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Commission on the Status of Women
County Of Sonoma › Administrative Support & Fiscal Services › Human Resources › Boards, Commissions and Committees › Commission on the Status of Women › Commission Meetings › Minutes September 13 2018
Commission on the Status of Women

Minutes September 13 2018

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Commissioners Present:
First District: Joanne M. Brown
Second District: Trisha Almond (Chair), Karen Langdon
Third District: Jennifer Whyte (Officer-at-Large)
Fourth District: Betsy Connolly, Dianna MacDonald, Leticia Padilla
Fifth District: Lorena Barrera (Vice Chair), Ariana Diaz De Leon

Commissioners Absent:
First District: Jan Blalock
Third District: Victoria Fleming*
Fifth District: Jessica Wood

* On Leave of Absence

  1. Call to Order – Introductions – Mission Statement – Almond
  2. Approval of the September 13, 2018 Agenda – Almond
    Due to the requirements of the Brown Act, only changing the order of, or deletion of items may be allowed. New items may not be added.

    Motion to approve the September 13, 2018 Agenda   

    Motion:
    Commissioner MacDonald                    Ayes: 7       Noes: 0
    Second:
    Commissioner Diaz De Leon                 Absent: 3   Abstained: 2

    Commissioners Blalock, Fleming, and Wood were absent. Commissioner Connolly abstained due to not being sworn in and Almond abstained as Chair.

    The motion passed.
  3. Approval of the August 9, 2018 Draft Minutes – Almond

    Motion to approve the August 9, 2018 Minutes

    Motion:
    Commissioner Whyte                 Ayes: 5        Noes: 0
    Second:
    Commissioner Padilla                 Absent: 3    Abstained: 4

    Commissioners Blalock, Fleming, and Wood were absent. Commissioners Brown and MacDonald abstained due to absence at the August 9, 2018 meeting. Connolly abstained due to not being sworn in and Almond abstained as Chair.
     
    The motion passed.
  4. Public Comment on Agendized Items – Almond
    Public comment is limited to three minutes per topic, unless otherwise noted.
  5. Commissioner Announcements/Communications with Supervisors/Tabling Opportunities – All – 7 Minutes
    1. Follow up on tabling events in Santa Rosa and Petaluma markets and updates on secured dates and locations – All

      Diaz De Leon reported on previous mochilada event in Roseland mentioned at August meeting. Chair reported on the tabling event with Commissioner Barrera in Petaluma and suggested that we not table in Petaluma next year if there is so much inactivity.
    2. Women’s Equality Resolution presentations were recognized in the cities of Cloverdale, Petaluma, Rohnert Park, Santa Rosa and Sonoma and in the County – Almond (Pages 8-9)

      Chair Almond thanked all cities that presented a proclamation for Women’s Equality Day.

      MacDonald suggested we attend a BOS meeting and suggested we attend and speak at the meeting. Chair said we will contact HR to ask if we can have an item added to an agenda for September.
  6. Openings and Appointments – Almond
    1. Chair will swear in Betsy Connolly of the Fourth District

      Commissioner Connolly officially took her oath.
    2. Chair will report out on openings

      There are still openings in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Districts. There are also pending applications for the 2nd District.
  7. Public Comment On Non-Agendized Items – Almond
    Public comment is limited to three minutes per topic, unless otherwise noted
  8. Regular Calendar Items
    Discussion and possible action on items 1 through 8.
    1. Ethics Training – Almond – 3 minutes

      AB 1234 mandates that Ethics in Public Service training must be completed by each member of a legislative body, each elected official, any employees who may be designated by an agency to receive the training, and all members of boards / commissions / committees. Currently, there are two commissioners who have not completed their training aside from new commissioners from the Fourth District.

      Commissioner Langdon sent her certificate to Commissioner Whyte. Chair informed the new commissioners that they need to take the training as soon as possible.
    2. Junior Commissioner Project – Diaz De Leon and Padilla – 10 Minutes

      Commissioners to provide a recap of the orientation and an update on current progress.

      Commissioner Diaz de Leon and Padilla stated the first meeting is this Monday. All juniors showed up to the orientation. They reported that there are a total of 18 juniors and 4 ad hocs: Empowering Women, Relationship Violence, Healthy Mind & Body and Human Trafficking. This will be the first meeting where the juniors will get to plan out what they will be doing in each ad hoc. Elections will also be taking place soon. 
    3. Strategic Planning Session – Almond – 10 minutes

      Chair will go over supply list, and food ideas. Commissioners will vote on a budget for this meeting.

      The meeting is scheduled to take place on October 27th. Chair Almond will be asking Human Resources for supplies for the meeting. A potluck will be held in the morning. A Doodle will be created asking commissioners to state what they can bring.

      Motion to approve a budget of $200 to be used to provide lunch at the strategic planning session.

      Motion:
      Commissioner MacDonald                      Ayes: 8     Noes: 0
      Second:
      Commissioner Brown                            Absent: 3   Abstained: 1 

      Commissioners Blalock, Fleming, Langdon, and Wood were absent. Commissioner Almond abstained as Chair.

      The motion passed. 
    4. Women’s History Month Suffrage Project and 2020 Centennial Sonoma County – Almond, Brown and Langdon – 10 Minutes 

      Commissioners Brown and Langdon will provide a short update on the project being coordinated by the National Women’s History Project. Chair Almond and Commissioner Blalock will discuss the 2020 Centennial Project proposed by Supervisor Lynda Hopkins.

      Chair Almond read report from Blalock which stated that the conversation was wide spread. There are additional stakeholders being invited to participate and that there are several potential ideas for the centennial and there is still much more to come. Commissioner Brown reported on the Suffrage Project. She said a poll has gone around to vote on the logo for the campaign. They have been discussing how to divide up into regions because the group has become very large. The main focus will be on local history. They are hoping to link up with schools. The meetings over the phone have been mainly to discuss what type of projects to work on and is scheduled for next Wednesday from 7pm to 9pm. Commissioner Brown shared the phone number for the next conference call. 605-475-3200 code 406162
    5. Domestic Violence Awareness and Suicide Prevention Month – Almond – 10 minutes 

      Chair will discuss a possible strategy to have CSW work as a team in finding posts, articles, or any information related to domestic violence awareness and suicide prevention that can be shared via social media. Chair will also mention the joint-resolution efforts CSW participates in. Commissioners will also discuss potential showing of “The Mask You Live In” and possibly vote on allocating funds towards this showing. 

      Chair asked commissioners to focus on suicide prevention and if anyone finds posts or articles, photos, events or anything we feel is relevant or important please send them to Commissioners Almond, Blalock, or Wood for posting on the Facebook page. For October, Commissioners should share things related to domestic violence. Chair also mentioned we are waiting for the DA’s office for information on the joint resolution. 

      Regarding the potential showing of “The Mask You Live in” as a partnership with the YWCA, Commissioner Barrera stated the request from YWCA was to provide $500 for the purchase of the documentary rights in order to schedule a showing. The request was very informal and no details on the showing were provided. Barrera mentioned previous partnerships and communications with the YWCA and also clarified that if approved, the $500 would come from the entire CSW and not from a budget from the IPV ad hoc considering none of the previous ad hocs have a designated budget because no ad hocs are official. Langdon stated that it should be something that is well organized and that we have our logo on the things YWCA promotes however she also suggested we consider there are currently no dates or locations for a possible showing.

      Motion to approve $500 of the budget be provided to YWCA for the showing of “The Mask You Live In”.

      Motion:
      Commissioner Whyte                   Ayes: 0       Noes: 8 
      Second:
      Commissioner Brown                   Absent: 3    Abstained: 1 

      Commissioners Blalock, Fleming, Langdon, and Wood were absent. Commissioner Almond abstained as Chair.

      The motion did not pass. 

      Commissioner Brown suggested we do not provide funding for this showing for the same reasons expressed by Commissioner Barrera and Langdon.

      Motion to approve 15 minutes for additional discussion. 

      Motion:
      Commissioner Brown                          Ayes: 8     Noes: 0 
      Second:
      Commissioner Barrera                        Absent: 3  Abstained: 1 

      Commissioners Blalock, Fleming, Langdon, and Wood were absent. Commissioner Almond abstained as Chair.

      The motion passed. 

      Commissioner Brown suggested we do not provide funding for this showing for the same reasons expressed by Commissioner Barrera and Langdon. Commissioner Whyte briefly discussed the purpose of the film. Commissioner MacDonald mentioned documentary licensing rights being more affordable. Chair Almond clarified the cost for the licensing rights. Commissioner Barrera mentioned to all commissioners should request formal requests for support from other organizations in the future. Commissioner MacDonald suggested we come up with requirements on how we should accept requests for funds from other organizations. 
    6. Potential Ad Hocs – Almond – 3 minutes

      Chair will remind everyone about the work plan (sample included on pages 10-12) for potential ad hocs that is due prior to the posting of the October agenda for the regular commission meeting in order to discuss possible changes to work plans for the strategic planning meeting at the end of October.

      Commissioners Langdon and Wood will be meeting to discuss the possible Marketing ad hoc. They will be working on a work plan at 9am on September 29th at Aroma Roasters. Commissioner Barrera will send a reminder with deadlines on the submission of work plans in order to have them included on the agenda. 
    7. Letter of Support – Almond – 5 minutes

      Chair Almond will talk about the recently emailed urge for support that was intended to reach all CSW subscribers. Chair will also mention the NOW and Verity letters of support. (Pages 13-14)

      Chair reported on the number of emails that went out to the community. She also mentioned she was very thankful for the support from Verity and NOW. 
    8. “Past Commissioners” Update – Almond – 3 minutes

      Chair to provide an update on the status of the list of past commissioners who have served CSW.

      Chair stated it is important to have information from past commissioners and include the district they represented. Chair Almond will also be collecting info from currently active commissioners who are missing information on the website. 
    9. CSW Processes – Almond and Whyte – 5 minutes 

      Commissioners will go over the current assignments and coverage for certain tasks. An updated list is provided in the packet. 

      Commissioner Barrera will send out link for the google sheet in case anyone is interested in volunteering for any duties that are unfilled.
    10. Report on Administrative Information – Almond – 5 minutes

      Chair to provide an update on various county-based, commission-related projects, as well as review other administrative and budgetary items, as needed, to include:
      • Budgetary information including invoice procedure 
      • County email update

      Chair Almond informed commissioners who are awaiting reimbursement from any expenses made to send documents to Commissioner Barrera. Chair Almond also discussed the Storage Pro situation and mentioned there have been some technical difficulties with the charges for the storage.
  9. Community Issues, Liaisons, and Coordinators - 5 Minutes
    Program development updates not included above.
    • Field Trip – Update from Commissioners managing specific field trips (Langdon stated she would work towards having a guest speaker with a background)
    • Human Trafficking Task Force – Chair Almond read report from Commissioner Blalock. The report stated there was discussion on human trafficking Awareness in January. They have selected potential billboard locations and a potential film- the screening of which they are looking into different venues for. As far as the billboard campaign- they will not be getting the artwork for free this year and are also trying to choose the most effective billboard locations. As always, those organizations who support this campaign will need to pay to have their logos on the billboards. The cost will likely increase to $500 for the January awareness campaign. Commissioners stated they would likely support paying the $500 and will like to vote once they are sure of what the actual cost will be.
    • Speaker Coordinator – 
    • Volunteer Coordinator – Vacant
    • ACCW – Chair reported that no communication has been received in the last month
  10. Agenda Items for Next Commission Meeting
    Proposal, discussion, and possible action items for next Commission meeting.

    Commissioner Whyte would like to offer an intimate partner violence presentation (5 – 10 minute presentation)
  11. Adjournment 
    Meeting was adjourned at 7:27 PM