Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutWomens Commission - Minutes - 07/20/1992i Minutes Commission on the Status of Women July 20, 1992 Present: Donna Aurand, Bobbi Cullor, Carolyn Duff, Kathy Everett, Kathleen Faller, Audrey Faulkner, Lu Fisk, Dana Hiatt, Kathy McLeod, Lynne Warner, Chris Wood, Mary Zamora Absent: Brownie McGraw, Betty Medina, Sally Miles Council Liaison: Ann Azari Staff: Colleen A'Hearn REVIEW OF MINUTES Review of minutes from the June 15, 1992 meeting should be amended to clarify that the Task Force on Domestic Violence has merged with the Task Force on Housing, focusing on two primary issues: Affordable Housing and Child Support. In addition, the Task Force on Youth Commission has scheduled a guest speaker for the August meeting (not the July meeting.) Minutes approved as amended. AGENDA ITEMS Guest Sneaker Mike Bilsing, Curriculum Specialist in Science & Health with Poudre R-1 was a guest speaker on the sex education curriculum presently being taught in the public school system. Mr. Bilsing was asked to speak by task force members addressing teen pregnancy/parenting issues. Mr. Bilsing reviewed the curriculum for Kindergarten through 12th grade. There is no sex education class, per se, at the elementary level. Sex education issues are addressed as a part of growth & development. Beginning this year, major revisions are being considered in the elementary program. Approximately one year ago, Poudre R-1 received a grant for the development of a comprehensive health education program for grades K-12. A health planning group has been established, addressing questions such as: What is health? What issues need to be dealt with? How should we fold health education into other aspects of curriculum, besides just science and health? The next year or two will be focused on implementing changes in the program. Mr. Bilsing explained that a curriculum review takes place once every 7 years by a committee of teachers. Recommended revisions Commission on the Status of Women Monthly Meeting Minutes July 20, 1992 Page 2 may be modified by a community review committee. Both groups work with the district and individual school's parent advisory boards to obtain input. School Board has final approval. For those interested in more detailed information, Mr. Bilsing agreed to provide copies of his overheads for distribution to interested commission members. (Note: Commission members will be notified when copies of overheads are available.) In addition, anyone who is interested in serving on an advisory committee for revising the health education program for K-12 should contact Jody Johnson, Health & Physical Education instructor at For Collins High School. This advisory group is currently being formed, so those interested should contact Ms. Johnson as soon as possible. LEGISLATION Kathy Everett provided a Digest of Bills, organized by subject matter area. Digest will be kept in CSW in -basket in the Employee Development Department for review or check-out. (Donna Aurand checked out Digest following the meeting and will return to E.D. when review is completed.) Reminder that primary election is scheduled for August 11. Kathy E. requested that Commission members think about legislation they would like to see passed in the future. If want to see specific legislation proposed,, now is the time to get it recommended, drafted, and sponsored. OLD BUSINESS o Women's Equality Day Chris, Kathy E. and Mary provided an update on activities scheduled in support of Women's Equality Day on August 26. Buttons and a few posters for displays have been ordered in support of Women's Equality Day. Commission will be donating a book to the Fort Collins Library entitled, "And then she said - A book of quotations by women, for women". Posters are scheduled to be displayed in City Hall West and at Anheuser-Busch. Kathy E. is negotiating with Foothills Mall for a window display for one week. These same posters/displays can be utilized as a part of Women's History Month. Issuing of a news release was discussed; must identify who, what, Commission on the Status of Women Monthly Meeting Minutes July 20, 1992 Page 3 where, when types of information and submit to media at least two weeks prior to the event. Consideration of a booth at New West Fest the weekend of August 22nd & 23rd was also discussed. Jackie O'Hara was identified as the appropriate contact person if the booth suggestion is to be explored in more detail. Motion was approved that the Commission sponsor an award to be given annually to a woman in the community who has had a positive impact on women. Suggestion was made that the award be named in honor of Marcile Wood. For this year, award would be presented to the Wood family. For future years, a nominating process would begin in May and the award would be presented as a part of activities in support of Women's Equality Day. Award/placque, and proclamation will be sponsored by the Commission on the Status of Women and presented at a City Council meeting. Goal would be to present award to the Wood Family at the Council meeting on August 18. o Women Space Column Chris and Kathy M. met with John Pfeiffenberger of the Triangle Review to discuss guidelines for articles submitted for publication in the Women Space column. Articles will be submitted twice per month, instead of weekly; first and third issues of the month. Commission members felt it is important that articles be well written and that they be edited prior to submission. Decision still needs to be made regarding who will be the person responsible for editing. Task Force members working with the Triangle Review may be logical choice to handle the editing. Chris agreed to provide more specifics on guidelines for publishing Women Space articles and will include them in next month's packet for further discussion at a subsequent meeting. o Domestic Abuse Supervision Project Rollie Gilmore, Department of Probation Services, has spoken with a number of Commission members, requesting a letter from the Commission in support of his department's grant application to fund a new position. The duties and responsibilities of this position would be to supervise the court mandated requirements of repeated offenders convicted of domestic abuse violations. Community Corrections is no longer staffed to carry out this function and Mr. Gilmore hopes to obtain grant funding for a position within Probation Services. As a member of the Task Force on Domestic Commission on the Status of Women Monthly Meeting Minutes July 20, 1992 Page 4 Violence, Kathy E. will contact Mr. Gilmore and ask him to provide his request in writing to the Commission, providing additional background information on what he is asking the Commission to support, and detailing timelines for when he needs a response. o Letter of Support Kathy M. and other Commission members expressed appreciation for the personal correspondence from Susan Kirkpatrick in expressing her individual support of the Commission's resolution opposing the proposed Amendment No. 2 to the Colorado Constitution. Commission members especially appreciated the recognition of Commission efforts to work within the framework of municipal government in making their opposition clear. o Proposed Amendments to ordinances re: Boards & Commissions City Attorney Steve Roy requested feedback on proposed amendments to the City Code pertaining to Boards &Commissions. Feedback was provided, per the attachment to these minutes. Note: Information outlined in the attachment to these minutes was forwarded to the City Attorney's Office and will be.considered by Mr. Roy and City Council as revisions to the ordinances are finalized. As a result of feedback received from the Commission, this item has been postponed until the September 1 Council meeting, to allow more time for evaluation of the proposed revisions and suggestions. Mr. Roy was appreciative of the thoughtful comments received from the Commission and will be providing a follow-up response sometime prior to the September 1 meeting. NEW BUSINESS o Community Task Force on Racism Commission members expressed a desire that the Community Task Force currently being established to deal with issues of racism in Fort Collins should also be addressing discriminatory practices based on gender. Consensus was that gender balance will be important to consider as the Task Force is formed. An ad hoc task force composed of Audrey, Lynne, Mary, & Kathy M. will work on drafting a letter outlining concerns and suggestions from the Commission. Since time is of the essence, letter will be drafted by the ad hoc Commission on the Status of Women Monthly Meeting Minutes July 20, 1992 Page 5 task force and forwarded on behalf of the entire Commission; copy will be included in the August packet. o Request for Binders Commission members requested that large, "D-ring" binders be purchased for keeping track of the large amount of written information that requires the Commission's review. Colleen will work with Joan Busch in Employee Development to determine an estimated cost and to verify the availability of funds in the Commission's budget to purchase binders and tabs. Meeting adjourned at approximately 9:15 p.m. Note: CommF ; forwarded to Steve Roy on 7/c,�/92 (via Fax) ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN Subject: Feedback on proposed amendments to City Code pertaining to Boards & Commissions QUESTIONS o Would Commissions have to give public notice in advance and provide minutes for retreats? Retreats generally involve planning and/or teambuilding activities. Generally no formal action is taken. o The Women's Commission currently uses a variety of task forces, subcommittees, and ad hoc groups to accomplish the work of the commission. Formally meeting only once per month, it is difficult to accomplish goals and objectives without a significant amount of time spent outside the regular meeting. In the past, these meetings have been held at restaurants, in Commission members homes, etc. Is it required that all Task Force meetings be open to the public? Does advance notice need to be provided to the City Clerk's Office?. How far in advance? Is it required that formal minutes be published? Given provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act, is it required that meetings be in a location that is accessible to the handicapped? RECOMMENDATIONS/COMMENTS o Would like to see ordinances clarified so that the above - listed questions or concerns are addressed o Procedures for removing Board & Commission members Would like to see language added to the ordinances that requires the City Council liaison to meet with board or commission members and discuss the issues at hand, prior to removal of a member o Some sense of frustration exists with the current appointment process. Women's Commission members feel that the requirements for advisory boards should be patterned after those outlined for administrative boards. Though there was not time in the meeting agenda to formulate specific recommendations, the overall sense is that it is important to outline qualifications for boards and commissions, addressing knowledge, interests, and skills required. There is a perceived need to balance desire to participate with the background necessary to serve in an advisory capacity to Council. Commission Members are willing to work on a more detailed recommendation at a future meeting, if the Council or City Attorney desires. Start of Item 30. Message. Subject: Additional Feedback der: Colleen AHEARN / CFC52/01 b..JM: Colleen AHEARN / CFC52/01 Part 1. FROM: Colleen AHEARN / CFC52/01 TO: Steve ROY / CFC/01 Part 2. Steve - Dated: 07/28/92 at 1817. Contents: 2. Just in case it's not too late to provide, have a couple of additional comments from the Women's Commission re: proposed amendments to the City Code relating to Boards & Commissions. o Sec. 2-167. Membership; term. Commission members were curious why language was eliminated that allowed the County to choose a representative to serve as an ex- officio member of the Commission. General consensus seemed to be that ex-officio membership on the part of the County is desirable. The Women's Commission has an ex-officio member appointed from CSU (Dana Hiatt), as well as from the County (Bobbi Cullor.) o Sec. 2-182. Membership; term - (a) _ Commission members took offense to the wording of this section, particularly to the reference of "slum and blight areas". Recommended alternate wording: (a) The commission shall consist of thirteen (13) members appointed by the City Council, including persons of low and moderate income who are residents of low and moderate income neighborhood strategy areas that have been identified by the City.