Minutes 05-20-2014 - Laserfiche WebLink

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amendment(s). VOTE: UNANIMOUS 8. Reports a. Report of the Human Relations Commission (HRC) The Board received and discussed the Human Relation Commission's (HRC) position regarding the establishment of a subcommittee that focuses on matters of the equitable treatment of women. James Davis reviewed the highlights of the report. He said the HRC has discussing an issue presented by the Board regarding the reinstallation of the Commission for Women or the creation of a subcommittee to address the equitable treatment of women. He said this report highlights the points of this discussion. He said this includes a recommendation that the HRC continue to do its duty to carry out the mission of the equitable treatment of everyone and to increase its awareness and involvement in issues regarding women. He said the HRC further recommended that if there are any identified inequities in the County, the Board would permit a consultant to figure out what those inequities were with regard to wage and salary and to administer a charge on how to address those. Commissioner Gordon said she is happy about the last part of the report. She is not so sure that the only way to do this is with additional resources. She asked why there cannot be a sub-committee on this since there are so many other sub-committees. James Davis said the HRC is comprised of a diverse membership, and having a sub- committee focused strictly on women sparked a discussion about sub-committees for all of the other minorities. He said it occurred to the HRC that this could lead to a never ending creation of subcommittees and issues with failing to include certain groups. He said the Diversity Matters subcommittee was created prior to these discussions, and it was decided that this subcommittee should be the one to discuss all matters of diversity, including women and equity. Commissioner Price said she is pleased that this is going forward, but she wonders if hiring a person to address this issue may not be the way to go. She said if the staff person does not get funded, there may be other ways to collect the data. She said this could be addressed with Diversity Matters. Commissioner porosin asked if the Board is supposed to give direction to HRC on what to prioritize over the next year. Chair Jacobs said the request is for a response to this report. Michael Talbert said the purpose is specifically to deal with the study of women's issues by the HRC, and give feedback on where the HRC should go from here and whether their idea of addressing it through the Diversity Matters subcommittee is adequate. Commissioner porosin said he has not signed on to the idea that study of pay equity is the highest priority human relations issue. He said if there are limited resources on what can be focused on, he has some different ideas on gender discrimination and what the focus should be. He noted that the Health Department is going to have the poverty council, which will be looking at issues including gender discrimination and the problems faced by single mothers and female heads of household. He feels there is an opportunity for synergy here, and he wants to be clear on what the Board is supposed to be doing here. He said he would propose a broader agenda than just pay disparity, as he does not think this is the most pressing issue.