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HomeMy WebLinkAboutWomens Commission - Minutes - 03/18/1996MINUTES COMMISSION ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN MARCH 18, 1996 Present: Carolyn Duff, Audrey Faulkner, Lu Fisk, Jo Ann Ginal, Dana Hiatt, Lorna Harpin-Reeves, Christina Hart, Doreen Kemp, Stehanie Lane,Diane Lathrop, Martha Sanders, Laima Skuja, Lynn Warner Guests: Deb Benton and Alyce Neirman attended to learn more about the Commission. Lynn Sterkel also attended as a guest. She has applied for the vacant position on the Commission, and her appointment to the Commission is pending. Staff Support: Sharon Roulier Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 6:00 p.m. in the Human Resources Conference Room by Commission Chair, Doreen Kemp. Council Liaison Report: There was no council liaison report. Minutes: The February 26, 1996 Minutes are amended to indicate that Donna Aurand, whose father had died, was a past Chair of the Commission. The Minutes were approved as amended. Announcements: * Members were reminded of the 3rd Annual Congress of Neighborhoods to be held March 22, and 23, 1996. Business Items: * Winners for the "Woman In Your Own History" 1996 essay contest to commemorate Women's History month were announced. Winners in order from first to third place are Cory Dulberg of Boltz Jr. High School, Tim Wood of Boltz Jr. High School, and Steve Housley of Lincoln Jr. High School. Awards will be presented to these winners along with a Proclamation of Women's History Month at the March 19, 1996 City Council Meeting. Loma Harpin-Reeves and Jo Ann Ginal will be responsible for making the presentations on behalf of the Women's Commission. * Loma and Carolyn represented the Kick -Off Celebration Committee in updating the Commission regarding this event. They reviewed current plans for the Kick -Off Celebration to be held on April 16 in the Council Information Center prior to the City Council Meeting. Topics reviewed included ways to publicize the event and the identification of a list of invitees who should be sent special invitations. The Committee plans to send invitations no later than April 1, so members are requested to provide their recommendations to this list by contacting Loma no later than Wednesday, March 27. Costs and a budget for the Kick -Off Celebration were discussed. After brief review of the current budget and other anticipated costs for the project, it was decided the committee should formulate a specific cost proposal for this event. A motion was passed to allocate "appropriate" funds for expenses for the event with the understanding that, as this amount must be approved prior to the April Commission meeting, the actual amount allocated will be negotiated with the Commission Chair and Vice -Chair. * Karen Johnston, the research assistant for the study project, led a review and discussion about the current draft of the survey instrument for the study. Members provided feedback from their "pilot" interviews for testing the instrument. Members noted there were a few ares with which interviewees were somewhat uncomfortable, such as personal income, and discussed some alternative ways to more comfortably obtain some information about income levels. Members also noted that some of the questions could easily be answered by using a Likert-type scale for respondents to fill out. These questions do not require a personal interviewer, and could be efficiently completed by interviewees on their own. Also relating to the survey instrument, Lynn Sterkel talked about the issue of gender equity in education. Lynn, who is an educator, noted there were only two questions dealing with this issue, and she feels it warrants more. Lynn would like to see additional questions which would provide specific information on this issue. Some members added they had received comments during their test interviews that there were too few education -related questions. Karen Johnston will incorporate the feedback from this meeting into a revised instrument which will be mailed out by Human Resources to members for their review. Members are requested to return their comments on this amended version within one week to Human Resources for Karen to collect and incorporate prior to the April 1 Sth meeting. * Doreen distributed a "Women in Business" survey, suggesting some of the results it may be relevant for our study and asked if members want to participate. The results of this survey will be reported the end of May, and will be available to incorporate into the Commission's technical report if appropriate. * Doreen reported on the March 14th reception with the City Manager set up by the Diversity Sub -Committee. She reported there were only a very small number of attendees other than the Sub -Committee members. A second such reception will be held on March 21, and they are hoping for a better turnout at this event (which is intended to bring citizens into the City Hall and help them be more comfortable with understanding and getting involved in community initiatives, including participation on Boards and Commissions). * Stephanie briefly reviewed the draft 'Traditional" Activities Calendar compiled by Carolyn. Due to limited time, the full discussion of this item was deferred to a future meeting (either April or May depending on agenda priorities). Stephanie asked members in the meantime to consider their interest in choosing and being involved with one or more of these activities. d'ourn: There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 8:10 p.m.