep the grant funds away from cuts.

Commissioner Melara suggested negotiating work orders with other departments. Dr. Murase noted that DOSW has had work orders from the Office of Child Support Services, the Department of Recreation and Parks, and the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing.

Vice President Zwart said that she would like to add the budget to the agenda for the February 8 strategic planning meeting. President Mesloh agreed.

 

 

7. GENERAL PUBLIC COMMENT

1. Dr. Jane Bernard-Powers, Democratic Women in Action, member of the Friends of the Commission on the Status of Women, and the Women’s Intercultural Network, suggested that the Commission read the book Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools by Monique Morris which addresses the challenges that young African American women have in the school system.

8. ADJOURNMENT

Action: To adjourn the meeting.                            m/s/c(Melara/Mesloh/Unanimous except for

Absent: Harris and Schwab-Pomerantz)

Meeting Adjourned at 6:23 pm