Minutes November 8 2018

Commissioners Present:
First District: Jan Blalock, Joanne M. Brown
Second District: Trisha Almond (Chair), Caitlin Quinn
Third District: Jennifer Whyte (Officer-at-Large)
Fourth District: Leticia Padilla, Betsy Connolly
Fifth District: Lorena Barrera (Vice-Chair), Ariana Diaz De Leon, Jessica Wood

Commissioners Absent:
Second District: Karen Langdon
Third District: Victoria Fleming*
Fourth District: Dianna MacDonald

* On Leave of Absence

1. CALL TO ORDER – INTRODUCTIONS – MISSION STATEMENT – ALMOND
   Chair Almond called the meeting to order at 6:03PM
2. APPROVAL OF THE NOVEMBER 8, 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 November 8, 2018 Agenda
   
   Motion: Commissioner Barrera
   Second: Commissioner Blalock
   
   Ayes: 7    Noes: 0    Absent: 5    Abstained: 1
   
   Commissioners Connolly and Diaz De Leon were not present for the vote due to arriving tardy. Commissioners Fleming, Langdon and MacDonald were absent. Commissioner Almond abstained as Chair.
   
   The motion passed.
3. APPROVAL OF THE OCTOBER 11, 2018 DRAFT MINUTES – ALMOND
   
   Motion to approve the October 11, 2018 Draft Minutes
   
   Motion: Commissioner Wood
   Second: Commissioner Blalock
   
   Ayes: 7    Noes: 0    Absent: 5    Abstained: 1
   
   Commissioners Connolly and Diaz De Leon were not present for the vote due to arriving tardy. Commissioners Fleming, Langdon and MacDonald were absent. Commissioner 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.
   
   No members of the public addressed the Commission.
5. COMMISSIONER ANNOUNCEMENTS / COMMUNICATIONS WITH SUPERVISORS / TABLING OPPORTUNITIES – ALL – 5 MINUTES
   Commissioner Brown reported being in communication with Supervisor Gorin and stated Gorin felt the items discussed at the Strategic Planning meeting for the commission were appropriate and very important.
6. OPENINGS AND APPOINTMENTS – ALMOND
   • Chair will report out on openings.
     
     Chair Almond reported there are still openings in the First and Third Districts.
     
7. PUBLIC COMMENT ON NON-AGENDIZED ITEMS – ALMOND
   Public comment is limited to three minutes per topic, unless otherwise noted.
   
   No members of the public addressed the Commission.
8. REGULAR CALENDAR ITEMS
   Discussion and possible action on items 1 through 8.
   1. Support of OBR/TVM Event – Ronda Black – 10 Minutes
      Commissioners will discuss and take possible action on supporting Ms. Ronda Black’s request for support for the 2019 One Billion Rising (OBR) and The Vagina Monologues (TVM) event currently scheduled for Thursday, February 14^th. Ms. Black will go over her request.
      
      Ms. Black went over the ideas she had for the proposed event. She mentioned tabling opportunities, and other various ideas. Ms. Black requested financial support from CSW but did not ask for a specific amount. Various commissioners had questions regarding the event due to the lack of specifics and details of the event and most importantly, due to a lack of a budget for the event and a marketing plan.
      
      Motion to extend time for an additional ten minutes.
      
      Motion: Commissioner Whyte
      Second: Commissioner Wood
      
      Ayes: 9    Noes: 0    Absent: 3    Abstained: 1
      
      Commissioners Fleming, Langdon and MacDonald were absent. Commissioner Almond abstained as Chair.
      
      The motion passed.
      
      Discussion continued. Several commissioners were also concerned with the lack of a proposed budget for the event along with a lack of any type of marketing plan. Commissioners mentioned a budget was important for any event in order to get an idea of the costs. Ms. Black was unaware of costs and stated she hoped for various donations but did not have anyone committing to donate or contribute funds to the event.
   2. ACCW Conference – Blalock – 10 Minutes
      Commissioners to discuss and vote on approving funds of an amount of up to $1,000 for registration and attendance costs for the upcoming ACCW Conference taking place in San Jose, California around April 2019.
      
      Commissioner Blalock mentioned the details she was aware of for the ACCW Conference. She mentioned the advantages of participating and stated it would be a great opportunity for as many commissioners to attend as possible.
      
      Motion to approve up to $1,000 for the ACCW Conference.
      
      Motion: Commissioner Brown
      Second: Commissioner Diaz De Leon
      
      Ayes: 9    Noes: 0    Absent: 3    Abstained: 1
      
      Commissioners Fleming, Langdon and MacDonald were absent. Commissioner Almond abstained as Chair.
      
      The motion passed.
   3. CSW Promotion / Marketing Ad Hoc – Langdon, Quinn and Wood – 10 minutes
      Ad Hoc members will explain details regarding quarterly newsletter and other ad hoc related processes and requests. Ad hoc members will also request a vote on allotting funds for Constant Contact and other ad hoc related expenses.
      
      Commissioners Quinn and Wood went over their updated work plan and explained the changes made. They discussed their primary goals and also mentioned the issues and plans that still need to be addressed. For this meeting, the ad hoc requested approval for a budget of $2,500 for the ad hoc and from there, a specific request for approval of $350 from that budget for a 6 month subscription with Constant Contact, approval of $500 for a sponsorship in the Santa Rosa Women’s March and approval for a $300 sponsorship for the One Billion Rising / Vagina Monologues event being put together by Ms. Ronda Black. From the discussion, and because Commissioner Langdon was absent, the commissioners felt it would be best to postpone voting on all requests except for that of the OBR/TVM sponsorship.
      
      Motion to extend time for an additional ten minutes.
      
      Motion: Commissioner Quinn
      Second: Commissioner Wood
      
      Ayes: 9      Noes: 0      Absent: 3      Abstained: 1
      
      Commissioners Fleming, Langdon and MacDonald were absent. Commissioner Almond abstained as Chair.
      
      The motion passed.
      
      Discussion continued and several commissioners again pointed out the lack of information on the proposed event. Commissioners were concerned with the planning of the event and several repeated the fact that there was no proposed budget describing costs for the event.
      
      Motion to approve a $300 sponsorship for the OBR/TVM event potentially being held in February 2019.
      
      Motion: Commissioner Brown
      Second: Commissioner Whyte
      
      Ayes: 5      Noes: 1      Absent: 3      Abstained: 4
      
      Commissioner Diaz De Leon did not vote in favor of the motion. Commissioners Barrera, Connolly and Padilla abstained from voting on the motion. Commissioners Fleming, Langdon and MacDonald were absent. Commissioner Almond abstained as Chair.
      
      The motion passed.
   4. National Women’s History Alliance Inaugural Networking Conference – Connolly and Wood – 10 minutes
      Commissioners to discuss the potential breakdown of costs determined through conducting research for attending this event. A potential vote on allocating funds for this event may be requested after discussion.
      
      Commissioners explained the event and shared their thoughts on whether funds should be allocated to pay for attending this conference. It was determined that the commission should consider supporting the National Women’s History Alliance in other forms and that this should be an event commissioners should attend in the future.
   5. Discussion on “Request for Sponsorship” Form – Almond – 5 minutes
      Commissioners will go over newly created “Request for Sponsorship” form. The final version of this form is to be a mandatory document submitted by anyone requesting funds from the Commission’s budget.
      
      Commissioners expressed support for the draft form. A suggestion was made to add a question on how proceeds will be used and another question that requires the person or organization submitting the form to specify the exact amount being requested.
   6. Revisiting “What We Should Do More Of” Response from Strategic Planning Meeting – Almond – 10 minutes
      Chair Almond will go over the “Roadshow” idea mentioned under the Discussion: The Year in Review question: What would you like to do more of? part of the agenda from the October 27, 2018 Strategic Planning Meeting.
      
      The Chair mentioned her encouragement on having public meetings in different cities within the county. Commissioner Brown offered to look into a location for a possible meeting in Sonoma in the month of January. Chair Almond will look into a location for a meeting in Petaluma and Commissioner Connolly mentioned she would also look into this idea.
   7. Strategic Planning Meeting Feedback – Almond, Barrera, and Whyte – 10 minutes
      Commissioners will provide feedback to Officers on the strategic planning meeting (SPM) held on October 27, 2018. This discussion is intended to assist future officers organizing their own SPM.
      
      Commissioners made several positive comments regarding the SPM. It was mentioned that in a future SPM, there should be more time allotted for the “getting to know you” questions because commissioners felt these questions helped everyone get to know each other a little better. Another suggestion was to add a review of what was planned and what was actually accomplished in the two years prior to the SPM. It was also suggested that a finalized budget be included in order to allow commissioners to review how money was spent in the two years prior to the SPM.
   8. Report on Administrative Information – Almond – 15 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:
      • December end-of-the-year gathering
      • Ad Hoc Updates 
      
      For the December gathering, commissioners suggested finding a location where everyone can sit closely and be able to communicate without difficulties. Commissioner Blalock volunteered to look into a place with space for everyone.
      
      Chair Almond reminded ad hocs to submit their budget requests as soon as possible. 
9. COMMUNITY ISSUES, LIAISONS, AND COORDINATORS – 10 MINUTES
   Program development updates not included above.
   • ACCW updates – Nothing to report
   • Field Trip – Nothing to report
   • Human Trafficking Task Force – Nothing to report 
   • Speaker Coordinator – Nothing to report
   • Volunteer Coordinator – It was suggested this topic be removed from future agendas.
   • Junior Commissioner Project Updates – Commissioners Diaz De Leon and Padilla reported that the Juniors discussed the Kavanaugh appointment and how it impacted them. The Juniors have also been continuing to work on their projects.
   • CA 2020 Project – Commissioner Connolly read from the minutes of the call. She mentioned 58 counties are participating in the project.
   • Women’s History Month Liaison – Nothing to report
   • Legislative Advisory Group – Commissioner Barrera explained the report created by the commissioners. The report summarizes the current status of legislative bills or issues that the commission has taken action on. She mentioned this type of report would continue to be updated and would be helpful when presenting to the BOS. 
10. AGENDA ITEMS FOR NEXT COMMISSION MEETING
    Proposal, discussion, and possible action items for next Commission meeting.
    • The marketing ad hoc would bring an updated budget request.
11. ADJOURNMENT
    The meeting was adjourned at 7:38PM