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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03/26/2025 - Women and Gender Equity Advisory Board - AGENDA - Regular MeetingWOMEN AND GENDER EQUITY ADVISORY BOARD REGULAR MEETING Wednesday, March 26, 2024 – 5:00 pm Conference Room A (281 N College Ave) Meeting Contact: Redd, Staff Liaison, kredd@fcgov.com, 970-416-2009 Teams – See Link Below 1. CALL TO ORDER 2. ROLL CALL 3. AGENDA REVIEW 4. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION 5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES 6. BOARD UPDATES a. New member of WGEAB b. Position statements on State legislation (SB25-003 & SB25-129) c. Sexual Assault Awareness proclamation d. Other updates Participation for this Women and Gender Equity Advisory Board Meeting will be in person at 281 N College Ave., Conference Room A. You may also join online via Teams, using this link: https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup- join/19%3ameeting_MDZhNmE0MWEtNTY0OS00OGNmLWJiZDctOGUxZGZiZDljMzQz%40t hread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%2247fa2f5f-0d0a-4a68-b431- 6d1a27b66660%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%229bfd734e-9039-49b7-a456- 17f991accef0%22%7d Online Public Participation: The meeting will be available to join beginning at 5:00 pm, March 26, 2024. Participants should try to sign in prior to the 5:00 pm meeting start time, if possible. For public comments, the Chair will ask participants to click the “Raise Hand” button to indicate you would like to speak at that time. Staff will moderate the Teams session to ensure all participants have an opportunity to address the Board or Commission. To participate: • Use a laptop, computer, or internet-enabled smartphone. (Using earphones with a microphone will greatly improve your audio). • You need to have access to the internet. • Keep yourself on muted status. WOMEN AND GENDER EQUITY ADVISORY BOARD REGULAR MEETING 7. NEW BUSINESS a. City Council 101 Presentation b. Review 2025 Work Plan c. Work Plan Goal 3, Bullet 3 Discussion d. Review City Council’s Calendar 8. OTHER BUSINESS 9. NEXT STEPS a. Agenda Items? 10. ADJOURNMENT Women and Gender Equity Advisory Board REGULAR MEETING February 26, 2025 – 5-7 PM 281 N. College Ave – Conference Room A 2 /2 6 /202 5 – MINUTES Page 1 1. CALL TO ORDER Chair Gallichotte called the meeting to order at 5:02 PM. 2. ROLL CALL • Board Members Present – Emily (Fitz) Fitzmeyer, Emily Gallichotte, Gina Maez, Kendall Stephenson, Julie Trone • Board Members Absent – Jebrail Dempsey • City of Fort Collins Staff– Kayla (Redd) 3. AGENDA REVIEW • No changes. 4. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION • No present public attendees during this time. 5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES • Fitz Fitzmeyer made a motion to approve the minutes of the January 22nd, 2025 meeting. • Julie Trone seconded the motion. • Motion passed  AYE –Fitzmeyer, Gallichotte, Maez, Stephenson, Trone  NAY – None 6. BOARD UPDATES • International Women’s Day Updates o The Board discussed the logistics of the event. • RCV, gender equity, super issues meeting o The Board will plan to discuss the logistics of the Super Issues meeting in April. • Alex Nelson guest speaker o Julie updated the Board that Alex is available to attend the April meeting. • City Council 101 o Emily updated the Board on when general dates were discussed. Women and Gender Equity Advisory Board REGULAR MEETING 2 /2 6 /202 5 – MINUTES Page 2 • Other Updates o Julie offered the potential of Senator Cathy Kipp attending a future meeting as a guest speaker. The Board will discuss at a later date. o Council will be voting to appoint the 7th board member. 7. NEW BUSINESS • Sexual Assault Awareness Month Proclamation  The Board reviewed and approved the Sexual Assault Awareness Month Proclamation.  Emily Gallichotte made a motion to approve the Sexual Assault Awareness Month Proclamation.  Fitz Fitzmeyer seconded the motion.  Motion passed • AYE –Fitzmeyer, Gallichotte, Maez, Trone • NAY – None • Overview of New State Legislation  The Board discussed Colorado bills SB25-003, Semiautomatic Firearms & Rapid-Fire Devices and SB25-129, Legally Protected Health-Care Activity Protection and planned to prepare statements of support to present to the City’s Legislative Review Committee. • Work Plan Goal 3, Bullet 3 discussion  Kendall shared his work on Goal 3, Bullet 3 of the 2025 Work Plan. Kendall will provide another update at the March meeting. • Work Plan Goal 4, Bullet 1 discussion  Emily shared her work on Goal 4, Bullet 1 of the 2025 Work Plan. There is now a running list of organizations within the city, county, and Northern Colorado with overlapping interests and missions. • Work Plan Goal 6, Bullet 3 discussion  Fitz shared her work on Goal 6, Bullet 1 of the 2025 Work Plan. There is now an internal working document of relevant opportunities for possible collaborative events with City Boards and Commissions. • Review City Council’s Calendar o City Council’s Planning Calendar was reviewed and discussed for the Board’s opportunities of attendance and participation. Women and Gender Equity Advisory Board REGULAR MEETING 2 /2 6 /202 5 – MINUTES Page 3 8. OTHER BUSINESS 9. NEXT STEPS • Board members composed next meeting’s agenda. 10. ADJOURNMENT • Meeting was adjourned at 7:00 PM. Legislative Review Committee Staff Liaisons: Tyler Marr, Ginny Sawyer City Councilmembers: Julie Pignataro, Tricia Canonico (chair), Kelly Ohlson, Susan Gutowsky (alternate) The Legislative Review Committee (LRC) is a representative group of Council members that reviews and reacts to proposed legislation on behalf of City Council and the City. In taking a position on particular bills, the LRC interprets and applies the various policies that are included in the Legislative Policy Agenda. Background info: LPA has good background info on how/why the take a position on bills. Here is the Colorado Municipal League - Bill Tracker, and their Legislative Priorities. Looking into other city documents like the City Plan, Strategic Plan, Equity & Inclusion Plan, can help give arguments for why they should support/oppose a given bill. On the LRC website you can access the agenda and minutes from their previous meetings. SB25-129, Legally Protected Health-Care Activity Protections The Women and Gender Equity Advisory Board (WAGEAB) urges the LRC to support SB25-129, Legally Protected Health-Care Activity Protections. In 2024, Colorado voters overwhelmingly voted to protect abortion in the state constitution. This bill “clarifies that requirements for out-of-state telehealth providers do not alter or limit the rights and protections afforded to a person concerning a legally protected health-care activity” including, clarification for out-of-state telehealth providers, prescription labeling confidentiality, subpoena request affirmation, restrictions on cooperation with out- of-state inquires, private right of action, limitation on arrests for out-of-state charges, prohibition on use of public resources, and Attorney General’s enforcement Authority. Fort Collins House Representatives Boesnecker and Zokaie, and Senator Kipp are all Sponsors of the bill. The 2025-2026 Legislative Policy Agenda, includes a section on Health Care: The City recognizes that the rapidly increasing cost of health care and health insurance is a barrier to real wage growth, equitable health outcomes, and economic gains among many Fort Collins residents. The City further recognizes that employer-sponsored health care and varying state regulations that are not consistent across the United States have resulted in the system we have today. Therefore, the City: 1. Supports health care policy that provides single-payer, not-for-profit health care to all residents. 2. Supports the portability of health care plans across employers and state lines. 3. Supports health care policies that end the practice in the United States of employers being the primary source of health insurance for residents. 4. Supports policies that allocate costs to individuals and their families proportional to their ability to pay. Additionally, in 2022, the Fort Collins City Council passed Resolution 2022-070 Expressing the Council's Support for Protection of Reproductive Rights and Concern about the Threat to Them Presented by Recent U.S. Supreme Court Action. The resolution also states: WHEREAS, the Council further intends to take such steps as may be appropriate to protect the Colorado law preserving abortion access in Colorado and support legislative actions advancing the rights of women and girls in Colorado and upholding all persons' rights to privacy, dignity and self-determination. WAGEAB’s role is to enhance the status of and opportunities for all women, transgender, and gender non-binary and gender non-conforming persons (all genders) in the City. Our duties include: “To review proposed legislation, policy changes or other governmental action at the federal, state or local level that would enhance or otherwise affect all genders in the City and make recommendations to the City Council regarding the same.” Because of the council’s existing endorsement of policies that broadly support healthcare (LPA), protect reproductive rights and healthcare, and commitment to protect Colorado law preserving abortion access (Res. 2022-070), WAGEAB urges the Legislative Review Committee to support SB25-129. SB25-003, Semiautomatic Firearms & Rapid-Fire Devices The Women and Gender Equity Advisory Board (WAGEAB) urges the LRC to support SB25-003 Semiautomatic Firearms & Rapid-Fire Devices. The bill, SB25-003 ‘prohibits knowingly manufacturing, distributing, transferring, selling, or purchasing a specified semi-automatic firearm’. Other requirements in the bill are; a basic firearms safety course and an extended firearms safety course. To enroll in a basic or extended firearms safety course, a person must hold a valid firearms safety course eligibility card (firearms course card) issued by a sheriff. The bill also sets the requirements for a firearms course card, which include completing a fingerprint-based criminal history record check to determine that the applicant satisfies the criteria to receive a firearms course card. In Fort Collins, from 2009 to 2020 nearly 17% of victims of violent crime are women and girls. In 2024 46.1% of violent crimes using firearms were women. While the deadly intersection of guns and intimate partner violence affects all women, it has a disproportionate impact on Black and American Indian / Alaska Native women as well as pregnant and postpartum individuals. Hate crimes affect all genders. Data from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation shows Colorado may be becoming more hostile for members of the LGBTQ+ community. The number of LGBTQ+ victims of hate crimes has grown 475%, from 16 in 2017 to 92 in 2021. WAGEAB has evaluated the Colorado State bill, SB25-003, and recommends the Legislative Review Committee support the passage of this legislation. The 2024 Legislative Policy Agenda neither included a position of favorability or unfavorability in the context of personal safety from violent crime and firearm safety nor was SB25-003 included in the most recent legislative review document released by the Legislative Review Committee. In addition to supporting SB25-003, WAGEAB recommends the City Council establish its position on violent crime and firearm safety for the next Legislative Policy Review. Additionally, WAGEAB recommends the Legislative Review Committee include in their annual review all bills related to firearm safety, community safety in the context of violent crime, and bills relating to domestic and sexual violence towards women, girls, transgender, and gender non-binary and gender non-conforming persons (all genders). Work Plan City of Fort Collins WOMEN AND GENDER EQUITY ADVISORY BOARD 2025 Work Plan For the year 2025, the Fort Collins Women and Gender Equity Advisory Board will focus its efforts on rebuilding the Advisory Board, and collecting information and resources to establish our work moving forward. The Women and Gender Equity Advisory is focused on becoming a strong voice to the City Council and the community on behalf of women, transgender, and gender non-binary and gender non-conforming persons (all genders). 1. MEETING SCHEDULE Jan 22, Feb 26, Mar 26, Apr 23, May 28, Jun 25, Jul 23, Aug 27, Sep 24, Oct 22, Nov 19, & Dec 17 2. GOALS 1. Align our work plan and monthly agendas with the city of Fort Collins’ key strategic outcomes that align with women and gender equity. 2. To review proposed legislation, policy changes or other governmental action at the federal, state or local level that would enhance or otherwise affect all genders in the City and make recommendations to the City Council regarding the same. 3. Review the research available from existing sources to document, understand, and prioritize issues of importance for all genders in the city. 4. To research, coordinate with, and advocate with other organizations, Advisory Boards, and Commissions, etc. interested in issues affecting all genders. 5. To research and compile information and resources from other gender equity related boards, commissions, groups, etc. outside of Northern Colorado to inform the types of work, projects and initiatives we can pursue. 6. To coordinate and facilitate educational events in the Fort Collins community to broaden awareness of gender equity issues. 7. Research prior efforts regarding a CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women) resolution and potentially spearhead an effort to craft a recommendation to City Council for the adoption of a CEDAW resolution. 3. WORK PLAN GOAL 1: Align our work plan and monthly agendas with the city of Fort Collins’ key strategic outcomes that align with women and gender equity. ● Track the Council’s policy agenda and, in the Advisory Board’s advisory role, provide information and appropriate comments to the City Council on issues of information gathered by the Advisory Board. ● Infuse a strong focus on equity and an emphasis on the focus areas of the City’s strategic objectives and plans. A focus on preparing comments, input, and reinforcement for policies that impact women and people of all genders related to the City’s six-month work session plans. ○ Nov 4, 2024 - spoke at city council in support of Colorado Prop 79 ○ Julie reviews the 6-month planning calendar and keeps WAGEAB up to date on council activities ● Research and propose proclamations and resolutions to the City Council that support and bring awareness to issues facing women and people of all genders. ○ Mar 4, 2025 - International Women’s Day Proclamation (Jebrail & Julie) ○ Apr 1, 2025 - Sexual Assault Awareness month proclamation (Gina & Jebrail) ○ Julie and Gina - October 11th International Day of the Girl Child Proclamation GOAL 2: To review proposed legislation, policy changes or other governmental action at the federal, state or local level that would enhance or otherwise affect all genders in the City and make recommendations to the City Council regarding the same. ● Review legislation for its potential effects on key areas of concern to the Board, including economic opportunity, safety and wellbeing, access to public resources, and compliance with national and international gender equity standards. ○ Julie shared update at February meeting, Julie and Emily will prepare and share statements of support at March meeting to present to the city’s Legislative review committee ● Assess and recommend policies that ensure all genders have equal opportunities to participate in local government decision-making processes, including voting, representation on boards and commissions, and involvement in public hearings and community initiatives. GOAL 3: Review the research available from existing sources to document, understand, and prioritize issues of importance for all genders in the city, to inform the work of the Women and Gender Equity Advisory Board’s activities. ● Review the City’s Equity Indicators and Dashboard, and work with the City’s Equity & Inclusion Office to inform the work of the Women and Gender Equity Advisory Board. ○ Jebrail will work on this, Emily will share equity indicator info by the end of November ● Identify and reach out to community experts to inform the work of the Women and Gender Equity Advisory Board. ● Collect local information and data on domestic violence, sexual assault, gender-based violence, homelessness, gender discrimination and/or poverty. ○ Kendall provided update at February meeting, will provide another update at March meeting ● Collect information on workforce, practices promoting gender equity, and LGBTQ+ initiatives both in the City and at larger anchor institutions. ○ Kendall will do this later ● Establish a list of specific goals, including shorter term initiatives (to be completed within 2025), and longer term goals of the Advisory Board. GOAL 4: To research, coordinate with, and advocate with other organizations, Advisory Boards, and Commissions, etc. interested in issues affecting all genders. ● Research and compile information on other organizations within the city, county and Northern Colorado with overlapping interests and missions. ○ Shared at February WAGEAB meeting (Emily) ● Research and compile ● Establish connections and relationships with these organizations to aid in potential collaborations and shared work. ○ Gina will work on this as Emily puts together the list (bullet point 1) ● Attend Super Issues meetings and collaboration meetings. ○ WAGEAB will provide materials and resources on ranked choice voting (RCV) and gender equity for August Super Issue’s meeting, discussing at April WAGEAB meeting (Emily) GOAL 5: To research and compile information and resources from other gender equity related boards, commissions, groups, etc. outside of Northern Colorado to inform the types of work, projects and initiatives we can pursue. ● Research and compile a list of resources from similar organizations. ● Compare and contrast information gathered from different organizations. ● Research and compile a list of initiatives, goals, projects, events, etc. taken by similar organizations, and determine which, if any, should be pursued by the Women and Gender Advisory Board. GOAL 6: To coordinate and facilitate educational events in the Fort Collins community to broaden awareness of gender equity issues. ● Host/co-host at least three (3) educational events - this can include guest speakers at the Women and Gender Equity Advisory Board monthly meeting, Super Issue meetings, collaborative events with other Advisory Boards and Commissions, etc. ○ Gina and Emily are also interested in this. We can share events with other chairs of other boards and commissions, can speak about it at City Council meeting ○ Apr 23, 2025 - Alex Nelson, Men Engage Network at Denver University campus - guest speaker at WAGEAB meeting (Julie) ● Establish a list of potential guest speakers/organizations for educational events. ○ Senator Cathy Kipp - will discuss and vote on at April meeting (Julie) ● Review the duties and goals of City Advisory Boards and Commissions to identify relevant opportunities for possible collaborative events (e.g., Affordable Housing Board, Senior Advisory Board, etc.). ○ Shared at February WAGEAB meeting (Fitz) GOAL 7: Research prior efforts regarding a CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women) resolution and potentially spearhead an effort to craft a recommendation to City Council for the adoption of a CEDAW resolution. ● Research the prior efforts by the Women’s Commission to understand what steps have been taken towards achieving this goal. ○ Jebrail will do this ● Meet and discuss with members of council, and appropriate city staff (e.g., Equity and Inclusion Office) to explore the viability for a CEDAW resolution in the near term. ● Potentially spearhead, and work with other organizations to craft a CEDAW resolution and work to have it passed by the City Council. ○ Julie interested in this (depending on what Jebrail finds in bullet point 1)