January 13, 2020 IRC meeting

Chair Kennelly called the meeting to order at 2:18 p.m.



Present: Chair Kennelly, Vice Chair Paz, Commissioners Fujii, Gaime (2:34 p.m.), Khojasteh, Kong, Monge (3:34 p.m.), Radwan, Rahimi, Wang.



Not Present: Commissioners Enssani (excused), Ricarte (excused), Ruiz, Wong (excused).



Staff Present: Director Pon, Office Manager Chan, Commission Clerk Shore.

Kalya Paradis

Kalya Paradis, a San Francisco resident and mother who is a member of DSA SF, thanked the Commission for researching companies doing business with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) that have contracts with San Francisco. She asked the Commission to complete the work and to urge the City to stop doing business with these companies.



Magick Altman

Magick Altman of the Coalition to Close the Camps noted that Oakland, Richmond, and Berkeley have passed ordinances to end their contracts with companies that do business with ICE and CBP. Media Alliance is in the process of compiling a list of the 10 biggest offenders and the dates their contracts expire. She asked the Commission to make this a priority as it sets its goals for the year. She urged the Commission to draft a letter to send to companies that are profiting off of the detention of immigrants. She noted that a small business, Wrecking Ball Coffee, turned down a contract with Salesforce because the company does business with ICE.



Chair Kennelly thanked the members of the public and said the Commission is looking into this matter.

(Information/Discussion/Action)

Chair Kennelly invited Director Pon to make an announcement before beginning the action items. Director Pon reminded the Commission that officer nominations are open until the close of Item 4 on the agenda.



Chair Kennelly invited Commissioners to review the minutes from the November 14, 2019 Full Commission meeting. Commissioner Rahimi made a motion to approve the minutes. Commissioner Kong seconded the motion. The minutes were approved unanimously.

(Information/Discussion/Action)

Director Pon provided an overview of the elections procedures. OCEIA staff has received two nominations: Chair Kennelly for Commission Chair, and Vice Chair Paz for Commission Vice Chair. Director Pon asked if Commissioners had any additional nominations. Commissioners made no additional nominations.



Commissioner Khojasteh made a motion to re-elect by acclamation Chair Kennelly as Commission Chair and Vice Chair Paz as Commission Vice Chair. Commissioner Rahimi seconded the motion. The two officers were re-elected unanimously by acclamation.

(Information/Discussion/Action)

Chair Kennelly welcomed Commissioners to the retreat and thanked OCEIA staff and the Executive Committee for their work planning the meeting. Director Pon provided an overview of the goals of the retreat, the vision of the Commission, and the ground rules for the meeting. Vice Chair Paz led Commissioners in a warm-up exercise. Director Pon provided an overview of the roles of OCEIA and the Commission, and the tools the Commission can use to take action.



Chair Kennelly discussed the roles and responsibilities of Commissioners, and led a discussion on what it means to be an active Commissioner. Commissioners discussed how to increase accountability and encourage Commissioners to attend meetings and take ownership of events, activities, and follow-up actions. Director Pon reviewed the results of the Commissioners’ pre-retreat survey, which identified Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), the 2020 Census and the 2020 elections as key priorities for the year. She asked Commissioners to identify additional issue areas they would like to focus on in 2020. Commissioners discussed several themes, as well as the importance of advocating for, protecting and uplifting immigrants, and developing a rapid response mechanism for emerging issues.



Commissioner Rahimi proposed that the Commission’s top three priorities in 2020 be DACA, the 2020 Census, and the 2020 elections. Chair Kennelly seconded the motion. The motion was approved by a majority vote, with Commissioner Kong abstaining.



Commissioners discussed actions and activities they could implement as a Commission. Chair Kennelly cautioned Commissioners to be realistic about the Commission’s workload and to take ownership of each of its activities.



Commissioner Radwan provided an overview of how to measure the Commission’s impact, and led a discussion on the Commission’s progress toward meeting its goals. The Executive Committee will work to implement standardized metrics for its work in 2020.



Chair Kennelly thanked Commissioners and OCEIA staff for their work planning the retreat. Vice Chair Paz thanked Chair Kennelly.

(Information/Discussion/Action)

Commissioner Rahimi deferred this item to the next Executive Committee meeting.

Chair Kennelly adjourned the meeting at 5:52 p.m.