Minutes 12-10-2019 Business Meeting

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2 anthem. He said he has petitioned the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) multiple times this fall to include pledge of allegiance at the beginning of each meeting. He said he petitioned this before, and the Board has failed to discuss and vote on the matter. He said he will keep bringing this up until the Board responds appropriately. b. Matters on the Printed Agenda (These matters will be considered when the Board addresses that item on the agenda below.) 3. Announcements, Petitions and Comments by Board Members Commissioner Greene said she attended the Justice Advisory Council meeting last week She said the County currently has a pre-arrest diversion program, which diverts only first offenders (in eight specific categories), which does not include underage alcohol possession. She said the Criminal Justice Resource Department staff is proposing to include the underage alcohol charge in the current model of the program, to allow for early intervention with treatment instead of criminal justice involvement. She said this would not include any new resources to implement. She said additionally, the department wants to create a second track of harm reduction law enforcement diversion that deflects our “familiar faces” (i.e., repeat low-level offenders with behavioral health issues and often experiencing homelessness). This will involve more intensive case management and will require additional positions working from Chapel Hill, where most of the “familiar faces” reside. She said the District Attorney has agreed to these changes, and she hopes the County will approve the necessary budget increases. Commissioner Bedford said she and others attended the Environmental Summit last week and heard about the 2019 State of the Environment Report, as well as regional updates. She said it was an informative meeting. Commissioner Bedford said all Board members have been to several swearing in ceremonies, and she thanked those who have served, and expressed excitement to serve with those newly appointed to boards. Commissioner Marcoplos reiterated Commissioner Bedford’s comments about the Environmental Summit and said the Commission for the Environment (CfE) is an excellent group, doing excellent work. He said the report can be easily found online. Commissioner Marcoplos said he attended the Family Success Alliance’s (FSA) resource subcommittee group, where the topic was “what criteria should be used for dispersing $5,000 for innovation grants to the schools”. He said the plan is to disperse two $2500 grants, and eligible schools are those in two FSA zones (zones 4 and 6). He said he was struck by the need to give away more grants, and he petitioned the manager to add an additional $10,000 to the grants. Commissioner Price said she also attended the Environmental Summit, and she liked the regional approach. She said she used to serve on the CfE, and it is wonderful to see the good work continuing. Commissioner Price said the new ABC store opened in Hillsborough today, and there was a large turnout. Commissioner Dorosin said he also attended the Environmental Summit, and noted that there was no discussion of environmental justice, the inclusion of which the BOCC tasked the CfE. He said it was a noticeable gap in this discussion. He said it was a very homogenous group, both attending and presenting. He said, when hoping to have greater diversity, one must be cognizant of location, time of event and having diverse presenters. Commissioner McKee arrived at 7:15 p.m. Commissioner Dorosin referred to the HB2 law, and said the bill was repealed and replaced with something else that said local governments would continue to be preemptive until December 1, 2020. He petitioned the Board to develop an anti-discrimination ordinance that