Re: Approve May 10 Meeting Minutes

Tim asked that the phrase that followed “Lutheran Home” in the first paragraph on page 5 be removed.  Deborah Hopson then moved that the minutes be adopted as amended.  David L”Heureux seconded the motion.  The motion passed unanimously.

Re: Updates from Chair

•  Consultant’s Report: Tim reported that he had met with Scott Ullery regarding the report from the consultant that led to the breakup of the Department of Neighborhood and Community Services.  The Commission had requested a copy of this report from the City Manager.  While Scott said he could not send a copy to the Commission, he did allow Tim to read the report in his office.  Tim said he could understand why the City Manager felt he could not release the report because it did contain some personal information in its discussion of certain positions (not individuals).  Tim said that his overall impression was that the core functions, e.g., services provided by the Caregiver agencies, would not be impacted by the second study, which is upcoming.  He thinks the second study will look further at Youth Services, Landlord/Tenant Services and Mediation.  Tim said that he felt somewhat relieved that the next consultant would not examine in depth the provision of human services through contracts with outside agencies.  Instead the consultant will focus on the direct provision of human service activities by the City.

Tim said that his meeting with the City Manager provided him the opportunity to express his concern that when he, David L’Heureux and Ann Reiss were interviewed, the breakup of the department was not discussed.  However, a number of people who were interviewed apparently did make that recommendation.  The report was about 25 pages long. 

Two weeks later Tim said that Mary Lou Jacobs called him with an invitation to sit on the panel evaluating the proposals made in response to the City’s Request for Proposals (RFP).  So, about a week ago, he read the six proposals as part of a panel with Catherine Tuck Parrish, the Assistant City Manager, Dominic Del Pozzo, Budget Officer, and Mary Lou.

Bill Goodwin asked if it was possible to see the RFP.  Mary Lou said that it had been posted on the City website.  In addition a bidders conference had been held and the responses to their questions were posted on the City website.  Tim said that the RFP asks for a combination of focus groups, surveys, interviews with City staff and stakeholders, and benchmarking (contrasting the City of Rockville with comparable cities).  Basically, the City is requesting an organizational study of the way in which the City provides human services with a suggestion of alternative service models.  The end product or deliverable is a presentation to the Mayor and Council on December 5, 2005.

•  Salute to Non-Profits: Tim said that a week ago he, Mary Lou, and Agnes Saenz met with others at the Chamber of Commerce to discuss the Salute to Non-Profits.  He said everyone had many excellent ideas and they agreed to meet again at the end of the month.  The group is comprised of City officials, Chamber members and Commission members.  They envision that the groups that provide services will have a display at the Farmers Market.  If they wish, these non-profit groups could also do some fundraising.  The event will provide them an opportunity to get their message out to many people.  The Chamber will sponsor an award to an employee group.  In addition the Chamber is working on obtaining a $2,000 prize for a drawing.  Everyone attending the event would receive a passport, which could be stamped at each non-profit booth.  A certain number of stamps would enable an attendee to enter a drawing for a prize of $1,000 for the entrant and $1,000 for his/her favorite charity.

•  Rev. Mansfield Kaseman’s Farewell Party: Tim said he had attended this very nice function at St. Raphael’s Church.  Mary Lou drafted him to make a speech on behalf of the Commission and join with her in presenting a scrapbook to Kasey put together by representatives of the Caregivers. 

Re: Approve Annual Report to Mayor and Council

Mary Caroline Colletti began the discussion by saying she would like something included on accessibility for persons with disabilities.  Tim said that topic had not been discussed during the year but could be included in the schedule for the coming year. 

Mary Lou said that she had a couple of questions concerning the report.  She said that Ed Duffy and Art Chambers had come to Commission meetings last year and that, perhaps, the report needed to refer to prior presentations made by them.  Bill said that the report covers the calendar year 2004.  Mary Lou pointed out that last year’s report had mentioned Art Chambers so that perhaps the time period needed to be clarified.  Tim said his understanding was that it covered the calendar year 2004.  Mary Lou said that the summary of accomplishments at the end of the report would then need to be revised.  Also, she thought that some of the recommendations would confuse the Mayor and Council since some of them have already been acted on, e.g., ESOL programs and the CMR Health Program.  Tim then suggested that the dates of the report be changed to 1/1/04 to 6/30/05.  A suggestion was made that perhaps the language could be changed to reflect the fact that the Mayor and Council followed some of the Human Services Advisory Commission suggestions during the year.  Bill said that in the Affordable Housing section, last paragraph, he thought they should acknowledge that Twinbrook Commons would have dedicated senior housing. 

Bill said that he also thought it would be helpful to refer to the City’s roles, as the Commission had done in last year’s report.  Tim said that, as editor of the current report, he had not been concerned with last year’s report.  As the year goes on, he hopes that Commission members can keep the City’s roles in mind.  He considers them a legitimate part of the Commission’s charge.

On page 6, Mary Lou said the wording should reflect the fact that the City has provided funding to CMR for outreach services in connection with the health clinic.  Tim agreed that the language needed to be updated to reflect the $50,000 from the City for the clinic.

Tim said that the language on page six of the report under “Acculturation” was left over from the year before.  Also, CCACC needed to be added.  Agnes offered to revise this section, as she had been a member of the Immigrant Subcommittee.   Mary Lou said that one area where the Commission really had an impact was through the site visit made to CCACC. 

Related to page 7 and the topic of “Volunteerism,”  Bill said he would like to see the Commission consider a new recommendation for the PVSA now that there is a new City Manager.  Mary Caroline suggested using some words to the effect that volunteerism is an integral part of the community and that the Commission would continue to recognize and foster those kinds of activities.

Relative to the discussion of page 9 under “Social Service Budget Comparisons,” Mary Lou said that Linda Morgenstein had recently told her that the City of Gaithersburg would not be funding a grantswriter next year.  The reason she gave was that many of the non-profits receiving funding from Gaithersburg were not in a position to use the grantswriter.

Tim said he would review this year’s minutes to make certain they were properly reflected in the annual report, and then edit the report again and send it out to everyone at the end of next week.  In the Report of Activities, Mary Lou agreed to pull in the first six months of 2004 so both reports coincide.  He suggested that, in the future, both reports cover the fiscal year.

Re: Possible Joint Projects with Human Rights Commission

Tim proposed that, for the next meeting, the Commission invite someone from the Human Rights Commission and a speaker he had heard at the housing conference he recently attended.  He felt this would help members decide where they need to focus their efforts for the coming year in the area of affordable housing. 

Re: Plan Agenda for July Meeting

• Guest from the Human Rights Commission
  
• Guest on topic of affordable housing
  
• Discussion of next year’s work plan

Re: Adjourn 

David moved to adjourn the meeting.  Paul Mutyambizi 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, July 12, 2005, from 7:30 - 9:30 p.m., in the Azalea Room of the Rockville Senior Center.