Candidate for SF Board of Sups, District 1. Neighborhood, disability and senior activist. Prez Board of Directors @RDNC and @FDRDems. TW@JonathanLyens.

May 5, 2016

San Francisco Should Lead the Way on Hiring Equity

So…what do you do for a living? By far, it’s the most common question asked when two people meet for the first time. Unfortunately, for the majority of people with disabilities there is no good answer to this question.

As San Francisco enjoys historic economic growth, we must ensure that all of us benefit from our city’s success.

Did you know?

67% of Californians with disabilities do not have a job.
One out of every three Americans on income-based government assistance (such as welfare, food stamps and SSI) has a disability.
40% of people experiencing homelessness have a disability.
The vast majority of accommodations for an employee with a disability cost less than $500, and a number of incentives and tax credits are available for employers to help cover these costs.
The City spends millions of dollars each year on services for people with disabilities, but does little to connect those services to getting people with disabilities employed.

These facts are outrageous.

Whether you consider yourself a progressive who believes in the empowerment of the disenfranchised at all cost, or even a fiscal hawk concerned about the rising cost of a robust social safety net, employing people with disabilities helps them connect with the community while simultaneously changing that person from someone relying on government services into a taxpayer who pays back into the system.

Here in San Francisco, as our economy booms and the unemployment rate sits at a record low, a movement is underway to ensure people with disabilities share the benefits of our city’s success.

I am proud to be a leader in this movement. More than two years ago, as President of the FDR Democratic Club of San Francisco, I began pressing the Board of Supervisors to focus on how the city can do more on this issue.

As the largest employer in San Francisco, our city government can — and should — do more to hire qualified people with disabilities into city service. I advocated for the Board to fund the creation of a new position that would serve as a direct link between community-based non-profit organizations — that train people with disabilities with the soft skills needed to be competitive in the job market — and the countless number of hiring managers in city government looking to hire qualified employees as quickly as possible.

I am proud to say that after 2 years of advocacy, this position was created in this year’s budget — and is now filled.

San Francisco Should Lead The Way

People with disabilities have begun a movement to demand equal access to our city’s booming economy, and we have achieved some significant success in recent months. However, much work remains to fully bring people with disabilities into our economy as equals. As the largest employer in San Francisco, the city has a moral obligation to lead the way on this issue. Below are three tangible solutions that should be adopted by the city immediately.

First — cover the cost of accommodating an employee with a disability for small businesses.
The city’s small business community is a largely underappreciated resource in City Hall. Most small business owners work hard to be a part of their community, and seek a partner in our city government. The city should collaborate with our small business community to educate them on the benefits of hiring people with disabilities. Accommodating an employee with a disability costs very little, and resources should be developed to help small businesses learn about the tax credits and incentives that exist. If a small business can demonstrate that the costs of accommodating an employee with a disability are not covered in other ways, the city should commit to fund these expenses. The cost of doing business continues to rise in San Francisco, and this is an easy step the city can take to help our business community do the right thing.

Second — incorporate hiring goals of people with disabilities as requirements in city contracts. Following the proven model the city currently uses to require contractors to provide equal benefits to same sex partners and limit asking about a job applicant’s criminal history, San Francisco should incorporate a requirement for all city contractors to set hiring goals for people with disabilities. This is a requirement already in place for all contractors doing business with the Federal Government, and adopting it locally is an easy step to take.

Third — collect data and set goals.
In order to craft meaningful and effective policy, the city needs to collect data on its own effectiveness in recruiting and retaining employees with disabilities in city service. To do this, the city should collect voluntary data during the hiring process and conduct employee surveys to determine how many people with disabilities are seeking employment with the city, and of those, how many are being hired. Of course, strict procedures should be set in place to maintain privacy between employees and employers. Utilizing this data, the city can assess its own success in hiring people with disabilities on a department by department level.

There’s so much work that our city government needs to do in order to make sure more voices are heard inside City Hall, not just the privileged powerful few. Hiring equity is just one of the many actions I plan to take as the next Richmond District Supervisor. If you believe that San Francisco should be more welcoming and affordable to all city residents, then I ask you to join me and this campaign.