Minutes 05-20-2014 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Commissioner Price said this was in response to a request she made along with Commissioner Gordon to bring back a commission that focused on women's issues. She realizes there are many issues that can be tackled, but after talking to many women a decision was made to hone in on such issues as pay equity, raises, promotions, and the ability to get loans. She said there are many issues, but an advisory board can only do so much, and she is pleased to see this step in the right direction. She said there are already plans to do a community read to begin the dialogue. James Davis said this is planned for the fall. Commissioner Price said she does not see why other issues could not be addressed further down the road. Commissioner Pelissier said as she understands it the Board does not have to give any direction and can just accept the report. She said a pay study has been proposed, but she would agree that this is not the best way to address this. She likes the approach of Diversity Matters and looking at all of the different groups where there may be issues. She said the work plan will come to the Board early next year and this can be approved and direction given as needed at that time. Commissioner Rich said she agrees with Commissioner porosin, and she feels the focus should be on more than one issue. She does not feel this is the most important issue for women right now. She said she talked with the Durham Human Rights Commission (HRC) about how they handle their women's division. She said Durham does not have a women's commission, and everyone is involved in the conversations. She said this group is in their 7tn year of producing a Women's Forum in March and there are all kinds of issues addressed here. She said it is a very successful all day event, and there are public and private partnerships. She would like to see this on a broader scale, and she thinks it should be under the Diversity Matters committee. She said some issues discovered with women's issues will be true across the board for other groups. Commissioner Gordon said it seems that the HRC may not do anything in particular about women's issues unless they are given more money. She said this concerns her, as it seems like the resources of the Diversity Matters group could be focused on women's issues. She feels that pay equity is important, because if women were paid equally a lot of other issues would fall into place. She said she still thinks there should be a focus on women's issues. She would like to see Diversity Matters have a focus on women to determine the concerns and issues for women in Orange County. Commissioner Rich said it is already known that women are paid less than men, and she does not understand what the goal is in researching this and putting it on paper. She asked if this is a proposal to come up with a solution. She said the County cannot tell private companies to pay women more. Chair Jacobs said the manager is asking the Board to provide feedback to staff on next steps. He said the Board feels there are several issues of interest that could be pursued, and the HRC has heard these issues. He said the goal now is to have them look at the gamut of issues and how they impact women in Orange County and then report back to the Board of County Commissioners before going out too far on a limb. He asked about a timetable for this report. He suggested there be a specific time line for deliberation, discussion, investigation and reporting Chair Jacobs said the HRC used to do an annual day-long symposium, and then it stopped. He said this may be a fruitful area for the creation of this type of event. Commissioner Price said the point of this was just to get the ball rolling. She said the HRC has a forum every January, and she understands that women may be the focus of this event in 2015.