Employment Advisory Committee Meetings
EMPLOYMENT COMMITTEE
MINUTES
April 6, 2006
1. Call to Order/ Roll Call
The meeting was called to order at 1:35p.m. A quorum was present.
Members Present
Commissioner Faye Woo Lee, Commissioner Carlota del Portillo, Molly Baier, Rich Bondoc, Jerry Jones, Suzanne Korey, Patrick Regan, Ronnie Rhoe, Ken Stram, Norma Tecson, John Weber
Members Absent
Bridgett N. Brown, John Crowley, Adrian Trujillo
Staff Present
Linda Chin, Kabir Hypolite
Guests
Daisy Anarchy, Lorraine Giordano, Daphne Kay
2. Adoption of Agenda
Rich Bondoc moved to adopt the April 4, 2006 agenda. Commissioner del Portillo seconded and the motion was carried unanimously.
3. Adoption of March 2, 2006 Minutes
Rich Bondoc moved to adopt the minutes. Commissioner del Portillo seconded and the motion was carried unanimously.
4. Public Comment for items not on the Agenda
None
5. Commissioner’s Report
Commissioner del Portillo reported that she had attended a meeting regarding the necessity of hiring bi-lingual personnel at the new Mission Campus of City College.
She also expressed her concern regarding the recent departure of the only Spanish speaking staff person in the HRC’s housing unit.
Commissioner del Portillo spoke about the proposed immigration legislation currently in Congress. She relayed that if HR 4437 passes there is a plan to stage a nationwide “Day without an Immigrant” on May 1, 2006, when immigrants will not come to work. Commissioner Lee noted that San Francisco has been declared a “Sanctuary City”, which means that no City employee may assist the INS in arresting undocumented persons. Many persons who are presently “undocumented” are in fact in the middle of a two year process to get proper papers. One of Commissioner del Portillo’s great concerns is that under HR 4437, persons who assist undocumented persons are criminalized.
6. Staff Report
Kabir Hypolite reported on the status of Proposition I, which is the top priority selected by the committee at the March 2, 2006 meeting.
In 2006, the City is undertaking its first-ever comprehensive planning process devoted to economic development, as initiated by passage of Proposition I in November of 2004. Proposition I mandated the preparation of a long-term economic development plan and survey of employment barriers by the Mayor’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development. This mandate is a unique opportunity for the residents and businesses of San Francisco to come together around formulation of key values and priority goals for economic development and for the City and its economic development partners to coordinate implementation of strategies and programs. Two economists have been hired and working groups have been formed to develop the strategy. There is a survey online at www.sfeconomicstrategy.org, which can be access and filled out by interested persons.
7. Old Business
1) Exotic Dancer Working Conditions (continuation of February meeting item) - Daisy Anarchy
On February 2, 2006 Bernice Casey, Executive Assistant at the Commission on the Status of Women (COSW) and Ms. Anarchy appeared before the committee to request support for City legislation that modernizes the regulation and permitting of live entertainment businesses for the purpose of protecting the health, safety, and welfare of exotic dancers and the public. The legislation sets up a permitting scheme that enables agencies of the City and County of San Francisco to monitor the clubs for compliance, including the Entertainment Commission, the SF Police Department, the Office of Labor Standards, and the Commission on the Status of Women.
The existence of private booths and VIP rooms is an issue of major concern in the legislation. Ms. Anarchy stated that enclosed or concealed booths greatly increase the potential for abuse, including sexual assault, coerced prostitution and prostitution.
Also, Ms. Anarchy stated that today, dancers are required to pay as much as $430 per shift to management for the use of the stage and booths. The legislation would reinforce California State Labor Law and require that dancers be paid as employees (i.e. entitled to minimum wage plus all tips.)
Ms. Anarchy gave the Committee members packets that contained most of the same information distributed in February, except for the 3rd Draft of the proposed legislation.
Ms. Anarchy requested that the Committee reconsider the priorities it had set at its Special Meeting in March and include the Exotic Dancers’ concerns as a priority. (See item 2 below.)
2) Discussion of proposed topics for 2006-2007 term
This item was taken out of order to allow guest presenters to address item number 8. Because only ten minutes remained, it was decided to postpone discussion of the topics until the May 4, 2006 meeting.
After much discussion, Molly Baier moved to table the Exotic Dancer legislation until COSW provides us with a draft of the proposed final legislation. At that time the committee will decide on what actions it wishes to take. Suzanne Korey seconded the motion and it was carried unanimously.
8) New Business
1) Presentation on Private Industry of San Francisco Programs
a) San Francisco Information Technology Consortium – Lorraine Giordano, Executive Director
Ms. Giordano gave a very comprehensive presentation on the consortium.
The consortium was formed to capitalize on the “dot com” boom in the Bay Area; to respond to welfare reform and bridge the “digital divide”; to develop a career ladder for training and advancement and foster unprecedented collaboration for non-profits.
There were ten non-profit partners and several funders including a 2 year/$3million H-1B grant, $900,000 Governor’s Fifteen Percent Grant for OJTs and a $50,000 Jobs for the Future Grant for an advancement/retention model.
A career ladder was developed with the non-profits for entry-level, intermediate and advanced skills training.
The “dot com” bust resulted in some setbacks, but the SFITC rebuilt employer relationships and realigned the career ladder and the City College course curriculum to address shifts in technical and professional skills requirements.
SFITC had 679 participants of whom 18% were African American, 1% American Indian/Alaskan Native, 24% Asian, 3% Hawaiian/other Pacific Islander, 24% Hispanic and 33% White. The majority were in the 30 – 44 year old age range. Most were place in administrative/clerical positions flowed by technical support/networking, professional/technical, digital media/web and non-IT related positions. The average hourly OJT wage was $16.45.
SFITC is currently working in partnership with Laguna Honda Hospital training 800 nurses in basic IT proficiency.
In the future, SFITC is expanding digital media training and access through a partnership between the Bay Area Video Coalition and CCSF at the downtown campus. They want to bridge the Digital Divide” for working adults and increase retention and advancement opportunities for the entry level workforce.
For more detailed information, please contact Ms. Giordano at (415) 923-4456. Her address is Private Industry Council of SF, SFITC, 745 Franklin Street, San Francisco, CA 94102. Email lgiordano@itc-sf.org. The website is www.itc-sf.org.
b) Rapid Response Program – Daphne Kay, Coordinator
The Rapid Response Program was formed as a result of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA). It was written to consolidate, coordinate, and improve employment, training, literacy, and vocational rehabilitation programs in the U.S.
When an employer is going to lay people off they issue Worker Adjustment Retraining Notices (WARN) and send copies to the State Employment Development Department and to Ms. Kay.
Ms. Kay then goes to the job site and provides group orientation to the affected workers. Chinese and Spanish translators are available.
WIA provides funding for the dislocated worker including: cost of retraining, child care and a bus pass for transportation to classes. Each worker is given a packet containing information on occupational choices. There is no charge for Rapid Response services. They are partnered with the One-Stop Career Link Center. PIC has a disability navigator and the One Stop Center at 3120 Mission Street is ADA compliant and has software for the visually impaired job-seeker.
One is eligible for training if the layoff is not your fault and you are currently on unemployment. Unemployment benefits can be extended up to 1 year to allow an individual to complete retraining. WIC will pay for training leading to a certificate or diploma but not a degree.
Additional information can be found at www.picsf.org.
9) Announcements/Calendar Matters –
Ms. Korey provided the committee with a copy of a New York Times editorial piece which praises San Francisco’s, Boston’s and Chicago’s new policies on the hiring of formerly incarcerated persons
The next meeting will be held:
Date: Thursday, May 4, 2005
Time: 1:30 to 3:30 PM
Place: HRC Offices
25 Van Ness Avenue, 8th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94102
10) Adjournment
Rich Bondoc moved to adjourn at 3:35pm. The motion was seconded by Norma Tecson and approved unanimously.