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HomeMy WebLinkAboutWomens Commission - Minutes - 11/14/2018WOMEN’S COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING November 14, 2018 | 6 – 8 p.m. 117 N. Mason Street | Civic Center Conference Room 11/14/2018 – MINUTES Page 1 1. CALL TO ORDER Hailey called to order at 6:01 p.m. 2. ROLL CALL • Board Members: Hailey Atkinson, Shana Ryken, Hannah Little, Emily Gorgol, Melanie Potyondy • Staff liaison, Shannon Hein • Council liaison, Councilmember Kristin Stephens 3. AGENDA REVIEW • No changes 4. CITIZEN PARTICIPATION • No citizen participation 5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES September 19, 2018 and October 17, 2018 minutes approved. There was not a quorum in October to approve the September minutes. 6. UNFINISHED BUSINESS • Marcille N. Wood award a. Vote on award winner 13 nominations were submitted. Hannah will create a SurveyMonkey and asked the group to vote within 48 hours to notify the awardee and order the award. Shannon will check the budget to see if we can provide a small gift to all those nominated. 7. NEW BUSINESS a. Council pay discussion Discussion with Councilmember Stephens • Enough signatures were obtained and could reach the ballot. There is a balance because if you quit a job for a Council position you are giving up other benefits including pension. Some people may still do both jobs. This will impact future budget offers as well and what would get cut in place of this? BOARD NAME TYPE OF MEETING – (REGULAR, WORKSESSION, SPECIAL) 11/14/2018 – MINUTES Page 2 • Councilmember Stephens can provide community examples that have passed this. Government raises can be a hard sell. • City Council doesn’t take a break during the year and spends an average of 25-30 hours a week. It’s an always on-call job. • Will Council pay become a political strategy if you turned down the money? County Commissioners are paid much more. • If women don’t or can’t run for City Council, what’s the most effective way to make policy change within the City? Attend and make public comment before Council, attend meetings (League of Women Voters participated in election code process). Other ideas include, collaborating with other boards including CDBG, Affordable Housing, etc. and write a letter together in support of issues or budget offers. All letters are reviewed by Council. The strength of several boards coming together is a very powerful statement. • How do we become more relevant to Council? Councilmember Stephens suggested creating liaisons on the commission to other boards to create a consistent line of communication. • Members also asked Councilmember Stephens for an update from the Anti- Harassment Ad Hoc Committee. Councilmember Stephens had previously sent an update regarding how many claims were received by the City. Staff liaison will send that out again. The committee is currently working to determine. how to regulate Council behavior and Council appointees. Draft policies will be available soon to share. The committee defined harassment and sexual harassment in general. There will be a required training component for Council. The next anti-harassment meeting is December 5 in the CIC. b. Commission vacancies • There are at least two openings. February is the retreat and the members will vote for new members at that point. Councilmember Stephens stated that interviews happen in December and she can help with input. • Commission members wondered why the Commission doesn’t have an input in who is selected. It is currently selected by Council. Staff will research why this is the process. c. Holiday party planning ▪ Potluck? ▪ The group decided to support a woman-owned restaurant or brewery and bring snacks. Check with the group to celebrate immediately following the BOARD NAME TYPE OF MEETING – (REGULAR, WORKSESSION, SPECIAL) 11/14/2018 – MINUTES Page 3 Commission meeting. 8. BOARD MEMBER REPORTS a. Proclamation and City Council attendance ▪ National Hunger and Homelessness Week Proclamation – November (Hailey/Emily) • Melanie attended on November 9 – Utility fees discussion. b. Women’s Small Business Conference – Hannah • Hannah attended the Women’s Small Business Conference hosted by the Small Business Development Center. • The group discussed barriers for women to start a business including childcare and findings in the Talent 2.0 report. The group also discussed how they can support women-owned and minority-owned businesses. This is something that can be discussed at the annual retreat. c. Community events • Fort Collins for progress is hosting a fair in involvement and engagement at the Council Tree Library. • Family Leadership Training Institute accepting applications for youth and adults. Program to help you understand how to access government through Larimer County. • NOCO Housing Now meeting on November 16. • CityPlan scenarios – surveys were hard to understand. d. CEDAW • The upcoming election could impact what this looks like. Commission members could write a letter and come to Council in support. Members did draft a memo and are not sure when to share it. The members decided they could submit an informational memo and hope new Council members would be interested in getting behind CEDAW. If there isn’t consensus on Council, they rarely touch resolutions. • Boulder, Longmont, Lafayette have all adopted. • CEDAW would be a good initiative to join forces with other Boards and Commissions including Affordable Housing, CDBG, Human Relations, and Commission on Disability. • Councilmember Overbeck position is opening and citizens interested will BOARD NAME TYPE OF MEETING – (REGULAR, WORKSESSION, SPECIAL) 11/14/2018 – MINUTES Page 4 apply and present to Council and then could run in the spring. 9. OTHER BUSINESS a. Snack sign-up ▪ Jan – Kori b. Council meetings sign-up ▪ November 20 – Kori ▪ December 4 – Potentially Hannah? ▪ December 18 – Melanie 10. ADJOURNMENT Meeting adjourned at 8 p.m.