Employment Advisory Committee Meetings
EMPLOYMENT COMMITTEE
MINUTES
May 6, 2004
Members Present
Commissioner Larry Lee, Bridgett Brown, Leo Chyi, Jerry Jones, Guillermo Romero, Judy Starbuck Sorro, Norma Tecson, and Len Vetrone, and F. Ross Woodall
Members Absent
Commissioner Vernon Grigg, Rodney Hampton, Greg Marutani, and Stan Warren
Staff Present
Linda Chin, Kabir Hypolite, Mary Gin Starkweather, and Roel Villacarlos
Guests
None
Call to Order/ Roll Call
The meeting was called to order at 1:40p.m. A quorum was present.
Approval of Agenda
Leo Chyi moved to adopt the agenda. F. Ross Woodall seconded and the motion was carried unanimously with no discussion.
Approval of Minutes
Len Vetrone moved to adopt the April 1, 2004 minutes. Bridgett Brown seconded and the motion was carried unanimously with no discussion.
Report of the Chair
No report
Staff Report
Ed Campos will be present at the June 3, 2004 Employment Committee Meeting to update the members on the working group session of Employment Goal Setting for Construction trades.
New Business
1) Discussion on Committee Plans and Goals for the 2004 term.
Several committee members from the previous Employment Committee meeting on April 1, 2004 expressed their desire to have this item first on the agenda for this meeting to ensure that there would be sufficient time for discussion.
The following issues listed below were raised and discussed.
Committee Member Judy Sorro representing the Mission Hiring Hall stated that she and Rodney Hampton from the Young Community Developers generated a letter stating their concerns regarding employment compliance and monitoring issues. They wanted to discuss how monitoring was done and & how to do it better. Better communication was also mentioned. Ms. Sorro informed the committee that they plan to present the letter at the next committee meeting on June 3, 2004.
Members also stated the need to see more active cooperation between the HRC and Community based organizations (CBOs). Also, mentioned was the discussion of employment data for construction projects in support of active community hiring.
Discussion on clarification on what issues can be brought to the Employment Committee. The work of the Committee includes: providing advice and assistance to the Commission regarding diversity and discrimination in employment: reviewing staff reports on the employment patterns of City contractors and making recommendations of positions for the Commission to take on legislation affecting equal opportunity in employment. Issues that affect a group of people or program as a whole can be directed to the Employment Committee. The Committee cannot take on and investigate individual discrimination cases. Mary Gin Starkweather is the actual staff person that is in charge of individual discrimination cases.
Discussion on the Employment Goal Setting for Construction trades. (Working group session) This group does not require a quorum. Jerry Jones inquired about the make-up of the working group for Goal revision. The working group consists of Bridgett N. Brown, Greg Marutani, Guillermo Romero, Stan Warren, which all have volunteered their time. Ed Campos, and James Fields are the HRC staff. The Employment committee members requested for an update at the next meeting.
2.) Presentation on the Mayor’s Office of Housing Projects-the West Hotel and the Leland Polk Hotel Minority and Women Participation in the Trades – Roel Villacarlos – Contract Compliance Officer, HRC
Following is Mr. Villacarlos’ report:
The West Hotel
The West Hotel is a rehabilitation of an existing building, which is being converted to 93 units of affordable housing. The owner of a long term lease of this building is Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation (TNDC), a non-profit entity. Funding sources includes, the Mayor’s office of Housing (MOH), Seismic Safety Loan Program (SSLP) with Federal funding form the HOME Investment Program (HOME), Community Development Block Grant (CDBG). Affordable Housing Program (AHP). 9% tax Credit, Housing Opportunities for Persons with Aids (HOPWA) and Bank of America provides private funding. The selected General Contractor is Cahill Contractors Inc. and the estimated budget cost for construction is $7,630,000. The Notice to Proceed (NTP) was issued on August 2003 and as of March 2004 the project is forty-eight percent (48%) complete. Due to numerous funding sources associated with the West Hotel project, HRC’s affirmative active employment goals works in conjunction with MOH’s Section 3 (Plus) hiring program, which imposes a 30% local disadvantage – Hiring requirement, federal hiring requirements and SSLP’s hiring program. Currently, employment of minorities and woman comprise of 69.06% and 3.35%, of the total work hours, respectively. The total employment participation total 42,749.25 hours, the MBE participation total 29,522.75 hours, and the WBE participation total 1,433 hours. Moreover, the non – Minority participation total 13,266.5 hours. Cahill Contractors Inc. has been working very cooperatively with Chinese for Affirmative Action to fulfill the employment goals.
The hours of employment by ethnicity is as follows:
Asian – 2,302 hours
Black – 5,540.50 hours
Latino – 20,860.25 hours
Filipino – 0.00 hours
Native Amer. 658 hours
Committee member Norma Tecson voiced her concern why there was 0.00 percent Filipino participation. There was discussion that the Asian hours could have included the Filipino participation. The Filipino participation is a separate category and should not be included in the Asian category.
The Leland Polk Senior Community Center
The Leland Polk Senior Community is a rehabilitation of an existing five-story building, which is being converted to 72 units of affordable senior housing. The owner of a long-term lease of this building is Mercy Housing California, a non-profit entity. Some of its funding sources include the MOH through Prop A, 4% Tax Exempt Bond issued by the Redevelopment Agency, SSLP, with federal funding from AHP and Citibank provides private funding. The selected General Contractor is Swinerton Builders and the estimated budget cost for construction is $6,154,000. The NTP was issued on October 2003 and as of March 2004 the project is nineteen percent (19% ) complete. Due to numerous funding sources associated with the Leland Polk project, HRC’s affirmative action employment goals works in conjunction with MOH’s Section 3 Plus program, which imposes a 30% local disadvantage-hiring requirement, federal hiring requirements and SSLP’s hiring program. Currently, employment of minorities and women comprise of 81.41% and 22.49% of the total work hours, respectively. The total employment participation total 7,007.5 hours, the MBE participation total 5,704.5 hours, and the WBE participation total 1,576 hours. Moreover, the non-Minority participation total 1,303 hours. The hours of employment by ethnicities is as follows:
Asian – 343.50 hours
Black – 1,373.50 hours
Latino – 3,668.50 hours
Filipino – 0.00 hours
Native American – 319.00 hours
Again, the Committee members had a discussion and a concern over the 0.00 percent Filipino participation.
Old Business
None
Public Comments
None
Announcements
None
Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 3:30p.m.
Next Meeting
Thursday, June 3, 2004
1:30pm to 3:30pm