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HomeMy WebLinkAboutWomens Commission - Minutes - 08/17/19872F Members Present: Janet Abbey, Secretary Jim Banning Linda Cowan Cindy Hoff, Facilitator Kay Short Alma Vigo -Morales Ginny Webster Pat Connor Young COMMISSION ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN Minutes of August 17, 1987 Council Information Center, 300 LaPorte Avenue Members Absent: Guest: Liza Daly Sue Walston Martha Denney Valerie Mauksch Mary Jo McDermott Jacque Strickland Staff Wendy Williams The minutes of the August 3, 1987 meeting were approved II. Bonding - The meeting was opened with a bonding exercise facilitated by Cindy Hoff as a first step toward team building. Janet Abbey volunteered to lead the bonding exercise at the meeting on September 21, 1987. III. Committees - Reports, Discussion and Selection Education Committee - Sharon Robinson, former member of the Commission, will continue to work on Women's History Month. She has requested that leadership come from the Commission. Networking mitt - Kay Short reported that the Networking Committee had decided not to do a Women's Yellow Pages and proposed that the Networking Committee take over the responsibility for doing a brochure on the Commission. Economic Develoement mitt - Since Leslie Macmillan has submitted her resignation, there is no Commission member on this particular committee. Sue Walston stated that she plans to continue to work with this committee. Since the Networking Committee and the Education Committee are addressing some of the same issues and projects, it was decided to combine these two committees to form the Community Outreach Committee. This will give the Commission four committees -- Community Outreach, Basic Needs, Legal/Government and Economic Opportunity. All members were given an opportunity to select a committee for 1987-88. The following selections were made: Janet Abbey - Community Outreach Jim Banning - No selection at this time Cindy Hoff - Legal/Government Alma Vigo -Morales - Basic Needs Kay Short - Community Outreach Jacque Strickland - Community Outreach Ginny Webster - Community Outreach Pat Connor Young - Basic Needs Wendy Williams mentioned that it is important to have someone on the Economic Opportunity Committee as the Commission and City Council have identified economic issues as being of primary concern. Cindy Hoff will call the members who were not present to find out their subcommittee selections. A Page 2 - 8/17/87 CSO)Oleeting • IV. Commission's Endorsement Policy Wendy Williams had inquired about the endorsement policy of other boards and found that most Women's Commissions do not endorse (in part, because of legal liability). Other boards may support some groups or projects but they do not have a blanket endorsement policy. The Commission's endorsement policy was discussed including the opinion that to be effective the Commission has to be involved in political issues. Additional points made during the discussion of an endorsement policy for the Commission included: • can we have a difference of opinion from the City Council? • if necessary, can we stimulate community discussion without taking a stand? • is our role to make the community aware of women's issues? • recommend an open policy -- decision to endorse is made on an individual basis • take each issue and discuss the legitimate way to proceed Since there were several unanswered concerns, it was decided that Wendy Williams would talk to the City Attorney's Office and find out if the City has any restrictions on endorsements made by council -appointed boards and commissions. It was also recommended that Wendy consult the Ethics Committee and find out if there is an endorsement policy. Wendy mentioned that the City's boards and commissions are currently being surveyed by the City's staff and the Commission will have more information when it is available. (Staff Update: A Council subcommittee has been appointed to review and evaluate the City's 28 boards and commissions. December 31, 1987 is the targeted completion date for the review.) V. Other Business Elect Vice Chair - Leslie Macmillan, vice chair, resigned from the Commission effective August 11, 1987. The election of a vice chair to replace Leslie was tabled until the next meeting as several members were absent. Status of Workplan - Wendy reported that if the Commission's workplan is accepted by the City Council, the necessary funding will be provided. The plan was scheduled to go to City Council on August 18, 1987. Update on Economic Opportunities Program - This item was discussed at a worksession, and sent to a subcommittee composed of Stoner, Estrada and Winokur. A final proposal, a merger of the staffs proposal and the subcommittees' proposal, will go to Council on September 1, 1987. Wendy Williams will get the Commission copies as soon as they are available. Update on Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action Plan - A subcommitte of the Human Relations Commission met on August 20 to review the Affirmative Action Plan. It was not approved at that time and changes were made. It has been sent to the City Attorney's Office for review. If approved by the City Attorney, the HRC will receive it in September. The Women's Commission will receive copies at that time and have a month to react, review and make recommendations. The Commission can send an accompanying memo to City Council if they wish. It was decided that the Commission would send a letter to the HRC and remind them of the original proposal, expressed in a letter from the HRC dated September 11, 1986, that the two commissions would work together to address similiar issues. Discussion of Quality of Life Survey - Tabled until next meeting Workshop on Concensus Decision Making/Facilitation - Cindy Hoff will check with Kathryn Obear, the facilitator of the Team Building Workshop, to see if these topics can be covered in our team building session scheduled for September 14. Team Building Meeting - September 14 - This meeting will be from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m at 700 Wood Street in the City's Utility Services Center. Cindy will talk with the facilitator and let her know that the concensus of the Commission was to have an experiential format. Bylaws - Some revisions to Article II - Purpose of the Bylaws were discussed and recommended Wendy will make the changes and Commission members will receive copies of the revised version. New Member - A new member, to replace Leslie Macmillan, will be selected from the original pool of applicants and appointed at the City Council Meeting on September 1, 1987. Meeting Adjourned