>> please make sure to turn off all sillier phones in devices. -- please make sure to turn off all cell phones and devices. items today will be on the november 1 agenda. item number one, hearing to consider appointing six members, terms ending june 6, 2013, to the immigrant rights commission. supervisor kim: thank you. i believe that five of the six applicants are here today. one cannot make it because of another conflict. we're going to call you up in order that your listed on the agenda. first we have kathleen coll.

the format will be the same. we ask you to briefly introduce yourself and your background and interest in serving on the immigrant rights commission. thank you, dr. coll. >> thank you very much for the opportunity to apply to serve on this commission. i feel honored to even be here. i realize you have seen my application. i can tell you that i am in college anthropology teacher. i teach anthropology, chicano studies, and my area scholarship is immigration and citizenship in the united states, both called remaking citizenship, which is based on almost 15 years of field work by did it in the mission district with the organization to that is my area of professional expertise. the other things i can tell you about myself are that i grew up here in san francisco, fit the generation proud irish san

franciscan, on my father's side. it gets more complicated, like everybody's immigrant stories. my mother is the granddaughter of an immigrant from new york. as we tell our stories, we give you different versions of ourselves. i am from san francisco, but i am also from elsewhere. i am irish, but my first language was german. i grew up in the city going to public schools. i was a bust, the first generation of buses to integrate schools. as a result, i speak spanish. coming from an english-speaking home, growing up, next spanish- speaking and people change my life, changed the course of my career, and my personal activities and goals and to the classroom, in my scholarship, and in the community. almost 30 years i have participated in a variety of immigrant community organizations and issues, everything from my church sanctuary committee in the 1980's to college activism and education around immigration

politics and globalization. but also, most of my adult life, my engagement -- engagement with immigrant issues has been as the current citizen in community member. my kids go to public schools, schools that are majority immigrant students. mike has been trained here at ucsf and served as a doctorate san francisco general for many years. my interaction with city services as a homeowner, active in my neighborhood, and it has taught me that immigrants -- i feel strongly that for me, immigrants have taught me what it means to be a citizen in the united states. that is something i try to emphasize all the time. my experience in massachusetts, living away from san francisco for a while, give me an interesting perspective on how we do things are really here in our local history and traditions are important to understand and respect. also to understand why it is very difficult for the change

could change to a difficult for some people, but it can also be very exciting and expensive for us as a community. for me, what i bring, what i would hope to bring to the committee would be both my scholarship and experience in both national and international academic communities that deal with immigration, globalization, public service provision, and integration into local community life for immigrants but also might experience teaching at the city college in san francisco to stanford and harvard in seeing how important and exciting it is to bring youths into our conversations. i also bring an open mindedness and an interest in learning. that characterizes my scholarship. i love working with people. i love learning from people during three kinds of jobs, located in different parts of the city, and try to understand and integrate everybody's experiences with what i see is my analysis of what is going on. i like writing, reading, and

researching. i can bring that kind of enthusiasm and interest in and bring as many different kinds of voices to the table as possible, recognizing that in addition to international immigrants and defendants of international immigrants in san francisco, we have different kinds of migrants, people that come a different times of their lives. we have a very mobile population. those are different kinds of perspectives i would want to bring to the table if i am honored to be appointed to the commission. i do not want to go too long. i know there are a lot of people to talk. there's a lot of material in my application. i want to say that mostly what i would bring is my character, my personality, might open s, and a combination of that with my academic background and expertise and my personal experiences. that is what i hope i can share with the committee. supervisor kim: thank you.

i was curious to where you went to elementary school. >> in bernal heights. supervisor kim: where do your children go to school now? >> my children have attended and currently attend buena vista, james lick, hoover, and san francisco school of art. i have two children who have gone through different phases. they also attended school for six years in massachusetts, when they were debating about bilingual education. so i have experienced local and statewide political debate over public education and immigrant rights in education in different places. that was very important for me. supervisor kim: do you have priorities on the immigrants' rights commission that he would like to work on or address as a commissioner? what's one of my priorities is public education and immigrant parents integration into governance. in my daughter's school, i have

seen the difference between school better majority immigrant and majority not immigrant in terms of whose voices are at the table when decisions get made and how that plays out in terms of resource allocation to different schools, even when everybody is working very honestly to be as fair as possible. another area of interest i have is in women's rights, immigrant women's rights, and labor rights. i have been volunteering with california domestic workers coalition. and the campaign to pass a domestic worker bill of rights that the state level. that is an issue that is close to my heart, because my great- grandmother, the german immigrant, was herself a domestic worker that experienced a lot of abuse. the story of that abuse and exploitation has come down in my family. but people take care of my aging father and i get babysitters for

my children, so i feel like there are a lot of important issues we need to face as a community about fairness and showing care and compassion for the people that care for the most vulnerable people among us. supervisor kim: thank you for your work on that. it is great to meet you. i have heard great things about you during the appointment process for the redistricting task force. >> thank you very much. supervisor kim: any questions? second, we have mario paz. again, at the same format to your background and experience and what your priorities would be. >> thank you. good afternoon, supervisors and members of the committee. is it the executive director of the good samaritan family resource center. i am proud to say that i work for an organization that has more than a century of service to the immigrant communities. established in 1894 to really help newcomers to our

communities to really become self-sufficient and become truly members of our community. that mission has continued and continues to this day. again, i feel very, very proud that i have been able to witness the incredible sacrifices that our immigrant families make each and every day. i think that is where i get my inspiration to do this work. i have 30 years of public and community service. much of that span of my work has been to provide services to poor and immigrant communities. my primary inspiration has been to witness the incredible sacrifices that the people make, not only to improve their lives, but also to improve their communities. by improving our communities, they enrich our own lives and the citizenship has been mentioned previously. i think the greatest inspiration i received was as a young child, growing up in san francisco. i intended a meeting with my parents at a local church

during the century movement in san francisco. my parents took me to get information. they started out with the process were they asked people to close their eyes and really share a happy moment in their childhood. i was struck that no one raised their hand for a moment in time. then my mother raised her hand.t remember a happy moment. and i think it was at that moment, at that age, that i realized how much of a sacrifice my parents made to come here, and to really find ways to improve their lives not just for themselves but for their children. that is my past, to really do the work that i do now. i think what they bring is both my passion and a really deep and intimate knowledge of the issues facing immigrants each and every day. what they bring is also a very positive image to the conversation. because what i see each and every day is at benefits to our society that i think the rest of the nation needs to hear.

i cannot think of a better example of what our immigrant communities are contributing than to use the david campos story. those are the stories our nation need to hear. i bring that passion and that intimate knowledge that i see each and every day, and i think that will be an important conversation i would like to promote. and try to really change that we are responding to the negative images that our immigrant communities have, the way they're being portrayed. there are so many benefits they are providing to our committees to make them better. we need to figure out ways to highlight those issues. i look forward to working with members of the commission and the city to find ways that we can begin to change the national discussion in terms of how we are portraying our communities and how they are really providing benefits. i appreciate your consideration. supervisor kim: thank you. you grew up here in san

francisco? >> yes, in district 9. in 10 did -- i attended schools here and went to a catholic school. and st. ignatius college prep. i went back to el salvador for two years and did some work during this century movement. i came back in which university and got my master's degree. supervisor kim: thank you so much. i know we had to do a residency waiver for you. it is get to know you grew up here. thank you for your work with the good samaritan family resource center. we are very lucky to have that organization in san francisco. >> thank you. i really appreciate that. supervisor kim: next we have angus mccarthy. >> thank you, supervisors. chair of the immigration rights commission. i think kathleen would be a

great member of the commission. i have worked with her and saw her strong connection to the immigrant community. if i may, i have a statement to read. i will try to keep it brief. thank you for considering my reappointment to the immigrant'' rights commission. this is an important commission, given the city's diversity and the high population of immigrants and limited-english speakers. as a first generation immigrants from ireland, understand the issues and struggles of our immigrants. san francisco is my home, and i want to help make this a good place for all residents, regardless of their status. i am accountable to the people of san francisco and to the communities we serve. i take my role very seriously. i represented the commission and city and state and national hearings on immigration reform. for the past six years, i've worked closely with the commission. the office of pacific engagement

and immigrant affairs, the board of supervisors, the mayor's office, and with our immigrant advocates and community organizations. together we have build a lot of momentum and solved a lot of issues. i believe we have been very effective as a good commission. i would really like to be considered again and look forward to working on at the commission as the chair and as a commissioner. thank you. supervisor kim: thank you. and thank you for your two years as president of the commission. i know it is a lot of work and volunteer hours. i appreciated. speaking of which, to talk about the accomplishments, what were you most proud of in terms of your time at the immigrant rights commission? >> obviously, by a big focus that drew me to the commission was the comprehensive immigration reform. that was a big one for me. i went back to washington at that time when the bill was on the table, along with other things. the dream act was another one i really believed in. i know we went out on the campaign cycle for that as well.

the important policies, i believe the commission did a lot in helping the community when they needed someone to address their concerns. and the language access has been very important. i have worked closely and getting that done. very proud of this report we have done this year. it finally delivered and finalized. those types of things really mean a lot to me. supervisor kim: thank you. next is felix fuentes. >> good afternoon, supervisors. my name is felix fuentes, and i have been serving and human rights commission since 2007. i am the vice chair of the commission. as a person who came undocumented from guatemala in 1982, i am now a citizen of this country.

i have experience being an immigrant. three years of organized labor and community groups, there is now engagement. i have been dedicating my time to help fight for justice for our immigrant communities. that is the reason why i am here this afternoon to express my commitment in interest to continue serving our immigrant community. something i do with dedication and passion, because i will never forget my roots and because i know that there are a lot of people out there that need to be helped to achieve the american dream. that is the reason because i am here, at to consider my reappointment. supervisor kim: thank you. thank you very much. next we have melba maldonado.

>> oh, i do not think she is here. supervisor kim: oh, she is the one. let's go to toye moses. >> but i can speak on her behalf later. supervisor kim: ok, great. mr. moses. >> good afternoon, honorable supervisors. my name is toye moses, and i am asking you to approve my application for the appointment. to allow me to help and continue. i am in nigerian. i came to this country in 1965, and i have been a resident of san francisco since 1974.

i have degrees in public health, and i am working for the city of san francisco. my area is usually mental health. i worked in the jail for numbers of years. and i worked for the residential program for many years. i can see a lot of immigrants who are having substance-abuse problems. i have used my experience and background to help some of these people. as an immigrant, i want to use my educational background and experience to continue helping immigrants and others who are having language and health problems. and if you allow me again to continue to finish, i would be glad to continue helping these people who were not being represented, having language problems. i am asking you to approve my reappointment, and i will continue doing what i am is

supposed to be doing. so thank you, supervisors. supervisor kim: thank you. i heard you just had an emergency surgery, and i thought you would not be here today. so thank you. >> thank you. supervisor kim: thank you for your service as well on the commission. >> thank you very much. supervisor kim: at this time, i will open it up for public comment. if folks want to line up, two minutes. and i will not do a two-minute limit for you as the director. thank you so much for being here. >> thank you, chair, and supervisors. we're at a critical stage right now in our work around language access, immigrant integration, comprehensive immigration reform, equity issues, and we really need active, knowledgeable commissioners. each of today's candidates, i think, are excellent. they are balanced in their point of view. they're very inclusive. most important, they're very

committed to equity issues. that is an earmarks of the office of engagement in immigrant affairs. we also have a lot of enforcement, immigration enforcement issues and policies that we are looking at right now. the commission just finished a comprehensive three-year strategic planning process. so i think they are ready. they're very excited about working with a good team. the four individuals were being considered for reappointment of the most active on the current commission. we absolutely would not be in the solid place that we're in today without the leadership of chair mccarthy and vice chair fuentes. the addition of mr. paz and dr. coll would fill some existing gaps. it would be an honor to have individuals of this caliber joined the commission. in case you're interested, the commission would remain very

balanced in the gender, a field of expertise, diversity, ethnicity with all of these candidates. if you know a good immigration attorney, we might have an opening coming up. and i would welcome your recommendations. i also want to add that on october 28, the commission is cosponsoring's is first ever -- cosponsoring san francisco's first ever immigrant youth summit. i hope you can stop by the conference to meet with the 250 participants. thank you very much. supervisor elsbernd: i would like to say that there is a good immigrate rights attorney that chair mccarthy and i have worked with in the past, mr. byrd. probably some other folks that you really are looking. i do not know if they are interested. i might be volunteering the person than they do not have time for. but i definitely have worked with some very high class attorneys.

>> thank you. supervisor kim: thank you for being here. >> good afternoon, supervisors. my name is linda richardson, and i have the honor to be standing right here in front of you today to speak on behalf of dr. toye moses. very few people in this city exemplify what an immigrant commission there should be. over the decades, dr. toye moses is well known throughout this city, not only in the african-american community, but because of his outreach to the asian american committee, the hispanic community, he takes his or very seriously. his extensive collaboration and connections on not only the local, state, and national levels, we have witnessed over and over again how his advocacy on behalf of the immigrants of this great city of san

francisco. i was very impressed when we conducted a census. we had to get the numbers right. dr. moses went beyond the call of duty, not all working in his community, but going throughout the entire city. it is a very significant census. as you all know, this was one of the finest. and your distinguished director can testify to that. here you are. you have a man at that, over decades, continues to work out standing here in san francisco. he deserves to continue the kind of work that is needed. lastly, i would like to endorse mr. mccarthy. he is another gentleman that has given his time to the city and county. thank you for allowing me to speak. supervisor kim: thank you, dr. richardson.

>> good afternoon, supervisors. i am a san francisco resident and executive director of young committed two double-developers in the baby. i wanted to take a brief moment to speak on behalf of dr. moses and not only his work within the community but his work and advocacy for those that do not necessarily have the same voice as others within our community. immigrant rights advocacy that is needed at times, particularly when we're talking about dealing with the systems that are in place here in san francisco, it is important to have somebody who is ready to work hard for and with and alongside them. as supervisor kim mentioned earlier, he did have emergency surgery. the fact that you see him here today against the doctor's orders, against my own recommendation, you can understand the dedication and commitment that he