Employment Advisory Committee Meetings
EMPLOYMENT COMMITTEE
MINUTES
December 2, 2004
Members Present
Commissioner Faye Woo Lee, Bridgett N. Brown, Rodney Hampton, Jerry Jones, Norma Tecson, Len Vetrone, F. Ross Woodall
Members Absent
Commissioner Larry Lee, Greg Marutani, Ronnie Rhoe, Guillermo Romero, Judy Starbuck Sorro, Stan Warren
Staff Present
Linda Chin, Kabir Hypolite, Mary Gin Starkweather, and Frank Anderson
Guests
Kate Cuciz, Bank of the West
Call to Order/ Roll Call
The meeting was called to order at 1:35p.m. A quorum was present.
Approval of Agenda
Commissioner Faye Woo Lee moved to adopt the agenda. F. Ross Woodall seconded and the motion was carried unanimously with no discussion.
Approval of Minutes
Frank Anderson stated that the minutes failed to mention his report on the progress of the Employment Workforce Goals Working Group. The approval of the minutes was tabled until the February 2005 meeting to correct this omission.
Public Comment for items not on the Agenda
No comment
Commissioner’s Report
No report
Staff Report
No report
New Business
- Presentation on Bank of the West Job Opportunities
Kathleen Cuciz, Sr. Recruiter for Bank of the West gave a presentation on the history and philosophy of the Bank. Detailed information relating to the various services offered by the Bank as well as its commitment to local communities can be found at the website www.bankofthewest.com. Ms. Cuciz emphasized Bank of the West’s commitment to the principles of affirmative action and spoke about various career opportunities available. In the Bay Area, there are both full time and part time positions in the Corporate Processing Center in Walnut Creek and customer service, sales, teller, new accounts representative and lender positions in the local branches. There are also positions for administrative workers in finance, accounting, Human Resources and support areas. Ms Cuciz detailed some of the skills needed for various positions. For a teller position, the candidate must possess a keen understanding of business principles, excellent interpersonal and powerful communication skills, a professional work ethic, honesty, integrity and trust and attention to detail and accuracy. A teller must also understand basic math and cash handling. To serves in the areas of new accounts, Financial Services or Loans the candidates must have strong skills in customer service and selling. For a Branch manager position they must have proven business development and management and leadership skills. They also must have an analytical mind and have past experience in a similar field.
For entry-level positions, a candidate needs a high school diploma and some customer service experience. The Bank will train workers for positions in the processing departments.
The salaries are very competitive and include bonus and incentive awards. Employees who work 20 or more hours per week receive co-pay health benefits and Life and Disability insurance. There is tuition reimbursement for work related college courses and pre-tax flex spending and dependent care. There is a 401K with match and company retirement fund. They provide equal benefits insurance and paid absence and holiday and vacation pay. They provide in-house training in leadership and management skills workshops. Training is also available in Lending and Negotiation skills.
Bank of the West is also a supporter of many charitable causes including the Hunters-Point Boy’s & Girls Club, the Chicano Latino Foundation, the Chinatown Cultural Center and the Bay Area Council.
Old Business
- Update on the HRC Employment Program
HRC Director Virginia Harmon gave an update on the current situation regarding the status of the HRC’s Employment Program. Director Harmon said that it is premature for a final report because the Mayor’s office is having on-going meetings regarding the CityBuild program. Director Harmon related that the outlook is bleak for HRC resources because due to the City budget shortfall the HRC must reduce its budget by 7-1/2% for FY 2004-05 with a probable additional 5%. Last years’ budget was $3.5 million which was the total after receiving a 10% cut for FY 2003-04. The HRC presently has 40 employees. Director Harmon also stated that although legislation was enacted to support employment development programs in the City, no funding or resources were allocated as part of the package.
- Progress Report on employment monitoring for the PUC
Diana Rathbone, Sr. Contract Compliance Officer gave an update on employment monitoring for the PUC. Presently the HRC is monitoring PUC projects, the Golden Gate Park Concourse Underground Garage, the Bryant Street Condos and Pier 1-1/2 for the Port. To date they have made almost 70 placements and have retained approximately half of them. They have received a large number of placements from YCD and now more are being referred from Mission Hiring Hall. Latinos currently represent nearly 100% of the laborers on the projects and Asians and women are especially underrepresented. The Program will be celebrating the graduation of two participants, Rodney James and Joseph Collins. They will receive Certificates of Recognition at the Commission meeting of December 9, 2004. She stated that the Mayor’s Office is working on the CityBuild Project, which would operate out of the Mayor’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development. Initially the program was going to concentrate on construction, but there is a desire to expand to other areas including professional services.
Ms. Rathbone announced that she would be retiring at the end of December. She also announced that the contract under which Brian Thomas and Verma Walton were performing PUC project monitoring would end on December 31, 2004. Negotiations to extend the contract are underway with PUC.
Frank Anderson thanked Ms. Rathbone for all of the hard work she has done.
After Director Harmon and Ms. Rathbone completed their presentations, there was active discussion about the future of the City employment programs.
Len Vetrone proposed that allowances be built into construction project cost in order to fund these programs. He said that contractors would then carry the cost and there would be an on-going funding source.
Rodney Hampton said that the CBOs are forming a Collaborative including Mission Hiring Hall, Chinese for Affirmative Action, VVJET, YCD and Potrero Hill Neighborhood Center among others. The collaborative will be focused on training and placement.
Len Vetrone said that the idea of a one-stop shop was a much better system from the contractor’s point of view. The CBOs could then broadcast requests form contractors among members of the collaborative.
Jerry Jones felt that it was very important to include the School District and get more information regarding the shop classes that have been reintroduced.
Norma Tecson felt that there needed to be more emphasis on Career and Job Counseling as part of the High School curriculum.
Rodney Hampton said that YCD does presentations regarding apprenticeship opportunities at Balboa, Mission and Lincoln High Schools.
Jerry Jones said that Bank of the West has its own teaching force. They send a bank officer to a school once a week to teach a banking course to students. Any school can take advantage of the program.
Rodney Hampton requested that the Committee invite Dr. Arlene Ackerman, Superintendent of the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) to talk about career programs offered by the school district.
- Committee discussion on future goals and projects for the coming year
Committee members suggested the following:
- Have more discussion from outside resources such as the SFUSD.
- Make sure that the public knows that they are welcome to bring concerns to the committee.
- Invite representatives from various City departments to explain their programs.
- Form working groups to have conversations with Compliance Officers and departments in order to get ideas to bring back to the Committee.
- Have a refresher course on the history of the Commission and the Committee.
- Study workforce trends in San Francisco.
- Work on other areas of employment; not only concentrate on construction
- Clarify the mission and purpose of the Committee.
- Become actively involved with the Mayor’s Office and the CityBuild Program.
- Investigate ways to augment areas of work that HRC staff cannot do because of lack of funding and resources.
Jerry Jones complimented Director Harmon and HRC staff for doing such good work despite the cutbacks the HRC is suffering.
Announcements
F. Ross Woodall announced that the Gay Men’s Chorus was presenting a Holiday Concert at the Castro Theatre on Thursday, December 16, 2004. Tickets are $20.00.
Commissioner Lee announced that the San Francisco 49ers would be at a reception for the Chinese American Citizens League on Thursday, December 9. 2004. Call Commissioner Lee at (4150 681-7352 for tickets.
Calendar Matters
The next meeting of the Committee will be held:
Date: February 3, 2005
Time: 1:30 – 3:30PM
Place: HRC Offices
25 Van Ness Avenue # 800
San Francisco, CA 94102
Adjournment
F. Ross Woodall moved to adjourn and Norma Tecson seconded and the meeting was adjourned at 3:30 PM.