September 9, 2010 SECF

 

 

Minutes for
SOUTHEAST COMMUNITY FACILITY COMMISSION
Thursday, September 9, 2010 - 6:00 PM
1800 Oakdale Ave. - Alex L. Pitcher, Jr. Community Room
San Francisco, CA 94124

 

CALL TO ORDER

Commissioner President Willie B. Kennedy called the Thursday, September 9, 2010, meeting to order at 6:08 p.m. in the Alex L. Pitcher Community Room at 1800 Oakdale Avenue. Cmmissioner Kennedy read the Sunshine Ordinance.

1.1 ROLL CALL

6:12 P.M. Acting Commission Secretary – Lee Ann Prifti

Commissioners Present: Kennedy, Jones, Chung, Churchwell, Brown and Norman

Commissioners Absent: Sampson

Staff Present: Toye Moses, Executive Director, John Roddy, City Attorney, Francis Starr, Sr. Management Assistant and Lee Ann Prifti, Acting Secretary

1.2 CONSENT CALENDAR

Commission President Willie B. Kennedy announced the Consent Calendar.

The consent calendar was moved by Commissioner Bobbrie Brown and seconded by Commissioner Cesar Churchwell.

2.0 PUBLIC COMMENT

There was no public comment.

3.0 COMMUNICATIONS

Acting Commission Secretary announced the following:

a) Press Release: Mayor Gavin Newsom, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and U.S. Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus Endorse Terms of Naval Station Treasure Island Transfer Agreement

b) Press Release: Mayor Newsom Opens Blick Art Materials In Central Market Cultural Arts District And Announces New San Francisco Arts Market

c) Press Release: U.S. Mayors Continue to Press Toward A Green Economy

d) Statement: Mayor Gavin Newsom’s Statement On Federal Appeals Court Decision To Uphold Stay In California Marriage Equality Ruling

e) Press Release: Mayor Newsom, U.S. Department Of Commerce Announce $50.6 Million Stimulus Grant To Build Bay Area Public Safety Broadband Network

f) Press Release: New Lease for Charles Chocolates At Westfield Center Brings New Jobs, Surge In Artisanal Manufacturing To San Francisco

g) Press Release: Mayor Newsom Announces Return Of Sunday Streets To Golden Gate Park and Great Highway

h) Press Release: Mayor Newsom Launches New Anti-Truancy Partnership With Small Businesses To Keep Students In School

i) Press Release: Mayor Newsom Announces $l.35 Million State Grant For Affordable Housing In Mission Bay

j) Press Release: Mayor Newsom Announces Partnership With Toyota To Test New Plug-In Hybrid Vehicles, Upgraded Charging Systems

k) Press Release: Mayor Gavin Newsom And The Port of San Francisco Release RFQ For Pier 70 Waterfront Site

l) Press Release: Mayor Newsom Appoints Jennifer Entine Matz As Director Of The Office of Economic Workforce Development

m) Press Release: Mayor Newsom Swears In New Appointments And Reappointments To City Boards And Commissions.

n) Press Release: Mayor Newsom & San Francisco Business Leaders Announce Renewed National Effort To Extend Federal Stimulus Funding For JobsNow! Program

o) Press Release: Mayor Newsom & SFMTA Announce Highest Ever Annual On-Time Performance For Muni

p) Memorandum: From City Attorney Dennis Herrera To All Elected Officials, Board and Commission Members, All Department Heads Defining Political Activity By City Officers and Employees

3.1 CORRESPONDENCE

• Letter of invitation to the newly appointed Dr. Susan Desmond-Hellmann, MD, MPH Chancellor the UCSF Medical School to address SECF Commission on BVHP concerns

• Letter of invitation to 13th A.D. Assemblyman Tom Ammiano regarding updates on the State Budget cuts and its impact on the community Based Organization in San Francisco and BVHP

• Letter of invitation to State Senator Mark Leno regarding updates on the State of the Union and other issues of interest for the residents of the Southeast Sector of San Francisco.

4.0 PRESIDENT’S REPORT

Commission President Willie Kennedy announced the formation and assignment of the Ad-Hoc Committees, and the Ad-Hoc Committee Chairs. She also addressed the Schedule of Facility Ad-Hoc committee meetings, and the Schedule of Community Advisory Group (CAG) meetings. Commissioner Louise Jones suggested the focus of the AD-Hoc Health Committee be re-written to place focus Diabetes and Obesity at the front of the listed heath concerns. Commissioner Kennedy asked Commissioner Bobbrie Brown to be the Chair of the Citizen’s Advisory Group and her Co-Chair will be Commissioner Jones. The Facility Education Committee will be Commissioner Kennedy, Chair and the Co-Chairs will be Commissioner Chung and Commissioner Sampson; the Alternates will be Commissioner Brown and Commissioner Norman. Health & Housing Ad-Hoc Committee Chair will be Commissioner Louise Jones, Co-Chair will be Commissioner Dr. Churchwell, and the Alternate will be Commissioner Karen Chung. The Community Outreach and Public Safety Ad-Hoc Committee will be Commissioner Al Norman as Chair and Commissioner Sampson the Co-Chair. The Economic Development Ad-Hoc Committee Chair will be Commissioner Karen Chung and Francis Starr, Sr. Management Assistant will work closely with her. A copy of the duties and responsibilities was given to each commissioner. Commissioner Kennedy asked that they become vey active on their committees. She hopes that everyone accepts their appointment and she stressed the importance of holding regular meetings for each Ad-Hoc committee. Commissioner Brown requested that commissioner Churchwell be a Co-Chair instead of an Alternate on the Citizen’s Advisory Group. This request was granted. Dr. Toye Moses advised all of the Ad-Hoc Chairs to consider noon meetings.

Commissioner Kennedy asked that Commissioners read very carefully, the guidelines in the Memorandum from City Attorney Dennis J. Herrera regarding Political Activity By City Officers and Employees of the City & County of San Francisco.

5.0 PRESENTATION

Commission President Willie B. Kennedy introduced Mr. Jacob Moody, Executive Director of Bayview-Hunters Point Foundation for Community Improvement which will be celebrating its 40th year of service in BVHP next year. They are planning on having a big to-do in September, 2011 and he invited everyone to attend. Mr. Moody is also the co-chair designate of the Southeast Food Access Working Group (SEFA) and tonight he is presenting an overview of their work to improve access to healthy foods for BVHP. Mr. Moody introduced Mr. Michael Janis, who is also a co-chair of SEFA from the San Francisco Produce Mart. He recollected that when he first arrived in BVHP in l973, food markets and Safeway stores were plentiful. Today’s challenges are: “what is the status of their ability to access nutritious food at reasonable cost for the neighborhood which will maintain good health and high quality of life in the community”. He realizes that this topic is also of concern to the SECF Commissioners. The cause of food insecurity include supermarket flight from inner cities, transportation barriers, inundating inner cities with fast food chains and food that is high in salt, sugar, and fate. In addition to the loss of markets in the community, there is a diverse population moving into BVHP which also brings the issue of being able to get foods that accurately and adequately reflect the cultural heritage of the people here. The SEFA working group is a collaborative of residents, community based groups, city agencies and others working on food access and food systems. SEFA’s goal is to leverage similar efforts and to encourage partnerships and collaborations in order to achieve a vibrant and robust food system for all of BVHP. This coordination is critical given the diminishing resources available in BVHP. One of the main concerns of SEFA is the health disparities in BVHP which can be directly linked to the ability of individuals to access nutritious, healthy food at a reasonable cost. This is especially true in the areas of diabetes, hypertension and cardio-vascular disease. That combined with an inability to exercise effectively in the neighborhood is resulting in a continuation of health disparities instead of diminishing them. The food system is what SEFA is able to create in BVHP, and it is truly a system, that includes distributors, retail outlets, community gardens, youth cooking classes, etc. SEFA is built on three pillars. The first is food access, involving a variety of activities to improve food at the retail level and to reawaken BVHP’s role as the food-shed for the whole city. Secondly, are awareness and education, promoting health literacy and awareness around food justice issues, food systems, the pairing of healthy food access with related cooking and nutritional education? And thirdly, is supporting urban agriculture. Urban Agriculture can be community gardens, school gardens, backyard gardens, urban farms, green rooftops, etc. If any residents grew up where their family had a garden and they actually grew food for their families, they know what a positive effect this can be. Activities such as canning food, freezing food, cooking food and other related family activities encourage family participation around food. SEFA has been working as a collective to try to improve existing retail outlets, such as Foods Co. and SuperSave. Mr. Michael Janis, working with the Redevelopment Agency has been working towards making SuperSave move from being a large retail liquor store to an improved produce market.

There are two projects that SEFA has working on the streets. The first is Food Guardians. Food Guardians are a group of young people from BVHP who have a particular responsibility of looking at and monitoring the quality of foods in retail outlets in BVHP. They are the watch dogs for what is going on, and they have done tremendous work and they have also done a survey on Foods Co..
They have begun to establish themselves as the “food conscience” for BVHP. They live in BVHP, are from all ethnic groups in the BV and they are young which means their influence can exist into the future.

The second project is called SEVA which is Sanskrit for selfless service and this project is doing a community-based process to develop a policy paper around health reform here in BVHP. They want to do a grass roots, from the bottom up, assessment of what the health conditions are in the community and to begin to develop recommendations, particularly, on how the Obama Health Plan is to move forward. The intent of this white paper is to move up the chain to influence policy as those programs get developed.

SEFA meets every 4th Thursday, at 3:30 p.m. at the Southeast Health Center and everyone is welcome to attend and to join in the conversation around food and health. Commissioner Al Norman asked if economics were included in their projects? Absolutely, food and economic viability are very much linked. Fresh & Easy is not coming in like Whole Foods, which tends to be more costly. This is why urban agriculture is being encouraged in BVHP which has the climate and soil quality. There has to be a multi-pronged strategy to get at food issues. Director Moses asked about the youngest children getting good food at the school level. Mr. Moody responded that with the reorganization of the school district and the new Assistant Superintendent, Pat Gray as a liaison with the BVHP community; one of SEFA’s priorities will be contributing and influencing food choice at the school level. Bret Hart School is the only school that currently has a garden. SEFA would like to build on this model to help change menu’s in schools which is an uphill battle, but one that can be addressed in a multi-pronged way. Commissioner Louise Jones said that it was important to fight this battle to address food issues at the elementary school level. The dis-association of good food as it comes from its “source at the farm-level” is resulting in the decline of the American diet. Commissioner Willie Kennedy said that Redevelopment can help the BVHP find a parcel of land to have a public garden. She believes that people love to garden and those public gardens can donate fresh food to schools. Mr. Moody also pointed out that young people need to be advised that there are good jobs in the produce industry, which can provide employment for many people. SEFA is working with SuperSave Store in developing the plans to increase offerings of fresh produce, reduced alcohol and tobacco advertising. creating a better quality-of-produce store and to keep their prices from being so high that residents cannot afford to buy there. The subject arose of new restaurants opening up in the community, Radio Africa, one new restaurant already has started a garden. A chicken and waffle restaurant will be opening, but it is not so much the food for sale, but being educated on what certain foods do to your body and to balance your foods.

6.0 STAFF/DIRECTOR REPORT

Director Toye Moses reported a Letter of Invitation, to Dr. Patricia Gray of the S.F. Unified School District to address the September 22nd meeting has been accepted. He reported on the activities and operations of SECF Commission services, including budget, personnel, programs and services.

Dr. Don Q. Griffin, Chancellor of City college of San Francisco has accepted the Letter Invitation to address the SECF Commission meeting scheduled for October 27, 2010.

Milton marks, Jr., President of City College Board of Trustees has accepted the Letter of Invitation to address the SECF Commission for the meeting of October 27, 2010.

7.0 SAN FRANCISCO PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION STAFF
REPORT & UPDATES

Sam Murray, PUC, Executive director of Outreach in the Southeast Sector. Mr. Michael Carlin, Deputy Director of the SFPUC, Larry Spillane, Superintendent of Operations, and Maverick Madison, Manager, Electronic Instruments, SFPUC were in attendance, Mr. Murray advised Commission President Kennedy, that through the concept of healthy food he has lost 55 lbs. in the past year. He advised that the Fire Station at 3rd St. is changing pipes and also by the Evans St. Pumps Station. Larry Spillane addressed Commissioner Al Norman’s odor concerns. He said the Tony Flores and George Engel are working on this concern and that because of numerous shutdowns, a PG&E glitch today shut the whole plant down. It had to be reset. Commissioner Churchwell said that an odor control company was supposed to be checking on BVHP. Sam Murray has not heard from them, and he suggested they call him regarding odors. The Southeast Plant is always working on controlling odors and they have taken a proactive approach to keep the commissioners informed so that they can find the right person to handle the problems that arise. Mr. Murray gave his phone number. He said that the SE Plant is neighbors and residents too. They want to provide the highest quality process. They also sponsor Thurgood Marshall Career Day and are active in the SE community in many ways. They have the best Career Day in San Francisco. The SE Plant is also working on the school Principal to see more adults attending Sports Day at the school. They would like to have a PUC Day in November at the school, to invite the community to go to a basketball game. Commissioner Al Norman is to see if the Merchant’s Association will get involved. Commissioner Karen Chung inquired about picketing at the SE Plant. Sam Murray will get the particulars for the next meeting.

8.0 NEW BUSINESS

Commission President Willie Kennedy asked the commissioners to look at the Annual Report. Director Toye Moses advised that this document gets done every year. He asked the commissioners to review it and afterwards, it will be forwarded to the City Attorney, the Board of Supervisors, and the Mayor’s Office to be voted on at the next SECFcommission meeting.

Commissioner Kennedy rescheduled the November meeting which falls on Election Day to Tuesday, November 9th. The motion was moved by Commission Churchwell and seconded by Commissioner Bobbrie Brown. Director Toye Moses rescheduled the November Thanksgiving meeting to Monday, November 22nd, moved by Commissioner Churchwell and seconded by Commissioner Chung.

9.0 ANNOUNCEMENTS

Emily Wade Thompson, Director of Community and Family Outreach in BVHP announced that September 18th is Math Literacy Day and schools will be doing interactive work to reduce Truancy. On any given day 4,500 students are not in school. Half of this figure is made up of elementary students. On September 23rd there will be a Bayview Merchant Walk from 11:15 to Noon, Mayor Gavin Newsom, District attorney Kamala Harris, SFUSD Superintendent Carlos Garcia and other city officials will be walking through BVHP business district. Merchants are being asked not to sell goods to youngsters who are not in school and for them to call a number to describe these truants. Commissioner Churchwell asked about Truant Officers. There does
not appear to be any; however, there are officers on bicycles. Commissioner Al Norman advised that this does not sit well with him and probably the Merchants Association. He wants clarification on what merchants are to call on students. He wants sensitivity and training for merchants. Is this citywide? Ingrid Wynn, President of Evans Campus, AFC, has two daughters. She wants the media to publicize where truant students cannot go so that it is common knowledge where they cannot go. It is not about making that call to the Truancy Center.

Commissioner Kennedy advised that the National Conference of Negro Women Award Breakfast is on Saturday, Septembers 18th at 9:00 a.m. honoring various persons from BVHP in the Alex Pitcher Room Adopt-A-School in BVHP.that are with Senior Citizens and Youth in general.

The Rosa Parks School will have a 21 year Gamma Phi Delta Foundation event on October 19th at the North Light Court at City Hall. It begins at 5:30 p.m and it is a fundraiser.

After September 22nd, Heidi Hardin will be starting murals on the wall here, There will be picture-taking for the commission and the City College booklet.

10.0 ADJOURNMENT

President Kennedy adjourned the meeting at 7:40 PM.