Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013-05-10 Committee on the Status of Women Minutes COMMITTEE ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN Friday May 10, 10:00 a.m. Elderly Services Senior Center - Waimea PRESENT EXCUSED Kim Schneider, Chair Linda Ugalde Katie Nova, Vice-Chair Nancy Kelly, Treasurer Farrah-Marie Gomes, Secretary Brooke Derby Mele Spencer Carol Kitaoka Hazel Beck Elena Cabatu (ex-officio) Molly Stebbins (ex-officio) CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 10:13 a.m. ROLL CALL A quorum was present. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Carol Kitaoka moved to approve to agenda as submitted. Katie Nova seconded the motion. The motion was passed. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Kim Schneider - the minutes will be filed as written. TREASURER’S REPORT Nancy Kelly provided the following report. The balance is $5,511.19. The Essay Contest cost less than the $3,310 encumbered. The actual amount paid out was $2,628.50; the total cost of the event is approximately $3,000 plus mileage. Katie Nova suggested that since we have remaining money, we discuss and make decisions as to spending remaining money by the end of the fiscal year. Nancy Kelly suggested that we discuss it as it comes up on the agenda. Farrah-Marie Gomes stated that we can make adjustments as it comes up. Kim Schneider – the treasurer’s report is accepted as presented. 1 STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC None CORRESPONDENCE The Institute for Women’s Policy Research wrote about possible partnerships with the Hawai‘i County Commission on the Status of Women for research purposes. This correspondence was e-mailed to the committee members. Committee members would review and bring back for discussion if there was interest. REPORTS A. Liaison – reported by Elena Cabatu There weren’t any State CSW meetings since our last meeting and the next meeting is coming up on May 30 so there’s not much to report other than the following bills which passed: 1. Partners getting tested and being able to pick up the treatment for STI (Sexually Transmitted Infection) to take home for their partners to take. 2. Breastfeeding in the workplace – the local groups on the Big Island are very supportive of getting employers to become more breastfeeding friendly. 3. The asset limit for temporary assistance for the needy families program has been changed. The two top bills passed and credit goes to the Executive Director of the Commission, Cathy Betts, because she really lobbied and advocated for those bills. Kim Schneider stated that what would work well is that when the bills come up for testimonies if Cathy Betts could e-mail us info on the bills so we can write our testimonies. It’s difficult if you’re working and not having the time to access computer to check on the individual bills coming up. We can look at ways of improving how Hawai’i County’s CSW can best support the State’s CSW in future legislative sessions. B. Health 1. Women’s Health Month in September – Elena Cabatu reported: Ladies Night Out by Hui Malama in Hilo supported approximately 500 people in the community at the Hilo Civic. Carol Kitaoka asked if there’s one in Kona. Per Elena, this one is in Hilo and the mission of the Hilo Ladies Night Out is to pamper the women who have been in domestic violence, recovered from drug abuse, coming back from prison. She is unsure if there is a similar event in Kona. Katie Nova state that Kona has one at the Kona Hospital and is for anybody who wants to attend. 2 Katie Nova suggested that we have a brochure printed that tells about our committee so people will know what we’re about. Lee Watanabe is to check if we have a committee brochure. Discussion: Processing a brochure is at no cost if it’s printed by the County Machine Room. If we do it in color, there is a cost for the printing. Suggested amount of brochures to print: 500 which would cost approximately $50.00. Katie Nova volunteered to start working on the brochure. Carol Kitaoka suggested that we start with the report that we made; that report to the Mayor included our accomplishments and pictures, too. Parts of that report could be included in the brochure. Kim Schneider stated that a display board would be helpful when we do committee events. Elena Cabatu received a letter from Hui Malama. We can determine what we would like to provide for the Ladies’ Night Out. In the past, we paid for the use of the civic; it’s suggested that we reimburse the cost of the civic. Farrah-Marie Gomes questioned whether we could reimburse Hui Malama $100 for the cost of the Civic. Elena Cabatu reported that next women’s health activity is on September 27 – we can have a booth; we can provide information and pass out hand outs. It’s suggested that we can have some kind of activity and participants can receive a prize. Nancy Kelly stated that if we do this, we would need commitment from members to participate in the Hui Malama Women’s Night out. Farrah-Marie Gomes shared that Hui Malama Women’s Night is the evening of the University of Hawai‘i Status of Women conference on Oahu. The conference is free; we can initially send two people. They’re allocating so many slots to the State CSW and the State CSW will allocate slots to Hawai’i County. She will try to negotiate if more people can attend. Attendees are responsible for their airfare. Conference is from 8:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. It will cover general women’s issues with breakout sessions: non-violence issues all the way to salary negotiations. Nancy Kelly suggested that we can decide in June who we will be sending to the conference and book the reservation then so the money can be used by June 30. Kim Schneider asked if we could fund two people to attend the conference. 3 Nancy suggested that if we know who will go, the attendees can book their reservation, pay for it and be reimbursed so the money can be used this fiscal year. If reservations are made by the office, the process is different so the monies will come out of next year’s budget. Kim Schneider asked if anyone would like to go. Katie Nova, Hazel Beck, Brooke Derby expressed interest in attending this conference. Farrah-Marie Gomes will try to negotiate if we can send three people to the University of Hawai‘i Status of Women Conference in Honolulu since three people expressed interest. Molly Stebbins suggested the conference be agendized for the next meeting. We can designate two people to attend the conference at the next meeting. Elena Cabatu questioned if we should keep the Women’s Night Out at the $100 level – Katie Nova suggested we keep it at that level. Elena Cabatu reported that the Women’s Night Out is incorporating the Men of Pa`a. They are men who are recovering from domestic violence issues. They are assisting in setting up and breaking down and also giving massages; this organization is very well structured. Hui Malama felt that it would be a good partnership in the sense of manpower in a healing sense because Hui Malama is all about healing. 2. Teen Dating Violence and Prevention Radio Ads and Teen Pregnancy Ads Elena Cabatu reported that ads ran in April and it’s running again the last week of school. At the next meeting, we will figure out how much we will spend for ads broadcasting statewide and getting in to schools thru the ex- officio member of the Commission. She had an intern from Kamehameha Schools who recorded two of the ads and will be on the Kamehameha Schools’ website. Carol Kitaoka suggested we partner with the schools here. Elena Cabatu reported that the whole idea is to get it into the schools statewide. Carol Kitaoka stated that if our schools provided the people to come in to talk about it, they would be more open to it. It was suggested that the ads be posted on You Tube, but Carol Kitaoka reported that You Tube might be blocked at the schools. 4 Elena Cabatu reported that the ads are paid for. The Commission will dedicate $4,500 - $5,000 statewide. The ads are running on the Wave and kids’ station. Monies for ads should stay on the islands. Kim Schneider took a moment to welcome and presented a lei to our newest member, Hazel Beck. Farrah-Marie Gomes clarified Elena Cabatu doesn’t need any money for ads. We don’t need any money from this fiscal year to support radio ads. Kim Schneider suggested that we revisit the teen prom in support of a first time event. Elena Cabatu reported that the Commission committed $1,000 to the teen prom; she will get an updated report from the Commission. Farrah-Marie Gomes questioned if we feel that what the Commission put out is enough or do we want to put in more money for ads. Elena Cabatu stated that we don’t have ads on our local stations: KWXX, KBIG so we could pay for it from this fiscal year’s funds. Carol Kitaoka suggested we pay for that; it’ll cost approximately $1,500 or we can extend the amount of time on the ones we chose. Molly Stebbins suggested going thru the small purchase procedure; we’re under the threshold; we would need three quotes. Elena Cabatu stated that the last time, she just received quotes which were within the range, and she selected the station from that list. Nancy Kelly confirmed we can select the radio station because there’s an exemption for the procurement process. Carol Kitaoka moved to put $1,500 for teen dating violence ads and teen pregnancy ads on KWXX island wide. Katie seconded. Discussion: Elena will put a tag at the end “This message was brought to you by the Hawai‘i County Commission on the Status of Women”. Elena will send the schedule when the ads will run to the members. Motion was passed. C. Education 1. Teen Outreach Program Carol Kitaoka clarified that the teen outreach program is not a school program. It’s groups of people getting together once a week to do a curriculum. It’s a big commitment. 5 Discussion: Because it’s such a difficult project and a big commitment, this program will be removed from agenda until a member wants to adopt it as a project they are willing to oversee and support. 2. Voter Registration Carol Kitaoka has no report. Elena Cabatu suggested advertising voter registration in the schools. D. Committee Report 1. Essay Contest Nancy Kelly is requesting information for a final report to include: Number of attendees Number of awardees Number of schools Participants Carol Kitaoka will get the information to Lee Watanabe. 2. Mentoring Kim Schnieder asked how the committee feels about mentoring and if it’s something we would like to pursue. Farrah-Marie Gomes stated that there’s too much of a liability for her to commit to this volunteer group. We could run it thru an entity that would be willing to provide the liability. It’s a much needed program and service; however, that’s a specialty area for professionals. Mele Spencer stated that the Zonta Club of Hilo wanted to do something like this with HCEOC since they got money from the Weinberg Foundation; never got the program off the ground; the issue is getting the women involved. It’s a lot of time and commitment of a mentor. Katie Nova suggested having Jill Murray do presentations with a mentoring spin on it at the schools on mentoring. Elena Cabatu mentioned that this is something the State CSW might be able to provide funding for and to have Jill Murray stop by at other schools. Discussion: To get her here would be very difficult; expensive and scheduling. Nancy Kelly stated that the difficulty would be to coordinate her travel; need advance planning. 6 Farrah-Marie Gomes – back to mentoring – perhaps we can have discussions with the local council girl scouts or 4H to form a relationship with them. Carol Kitaoka can get in touch with the 4H kids. Farrah-Marie Gomes suggested that if a partnership with a group like the 4H was established and where we’re not doing all of the work, we could drop in and out and we can still have the impact. Kim Schneider stated there was a discussion that they wanted help in securing funding and essay writing; to have a resource of group of women that they can be contacted. It wasn’t about taking over what the counselors are doing. Katie Nova stated that what the kids said they wanted was to have someone sitting at their elbow and help them along the way and that’s not what we should be doing; making sure someone is in charge of everything’s need to be done and that’s not what the vision is. Katie Nova explained that Kathy Peters tried to bring this up on Facebook; however, it brings up an issue of liability. Brooke Derby stated that she could work on something – can we have our own Facebook? Molly Stebbins explained that it’s possible but there are certain things we need to avoid: Sunshine Law, violations, communications, content and who’s going to be in charge of it, who will monitor the wording, are you going to allow comments, moderation of comments – there certainly will be issues. Kim Schneider explained that what she recalls Kathy Peters’ intent was to post things for information. It wasn’t anything about the girls commenting; it would be a way they can see this and act on it if they wish. It’s offering something and the girls would be notified of new postings. Farrah-Marie Gomes mentioned that the content would be more of networking more than it is on mentoring; suggested that we change the name to networking from mentoring. Kim Schneider asked if this is something we would like to do. Brooke Derby stated that it would be difficult if we don’t have a website to get the information out there. We could feed information to someone else’s webpage. Kim Schneider asked if there is a way when something new comes on a page if people that want to hear about it, is there a way we can include our contact info so they know who to call or email for more info? 7 Brooke Derby explained that they need to be friends with them and have connection with them and if we don’t have something like that it may be difficult. Farrah-Marie Gomes stated that we can have a Facebook page and posting information with a one way outlet with people not having the option to comment. Molly Stebbins will look into what potential issues with the profile and posting things on the “bulletin board” and will get back to us on this. Hazel Beck suggested printing “QR” code on the brochures; to create a code. There are free sites that will create a code; and some charge $10. We should be on a website – we are all representatives of different sectors of what it is to be a woman. It’s a place where young women can go to the get information. Discussion: how social media works and what the impacts are. We do have the opportunity with expertise to help us create a website. We could get it to teachers, too, so there are other venues to get the appropriate venue. Nancy Kelly suggested we have a group of few people focusing on this topic and present it to the committee. Molly Stebbins stated that we could establish a subcommittee, more than two but less than a quorum; that subcommittee can discuss among themselves and report back to the full committee at a future meeting. Carol Kitaoka moved to form a subcommittee for networking; committee members will be Elena, Farrah, Brooke and Hazel. Molly Stebbins confirmed that the subcommittee is going to be tasked with exploring networking on ways to promote the work of the committee. Mele seconded. Motion passed. UNFINISHED BUSINESS A. Membership Kim Schneider reported that Linda is in the hospital and that we received communication from her that she will be submitting a resignation letter. She asked Molly if we can submit a letter to her saying that this letter will suffice your letter of resignation so we can have a new member. Molly Stebbins suggested that formally she would be resigning, she’s a mayoral appointee so she would be communicating with the Mayor that she is resigning. 8 Kim Schneider stated that it’s important that if you can’t make it to the meeting, please inform the committee ahead of time. There are people who are working and take time off to attend this meeting; we find out at the last minute that the meeting is cancelled because we don’t have a quorum. With Linda resigning, we would have one more spot on the committee. There is one other person who is interested and who have applied and will be contacted of our next meeting. Molly Stebbins will meet with Lee Watanabe on the process of the resignation. B. Hall of Fame Kim Schneider stated that the Hall of Fame will be every five years. C. Pride Prom Radio Spots Kim Schneider stated that we did have a discussion about not funding it and we do have money and this is a first time thing that she would like to reconsider it. Elena Cabatu confirmed that it’s not for radio spots. She is to check what is needed for the Pride Prom and the date of the prom. The parade is on July 6. We can’t vote on anything since we don’t have a date. Announcements Topics for next meeting: Katie Nova suggested that we brainstorm new project ideas at the next meeting. Elena Cabatu: allocate money for next year in preparation for the projects Kim Schneider stated that by next meeting that we have funding that needs to be disbursed; money has to be spent by June 30. Molly Stebbins suggested for the funding that is remaining to be spent by June 30, there are specific things on the table for funding that can be on the agenda. Molly Stebbins suggested that if people have specific ideas, send them to the Chair for approval so it can be put on the agenda. Farrah-Marie Gomes will be requesting funds for the airfare for the conference. Carol Kitaoka will work with Nikol and Gemmaima on the promotional item, to get quotes and specs and present it at the next meeting. 9 Katie Nova suggested recyclable bags. Carol Kitaoka asked the committee if anyone knows how to work on logos on the recyclable bags. Lee Watanabe stated that the committee has a logo which she will e-mail to Carol Kitaoka and Brooke Derby the Committee’s logo. She will ask Jill Murray permission to use “Love Shouldn’t Hurt” wording. Elena Cabatu suggested that “This is brought to you by the County of Hawai‘i Committee on…………..” be printed on the bag. Items to be agendized and discussion for funding at the next meeting: Ladies Night Out Promotional Items Airfare for the conference Next Meeting Friday, June 14, 2013 at the Prosecutor’s Office in Hilo and Kona via video conference. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 11:44 a.m. APPROVED BY FARRAH-MARIE GOMES, CSW SECRETARY RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED BY: LEE S. WATANABE, STAFF SECRETARY 10