mechanisms in place for suppliers to go through -- it falls under the definition of a subcontractor. >> some of the things that we have done, you have miles of diameter pipe. we typically pay when it is installed. they deliver it in the warehouse and have to wait until the contractor installs it before we pay. of a sudden, there is no material. one of the things we have looked at is for suppliers, and we will

pay a portion of the money. what? so maybe we can talk about -- how you know, we can try to be creative. >> the other entity then you could possibly talk to would be the purchasing department for the o.c.a. the are responsible for the procurement of commodities. >> [inaudible] >> we can talk about it as far as participation.

>> we have been talking a lot about the trade packages. for every contract, we list of all of those so that the subcontractors and suppliers know who to submit bids into to approach for other opportunities because a dozen and -- we published the list of the contact information so that you can call them. all of them require temporary toilets for field staff and they have hired that service. they should be looking at all of the projects. >> you hear that the trade packages are going to keep coming. we're working in different models of delivery and we have a

contact of information whether it is a design builder. you will have it before this -- before construction even starts. i know that there has been a general service trade packages that include the type of work the you do end the taking bids on those types of things. you guys talk about contract compliance hasn't payments and stuff. who watches you guys? i am a woman own business. i have done all of these certifications and there is an ongoing contract for the city had a contractor was given that and charges what he wants. i had tried the opportunity. i have a small business, i can't afford a lawyer. i have been trying to do

business and i have been denied. tell me, where do i go from here so that i can have the opportunities that everyone else has? anybody. the port authority? the housing authority? >> we will have one last person. >> i am going to be very quick. i would like to say that the majority of us here are contractors, consultants and we offer professional services or whatever it may be. we are accustomed to getting paid at the very end of the 30 days. not to be disrespectful, but it would be really great if we can

get all of our checks on time. you get paid, i am assuming, every two weeks. imagine how it would be to get paid every 60 days and you're trying to run a small business. that is the first thing i want to say. just to be mindful of that, i wanted to follow up -- we have come to these meetings and events and we talk about what we want and what we don't have. i don't know if you heard, he basically said that he would want to talk or some of the other departments here will talk to small business owners. we are in recessions of the way that we used to run businesses are not the way we are running businesses today. i am a little afraid to get some contracts because i am hearing that their payout is 90 days or so. of the contract that we do have,

it is every 15. following up with mr. kelly, i really want to make sure that some of these other contractors that are larger than my business is today, that they can sit down and talk about other ways of how we can actually get more business and make sure we are getting paid on time. and any other concerns that these small business owners have right here, not just in this community, but overall. we have a tendency to forget. as some mentioned, lines of credit can only go so far. >> one final speaker, mr. robinson. >> i just wanted to address the panel, and particularly the young lady that works for the

mayor's office of economic workforce, this is not good faith. this is title six. pertaining to -- talking about the jobs, to be in the improvement of that. the perfect example is the mta. they promised that they would build three parking garages. we have one. they did parallel parking, but not the three parking garages. the city of san francisco is in violation when it comes to federal dollars. if you don't know the law, you can't address the law. i this want to make people aware that we don't have to beg for these jobs. we have an entitlement.

>> perhaps you and i can have an offline conversation. >> this is not an attack, we have the killing in september 24 as of 1956 with matthew johnson by san francisco police officer and 45 years later, on the same thing. we are still looking for opportunities. it sounds good, but it is not being implemented. who is holding this panel accountable to the law? someone has told the panel accountable. if i am going down the street 65 miles an hour, i am in violation of the law. the city, county, san francisco is in violation of the law of title 6. >> thank you for all the great

questions. for closing, which have our commissioner. >> i want to thank his supervisor cohen for posting this. this is actually the beginning of a dialogue between the community and the departments in your supervisors. i want to thank the panelists of the department for coming. and giving the information that they did. i would like to thank you for coming and also for welcoming us to your community. we basically -- our goal in this district is very important to us right now. all of us see the high unemployment over 30%.

we see the opportunity for development in here. it probably has the largest opportunity for development in the entire city. what we're doing, we do the certification, we like to basically find the small businesses, identify them, certify that. we are also responsible, one person questioned who is looking after if i have a complaint about a contract, where do i go? you come to us. we will look into it for you. we will also work with the department's, and on the ordinance, the few things we talked about, i will be talking about profit payments for years.

just like when you mail a package, you can go on line with the tracking system, that is the ultimate goal. the ultimate goal is to get there. it is basically your lifeline, there will get the payment as soon as possible. we have worked about alternative dispute resolution so that you don't have to pay an attorney.

harlan kelly has been instrumental for bringing several people to the table and making sure that it has actually put together in a fashion that works for you guys. the departments are working very hard to break the contract as much as possible so that the small business, the micro business can participate and obtain these contracts. our biggest goal is to the make sure that businesses are certified and the ultimate goal is to see will graduate from the program. that means that we have succeeded if you have exceeded the threshold. thank you for coming, and let us know if we have any concerns with the human rights commission at let's look at this town hall meeting as the beginning of this

dialogue so we can have more in the future. >> please have some refreshments, for all of those the have nots. how you are very important to us, and to thank my colleagues for taking out of their busy schedules to come and talk with you about the opportunities. please come up -- to talk with them.

>> i would like to call to order the november 9, 2009 meeting. will the clerk please call the roll? >> commissioner alexander. >> here. >> the vice chair. commissioner gonzales is absent. commissioner hill. >> here. >> commissioner mccarthy. >> present. >> commissioner perez is

excused. >> thank you. good evening. i am the chair of the immigrant rights commission. on behalf of the immigrant rights commission, i would like to welcome everyone to this symposium. four members of the public, the immigrant rights commission represents the voices of the san francisco immigrant communities. we are responsible for advising the mayor and the board of supervisors on any matters related to the well-being and concerns. the commission meets regularly on the second monday of every month beginning at 5:30 p.m. at city hall. in april of 2009, we have the joint hearing with the human rights commission to listen to

the first 10 testimonies from san francisco residents. the purpose of tonight symposium is for the commission and for the rest of the city family to hear from national experts on comprehensive immigration reform, and to obtain guidance on how local governments, commissions, and community organizations can weigh in on the comprehensive immigration reform debate. tonight's information will be used to guide the commission's work and to help shape our recommendations on behalf of the city immigrant community. i would like to introduce our presenters for tonight's symposium. the office of assembly man is here. thank you. the northern california chapter

of the immigrants lawyers association. the commission would also like to thank our symposium partners. the asian american justice center from washington, d.c. the center for state and local government law. the chief justice earl warren institute. the consulate general of mexico. the quality federation. -- equality federation. the national center for lesbian rights. san francisco chamber of commerce. the san francisco department of children, youth, and their families. san francisco department on the status of women.

san francisco zero divided foundation. we would like to thank the city department heads that are here. the department of status of women. the human rights commission, and our own director, the office of civic engagement and immigrant affairs. you have an opportunity later in the meeting for public comment. please indicate if you would like to speak or write down your questions and return the cards to staff members. i would like to introduce an outstanding leader who has worked hard to bring the diverse segments of the san francisco community together to reach a common ground.

since coming into office in january of 2009, he has brought thoughtful leadership to our city. we're pleased to welcome the president of the san francisco board of supervisors. thank you. [applause] >> good evening. i am pleased to be with all of you today. i want to think the immigrant rights commission and all of the many partners here to talk about a very important topic. 13 years ago, i lived in washington, d.c.. i worked for the senate judiciary committee during the last debate about immigration reform won the 1996 piece of legislation that we will hopefully overturned was passed. it was a fairly dark time in washington, d.c.

the republicans controlled washington at that time. at least on the senate and house side. there are many things that immigration advocates were not able to get done. i moved here for many of the reasons that i think we're all here in san francisco. we're a city of compehensive immigration refoimmigrants. we know that san francisco was built on the backs of immigrant labor. we also know that for the past 10 years on so, it has been fairly dark nationwide for our immigrant community. we've had a new record number of rates belief had a tremendous backlog of applications of legal immigrants that are trying to become citizens. there have been countless stories of constitutional and civil rights violated of many of our family members and friends.

i used to be an immigrant rights attorney. i can tell you firsthand that i would visit the ins detention center and see individuals who had been beaten by ice agents. this conversation cannot be more timely and more important with the new administration and a new recognition and importance of building an immigrants rights movement. hopefully we will soon get healthcare reform behind us. hopefully the next question that our nation grapples with is how do we tell you the constitutional and civil rights that all individuals must have. hopefully we will be able to some they put as an outdated statement the fact that there is some consideration to the concept that certain human beings are illegal.

on behalf of the city and county of san francisco, i want to welcome you for taking part in this important conversation. obviously, the next person i would like to introduce is someone who has been a tremendous champion for many segments of our society, especially individuals and communities that have been marginalized. he has been fighting for immigrants for your entire life. certainly at every step during his political career. we have had a really empowered immigrants rights movement here. we are trying to extend that statewide. tom has been trying to put out the message that as we can do here in san francisco, living

among tolerance, we can hopefully do around the country. i apologize. i need to leave. i have to go to another commission to talk about some legislation. i know you are in very able hands with him. [applause] >> good evening. thank you very much. it's an honor to be here. i want to commence the commission. i always championed the commission when i was on the board of supervisors. i remember when and this applingus applied. when you climb that ladder, it's important not to pull the lever up after you so the next person will not make up. was that close enough? it is very irish. politics and mighpoetry, my

favorite. it is not the melting pot in the cliche way, the san francisco public schools, but it presents you with many opportunities to see what newcomers bring, to see the challenges they face. the institutions are not user friendly. i remember a principal not wanting to provide free breakfast to any kid that was undocumented. i remember we got notes from the principle that saidthis would be spoken on the play yard -- said that no spanish would be spoken on the play yard. i turned to the community. the school district was not responding at that time. they got a moratorium on iq testing because it was so culturally biased.

i think one of the questions was they showed a toboggan and asked what was a toboggan. if you did not have snow or a certain privileges in your live, you did not know what a toboggan is. we have come a long way, but we still have contradictions. we get attacked for the sanctuary city. the id cards in san francisco and connecticut are very, very good. this is an issue that most elected do not want to deal with. in sacramento, it is not a user- friendly situation. people acknowledged that something has to be done, but then they run away from the. commissions such as this, cities

such as san francisco, and basically the reality. sometimes i make a joke about immigration. we are here already. we are not going to go away. if you're worried that we have h1n1, then give us health care. i went to washington and ask what is going to happen with health care reform? you have to think of ways. you have to give us more funding for community clinics so people will not be worried about getting deported and not be worried about getting health care. and not be worried about somehow being identified as a criminal. we have a lot of responsibility to all our brothers and sisters who made this country great. we cannot be intimidated. we are a productive people.

i walked on the picket line the other day. almost everyone there had a different background. their children are here. yet they are still quibbling over whether or not they can get health care, and who cleans their toilets, and who makes their bets. there's a lot of class issues within the immigrant community. they need to be remedied as well. there are people in the immigrant community and we're very well educated. they get very high-paying jobs. when it comes to other infrastructure jobs, we cheat people. we have a lot to do, but i'm always very helpful. if san francisco is anything, is a city of opportunity. i salute you. anytime you need anything, you can call me.

thank you very much. [applause] >> thank you. and thank you, president chu. before i go further, i would like to take care of a little more. i would like to recognize a few more people. harry it from the office of speaker pelosi. forgive me. dominique from the office of congresswoman barbara lee. thank you for coming. office of congresswoman barbara

lee. office of congressman mike honda. thank you for coming. the juvenile probation department. thank you for coming here this evening. thank you for coming. ok. we are now going to begin tonight's program. first we'll hear from one of the nation's leading legal scholars on the long-term economic impact of immigrant rights policy and reform. we will hear from a panel. after h