July 10, 2017
The meeting was called to order by Chair Bhatnagar at 7:25 p.m.
Attendance
Commissioners in attendance: Vice Chair Sondra Seba Hemenway, At-Large; Mattie Palmore, Minority At-Large; Emily McCoy, Lee; Reena Desai, Hunter Mill; Nancy Hopkins, Dranesville; Katie McDaniel, Springfield; Charlie Brown, Braddock; Lisa Sales, Mount Vernon; Chair Cynthia Bhatnagar, Mason; Vice Chair Barbara Lippa, Sully and Elise Helgesen Aguilar, Providence.
Commissioners absent: None
Vacant seat: Student Representative
Staff in attendance: Yolanda Thompson, Gretchen Soto and Michelle Mueller
Guest speaker: Supervisor Pat Herrity
Introduction of Visitors
Suzette Herchig joined the meeting.
June 2017 Minutes
ACTION: Ms. Sales moved to accept the June 2017 minutes. Ms. Hopkins seconded the motion, which was approved unanimously.
Student Representative Selection Committee
Vice Chair Lippa reported that she had forwarded the relevant documents to the committee members, Ms. McDaniel, Ms. Desai and Ms. Sales. Interviews will be conducted in October and the Student Representative should begin serving in November.
NACW Annual Conference
Vice Chair Lippa, Ms. Hopkins and Ms. Mueller will attend the annual NACW conference in Buffalo, New York. Ms. Mueller reported that a Loudoun County representative would attend as well.
Women’s History Month
Vice Chair Hemenway reported that the theme had been selected and Ms. McCoy had created a timeline. The committee will meet and draft a proclamation.
Policy Committee
Ms. Desai stated that the policy committee had nothing to report. Ms. Helgesen Aguilar suggested that the committee meet in August.
Media Committee
Ms. Mueller reported that she had contacted Amy Carlini regarding the new County website, and was told that this would be an ideal time for the Commission to consider what a revamped Commission for Women website should look like.
Administrative Committee
Members of this committee did not envision work that needs to be undertaken at the current time.
Supervisor Herrity thanked the Commissioners for the work that they do. He discussed the issues concerning him at the current time. He would like to restructure the County pension system and reduce costs so that there is more money for salaries. He would like to see changes in the zoning and permitting processes so that building and business development is faster and easier. He is concerned about the high rate of opioid fatalities, and would like to focus on prevention. It is important to reach out to doctors and reduce the number of prescriptions. There were twenty deaths in Fairfax County in the past year. Most of our treatment facilities are geared toward alcohol rather than drugs.
Supervisor Herrity stated that gangs are an important issue in Fairfax County and Northern Virginia. There are about 2,000 gang members in Fairfax County, and over 30 ganges, though MS13 is the largest. Funding for the Gang Task Force has been cut. He believes that undocumented minors have become targets for gang recruitment and victimization. One form this gang activity takes is human trafficking.
Turning Point Suffragist Memorial
Ms. McCoy reported that the TPSM dinner raised $32,000, and she thanked the Commission for its support. The design of the memorial has been downsized, and the estimated cost is now $2 million.
DVPPCC
Three Commissioners, Ms. McCoy, Ms. Sales and Ms. Palmore were willing to serve on the DVPPCC. Ms. Soto stated that Ms. Palmore was put forward as the Underserved Communities representative. Ms. McCoy, the current Commission for Women representative, had offered to give up the seat to any other Commissioner who was interested. Ms. Soto reported that the official election by the DVPPCC would take place on July 20. Ms. McCoy submitted letters of support on behalf of the Commission for Women for the nominations of Ms. Palmore and Ms. Sales to the DVPPCC.
Updating the Suffragist Memorial Video
Ms. McCoy stated that Channel 16 producer Val Bey was at the TPSM dinner and had pointed out that the video about the memorial should be updated. Ms. McCoy agreed to work on it with her.
Separation and Divorce Booklet
Ms. Mueller reported that she searched the online resources, and found that there are several good resources, which often include links to legal information and pro se forms, which don't work well for a hard copy booklet, which would have to be updated whenever the laws for forms change.
ACTION: Ms. McCoy moved to ask an attorney whether there is need for the separation and divorce booklet. There was no second.
ACTION: Ms. Brown moved to create and one-page document to put on the website that links to the online separation and divorce resources. Ms. Lippa seconded the motion, which all Commissioners approved except Ms. McCoy, who abstained.
Ms. Mueller agreed to send the links she had found to the Media Committee.
Human Trafficking Policy Paper
Ms. Mueller reported that she had not finished the policy paper.
Biennial Report
Ms. Mueller reported that the biennial report was not complete.
DV Beds and Mental Health
Ms. Desai and Ms. Mueller discussed what the committee had learned so far about adding texting to the County domestic violence and sexual assault hotline. The Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Action Alliance reported that the National Network to End Domestic Violence Safety Net Project was developing a platform for programs to use to add texting or online chat ability to their hotlines. They suggested waiting until that was available.
The committee will meet next on July 17 at 7:00 pm in the OFWDSVS office.
OFWDSVS
Ms. Soto reported that Nicole Acosta from Loudoun County LAWS would be the new the County-Wide DV Coordinator. They are currently writing discriptions for several new positions, including a child witness coordinator and the human trafficking/sexual violence coordinator. None of the candidates for the OFWDSVS Director position moved forward. OFWDSVS has a new part-time communications person who is being shared with Children, Youth and Families.
Community Reports
Ms. Palmore reported on several events related to her Lady Fairfax nomination.
Ms. McDaniel reported that she attended the Just Ask anti-trafficking walk on June 3 at the Government Center, which drew 300 people.
Ms. Sales reported that Supervisor Storck had invited his Commissioners to emcee weekly musical events, and she had promoted the Commission for Women during her speech.
Ms. Palmore expressed appreciation for the work of the South County DVAC office.
ACTION: Ms. Palmore moved to provide a $25 gift card and certificate to Val Bey since her County Performance Award got lost. Ms. Desai seconded the motion. Ms. McCoy moved to modify the amount to $50. Vice Chair Hemenway seconded the motion. Ms. Desai voted no and the other ten Commissioners voted yes on the amendment. The amended motion then passed unanimously.
The meeting was adjourned at 10:04 p.m.
Meeting Materials
July 2017 Meeting Agenda
June 2017 Meeting Minutes
Domestic Violence/Mental Health Committee Meeting Notes from June 22, 2017
Next Meeting
The Commission will next meet on September 11, 2017 at the Fairfax County Government Center at 7:15 p.m.
If you have any concerns, issues or thoughts that you would like to share, please send an email to Commission for Women. Your concerns and observations are important in helping the women and girls in Fairfax County.