Staff Present: Sarah Gicale   Mary Lou Jacobs

Guests:  Jim Marrinan, CMR Project Steering Committee Member
Ed Peery, CMR Director of Development

Re: Call Meeting to Order/Introductions

The meeting was called to order at 7:40 p.m.

Re: Update on CMR Health Project

Jim Marrinan explained that he was representing the Health Care Center Steering Committee for CMR.  The committee’s chair is Dr. Angie Lazarus.  Other members include Mansfield Kaseman, Executive Director of Community Ministries of Rockville, Rich Helfrich of the Mont. Co. Dept. of Health and Human Services, Steve Galen of the Primary Care Coalition, Mindy Ruben of Kaiser Permanente, Bob Crawford of Capital Technology Information Services (CTIS) which is providing $100,000 in seed money for the project, and Mary Lou Jacobs of the City of Rockville Dept of Neighborhood and Community Services.

Based on information presented to them, Jim said that the committee believes that there are approximately 100,000 people without health insurance living in Montgomery County.  Of these, approximately 5,000 live in the city of Rockville.  The committee’s goal is to create the next clinic in the county and they are requesting an endorsement and help from the Human Services Advisory Commission.  The new clinic will provide primary health care, case management assistance and disease prevention information for adults, ages 19-64 years, who are not eligible for other services.

The Steering Committee’s goal was developed based on information gathered from a series of focus groups and consultation with several established clinics.  They are now looking for a more permanent location and would prefer a city or county building.  They would like the City to provide funding for the clinic effective July 1, 2005.  Anticipated expenses for Year 1 are $284,000 with a minimum of 1,700 patients.  Ed Peery added that the committee anticipates that the clinic would be open four days/week.  Services at CMR’s Crusader Lutheran site are now provided by appointment only.

Mary Lou Jacobs said that the Mobile Medical Care clinics currently funded by the City use the Mobile Med Moby van.  The CMR clinic at Crusader is in a new smaller Hummy van and by appointment only.  It also has Spanish capability.  It has been a struggle for the Moby clinics to get city residents to use the services.  Mary Lou thinks that language is one reason.  Ed said that the focus group process taught CMR that they had to provide case management.  Services also need to be culturally appropriate.  Ninety percent of the county’s Hispanic population lives within fifteen minutes of Rockville.  The Asian population has a clinic in Silver Spring.  But there is no clinic serving only Rockville.  The problem with the van’s current sites, as he sees it, is that most people work during the day.  The patients seen at Crusader Lutheran are Latino Outreach Program participants.  Ann Reiss commented that not all the LOP participants are Rockville residents.  Jim said that the committee’s purpose is to serve residents of the city of Rockville and, to a lesser extent, people who live in Rockville zip codes.  Ed said that Mercy Clinic in Germantown sees a large number of Rockville residents.

Tom Lawrey said that in a presentation to the Commission, Steve Galen had told them he could not come up with numbers that would justify a clinic in Rockville.  Ed responded that there is no real breakdown specifically for Rockville.  The Steering Committee is looking at state and county percentages and projecting the same numbers for Rockville.  They are also assuming that clinic hours will be afternoon and evening.  Jim said that Steve Galen told them that the Asian clinic is using another county clinic’s facilities, a strategy they were considering.  Mary Lou said that Montgomery County has a clinic at 1301 Piccard Drive.  However, Rich Helfrich told the Steering Committee that site does not have sufficient space.

Jim said that the Steering Committee would like to bring a coordinator on board and have all permits in place by March 31, 2005.  They expect to start operation on July 1, 2005.  Bill Goodwin asked if CMR had made any overtures to City Hall.  Jim said that they had not.  The Steering Committee’s intent is to set up a meeting with the new City Manager to see if they can obtain some support.  The best outcome would be to receive some in-kind support in the form of a facility.  They have discussed using 32 Courthouse Square where there is a lease for another two years.  The Committee has also visited Mercy Clinic where staff is almost entirely volunteer.  That staff has provided a lot of help, especially with pharmaceuticals.  He gave the full written report of the Steering Committee’s work to Ann and agreed to email it to Mary Lou so that it could be made available to Commission members.

Re: Approve Meeting Minutes for November 9, 2004

Bill asked that the phrase “or their wages” be added to a sentence on page one.  The word “also” was added to the first sentence on page three.  On that same page the following sentence was added to the discussion on needs of seniors:  “The Senior Commission is finalizing its report to include these recommendations.”  In addition Mary Caroline Colletti asked that the spelling of her name be corrected.  Bill then moved that the minutes be approved as amended.  Tom seconded the motion.  The motion passed unanimously.

Re: Follow-up on Affordable Housing Issues

• Debriefing on Senior Housing Needs Presentation

Regarding Dr. Gonsales’ presentation at the November meeting, Mary Caroline Colletti said that there is a range of rents at Town Center with four different rate levels.  The lowest is $459 per month for the smallest efficiency.  And the highest rent is $626 for the largest one bedroom.  There is a limited amount of revenue for housing subsidies for any of these rents.  She wanted the Commission to have the correct information and will share the printed information she has on rents.  Mary Caroline also noted that there had been a brief discussion of the need to change income levels for MPDU eligibility at the end of his presentation. 

• Mayor/Council Worksession

Bill noted that the televised worksession on affordable housing was very brief and designed to charge staff with issues needing further research.  He noted that during the worksession Art Chambers stated that income levels in the Rockville area have been on the decline so he would not recommend a change in MPDU limits.  Every council member spoke on this issue.  Ann commented that the county has been proposing MPDU changes as well.

Re: Approve Letter re:  Selection of New Director of Neighborhood & Community Services

David L’Heureux suggested attaching a copy of both resolutions giving the Human Service Advisory Commission its authority so that the new city manager would understand the background.  Tom moved that the letter be approved and sent with the suggested attachment.  Mary Caroline seconded the motion.  The motion passed unanimously.

Re: Comparison of Rockville and Gaithersburg Staffing Levels for Human Service Programs

Mary Lou introduced this item saying that two meetings before Linda Morgenstein from Gaithersburg had presented information on the level of funding provided by the City of Gaithersburg to nonprofits.  Mary Lou said there were some differences between the two cities.  Gaithersburg provides funding to Guide, a program that serves youth, while the City of Rockville provides youth services directly.  The Commission’s handout spells out the amount of funding both cities are providing this year.  The biggest difference between the two is in senior services.  Bill said that the Commission had also learned from Donna Boxer, Director of Finance for the City of Rockville, that the percent of funding provided by Gaithersburg is more than double that provided by Rockville.  Mary Lou said that Donna was looking at just the non-profit budget, which does not take into account those services (youth, senior) that Rockville provides directly.  Ann asked Commission members what they wanted to do with this information.  David responded that it should be kept as FYI for now.

Re: Preparation of Annual Report

Ann handed out copies of the template Bill had created last year in preparing the Annual Report.  Bill said the report is usually submitted in March.  Ann said that she would be away for a month and would not be able to work on a report before March.  Mary Lou said that members would need to consider the issues they have discussed during the past year and determine if there are any recommendations they wish to make.  Bill said that the Human Services Advisory Commission is required to give advice and guidance but not required to produce an annual report.  David said that a report could serve as a checklist for the Mayor and Council, which would help the Commission fulfill its role of providing advice and guidance.  Mary Lou said that unless you have concrete recommendations for the Mayor and Council, there is no need to do anything.  You already submit a report of your activities.  David moved to postpone the annual report by two months due to member commitments and to reconsider in February 2005 if there are any recommendations the Commission would want to make.  Tom seconded the motion.  The motion passed unanimously.

Re: Communicating with Mayor and Council re:  Annual Report and Living Wage Research

Mary Lou said that when Commission members consider whether they want to make any recommendations to the Mayor and Council, they might also consider other forms of communication, e.g., a letter or attendance at a meeting.

Bill asked if the Commission couldn’t write a letter to the new city manager encouraging him to give the CMR health project serious attention.  David added that the Commission has been examining health needs for several years and this health project is an encouraging step forward.  Mary Lou said that, given that CMR will be asking for the City of Rockville’s financial support, a letter is something the Commission could consider.  Bill moved that the Human Services Advisory Commission write a letter to the Mayor and City Manager saying that representatives from the CMR Health Project Steering Committee had visited the Commission and shared their plan; that this project relates to a need the Commission has been studying and that it also relates to the Mayor’s request for a plan.  David seconded the motion.  The motion passed unanimously.  Bill then volunteered to write the letter.

Bill then asked if the Commission had debriefed sufficiently on the living wage discussion.  Ann said she thought that members had decided to postpone any further discussion until the Mayor and Council were in a more receptive mode.  Bill asked if there was a consensus that members agree that this is an issue that should be raised.  Tom said that he was one of those who thought that Commission members needed to be certain of their information.  It did not seem that there were enough employees of contractors to make this a worthwhile issue.  Ann said she agrees with Tom.  Based on her discussion with Anne Robbins, this is not something that should be put on the agenda.  Tom said that, in deference to members who feel strongly about the issue, a more credible case should be made.  Bill said that he agreed that Donna’s presentation left some unanswered questions.  David said he agrees that we need to be well prepared but doesn’t think that the receptivity of the Mayor and Council should determine whether an issue is brought to their attention.  Ann said she thought they had agreed that no one had time to gather the information.  Bill said that there are people who would be affected and that it might be an effective anti-poverty measure.  Mary Lou reminded members that the City is not letting contracts with Town Center.  The developer is responsible for all the bidding.  Mary Caroline said she thought that it would depend on the length of time of the contract as to whether employees’ long-term wages/income level is affected.  It would be difficult to determine that without the developers sharing all their financial information.  After hearing the Mayor and Council’s televised discussions on housing, she thinks they care about these issues.

Bill said that the same discussion is taking place in Annapolis as well.  He is interested to see how it plays out on the state level and assumes that whatever is decided might also apply to the City of Rockville.  Ann asked Bill to continue to follow and report on the living wage issue.  Bill said that, by the way, the living wage is defined as $10.50 per hour without health insurance.  If the legislation is passed in Annapolis, it might provide an impetus to legislation in Rockville.

Re: Planning Next Commission Social Event

Commission members discussed holding another potluck supper at the Mansion on a night other than the regular meeting night in March.  David then suggested using the second Tuesday in February (2/8/05) for the social event.  He thought it would be good to invite the new city manager and the acting director, Chris Bartlett.  He also suggested inviting Mansfield Kaseman who will be leaving Community Ministries of Rockville this year and, perhaps, people who had worked with the Commission during the past year, e.g., Allison Bunge.  Tom said the Commission might want to include the speakers who have presented during the past year.  Ann asked Mary Lou to bring the list of speakers to the January meeting.  She also asked who would like to run the meeting, as she will be away.  Tom moved that Tim Stranges chair the next meeting.  Bill seconded the motion.  The motion passed unanimously.

 Re: Identify Items for January Meeting Agenda

• Discuss proposed topics for the annual report
  
• Mary Lou suggested that the Commission look at the REAP program which is exhausting its funding again.  Utility rates are increasing.
  
• Members asked Tom if he might be able to identify someone to provide information on the issue of hunger in Rockville and Montgomery County
  
• David said he would like to understand why the City does not have enough money when new development is generating more revenue.  Mary Lou said that the new city manager had reported that budget cuts might, in fact, not take place.

Re: Adjourn
   
David moved to adjourn the meeting.  Eric Wang seconded the motion.  The motion passed unanimously.  The meeting was adjourned at 9:40 p.m.

The next meeting of the Human Services Advisory Commission will be held Tuesday, January 11, 2005, from 7:30 - 9:30 p.m., at the Rockville Senior Center.