HUMAN SERVICES ADVISORY COMMISSION
MEETING MINUTES
February 10, 2004
 7:30 – 9:40 PM
Glenview Mansion Cottage

Members Present:  

Members Absent: William Meeker
           
Staff Present: Sarah Gicale, Mary Lou Jacobs

Re:  Call Meeting to Order /Introductions

Bill Goodwin called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. He announced that the night before Tom Lawrey and Ann Reiss had been reappointed by the Mayor and Council to serve another term on the Human Services Advisory Commission.  He announced further that Charlotte Zuckman had submitted her resignation, effective immediately.  As a result the Commission has another vacancy to fill.  Bill said that the Commission could consider applications already on file or look for new applications.  Regarding applications already on file, Mary Lou Jacobs had contacted Tim Stranges who had submitted an application last summer.  In addition Bill said that he had contacted Diane Marmelstein who also had an application on file.  Diane said that she is expecting a child and would not be available to serve.

Mary Lou said that she had corresponded with Tim by voicemail.  He said he was still interested in serving.  He is now Vice President of the Rockville Chamber of Commerce as well as chairperson of the Chamber’s Partnership Committee.  Bill added that Tim had been recruited through Bill’s contacts with the Chamber as part of the Commission’s recruitment strategy of reaching out to the business community.

Tom Lawrey moved that Commission members consider Tim Stranges for appointment to the Human Services Advisory Commission.  Deborah Hopson seconded the motion.  The vote was unanimous in favor of recommending Tim Stranges to the Mayor and Council for appointment to the Human Services Advisory Commission.

Re:  Approve January 13 Meeting Minutes

Deborah Hopson moved that the minutes be approved with one amendment, namely that Allison Bunge be listed as having attended.  David L’Heureux seconded the motion.  The motion passed unanimously.

Re:  Follow-up Discussion to Presentation by Chief Treschuk and Jan Seilhamer, Community Services Officer.

Bill said that, in his opinion, this had been a very important discussion.  Chief Treschuk’s view is that community services come before police services in terms of the City’s interaction with its citizens.  Bill also asked Commission members whether they thought the need for young people in Rockville having a place to gather was an appropriate issue for the Human Services Advisory Commission.  There was general agreement that this was not an issue for the Commission.  It was a concern but not a priority; one that could possibly be mentioned in a report. 

David L’Heureux commented that this issue points to a need for a review of the functions of the different groups in City government.  He said the entire structure should be looked at with a view toward answering the question, “Is it meeting the City’s goals?”  He feels that nothing pulls the different City departments, boards and commissions together as a team.  Bill said that he hoped the City Clerk would bring the Human Services Advisory Commission into the goal process.  Mary Lou responded that it would, perhaps, be appropriate to raise that issue in the context of the search for a new City Manager.

Re:  Discuss Draft Annual Report

Bill introduced the draft annual report that he had written and suggested that the transmittal form used with the last annual report be used again with this one.  He then asked Ann Reiss to lead a discussion regarding any changes in the draft that Commission members would like to make. Members agreed to have a title page for the report followed by a one page executive summary, which would include the present introduction.  Further, it was suggested that the “to do” items be left out of the document and used instead as a work plan for the Commission.  Members then went through the document one page at a time editing and discussing concepts.  Once this process was completed, Tom Lawrey moved that Commission members approve the report as amended.  Deborah seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.  The draft report was then given to Tom for final editing with the understanding that Allison would type the final document.

Re:  Nomination of New Chair

Bill called for nominations for the position of chairperson.  Agnes Saez nominated Ann Reiss for chairperson with Tom Lawrey seconding the nomination.  The vote was unanimous to recommend that Ann’s name be forwarded to the Mayor and Council for approval as chairperson.  Ann then moved that an Executive Committee be formed, composed of the chair, the vice chair and the two previous chairs, still serving on the Commission (Bill Goodwin and Tom Lawrey).  Agnes seconded this motion.  After discussion, David moved to change the name of  “Executive Committee” to “Advisory Committee” with Tom seconding the new motion.  A vote was taken on the second motion with five voting in favor and three against.  As a result the wording of the first motion was changed to read that an Advisory Committee should be formed, composed of the Chairperson, the Vice Chairperson and the two previous Chairpersons still serving on the Commission.  The motion passed unanimously.

Tom then moved that Allison Bunge be considered for Vice Chairperson.  Deborah seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.

Re:  Status Report re:  Committees

There were no committee reports.  Bill said that the April meeting would be a good time to review committee structure and progress.

Re:  Plan March Social Event

Bill reminded members that they had decided to have a potluck dinner at the Glenview Mansion to include significant others and children instead of a regular business meeting in March.  Agnes suggested inviting former members who had participated during the past year.  It was also agreed that Tim Stranges and Guerdon Stuckey should be invited.  The time for this event was changed to 7 p.m. and a sign-up list for food was passed around.

Re:  Ideas for April Meeting Agenda

• Revisit the committee structure
  
• Further discuss the Presidential Service Awards
  
• Agnes agreed to do a presentation on the health forums conducted by Community Ministries of Rockville
  
• Review the written report to be issued on the Citizen Summit held by the Mayor and Council, which Eric Wang attended.

Re:  Adjourn

Agnes moved to adjourn the meeting.  David seconded the motion.  The motion passed unanimously and the meeting was adjourned at 9:30 PM.

The next meeting of the Human Services Advisory Commission will be a social event held Tuesday, March 9, 2004, from 7:00 - 9:00 p.m., at the Glenview Mansion.