You May be Eligibile for Federal Stimulus Funds Available through JOBS NOW!

The City and County of San Francisco is using newly available federal stimulus funds to expand subsidized employment opportunities, with a goal of placing 2,000 participants in jobs between May 2009 and September 2010.  This new program is administered by the City’s Human Services Agency and is called JOBS NOW!
 
The immediate goal of JOBS NOW is to stimulate local economic recovery by providing an immediate source of income to low-income families. The program is available to both public and private employers. JOBS NOW will pay employers 100% of employee wages from now through September 30, 2010.
 
Download an informational fact sheet here: http://www.sfgov.org/site/frame.asp?u=http://www.sfhsa.org/

Visit the Human Services Agency for additional information and applications here:
http://www.sfgov.org/site/frame.asp?u=http://www.sfhsa.org/

HRC Leads Effort to Provide Law Enforcement Diversity Training

For most of this decade, the SF HRC has established its place as an expert in law enforcement policies and trainings regarding appropriate interactions with transgender people. In 2002, working with the National Lawyers Guild, the SF HRC drafted Model protocols on the treatment of transgender persons by San Francisco County Jail. Since 2003, the SF HRC has worked with the SF Sheriff’s department to provide transgender community awareness trainings for all Sheriff CORE classes, as well as training personnel for the SF Medical Examiner’s Office and the Office of Citizen complaints.

In 2002, working with a Task Force of the SF Police Commission, the SF HRC revised SFPD Departmental General Orders and drafted training bulletins for officers. Starting in 2003, and continuing through the end of 2009, the SF HRC has co-presented 4-hour transgender community awareness trainings to all SFPD officers, command staff, district stations, and bureaus including SFO, investigations, and administration. In addition, SF HRC staff helps train 2-3 SFPD academy classes each year. In all, it has required more than 70 training sessions to ensure that over 2,000 SFPD officers are trained in this ground-breaking area of law enforcement.

In 2004, the SF HRC extended law enforcement trainings to include campus officers at City College, San Francisco State, and the University of San Francisco. In September 2009, the SF HRC provided a report on New York City police department policies and trainings as an expert witness for a federal case based upon years of expertise in law enforcement policy analysis, development, and trainings.

For information on training opportunities offered by the HRC, click here:

Become a Certified Local Business!

Each year, the City and County of San Francisco awards over $710 million in contracts to businesses. The Chapter 14B Local Business Enterprise and Non-Discrimination in Contracting Ordinance of the San Francisco Administrative Code helps certain financially disadvantaged businesses increase their ability to compete effectively for these City contracts.

There are three main benefits to becoming certified as a Local Business Enterprise (“LBE”). First, LBE certified businesses are entitled to a 10% bid discount or ratings bonus on the bids or proposals they submit on City contracts subject to this ordinance. Second, LBE certified businesses benefit from subcontracting or subconsulting goals set for most City contracts. Third, some contracts are set aside for very small businesses to participate directly as prime contractors.
 
For More Information About the Certification Process and its Benefits, Please Visit:
www.sf-hrc.org

To Make an Appointment with an Individual from the Certification Unit, Please Contact:

Melinda Kanios at Melinda.Kanios@sfgov.org or (415)252-2530; or 
Taraneh Moayed at Taraneh.Moayed@sfgov.org or (415) 252-2531.
 
Congratulations to Firms Certified in August 2009!

To Apply for an Internship with the Certification Unit:
Please send a resume and cover letter to:
Melinda Kanios, Manager
Certification Unit - SF HRC
25 Van Ness Avenue, Suite 800, SF CA 94102
Melinda.Kanios@sfgov.org
Ph: (415) 252-2530
Fax: (415) 431-5764

San Francisco General Hospital Provides Opportunities for Local Businesses

The Department of Public Works has retained Webcor to build the new San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center located between 22 nd and 23 rd Streets on Potrero Avenue for the City and County of San Francisco. The 284 bed/14 operating room hospital and trauma center will provide the only Level 1 Trauma Center for residents of San Francisco and northern San Mateo County. The project will be built in 4 phases.  Phase I consists of site utilities relocation and replacement; Phase II consists of Service Building modifications and equipment additions; Phase III consists of excavations, foundations and structure frame; and Phase IV consists of the new Acute Care Hospital build out. Construction for Phase 1 Site utilities will begin in the fall of 2009. Project completion will be the Spring of 2014.

This project contract includes two major programs intended to increase participation of local business: HRC and CityBuild. A major emphasis will be placed on our overall project target of 5% LBE participation, with respective scopes having varying goals. To meet and exceed these goals, Webcor plans, where possible, portions of work will be restricted to the use of LBE’s only. To allow 1 st tier LBE’s that can no longer acquire bonding due to the financial crises, the City and WB are in the process of implementing SubGuard in lieu of bonding along with a pre-qualification process. To keep all interested LBE and city contractors informed, WB / City will post SFGH Project Bid Package notices on the City’s website with a link to the Project Webpage. WB will advertise in the SF Chronicle prior to the Request for Qualification (RFQ) to inform the trades of the trade package bidding. Webcor Builders (WB) will email, telephone, fax and send a mailer to the appropriate LBE firms to insure they are aware of the bidding and Pre-Bid conference dates. LBEs will be invited to attend Pre-Bid conferences to meet the prospective bidders. WB will distribute to the LBE’s a list of the subcontractors requesting RFQ’s so they may contact them directly to solicit their services.  To maximize LBE participation, Webcor is working closely with our HRC Compliance Officers, Romulus Asenloo and Finbarr Jewell, to identify contracting opportunities for LBE’s and to develop targeted outreach to these companies prior to the RFP.

For more information on bidding opportunities, please visit http://sfgh.webcor.com or the Office of Contract Administration website (OCA) http://mission.sfgov.org/OCABidPublication/  or contact Thomas Soohoo/Webcor Builders at 415.695.3800, thomas@webcor.com. 
Additional contacts are Finbarr Jewell/HRC 415.252.2513 Finbarr.jewell@sfgov.org and Joe Chin/DPW 415.695.3865 joe.chin@sfdpw.org

For a listing of upcoming City contracts, please click here:

Housing and Public Accommodations Unit at the Human Rights Commission

The Housing and Public Accommodations Unit of the Human Rights Commission (“HRC”) assists the public in filing, mediating, and investigating discrimination complaints in housing and public accommodations. 

Housing discrimination occurs when someone is subjected to adverse treatment when they rent or buy a housing unit or in the provision of services to the occupant because the occupant belongs to one or more protected classes.  Public accommodations discrimination occurs when someone is subjected to adverse treatment or denied services by a business or an organization because the patron belongs to one or more protected classes (including age, AIDS/HIV status, ancestry, color, creed, disability, familial status, gender identity, height, national origin, place of birth, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, source of income, and weight).

The HRC can only consider housing or public accommodation complaints that take place in San Francisco.  If you would like file a complaint with us, please call us at 415-252-2500 or email us at hrc@sfgov.org. 

The Citywide Surety Bond and Financial Program Self-Insurance Fund

Great News!  Thanks to legislation introduced by Supervisor Sophie Maxwell, the Citywide Surety Bond and Financial Program (“Program”) has a newly created Self-Insurance Fund.  Working collaboratively with the Human Rights Commission (“HRC”) and the Office of the Risk Manager, the City’s Administrator and participating City departments shall contribute to a category eight fund to increase the guarantee pool for the Program.  After each department initially contributes to the Fund proportionate to the department’s capital projects budget, the HRC and the City’s Risk Manager shall conduct an actuarial analysis to determine the amount of the fund that can be leveraged and what amount each department shall contribute on an ongoing basis.

The HRC is very excited about the possibilities that the Self-Insurance Fund presents.  The Self-Insurance Fund will provide more opportunities for small/local businesses to bid on the City’s public works projects and those bids will, in turn, provide a cost-benefit to the City.  The idea is that the more small/local businesses that are awarded City projects, the more jobs we create for local residents and the more local tax dollars we keep in San Francisco.  Additionally, the Self-Insurance Fund will allow sufficient funds to back the guarantees and decrease the administrative burden on the City, while providing for continuity and expansion of the Program for the future.  

For information on the Citywide Surety Bond and Financial Program please visit our website here: http://www.sf-hrc.org/index.aspx?page=76