Keeping my word

During all San Francisco elections, candidates seeking organizational endorsements are required to fill out (sometimes lengthy) questionnaires prior to being interviewed. One of these I completed recently was from the San Francisco Women's Political Committee. I am pleased to have received the SFWPC Endorsements Committee's recommendation (thanks to them for their continuing confidence in me), and look forward to being endorsed by the full membership.

I wanted to share some of the SFWPC's questions as well as my answers. You will note that I pledged to ask the Chancellor for information on a number of these, and plan to make these requests both in writing and at our College Board meeting on August 28th.

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1. Do you support raising wages so that all San Francisco workers can meet their family’s basic needs with one full-time job? If you support this concept, what will you do to advance sustainable wages for all workers?

No one should have to work more than one full-time job to support a family’s basic needs. I cannot say for certain if there are any employees at City College who have to work more than one job; however, I will ask the Chancellor to report to the Board on this to see if we need to adopt a policy directing the District to raise all employees to the level where their City College job is sufficient to support a family.

2. According to current federal comparative statistics, females make $0.85 to the dollar for a man in a comparable position. Do you support the concept of pay equity in the workplace for comparable work? If you support this concept, what will you do to advance pay equity in the workplace?

I can think of no justification for not having comparable pay for everyone. It is amazing to me that women still make less than men; the only thing less acceptable than that fact is the realization that we allow this disparity to continue to exist. We have the power to change this!

As a Trustee at City College, I will ask for an analysis of pay at the College to see if this disparity exists there. Once we have this information, I will then be able to act to establish policies to make any corrections that we need. Hopefully, the situation at City College will be better than in society at large.

3. What should the role of the government be in expanding quality, accessible childcare, early education and elder care resources?

Given the evidence of the importance of pre-school, the demand for childcare, and the growing need for elder care as the population ages, the role of government should be to guarantee all of these things at a reasonable rate and in an accessible way. City College has an excellent reputation for child development programs, though I am not certain how much wait there is for spots to open. I will find out how the College manages demand for child development programs for its students as well as for people who work at the College, and I will propose a Board policy requiring the District to provide child development services for anyone at the College who desires it.

4. What will you do to help eliminate sexual harassment and sexual discrimination in the workplace and society in general?

I will seek the support of my colleagues on the College Board in requiring an annual report on sexual harassment and sexual discrimination complaints to make certain that laws and policies against both of these are being handled properly. That includes requiring that the offices charged with investigating complaints and recommending action against anyone found guilty of breaking the law or violating District policies is seen as properly trained to handle these complaints and competent in carrying out its duties. If people feel that their complaints will not be handled properly, they will refrain from filing them. The Board need to send a strong signal that it will not stand for inappropriate actions and that it will demand that the College take action to punish those who violate standards.

City College program for homeless and at-risk students

Recently, I introduced Dariush Kahyan, the Mayor's Homeless Policy Director, to the HARTS Program at City College (Homeless/At-Risk Transitional Students). I was surprised to find that there had been no formal connection between Project Homeless Connect, the nonprofit where Dariush used to work, and HARTS.

In fact, when I looked tonight the orientation flyer for volunteers that is posted on the SFConnect website, there still is no mention about an educational program that could greatly benefit San Francisco's homeless population as well as those at-risk of becoming homeless or returning to homelessness:

Project Homeless Connect – Orientation

"Because each client is unique and the combination of services that they need is different, their individual needs will dictate exactly how they move through the Service Stations.

The list of services provided is growing and includes the following and more:

• Medical Care, Dental, HIV and TB Testing, Needle Exchange
• Benefits (CAAP, GA, SSI, Food Stamps)
• Behavioral Health (Mental Health & Substance Abuse Counseling and Treatment, methadone)
• Housing Information and Shelter Reservation –7 day stay
• Veterans Assistance
• Family Services and Senior Services
• DMV Ids
• Free phone calls and voice mail
• Employment Services
• Free vision care and eyeglasses
• Domestic Violence Counseling
• Legal Assistance
• Discharge Planning
• Lunch, Activities & Giveaways
• Flu Shots and Hair cuts"

I understand that there have been some preliminary conversations between the City and City College. I am going to continue to push for the type of collaboration that would enable HARTS to serve a broader range of students than they can now with their limited resources.

For further information about HARTS, please go to:

http://www.ccsf.edu/Resources/Harts/index.htm