Agenda - 09-04-2014 - 6a - Laserfiche WebLink

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3 1 women, then that charge should be developed by the Board of County Commissioners and 2 given to the HRC. He feels that this applies to any priority that is important to the Board. He 3 said there needs to be a more specific charge on these issues. He said the Board needs to 4 establish priorities for a specific time period and create a real civil rights agenda for the County. 5 Commissioner Price said President Obama issued another executive order yesterday, 6 dealing with pay raises for women who are contract workers for the federal government. She 7 said this shows that the matter has not gone away, and it needs to be attacked. She said she 8 can see this starting off as a small charge, and then it can be re-vamped once it has taken hold. 9 Commissioner Dorosin said the long time staff person at HRC is retiring, and this is an 10 opportunity to re-think how this department will work as it relates to social justice. He thinks 11 more should be done, and the Commissioners have the responsibility to provide the direction. 12 Commissioner Rich said she thinks it is often true that the Board discusses items without 13 giving a clear direction. She said she is still unclear what the proposed women's group would 14 do. She can see why the Diversity Matters group is important, but this is still too broad. She 15 does not have a clear vision of this. She would like to talk with the Diversity Matters group as 16 well as Commissioner Gordon and Commissioner Price to help her understand this. 17 Chair Jacobs said part of the proposal is that the Board will get a clearer proposal in May. 18 Commissioner Rich questioned whether this is the right way to move forward, by having 19 staff tell the Board what they think the Board wants them to do. 20 Chair Jacobs said yes. He does not see a problem with working with an advisory board 21 that has already put energy into exploring related issues. He said this group has made a 22 proposal to come back to the Board, having done work before and after this meeting. 23 Chair Jacobs said the HRC used to do an annual symposium, years ago. He said one 24 element that has not been part of this conversation is community involvement. He could see 25 bringing in female entrepreneurs and someone from the Compass Center to have a day with 26 various presenters and subgroups. He said this could draw out recommendations for the 27 County Commissioners about how to move forward to address certain issues. He said this 28 would bring in the community engagement part, instead of just leaving this to the advisory 29 board. 30 Commissioner McKee said Commissioner Dorosin made a good point about the Board 31 needing to be more specific in providing direction and guidance for the focus of this group. He 32 said he is hearing that the HRC is coming back with a report, and this is an opportunity to 33 provide information that can be incorporated into this report. He said he is suggesting this be 34 done before the group comes back with the report. 35 Commissioner Price said the Commission for Women used to have community events in 36 the late eighties and nineties, and a lot of that has been lost now. She said there are a 37 women's center and the Compass Group, so the issues of domestic violence and rape are 38 being covered. She said the goal here was to step away from that to look at other ways that 39 women could be empowered, looking at jobs, economic development, and salaries. She said 40 the goal was not to make it too broad, but to start with one aspect. She said her resolution may 41 not have been as defined as the Board would like, but it was a starting point to look at economic 42 development. 43 Commissioner Pelissier said overall she does not see the Board creating a new 44 commission. She feels things can be accomplished thought the HRC sub-committee, in 45 partnership with other organizations. She suggested a partnership with the Chamber of 46 Commerce's Women's Entrepreneur Group. She just does not see that there is a clear mission 47 to create a new group on this topic. 48 Cheryl Young said the purpose of the HRC report being worked on now is to tell the 49 Board what the group has been doing, as opposed to a plan going forward. She said this is