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HomeMy WebLinkAboutWomens Commission - Minutes - 12/06/1993• 0 MINUTES COMMISSION ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN DECEMBER 6o 1993 Present: Sue Cottingham, Kathy Everett, Audrey Faulkner, Lu Fisk, Stevie Honaker, Doreen Kemp, Sally Miles, Lynne Warner, Chris Wood Absent: Dana Hiatt, Brownie McGraw, Chris Wood Council Liaison: Gina Janett Staff Liaison: Colleen A'Hearn Guest Speaker: Andrea Rieger, Assistant to the Administrative Services Director, City of Fort Collins T7 Minutes from the meeting of November 15, 1993 were approved as written. COUNCIL PROCESS FOR EVALUATING LEGISLATION Andrea Rieger, Assistant to the Administrative Services Director for the City, provided an update to the Commission on the process Council uses to evaluate legislation. The Council utilizes a Legislative Review Subcommittee (LRS) to review pending legislation. This subcommittee is composed of three Councilmembers (currently Chris Kneeland, Ann Azari, & Alan Apt) and eighteen City staff that support the Subcommittee, approximately six of whom attend on a regular basis. Per Resolution 89-211 (see copy attached), the Legislative Review Subcommittee is authorized to: (1) review and analyze proposed state and federal legislation which may affect the City's interests; (2) express the previously established policy determinations of the Council as applied to such legislation; and (3) refer back to the Council those issues and recommendations which are not governed by existing Council policy. Pending legislation may be brought to the Legislative Review Subcommittee from a variety of sources, i.e. City staff/professional associations, newspapers, legislators or lobbyists, Colorado Municipal League, or via copies of bills received from the state General Assembly. Commission on the Status of Women Monthly Meeting Minutes December 6, 1993 Page 2 Steps in the process are as follows: o Copies of legislation are distributed to appropriate service areas/departments for review and feedback. 0 Legislative Review Subcommittee meets on a regular basis to review legislation (every 2 weeks when General Assembly is in session). o IRS makes a decision re: potential impact on the City organization/community. o LRS checks to see if there are any existing policies on this or a similar issue. 0 2/3 of IRS Council members must agree on what action to take and whether or not action is in line with a prior policy. o If clear prior policy is not in existence, or if issue involved is particularly sensitive, issue may be referred to the entire Council for consideration. Any action must then be approved by majority of Council (4 out of.7 members). Process can be time consuming and rather cumbersome. Bills often move quickly; meeting every two weeks can present a problem. Will use alternate methods to react to bills more quickly when necessary, i.e. electronic mail to poll Council members on their opinions. Any letters on these type of matters are virtually always sent over the Mayor's signature. City staff members are not authorized to take a formal position on own; same is true for Boards & Commissions. No official City position is taken without formal authorization by Council. A lot of checks and balances are built into the legislative review system because questions are those of public policy, often with corresponding legal and/or political implications. City also routinely holds public meetings with area legislators to discuss legislative issues. Next meeting is scheduled for December 20, 1993, from 7-9 p.m. in the Columbine Room at the Lincoln Center. Round table discussions will address school financing, public/private cooperation, water issues, and tracking health care reform, among other topics. Other potential topics for future discussion will likely include 6 • Commission on the Status of Women Monthly Meeting Minutes December 6, 1993 Page 3 recycling, water rights issues, Worker's Compensation, Natural Resources, and requirements for County subdivisions/planning. Legislative Policy Agenda is due to be passed by Council during the month of December. A copy will be made available for future reference. City Council has previously established policy statements in a number of key areas, including but not limited to the following: - Air Quality - Education - Fire Protection - Hazardous Materials - Home Rule - Investments - Annexation - Privatization - Public Safety & Violence Police Pensions - Recycling - Sales & Use Taxes - Sovereign Immunity - Worker's Compensation If Commission wants to request that Council take an active position on a specific piece of legislation (for or against), Andrea suggested that recommendations be funneled through the Legislative Review Subcommittee. Andrea also suggested that she be contacted on a case by case basis to address timeline concerns and to discuss the Commission's recommendation or request in more detail. If the Commission knows of proposed legislation they would like the IRS to address, such issues can be made a part of the meeting agenda, if sufficient advance notice is provided. Andrea generally has copies of all bills that are pending in the legislature; they generally are received each Tuesday during the legislative session. TIMELY TRACKING OF COMMISSION DECISIONS/ASSIGNMENTS Chris Wood or other Commission volunteer will record "action minutes" (decisions and assignments) on a flip chart during the course of the meeting. Commission members are expected to copy and Commission on the Status of Women Monthly Meeting Minutes December 6, 1993 Page 4 keep track of pertinent meetings, assignments, etc. on their own calendars. Information should be copied from the flip charts prior to leaving the meeting. Celebration activities for the upcoming Martin Luther King Holiday (January 17) will be scheduled for before, during, and after the actual holiday. The official CSU celebration will occur on January 18, when students return to campus. Mary Zamora will be requesting a leave of absence from the Commission for personal reasons. A letter will be forthcoming; Commission members will need to plan for Mary's absence. LEGISLATIVE UPDATE Kathy E. advised that deadline for filing bills in the state legislature is imminent. Bill titles are currently available, but text is not. Expectation is that gang violence and youth issues will be addressed, including the constitutional issues involved in jailing minors. She also expects Worker's Compensation, Health Reform, and a variety of gun bills to be introduced. OLD BUSINESS o Discussion of Women's/Pace Articles Chris W. led the discussion re: a work plan to produce a steady flow of articles for Women's/Pace. Last year four articles were submitted; Chris suggested that twelve articles seem reasonable to accomplish. Goal is for readers to look for articles once per month in The Triangle Review. Chris reminded the Commission that members won't have total control over printing; that will be up to Dan McArthur. Dan reserves the Triangle Review's right to edit (so long as it doesn't change the content). He has agreed to send a copy of the edited article to the Commission as a courtesy. Deadline for articles is Monday at 5:00 p.m. for the appropriate Thursday edition. Goal is for articles to be 750 words in length; 3 double-spaced pages. Chris will deliver the articles. J C Commission on the Status of Women Monthly Meeting Minutes December 6, 1993 Page 5 January's article will include an update on Martin Luther King Day activities; deadline to get article to Chris is January 3, in order to forward to the Triangle Review by January 10. Additional articles/assignments could include Task Force updates, Boards & Commissions Workshop, Essay Contest, Women's Equality Day activities, etc. Commission members will be asked to take responsibility for an article, so that a schedule can be set up for at least the next 5 months. This will be part of the February meeting agenda. 0 Self Defense Class Chris queried whether or not Commission members had an interest in participating in a self defense class entitled "Model Mugging", offered through an organization in Boulder. Chris will research time and costs and have information available for next regular meeting. 0 Support for Domestic Violence Coordinator Rollie Gilmore and Gina Dersham of Larimer County have requested a letter of support in order to obtain ongoing funding for the Domestic Violence Coordinator position. The Domestic Violence Coordinator is responsible for monitoring perpetrators of domestic violence in the county. The position is currently being funded by a state judicial grant. Sufficient money to fund the position is already being generated locally through fines, but is being sent to the state general fund. Ideally, the money generated by fees could remain in the county to fund the position directly. The Commission voted to provide a letter draft for an upcoming meeting, following Gilmore and Ms. Dersham. Similar letter Council, requesting their support. 0 January Retreat of support; Sally will a discussion with Mr. will also be sent to Commission retreat is scheduled for January 24. Colleen will explore potential facilitators. A committee of Stevie H., Audrey F., Doreen K., and Colleen will meet to finalize the agenda. Commission on the Status of Women Monthly Meeting Minutes December 6, 1993 Page 6 o Task Force on Sexual Harassment Commission agreed that a letter will be drafted to Kathleen Faller, commending her for her efforts to combat sexual harassment in the community. Lynne volunteered to assist with the letter. Commission members also intend to follow-up on responses received to Gina Janett's letter to PRPA. Responses will be reviewed to see if anything further needs to be done. Meeting adjourned at approximately 9:15 p.m.