vacancy, and it will provide an opportunity for the committee to ask any questions. if we could begin with vera haile. good morning. >> good morning, commissioners. i'm asking to be appointed to another term on immigrants' rights commission. my two main interests are immigrants rights and aging, and i try to put the two together. i am also on the advisory council, the advisory council to the department of aging, and i work 13 years in self-help for the elderly in chinatown and 13 years in the tenderloin, and that is where my experience with immigrants was initiated. i'm still active with many groups, and language access, which is part of immigrants' rights, is a very important

issue to seniors as well as other immigrants, and i have been pleased that the language access ordinance was revised and extended and, hopefully, we will have some additional languages this year after census data gets in. seniors often have difficulty learning english, and even those who learn it sometimes prefer to speak their original language, and not continue to speak english, so i think it is very important that we keep doing that. i began to discover the extent of immigrants during the fast pass their increase, and i was one of the people who went around the senior mills said, and i go to senior mills said its regularly, and if they are not just one group regularly -- i was one of the people who went around the senior meal sites.

you can see many immigrant issues come up. none of them wanted to pay an increase in the fast fast, and the western addition is not all african-american anymore. it is african-american and asian and other, and the russian mill site -- meal site also includes other people, so they are all over the city, and they use muni, and we have been struggling to get in to translate their application in to chinese and spanish, but they have refused so far. we will keep working on that. that brings up a new problem, though. quiver is a metro system, and they do not necessarily feel they have to follow all the rules of san francisco. that is one of the difficulties

we have had with getting them to put their application in spanish and chinese. i am interested in one more term because i feel this is eerie when i first started working with immigrants, everything was getting better in chinatown. the laws have been mobilized. no more 100-person exclusion. people were being reunited and coming to this country for the first time, and even the immigration director's name [inaudible] then, there was amnesty for 2.7 million immigrants, so i thought everything was going to keep getting better. first came 1996 when clinton was under pressure to reduce the federal deficit, and when that happened, he did that by eliminating the legal immigrants who have been here less than 10

years. at the same time, this commission was formed, a reaction to the impression on the federal level, and in 2010, we find the same pressure on president obama to reduce the federal deficit. he has appointed the same two committee chairs that president clinton had on his deficit reduction, and that scares me, too. the governor was proposing this year to eliminate the cash assistance program for immigrants and to eliminate many -- medical. for san francisco, that would have meant 637 finally, that did not happen.

i was so pleased to read the last results. i think one of the thing that i hope we can do is find ways to save programs and make improvements, whether it is sanctuary or secure communities. supervisor campos: if i would ask the applicants -- we have a full agenda -- please keep it as concise as possible. commissioner mar? supervisor mar: thank you for your service on the immigrant rights commission. it looks like you are the only one for seat 1. it seems that you really bring strong experience, not only with immigrant-based social services, but also health and human services, how the system needs to work to provide a safety net for vulnerable immigrant

seniors. i also agree with you that this is a critical time. i hope that you can be reappointed to take a courageous stand for immigrant communities as we face rising deportations and crack down from the government. supervisor campos: thank you. kenneth jeng. >> good morning, commissioners. i am an attorney. i first became interested in serving this commission with two cases. a physician was put into a prison facility on the east

coast. we were able to obtain a settlement for him, as he was denied medical care and other rights, as an immigrant in the country. the second was in immigrant court. the family is currently in the process of removal proceedings. although it is not my primary job to work in progress service, i believe my service could provide a unique legal perspective to the commission. supervisor campos: thank you. next, teresa chee. >> hello and good morning, commissioners. i stand before you seeking a seat in the commission. dealing with immigrant issues is not an option. it is not a one day a week meeting or a monthly volunteer

the opportunity. it is part of my everyday life, ever since i was old enough to cover and english language. currently, i am part of the chinese democratic american club and other associations. as a registered nurse, i will never forget my inspiration. being there former grandmother who had undergone a triple bypass surgery without understanding english. i wanted to build my life and career to build up -- to help others. i can tell you about the frustration and hopelessness that some of our residents feel in this world. many problems arise from language access. without this, communication between physicians and patients is not a two way street. to many times, i have seen them sit, stair, and not to a request for question. what is wrong with this picture?

can you simply imagine not into everything, not understanding what was communicated? we trust health care professionals to take care of us. we need to trust that they have our best interest in hand, which means they're patient fully comprehending their care. as a nurse, i feel i have the responsibility to change the situation. many times, i am used to translate for a patient because of their limited knowledge of medical jargon. i feel the need for translators in the hospital, and hope to be a part of this implementation. health care reform proposed by president obama is revolutionary. if universal health care becomes a reality, we need to ensure immigrants are included and have proper access to this plan. i do not believe the commission currently has anyone from the medical field. health care is such an important topic right now, and having someone with firsthand

experience, is vital to the committee. i stand before you as someone who sees the problems, struggles, and possible solutions. i can and will contribute dues from the medical profession. i feel my experience growing up in an immigration -- it immigrant family and my professional life had prepared me well for this position. thank you all for your time. supervisor campos: thank you. supervisor mar: could i just asked ms. chee -- i agree health care is critical. you are a registered nurse. there are a number of community- based organizations that you have worked with. you are multilingual -- >> i am fluent in cantonese, mandarin, two other dialects, and a little bit of spanish.

supervisor mar: thank you. supervisor campos: next, if we could call on solomon jones. >> good morning, supervisors. i am a commissioner of the immigrants' rights commission. i have been a commissioner for several years. i would like to be reinstated. i need your approval for this. i am a community court operator. i am also a member of the momajic collaborative organization. i am in the community center right now for african immigrants. also, we have an african academy at the northern police station at fillmore and turk, where we

teach african students about their history, culture, language. we want to expose our culture to the majority of the population because we are the children of the cradle of civilization. we are the children of the first humans on earth -- i do not know who can speak about this -- but according to the bible, the land is called eden. we feel we have a lot to contribute to the commission and city to make it a viable entity, to make it a productive society, and we want our people to be productive members of our society. we want to expose our children and people that come into this country. we understand the problem with immigration. it is have a crucial year for immigrants. we need to make improvements.

the second issue, this is a critical time. immigrants want to be productive members of society. they want to be a part of our society. they want to be able to develop. they want to grow. they need social, economic help. a lot of this is of great concern for their community. i would like to have another session to finish the work that i have done. i have been writing a resolution for the commission. i had been writing a letter to the commission. also, there are different layers of immigrants in america. some are coming in in the past,

some are coming here legally, illegally, but they are coming to be a part of our civic society, get education. i think i have been representing that part of the issue. i have been working, listening, going to community meetings, i have gone to africa and advocacy, the japanese community center. my interest is to help secure san francisco as a sanctuary city. supervisor campos: if i could ask a question, commissioner. it is something that i always aske any commissioner that is asking for reappointment, where issues of this type come up. what is your attendance like to the commission meetings? do you attend the meetings, do

you get there on time? could you sit a little bit about the work that you have done? clearly, we want people who have the right perspective, who are committed to working with the city, but there has to be a demonstration of that commitment through the work. if you could comment on that. >> i think i have a near-perfect record this year. there have been a couple of times where i was late. there has been a great deal of development. there has been a great deal of work that i have done. i have gone to many, many other commission meetings. i have gone to the middle east discrimination of human rights meeting -- many other meetings. i have been putting in my full

effort, as far as i'm concerned. i do not think there is an issue with any of my attendance. supervisor campos: thank you. supervisor mar? supervisor mar: i wanted to ask more about the african-america institute that you are the head of. >> i am the creator of the organization. we build relationships between africa and america. it was started in 2005 -- 2003, something like that. we have evolved to the african cultural community center. we won a community center for our people where we can meet, where we can help with social services, education. we have been offering the african educational program at the northern police station.

we have evolved but there are some problems in the community. there are all kinds of frictions, and we are trying to help them understand, by being productive and understanding history. supervisor campos: thank you, commissioner. if we could call wilma parker de pavloff. good morning. >> good morning. i am here to introduce myself and talk about my interest in the immigrant rights. i also need to clear up a little bit confusion. i am here today, obviously, to represent myself, and also it says on the program i am interested in seat number three.

in fact, i have spoken to people and it should read seat 5. supervisor campos: if i may ask, when you submit your application, did you check a specific box for the seat? >> i submitted that back in may, and this is the first time that i have heard much information back from anyone. supervisor campos: in your application, you actually have seat 3. for purposes of the meeting, the way that public meeting laws work, we can only act on what is noted on the agenda. what is on your application is seat 3. >> ok, it was back in may but

that can stand. i am very interested in education and how it affects the community. i am myself an immigrant, coming from the east coast and chicago. i have, for 30 years, made east market my home. in a chicago, i was a public- school teacher. very interested in how that would be affecting students there, the kinds of opportunities they would have. when i got to san francisco, -- i am an artist -- so i decided to open up an art school. i do have board experience. i have been a trustee at the rhode island school of design for four years, which was my first school. they were very concerned about their school going global.

we have a very large caribbean community coming to our school and we are -- korean community coming to our school and we are trying to promote that. i am very familiar with redevelopment. i went too many meetings, sometimes five a week. in fact, we are now living through the plan for the area and are seeing great changes. i have supervised an art gallery on sixth street. i am concerned about the safety of the businesses opening up there. but i am most interested in education, how people come here, how they can get a foot in the door. i recently attended a 50th anniversary for one organization who worked with a brilliant engineers, thinking outside the box, and they were willing to hire.

that is my interest in art education. i feel is a segue into medicine, engineering, and it is important for people. also, how i am those are my qua. supervisor campos: thank you. samer danfoura. >> [inaudible] supervisor campos: do you know how late? let's move to elahe enssani. >> good morning, supervisors.

thank you for this opportunity to come here to speak before you. my name is elahe enssani. i am a professor at san francisco university. i am also a founder of a technology firm. i am also on the board for women in science, technology, and engineering, with the purpose of educating women to get into the industry of science. above all, i am an immigrant, which is the hardest thing i have done in my life. forget about the other things that i have done. all these connections make you who you are. being, on this commission has

been a privilege and an honor for me. it is something that is very close to my hard and my whole purpose had been not only to be here and let people know how difficult it is to be an immigrant, as to improve the quality of life for them. but also, wringing my community, the iranian-american community into the larger american community. because we are relatively new immigrants, we live and hang around with iranians, but we need to make sure that they are part of another larger communities, irish-americans, chinese americans. i will give you a couple of examples and then i can open up to questions. one that i am really proud of, in 2006, we got a call from someone whose wife was in prison

from i.c.e. they did not know what to do. he had heard of me, heard that there was an iranian on the arts commission. he had no idea what the commission was about. i was able to get in touch with our executive director's office. i must say, we have some great people in our condition. we were able to contact nancy pelosi. through that, another congressperson. we found the real issue was not legal. she was being represented. something was simply missing somewhere. so we had a campaign to get her to her family by thanksgiving, and we were able to do that. just last year also, someone was about to be evicted. they came to us, and through our wonderful director, the chair of the commission, we were able to

prevent this. these are just two examples. aside from that, making sure that we can promote the accomplishments of the people in my community and other communities to let people get to know each other. supervisor campos: thank you. if we could now call samer danfoura. >> good morning, supervisors. i am not samer but he is held up in court. he is an immigration attorney. he was not able to control the situation, so i will speak on his behalf, with your position. as you know, the irc has been working with my office on a number of different areas including importcomprehensive

immigration reform, muni regulation, language access, a century city policies. as many of you have said, this is a critical time in our work, and we ask you again to appoint commissioners who have the expertise and competency to advance our work with integrity and credibility. just showing up for a meeting does not mean that someone is active or knowledgeable or able to articulate the needs of the immigrant community. so on behalf of staff, we would like to recommend for your consideration the following individuals for reappointment. commissioner ver haile for seat number one. you have heard what a change she has been for the women's community, elderly community, and people of color. samer danfoura for seat number three.

he was in our commission as a mayoral appointee, but was not reappointed. he has been comprehensive in our immigration reform work, instrumental in helping us draft the report. elahe enssani, she is a well qualified individual that we would recommend. we do not have anyone foresee no. 5. supervisor campos: thank you. let's open this up to the public. this is an opportunity for the public to come up and speak on vacancies. you each have two minutes. >> thank you, supervisors. i was the first batch of the immigrant rights commission. later on, i was joined by vera haile, and before she came to

our commission, she worked in the chinatown self help for the elderly, and she is knowledgeable of all of the commissioners, knowledgeable of the needs of the committee. currently, i am on the condition of aging. we -- commission of aging. we rely on vera a lot for information. she would often come to our commission meetings to solve some problems for the benefit of the commission. i urge you to reappoint her. i also support teresa chee. she is very active in the chinese community. she also belongs to the american

legion. ina regular member and she is an auxiliary member. both of us belong to the chinese democratic club. she really knows her stuff. she knows what metical, medicare is. lots of people ask her what this is, getting the views on part d and c. i urge you to appoint these two ladies. they will be very worthy. supervisor campos: thank you. next speaker please. >> good morning, supervisors. i am on the staff for planning for elders. i am here to speak in favor of the reappointment of vera haile to themi