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APPROVED 4!18/2006 MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS WORK SESSION January 31, 2006 7:30 p.m. The Orange County Board of Commissioners met for a work session on Tuesday, January 31, 2006 at 7:30 p.m. at the Southern Human Services Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Barry Jacobs and Commissioners Moses Carey, Jr., Valerie P. Foushee, Alice M. Gordon, and Steve Halkiotis COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: COUNTY ATTORNEY PRESENT: Geoffrey Gledhill COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: County Manager John M. Link, Jr., Assistant County Managers Gwen Harvey and Rod Visser, and Clerk to the Board Donna S. Baker (All other staff members will be identified appropriately below) NOTE: ALL DOCUMENTS REFERRED TO IN THESE MINUTES ARE IN THE PERMANENT AGENDA FILE IN THE CLERK'S OFFICE Chair Jacobs suggested that since Commissioner Foushee is feeling under the weather and Commissioner Carey has to leave early, they would do the child care task force item first. 2. Child Care Task Force Assistant County Manager Gwen Harvey said that she and Social Services Director Nancy Coston were here as support staff and they had attended the child care summit for affordable child care in Orange County. The information was in the retreat notebook and is also on the abstract. Commissioner Carey said that this task force would be developing a charge and timeline. He encouraged Gwen Harvey to get as much of the business community involved as possible, financially and otherwise. He said that there should be a process, or action steps, to achieve the goals that are listed. Commissioner Foushee said that in listing the goals, one of the most important goals of convening the task force is to look at quality of childcare services and providing early childhood education. She said that they heard at this meeting that they will be partnering with the Orange County Partnership far Young Children, Child Care Services Association, and Department of Social Services. She said that this is not just an ongoing dialogue about the situation, but steps to create efforts to mitigate some of the factors that are impacting childcare. Commissioner Halkiotis added that both Nancy Coston and John Link were present at the Partnership far Young Children board meeting recently, and there was a consultant that talked about fundraising. He said that the importance of the business community being involved cannot be overstated. Michele Rivest, Director of the Orange County Partnership for Young Children, did a presentation last year on the economic impact of a good childcare program in Orange County. He said that both chambers need to be involved to make this happen. He said that there is an attitude out in the state that government should not be involved in childcare. He said that you could send your child to UNC-Chapel Hill for less money than you can get quality childcare in Orange County. He wants to bring in the business community, both chambers of commerce, and add in the economic development piece -that when you empower families, you empower business and the economy.