Meeting Minutes
May 10, 2005
7:40 – 9:40 p.m.
Rockville Senior Center | Members Present: | Mary Caroline Colletti
Bill Goodwin
David L’Heureux
Ann Reiss | Agnes Saenz
Tim Stranges
Eric Wang | | | Members Absent: | | | Darrell Butler
Deborah Hopson | Tom Lawrey
Paul Mutyambizi | | | Staff Present: Sarah Gicale Mary Lou Jacobs | Guests: Allen C. Lomax, Chair, Economic Opportunities Commission,
City of Alexandria |
Re: Call Meeting to Order /Introductions Tim Stranges called the meeting to order at 7:40 p.m. Re: Guest Speaker: Allen C. Lomax, Chair, Economic Opportunities Commission, City of Alexandria Tim introduced Allen Lomax, saying he had known him for 31 years. Both had worked together for GSA and, since then, their paths have continued to cross. He said that Allen has been on the City of Alexandria’s Economic Opportunities Commission for the last ten years and has been chair for the past five years. In addition he has been head of the United Way in Alexandria and is currently on the board of Northeastern University. He is a Senior Analyst for the U.S. General Accounting Office. Allen explained that the City of Alexandria’s Economic Opportunities Commission grew out of the War on Poverty. Its charter says that members will be advocates for low-income residents of the city. They are also supposed to oversee the work of the Office of Community Services, which includes the following programs: - Homeless Intervention (the City runs its own shelter)
- Crisis Intervention
- Virginia Cares (a re-entry program for ex-offenders)
The Commission has 18 members. One member represents the Mayor’s office; four members represent the City Council; one member represents the Commonwealth Attorney; a third of the members represent low-income residents and another third represent business, religious and non-profit organizations. Allen said that the Economic Opportunities Commission has three major activities during the year. These are: - An all-day retreat in early Fall
- Production of an annual work plan
- Submission of an annual report detailing what the Commission has done during the year, their successes, and any issues about which the City Council should be aware.
Program oversight by the Commission began in 1997. One program director comes in each month to present information to the Commission including what he/she considers to be the two or three greatest unmet needs. In addition, the Commission supplements their other activities by inviting guest speakers. Allen explained that, over time, a major area of interest for the Economic Opportunities Commission has been housing. The poverty rate, set by the federal government, is the same everywhere in the country although it costs more to live in some areas than others. An organization called Wider Opportunities for Women decided that there needed to be a self-sufficiency standard that would reflect these differences. Allen said that a new self-sufficiency standard would be released this fall. Also on the topic of housing, the Economic Opportunities Commission held a public forum to discuss economic issues related to 9/11. A second area of interest has been support to low-income children. Members accomplish this by providing funds to send five children to camp each year. Also, during the holidays, they provide gift certificates for teens. A third area of interest is active participation in the governmental process. Commission members follow the decisions of the federal government. They testify frequently before the Alexandria City Council and occasionally at the federal level. Testimony is on topics such as budgetary issues, location of public housing sites, and living wage legislation. Commission members also attend the City Council retreat each year, which gives them visibility and helps later in the year when they may have an issue before the Council. Their Commission also has a seat on several other commissions in Alexandria including the Human Rights Commission. He said they make every effort to be visible. They recently participated in a housing summit held by the City Council; they have testified on the validity of housing plans; and they have raised awareness of the anniversary of the War on Poverty. They also joined the United Way in assessing the needs of the working poor and collaboratively published a document on the subject. A local hospital in Alexandria held a breakfast to kick it off and their Commission held a worksession with the City Council to discuss its recommendations. Other accomplishments include helping to establish a free tax service and conducting a study of health care in Alexandria. On this latter subject, the Commission wrote a draft working paper, which they sent around to other commissions and asked for comments. They also asked if the other commissions would be willing to help. In response to several questions, Allen said that the City Council has seven members and the City of Alexandria has a population of 132,000 with large Hispanic and Somalian communities. The City’s overall approved budget for 2006 is $565,719,195 ($470,709,766 is General Funds). Tim asked how the Commission funds its studies. Allen said that the study on access to health care was completed by volunteers (Commission and United Way members). The United Way paid for publishing the document. David L’Heureux asked about the level of commitment for Commission members. Allen said that the Commission meets every month except during July. Responding to a question from Ann Reiss, Allen said that the City of Alexandria has its own health department and police department as well as providing human services. Generally, its government operates on a level similar to Montgomery County in this area. Eric Wang then asked about after-school programs. Allen said that Alexandria established a Youth Policy Commission a few years ago, which oversees all after-school programs. A member of the Economic Opportunities Commission attends every meeting although they do not have a seat. The interest of the Commission now is in trying to track progress. For example, is homelessness in Alexandria increasing or decreasing? They are working to establish indicators. Bill Goodwin asked how the Economic Opportunities Commission attracts low-income members. Allen said that they recruit through the Head Start Policy Council, the City’s Spanish Coordinator, word of mouth, and through public announcement. Tim asked if City of Alexandria employees are required to be paid a living wage. Allen responded that Alexandria’s current living wage is $11.36 per hour and it will go up to $11.80 per hour on July 1, 2005. There was an attempt during the last General Assembly to eliminate Alexandria’s living wage. The City is not required to pay its employees a living wage. Re: Approve Meeting Minutes for April 12, 2005 Changes to the minutes included changing the time of the next meeting and the spelling of Karen Rawlins’ name. On page 3, the words “is this” were changed to “what is” in the first sentence of the fifth paragraph. David moved that the minutes be approved as amended. Mary Caroline Colletti seconded the motion. The motion was approved unanimously. Re: Follow-up Discussion on Afterschool Programs Presentation Mary Lou Jacobs passed out a copy of a letter she had sent to Dr. Carol Garvey, Chair of the Montgomery County Collaboration Council for Children, Youth and Families expressing concern that schools in Rockville were not included in the list of targeted After School Activities Program (ASAP) communities. Mary Lou explained that the Collaboration Council dispenses funds for after school programs in Rockville and Montgomery County. Because funds are being reduced, they wanted to limit the number of communities eligible to apply. They wanted only communities with high poverty rates. None of Rockville’s high schools was on their list. Both the RISE Program, a Youth and Family Services Program, and Girlz Club, a Recreation and Parks program, currently receive funds from the Collaboration Council. Mary Lou explained that the Collaboration Council serves as an umbrella in Montgomery County for funds for children’s services. Ann Reiss added that half of the Council’s members are designated through state mandate including people from the community and parents. It is a structured entity and intended to be the local management board for the county. Tim asked Mary Lou how the Commission could help. Mary Lou responded that she had enclosed the letter just to make Commission members aware of the situation. She will follow up her letter by calling Dr. Carol Garvey. She does not know to what extent local representatives (County Council, State Legislature) are aware of this funding decision. Re: Sign-Up for Upcoming Site Visits - Montgomery Avenue Womens Center: David L’Heureux signed up for this site visit
- Dorothy Day: Darrell Butler had previously called Mary Lou to sign up for this site visit
- Interfaith Clothing: Ann Reiss and Eric Wang both volunteered for this site visit
- Sophia House: Mary Caroline Colletti volunteered for this site visit
- MobileMed: this site visit will take place at the agency’s office on Old Georgetown Road; Agnes Saenz and Tim Stranges both volunteered.
Re: Update on Preparation of Annual Report Ann said that the next step is for each person to send her recommendations for their subject areas, which she would need by next week. Bill said that in preparing their recommendations, he would suggest that they focus on the City’s role. The City’s role can be direct provider, grantor, facilitator, or advocate--either one or a combination of these. He added that the Commission doesn’t necessarily have to recommend a change. Also, these recommendations can be creative; they don’t have to have been part of the original discussion. He said he would email everyone the table used in last year’s Annual Report to use as an example. Ann said she would do an initial edit of the report and Tim offered to do a final edit. He will then email the final draft to everyone. He expects to finalize the report by the June meeting. Mary Lou said that the Commission might also want to append a list of their accomplishments during the year. Re: September 7 Salute to Non-Profits Event Tim said that the Chamber of Commerce was forming a partnership to work on this event. In addition to himself, Eileen McGuckian, of Peerless Rockville, and Mike Henry, from the City’s Department of Recreation and Parks, had agreed to be part of the committee. He would like two additional volunteers from the Commission to assist. Participation would consist of approximately three meetings and availability on the day of the event. The first meeting is scheduled for June 7, 2005 at 4:30 p.m. at the Chamber. David volunteered to be part of the planning group. Further, it was agreed that Tom Lawrey would be an excellent representative if he has the time. Re: Updates from Chair Tim advised Commission members that he had attended the 2020 Vision for Housing Workshop sponsored by Rockville Housing Enterprises. It was held the same day as a conference on historic preservation so there were only about 15-20 people in attendance. Most of the attendees were themselves speakers. Their presentations focused on public/private partnerships. He thought that Mid-City Urban, the developer responsible for redeveloping Moore Drive, gave a good presentation. Tim feels more optimistic that there are avenues for low-income housing. He also had an opportunity to ask Anne Robbins if the City had ever considered using its own land for this type of project, e.g., the piece of land adjacent to the Lutheran Home. Tim also reported to the Commission that Scott Ullery, the City Manager, had called him back regarding the Commission’s request that they be allowed to see the first consultant’s report. Scott said he was not able to release the report because it quoted people by name and included recommendations regarding specific employees. Scott had invited Tim to come to his office if he wished to speak to him further on the subject so Tim had made an appointment to meet with him on May 19, 2005. He said he would advise the Commission of the outcome of this meeting. Bill asked Tim if he had spoken on behalf of the Commission at the City’s recent budget hearing. Tim said that he had made a presentation in which he focused on the City budget including a percentage increase for the overall Caregiver budget as per the Commission’s discussion at the April meeting. Re: Plan Agenda for June Meeting - Discussion of next year’s work plan
- Finalizing the Annual Report
Re: Adjourn David moved to adjourn the meeting. Ann 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, June 14, 2005, from 7:30 - 9:30 p.m., in the Azalea Room of the Rockville Senior Center. | 
